NJ’s Tobacco Prevention Efforts Need Improvement, Report Says [AUDIO]

The American Lung Association's out with a new report on New Jersey's efforts to curb tobacco use, and it leaves a lot of room for improvement.

New Jersey gets mixed grades. We get an "A" for providing smoke-free air in public places.

But an "F" for funding for tobacco prevention control programs and a "D" for providing smoking-cessation opportunities for people on Medicaid or State employee health plans.

The American Lung Association says, "Sadly, New Jersey joins many other states in neglecting to properly invest its annual tobacco settlement funds and tobacco taxes to implement proven tactics that save lives and reduce tobacco-related disease."

Tobacco Companies Pushing New Products

They go on to say that tobacco companies continue to introduce and promote new products, such as candy-flavored cigars and dissolvable tobacco products.

Youth, people who are low income, Hispanics and LGBT who smoke cigars are more likely to smoke flavored cigars, according to a recent study in Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic CEO Deb Brown says the tobacco industry is working hard to make sure their market remains strong among smokers, especially the young.

"They are taking opportunities, and we need to take opportunities to educate our policy makers on the importance of fighting the tobacco industry."

According to the Lung Association, tobacco causes more than 11,000 deaths in New Jersey annually.