Nebraska Revenue Committee Bill Fails to Address Tobacco Crisis
Statement from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Nebraska Government Relations Director Megan Word
Amber Herting
ACS CAN, Media Advocacy
Raise It For Health DC: Tobacco Control Advocates Applaud Councilmember’s Proposed Cigarette Tax That Will Save Lives & Improve Health
Increase of $2 per pack will help kids and adults alike
September 19, 2017
A coalition of leading public health organizations praised Councilmember Vincent Gray’s proposal for increasing the District’s cigarette tax by $2 per pack and designating a portion of the revenue to critical tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Experts say the measure will decrease youth smoking in the District by 21.1 percent.
The Raise It For Health DC coalition includes the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Breathe DC, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, DC Fiscal Policy Institute and the March of Dimes.
“Councilmember Gray clearly recognizes the tremendous burden that tobacco use causes in the District of Columbia,” said Bonita Pennino, director of government relations in the District for ACS CAN. “Increasing the price of tobacco products and devoting that revenue to critical programs like the DC Quitline, community education and preventing sales of tobacco products to minors would help to make Washington DC a national model for strong tobacco-control policies.”
A $2 per pack increase to the District’s cigarette tax will prevent 2,200 premature deaths and save the District $160 million in long-term health care costs. Additionally, the new tax is expected to generate $5.56 million in new annual revenue.
Last year, members of the DC Council and the mayor enacted the Electronic Cigarette Parity Amendment Act, which added e-cigarettes to the District’s smoke-free law; the Prohibition Against Selling Tobacco Products to Individuals Under 21 Amendment Act; and the Sporting Events Tobacco Products Restriction Amendment Act, which prohibits the use of tobacco products at organized sporting events in the District. Passage of this cigarette tax increase would further cement the District as a nationwide leader in efforts to protect kids from tobacco and help smokers quit.
“Smoking is associated with several leading causes of death in the United States, including heart disease, cancer, lung disease and stroke. This unhealthy behavior can be stopped. We applaud the commitment of Councilmember Gray for his decisive measures to end tobacco use in the District,” said, Dr. Richard Benson, President of the American Heart Association Greater Washington Region Board of Directors and associate medical director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. “Supporting a cigarette tax increase will not only make it harder for young people to purchase cigarettes, it will further demonstrate the culture of health that exists in Washington, DC.”
“The American Lung Association in the District of Columbia encourages the DC Council to pass Councilmember Gray’s proposal, which will result in fewer kids starting to smoke and in more adults quitting,” said Deborah P. Brown, Executive Vice President, American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. “Increasing the cigarette tax will also provide desperately needed revenue to fund important health, as well as tobacco prevention and cessation programs.”
“Smoking is the single most modifiable risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. It is important to help pregnant women stop smoking and reduce tobacco use among the general population since secondhand smoke adversely affects the health of infants and young children.,” said Christy Keppel, Director of Government Affairs for the March of Dimes in the District of Columbia.
“Smoking kills 800 District of Columbia residents each year and leads to a significant decline in quality of life for smokers,” said Rolando A. Andrewn, President of Breathe DC and Chairman of the DC Tobacco Free Coalition. “Nearly seven in ten adult smokers would like to quit smoking, and over 68 percent of DC smokers have tried to quit in the last year. Increasing the cigarette tax will discourage tobacco use, help reduce tobacco related diseases, and make local resources to quit tobacco more accessible to District residents. We urge the DC Council to pass Councilmember Gray’s proposal in order to provide urgently-needed funding for the District’s local anti-tobacco programs.”
Tobacco use causes over $390 million in health care expenditures every year in the District of Columbia.
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.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – the two leading causes of death in the world. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. For more information visit www.heart.org.
About the DC Fiscal Policy Institute
The DC Fiscal Policy Institute conducts research and public education on budget and tax issues in the District of Columbia, with a particular emphasis on issues that affect low- and moderate-income residents. By preparing timely analyses that are used by policy makers, the media, and the public, DCFPI seeks to inform public debates on budget and tax issues and to ensure that the needs of lower-income residents are considered in those debates. For more information, visit www.dcfpi.org.
About the American Lung Association in the District of Columbia
The American Lung Association in the District of Columbia is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease, through research, education and advocacy. The work of the American Lung Association in the District of Columbia is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to improve the air we breathe; to reduce the burden of lung disease on individuals and their families; and to eliminate tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases. For more information about the American Lung Association in the District of Columbia, a holder of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Guide Seal, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.
About the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a leading force in the fight to reduce tobacco use and its deadly toll in the United States and around the world. Our vision: A future free of the death and disease caused by tobacco.
About the March of Dimes
The March of Dimes was originally founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 to combat polio. Thanks to the help of many volunteers and policymakers, polio has been eradicated from the United States since 1979. Today, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of mothers and babies across the nation by preventing prematurity, birth defects, and infant mortality.
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