Tobacco Prevention Programs & Smokefree Air at Risk

Recently, we received additional deeply disturbing news about the dismantling of programs and the elimination of public health reports and other resources available through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The Federal government instructed CDC’s Chronic Disease program to freeze funding to states. The Oklahoma legislature introduced a move to unconstitutionally change the structure of the board for the Tobacco Settlement and Education Trust Fund (TSET) and ANR has joined an amicus brief opposing this politicized move. In addition, the CDC Publications Warehouse, home to a large number of Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) publications, is closing on Friday, August 15, 2025. It is ANR’s understanding that items not ordered by the deadline will be recycled. ANRF will preserve as many digital resources as we can.

These recent actions, in conjunction with the complete dismantling of OSH, and the removal of funds to successful state tobacco prevention and cessation programs, and to other providers such as the ANR Foundation for its policy surveillance data, appear to be part of an industry strategy designed to ignore the impact of commercial tobacco use and promotions to vulnerable populations including youth, marginalized groups such as low wage workers, LGBTQ, and other racial ethnic groups. These moves benefit the multi-billion dollar smoking industry. Gutting the agencies that track smoking rates and secondhand smoke exposure seems intended to remove the very data that justifies smokefree policies and regulations.

Removing the infrastructure of the cost-effective tobacco prevention movement, complete with smoking prevention and cessation services and the implementation of life-saving policies like smokefree indoor environments, will result in higher rates of disease and disability along with the resultant increased health care costs to local, state, and the Federal government. A few states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia are some states that have closed their tobacco prevention and cessation programs, and more are on the horizon. It’s worth noting that Susie Wiles, President Trump’s current White House chief of staff, was a tobacco industry lobbyist.  Wiles and her firm, Mercury Public Affairs, represented Swisher International, a tobacco company known for its Swisher Sweets cigars and its battles with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over flavored products.

ANR Foundation is also impacted by these reductions in funding and programs. Many states rely on our 50 years of experience and expertise in building strong coalitions, capacity building for public health staff and training of workers and citizens to engage in advocacy efforts to improve the air quality in indoor environments to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke and improve the quality of life for all Americans, their families, and their communities.

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Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported,501c4, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for over 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. nonsmokersrights.org

About ANRF, sister organization to ANR, American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF) is a 501c3 non-profit educational and advocacy group that has been working for nearly 50 years to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANRF has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANRF aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://no-smoke.org/. ANRF projects include https://smokefreecasinos.org/ and https://smokefreemusiccities.org/.