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Coalition Members Mark Great American Smokeout
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Michelle Zimmerman
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (888) 227-6446 Ext. 8601
E-mail: [email protected]
Coalition Members Mark Great American Smokeout by Calling for
Pennsylvania to Pass Strong Tobacco Control Legislation
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – 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 Pennsylvania’s lawmakers and governor to protect the health of Pennsylvania’s residents by significantly raising the state’s cigarette tax, establishing a tax on other tobacco products such as smokeless tobacco and invest in tobacco use prevention and cessation programs.
Currently, ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, in Pennsylvania is working with its Breathe Free Pennsylvania coalition partners to strengthen Pennsylvania’s tobacco control regulations. Coalition members came together on November 20 in the Capitol to announce the need for Pennsylvania to increase the state’s tobacco tax, close loopholes in the statewide clean indoor air law and increase tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
“The Great American Smokeout has become a day to persuade lawmakers to reduce the harmful impact of tobacco on the health of our state, and we know that increasing Pennsylvania’s tobacco tax is critical to helping people do just that,” said Diane Phillips, Pennsylvania government relations director, ACS CAN. “A tobacco tax is a win-win for the state. In addition to increasing Pennsylvania’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 habit.”
“Pennsylvania lawmakers should take action to strengthen tobacco prevention and control policies that we know work such as improving our statewide smoke-free laws, tobacco tax increases and funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs,” said Barb Bowker, president-elect, Capital Region board of director for the American Heart Association and Vice President of Marketing for PSECU. “Every Pennsylvanian has the right to live in a state where there are less tobacco-related health issues and to breathe clean, safe, smoke-free air, regardless of where they work.”
“The Great American Smokeout is about helping people quit and preventing our youth from using tobacco products, and we know increasing Pennsylvania’s tobacco tax and funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs is critical to helping people do just that,” said Deborah Brown, CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. “Most adult tobacco users want to quit, and lawmakers have the ability to ensure all people have access to lifesaving programs to help them through the process.”
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 Pennsylvania, tobacco is responsible for an estimated 22,000 deaths each year.
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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