The D.C. region received a mixed report card, including a slate of “F’s” in the American Lung Association’s 2026 State of Tobacco Control report.
The annual report measures how well states and the District of Columbia are restricting possible tobacco exposure across five categories: Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding, Smokefree Air, Tobacco Taxes, Access to Cessation Services, and Flavored Tobacco Products. The final category relates specifically to restrictions on flavored tobacco products.
D.C. fared the best with a majority of A’s; Maryland had a more mixed report with an A, as well as B’s and F’s; and Virginia scored a C and four F’s. All three localities were dinged for not spending enough on tobacco prevention programs to the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The CDC makes a recommendation, best practice about where they should be funded, and many states are not funding [enough],” says Aleks Casper, Director of Advocacy at the American Lung Association. “So that is a huge opportunity, not only for Virginia, but for the District and Maryland.”
Casper joins WAMU’s Morning Edition host Esther Ciammachilli to discuss the region’s approach to regulating tobacco and keeping it out of the hands of underage users.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Can you briefly describe the tobacco control report card?
So, we do this report every year… There are five categories in which we report about and we know that those are evidence based. [The categories look at] how do we prevent people from starting to use a tobacco product, to supporting people when they are ready to quit; and then how do we protect people from exposure to secondhand smoke.
OK, well, let’s get into the grades and the numbers. Virginia got nearly all F’s except in one category. What is Virginia getting so wrong about tobacco control?
Virginia did get an F. Virginia, the District, and Maryland all received an F in tobacco prevention control and funding. We noticed that a lot of our states are not funding tobacco control and prevention at the level that they need to be. The CDC makes a recommendation, best practice about where they should be funded, and many states are not funding. So that is a huge opportunity, not only for Virginia, but for the District and Maryland.
[On] smoke-free air, Virginia does have a lot of places where people are still exposed to secondhand smoke. That exposure to secondhand smoke or aerosols, in many cases, is dangerous and has toxins and can cause a whole host of health issues as well as exacerbate many underlying conditions. We know that tobacco taxes are one of the most effective ways to prevent people from starting to use tobacco products and encouraging them to quit. Virginia has one of the lowest [tobacco] taxes in the nation.
How has the report had to adjust since vaping products became so popular?
Electronic smoking devices have hit the market in the last several years, and we have updated the report. The other piece of the puzzle is there’s an onslaught of new products hitting the market too, like nicotine pouches. And so we look at tobacco taxes. We need to make sure that when we are looking at the price of products, we’re not just isolating a product and we’re not saying, “OK, we’re going to raise the price on cigarettes, for example, but we’re not going to address the price of these other products. And so what could happen is that people may switch from those higher priced products to the less expensive products [like vapes or nicotine pouches].
Finally, when you’re talking about electronic smoking devices, especially in nicotine pouches, you’re really talking about youth use. We know that those products appeal to youth, especially because they come in flavors, and that’s really the big piece of this puzzle. Eighty seven percent of youth who use these products are drawn to them because they have a flavor attached to them.
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Published Date : 2026-02-18 17:53:00
Source : wamu.org
