![The American Lung Association gave Ohio one A, one B, and three Fs - the equivalent of a 1.0 GPA](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/68e3bf2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/800x403+0+0/resize/880x443!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmediad.publicbroadcasting.net%2Fp%2Fwksu%2Ffiles%2Fstyles%2Fmedium%2Fpublic%2F201801%2Fstate_of_ohio_grades.png)
The American Lung Association is out with its yearly report card on tobacco control. Overall, Ohio gets a failing grade with one A, one D, and three F’s.
Ken Fletcher is the Ohio director of advocacy for the organization. He says the state got an F on the smoking age, which the report says should be raised from 18 to 21. It also flunked the state on the per-pack taxes on tobacco products and the amount of money dedicated to prevention efforts.
We’re taking in $1.3 billion a year in money from the tobacco industry from taxes and tobacco settlement money. So the money is there. We’re just choosing not to put it toward tobacco cessation which is a big mistake because you look at how much is it costing Ohio. It's costing us $5.6 billion a year in healthcare costs that are entirely due to people smoking -- $5.6 billion.
Ohio’s only A came in the category of smoke-free air because of its restrictions on public smoking passed by voters.
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