Released by the American Lung Association Thursday, the annual report card looks at federal and state tobacco control legislation and policies in smoke-free air, cigarette tax, tobacco prevention spending, and youth access to tobacco products.
Despite repeated studies proving that well-funded state tobacco prevention and cessation programs keep youth from starting to smoke and motivate smokers to quit, only six states fund these programs at the levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it says.
Nine states scored an A for funding their programs at 90 percent or more of the CDC's minimum recommended funding level. The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 32 states received an F for tobacco prevention and control funding.
On higher taxes that tend to discourage smoking, 25 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have cigarette tax rates of $1 or higher, and nine states will be at or above $2 per pack. Currently, the average state cigarette tax is $1.11 per pack, an increase of about 11 cents from last year.
New Jersey leads the country with the highest cigarette tax at $2.575 per pack. Twelve states received an F in cigarette taxes in 2007.
