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Press Release: Great American Smokeout
November 21, 2013
Cancer Survivors and Volunteers Mark American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout by Urging Pennsylvania Legislators to Support Tobacco Price Increase
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – Nov. 21, 2013– The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), is celebrating the American Cancer Society’s 38th annual Great American Smokeout today, by calling on Pennsylvania Lawmakers to protect the health of Pennsylvania residents by increasing the price of tobacco, making it less accessible to young people and more likely for adults to quit.
ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society is working with the Pennsylvania Breathe Free Coalition including the American Heart Association and American Lung Association to call on lawmakers to increase Pennsylvania’s cigarette tax by $1, generating revenue to fill the gaps in tobacco prevention funding left by the recent arbitration ruling on the Master Settlement Agreement. The organizations held an event today, at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, urging legislators to support the proposed $1 cigarette tax increase.
“The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout is about helping tobacco users set up a plan to quit,” said Diane Phillips, senior director of state policy for ACS CAN. “And research shows increasing the price of tobacco is one of the most effective ways to help people do just that. By supporting this tobacco tax increase, legislators can make the difficult task of successfully quitting tobacco more likely and help protect their constituents from tobacco-related diseases like cancer.”
A $1 increase in the price of cigarettes will help an estimated 77,400 adults quit tobacco, prevent an estimated 85,500 kids from becoming lifetime tobacco users and potentially save 48,800 lives in Pennsylvania.
“Tobacco is still the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and here in Pennsylvania,” said Phillips. “We have a proven tool at our fingertips to help reduce suffering and death from cancer and we look forward to working with state legislators to utilize it. “By increasing the cigarette tax and using a portion of those funds to invest in comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation programs, we can make up the gap in funds left by the recent Master Settlement Agreement Arbitration Ruling, save lives, save Medicaid dollars, and reduce health care costs.”
Not only is an increase in the price of tobacco critical for the physical health of Pennsylvanians, it’s a fiscally responsible decision as well. A $1 increase in the cigarette tax will increase revenue by $356.43 million in the first year and save $3.11 billion in health care costs in the long run. Currently, Pennsylvania spends $5.19 billion on tobacco-related health care costs each year. Research shows that a significant tobacco tax increase like this proposal will mean fewer tobacco users, fewer tobacco-related deaths and, thus, lower health care costs overall.
“More than 79,560 Pennsylvanians will be diagnosed with cancer this year and 28,680 will lose their battle,” said Phillips. “This tobacco tax can help us bring these numbers down, saving lives and money – a win-win for Pennsylvania.”
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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