January 27, 2017
The American Lung Association issued its annual state report cards on tobacco reduction progress and policies, and both Pennsylvania and New Jersey received poor grades overall, including failing in more than one area.
According to the report, both states got an F in the areas of tobacco prevention and cessation funding, as well as in access to cessation services.
The association scolded New Jersey for providing no state funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs despite smoking costing the state more than $4 billion in health care costs each year.
The American Lung Association uses its yearly report to call on states and the federal government to do better by implementing what it's found to be “proven-effective policies that would save lives,” such as raising the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21 and making the laws stricter for smoking in and near the workplace.
Close to 95 percent of adult smokers try their first cigarette before the age of 21, the association notes. In New Jersey, the legal age to buy tobacco products is 19, while in Pennsylvania it’s 18.
View the full American Lung Association “State of Tobacco Control” interactive report here.
