Updates matching "Prevention and Cessation"

With the rallying cry, “Our Kids are the Return on Investment,” major health groups in New Mexico held a media event and rally outside the Roundhouse on the East Concourse in Santa Fe today to bring attention to the need to re-invest in tobacco prevention, education and cessation programs.

In the final hours of the special session, New Mexico lawmakers broke a promise to protect future generations from deadly tobacco addiction by draining the $220 million Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund to fix the state budget crisis. Now, leading health organizations want to ensure that critical state tobacco control programs are not cut to continue closing the budget deficit.

Update on the status of our 2015-2016 Youth Tobacco Prevention Bill

There is no question that our lawmakers are faced with tough budget decisions. We have to remember the reason these tobacco settlement payments are made each year, and consider long-term solutions to the state’s recurring budget shortfalls.

Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable deaths in Oregon, contributing to 7,000 deaths annually and costing taxpayers $3 billion a year in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

New Mexico is falling short when it comes to supporting policies and passing legislation to prevent and reduce suffering and death from cancer. According to the latest edition of “How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality,” New Mexico measured up to policy recommendations in just three of the 10 issue areas ranked.

From 2011 to 2015, high school youth smoking rates in New Mexico have fallen by 8.5 percentage points from 19.9% to 11.4%, thanks in large part to tobacco prevention and education. Leading health organizations including American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), American Lung Association, and American Heart Association don’t want to see a reversal of that progress.

We were running on empty when our 2016 Legislative Session ended at 5:30 AM on Saturday, June 18th. However, with the help of our phenomenal volunteers, we were able to accomplish big wins for 2016. Reducing the Toll of Tobacco Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: ACS CAN worked to

Local elected officials and community members take the pledge to support tobacco 21