Kentucky is not doing enough to prevent smoking and vaping, says annual report
The Kentucky Capitol. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)
The American Lung Association gave Kentucky mostly failing grades when it comes to preventing tobacco use — and helping people access recovery — in a 2025 report released Wednesday.
The new 'State of Tobacco Control' report 'evaluates state and federal policies on actions taken to eliminate use and recommends proven-effective control laws and policies to save lives.'
It says Kentucky lawmakers should require merchants who sell nicotine products to have licenses to do so.
This is at least partially in line with what Lebanon Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon wants to do during the 2025 legislative session. Higdon told a committee in November that he would file legislation to license all sellers of tobacco or vape products, giving the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) the same enforcement authority over businesses that sell nicotine products as those that sell alcohol, including the power to enter the businesses without warrants.
He has yet to file the bill, but still intends to, according to a Senate Republican spokesman. The legislature is on break but returns to Frankfort Feb. 4 to finish the 2025 session.
The lung association also wants Kentucky to 'provide for and fund specific enforcement measures and establish a meaningful penalty structure for underage sales violations.'
Shannon Baker, the advocacy director at the American Lung Association in Kentucky, said in a statement that 'policymakers in Kentucky must focus on requiring retail licenses to sell nicotine products and increasing funding for youth quit-smoking programs' this year.
'In addition to grading Kentucky's policies, this year's 'State of Tobacco Control' report examines the industry's increasingly aggressive actions to addict a new generation to nicotine and hinder proven public policies to prevent and reduce use,' Baker said in a statement.
'Here in Kentucky, we are seeing industry lobbyists at the state and local levels working to stop or weaken proven nicotine control policies,' she said. 'The industry is also introducing new products that appeal to youth like e-cigarettes that mimic smartphones, kid-friendly flavors and flavored nicotine pouches that are heavily marketed by social media influencers.'
Tobacco use takes an especially high toll in Kentucky, where smoking and lung cancer rates exceed those in the rest of the nation.
About 17% of Kentucky adults smoke vs. 11% nationally. In Kentucky, 5% of high school students smoke and almost 20% use e-cigarettes, according to The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Smoking costs the state more than $2 billion every year in health complications, according to the campaign.
Smoking is also a leading cause of preventable death across the country, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Michael Seilback, the assistant vice president of state public policy for the American Lung Association, said the poor grades are due in large part to Kentucky not spending enough on cessation and prevention. The report card puts the state toward the bottom in the country, he told the Lantern.
'Kentucky received grades that by no account would be a report card that anybody would want to bring home,' Seilback said.
The State of Tobacco report gives Kentucky these 'grades':
Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs — F. This grade is because Kentucky spends only a small portion of what it should on tobacco control, Seilback said. Overall, it spends about $50 million less than what it needs to, he said.
Strength of Smoke Free Workplace Laws — F. The lung association wants to see comprehensive protections in place that guarantee no one will be exposed to secondhand smoke in their place of employment, Seilback said. He believes a 2025 House Bill could undermine this by overriding local control. This bill says local ordinances restricting smoking will not apply to the interior of cigar bars.
Level of State Tobacco Taxes — F. Kentucky's tax rate for a 20-pack of cigarettes is $1.10, which Seilback said is much lower than other states (some charge $5) and the national average. Increasing this could deter consumption, he said.
Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco — C. Kentucky offers 'comprehensive coverage for cessation medication and counseling' through Medicaid, Seilback said, 'which is really important.' Hurting Kentucky's grade here is the amount of money the state spends per smoker: 98 cents.
Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products — F. Kentucky hasn't done enough to limit flavored tobacco products, Seilback said, which 'attract younger people' and 'mask the harshness of the chemicals and toxins that are in these products.'
In 2024, the state legislature passed a law aimed at curbing underage vaping by limiting sales to 'authorized products' or those that have 'a safe harbor certification' based on their status with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The bill was backed by Altria, the country's largest manufacturer of cigarettes which also markets FDA-approved vape products. Altria has spent more than $500,000 lobbying the Kentucky legislature since January 2022, according to records filed with the Legislative Ethics Commission.
The American Lung Association's stance is that this law 'was a missed opportunity, a failed opportunity,' Seilback said.
'We don't believe that it's going to have the effect that others might have,' he added.
The law faced an unsuccessful constitutional challenge that argued it was too broad and arbitrary. It went into effect Jan. 1. Some have argued it does little more than harm businesses while others say it didn't go far enough to stop youth from accessing the products.
The argument that crackdowns on tobacco sales are anti-business isn't unique to Kentucky, Seilback said. In fact, 'there's probably not a state we don't hear that argument.'
But, he said, 'there is a cost to Kentucky because of tobacco use.'
'It's important to remember that the cost of addiction and the cost of tobacco to our state is significant,' he said. 'There's health care costs, there's lost days of work. And so we shouldn't think about these things in such a black and white way because the costs are tremendous. And, in states and localities that have regulated tobacco products, we have not seen the economic harm that is often presented by opponents to these laws.'
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
32 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Why won't Republicans call on Joe Hogsett to resign?
