THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release
December 1, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
California Department of Health Services demonstrates that, over the last
decade, California?s extensive anti-smoking efforts have resulted in
dramatic decreases in lung and bronchial cancer rates. These new findings
remind us that the lives of Americans are at stake -- not just in
California, but nationwide -- and that comprehensive tobacco prevention and
education efforts can make a difference.
More than 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related health
diseases and more than 80 percent of them started smoking as children.
That is why my Administration developed a nationwide plan to protect our
children from the dangers of tobacco, and I have continued to call on
Congress to affirm the FDA?s authority to implement this plan, and take
other steps to ensure that our children have healthy, tobacco-free futures.
The tobacco companies spend 10 times more to market their products
than all 50 states combined are spending on tobacco prevention and
cessation. California?s efforts demonstrate the progress that can be made
when states use comprehensive tobacco control and prevention approaches, as
recommended in the Surgeon General?s recent report, Reducing Tobacco Use.
Today, I again urge all states to implement these effective approaches
because we must all work together to improve our nation?s health and save
our children?s lives.
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