Illinois celebrated a major victory against Big Tobacco this week! Governor Pat Quinn signed into law yesterday morning a $1 cigarette tax increase, bringing the state cigarette tax to $1.98 a pack. With this increase, 38,600 Illinois lives will be saved, 72,700 Illinoisan kids will not start smoking and the state will raise $348.8 million in new revenue annually.
The momentum continues! In January, California became the first state in the nation to ban youth under18 from using tanning beds. In May, Vermont passed a similar lifesaving law. Just last week, Chicago became the first major U.S. city to vote to protect young people from skin cancer and melanoma by banning tanning bed use among minors.
With all of the precincts reporting in, there are only 40,000 votes separating the yes votes from the no votes. However, estimates show more than 1 million mail-in and provisional ballots were left uncounted on election night. Therefore, ACS CAN and the campaign coalition are not conceding the election outcome, and we and our public health partners are pledging to fight for the health of Californians until every vote is counted.
As the days get warmer and the sun gets hotter it's more important than ever to raise awareness about skin cancer and the dangers of tanning. That's why the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention designated the Friday before Memorial Day as "Don't Fry Day."
As you're reading this, cancer advocates are fighting a major battle against Big Tobacco in California - a battle that, if won, could save more than 100,000 lives, $5.1 billion in healthcare costs and protect nearly 230,000 kids from the dangers of tobacco.