PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — The Commonwealth was given failing grades in tobacco use prevention and reduction efforts, according to a new report by the American Lung Association (ALA).

In its 24th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, Pennsylvania received the following grades:

Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade F

Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws – Grade D

Level of State Tobacco Taxes – Grade F

Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco – Grade D

Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products – Grade F

“We don’t inflate the scores and we don’t make them negative for any reason, other than we now know where we need to go to make things better,” ALA Pennsylvania Director of Advocacy Elizabeth Hensil said.

The ALA reports that tobacco use is the number one cause of cancer in the Commonwealth, and it is taking steps to advocate for stronger funding and programming.

“We’re spending about 6.3 billion, with a b, billion dollars on health costs because of smoking and tobacco use here in Pennsylvania,” Hensil said. “We really need to take a look at that and see how we can be better serving our citizens here.”

She said that most workplaces and restaurants became smoke-free in 2008 with the Clean Indoor Air Act, but there are loopholes that some places are finding.

“We’ve been working since 2008 to try to close some of those. The two biggest ones are casinos, as well as bars that serve less than 20% of their revenue and food. Both of those things are entertainment venues. We enjoy going to them. But we also need to remember that those are places where people are working,” Hensil said. “The people that are working at those places are all highly skilled individuals, they’re proud of their jobs, and they would like to continue working there. But the secondhand smoke increases their health care costs. It increases their absenteeism. It makes it difficult to hold a job.”

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The ALA is also looking at ways to combat the use of e-cigarettes and vape products.

“The main reason why they are even trying these products is because of the flavors. It’s enticing. It sounds good. It smells good. It tastes good. So we really need to look at regulating that,” Hensil said. “We have high school tobacco use rate of 17% that in the past 30 days. That’s 17% of high schoolers admitting that they have used some sort of tobacco product. There’s, I’m sure, plenty that don’t want to admit that and have fear.”

The Lung Association is advocating for new regulations, including expanded access to control programs and ending the sale of flavored tobacco products.

“It is devastating to see the federal government largely abandon its tobacco control efforts. Walking away from the incredible progress the nation has made on reducing tobacco use over the past 50 years is unacceptable,” Hensil said. “States need to ramp up their tobacco prevention efforts even more to protect residents from disease and addiction caused by tobacco use.”

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