March 4, 2013
Around this time last year, the CDC launched a provocative advertising campaign aimed at educating the public about the dangers of smoking and what it's like to live with a serious medical condition caused by smoking. That campaign was called Tips from Former Smokers, and I'm excited to announce that it is back on the air.
According to an annual report ACS CAN released today with several other public health organizations, states will spend less than two percent of this settlement money on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. This means the states are spending less than two pennies of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco addiction.
Today the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN are celebrating the 37th Great American Smokeout. Each year on this day, thousands of people across the country put down their cigarettes for a day, and many make a plan to never pick them up again. However, the Great American Smokeout is also a day to draw attention to the devastating impact tobacco use continues to have on our country and how lawmakers can help to reverse it.
I recently came across a fascinating new study that shows the power of television advertising in encouraging people to quit smoking. Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the study results suggest that smokers who are exposed to graphic and/or emotional TV ads are more likely to attempt to quit smoking than smokers who don't see the ads.
A new edition of the ACS CAN report How Do You Measure Up? shows that the majority of states are not measuring up on legislative solutions to prevent and fight cancer. The report ranks where states stand on these issues that play a critical role in reducing cancer incidence and death. It measures seven specific issues.