Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: The battle continues  

COMPLACENCY has its cost. It has led some people to erroneously believe that smoking is fading as a public health danger. But a new report by the government dispels that perception by showing a small but disturbing uptick in the number of American smokers. . . .

Gains have been undermined by cuts in state tobacco control campaigns, as happened in Ohio. Tobacco companies have offered deep discounts to offset tax increases, and, since the 1998 state tobacco settlement, overall tobacco marketing has risen substantially. . . .

Basically, say anti-smoking advocates, when you increase tobacco prices and fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs, smoking rates go down, and when prices stay flat and programs are cut, rates go up. The challenge, they say, is to resist the complacency that follows victory over tobacco use, as with indoor smoking bans, higher cigarette taxes, and Congress' recent decision to allow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.

The CDC survey clearly indicates that much more needs to be done to reduce smoking. The cost to the nation in lives and medical expense is too steep to allow backsliding now with an unhealthy habit that remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States.

Jump to full article »