Watsonville Smokes Region in Tobacco Report

For the second year in a row, Watsonville bested the rest of the county in the American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control 2012 Report. 

The report grades all cities and towns throughout California on their tobacco policies, including control and prevention spending, the cigarette tax and smoke-free air. 

According to the report, "2011 was an abysmal year for state tobacco control measures across the country. Once a national leader in tobacco control policies, California now earns mixed results. ... Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, California now ranks 33rd for its $.87 per pack tax, far below the national average of $1.46."

Watsonville didn't ace the evaluation, but performed better than or at least tied all other cities and the unincorporated area in every category. The city got an overall B in the 2012 report, .

The biggest problem area for the city are its lack of smoke-free housing, for which Watsonville scored a D. The city got a B for smoke-free outdoor air and earned an A for reducing sales of tobacco products.

See the breakdown of Watsonville's B grade in the table below.

The overall grade of B for Watsonville comes from its total point value of eight (see row 2). The numbers in the right column run on a zero to four scale, representing a rank, not a quantity of locations. For full scoring breakdown details, click here.

Watsonville is in the upper eschelon of the state in this report, though. It was among just 4 percent of the state to get a B. Only 2 percent got an A.

The unincorporated area of Santa Cruz County scored a C while Santa Cruz, Capitola and Scotts Valley all got Ds in the evaluation. The county lost points for smoke-free air; the cities for not reducing sales of tobacco products.

Santa Cruz County's overall grade rose from the 2011 report to the 2012 report, thanks entirely to a reduction in tobacco sales in Watsonville and the unincorporated county. For that alone, the entire county's "Reducing Sales of Tobacco Products," grade improved from an F to an A.

To see the entire report, click here, and to check out town-by-town grades throughout California, click here.