WASHINGTON, D.C. February 23, 2015 The 25th anniversary of legislation making all domestic flights smoke-free marks an opportunity to redouble our efforts to promote tobacco control measures across the country.
This landmark legislation was a public health victory that marked a paradigm shift in the way the public views smoking and-paved the way for 24 states and the District of Columbia to pass comprehensive smoke-free laws over the past two decades, protecting nearly half of all people in America from the dangers of secondhand smoke in bars, restaurants and workplaces. Strong smoke-free laws are proven to keep kids from starting to smoke and help smokers quit. We can credit this smoke-free public spaces movement with helping to cut the nation 's smoking rate by more than half since the first Surgeon General 's Report on Smoking and Health 50 years ago.
The American Cancer Society was proud to help make airplanes smoke-free, and work continues today to protect youth and adults from the dangers of tobacco use. There is a lot more work to do with 26 states lacking comprehensive smoke-free laws, 58 million Americans still exposed to secondhand smoke and minority and low-income populations disproportionately subjected to the deadly impact of tobacco.
ACS CAN remains committed to supporting local and state governments looking to protect its citizens from the deadly effects of secondhand smoke through strong smoke-free laws, as well as efforts to significantly increase tobacco taxes and fully fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. When implemented strongly, these three tobacco control interventions have the power to lead us to a tobacco-free generation.
Just as many Americans alive today could never imagine lit cigarettes on a plane, we should make it a national priority to remove secondhand smoke from public places, so children never know what it 's like to eat in a restaurant clouded in cigarette smoke and bartenders and servers can spend their shifts breathing only clean air, regardless of where they work and live. Our progress cannot stall all workers in America deserve to breathe smoke-free air just as flight attendants do today.
Many lawmakers deserve commendation for their role in reducing the deadly impact of tobacco on public health especially Sen. Richard Durbin for trailblazing the way to make flights smoke-free. With 42,000 Americans dying every year from secondhand smoke, it 's imperative that lawmakers at all levels of government reduce public exposure to secondhand smoke by enacting policies that help people quit and strong smoke-free policies that protect nonsmokers.
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 https://www.fightcancer.org/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lauren Walens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5763 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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