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Growing up in West Virginia, tobacco is an inescapable part of life. From the kids sneaking cigarettes in middle school to my friends’ parents who struggle to break the habit, and even my grandfather who didn’t go a day without a cigarette for 50 years, tobacco has been a constant presence since my early childhood.
I’ve seen the damage tobacco causes and how the industry continually perpetuates its harm. In sixth grade, I joined RAZE, a youth-led movement in West Virginia that works to stop tobacco use before it starts. That experience gave me the tools and confidence to take on something big: helping my grandfather quit after 50 years of smoking. Within a year, he did, and I couldn’t be prouder.
My experience is part of a much larger public health crisis in our state — one that’s now at risk of getting worse. The elimination of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health threatens to gut West Virginia’s already limited tobacco prevention and cessation efforts. With consistently low state investment, West Virginia depends heavily on federal support to power local programs that prevent youth e-cigarette use, help kids struggling with addiction and assist adults who want to quit.
Federal funding provides 73% of our state’s tobacco prevention resources and 97% of the quitline budget, which offers free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy. It also sustained RAZE for over two decades — until the recent federal cuts forced it to shut down entirely.
These programs save lives. I’ve seen the effects firsthand. They reach kids before addiction takes hold. They empower young people like me to stand up to Big Tobacco. And for smokers, like my grandfather, they provide the tools to break free from addiction. In a state so hard hit by tobacco, these efforts are essential. West Virginia has the highest adult smoking rate in the country, the highest percentage of cancer deaths caused by smoking and the highest rate of youth e-cigarette use. In a place facing such a high level of harm, cutting these lifelines isn’t just shortsighted, it’s irresponsible.
Thankfully, we have a leader in Washington who understands what’s at stake. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., has long supported tobacco prevention and cessation efforts and recently helped lead a bipartisan push to preserve CDC funding for these programs. Her leadership gives me hope that we won’t lose the resources helping families like mine and protecting kids like me from a lifetime of addiction.
I met Capito two years ago, during the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ National Youth Symposium. I shared my story and asked her to fight for the programs that helped my grandfather quit and gave me the confidence to speak out. We are lucky to have a senator who listens to her constituents and cares about the health of West Virginian families. We will need her continued leadership as Congress works to complete funding bills and determines the fate of programs like those run by CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.
The tobacco industry is relentless. It targets kids like me with products built to addict us early — using candy-like flavors, sleek devices that look like highlighters or USB drives and, in some cases, built-in video games. These products can contain as much nicotine as 20 packs of cigarettes, which can quickly addict kids. These aren’t harmless gadgets — they’re engineered to hook a new generation. Sadly, it’s working: 27% of West Virginia high-schoolers now use e-cigarettes, which is far higher than the national rate.
As kids head back to school, they’ll face peer pressure, stress and vaping products disguised as school supplies. Without education and prevention programs in classrooms and communities, more West Virginia kids will get addicted before they even understand the risks.
I might be only 17, but I’ve seen the power of these programs. They helped my grandfather quit. They helped me find my voice. And they can help West Virginia build a future where fewer kids start using tobacco, more adults quit and fewer families are torn apart. But only if we keep funding this vital work.
Breanna Cutright is a senior at Robert C. Byrd High School, in Clarksburg. She is a national youth ambassador for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
