A dive into the American Lung Association’s “State of Tobacco Control” shows our region doesn’t come close to meeting the ALA’s standards for fighting the damage we know is done by tobacco products.

Both Ohio and West Virginia performed miserably in the group’s report card.

Ohio received F grades in tobacco prevention and cessation funding, tobacco taxes and flavored tobacco products, a C in access to cessation services, and an I for smoke free air (“Ohio is receiving an ‘I’ for Incomplete grade due to the uncertainty around whether preemption of stronger local smoke free ordinances is in place.”)

West Virginia received Fs in tobacco prevention and cessation funding, tobacco taxes and flavored tobacco products; and Ds in smokefree air and access to cessation services.

The association suggests the best ways for Ohio to do better for its residents on this front is to increase the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack and establish tax parity across all tobacco products, defend smoke free workplace laws from rollbacks or added exemptions and restore funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs to bring them closer to U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.

In West Virginia, the language regarding taxes is even stronger. “Enact a significant tobacco tax increase and equalize taxes for all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, with the cigarette tax.” Other recommendations were similar to those for Ohio.

The CDC’s tobacco excise tax map shows Ohio’s at a rate of 1.6 (that’s a range of $1.50 to $1.99 per pack); and West Virginia’s at 1.2 ($1 to $1.49 per pack). Compare that with New York, where the rate is 5.35, which translates to $4 to $6 per pack and you see how much room there is for our region to make changes.

West Virginia has the highest smoking rate in the country at 26% of the population, while 21.1% of the population smokes in Ohio. In New York, 14.1% of the population smokes.

It’s also worth considering that increasing the tax rates in Ohio or West Virginia wouldn’t make much difference for those living on the borders of Indiana, Kentucky or Virginia, as those states already have lower rates. And Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland are already significantly higher.

There is no denying smoking and use of other tobacco products contributes to a range of health problems that plague our region

Both the Mountain and Buckeye states have room to do something good for residents, IF lawmakers have the will.

They spend a lot of time talking about how worried they are for children, families and healthcare, when pursuing their own agendas. Here’s an idea that would give them a chance to prove they aren’t just blowing smoke.