With the sad news of Sen. Frank Lautenberg's (D-NJ) passing earlier this week, many groups are speaking out and recognizing him for the many causes he dedicated himself to in his nearly 30 years in the U.S. Senate. To the cancer community, Sen. Lautenberg will always be remembered for his unyielding advocacy for policies to protect our children from the deadly addiction of tobacco.
Today is an important day in the world of global health and tobacco control the World Health Organization's World No Tobacco Day. It's a day to highlight the devastating toll tobacco products continue to have on people's health across the world, and a day to advocate for policies that we know help people quit smoking and keep kids from ever starting the deadly habit.
The second phase of the ads were officially announced this morning, and will be seen nationally beginning April 1. In support, I recorded this short video to commemorate the CDC's bold efforts to combat tobacco use
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.
This week marks not only the start of a new year, but also the anniversaries of two very important laws to assist the fight against cancer.
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.
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.
With almost 6 million people dying annually from smoking-related diseases, you can see how the tobacco industry has been able to earn incredible profits from addicting people to their products using manipulating, misleading practices. In fact, in 2010, the six leading tobacco companies in the world made a collective profit of $35.1 billion, the equivalent of the profits of Coca Cola, McDonalds and Microsoft combined.
The report includes the latest information about the trends of youth tobacco use and its devastating impact on health. The report also details the tobacco industry's continued efforts to addict kids to its deadly products through insidious marketing and promotion directed at youth.
Tobacco has no place in athletics, and certainly not at any of the nation's premiere sporting events that are very popular and widely televised. That's why I'm incredibly grateful to advocates from a coalition of 10 public health groups, including ACS CAN, who were the driving force behind the Orange Bowl Committee's and National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) recent decision to cancel Camacho Cigars' sponsorship of the Orange Bowl, which will be played tonight.