WASHINGTON, D.C. -- November 6, 2007 -- Voters in Oregon and Texas today are considering important ballot initiatives that would accelerate progress in the battle against cancer. A proposition on the Oregon ballot would increase the state cigarette tax and fund health care for low-income children, and a proposal in Texas would authorize $3 billion to fund cancer research and prevention over the next ten years.
In Oregon, the tobacco industry has poured more than $12 million into efforts opposing Measure 50, an 84.5-cent cigarette tax increase which would provide health care coverage to 100,000 uninsured children and increase funding for tobacco prevention and education programs. Increasing cigarette taxes is a proven way to decrease smoking rates and cigarette consumption. For every 10 percent rise in cigarette prices, youth smoking rates decline by seven percent and overall cigarette consumption falls by four percent. Tobacco is the most preventable cause of premature illness and death in the United States, and smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths.
"Our battle against Big Tobacco is a case of David versus Goliath," said Daniel E. Smith, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), a key supporter of Measure 50 along with its sister charitable organization, the American Cancer Society. "We hope Oregonians will look past the tobacco industry’s paid political propaganda and see the industry for what it really is purveyor of a product that kills 440,000 Americans every year. This measure will help save lives and provide much-needed health care to 100,000 uninsured children."
Last year, the tobacco industry spent upwards of $100 million opposing nine ballot initiatives in seven states across the country that aimed to decrease smoking rates and protect Americans from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. Despite those efforts, ACS CAN and other public health groups were successful in passing all but two of the tobacco control initiatives. The tobacco industry spends nearly $40 million every day marketing their deadly product to our nation’s children.
Voters in Texas today will consider a measure that would help the state combat cancer, the disease Americans fear most. If approved, Proposition 15 would provide $3 billion over ten years to fund lifesaving cancer research and prevention by creating the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The Institute would be given $300 million a year to find and fight the causes of cancer.
"The long-term investment in cancer research and prevention will provide researchers the necessary funding to perform groundbreaking research and develop new screenings and treatments that will help detect cancer earlier and save lives," said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. "The return on investment in cancer research will mean increased longevity, improved quality of life and fewer Texans who will needlessly suffer and die from cancer."
This year alone, an estimated 1.4 million Americans will hear the words, "You have cancer," including 91,020 Texans. And 560,000 Americans, including 37,030 Texans, will lose their lives to the disease. Even so, spending at the federal level for cancer research has been either flat or in decline in recent years.
ACS CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan sister advocacy organization of the American Cancer Society, which is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Kat Porter
Phone: (202) 585-3202
Email: [email protected]