Wisconsin fails in latest smoking report

American Lung Association
gives state multiple Fs

Fail and fail again.

That’s part of what Wisconsin’s latest grades from the American Lung Association’s new State of Tobacco Control report.

The group says Wisconsin gets an ‘F’ for a lack of funding to prevent people from smoking and to help them quit. Minnesota gets the same grade, despite some drastic differences.

Wisconsin’s grade is based on spending just over $7 million on those efforts, even though it collects a hundred times that amount in tobacco tax revenue every year.

Minnesota gets an ‘F’ in the same category, even though the state spends more than three times as much as Wisconsin on quitting and prevention programs.

Wisconsin gets another ‘F’ for access to quit-smoking services.

That grade comes, despite a state Medicaid program for the poor that covers treatment, counseling and minimal co-payments.

The lung association does give the state a ‘B’ for having high tobacco taxes, and an ‘A’ for smoke-free air. 

The American Lung Association calls on state lawmakers to back away from legislation that would prohibit local governments from restricting e-cigarette use and for local lawmakers to pass ordinances that include e-cigarettes in smoke free rules.

The group also slams the state for vastly under-funding efforts to prevent smoking or help people quit.