PACT Notes

January 26th, 2018

State of Tobacco Control – Did PA Make the Grade?
The American Lung Association released the results of its 16th annual State of Tobacco Control report. This report tracks progress on key tobacco control policies at the federal and state level, assigning grades based on whether laws are protecting citizens from tobacco-caused death and disease. This year’s report finds that while smoking rates are declining nationwide, progress is uneven and not all Americans are benefiting equally. The report identifies ways to protect everyone, including those historically targeted by the tobacco industry, from the harms of tobacco use and secondhand smoke. The purpose of the report is to increase knowledge about tobacco control policy and is not reflective of the life-saving tobacco prevention and cessation programs currently provided in the Commonwealth.

National Academies Report Makes Clear: FDA Must Use Its Full Authority to Protect the Public Health from E-Cigarettes

State-Specific Prevalence of Tobacco Product Use Among Adults – United States, 2014-2015
To learn more about how this study is related to the State of Tobacco Control Report click here.

2018 Greater Philadelphia Lung Force Expo

New Online Ordering for Freedom From Smoking® Materials

PACT Notes

PACT Notes – December 21, 2018

PACT Notes – December 21, 2018

A new study found that increases in adolescent vaping from 2017 to 2018 were the largest ever recorded in the past 43 years for any adolescent substance use outcome in the U.S.

In just one year e-cigarette use among youth has skyrocketed, increasing by:
90% among 12th graders
96% among 10th graders
74% among 8th graders

PACT Notes – December 14, 2018

PACT Notes – December 14, 2018

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark 1998 legal settlement between the states and the tobacco companies, which required the companies to pay more than $200 billion over time as compensation for tobacco-related health care costs.

The report challenges states to do more to fight tobacco use – the nation’s No. 1 preventable cause of death – and to confront the growing epidemic of youth e-cigarette use in America. In Pennsylvania, 8.7 percent of high school students smoke cigarettes, while 11.3 percent use e-cigarettes. Tobacco use claims 22,000 Pennsylvania lives and costs the state $6.3 billion in health care bills annually.

PACT Notes – December 7, 2018

PACT Notes – December 7, 2018

This week Senator Mario Scavello (PA-40) released a co-sponsorship memo for Tobacco 21. He is actively looking for support in the Senate and plans to introduce legislation in the session starting in the new year. While PACT is still advising that advocates wait until the new year to start their legislative visits, if you have any connections with Senators you think might be interested in support please reach out to PACT and we are happy to connect them with Senator Scavello’s Office.