SACRAMENTO, Calif. – More than 150 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers from across California gathered at the State Capitol for Cancer Action Day. They urged legislators to support legislation aimed at saving lives from cancer.
Assembly Bill 703, introduced by Asm. Alex Lee, would allow Californians to allocate a portion of their state tax return to support childhood cancer research. Cancer is the leading cause of death by disease for children in the United States. Yet, it’s estimated that only 4-8% of the federal government’s cancer research budget is allocated towards pediatric cancer.
“I lost my brother Ronil to a rare and aggressive brain cancer that had no effective treatments and little hope for survival,” said Sahil Mehta, a high school student and ACS CAN volunteer who was instrumental to the legislation’s introduction. “His final wish was to donate his tumor for cancer research to find ways to prevent and treat the disease. Stronger investments in childhood cancer research can help us get there and give kids not only a chance to survive but also to thrive.”
The group of advocates asked legislators to also support two bills to curb tobacco use:
“There are approximately 30,000 tobacco retailers in California, but only a fraction of them is inspected per year. Meanwhile, an alarming number of tobacco retailers still have flavored tobacco products on their shelves even though their sale is illegal, and are selling tobacco products to youth,” said Jamie Escoto, ACS CAN California state lead ambassador. “These bills are critical to protecting kids and our families from tobacco-related diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and more than a dozen types of cancer,” she added.
