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The American Lung Association has released its third annual State of Tobacco Control report and West Virginia is still failing to make the grade in its tobacco use prevention efforts. This national report card analyzes state tobacco control laws in four key areas -- smokefree air, tobacco program funding, cigarette excise taxes and youth access to tobacco. West Virginia scores an F in smokefree air, an F in tobacco prevention fudning and an F in youth access to tobacco. The one brighter spot was a score of D in cigarette tax rates.

This report should be a wake-up call to the legislature and our governor about the status of tobacco prevention efforts in West Virginia. The state is not adequately funding programs to keep kids from starting to smoke and help adults and teens quit. In addition, the state's tobacco taxes remain signficantly less than the national average. More needs to be done to prevent the 4,300 deaths in West Virginia each year caused by tobacco use.