RALEIGH, N.C. – Public health and policy experts gathered at Duke-Raleigh Hospital today to discuss and debate the potential impact of implementing smoke-free policies at the county and municipal levels in North Carolina. Clearing the Air Going Smoke-free Locally in NC was sponsored by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).
“We were thrilled to have such a distinguished panel of national, regional and state experts here today to examine ways that we might address the number one preventable cause of death and disease in the state,” said Ray Riordan, grassroots manager for ACS CAN in North Carolina. “Learning about what has worked to lower tobacco-use rates in other communities around the country gives our counties and municipalities a road map for what they can do to reduce instances of cancer, heart disease and other conditions caused by tobacco.”
Nearly 60 percent of the U.S. population is now protected by comprehensive state or local smoke-free laws, up from less than three percent in 2000. In addition to 25 states that have passed comprehensive smoke-free laws, major cities like New Orleans, Chicago, Indianapolis, Boston, Baltimore and Dallas have passed similar legislation. Currently, there are no North Carolina municipalities that have passed a comprehensive smoke-free law.
Today’s program included a panel of health experts from Duke Center for Smoking Cessation, Duke Cancer Center and Duke University School of Medicine who examined the public health impact of smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke.
A panel of policy experts from the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, the state’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Wake County’s Board of Commissioners and ACS CAN discussed the benefits of and the process for passing and implementing comprehensive smoke-free policies.
Approximately 14,200 North Carolinians die each year as a result of tobacco use and 180,000 North Carolina kids currently alive are projected to die prematurely from smoking. Additionally, a recent American Cancer Society study indicates that 30.5 percent of all cancer deaths in North Carolina are directly attributable to tobacco use. This is the 12th highest percentage in the country.
“Information is power in the fight to protect public health and that’s a major reason why we pulled together this event,” Riordan said. “ACS CAN wants to equip North Carolina’s counties and municipalities with the evidence necessary to protect local citizens from the hazards of tobacco and secondhand smoke.”
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner 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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