The American Lung Association says California is doing well in maintaining tobacco smoke-free air. However, the state doesn’t make the grade when it comes to prevention programs and getting people to quit.
The American Lung Association graded each state for prevention, cessation cigarette taxes and smoke free air. California received an “F”, “D” and an “A” -- with the high grade coming for indoor air laws.
The association said California needs to tax cigarettes more and spend that money on prevention.
Edward Flores with the American Lung Association in California, and he said when the grades are broken down even further, rural areas in Northern California scored lower than the urban areas.
“But rural areas in Southern California are actually doing really well,” Flores said. “In Riverside-San Bernadino, many of the cities raised their grades from ‘Ds’ and ‘Cs’ all the way to ‘Bs.’”
And many Inland Empire towns also received B grades from the Lung Association. State health officials have recently focused on smoking prevention in rural areas. Nationwide, 40 states received “F” grades for tobacco prevention programs. Almost 500,000 people nationwide per year die of illnesses related to smoking.
