This statement can be attributed to Hilary Schneider, director of government relations in Maine for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), in response to portions of Governor LePage’s biennial budget proposal related to the Department of Health and Human Services:
“The toll tobacco takes on Mainers – both in terms of lives lost and economic burden – makes it a problem that cannot, and should not, be ignored: smoking-related diseases remain the world’s and Maine’s most preventable cause of illness and death. In the US, cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is responsible for approximately 1 out of every 5 deaths. Further, tobacco use costs Maine $811 million in health care bills each year and approximately $262 million in state Medicaid costs.
“Unfortunately, the Governor’s budget fails to address the ways that we can tackle this problem, and in fact, exacerbates the problem through proposed initiatives to adjust funding between the Maine CDC and the Medical Care-Payments to Providers program within the Fund for a Healthy Maine. The impact of this proposal represents a 93 percent cut in state funding and a nearly 80 percent cut of overall funding for tobacco prevention and control efforts.
“As budget deliberations proceed, instead of diverting funding away from the state tobacco prevention and control program, ACS CAN urges lawmakers to seriously consider revenue generating proposals that would also result in lower rates of tobacco use in the state and lower health care costs. Increasing the tax on all tobacco products would generate new revenue, decrease the use of all tobacco products, and generate even greater health care savings.
“While Maine and the nation have made tremendous strides in reducing tobacco use, declines in smoking rates have slowed in recent years and we are seeing increases in use of non-cigarette products, especially among youth. While smoking has declined, cigarettes have become more addictive, more attractive to kids, and more deadly.
“The state has been successful in reducing tobacco use and we are seeing reductions in cancer now because of it. The dramatic reductions occurred after Maine successfully implemented a comprehensive strategy – increasing tobacco taxes, legislating smoke-free environments, and putting funding into our tobacco prevention and control programs.
“While we have made great progress, we need to do more. A comprehensive approach to tobacco prevention and control will lead to a healthier workforce, healthier kids, healthier families, and support healthy Mainers regardless of income level, minority status, or generation.”
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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