The U.S. is backsliding when it comes to tobacco control, the American Lung Association says. The group has just issued its annual report card on how well the federal government, states and cities are doing on cessation efforts, giving many Ds and Fs.
The report card grades the various authorities on how well they are doing in preventing tobacco use, helping smokers quit and protecting the public from secondhand smoke.
Thomas Carr, the report s chief author and director of national policy for the association, says while the Obama administration made real progress in its first three years on tobacco control, by 2012, all that progress really came to an abrupt halt. And the report cards were littered with Ds and Fs this year by and large the states are not doing enough to prevent and reduce tobacco use.
ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross notes that all three goals of the report card could be met by promoting e-cigarettes for addicted smokers who have not been able to quit through other means. Reducing tobacco use, helping smokers quit and eliminating secondhand smoke could all be accomplished using e-cigarettes as part of a tobacco harm reduction policy, he says.
