Today the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN are celebrating the 37thGreat 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. The good news is we're making significant progress since 1965, the number of adults who smoke cigarettes in the U.S. has decreased from 45 percent to 19 percent. But with a significant portion of our population still smoking, there's still more work to be done. ACS CAN uses the Great American Smokeout as a day to remind local and state lawmakers that they can have a say in protecting everyone's health by passing strong tobacco control measures. These tobacco control measures include:
Localities and states with comprehensive tobacco control programs experience faster declines in cigarette sales, smoking prevalence and lung cancer incidence and mortality than states that do not invest in these programs. For instance in California, which has had the longest-running comprehensive tobacco control program in the country, deaths from heart disease and lung cancer incidence rates have decreased at faster rates than other states so much so that it could potentially be the first state in which lung cancer is no longer the leading cause of cancer deaths. A host of states are making significant progress already. With North Dakota's passage of a smoke-free ballot initiative last week, now 24 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have comprehensive smoke-free laws. Also, the average state cigarette tax is currently $1.49, up from $1.46 at this time last year. At the federal level, the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products so kids and adults have more information about the hazards of tobacco use. The tobacco industry continues to fight hard against this historic law, most recently making every effort to obstruct and delay the implementation of the new graphic warning labels. Additionally, following a hearing last month in federal court, we're hopeful that the tobacco industry will soon be compelled to make strong corrective statements to the American public to explain its decades of dishonesty.
Today’s blog is one of a series of posts highlighting how ACS CAN is examining, prioritizing and pursuing policy interventions that ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to prevent, find, treat and survive cancer. Achieving health equity in communities nationwide is a cornerstone of our mission.