Washington, D.C. – November 18, 2010 – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) today is celebrating the 35th Great American Smokeout by encouraging lawmakers to protect the health of all Americans by enacting comprehensive state and local smoke-free laws, increasing tobacco taxes and fully funding and implementing tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
“State and local smoke-free laws, higher state tobacco excise taxes and fully funded and implemented tobacco prevention and cessation programs improve the health of our nation’s communities,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS CAN. “By passing these important laws, we have the potential to help more Americans quit smoking, prevent youth from ever starting and reduce the number of people exposed to deadly secondhand smoke.”
ACS CAN and the American Cancer Society’s Divisions have been waging hard-fought campaigns to raise state and federal tobacco excise taxes and implement comprehensive smoke-free laws in states, counties and municipalities. Since 2002, 47 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories have raised their tobacco taxes, including five in 2010. In addition, 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted smoke-free laws that require 100 percent smoke-free workplaces, and/or restaurants, and/or bars, including four states in 2010.
Despite these achievements, a new report released yesterday by ACS CAN, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association found that states have cut funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs to their lowest level since 1999, when they began receiving funding through the master settlement agreement with the tobacco companies. In fiscal year 2011, the states have budgeted $517.2 million for tobacco prevention and cessation programs, representing a nine percent cut in the past year and a 28 percent cut in the past three years.
“Despite major progress in recent years to enact strong tobacco control measures at the state and local levels, still less than half of the population is covered by comprehensive smoke-free laws,” said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. “Clearly, in light of the record reduced spending by states on cessation programs, there is still much more work that needs to be done to protect kids and adults from the dangers of cigarettes and other tobacco products.”
In addition to action on the state and local levels, strong implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the law which grants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the manufacture, sale and marketing of tobacco products, is vital to nationwide tobacco control. Some parts of the law have already been implemented, including a ban on candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes and restrictions on marketing to kids. The next major implementation step mandates larger and more effective graphic labels which will cover 50 percent of the front and back of the cigarette pack. Proposed graphic images were recently released by the FDA, with a final selection of the images being made by June 2011, so they can begin appearing on packs of cigarettes by October 2012. With 4,100 kids picking up their first cigarette every day, and the majority of adult smokers starting as youth, these new graphic warning labels will help educate children and adults about the dangers of smoking immediately when they pick up a pack of cigarettes.
The Great American Smokeout began more than 30 years ago as a platform to encourage smokers to quit. Since then, the platform has expanded to not only encourage smokers to make a plan to quit, but also to encourage all Americans to advocate for comprehensive smoke-free laws that help protect workers and patrons from exposure to secondhand smoke. Smokers who want to quit can call the American Cancer Society Quit for Life® Program operated and managed by Free & Clear® at 1-800-227-2345 for tobacco cessation and coaching service that can help increase their chances for quitting for good.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Christina Saull
(202) 585-3250
[email protected]
Steven Weiss
(202) 661-5711
[email protected]