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Last Updated: Sep 26th, 2007 - 11:42:57 |
U.S. House Sends President Clear Message: Stand With Kids, Not Big Tobacco
Sep 26, 2007, 11:37
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WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Statement of William V. Corr Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: The U.S. House of Representatives today put the health of America's children first with its sweeping approval of a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax to help fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The legislation's strong, bipartisan support sends a clear message to President Bush: Stand up to Big Tobacco and protect America's kids by signing this life-saving bill into law. A higher cigarette tax is a win-win-win solution for the country - a health win that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, a financial win that will raise revenue to help fund the SCHIP program and reduce tobacco-caused health care costs, and a political win that is popular with voters. A recent poll conducted for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids found that 67 percent of voters support a 75-cent per pack increase in the federal cigarette tax to provide health coverage to uninsured children, while only 28 percent oppose it. Increasing the cigarette tax is a proven strategy to reduce smoking, especially among children. Studies show that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7 percent and overall cigarette consumption by about 4 percent. A 61-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax will prevent almost 1.9 million kids from becoming regular smokers, help almost 1.2 million adult smokers quit, prevent more than 900,000 smoking- caused deaths and produce $43.9 billion in long-term health care savings. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people and costing more than $96 billion in health care bills each year. Currently, about 23 percent of high school students smoke and more than 1,000 kids become new regular smokers every day.
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