Foster City Flunks Key Tobacco Prevention Test

Foster City’s efforts to protect its citizenry from the ravages of tobacco over the past year have been inadequate, a leading health organization says.

The American Lung Association gave Foster City an “F” grade in an annual report released on Thursday.

The national study measures how well local governments provide smoke-free environments outdoors, in apartment rentals, as well as their effectiveness reducing tobacco sales.

Foster City flunked all three categories.

The study was released in advance of the California Cancer Research Act, an ALA-backed measure that will appear on the June ballot.

The CCRA would increase the state’s tobacco tax by $1.00 per pack, putting those revenues towards the treatment, prevention and, ultimately, cures for lung disease, heart disease, strokes, cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses.

The CCRA also would triple state funding for tobacco prevention and cessation efforts.

Foster City isn’t the Peninsula’s only tobacco prevention deadbeat named in the report.

The 20 Peninsula cities and the unincorporated area governed by the county combined for a 0.57 GPA.

Also receiving F grades were Atherton, Brisbane, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Portola Valley, San Bruno, South City and Woodside.

The ALA gave just one Peninsula city a B grade (Belmont) and two got C’s (Menlo Park and Pacifica).

Burlingame, Redwood City, San Mateo and the unincorporated areas got D’s.

Albany, Richmond, and Union City were the only Bay Area cities and among just 12 municipalities in the state to receive A grades

California, once a leader in promoting antismoking laws, got F grades for failing to adequately fund tobacco prevention and coverage of smoking cessation and treatment services, and a D for its low cigarette tax.

California currently ranks 33rd among the 50 states and the District of Columbia for its $0.87 per-pack tax, far below the $1.46 national average.

The lone bright spot for California was an A grade for smoke-free air policies.

The low grades at local and state levels as state point to the need for California to pass the CCRA, ALA in California President and CEO Jane Warner said in a prepared statement.

The American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association have endorsed the CCRA.

“Now is the time for California to raise the grade,” Warner said.

“The California Cancer Research Act is an historic opportunity for California voters to provide more than $855 million annually to fund research for cancer and other tobacco-related diseases as well as proven tobacco prevention, education, and law enforcement efforts which will prevent 228,700 kids in California from becoming addicted smokers.”