Va. still flunks tobacco control, says health group

Despite its new restrictions on smoking in restaurants, Virginia still gets failing grades for tobacco-prevention policies and funding, according to a public health group.

The American Lung Association's annual tobacco-control report card, scheduled to be released today, says Virginia and five other states are flunking when it comes to smoke-free air laws, cigarette taxes, tobacco-prevention spending, and insurance coverage for tobacco-cessation medications and counseling.

Among the reasons for the low grades: Virginia spends only about 13 percent of the $103 million that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends it spend for an effective tobacco-control and prevention program.

With Virginia facing a budget crunch, the proposed state budget would reduce even the current funding levels. The foundation that oversees Virginia's youth tobacco-prevention campaign would see its funding reduced by 25 percent, from $15 million to $11.2 million in fiscal 2011, and from $15.2 million to $11.3 million in fiscal 2012, a spokesman for the foundation said.

Health groups argue that well-funded youth smoking-prevention programs save states money in the long run by preventing children from becoming tobacco users and developing health problems later in life.

"We think it is very important, because tobacco-caused disease is such a huge driver of costs in state budgets," said Paul Billings, vice president for national policy and advocacy for the American Lung Association.

The group also gave Virginia a failing grade for smoke-free air laws, even though a law prohibiting smoking in most restaurants took effect Dec. 1.

"From a national perspective, it is not a strong law compared to other states," said David DeBiasi, director of public advocacy for the American Lung Association of Virginia. The law does not cover all workplaces, and it has exemptions allowing restaurants to have smoking rooms that are structurally separated and ventilated.

Virginia Department of Health officials estimated last week that about 82 percent of the state's fast-food and full-service restaurants have gone entirely nonsmoking, up from about 70 percent before the law took effect. The estimate was based on health inspections in December, so the number of restaurants that now are smoke-free likely is higher.

The lung association also said Virginia's 30-cent-per-pack cigarette tax, currently the third-lowest in the nation, should be closer to the national average of $1.34.

No state earned straight "A's" from the lung association, which noted that 14 states and Washington, D.C., increased their cigarette taxes last year to help cover budget deficits. However, 10 states also slashed funding for tobacco control and prevention programs.

Virginia's statewide youth-smoking prevention campaign is managed by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, which funds marketing and advertising, grants to civic groups and schools, and research at state universities using 10 percent of the state's annual tobacco settlement payments. The proposed state budget would cut that to 8.5 percent while also diverting other funds, a spokesman for the foundation said.

Last year, state lawmakers broadened the foundation's role to include childhood obesity prevention. "They have taken on a new mission," said DeBiasi of the lung association. "How do you double your mission and have your funding cut?"

Other states that received nothing but failing grades from the lung association were Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina and West Virginia.

A spokesman for Henrico County-based Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco company and the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said the company has not seen the report and was not in a position to comment.

The lung association gave the federal government improved grades for tobacco control, because Congress last year more than doubled the federal excise tax on cigarettes from 39 cents to $1.01 per pack and passed legislation giving the Food and Drug Admnistration regulatory authority over tobacco products.

"It will change the way the tobacco industry works and save many lives," said Charles Connor, the lung association's chief executive officer.

Contact John Reid Blackwell at (804) 775-8123 or jblackwell@timesdispatch.com.