Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford has joined a bipartisan group of 22 attorneys general in supporting the continuation of the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS). The coalition submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), emphasizing the importance of the NYTS in tracking tobacco use among middle and high school students.
“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 sent on August 15 following a CDC request for public input regarding whether it should continue administering the NYTS. The CDC has indicated plans for revisions for future surveys but has not yet detailed what those changes might be. Recently, organizational shifts at both CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health as well as leadership changes at FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products have raised questions about ongoing oversight.
The attorneys general underscored that NYTS data has played an important role in their work addressing youth exposure to tobacco products. They referenced previous efforts such as lawsuits leading up to the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998, which required major tobacco companies not only to pay states billions of dollars but also prohibited targeting youth through advertising or misleading health claims.
Under this agreement, attorneys general are mandated to meet with tobacco companies every three years specifically focusing on reducing youth smoking—a process that relies heavily on information provided by surveys like NYTS.
States have also taken other actions including legal action against manufacturers violating settlement terms, encouraging media industries to limit depictions of tobacco use, negotiating agreements with retailers about product accessibility, and enforcing state-specific regulations aimed at protecting young people from nicotine addiction.
In Nevada specifically, enforcement is carried out by the Attorney General’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit through retailer education programs and compliance checks. During its 2023 legislative session, Nevada increased penalties for businesses found selling restricted products unlawfully; fines now range from $2,500 for first offenses up to $10,000 after repeated violations.
By signing this letter, AG Ford joins counterparts from Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington State West Virginia as well as Puerto Rico.
