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The sweeping cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last spring effectively closed of the Office of Smoking and Health (OSH).
- Why it’s important: That created turmoil in states that relied heavily on the agency for tobacco prevention and cessation funding.
For example:
- In West Virginia, Raze, a youth program that aims to spread awareness about the negative health effects of tobacco use, shut down because of the federal funding cuts. The state received nearly three-quarters of its funding for anti-tobacco efforts from OSH, higher than any other state, and the state also has the highest rates of youth and adult tobacco use. The state legislature reduced the amount of money that went to countering tobacco use, and what was left went toward preserving the state quitline, which had also depended on OSH funds.
- New York’s state tobacco control bureau lost 13 staff members, impacting local programs.
- Georgia, which got half its tobacco prevention funding from OSH, shut down its tobacco use prevention program in May.
- North Carolina’s state quitline is now the state’s only anti-tobacco initiative that serves adults. The rest of the department’s efforts focused on youth are funded by a settlement with Juul.
- Some state quitlines had to drastically reduce their services this year (e.g., offering only a single call rather than multiple sessions, not offering free cessation medications like nicotine pouches/gum). Five quitlines relied on OSH for at least 75% of their funding.
What’s next: The Senate Appropriations Committee approved funding for OSH in its budget for next year, but the House committee did not, so the future of OSH remains unclear.
Read more: What West Virginia teens lost when CDC cuts ended their fight against Big Tobacco
Published
December 2025