WASHINGTON, D.C. -- April 22, 2009 -- Urging the U.S. Senate to put children’s health before Big Tobacco, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network began a sustained print and online advertising campaign this week in support of legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco products.
The “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” 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. The series of ads will illustrate the fact that every day the tobacco industry can continue its egregious marketing practices, 3,500 children enough to fill seven schoolhouses smoke their first cigarette.
“Historic legislation to regulate a product that kills when used as intended has languished in the halls of Congress long enough,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, CEO of the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. “This ad will remind Senators that each day they delay passage of the legislation, 3,500 more children targeted by Big Tobacco pick up their first cigarette and 1,000 children become addicted.”
Throughout the campaign, the ad will tally the growing number of children who take their first puff every day by showing the number of schoolhouses those children would fill. The longer it takes to pass the bill, the more schoolhouses 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/schoolhousead.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid signaled this week that the bill would be taken up soon, adding it to the Senate’s legislative calendar for action before the Memorial Day recess. In the last Congress, the bill attracted 60 Senate cosponsors. The bill passed the House for the second time earlier this month with strong bipartisan support.
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. The tobacco industry 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.
“The cancer community and other public health advocates have fought long and hard for this critical piece of lifesaving legislation,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN, “Right now, Congress has a tremendous opportunity to put a stop to Big Tobacco’s unfettered access to mislead future consumers and protect children from the country’s leading cause of preventable death.”
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:
Alissa Havens
Phone: (202) 661-5772
Email: [email protected]
Audrey Pernik
Phone: (202) 661-5763
Email: [email protected]