Attorney General Ford Joins Bipartisan Letter to CDC and HHS in Support of National Youth Tobacco Survey

Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced he has joined a bipartisan coalition of 22 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) supporting continuation of the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). The NYTS is an annual study to assess the use of smoking and vaping among middle and high school students. The survey provides valuable insight into youth tobacco use and emerging products and has shaped efforts led by attorneys general to curb youth tobacco use for over two decades.

“In order to effectively combat youth tobacco use, we must have access to clear and concise data,” said AG Ford. "We have to know where to focus our efforts to ensure our children stay away from smoking and vaping, and the NYTS is a valuable resource to help our agency and others around the country target the right areas to curb youth tobacco use. This data helps us protect Nevada’s children, and I strongly urge the CDC to continue the program.”

The letter was submitted on Friday, Aug. 15 in response to a CDC invitation for public comment on continuation of the NYTS. The CDC notes that it intends to make revisions to the 2026-2028 NYTS but has yet to identify specific proposed changes. The CDC has recently eliminated its Office on Smoking and Health and has replaced leaders and cut staff at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, which regulates the tobacco industry.

The letter highlights the bipartisan work of attorneys general nationwide to address youth exposure to tobacco and nicotine products, and how NYTS data has informed and supported those critical efforts.

In 1998, 52 state and territorial attorneys general entered into a settlement with the four largest tobacco companies in the United States to resolve dozens of lawsuits. Among other important objectives, attorneys general brought these lawsuits to recover billions of dollars in health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses and to reduce and prevent smoking in the United States, especially among youth. The settlement, known as the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), bars the tobacco companies from misleading the public regarding the negative health impacts of tobacco use and prohibits tobacco companies from targeting youth in advertising. The MSA further requires the attorneys general and the tobacco companies to meet every three years to coordinate efforts to reduce youth tobacco use, an effort that relies heavily on NYTS data. To date, the MSA has generated over $171 billion in ongoing payments from the tobacco companies to the states.

In addition to the tobacco settlement, attorneys general have undertaken several initiatives to limit youth exposure to tobacco and nicotine products. These efforts include suing tobacco manufacturers to prevent violations of the MSA’s provisions intended to protect youth, urging film studios, creative guilds and streaming platforms to curb tobacco imagery in popular media; entering into agreements with major retail chains to limit the accessibility and appeal of products to youth in the retail environment; and enforcing a range of state-specific tobacco control and consumer fraud laws.

In Nevada, the Office of the Attorney General operates the state’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit, which conducts educational outreach to tobacco retailers and random inspections to ensure compliance with the state’s tobacco and nicotine age restriction laws. In the 2023 legislative session, AG Ford sponsored a bill that increased penalties on licensees that violate these laws — should an employee or agent of the business make an unlawful sale of tobacco or nicotine, the business could face fines of $2,500 for a first offense, $5,000 for a second offence, $7,500 for a third offense and $10,000 for a fourth offense.

In signing the letter, AG Ford joins the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Puerto Rico.

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