Cancer Activists, Tobacco Farmers Join Together for Public Health

American Cancer Society
Wednesday, 25 July 2001

The American Cancer Society, the nation's leading voluntary health organization, today joined with more than 200 tobacco growers and other public health activists at an unprecedented rally on the two communities' common interests in addressing economic and public health challenges in tobacco growing communities. Among the issues the groups will raise in meetings with federal lawmakers later today is their unanimous call for comprehensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of manufactured tobacco products.

"'Big Tobacco' can't get away with trying to play growers against public health advocates anymore," said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society and a member of the Presidential Commission. "If growers and public health advocates can find common ground, surely Congress can find a way to agree that strong, comprehensive FDA regulation of tobacco products is in everybody's interest."

Today's rally follows up on the final report of a Presidential Commission made up of growers, public health advocates, and economic development experts, tasked with developing recommendations on how to address economic changes in tobacco growing communities and the public health implications of tobacco use in these same communities. Issued in May, the report, entitled "A Call To Action: Tobacco Communities at a Crossroad," reflected an unprecedented level of cooperation among tobacco farmers and members of the public health community, resulting in a unanimous call for comprehensive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight of manufactured tobacco products.

Both growers and public health advocates are calling on Congress to end special treatment and regulatory exemptions big tobacco companies currently enjoy. The report contends that tobacco products should instead be put on the same footing as all other legal foods, cosmetics, drugs, and drug delivery devices. FDA oversight of the manufacture, sale, marketing, distribution and labeling of finished tobacco products would be comparable to the oversight it currently exercises over all other similar products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency would retain their roles as the agencies responsible for tobacco farm and growing standards.

Tobacco growers and public health groups also agree greater federal support is needed for tobacco prevention and smoking cessation efforts. Tobacco-dependent communities suffer higher rates of tobacco-related diseases and incur higher health care expenses. The inclusion of smoking cessation programs as a basic Medicare and Medicaid benefit, as suggested in the Commission report, would not only help more people quit smoking, but also would ultimately reduce long-term health costs associated with tobacco-related illnesses. The groups also endorse the creation of a grant system providing financial incentives for states that meet minimum standards for prevention and cessation set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to the consensus formed on public health needs, growers and public health advocates alike recognize that tobacco-dependent communities face serious economic distress as the result of big tobacco companies' moves to diversify their businesses and buy foreign-grown tobacco. Economic development initiatives as well as a restructured federal tobacco program must serve as the cornerstone in efforts to help growers raise other crops and launch new enterprises. A 17-cent increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes has been proposed as a means to finance these efforts and could eventually fund public health programs as well.

Smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths and is also a major cause of heart and lung disease. In addition to being responsible for 87 percent of lung cancers, smoking is also associated with cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, uterine cervix, kidney and bladder.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.

For more information, or to contact American Cancer Society, see their website at: www.cancer.org