Tobacco Prevention and Cessation in West Virginia

​Background

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources’ (DHHR) Division of Tobacco (DTP) is the lead state agency for comprehensive tobacco prevention, cessation, and control. DTP saves lives and money in West Virginia by preventing and reducing tobacco use - the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. 

DTP works with local coalitions, community agencies, and state and national partners to implement and evaluate effective tobacco prevention and cessation activities that strive to: 

• Eliminate secondhand tobacco smoke. 
• Promote quitting among adults and youth. 
• Prevent youth tobacco use initiation, including vaping and other electronic delivery devices.
• Identify and eliminate disparities among populations. 

The consequences of tobacco use are well known to West Virginians, yet residents continue to use tobacco in alarming numbers. 

West Virginia has the highest reported adult tobacco use in the nation at 25.2%. West Virginia is ranked second highest in the nation in the prevalence of smokeless tobacco use at 8.9% among adults. The current use of electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes or vaping) by West Virginia adults is 5.7%, and more than 35.7% of West Virginia high school students report current use of e-cigarettes. A toolkit was developed by DTP to assist in addressing the vaping epidemic. To review this toolkit, please visit the DTP website at https://dhhr.wv.gov/wvdtp/vaping/Pages/default.aspx. 

In 2020, DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health, Office of Community Health Systems and Health Promotion and DTP along with many statewide partners developed the West Virginia Tobacco Use and Reduction Five-Year State Plan. The State Plan includes information on teen vaping, smokeless tobacco and combustible tobacco use. This plan is a resource for DHHR, DTP, and state and national partners. 

The report can be found on DTP’s website at WV Division of Tobacco Prevention. 

Programing ​

The West Virginia Tobacco Cessation Quitline is a major part of the West Virginia DTP. State and federal funding allow the Quitline to provide tobacco cessation counseling, educational materials, and nicotine replacement to West Virginia citizens who want to stop smoking. Last year was the twentieth anniversary for the Quitline and several hundreds of thousands of West Virginians have stopped using tobacco as a result of the Quitline. 

DTP funds the following programs through sub-recipient grants: 

• The American Lung Association (ALA) of West Virginia facilitates the Raze subrecipient grant. Raze is the youth led anti-tobacco program. The current focus in the 2021-2022 school year is “Striving for 55.” Raze adult advisors, youth leaders, and its members are striving to develop Raze Crews in all 55 counties of West Virginia. The Raze Program celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2021. A virtual youth summit was held in November 2021 and 1,267 youth participated. ALA also facilitates the Not on Tobacco Program and Freedom from Smoking program as part of this grant. 
• The McDowell County Commission on Aging is the sub-recipient grantee that manages the African American Tobacco Prevention Network Project as well as the Smokeless Tobacco Education Initiative. 
• Covenant House of West Virginia is responsible for the grant for LGBTQ+ focus on tobacco cessation and education.
• Ritchie County Family Resource Network manages the grant that facilitates the Coalition for a Tobacco Free West Virginia. 

Governor’s Tobacco Use Prevention, and Cessation Task Force 

A major milestone in the life of tobacco cessation and prevention in West Virginia during 2020- 2021 has been the formation of the Governor's Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Task Force. It was created by House Bill 4494 during the WV Legislature's 2020 regular session. 

The Governor's Task Force is created for the purpose of recommending and monitoring the establishment and management of programs that are found to be effective in the reduction of tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products use by all state citizens, with a strong focus on the prevention of children and young adults use of tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products. 

To review House Bill 4494, please visit West Virginia DTP’s website: https://dhhr.wv.gov/wvdtp/pages/default.aspx.

Task Force members produced a report that outlines programmatic and funding recommendations for tobacco prevention and cessation in West Virginia, which can be viewed at https://dhhr.wv.gov/wvdtp/pages/default.aspx. 

The DTP looks forward to working with DHHR’s Office of Drug Control Policy in 2022 to provide information on tobacco use in regard to other substances and health conditions. ​​