Emily Rice Published

Advocates Call For Tobacco Prevention Funding Under New Administration

Nicotine patches, pills and broken cigarettes on white background, lay flat.
Advocates are hopeful that Governor Patrick Morrisey will include funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs in his upcoming budget proposal.
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West Virginia invests less than 1% of its earnings from tobacco settlement money into smoking prevention and cessation programs.

Advocates are calling on Gov. Patrick Morrisey to allot settlement funds he won as the state’s attorney general from JUUL Labs, an e-cigarette company, in his upcoming 6-year proposed budget, which he said he will release before the 2025 legislative session.

Doug Hogan, the government relations director for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network said the state spends approximately $451,000 on tobacco prevention efforts, less than any state spends on similar programs.

“West Virginia invests the least of any state in the country when it comes to prevention, yet we have the highest usage rates for our youth and our adults,” Hogan said.

His group is calling on Morrisey to invest $4.5 million in fact-based tobacco control programs this year.

According to the American Lung Association, 21% of West Virginia adults are smokers, and 27% of high school students – the highest rate in the nation. Tobacco use is the leading cause of death in the state at more than 4,200 residents a year.

Hogan said he’s hopeful the funding will be allocated following conversations with Morrisey about the settlement and West Virginia’s tobacco problem.

“Governor Morrissey has said that he wants those Juul settlement funds to be used for the purpose that they were intended for, and we are 100 percent supportive of that, because we believe those funds were intended for youth prevention programs,” Hogan said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that West Virginia spend $24.7 million annually to combat the health and economic consequences of tobacco use.