It is shocking that only one out of six Republicans on the Indianapolis City-County Council have called on Mayor Joe Hogsett to resign following sexual harassment allegations that have rocked his office in recent months. Many constituents of Republican councilors are frustrated that their caucus has been more passive than council Democrats, three of whom are on record saying Hogsett should resign. It is hard to trust your leaders when they stay silent about a moral and ethical issue, especially involving one of their political enemies. If anyone should have the courage to speak up, it should be Republicans. Unlike their Democratic colleagues, Republicans don't have to worry about Hogsett continuing to be a power broker in their party for several years due to their trouble building an independent political machine. '[Calling on Hogsett to resign] could cause personal financial hardship to people,' Democratic Councilor Jesse Brown, the first to call on Hogsett to resign, told me. '[And he] is in good with all the biggest donors and he has a ton of money in the bank and so … he absolutely could you know levy those connections or that money to sink people's political careers.' Briggs: Hogsett's texts to women show Indianapolis mayor embodied toxic culture When I asked Republican Minority Leader Michael-Paul Hart why he hasn't called on Hogsett to resign, he said he didn't want to get political. He has focused his criticism on the investigation into Hogsett, rather than Hogsett himself. After all, many are starting to think the investigation was just a PR stunt aimed at clearing him of legal liability. 'I try to be as apolitical as possible because I think local government is just non-political … we're always talking about roads, water, trash, public safety,' Hart said. 'At the end of the day, we've got to focus on what we can control and what is symbolic.' Gov. Mike Braun expressed a similar sentiment when asked by WIBC-FM (93.1) host Nigel Laskowski about the scandal. 'What I'm more concerned about would be the potholes per linear mile,' Braun said June 18. I don't think fixing potholes, criticizing a political process and taking a moral stance against political leaders engaging in ethical violations should be mutually exclusive. However, Hogsett still controls the city budget and Council President Vop Osili appears to be positioning himself to succeed Hogsett. Either person could retaliate against Republicans who chose to make trouble and divert city funds away from their districts. Opinion: I was dragged out by sheriff's deputies. Indiana Democrats stayed silent. 'I try to remind folks all the time there's … 240,000 people that the six of us (Republicans) represent and I would certainly not want them to be disenfranchised,' Hart told me when I asked if he thought Hogsett would retaliate against Republicans. 'But I would hope that the mayor wouldn't punish the people of our districts for something of that nature.' Several councilors and their employers are also financially dependent on contracts with the city-county government, which Hogsett could push to terminate if councilors call on him to resign. Hart, for example, is employed as a director by SHI International, which has a six million dollar contract through 2027 with Indianapolis. The risk of retaliation, however, did not stop both Democratic and Republican leaders from calling on former Attorney General Curtis Hill to resign after he faced allegations of groping, and did not stop both Democratic and Republican leaders from condemning former Indiana Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor after he faced allegations of sexual harassment. Taking the personal risk to call for greater ethical standards for political leaders may not fix the roads, but it will do something just as important. It will rebuild public trust in local leaders by providing some concrete evidence that they subscribe to a set of moral standards, and that they want our political system to be just and fair for both their constituents and employees.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
GOP tax bill would ease regulations on gun silencers and some rifles and shotguns
WASHINGTON (AP) — The massive tax and spending cuts package that President Donald Trump wants on his desk by July 4 would loosen regulations on gun silencers and certain types of rifles and shotguns, advancing a longtime priority of the gun industry as Republican leaders in the House and Senate try to win enough votes to pass the bill. The guns provision was first requested in the House by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, a Republican gun store owner who had initially opposed the larger tax package. The House bill would remove silencers — called 'suppressors' by the gun industry — from a 1930s law that regulates firearms that are considered the most dangerous, eliminating a $200 tax while removing a layer of background checks. The Senate kept the provision on silencers in its version of the bill and expanded upon it, adding short-barreled, or sawed-off, rifles and shotguns. Republicans who have long supported the changes, along with the gun industry, say the tax infringes on Second Amendment rights. They say silencers are mostly used by hunters and target shooters for sport. 'Burdensome regulations and unconstitutional taxes shouldn't stand in the way of protecting American gun owners' hearing,' said Clyde, who owns two gun stores in Georgia and often wears a pin shaped like an assault rifle on his suit lapel. Democrats are fighting to stop the provision, which was unveiled days after two Minnesota state legislators were shot in their homes, as the bill speeds through the Senate. They argue that loosening regulations on silencers could make it easier for criminals and active shooters to conceal their weapons. 'Parents don't want silencers on their streets, police don't want silencers on their streets,' said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The gun language has broad support among Republicans and has received little attention as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., work to settle differences within the party on cuts to Medicaid and energy tax credits, among other issues. But it is just one of hundreds of policy and spending items included to entice members to vote for the legislation that could have broad implications if the bill is enacted within weeks, as Trump wants. Inclusion of the provision is also a sharp turn from the climate in Washington just three years ago when Democrats, like Republicans now, controlled Congress and the White House and pushed through bipartisan gun legislation. The bill increased background checks for some buyers under the age of 21, made it easier to take firearms from potentially dangerous people and sent millions of dollars to mental health services in schools. Passed in the summer of 2022, just weeks after the shooting of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas, it was the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades. Three years later, as they try to take advantage of their consolidated power in Washington, Republicans are packing as many of their longtime priorities as possible, including the gun legislation, into the massive, wide-ranging bill that Trump has called 'beautiful." 