January 09, 2007
A Lack of Political Will
On Tuesday January 9, the American Lung Association released its 2006 State of Tobacco Control report. In its fifth year, the report grades the states in four key areas of tobacco control policy, tobacco prevention and cessation program funding, smokefree air laws, cigarette taxes and laws restricting youth access to tobacco products. To read the report click here.
Implementing these policies is a proven way to reduce the estimated 438,000 deaths each year from tobacco use:
- A study published in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that if all the states spent just the minimum amount recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), youth smoking nationally would be 3 to 14 percent lower.
- The 2006 Surgeon General’s report on secondhand smoke concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, and that eliminating smoking in indoor areas is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke.
- Studies have shown that a 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces consumption by 7 percent for youth and 4 percent for adults.
The report’s grades this year show improvement especially in the area of smokefree air, but the political will is still lacking to implement these policies in many states. States that have done so have seen dramatic results. For the 2nd year in a row, the state of Maine has earned four A’s in the report, and youth smoking in that state has declined by almost 60 percent between 1997 and 2005.
The state of California has sustained its tobacco prevention and cessation program since 1990, and as a result it has some of the lowest adult and youth smoking rates in the country. But the California program is under funded. The Golden State spends about half of what the CDC recommends for a comprehensive program. In fact, only nine states fund these programs at or near the levels recommended by the CDC, 34 others including California fund them at less than 60 percent. Imagine the additional lives that would be saved if California and the other states increased their investments.
Only the strongest tobacco control laws will reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use. The science behind these policies is proven, and the public overwhelmingly supports them. Yet, like the states, the U.S. Congress has not mustered the political will to make changes at the national level either. Despite tobacco products being one of the only unregulated consumer products, Congress has failed to enact critical legislation giving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to do so. Send a letter today to your Member of Congress and Senators. Tell them to protect kids from tobacco and promote public health by supporting legislation to grant the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products and advertising claims.
For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872) or log on to www.lungusa.org.
Posted by lungblogposter at 11:40 AM | Comments (7)
July 26, 2006
The Facts About Secondhand Smoke
Secondhand smoke has received increased attention in the media recently. In late June the Surgeon General released a new report titled The Health Effects of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke confirming the dangerous affects of secondhand smoke on adults and children both in the work and home environment.
Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. It is involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers, lingers in the air hours after cigarettes have been extinguished, and causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 to 62,000 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.
The Surgeon General’s report had six major conclusions:
- Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and adults that do not smoke.
- Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows lung growth in their children.
- Exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer.
- Scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk free level of exposure to SHS.
- Millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to SHS in their homes and workplaces despite substantial progress in tobacco control.
- Eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects nonsmokers from exposure to SHS; separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate exposures of nonsmokers to SHS.
Secondhand smoke exposure in the workplace
With no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke it’s imperative that state and local officials take appropriate steps to protect public health in the workplace. An effective way to do that is to pass a comprehensive smokefree air law that covers all workplaces, including restaurants and bars. The popularity of smokefree air laws across the country is increasing as Americans demand safer working environments and elected officials take steps to provide a better quality of life for their constituents. Currently, 14 states including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have already passed strong smokefree air laws.1 This November, voters in Arizona, Ohio and Nevada will have the chance to vote on similar measures.
In January, the American Lung Association released its annual State of Tobacco Control report card grading states and the Federal government in several key tobacco control policy areas, including smokefree air. Click here to see the report and find out how your state ranks.
What you can do to protect yourself and your family
Smokefree Zone: Declare your home a smokefree zone. No level of exposure to secondhand smoke is safe. Children are especially vulnerable to other people’s smoke, suffering acute respiratory infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia, more sever asthma and ear infections as a result. Do not allow smoking in your home, or ask smokers to take it outside.
Travel Healthy: Consider traveling/vacationing in smokefree cities or states. Stay in a hotel that has gone smokefree, like the Westin or Marriott2, who are making an effort to provide a healthier environment for their customers.
