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College Students Call for Passage of Strong Tobacco Control Legislation
November 19, 2015
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Michelle Zimmerman
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (888) 227-6446 Ext. 8601
E-mail: [email protected]
College Students Mark the Great American Smokeout by Calling for Passage of Strong Tobacco Control Legislation
Harrisburg, PA – November 19, 2014 – College students are celebrating the American Cancer Society’s 40th annual Great American Smokeout today by calling on local lawmakers and the governor to protect the health of state residents by passing strong tobacco control legislation. The Society’s advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), supports increasing the state’s tobacco excise taxes by $1.60/pack.
College student are sharing video and photos with Pennsylvania legislators asking them to “Vote like a champion! Support an increase in the Pennsylvania tobacco tax to save lives”. These students know that the use of tobacco products remains the nation’s number one cause of preventable death, killing more than 480,000 Americans and costing $289 billion in health care costs and lost productivity annually. In Pennsylvania, tobacco is responsible for 22,000 deaths each year.
ACS CAN is working with the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Pennsylvania Dental Association, and others to support comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws, significantly increasing tobacco excise taxes and increasing or preserving state funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
“The Society’s Great American Smokeout is about helping people quit, and we know that increasing state’s tobacco tax is critical to helping people do just that,” said Diane Phillips, Pennsylvania government relations director. “A tobacco tax is a win-win for the state. In addition to increasing the state’s revenue, we know that consistent, significant increases in tobacco taxes mean fewer tobacco users, fewer tobacco-related deaths and fewer youth who ever start the deadly addiction. In order for the increase to be effective in having people quit, it needs to be $1.00/pack or more. The industry can easily counteract smaller tax increases with discounts and coupons.”
To view and download the video, please visit: http://on.fb.me/1YiYGFy If you need to video in a different form, please let me know.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
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