'I'm glad the Senate is joining the House to stand up for the Second Amendment and our Constitution, and I will continue to fight for these priorities as the Senate works to pass President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill,' said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who was one of the lead negotiators on the bipartisan gun bill in 2022 but is now facing a primary challenge from the right in his bid for reelection next year. If the gun provisions remain in the larger legislation and it is passed, silencers and the short-barrel rifles and shotguns would lose an extra layer of regulation that they are subject to under the National Firearms Act, passed in the 1930s in response to concerns about mafia violence. They would still be subject to the same regulations that apply to most other guns — and that includes possible loopholes that allow some gun buyers to avoid background checks when guns are sold privately or online. Larry Keane of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who supports the legislation, says changes are aimed at helping target shooters and hunters protect their hearing. He argues that the use of silencers in violent crimes is rare. 'All it's ever intended to do is to reduce the report of the firearm to hearing safe levels,' Keane says. Speaking on the floor before the bill passed the House, Rep. Clyde said the bill restores Second Amendment rights from 'over 90 years of draconian taxes.' Clyde said Johnson included his legislation in the larger bill 'with the purest of motive.' 'Who asked for it? I asked,' said Clyde, who ultimately voted for the bill after the gun silencer provision was added. Clyde was responding to Rep. Maxwell Frost, a 28-year-old Florida Democrat, who went to the floor and demanded to know who was responsible for the gun provision. Frost, who was a gun-control activist before being elected to Congress, called himself a member of the 'mass shooting generation' and said the bill would help 'gun manufacturers make more money off the death of children and our people.' 'There's a reason silencers have been regulated for nearly a century: They make it much harder for law enforcement and bystanders to react quickly to gunshots,' said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. Schumer and other Democrats are trying to convince the Senate parliamentarian to drop the language as she reviews the bill for policy provisions that aren't budget-related. 'Senate Democrats will fight this provision at the parliamentary level and every other level with everything we've got,' Schumer said earlier this month.
Chicago Tribune
an hour ago
- Chicago Tribune
Today in Chicago History: ‘The Sandberg Game' rocks Wrigley Field
Here's a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on June 23, according to the Tribune's archives. Is an important event missing from this date? Email us. Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago) Chicago's history with hosting Democratic and Republican conventions dates back to 18601888: Frederick Douglass spoke at the Republican National Convention in Chicago's Auditorium Theatre. He received one vote from Kentucky in the fourth ballot — making him the first Black person nominated for president. 1895: A Chicago Colts game against Cleveland was interrupted after the third inning so the entire team could be arrested for violating laws banning baseball games on Sunday. While a West Side Grounds crowd of 10,000 fans waited, the players were marched into the clubhouse where they signed $100 bail bonds. They then returned to the field to finish a 13-4 victory. 1930: Future Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Hack Wilson hit for the cycle against the Philadelphia Phillies. Vintage Chicago Tribune: Chicago Cubs who have hit for the cycle Wilson drove in a single-season record of 191 runs during the 1930 season, hit his 22nd home run of the year into right field in the first inning, then picked up a triple, double and two singles. 1960: Ground was broken on a 51-acre site in Elk Grove Village, which was just 5 miles away from O'Hare International Airport, for United Airlines' headquarters and training schools. United remained at the location until its offices were moved in 2009 to Willis Tower. In August 2022, CloudHQ began demolition of the former United Airlines corporate headquarters in Mount Prospect, with plans to build a $2.5 billion data center campus. 1975: Chicago City Council passed 'Burke's Law,' an ordinance proposed by former 14th Ward Ald. Edward Burke that outlawed nudity in massage parlors. The nickname was inspired by a popular television detective show from that time. Vintage Chicago Tribune: Pelé, Hamm, Beckham, Rapinoe, Messi and more. When soccer's big names came to play1976: The Chicago Sting beat the New York Cosmos, in front of 28,000 fans. It was soccer star Pelé's last match at Soldier Field. 1984: 'The Sandberg Game.' Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg hit a pair of late-inning, game-tying home runs off St. Louis Cardinals closer Bruce Sutter in the Cubs' 12-11, 11-inning win before a crowd of 38,079 at Wrigley Field. It signaled his rise to stardom — setting the second baseman on a course that would earn him the National League Most Valuable Player Award. The wild, comeback win gave notice to the rest of America that the 1984 Cubs were for real despite a 39-year World Series drought and not a single championship since 1908. That game ignited an unforgettable summer run that ended with a postseason collapse in San Diego, only one game shy of the World Series. What to know about the Chicago Bears' possible move to Arlington Heights — or a domed stadium on the lakefront2000: Churchill Downs Inc. bought Arlington Park for a reported $71 million. Arlington closed its gates on Sept. 25, 2021. The Bears finalized a deal to buy the site in February 2023. Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group, stay current with Today in Chicago History and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago's past.