Get Involved: If your state of city doesn’t have a comprehensive smokefree air law, help to advocate for one. Earlier this year the American Lung Association kicked off its Smokefree Air 2010 Challenge calling on state and local policymakers to pass and strengthen smokefree air laws. Click here to get involved with the challenge.
For more information about secondhand smoke click here.
1 Montana’s law will take full effect October 1, 2009. Utah’s law will take full effect January 1, 2009. The District of Columbia’s law will take full effect January 1, 2007. Puerto Rico’s law will take effect in March 2007.
2 On July 19, 2006 Marriott announced that in September 2007 Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott ExecuStay brands will 100% smokefree.
Posted by lungblogposter at 09:08 AM | Comments (6)
April 11, 2006
Should Lung Cancer Patients Quit Smoking?
We all know that smoking leads to a variety of deadly diseases and the best protection against diseases such as lung cancer and COPD is to stop smoking. We know that by quitting smoking you can add years to your life but does it still help once a patient is diagnosed with lung cancer? A recent laboratory study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is now suggesting that nicotine can actually interfere with chemotherapy in lung cancer patients and lessen its effectiveness in fighting the disease. I want to emphasize that this study was performed on cells in a laboratory and we don’t yet know the human significance. This is important to point out, because the study suggests that nicotine, in any form, including nicotine replacement products, can reduce the efficacy of chemotherapy treatment.
While there’s no doubt that quitting smoking is a good thing, many people have achieved success by using nicotine replacement products, so we obviously want to encourage people to quit any way they can. However, this preliminary research has brought into question whether or not lung cancer patients, or all cancer patients, should use nicotine replacement products to quit. This is a very important issue and one that requires additional research, including human clinical trials, since there are so many differences between a living, breathing human and a dish full of cells in a laboratory.
This situation is particularly complicated because people who use nicotine patches or gum instead of cigarettes avoid taking in a variety of other poisons. This complicates the picture of just how harmful nicotine is in those forms -- especially since the patches and gums help people quit smoking, in the first place. So, it’s possible that the value of smoking cessation may outweigh the theoretical risk of blunting the effect of chemotherapy. In any case, we will continue to monitor the situation closely should new developments occur.
And, as always, if you’re still smoking, I urge you to quit. Many people are now enjoying smoke-free lives through the help they received from the American Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking online program or by speaking with one of our stop-smoking experts at our HelpLine at 1-800-LUNGUSA. If you’d like to learn more about chemotherapy, the National Cancer Institute has some valuable information on their website at the National Cancer Institute.
Posted by lungblogposter at 11:09 AM | Comments (18)
March 27, 2006
They’re Listening....
For years, we’ve been asking state and local governments to protect the lung health of our citizens, and now according to our recently published report, State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI), we’re seeing a growing trend amongst states to make almost all public places and workplaces smokefree. In addition, states are raising tobacco taxes, essential in the fight to prevent our youth from starting to smoke, an addiction that for many, is more difficult to break than an addiction to heroin.
Earlier this year we issued the American Lung Association Smokefree Air 2010 Challenge, urging policymakers to adopt strong smokefree air laws. Why is it so important that we rid our work environments and other public places of secondhand smoke?
Here are some facts:
- Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans.
- Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 – 62,000 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.
- Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to children, and can even be fatal. Secondhand smoke causes 1,900 to 2,700 deaths from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in the United States each year.
So as you see, secondhand smoke is not just a nuisance, it’s a potential killer. I invite you to read more of these alarming statistics by clicking here.
Click here for the SLATI report to see the latest on tobacco control laws in your state. In addition you might want to check out your state’s grades on tobacco control laws in the American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control 2005 report, released in January.
Thanks to a combined effort of many concerned Americans, millions of us are now able to enjoy a smokefree existence, without compromising our careers, or our leisure-time activities.
Posted by lungblogposter at 06:49 AM | Comments (1)
January 02, 2006
Happy New Year!
Did you give up smoking this year? Congratulations! Tell us how you did it. You might be just the right encouragement for someone who is trying to quit.
If you want to quit, we can help. Call our quit smoking specialists at 1-800-LUNG-USA or use our free FFS Online program. Here’s to a smokefree 2006!
Posted by lungblogposter at 09:00 AM | Comments (7)
