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RALEIGH, NC  – June 29, 2021 – Last week, Senate lawmakers passed their final version of the budget – dedicating zero funding for the state’s tobacco prevention programs amid skyrocketing youth tobacco use. “Our kids are worth more than zero,” said Derwin Montgomery, ACS CAN Government Relations Director in North Carolina. “With our state budget in surplus and an estimated $140 million collected from the tobacco ... offering no support to prevent our kids from starting to use tobacco is shocking and downright dangerous. Failing to include such funding will cost our state more financially in the long-term and result in thousands of preventable deaths.” When well-funded, evidence-based tobacco ...

With passage of a bill in the Senate Finance Committee, cancer patients and those impacted by cancer are one step closer to seeing meaningful health care reform. ACS CAN has worked hard to ensure that many of our key policy principles are included in this legislation. The bill that passed today takes important steps to remove cost barriers by: Ending arbitrary annual and lifetime caps on benefits Reducing or eliminating co-pays for preventive services including ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. August 2, 2012 A significant decrease in cigarette consumption between 2000 and 2011 was offset by the use of other forms of smoked tobacco, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's (CDC) Office on Smoking ... as a way to avoid increased cigarette taxes. A statement from Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows: The CDC 's data clearly demonstrate that the disparity in tax treatment of tobacco products is undercutting our ability to ... reduce tobacco use and save lives. Tax loopholes harm public health by encouraging use of lower-taxed tobacco products, and they have cost governments more than $1 billion in revenue since 2009. More smokers who might otherwise quit are now resorting to other types of tobacco ...

... years ago, New Mexico lawmakers made a commitment to create a permanent fund supported by annual tobacco settlement payments, with the intent of providing stable funding for prevention and cessation programs that reduce devastating tobacco-related illnesses now and into the future. ... points from 19.9 percent to 11.4 percent, thanks in large part to tobacco prevention and cessation programs implemented through the Department of Health and the Indian Affairs Department. Even with these declines, smoking costs New Mexico $844 million each year in direct health care costs. ... consider long-term solutions to the state’s recurring budget shortfalls. This Op-Ed appeared in the NM Political Report on August 29, 2016. It can be viewed at  http://nmpoliticalreport.com/90284/lawmakers-should-avoid-raiding-the-to... Lawmakers should avoid raiding the tobacco permanent ...