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Statement by American Legacy Foundation President and CEO Cheryl Healton, Dr. P.H. on U.S. Supreme Court Decision Recognizing Deadly Toll of Tobacco 

The American Legacy Foundation® applauds the court’s decision. Boeken, who smoked two packs of Marlboro cigarettes a day for decades, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1999, and he died at age 57 in 2002.

Unfortunately, his story is all-too common: smoking-related trachea, lung and bronchus cancers together claim the lives of nearly 125,000 men and women annually in the United States. Quitting smoking does not eliminate the risk of lung cancer, but it does significantly reduce the risk. More Americans lose their lives to lung cancer annually than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined and more must be done to prevent it.

The tobacco industry often issues statements that the American public must be allowed to choose whether or not they want to smoke. Given the highly addictive nature of cigarettes, they do not actually allow for much free choice when it comes to smoking. Unfortunately, these behaviors begin with our nation’s youth. More than 80 percent of smokers start before they are 18, and – just like Boeken – their most common brand of choice is Marlboro.

Ongoing smoking-prevention efforts such as our truth® campaign and the words and actions of parents and doctors across our nation will continue to echo the Supreme Court’s message about tobacco’s deadly toll and an industry that creates a product that prematurely kills one half of the people who use it.

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