Delaware gets mixed grades in the 22nd annual State of Tobacco Control Report by the American Lung Association.
Delaware received 2 F grades - in tobacco taxes and flavored tobacco products, 2 A’s for tobacco prevention and control program funding and smokefree air, and a B for access to cessation services.
Despite some of those grades, Deb Brown – Chief Mission Officer at the American Lung Association – says the state ranks better than most. No state received straight A’s.
"Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death and disease, and we can do something about it. We know what the best practices are. We just have to have the will to implement those and sometimes it's hard and we know it's hard but in the end it ultimately saves lives," said Brown.
Brown notes tobacco use contributes to 1,440 deaths each year in Delaware, and the American Lung Association is calling for some changes - such as increasing the cigarette tax by at least $1.00 per pack and creating greater parity between the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products.
To improve those grades, the American Lung Association would like to see a few things - including a significant tax increase on all tobacco products including e-cigarettes.
Brown says higher taxes lead to reduced tobacco use.
"In Delaware the high school tobacco use rate is 18.3%, and there's many studies that show that every 10% increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by about 4% among adults and about 7% among youth," said Brown.
The Lung Association also wants lawmakers to protect the state’s tobacco tax structure and stop any attempted rollbacks on specific products while increasing funding for tobacco prevention and quit smoking programs.
