Indiana Gets Mostly F’s in Latest State of Tobacco Control Report

Posted on January 26, 2017
Author Mary Perren, WKVI

The American Lung Association’s 2016 State of Tobacco Control Report finds Indiana is failing in its efforts to reduce tobacco use. The 15th annual report grades states and the federal government on policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use. It notes Indiana has not increased the age of sale for tobacco products to 21 and has one of the lowest tobacco tax rates in the country.

An estimated 20 percent of Indiana residents currently smoke, according to Monique French with the American Lung Association of Indiana. She calls on Indiana policymakers to implement the policies and programs called for in ‘State of Tobacco Control’ that would save lives and protect kids from a lifetime of addiction.

The report assigns grades based on whether federal and state laws protect Americans from the enormous health toll tobacco use takes on lives and the economy. A new grade added to this year’s report looks at efforts to increase the minimum age of sale to 21.

French says close to 95 percent of adult smokers try their first cigarette before the age of 21. She believes increasing the minimum age of sale for tobacco products to 21 will significantly reduce youth tobacco use and save thousands of lives nationwide.

Indiana’s grades are below:

• Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade F
• Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws – Grade C
• Level of State Tobacco Taxes – Grade F
• Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco – Grade F
• Minimum Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21 – Grade F

The American Lung Association in Indiana calls on state officials to act on these shortcomings and priority areas that need to be addressed to meet state goals.

In this year’s “State of Tobacco Control,” the federal government earned an “F” for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Regulation of Tobacco Products.

Although the American Lung Association applauds the release of the final rule that gave FDA authority over all tobacco products, the report recognizes the Obama Administration’s failure to proceed with other key initiatives including requiring graphic warning labels on cigarettes and the federal government’s failure to move forward on issuing a rule to end the sale of menthol cigarettes nationwide – despite the recommendations from an FDA expert advisory committee.