The American Lung Association (ALA) released its 18th annual State of Tobacco Control 2020 report, revealing how local cities and states rank on protecting their community from the harms of tobacco and efforts to prevent tobacco use.
The annual report grades all state and federal government policies proven to prevent tobacco use. In addition to the national report, the ALA released the State of Tobacco Control 2020—California Local Grades. The purpose of both reports is to bring awareness to the laws that protect the community from the burden of tobacco and encourage local leadership to take action where it is needed. Locally, three cities in San Luis Obispo County—Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, and Pismo Beach—have been featured in the report as ‘Cities and Counties on the Rise’ for adopting local ordinances that address ALA policy focus categories. Of added significance in this this year’s reports, was local jurisdictions addressing e-cigarette and flavored tobacco products. Cities and counties that include e-cigarettes and flavored products in their policy received extra points in the report card.
Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. E-cigarette use among youth has reached epidemic proportions, both locally and nationally. In 2018, San Luis Obispo County statistics from the California Healthy Kids Survey indicated that 22% of 11th Grade students reported use of e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. According to the ALA report, 34 California communities passed policies restricting the sale of flavored tobacco in 2019 in an effort to combat youth vaping epidemic.
For more information or details on the local grades, contact The Tobacco Control Program at [email protected] and/or 805-781-5564. To read the full State of Tobacco Control 2020 report go to www.lung.org.