smoking

7 Questions With the ALA's Deb Brown

Published in partnership with American Lung Association in New Jersey

 

On January 24, 2018, the American Lung Association released its 2018 State of Tobacco Control report. Broken down by state, the report sheds light on what needs to be done to further decrease the smoking rate in the United States.

Deb Brown, executive vice president of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, answered a few questions for us regarding the report.

Deb Brown Pulmonology

 

Consultant360: What is the American Lung Association’s State of Tobacco Control Report?

Deb Brown: Thanks to the success of tobacco control policies called for in the American Lung Association’s “State of Tobacco Control” 2018 report, adult and youth cigarette smoking rates are at historically low levels. The American Lung Association’s “State of Tobacco Control” 2018 shows the progress and failures of the states and the federal government to prevent and reduce tobacco use. The report assigns grades based on whether state and federal laws protect Americans from the enormous toll tobacco use takes on lives and the economy.

However, not everyone in America has benefited equally from this decline.  Certain geographic areas and populations such as people who struggle financially, people who live in more rural areas, Native Americans and persons with mental illness continue to experience high rates of tobacco use.  They are at greatest risk for tobacco-related death and disease.

Everyone deserves the chance to live a full and healthy life. We must do more to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke among all Americans to truly put an end to the tobacco epidemic.

Tobacco use is a serious addiction and remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in America killing more than 480,000 Americans each year. More than one in five high school students still use tobacco products, setting them up for a lifetime of addiction.

 

C360: What can we do to protect the health of New Jersey residents and all Americans from tobacco?

DB: Key actions and the proven-effective public policies called for in the American Lung Association’s “State of Tobacco Control” help provide a blueprint for federal and state leaders to save lives and end the tobacco epidemic.

New Jersey must do more to reduce tobacco use by increasing the tobacco tax and creating tax parity between the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes; and securing state tobacco prevention and cessation funding.

 

C360: What does the report grade?

DB: State of Tobacco Control 2018 grades states and the District of Columbia in 5 areas that have been proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use and save lives:

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

 

C360: What are New Jersey’s grades?

DB: This year’s State of Tobacco Control finds that New Jersey’s mixed grades show that progress has been made, although more still must be done by newly elected Governor Phil Murphy and the state legislature to enact proven policies that will reduce tobacco use and save lives:

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

 

C360: New Jersey has taken action to increase the minimum age of sale for tobacco products to 21, but what more can be done?

DB: The American Lung Association in New Jersey congratulates state lawmakers on increasing the minimum age of sale for tobacco products to 21 but calls on New Jersey policymakers to act on increasing the tobacco tax and to create tax parity between the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes; and to secure state tobacco prevention and cessation funding.

 

C360: What else does this report reveal?

DB: Sadly, the report also details that as a result of decades of targeted marketing by the tobacco industry, too many Americans haven’t seen the benefits of reduced smoking rates, and New Jersey and the federal government could do more to ensure all Americans benefit from tobacco control efforts. According to the American Lung Association:

  • If New Jersey would increase funding for tobacco control programs, they would have a powerful opportunity to target these programs to communities that still use tobacco at higher rates and who have been targeted by the tobacco industry. New Jersey receives $941.9 million from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes and should use more of these funds to help prevent tobacco use and help smokers quit.
  • Increasing tobacco taxes is one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use, not only among low-income individuals but also for youth. To protect kids from a lifetime of nicotine addiction, the American Lung Association in New Jersey encourages New Jersey to increase the tobacco tax. This step is critical to New Jersey as current tobacco use among youth is 8.2%.

 

C360: Is there anything else you wanted to add?

DB: In New Jersey, an estimated 11,780 people die from smoking each year. We know how to reduce tobacco use in the Garden State and across this country. State of Tobacco Control looks at proven methods to save lives and protect the health of all Americans. New Jersey elected officials must act to implement these proven policies, which will prevent tobacco-caused death and disease and help keep our lungs healthy.

The report and state grades are available at the American Lung Association’s website at Lung.org/sotc.

For more resources, visit Lung.org.