On Wednesday, the American Lung Association released its “State of Tobacco Control 2017 – California Local Grades” report, which found that city and county leaders throughout the Bay Area made great efforts to improve tobacco control policies to prevent and reduce tobacco use as well as limit exposure to secondhand smoke. However, Solano County is not included among these improvements, as the county and its cities received failing grades across the board regarding tobacco control policies.

The report notes that 2016 was a very good year for California and tobacco prevention. In November, voters approved raising the tobacco tax by $2, and California became only the second state in the union to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. The report aims to grade the state, as well as all of its cities and counties, on four key policies: tobacco control and prevention spending, smoke-free air, tobacco taxes and cessation coverage.

There are three tobacco control policy grades assigned to each city and county: smoke-free outdoor air (dining areas, entryways, public events, recreation areas, etc.), smoke-free housing (non-smoking apartments, common areas, etc.) and reducing sales of tobacco products. The municipalities are given points in each of the areas and then assigned a letter grade based on the points tallied. They are also assigned bonus points on emerging issues such as restricting e-cigarette usage in the same places where traditional cigarettes are regulated, providing samples of tobacco products and selling tobacco products in pharmacies.

According to the report, many Bay Area cities had demonstrated great improvement in tobacco prevention policies. For the first time ever, more than 20 communities received an overall grade of A and more than a dozen communities increased their grade from A to F in at least one policy area. Among the areas that received A grades were Saratoga, Santa Clara County, El Cerrito, Richmond, Daly City, Berkeley, Dublin and Union City.

“We applaud the efforts of local leaders throughout the Bay Area who continue to push for improved tobacco control policies in their communities,” Mark Di Giorgio, chair of the American Lung Association California’s Bay Area chapter, said in a statement. “Tobacco-related illnesses remain the single most preventable cause of disease and death in California and strong policies reduce smoking rates and exposure to secondhand smoke, and to protect our children from a lifetime of addiction.”

Despite the positive strides, more than half of the cities received D or F grades, and none of California’s 10 most populous cities received A grades. In Solano County, Vallejo was the only city out of seven to score a grade of D, while the others scored Fs. Benicia’s sole point was due to having “a strong definition of smoke, smoking or tobacco product that would include electronic cigarettes or other new and emerging tobacco products in a jurisdiction’s secondhand smoke laws and the jurisdiction’s secondhand smoke laws extend further than the state laws.” Other communities had scored points for smoke-free recreation and dining areas, but it was not enough to save the county from scoring an overall grade of F.

“Despite the significant progress that will be made as a result of these improvements, the fight against the harms caused by tobacco remains monumental,” the report noted. “Tobacco continues to be the number one cause of preventable death in California. Over one-quarter of all cancer deaths in California are attributable to smoking, and over 16,000 kids start smoking each year.”

For the full report, visit http://www.lung.org/local-content/california/documents/state-of-tobacco-control/2017/2017-sotc__california-full.pdf.

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