Work still needed to curtail smoking

Fifty years ago this month the U.S. Surgeon General published a report that established the link between smoking and cancer, helping to show the public that the tobacco industry had been lying to them about their deadly, additive products for years.
It was the beginning of a long fight that continues today, to change public perceptions of smoking, provide services and education to help people quit tobacco and prevent kids from starting and to work with lawmakers to implement strong tobacco control policies.

This work is paying off. Over the past 50 years, adult smoking rates have been cut in half and are down to 23.3 percent in Oklahoma.
But there are still 44 million smokers in the country, 670,000 in Oklahoma, with more than 3,000 kids picking up their first cigarette every day nationwide. The tobacco industry continues to promote their deadly products and fight proven tobacco control measures, like smoke-free laws and tobacco taxes, that can protect our kids from a lifetime of addition.
It’s time to put an end to Big Tobacco’s deceptions.
On the 50th Anniversary of the Surgeon General’s report, let’s call on our legislators in Oklahoma City to keep us moving in the right direction - protect all workers from exposure to second-hand smoke and protect the Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund (TSET). We must do all we can to prevent our young people from ever becoming addicted to these deadly products, help people quit and save lives from tobacco-related diseases like cancer.
Michelle Brown
State Lead Ambassador and Volunteer,
American Cancer Society Cancer Action
Network (ACS CAN)
Henryetta, Oklahoma