In the State of Tobacco Control 2009 report, the American Lung Association has slammed California’s efforts on tobacco and cigarettes, giving the State an ‘F’ grade on its efforts in tobacco prevention and control spending.

The State also received a 'D' grade for both the relatively low cost of the cigarette tax and for its efforts in Cessation Coverage. More positively, the State received an 'A' for Smokefree Air and the East Bay city of Richmond received special praise for its strong anti-smoking efforts.

The Association saved its harshest words for the Legislature for not passing Senate Bill 600 last year, which would have increased the tobacco tax by $1.50 a pack.

Overall, California’s per pack tobacco tax stands at $.87, which is 32nd in the nation. Senate Bill 600 would have raised more than a billion dollars in new revenue for the state, including new funds for lung cancer research and tobacco prevention/cessation programs. According to the report, Philip Morris spent more than $800,000 between April and June 2009 to defeat the bill, which did not pass out of the State Senate.

Across the United States, the average state tobacco tax per pack of 20 cigarettes is $1.34, with some states going over $2.00 per pack in taxes. California’s tobacco tax has not been changed since 1999.

According to the ALA’s report (available at wwww.stateoftobaccocontrol.org), in California alone, the economic costs due to smoking total more than $18 billion each year. More than 36,000 deaths were attributable to smoking in the State. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California has 235.0 deaths attributable to tobacco per 100,000 population.

In California, the adult smoking rate is 14%. The high school smoking rate is slightly higher, at 14.6%, while 6% of the children in middle school are already smoking.

According to the CDC, nationwide 38.8% of those on Medicaid smoke, as do 32.5% of those who are uninsured and 17.7% of those who have private insurance. Overall the smoking rate is 22.9% in the United States.

The California Department of Public Health has made the most recent H1N1 flu statistics available. Overall in California, as of January 2, 2010, there have been 470 deaths from H1N1 and almost 1,800 severe cases. More than 1,700 patients have been admitted to an intensive care unit due to H1N1 since last April.

In other H1N1 news, Kaiser Permanente has announced that the H1N1 vaccine is now available for all its members. Previously, shortages of the vaccine had caused the organization to limit which of its members received the vaccine.

Statistics from the California Department of Public Health.