Press Release: Missed Opportunity to Improve the Health of Ohioans

For Immediate Release:                                                                               Contact:

June 26, 2015                                                                                  Shelly Kiser, 740-739-0187

                           Missed Opportunity to Improve the Health of Ohioans

This statement can be attributed to Shelly Kiser, spokesperson for the Investing in Tobacco-Free Youth Coalition, on HB64.   

“We are deeply disappointed the legislature did not fully back Governor Kasich’s plan to reduce the terrible toll of tobacco use in Ohio by increasing the cigarette tax by $1.00 per pack and the tax on other tobacco products by an equivalent amount. The legislature missed a huge opportunity to prevent thousands of kids from starting to use tobacco and help smokers quit, which would have saved lives and health care dollars.

The 35-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase is a win for tobacco companies, not a public health strategy. The tobacco industry can offset smaller tax increases through price discounts, negating the public health benefit of a tobacco tax hike.

The $25 million appropriation over the biennium in tobacco cessation programs will help Ohio invest in programs to assist smokers in overcoming their addiction and gets us closer to meeting our goal of reaching the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended spending levels for Ohio.

However, without a significant increase in the tobacco tax coupled with well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs in Ohio, we risk seeing more Ohio kids picking up their first cigarette, cigar or can of snuff and starting down a path that leads to addiction, disease and death.

We will continue to educate lawmakers about the tobacco epidemic in Ohio and to advocate for increased funding for tobacco prevention and cessation and regular, significant increases in the state tobacco taxes. Keeping kids from starting to use tobacco and helping smokers quit is good for Ohio’s health and our bottom line.”

Investing in Tobacco-Free Youth is a coalition supported by a diverse group of organizations spearheading a campaign to reduce the burden of tobacco use in Ohio. The coalition is led by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

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