A major milestone in the life of tobacco cessation and prevention in West Virginia during 2020- 2021 has been the formation of the Governor’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Task Force. The Task Force was created by House of Delegates Bill 4494 during the 2020 regular session of the WV Legislature.  

The Governor’s Task Force was created for the purpose of recommending and monitoring the establishment and management of programs that are found to be effective in the reduction of tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products use by all state citizens, with a strong focus on the prevention of children and young adults use of tobacco, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and vapor products. 

To review House Bill 4494, please visit West Virginia Division for Tobacco Prevention website: https://dhhr.wv.gov/wvdtp/pages/default.aspx.

The Task Force members produced a report that outlines programmatic and funding recommendations for tobacco prevention and cessation in West Virginia, which can be viewed at https://dhhr.wv.gov/wvdtp/pages/default.aspx.