WASHINGTON, D.C. November 13, 2014 Following is a statement from Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's release today of data from its annual National Youth Tobacco Survey:
The CDC data reveal several troubling trends about tobacco use among teens and emphasize the increasingly urgent need for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate all tobacco products. The disappointing figures show that the rate of tobacco use among middle and high school students remains stalled, that large numbers of youth tobacco users regularly use multiple tobacco products and that use of e-cigarettes among high schoolers in particular is rapidly rising.
It 's alarming that more than 50 years after the U.S. Surgeon General first warned about the hazards of smoking, nearly one in four high school students in America use tobacco, one in eight high schoolers regularly use two or more tobacco products and e-cigarettes continue to quickly gain popularity. Perhaps most concerning is that the FDA currently regulates only cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, while the tobacco industry aggressively markets numerous unregulated tobacco products such as cigars, cigarillos, snus and e-cigarettes to teens.
Tobacco companies continue their relentless efforts to addict kids to their deadly products by manipulating products to avoid regulation and marketing them with attractive flavors, provocative advertising and celebrity endorsements. Yet, we know that products including cigars and cigarillos contain the same cancer-causing chemicals as cigarettes, and that using any tobacco product can lead to a life-long addiction to nicotine and increased risk of disease and death.
The CDC 's disconcerting findings come one week before the American Cancer Society 's annual Great American Smokeout a day dedicated to quitting tobacco for good and calling for strong tobacco control policies that protect kids and save lives. With the health of our nation 's youth hanging in the balance, the FDA must urgently finalize its proposal to regulate all tobacco products. It 's time for the FDA to even the playing field and ensure our children are protected from the predatory practices of the tobacco industry.
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.æACS 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, visitæwww.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lauren Walens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5763 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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