“State of Tobacco Control 2015”

American Lung Association Gives Maine Mixed Grades for Efforts to

Save Lives by Reducing Tobacco Use

“State of Tobacco Control 2015”: Maine greatly improves grade for helping smokers quit, but falls short in providing adequate funding for tobacco control programs

(Augusta ME) – The American Lung Association released its 13^th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report today, which finds Maine again achieving mixed results in enacting tobacco control policies that are considered necessary to save lives and help end the tobacco epidemic.  The report concludes that nationally, tobacco control progress is at a virtual standstill, with most states and the federal government earning poor grades in this year’s assessment.

“Maine has a long history of being a leader in tobacco control policies, but Maine's report card has gone from stellar straight A's in 2005 to a mediocre mix of grades in 2015,” said Jeff Seyler, President  & CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast.  “We are grateful for the support of the Maine Legislature in significantly improving access to cessation services for smokers who want to quit, but much more can be done.  As the tobacco industry spends more than ever to recruit the next generation of smokers, we must prevent cuts to tobacco control funding like those recently proposed in Governor LePage’s budget.  We must also increase the price of tobacco products, which will encourage more people to quit while deterring more kids from ever starting to smoke.”

“State of Tobacco Control 2015” evaluates tobacco control policies at the federal and state level, and assigns grades based on whether laws protect citizens from the toll tobacco use takes on lives. The new report comes following the 50^th anniversary of the 1964 Surgeon General’s report, which first sounded the alarm on the dangers of smoking.  Now 51 years later, tobacco use kills almost half a million Americans and causes up to $333 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity each year.

In 2014, the American Lung Association and its partners called for immediate action on tobacco use at all levels of government in order to achieve three national goals:

·         Reduce smoking rates, currently at about 18 percent, to less than 10 percent by 2024;

·         Protect all Americans from secondhand smoke by 2019; and

·         Ultimately eliminate the death and disease caused by tobacco use.

“The American Lung Association is urging states and the federal government to take needed steps to achieve these bold goals,” said Seyler. “It’s no secret how to reduce tobacco use in the United States. Our leaders need to muster the political will to implement these proven policies. Our nation cannot afford the health or financial consequences of lawmakers’ continued failure to act.”

Maine received the following grades for 2014:

·         Tobacco Prevention and Control Spending:   D

·         Smokefree Air:                                                A

·         Cigarette Tax:                                                 D

·         Cessation:                                                        B

“With two D’s on our report card, there is much room for improvement in Maine,” said Ed Miller, Senior Vice President of Public Policy at the American Lung Association of the Northeast. “Leaders in our state must take steps to preserve and adequately fund prevention programs that help keep our kids off tobacco.  And they must raise tobacco taxes to deter youth smoking. For over a decade, the Fund for a Healthy Maine has financed prevention effort and produced results. Maine's youth smoking rate has dropped significantly from 40% in 1997 to 13% in 2013. We’ve gone from having one of the highest youth smoking rates in the nation to a rate that is below the national average.  That’s the kind of progress we can make if we focus our resources appropriately and pass policies that follow the science.”

The report recommends the following actions be taken by Maine lawmakers:

1. Enact a cigarette tax increase of at least $1.50 per pack;
2. Protect the Fund for a Healthy Maine as the funding source for tobacco prevention and control activities..

Miller added, “The American Lung Association of the Northeast is deeply concerned about the recent budget proposal by Governor LePage to redirect funding for tobacco control programs to other health initiatives.  Pitting prevention funding against primary care is a false choice. .Enacting a $1.50 increase in the cigarette tax would generate over $40 million annually – providing revenue to fund health priorities. It would also prevent kids from starting to smoke and result in almost 10,000 Mainers quitting smoking.”

“State of Tobacco Control 2015” finds state-level progress on proven tobacco control policies has all but stalled across the country. The report calls on elected officials to take immediate steps to enact best-practice policies that are proven to reduce tobacco use, lower health care costs and save lives.

The report also gave the federal government mixed reviews, offering praise for small steps forward that were taken this year, but criticism for ways federal policy still fell short in important areas, such as tobacco taxes and finalizing regulatory authority over all tobacco products.

The report states, “In April, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed to assert authority over all tobacco products including e-cigarettes, little cigars and other tobacco products.  The American Lung Association also expressed strong opposition to the Obama Administration’s proposal to exempt certain cigars from basic FDA oversight and that it failed to finalize the proposal by the end of 2014. On the plus side the federal government issued an important policy clarification making it clear to insurance companies that all seven FDA-approved medications and all three forms of counseling should be covered to help smokers quit.  FDA also launched its youth prevention mass-media campaign, “The Real Cost” and CDC continued its highly successful “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign, which a study released in late 2014 shows has a significant impact with even current modest investments.

“We’ve got a long way to go in our efforts to reduce the disease and death of tobacco use,” added Miller. “We urge everyone in Maine to join the American Lung Association in telling lawmakers to take action now to save lives.”

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