Conclusion

Tobacco-related disease remains the leading cause of preventable death in the Uunited States, killing over 438,000 people each year. Ddespite the positive trends from 2007 in the areas of smokefree laws and cigarette taxes, states have a tremendous amount of work in front of them if they are to counteract the tobacco companies’ efforts to addict a new generation of kids to tobacco products. Forty-four states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico do not fully fund comprehensive tobacco prevention and cessation programs. More than half of states have not passed comprehensive laws prohibiting secondhand smoke in workplaces and other public places. Twenty-eight states and the of Columbia have cigarette excise taxes below the national average. The steps necessary to reduce the burden of tobacco use are known, but policymakers must be willing to step up and protect their citizens.

New York City—which has a high cigarette tax, a comprehensive law protecting citizens from secondhand smoke exposure and effective tobacco prevention and cessation programs—has seen its adult smoking rates decline from 21.6 percent in 2002 to 17.5 percent in 2006, substantially below the national adult smoking rate of 20.8 percent. New York City also saw its high school smoking rate drop dramatically (by 52 percent) to 11 percent from 1997 to 2005, significantly less than the national rate of 23 percent.24

Time To “Summon the Political Will”
Two major public health reports were issued in 2007, calling even further attention to the need for the federal and state governments to take urgent action to reduce the nation’s tobacco epidemic. In May, the Institute of Medicine produced a report outlining recommendations to federal, state and local policymakers that would have a dramatic impact on public health if fully implemented. In August, the President’s Cancer Panel issued a report that found one-third of the nation’s cancer deaths are preventable and due to tobacco use. It, too, called on policymakers at all levels to “summon the political will” necessary to address the toll of tobacco in the United States. Each report urged Congress to give authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate manufactured tobacco products and each urged states to fully fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs, increase state cigarette taxes and pass comprehensive smokefree laws.

In May 2007, the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine published a study finding that the more tobacco advertising teens are exposed to in retail stores, the more likely they are to smoke.²³ This study reinforces the need for Congress to give the FDA meaningful and effective authority over tobacco company marketing, which pending legislation would do by reinstating the 1996 FDA Tobacco Rule which requires all point-of-sales marketing to be black and white, text-only. The Federal Trade Commission’s updated report on tobacco company marketing for 2004 and 2005, released in 2007, found that the tobacco companies are spending over $13 billion annually to market and advertise their products, which also underscores the need for this critical authority to be granted to the FDA and for states to counteract this marketing with their own comprehensive tobacco control programs.

The American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2007 report sets a high standard. Only the toughest tobacco control laws will help the American Lung Association achieve its mission to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. The tragedy of tobacco addiction and the disability, disease and death it causes will not be resolved with a half-hearted response consisting of partial measures and weak policy.

Tobacco control and public health experts agree: Tobacco use drops when states pass comprehensive smokefree laws, increase tobacco taxes, adequately fund tobacco control and prevention programs, and actively counter the industry’s marketing.

The American Llung Association continues to urge policymakers to make smokefree air their commitment and accept our Smokefree Air 2010 Challenge. It is a crucial component in a bold plan to combat the nation’s number one preventable killer. A successful campaign will result in a smokefree United States, healthier people and thousands of lives saved.

Leaders at the federal, state and local levels know what it takes to reduce the nation’s tobacco epidemic. It is now time for them to summon the political will and take the necessary steps.

The American Lung Association’s Commitment
For more than 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the lead organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health, including fighting illness and death caused by tobacco use. Unfortunately, lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined.

The American Association was founded in 1904 to combat tuberculosis, decades before antibiotics made it a curable disease. In fighting tuberculosis, we learned that by harnessing political will and using the right advocacy tools, a horrible public health scourge could be tamed. With the same intent, the American Association targeted tobacco use and was one of the first organizations to tell people about the dangers of smoking, even before the landmark Surgeon General’s Report on smoking was issued in 1964. The American Lung Association’s smoking cessation program for adults, Freedom From Smoking®, is widely recognized as the gold standard of such programs and is available in a group clinic format, as a self-help manual and free of charge online at www.ffsonline.org. The American Lung Association also provides free telephone counseling to help smokers quit at 1-800-LUNGUSA.

From successfully advocating for smokefree air laws to holding the tobacco industry accountable for its wrongdoing, the American Lung Association has been a leader in tobacco control advocacy on the international, national, state and local levels. In addition, the American Lung Association was among the first to offer a proven effective teen smoking-cessation program, Not On Tobacco (N-O-T). N-O-T has been designated a Model Program by both the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Drug Prevention.

In addition, the American Lung Association is a leader in the battle against air pollution and its devastating impact on human health. More recently, the American Lung Association has taken the lead in responding to the dramatic increase in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Smoking causes almost 90 percent of COPD cases and both asthma and COPD can be exacerbated by exposure to secondhand smoke. The American Lung Association’s commitment to tobacco control is stronger than ever. But there is a crucial difference in this fight: Tobacco, unlike tuberculosis, has a strong lobby supporting it.

The American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2007 is a call to action for national and state elected officials: Meet the challenge and enact strong tobacco control laws so that everyone in the United States can breathe easier.

To find out more about the American Lung Association, get help quitting smoking or learn more about lung health issues, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or log onto www.lungusa.org.