Let’s make West Virginia better with lower smoking rates

Jun. 17, 2026

By Mary Wade Burnside

A friend who was a long-term cigarette user told me she and her husband finally decided to quit when they looked down at the smoke rising from the tobacco sticks in their hands and realized they could handle a monthly new car payment with the money they spent on the habit.
It took that a-ha moment for them to begin to realize how much smoking affected their lives.
Other individuals have also probably experienced moments of clarity that prompted them to quit smoking. Wanting to live to be old enough (and healthy) to see kids grow into full adulthood. Playing with future grandchildren. Not wanting second-hand smoke to affect children, pets and anyone else they are around. Not setting a bad example for children and teens who might be more influenced to start vaping or smoking if they see an adult doing it.
Not eventually being tethered to an oxygen tank and gasping for breaths.
Most people who smoke know that it damages their heart and lungs and puts them at high risk for cancer, emphysema and cardiovascular disease.
So it’s important to find the potential eventuality that would motivate them to quit.
It’s also a good idea to let them know there is help out there. The West Virginia Tobacco Quitline can be accessed by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW. Participants can not only have phone discussions with counselors, but also receive products such as prescription medications that can reduce the urge to smoke.
Other programs can also be helpful: the American Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking program, as well as its effort to help keep teens from smoking and vaping.
West Virginia Day is on the horizon, taking place this Saturday on June 20.
While it’s a great time to celebrate West Virginia’s 163rd birthday and reflect on the Mountain State’s great attributes, we can also consider how to improve the quality of life for residents.
Of course, reducing smoking is definitely on that list. With a 21% smoking rate, West Virginia consistently ranks 49th or 50th among all American states in the prevalence of smoking.
According to the most recent West Virginia Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Report, the state’s prevalence of 20.4% for current cigarette smoking in 2022 was significantly higher than the figure for the entire United States by almost twice as much.
What’s more, household income and levels of education also greatly influenced these statistics. The smoking prevalence in a household with an income less than $15,000 was 45.4%, compared to 10.9% for a household with an income of more than $75,000.
Examining education levels yields similar results. The prevalence of smoking among Individuals with “less than high school” is 42.4%; while among college graduates it’s 8.7%.
And the American Lung Association has recently given the state scores of D and F when it comes to funding smoking cessation programs.
There is some good news: The smoking prevalence has declined in West Virginia in the past few years. However, vaping rates have shot up, and West Virginia teens have the highest rate in the country, at around 27%.
At Monongalia County Health Department, smoking is addressed in several of our programs.
MCHD Women, Infants and Children (WIC), which operates the federally-funded nutrition program in Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor counties, refers expectant mothers who smoke to the Baby & Me Tobacco Free program, which offers incentives that include coupons for free diapers to participants and other smoking residents in the home.
MCHD Dentistry offers smoking cessation information and also performs a thorough mouth exam during checkups.
And MCHD Environmental Health worked to pass and now enforce the Clean Indoor Air regulations that went into effect in 2012 to ban indoor smoking in public buildings and were updated in 2017 to include vaping.
If smokers consider some of the other side effects that impact those around them and their community at whole, as well as their future selves, maybe taking the first step would be easier.
And maybe in future West Virginia Day celebrations, Mountaineers will have one more thing to celebrate by living in a state with lower smoking rates.

Mary Wade Burnside is the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department.