A heads up on the tobacco front

Tobacco opponents got some encouraging news yesterday when a bipartisan group of congressional leaders reintroduced legislation to require FDA regulation of tobacco.

If the bill passes, the FDA will be able to - among other things - use advertising, sales rules and warning labels to encourage kids not to smoke and help adults quit.Tobacco companies would also have to reveal what is in cigarettes and cigarette smoke - the CDC says secondhand smoke contains 250 chemicals that are toxic or cause cancer.

I spent some time talking about this issue on Mondayin Mississippi at the President’s Cancer Panel. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature death in the U.S. and kills close to half a million Americans every year. It is likely that some of the decreases in cancer deaths in the past two years are becuase people are smoking less.

I think this is a step in the right direction. We have got to do everything we can to help people quit, prevent them lighting their first cigarette and protect all of us from the harmful smoke.Read more about it here.

As I have been saying, the health of our nation depends on the health of its people. Apparently I’m not the first one to make this argument. A member of our team sent me this quote from a 19th century British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli: “The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend.”

So the idea that a healthy population is critical and that the government has an important role in setting the agenda is not at all new … but maybe it is finally gaining ground.

And, as a reminder, if you are interested in our government and want to see a bigger emphasis on fighting cancer, apply to be an advocate on LIVESTRONG Day. We’ll be in Washington D.C. again this year and we need your help. The deadline is next Friday. We also need your help raising awareness about the fight against cancer in your own community. For more details, go to www.livestrong.org/livestrongday or send an email to livestrongday@laf.org.

Have a good weekend.

LIVESTRONG,

Lance