(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

As we talk about West Virginia’s substance abuse epidemic, it is important to remember one substance that has been abused by — and has been killing — Mountain State residents for generations is tobacco. This week, the American Lung Association’s annual “State of Tobacco Control” report outlined the ways in which lawmakers continue to do almost nothing to address the problem, and the toll it is taking.

West Virginia has one of the worst sets of policies in the country when it comes to reducing and preventing tobacco use. In the ALA’s report, the state received: Fs in Funding for State Tobacco Prevention Programs, Level of State Tobacco Taxes, Coverage and Access to Services to Quit Tobacco and Ending the Sale of All Flavored Tobacco Products. For Strength of Smokefree Workplace Laws the state received a D.

“The cost really is astronomical when you look at just for the state of West Virginia. You’re talking about expenditures for annual health care at $1.17 billion for health care costs,” Doug Hogan, West Virginia government relations director for the American Cancer Society Action Network, told WV MetroNews.

More than 4,200 West Virginians die annually because of conditions caused by smoking or other tobacco use.

It’s a killer, it’s expensive, it’s the kind of poison that can affect others second-hand, and we have known all these things for decades. Yet lawmakers are slow to act, while focusing their attention on also harming West Virginians by limiting what they can learn and talk about, who they can associate with, and what is available for them to read.

Year after year, at least one lawmaker tries, though. This time it is state Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, who has introduced Senate Bill 84, which would (among other things) increase taxes on tobacco products and provide that 10% of the revenue collected be dedicated to the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention.

We’ve allowed this insidious beast to plague our state for too long. Lawmakers know what they need to do. They just need to work up the courage to do it.