Posted on 02/03/25
| News Source: Maryland Matters
Annapolis, MD - Feb. 3, 2025 - Maryland was dubbed “most improved” in a new report grading state policies to combat tobacco use among residents, due in part to new laws that raised the state tax on cigarettes and included e-cigarettes in the state’s Clean Indoor Air Act last year.
But there is still room to improve, according to the American Lung Association.
“Maryland did a couple of really great and strong policy things last year,” said Aleks Casper, the association’s advocacy director for Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C. “But the report highlights that there is more work to be done … That report is a snapshot, so we need to make sure to protect the progress that we’ve made.”
The annual State of Tobacco Control 2025 Report grades states on policies designed “to prevent and reduce tobacco use, including e-cigarettes, in effect as of January 2025.”
“The federal government, all 50 state governments and the District of Columbia are graded to determine if their laws and policies are adequately protecting citizens from the enormous toll tobacco use takes on lives, health and the economy,” the report said.
The American Lung Association cited new regulations and tobacco taxes Maryland put into place over the last year, especially as “tobacco industry actions slowed progress in most states on the proven public policies called for in ‘State of Tobacco Control,’” the report said.
“Maryland was a notable exception – multiple pieces of legislation passed that increased the cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack and added e-cigarettes to the state smokefree workplace law as well as made other smaller improvements – making the ‘Free State’ the runaway winner of the most improved state in this year’s report,” it said.
States are graded on a variety of metrics in the report. For Maryland, the lung association gave an “A” for “smokefree air,” due to a new law that prohibits the use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping products, in indoor public spaces and indoor workplaces. The report even gave the state a “thumbs up” for the new law, an act which improved Maryland’s grade from a “B” in the 2024 report.
The American Lung Association also gave credit to the state’s increased taxes on cigarettes in 2024. The new law raised the cigarette tax by $1.25, to $5 a pack, second-highest in the nation to New York’s tax of $5.35 a pack. The current state average cigarette tax is $1.97 per pack, according to the lung association. The tax increase boosted Maryland’s grade on Tobacco taxes from a “C” in 2024 to a “B” in this year’s report.
The only jurisdiction that received an “A”: on tobacco taxes is Maryland’s neighbor, Washington, D.C., which has a smaller overall tax on cigarettes at $4.50, but has more taxes on other tobacco products, according to Casper.
Maryland got an “A” — the same as last year — in providing access and funding to tobacco-cessation services, as the state’s expanded Medicaid coverage helps provide opportunities for those who wish to quit smoking tobacco or nicotine products, among other measures.
But Maryland failed in two areas: The state should place restrictions on flavored tobacco products, the report said, and should put more money toward tobacco prevention and cessation efforts. Maryland received an “F” in both categories, according to the American Lung Association
Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association National and an assistant professor for Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said that it’s important to place restrictions on flavored tobacco products in order to ensure that fewer kids and young adults pick up the habit.
According state health officials, about 15.9% of Maryland high schoolers reported using tobacco products in 2023. The American Lung Association reports that adult tobacco use is around 14.1% in Maryland.
“We need to keep it out of the hands of the youths,“ Galiatsatos said. “If we’re not cautious, we could see a whole new generation pick up these products — to wait and see what horrendous diseases will come into their bodies with decades of addiction and uses of these products.”
Casper said that banning flavored tobacco products is a “big piece of the puzzle.”
As for increasing funding levels, that could be challenging in the current budget year, in which Maryland faces a $3 billion budget deficit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Maryland commit $48 million to tobacco prevention and cessation efforts. For fiscal 2025, the state dedicated only 47% of the CDC’s recommended funding at $23 million, even though the state brings in over $546 million in tobacco-related revenue, according to the report.
Amid a tight budget year and the funding uncertainties at the federal level, Casper noted that Maryland’s main goals for the near future are maintaining current funding levels for tobacco prevention and cessation and ensuring that the state does not backslide on protections in the Clean Indoor Air Act.
“So with the clean air act … we are protecting people from exposure to second-hand smoke as much as we can,” she said, adding that Maryland needs to “make sure there aren’t any attempts to undermine that strong policy.”
“I think the report gives us a moment to take a look at all of those things and say, ‘Here is what we’ve done,’ and celebrate the progress we have made,” she said, “but also taking a moment and saying, ‘The work is not over.’”