Staff Report
An annual report issued this week by the American Lung Association showed no Orange County municipalities received A grades in their efforts to control tobacco.
According to the report, California overall leads the nation in efforts to reduce and prevent tobacco use, scoring an A grade for its smoke-free air policies, and B grades for funding of tobacco-prevention programs, state tobacco taxes, access to services to help people stop using tobacco and having a minimum age of 21 for the purchase of tobacco.
But the report cites emerging threats, particularly the popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping, as particularly disturbing. Lung Association officials said there was a 78 percent increase in high school e-cigarette use between 2017 and 2018 nationally.
“The tobacco industry continues to find creative ways to hook new generations of smokers by marketing and selling new products,” according to the report. “Local tobacco-control efforts have remained diligent in taking common sense approaches and pushing necessary policies to address new challenges.”
In Orange County, the following cities received “C” overall grades based on a review of four areas – smoke free outdoor air, smoke-free housing, reducing sales of tobacco products and addressing emerging issues such as flavored tobacco products.
Although some Orange County cities did receive “on the rise” grades, Los Alamitos, Cypress and La Palma all received “failing” grades based on results from these four categories, according to the report.
