By Jonathan S. Berek, MD, MMS
Editor, ASCO News & Forum
Prevention is the best medicine. Oncologists would be happy to see fewer patients being treated for preventable illnesses, cancers caused by tobacco use being chief among them. So it was thrilling to see the United States Senate approve the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act on June 22, 2009. This legislation hampers the ability of tobacco marketers to target children and young adults in the places where they learn and play, and prevents manufacturers from adding kid-friendly candy flavorings to mask the tobacco’s natural smoky taste. It also prohibits misleading terms such as “light” and “low-tar” that may have led consumers to think one type of cigarette was safer than another.
“The U.S. Senate has taken an important step forward in allowing the federal government to counter Big Tobacco’s 100-year assault on public health,” said AS CO President Douglas W. Blayney, MD, in a statement about the historic vote. Dr. Blayney attended the signing of the legislation.
President Obama called the legislation “change that has been decades in the making.”
More than 400,000 Americans die of tobacco-related illnesses each year, making it the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. With the passing of this legislation, we hope to be leaders in ending needless death. Oncologists can help accomplish this goal by addressing tobacco usage with current patients and spreading the message to young people before they pick up the habit. By focusing on prevention, perhaps the United States can use the $1 billion per year that is currently being spent on tobacco-related illness for research to study cancers that are not currently preventable.
Change has been afoot for some years but progress has been slow, even after the U.S. Surgeon General declared cigarettes and tobacco products as harmful to one’s health in 1964. This year, you won’t see Santa Claus promoting Lucky Strikes during the holiday season; the iconic cartoon Joe Camel has been retired for more than a decade; and the Virginia Slims ads informing the modern woman, “You’ve come a long way, baby,” seem outdated, if not outright condescending. With the new legislation, the placement of tobacco advertising that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) deems acceptable will be more restricted than ever.
Although many people have quit, young people continue to light up. Currently, one in five high school students graduate not only with a diploma but with a casual cigarette habit that could blossom into a full-blown addiction. As someone who struggles to quit smoking cigarettes himself, President Obama knows firsthand the difficulty in giving up tobacco.
Lung cancer is only one of 15 cancer types that is directly attributable to tobacco usage.
Death from tobacco-related cancers is preventable. If fewer people start smoking, fewer people will be later diagnosed with tobacco-related illnesses and cancer. This historic legislation is positive for AS CO, oncologists, and the public.
ASCO has long been involved in ending tobacco usage. ASCO Past President Paul A. Bunn, Jr., MD, (2002-2003) spearheaded the development of ASCO’s Statement on Tobacco Control, a policy statement that promotes a comprehensive effort to address all elements of the tobacco problem, including reducing tobacco use among youth, requiring disclosure of ingredients in tobacco products, and increasing research on tobacco addiction and prevention strategies, with the ultimate goal of achieving a tobaccofree world.
This isn’t the end of the fight to end tobacco usage but is one of many moves to help improve the health of the American public.
President Obama concluded his June 22 speech with the apt aphorism previously quoted by Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), who introduced the legislation: A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
