Missouri Highlights

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States and in Missouri. To address this enormous toll, the American Lung Association calls for the following actions to be taken by Missouri’s elected officials:

During the 2024 legislative session, Missouri lawmakers passed an appropriations bill that funded the tobacco prevention and control program at $3,016,000, which is a five percent increase from last year’s funding level. This is due in no small part to the efforts of a legislative champion who advocated for a funding increase to the tobacco use prevention program.

Four pieces of legislation that would preempt stronger local tobacco product licensure and/or sales regulations were introduced. The bill that advanced the furthest included preemption of local tobacco product sales within a state Tobacco 21 bill and had two additional tobacco sales preemption amendments attached. Thanks to a coordinated effort among our health partners and key legislators, these preemptive policies did not advance further. Industry driven legislation to set up an e-cigarette directory based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration pre-market tobacco application status was also introduced, but also did not advance.

From 2023 to 2024, the number of tobacco industry lobbyist registrations increased from 31 to 42. Missouri is in the top 10 states with the most tobacco industry lobbyists (ASH, U.S. Tobacco Lobbyist and Lobbying Firm Registration Tracker, 2024). This number does not include two prominent lobbyists for industry allies, who frequently publicly support tobacco industry-backed bills.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (MO TPCP) launched a new website and educational campaign in 2024, “Show Me Smokefree,” the goal of which is to raise awareness about the importance of smoke free air and comprehensive smoke free policies. The MO TPCP developed the Show Me Education and Compliance training for tobacco retailer to increase compliance with sale laws and to decrease sales and access to youth. Information on other important work being done by the program to reduce tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure can be found on their website.

During the 2025 legislative session, the American Lung Association in Missouri will continue to focus on lung health and work with public health partners to increase tobacco control funding to bring Missouri closer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-recommended level. The Lung Association will continue to educate state lawmakers and community members on the issue of preemption so that they are better equipped to avoid supporting bills that take away the rights of local communities to pass policies to protect their citizens from tobacco. The Lung Association will also support local and state laws to provide comprehensive protections from secondhand smoke in public places and workplaces.