WASHINGTON, D.C. -- June 1, 2009 -- Urging the U.S. Senate to put children’s health before Big Tobacco, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is ramping up its print and online advertising campaign this week in support of legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco products.
The new ads illustrate the fact that every day the tobacco industry can continue its egregious marketing practices, 3,500 children enough to fill 70 school buses smoke their first cigarette. The “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” (S.982) would give the FDA oversight over the production, marketing and sale of tobacco products, and rein in an industry that has been able to operate unregulated for far too long.
“It is long past time to regulate tobacco products, which kill when used as intended,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, CEO of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN. “Each day Senators delay passage of the legislation, 3,500 more children targeted by Big Tobacco pick up their first cigarette and 1,000 children become addicted.”
The ad campaign, which began in April, has been tallying the number of children who take their first puff every day by showing the number of schoolhouses those children would fill. Today, the creative concept shifts to a school bus graphic the longer it takes to pass the bill, the more school buses will be shown in the ad. The ad copy reminds the Senate that “Big Tobacco doesn’t take a recess from marketing to children, so please don’t take yours without protecting our kids first.” The ad can be viewed at http://fightcancer.org/schoolbusad.
The bill passed the House earlier this year with strong bipartisan support. The bill recently moved out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and currently has 53 Senate cosponsors. In the coming weeks, the full Senate is expected to take up the legislation, which President Obama has already publicly stated he will sign into law.
“Public health advocates have fought for more than a decade to pass this critical piece of lifesaving legislation,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN, “Congress has a tremendous opportunity to put a stop to Big Tobacco’s unscrupulous marketing practices that mislead future consumers and expose children from the country’s leading cause of preventable death.”
Tobacco is virtually the only consumable product that is unregulated by the FDA, leaving the tobacco companies to their own devices for far too long. Big Tobacco exploits its privileged status by spending nearly $40 million every day aggressively marketing its deadly products, especially to children with enticing products such as candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes that help mask the harsh taste of tobacco. The legislation would also mandate larger, more effective warning labels on tobacco product packaging.
ACS CAN, together with more than 1,000 public health, medical, children’s, and faith-based organizations, supports this lifesaving piece of legislation. The FDA is the only agency with vast scientific and regulatory expertise to regulate tobacco products, which are responsible for killing 400,000 Americans every year.
ACS CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate organization of the American Cancer Society, dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit https://www.fightcancer.org/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Audrey Pernik
Phone: (202) 661-5763
Email: [email protected]
Christina Saull
Phone: (202) 585-3250
Email: [email protected]