Harrisburg, PA – January 11, 2018 – As lawmakers return to work after the holiday season the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is looking ahead to what public health initiatives can be accomplished in 2018. Pennsylvania has a long way to go when it comes to tobacco control issues. Each year in Pennsylvania 6,000 kids under the age of eighteen become new daily smokers, 22,000 adults die from their own smoking and annual health care costs in Pennsylvania directly caused by smoking are $6.38 billion.
ACS CAN has solutions. After the legislature, last year, decided to take out a bond against future proceeds owed to Pennsylvania from the 1998 national tobacco settlement also known as the Master Settlement Agreement, ACS CAN has been committed to making sure we protect and increase the funding that goes into our state tobacco prevention and cessation funding. Tobacco prevention is one of the smartest and most fiscally responsible investments that Pennsylvania can make. It not only helps current people who quit, but also prevents our youth from ever starting a lifetime of addiction to tobacco.
ACS CAN is also committed to working with lawmakers to protect Pennsylvania’s youth from e-cigarettes. The e-cigarette industry is using numerous marketing techniques to attract and addict youth, including the use of candy and fruit flavors. Since nearly 9 out of 10 tobacco users start before the age of 26, the very best thing we can do to help Pennsylvania kids and young adults avoid a life of nicotine addiction is make sure they never start using tobacco products to begin with. One way to accomplish this is by adding e-cigarettes to the current smoke-free law.
Finally, ACS CAN continues to be committed to closing loopholes found in the Clean Indoor Air Act. These exemptions include casinos, bars, private clubs, cigar bars and tobacco shops. Each year in the United States, secondhand smoke causes an estimated 7,300 lung cancer deaths in non-smoking adults. All Pennsylvania workers have the right to breathe clean, smoke-free air, regardless of where they work. Pennsylvania workers should not have to choose between their health and their paycheck.
ACS CAN looks forward to working with the legislature this year to accomplish these great public health initiatives to improve the health of Pennsylvanians.
About ACS CAN
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.
###