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The American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control: 2005 report has been released with annual grades for state tobacco control laws in four key areas: 

• smoke free air
• tobacco program funding,
• cigarette excise taxes, and
• youth access to tobacco

Although this year’s report notes that Kentucky has taken a few positive steps, unfortunately our state has still received an “F” in all four areas graded.   

This report should be a wake-up call to our legislature and governor that our puny 30 cents per pack tax on cigarettes needs to be raised closer to the national average, which is now 94 cents. As it now stands, Kentucky continues to have the highest smoking rates in the country.  We know that when the price of cigarettes goes up, smoking goes down – especially among kids.  In fact, for every 10 percent increase in price, youth smoking rates will drop by about 7 percent!  

Logically, some of the revenue from this price increase should be used to fund tobacco prevention programs to help people quit and make sure kids never start.  This is a commonsense approach that will save not only lives, but some of the millions of taxpayers’ dollars currently being spent to treat sick smokers.  By increasing the price of cigarettes AND increasing funding for tobacco prevention, Kentucky can expect a much better report card in the future!