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Cancer Survivors Call for Missouri to Pass Strong Tobacco Control Legislation
November 21, 2014
Cancer Survivors Mark Great American Smokeout by Calling for Missouri to Pass Strong Tobacco Control Legislation
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – November 20, 2014 – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is celebrating the American Cancer Society’s 39th annual Great American Smokeout today by calling on state lawmakers to protect the health of Missouri residents by passing proven tobacco control legislation. This includes comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws and increasing state funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
Currently, ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, in Missouri is working with leading health organizations to secure funding for the state’s Quit Line and other prevention efforts, as well as working with municipalities to pass comprehensive smoke-free laws which protect workers from exposure to secondhand smoke.
“The Great American Smokeout is about helping people quit, and we know gaining funding for Missouri’s tobacco prevention and cessation programs is critical to helping people do just that,” said Stacy Reliford, Missouri government relations director for ACS CAN. “Most adult tobacco users want to quit, and lawmakers have the ability to ensure Missourians can get the help they need to be successful.”
The American Cancer Society launched the Great American Smokeout nearly 40 years ago as a platform to encourage smokers to quit. Since then, the program has expanded to not only encourage smokers to make a plan to quit, but also to encourage all Americans to advocate for comprehensive smoke-free laws, increased tobacco excise taxes and increased funding for tobacco cessation programs.
ACS CAN works in partnership with state policymakers across the country to ensure that tobacco use is addressed through a comprehensive approach including 1) raising the price of tobacco products, 2) implementing comprehensive smoke-free policies and 3) fully funding and sustaining evidenced-based, statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
“Despite major advances in the past few years in the effort to ensure smoke-free workplaces and to discourage tobacco-use through higher tobacco taxes, we’ve seen a continuation of dwindling funding for proven programs that help smokers quit,” said Reliford. “Now is not the time to back down on tobacco control. States must continue the positive trend of passing comprehensive smoke-free laws and increasing tobacco taxes with new revenue directed to fund critical lifesaving tobacco prevention and cessation programs.”
The use of tobacco products remains the nation’s number one cause of preventable death, killing more than 480,000 Americans and costing $96 billion in direct health care costs each year. In Missouri, tobacco is responsible for 11,000 deaths each year. 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.
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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