How Texas is Fighting Tobacco Addiction

Collaborative Post by Lilly Cartwright

Tobacco use and cigarette smoking have become a global public health concern. Still, Texas is putting up a fight as tobacco prevention is a growing priority. In 2020, a Truth Initiative report found that cigarette use among adults in Texas was at 13.2% — compared to the national rate of 15.5%. In 2021, the state allocated $4.2 million in state funds to tobacco prevention, 1.6% of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual spending target.

Likewise, many municipalities in Texas have local 100% smoke-free laws to include bars, restaurants, and non-hospitality workplaces. According to the CDC, 47.4% of daily adult smokers in Texas quit smoking for one or more days in 2019.

Fighting tobacco addiction and reducing or eliminating cigarette smoking can significantly benefit the public’s general health and quality of life. Below, we’ll look at more ways Texas is fighting tobacco addiction:

Smoking cessation tools
One of the critical aspects of reducing tobacco and cigarette use is the rise of smoking cessation tools. While not necessarily new to the market, many more brands and manufacturers today offer various smoking cessation tools for smokers.

Products such as nicotine pouches are easily accessible and can be bought online. These pouches provide microdoses of nicotine to help smokers wean off the habit over time. ZYN nicotine pouches are smoke-free and tobacco-free, as the nicotine is extracted and purified from the tobacco plant using high-distillation procedures and are therefore not against local regulations. Another smoking cessation tool that can help curb the smoking habit is cessation medication such as cytisinicline, which mimics nicotine effects in the body to reduce withdrawal symptoms. The plant-based compound ORCA-3 is being examined by The Clinical Trials of Texas to test the efficacy of these plant-based products.

Tobacco and vaping ban
In specific areas like Austin, smoking is banned in public spaces such as city buildings, workplaces, and restaurants. Lately, the state has also focused on legislating against e-cigarettes like vapes.

House Bill 3124, if passed, would ban cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and smokable tobacco products on all college and university campuses in Texas. Insights from the American Heart Association indicate that most life-long tobacco users start before age 26, so it’s just as crucial to prevent access to tobacco products as early as possible. Notably, it is already against the law in Texas to sell tobacco and vape products to anyone under 21.

Local health challenges
Finally, Texas fights tobacco use and addiction through local health challenges. This is a great way to get local communities involved in health-based programs and initiatives and promote better public health.

In a previous post, we wrote about the VegOut! Challenge — a call to action to eat 30 different vegetables in 30 days. The VegOut! Challenge helps make healthy eating fun with an easy-to-use online game and mobile app. While these challenges don’t directly impact smoking cessation attempts, they are an excellent way to encourage healthier lifestyle choices and habits, which may motivate smokers to quit less healthy habits such as smoking.

Healthy habits and anti-litter campaigns
Aside from the accessibility of smoking cessation tools, Texas also has a well-known anti-litter campaign to promote litter prevention across the state. “Don’t Mess with Texas” was established in 1986, and recently collaborated with actor Ethan Hawke through TV and radio PSAs.

The anti-littering program includes a grassroots partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful, annual “Trash-Off” community outreach events, and the Adopt-a-Highway volunteer program. Typical garbage, like fast-food cups, cans, straws, gum wrappers, and cigarette butts, are considered litter, which helps discourage smoking in public places.

To further lower the rate of adult smokers in Texas, government and non-profit initiatives must work together to promote better and healthier habits. Accessibility to smoking cessation tools and programs can help smokers quit the habit without struggling with withdrawal symptoms and risking relapsing back into smoking. Similarly, initiatives such as anti-litter campaigns and local health challenges can also help instill healthier mindsets among smokers.

Photo provided by Lilly Cartwright