"State of Tobacco Control" 2022 State Methodology

The American Lung Association's "State of Tobacco Control" 2022 is a report card that evaluates state and federal tobacco control policies by comparing them against targets based on the most current, recognized criteria for effective tobacco control measures, and translating each state and the federal government’s relative progress into a letter grade of "A" through "F." A grade of "A" is assigned for excellent tobacco control policies while an "F" indicates inadequate policies. The primary reference for all state tobacco control laws is the American Lung Association’s State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues online database. The American Lung Association has published this comprehensive summary of state tobacco control laws since 1988. Data for the state cessation section is taken from the American Lung Association’s State Cessation Coverage database.

Calculation of State Grades

State level tobacco control policies are graded in five key areas: tobacco prevention and cessation funding, smokefree air laws, state tobacco excise taxes, access to tobacco cessation treatments and services and state laws to end the sale of flavored tobacco products. The sources for the targets and the basis of the evaluation criteria for each category are described at the links below.

• State Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding
• State Smokefree Air Laws
• State Tobacco Excise Taxes
• State Access to Cessation Services
• State Flavored Tobacco Product Laws

State Statistics Used in the Report

Adult smoking rates are taken from the CDC's 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Adult smoking means having used cigarettes on one or more of the past 30 days.

High school smoking and tobacco use, and middle school smoking rates are taken from CDC's 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, state youth tobacco surveys or other state-based surveys that measure youth smoking or tobacco use rates. High school tobacco use includes having used cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, or electronic vapor products on one or more of the past 30 days for most states. In states where the tobacco products covered by the survey used are different, a sentence has been added to the state-specific footnotes on each state page describing the tobacco products included.

Health impact and economic information is taken from CDC's Smoking Attributable Mortality, Morbidity and Economic Costs (SAMMEC) software. Smoking attributable deaths reflect average annual estimates for the period 2005-2009 and are calculated for persons aged 35 years and older. Smoking-attributable health care expenditures are based on 2004 smoking-attributable fractions and 2009 personal health care expenditure data. Deaths and expenditures should not be compared by state.

State-by-state tobacco-related revenue data (revenue from state tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes) is provided by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.