Handsel Art

Date: 14 June 2008

For Immediate Release

Contact: J.R. Few at

(870) 427-1365 or email

Cancer Coalition Briefed on Advocacy

Sarah Eichman (pictured), Executive Director of the Arkansas Cancer Coalition, welcomed members to the quarterly coalition meeting at the American Cancer Society’s offices in Little Rock June 12. The meeting focused on a briefing for possible legislation and prevention advocacy for the 2009 General Assembly. Topics included an increased tobacco tax, funding for a statewide trauma center, and a primary seatbelt law.

Research published recently in the American Journal of Public Health evaluated tobacco control policies and found that mass media campaigns and increasing the price of tobacco were the most effective in reducing tobacco use. Studies consistently have shown that a 10% increase in the price of tobacco products can reduce youth starting by 7% or more. Nicotine addiction, the leading cause of preventable death , is responsible for 30% of all cancers and 87% of lung cancer.

Says local ARCC volunteer J.R. Few, “Policy makers should recognize that prevention is always cost effective. The tobacco industry enjoys a public subsidy we know how to change.”

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids estimates that yearly tobacco related health care costs in Arkansas exceed $812 million and burden every household in the state an additional $564 in taxes.

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