West Virginia Highlights

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

The 2024 legislative session in West Virginia did see some small steps forward when it comes to policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use. Legislation to increase the state age of sale of 21 and repeal youth purchase, use and possession penalties outside of K-12 school grounds was approved. Legislation by Senate Majority Leader Tom Takubo to prohibit smoking in vehicles if a child under age 16 is present in a vehicle was also passed.

Public health advocates continue to be on alert in the 2025 legislative session following passage of legislation several years ago that prevented local boards of health from passing stronger smokefree regulations without county council approval. Fortunately, a strong coalition which includes the Lung Association has been able to fight off further attempts to preempt stronger local smokefree laws. Smokefree regulations currently protect over one million West Virginians from the dangers of secondhand smoke; the Lung Association along with the dedication of partner organizations will continue to oppose state preemption and protect local, comprehensive smokefree air laws.

The Lung Association and West Virginia’s youth tobacco prevention group, Raze, have worked tirelessly to address the high rates of tobacco use in the state along with the skyrocketing e-cigarette use rates among young people. Through ongoing education, local and statewide events, youth continue to fight the disproportionately high burden of tobacco across West Virginia. Additional state funding for tobacco control programs could help with these efforts. West Virginia’s state funding of $461,000 is too low given the scale of the problem in the state, and woefully short of the CDC-recommended level of funding. To further prevent youth from starting tobacco or switching products, the Lung Association will also continue to recommend evidenced-based polices to reduce youth tobacco use such as increasing the cigarette tax and equalizing the rates across all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.

The American Lung Association in West Virginia will continue to work with our partners in 2025 to educate lawmakers and the public on the ongoing fight against tobacco through proven policies such as increasing funding for tobacco prevention and control programs, protecting local control of smokefree air laws, and increasing taxes on tobacco products.