LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The American Lung Association is urging Arkansas lawmakers to create stricter restrictions on flavored tobacco and a newly released report revealed poor tobacco control grades.
The 2024 “State of Tobacco Control” report evaluates state and federal policies on actions taken to eliminate tobacco use and recommends tobacco control laws and policies that have been proven to save lives.
Arkansas received three “F” grades and two “C” grades for policies to improve statewide efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use:
- Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade F*
- Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws – Grade C
- Level of State Tobacco Taxes – Grade F
- Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco – Grade C
- Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products – Grade F
“Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Arkansas and across the country, claiming the lives of 5,790 state residents each year,” said Laura Turner, director of Advocacy, Arkansas at the American Lung Association. “The tobacco industry will do anything to protect their profits at the expense of Arkansas lives, so we must push forward in our efforts to prevent and reduce tobacco use.”
To address these issues, the Lung Association has called for the following actions to be taken by local elected officials:
- Ensure continued access to tobacco use treatment services for all those who want to quit smoking, including comprehensive coverage for such services under Medicaid
- Repeal state preemption of local tobacco control authority
- Allocate state funding of $14.6 million for the Arkansas Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program
- Ensure that funding is spent according to CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.
Turner added that this year, they will be working with state policymakers to increase funding for tobacco prevention and quit smoking programs.
“Despite receiving $9,000,000 from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes, Arkansas only funds tobacco control efforts at 27.5 percent of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Lung Association urges Governor Sanders and the legislature to increase funding for the critical Arkansas Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program,” Turner said.
The Arkansas Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program provides nicotine replacement therapy and cessation counseling through Be Well Arkansas, as well as cessation services tailored to pregnant individuals, youth tobacco, vaping prevention resources, and more health management resources.
Medicaid coverage for tobacco cessation plays an important role in the “Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco” grade.
Since May 2023, more than 427,000 Arkansasns have lost healthcare coverage due to the state’s unwinding of the COVID-19 continuous Medicaid coverage protections.
Procedural or paperwork reasons led to loss of coverage for 77% of people. Although nearly 298,000 Arkansans have regained coverage, there are still a significant number of people who are eligible and have yet to re-enroll in Medicaid coverage.
This loss to healthcare coverage has resulted in less access to cessation coverage for many Arkansans.