Last week, the American Lung Association gave us one more example of what makes Pennsylvania such a, let’s say, challenging state to live in.

Along with antiquated liquor laws and the third-highest gasoline taxes in the nation, the association listed Pennsylvania as among the states with the worst policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use, according to its 21st annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, released last week.

Pennsylvania earned mostly failing grades on this year’s report but did show an improvement in access to cessation services moving from an ‘F’ to a ‘D’ grade.

It might seem strange to bemoan the state’s failure to rein in tobacco use in the face of the state’s legalization of marijuana use for medical problems and its jump into legal gambling throughout the commonwealth.

It seems almost quaint to consider a public service announcement warning against smoking wedged between ads for casinos and sports betting apps.

But tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in America and takes the lives of 22,010 Pennsylvania residents each year, according to the lung association.

In our state, 14.4% of adults and 26.7% of high school students use a tobacco product, according to the association.

No surprise for a state that can’t patch its roads, but Pennsylvania gets an F for its funding of tobacco prevention programs, another failing grade for not ending the sale of flavored tobacco products, and a final F for its level of state tobacco taxes.

It does slightly better drawing a D for its smoke-free workplace laws and another D for its coverage and access to services to quit tobacco.

The association noted a need for Pennsylvania policymakers to focus on preserving state funding for tobacco prevention and quit-smoking programs. In yet another familiar refrain to Pennsylvanians, the report says despite receiving $1,591,600,000 from tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes, Pennsylvania only funds tobacco control efforts at 12.8% of the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And because one of the most effective ways to reduce tobacco use is to significantly increase the tax on all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, can anyone guess which of these recommendations will probably be implemented faster than any of the other of the association’s recommendations?

— EKF