New report reveals Florida tobacco control successes over past 20 years, and outlines path to end tobacco use and save lives

The American Lung Association’s 20^th annual “State of Tobacco Control” report reveals significant progress in the work to end tobacco use, but products like e-cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, create concern for losing another generation to nicotine addiction. The report finds that Florida made no progress on passing policies to reduce and prevent tobacco use, including e-cigarettes.

The “State of Tobacco Control” report evaluates state and federal policymakers on actions taken to eliminate tobacco use, the nation’s leading cause of preventable death. The report recommends proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies to save lives. The 2022 “State of Tobacco Control” reveals that the country has made substantial progress in advancing tobacco control policies over the past 20 years, including comprehensive smokefree laws in more states, increased tobacco taxes across the nation and more Americans with access to treatments to help them quit smoking through state Medicaid programs.

Here in Florida in the last 20 years, lawmakers have made some strides to reduce tobacco use by continuing to fund the Tobacco Free Florida program and enacting the constitutional amendment to prohibit smoking in certain indoor workplaces, however, there is more work to be done. Many workers are still exposed to secondhand smoke with high rates of youth tobacco use statewide while restricting local governments authority to respond with local tobacco prevention and control laws. The smoking rate is 14.7 percent, and the high school tobacco use rate is 25.2 percent.

Florida’s Grades

“State of Tobacco Control” 2022 grades states and the District of Columbia in five areas that have been proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use and save lives. Florida received the following grades:

1. Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs – Grade F
2. Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws – Grade B
3. Level of State Tobacco Taxes – Grade F
4. Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco – Grade D
5. Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products - Grade F

This year’s report noted the need for Florida policymakers to focus on repealing the state laws that prevent local governments from passing stronger tobacco control laws. These types of laws are a favorite tactic of the tobacco industry and its allies as it denies local governments the ability to pass meaningful public policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use, including addressing the youth vaping epidemic. 

Federal Grades Overview

“State of Tobacco Control” 2022 also grades the federal government in five areas:

• Federal Government Regulation of Tobacco Products (2022 grade – D)
• Federal Coverage of Quit Smoking Treatments (2022 grade – D)
• Level of Federal Tobacco Taxes (2022 grade – F)
• Federal Mass Media Campaigns to Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use (2022 grade – A)
• Federal Minimum Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21 (2022 grade – I*)

* The Incomplete grade is for the FDA being more than 18 months overdue in publishing the final Tobacco 21 regulations as required by statute.

If you or someone you love is struggling with tobacco or nicotine addiction, here are four steps and additional resources that can help.

Agree on Smokefree Spaces

While your partner or your housemates may continue to smoke, agreeing on some smokefree spaces where you are free of temptation is essential and all part of the compromise of shared housing situations. Establish certain spaces — your car, your bedroom and if possible certain shared spaces—as smokefree zones where your housemates respect your journey toward quitting smoking.

Your housemates need to understand that you’re undertaking a personal journey and it has nothing to do with their behavior. By making this clear you’re ensuring that they don’t feel pressured to quit on your behalf and you’ll be more likely to have their support.

Get Ready to Go

If you’re living with smokers, it’s sadly unavoidable that there will be times where you’re witnessing the very behavior you’re trying to cut out and the temptation to partake might be rising. Preempt this temptation by having an exit strategy—a bag packed and an escape plan are essential.

Whether that means going for a walk around the block, a long drive into the countryside or having alternative accommodation available for a night or two, if you’re serious about quitting smoking, you need to be ready to do what it takes.

Try to Distance Yourself from Other Smoker’s Environments

If there’s temptation in the home, it’s all the more important that you try to avoid places where smokers are congregating in your daily life. Whether this is social gatherings or smoke breaks at work, you’ll need to distance yourself from smoke-filled places while you’re overcoming your addiction.

Taking a temporary break from alcohol can provide a big benefit at this stage too. It’s incredibly easy to relapse into a cigarette after a drink and bar settings are often filled with temptation. You don’t have to quit forever, or to isolate yourself from your social networks, just take a short break.

Build a Non-Smoker’s Mindset

Rather than thinking of yourself as a smoker who’s trying to quit, reconceptualizing yourself as a non-smoker can make a huge difference to your mindset around cigarette. As well as the physical and chemical elements of addiction, behavior and mindset play an important role.

Additional resources

For over 35 years, the American Lung Association has been helping people quit smoking through our Freedom From Smoking program as well as offering assistance through our online communities.

E-cigarettes and Lung Health: Find answers to common questions about e-cigarettes, including health consequences, risks of secondhand emissions, kids and e-cigarettes and FDA oversight. Learn More

The American Lung Association recognizes the need for lung health and smoking cessation programs for the business environment. To assist employers, we offer several programs for businesses and managed care providers. Contact us at 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or WorkplaceWellness@Lung.org to learn how we can provide our gold standard tobacco cessation program, Freedom From Smoking^®, to your business.

Get involved with the Freedom From Smoking^® program by either bringing it to your organization or becoming a trained Freedom From Smoking clinic facilitator.