A bipartisan group of 22 attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, has urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to continue the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS).
The NYTS is an annual study that tracks smoking and vaping trends among middle and high school students, offering insights that have informed efforts to combat youth tobacco use for over two decades.
The comment letter submitted by the coalition responds to a CDC invitation for public comment on the continuation of the NYTS. The CDC has indicated intentions to revise the NYTS for the 2026-2028 period but has yet to specify the proposed changes. The attorneys general highlighted concerns that recent actions by the Trump administration, such as the elimination of the Office on Smoking and Health at the CDC and staffing cuts at the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, could undermine efforts to protect youth from tobacco.
The letter also stressed the longstanding bipartisan efforts by attorneys general nationwide to address youth exposure to tobacco and nicotine products, emphasizing the critical role NYTS data plays in these initiatives. These efforts include the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the largest tobacco companies, which aimed to recover healthcare costs and curb youth smoking. The MSA, which relies heavily on NYTS data, has generated over $171 billion in payments to the states.
Bonta was joined in submitting the letter by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico.