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2010 marks the ten-year anniversary of the country's most successful youth smoking prevention campaign -- truth®.  In the past decade, the truth® campaign has kept hundreds of thousands of teens from smoking, protecting them from years of addiction and tobacco-related disease and saving countless lives.

The campaign is directed and funded by Legacy, a national public health foundation with the dual mission of keeping young people from smoking and helping all smokers quit. Over the past decade, the campaign has:

• Seen a growing body of research illustrate the efficacy of the campaign in saving lives by keeping teens from starting to smoke.  Research published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that truth® is responsible for keeping 450,000 teens from starting to smoke between 2000-2004. A second study published in that same journal in April 2009 found that the campaign not only paid for itself in its first two years, but also saved between $1.9 and $5.4 billion in medical care costs to society.
• Become a summer concert institution through a grassroots tour. Traveling with the VANS Warped Tour for ten summers, truth® brand ambassadors have connected personally with more than five million teens with anti-tobacco messages.
• Successfully prevailed in the court of law after a nearly six-year lawsuit with a tobacco company regarding the content of select truth® advertisements.
• Produced groundbreaking and highly-lauded advertising, winning more than 400 awards, including Emmys, ADDYs, Clios and a Grand Effie.

"Looking back over the accomplishments of the truth® campaign in the last decade reveals a host of milestones in the fight for a healthier America, by reducing the impact of tobacco on our teens," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy.  "truth® has become an iconic part of teen popular culture by not compromising on the idea that teens appreciate being asked to make their own, informed decisions and not being told what to do. Of course, the way in which truth® presents information has been, and will continue to be provocative because that is what teens most at risk of smoking respond to best."

The campaign was born out of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between three of the largest tobacco companies, and 46 states and five U.S. territories. Funds from the MSA were directed to create a national public health organization devoted to helping adults who want to quit and keeping teens from starting. Foundation leaders, partners and an expert panel funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked to the latest social science, marketing and public health research - along with the State of Florida's successful truth® youth smoking campaign -- to expand the truth® campaign and bring it to a national audience. 

"With truth®, we knew that preaching to kids about not smoking wouldn't work," said Pete Favat, Chief Creative Officer at Arnold Worldwide, Legacy's advertising partner.  "So we wanted to do something different. We set out to harness teenage rebellion and make an intangible thing like

'anti-smoking' into a tangible brand. To have youth communicate to other youth about the real, unfiltered facts involving cigarettes and the manipulative tobacco industry. Then kids could make up their own minds about smoking.  It's been a lot of work and a great partnership over the years and it's been exciting to see how the campaign has evolved.  But most importantly we're so proud of the way truth® has been able to impact teenager's lives in such a positive and meaningful way."

truth® is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking - allowing teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products. It is designed to engage teens by exposing Big Tobacco's marketing and manufacturing practices, as well as highlighting the toll of tobacco in relevant and innovative ways.

truth® remains a multi-channel, constantly evolving campaign. From its beginnings in iconic television ads, the campaign has also included radio, print and cinema advertising. Over the decade, the campaign has had an increasingly comprehensive online presence, and an experiential presence via a popular summer tour. All efforts are focused directly to teens that are most likely to smoke and need information most.

In its ten years, truth® has had 3 distinct phases, as the campaign's audience has "migrated", and outreach efforts reflect that:

• traditional advertising: TV spots, truth® ads in print publications popular with teens, and radio.
• traditional advertising to online: In response, the campaign boosted its interactive presence, built social networking profiles, and continues to grow and build a robust Web site with polls, games, interactive activities, video, etc
• online to experiential - Responding to an audience that is creating its own content and looking for further engagement with brands and campaigns, the truth® tour will take on an even more central role in the years to come, and the truth® "experience" will be enhanced further through engaging content and integrations.

While campaign funds have been in decline since 2003, Legacy has evolved the campaign to extend the truth® message in even more efficient and cost-effective ways. Partnerships with like-minded brands, such as MTV, Virgin Mobile, fuse and fuel extended the campaign's reach and provided value-added opportunities. Grant funding from such partners as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowed the campaign to grow its presence in many smaller and rural communities throughout the nation. In addition, campaign managers constantly assess the media channels used by the campaign and its creative approach to make sure truth® continues to hit teens with relevant messages in relevant mediums.

While ten years ago much of truth®'s efforts were focused around traditional advertising, with iconic TV spots like Body Bags putting truth® on the map and highly-visible with teens, significant changes in media tools and consumption with the teen audience over the last decade has driven routine shifts in strategy to embrace other marketing tools. To meet these challenges, truth® continues to look beyond traditional means and the 30-second spot.

"With the campaign now facing a funding cliff and the tobacco industry spending approximately $34 million per day on marketing, truth® will continue to work hard to reach teens and help them make informed decisions about tobacco use," said Dr. Benjamin Chu, chairman of the Legacy Board of Directors. "As we enter the next decade, the landscape around youth marketing continues to shift, presenting both opportunities and challenges.  Digital media will continue to be the driving force for engagement with teens, message distribution, and for fundraising with audiences beyond the core audience.  The truth® campaign has recognized these trends and will continue to embrace new methods of youth engagement."

To learn more about highlights from the last ten years of truth®, please visit: http://www.legacyforhealth.org/truthnews.aspx

BACKGROUND ON THE truth® CAMPAIGN

truth®, launched in February 2000, is the largest national youth smoking prevention campaign and the only national campaign not directed by the tobacco industry. The campaign exposes the tactics of the tobacco industry, the truth about addiction, and the health effects and social consequences of smoking.  truth® allows teens to make informed choices about tobacco use by giving them the facts about the industry and its products. The campaign was created by Legacy and its partners, Arnold Worldwide of Boston (2000-present), and Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami (2000-2007).

Legacy is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the national public health organization helps Americans live longer, healthier lives.  Legacy develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns.  The foundation's programs include truth®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as having contributed to significant declines in youth smoking; EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use.  The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit www.legacyforhealth.org.

Vermont ranks 8th in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations.

Vermont currently spends $5.9 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 57.1 percent of the $10.4 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, Vermont ranked 7th, spending $6.1 million on tobacco prevention.

Other key findings for Vermont include:

• Vermont this year will collect $86 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 6.9 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
• The tobacco companies spend $27.4 million a year to market their products in Vermont. This is 5 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

The annual report on states' funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled "A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 11 Years Later," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

"Vermont has made a solid commitment and again is one of the top 10 states when it comes to protecting kids from tobacco," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "But Vermont still spends just over half of what the CDC recommends. To continue reducing tobacco use, it is critical that Vermont's leaders build on their commitment and increase funding for tobacco prevention programs. Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment that reduces smoking, saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs."

In Vermont, 18.2 percent of high school students smoke, and 600 more kids become regular smokers every year. Each year, tobacco claims 800 lives and costs the state $233 million in health care bills.

Eleven years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, the new report finds that the states this year are collecting record amounts of revenue from the tobacco industry, but are spending less of it on tobacco prevention. Key national findings of the report include:

• The states this year will collect $25.1 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 2.3 percent of it - $567.5 million - on tobacco prevention programs. It would take less than 15 percent of their tobacco revenue to fund tobacco prevention programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.
• In the past year, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by more than 15 percent, or $103.4 million.
• Only one state - North Dakota - currently funds a tobacco prevention program at the CDC-recommended level.
• Only nine other states fund prevention programs at even half the CDC-recommended amount, while 31 states and DC are providing less than a quarter of the recommended funding.

The report warns that the nation's progress in reducing smoking is at risk unless states increase funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. The United States has significantly reduced smoking among both youth and adults, but the CDC's most recent survey showed that smoking declines among adults have stalled. Currently 20 percent of high school students and 20.6 percent of adults smoke.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year. Every day, another 1,000 kids become regular smokers - one-third of them will die prematurely as a result.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

New York, once a national leader in funding programs to reduce tobacco use, has cut funding for its tobacco prevention and cessation program by 31 percent in the past year. As a result of the latest cuts enacted just last week, New York has fallen to 22nd in the nation in funding such programs, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations. Health advocates say New York's progress in reducing smoking is at risk unless state leaders restore funding.

After the latest cuts, New York this year has budgeted a total of $57 million for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, including $55.2 million in state funds and the rest in a federal grant. This amounts to just 22.4 percent of the $254.3 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last year, New York spent $81.9 million, or 32.2 percent of CDC-recommended levels, and ranked 19th. In previous years, New York has ranked as high as 5th in the nation.

Other key findings for New York include:

• In the past year, New York has cut state funding for its tobacco prevention program by 31 percent, from $80.4 to $55.2. This $25.2 million cut is the largest of any state. Governor David Paterson proposed and the Legislature enacted the latest round of cuts just last week.
• New York this year will collect $2.13 billion from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 2.6 percent of it on tobacco prevention programs.
• The tobacco companies spend $429.6 million a year to market their products in New York. This is more than 7 times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

The annual report on states' funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled "A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 11 Years Later," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

New York has been a national leader in fighting tobacco use with a well-funded Tobacco Control Program, a strong smoke-free workplace law and a high cigarette tax of $2.75 per pack. As a result, New York has reduced its adult smoking rate to 16.8 percent and its high school smoking rate to 13.8 percent, both well below the national rates of 20.6 percent and 20 percent. However, the huge cut in funding for tobacco prevention programs has put the state's progress at risk.

"New York has led the nation in fighting tobacco use, but the state this year has taken a big step backward and decimated funding for tobacco prevention," said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Unless Governor Patterson and the Legislature act quickly to restore funding, New York will pay a high price in lives and dollars. Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment that reduces smoking, saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs."

Despite the state's progress, 20,900 New York kids become regular smokers every year. Each year in New York, tobacco claims 25,400 lives and costs the state $8.2 billion in health care bills.

Eleven years after the 1998 state tobacco settlement, the new report finds that the states this year are collecting record amounts of revenue from the tobacco industry, but are spending less of it on tobacco prevention. Key national findings of the report include:

• The states this year will collect $25.1 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 2.3 percent of it - $567.5 million - on tobacco prevention programs. It would take less than 15 percent of their tobacco revenue to fund tobacco prevention programs in every state at CDC-recommended levels.
• In the past year, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by more than 15 percent, or $103.4 million.
• Only one state - North Dakota - currently funds a tobacco prevention program at the CDC-recommended level.
• Only nine other states fund prevention programs at even half the CDC-recommended amount, while 31 states and DC are providing less than a quarter of the recommended funding.

The report warns that the nation's progress in reducing smoking is at risk unless states increase funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. The United States has significantly reduced smoking among both youth and adults, but the CDC's most recent survey showed that smoking declines among adults have stalled.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year. Every day, another 1,000 kids become regular smokers - one-third of them will die prematurely as a result.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

The following is a statement by Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

Governor David Paterson's decision to cut an additional $10 million out of the funding for New York state's effective and successful tobacco prevention program is shortsighted and in the long run will cost lives and money. It is a genuinely penny wise and pound foolish decision. New York state's tobacco prevention program has had dramatic success dropping smoking rates for both kids and adults well below the national average. It is saving lives and saving New York's taxpayers money.

Just six years ago in 2003, New York's adult smoking rate stood at 21.6 percent, right at the national average. But the state wisely invested in an evidence-based tobacco prevention and cessation program, increased its tobacco tax, and passed a strong smoke-free law. The result of that prudent investment has never been more evident than two weeks ago when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the national adult smoking rate had gone up for the first time in several years to 20.6 percent. At the same time, New York state smoking rates for adults dropped to 16.8 percent, well below the national rate, while smoking rates for kids in New York state dropped to an astonishing 13.8 percent, also well below the national rate. New York state's exemplary work in bringing down smoking rates could be undone in a hurry if Governor Paterson's budget ax is allowed to fall.

Last year, the budget for tobacco prevention in New York state was cut by $17 million dollars and that was bad enough. Now the Governor is proposing an additional $10 million dollar cut and there is no guarantee that further cuts are not just around the corner. If Governor Paterson's plan is implemented, it will almost certainly decimate one of the most successful programs the State of New York maintains.

While these are indeed tough budget times, it makes no sense to cut a program that is saving lives and healthcare dollars and that has already been severely cut. It does make sense to spend just a small fraction of the more than $2 billion New York collects in tobacco settlement payments and tobacco taxes to fund this vital program.

Even with the success of New York state's tobacco prevention efforts, there is still an uphill battle ongoing to drive down smoking related costs in the state. The sad reality is that 25,400 New Yorkers die annually from smoking- related disease, and more than 20,000 New York kids become regular smokers each year.. And healthcare costs associated with tobacco use in New York state amount to a staggering $8.17 billion annually.

Instead of cutting New York state's budget for tobacco prevention, Governor Paterson should do everything in his power to restore the cuts already made and hold out New York's tobacco prevention efforts as an outstanding example of a government program that works. If he chooses to hold to his current plan, he deserves all the opprobrium he will almost certainly get from legislators, media, and the citizens of the State of New York.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

With the latest research estimating that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco next year(1), an innovative approach is critical to helping the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit. This month, which is observed as Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the national quit smoking program, EX(R) will debut the second phase of advertising and promotions designed to help smokers "re-learn" life without cigarettes.

The campaign will begin airing this month on radio and cable television networks as well as online, in print and through ambient/out-of-home channels. EX is a national quit smoking campaign, sponsored by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC), a two-year old collaborative of state and national public health groups spearheaded by Legacy(SM), creators of the award-winning truth(R) youth smoking prevention campaign.

EX is more than an advertising campaign, it provides evidence-based tools to help smokers quit, including information that can help them prepare for a quit attempt by 1) "Re-learning" their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation; 2) "Re-learning" their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and 3) "Re-learning" their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.

Because social support is so important, EX has used a state-of-the-art Web site (www.BecomeAnEX.org) as a convening point for smokers who want to quit and collaborate on their successes and challenges in the difficult quit process. Since March 2008, when the program first debuted, over a million people have visited the site and more than 14,000 smokers have joined the online community, forming nearly 300 customized support groups. EX tools were designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and with input from former and current smokers who have lived with this struggle, in order to provide smokers with a realistic approach based on evidence-based research.

Most smokers in America - 70 percent - want to quit, but in 2000, only about five percent of smokers were successful in quitting long-term. Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes one can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; smokers therefore need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications and resources available to them.

The new EX ads have a heavy rotation with sports fans, who, according to one recent study, also have high smoking rates. Another new tack in this year's promotional strategy includes the creation of two spots that will be used only as unpaid public service announcements and will be placed as part of a partnership between Legacy and The Advertising Council.

"This year, there have been several historic changes in public policy related tobacco prevention and cessation, from the passage of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act increasing the Federal excise tax on tobacco to the Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act securing authority for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. The movement to reduce the number of smokers in America is evolving," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. "What is yet to change are the financial resources available to help smokers quit, so we have had to become even more creative with our public education strategy and are confident that our PSA partnership with The Advertising Council will effectively supplement our past traditional paid media efforts in this campaign."

For the 2009 edition of the campaign, a major focus of the placements will be through partnerships with Major League Baseball on Fox, "Bassmasters" on ESPN2 and on radio through ABC and Sporting News Radio. The campaign will run from mid-Fall (November 1) through January, hopefully encouraging smokers to prepare to quit as their New Year's Resolution.

Descriptions of television spots:

Many smokers light up when they drive. At the beginning of "Spin," a man leaves his store for a smoke break. Cigarette in hand, he tries the doors of a few cars, before jumping into an idling delivery van and driving off. The voice over relates: "You don't drive every time you smoke; yet, you smoke every time you drive" and exhorts the viewer to "relearn life without cigarettes" at BecomeAnEx.org.

"Receptionist" is a look at the habit many people have of smoking while drinking alcohol. Cigarettes at the ready, a woman at her desk in an office setting crushes ice, chops strawberries and then blends the mixture while her coworkers all try to work. As she heads outside with her margarita, the voice over explains "You don't drink every time you smoke; yet, you smoke every time you drink" and offers that the viewer can "relearn life without cigarettes" at BecomeAnEx.org.

Creative for EX was produced by Austin, Texas-based GSD&M Idea City, the agency of record for Legacy's advertising on smoking cessation. New York City-based PHD conceptualized and implemented the media planning and buying strategy for the EX campaign.

In 2006-07, Legacy, the national public health foundation best known for its truth(R) youth-smoking prevention campaign pilot tested EX in four markets throughout the country: Buffalo, N.Y.; San Antonio, Texas; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Baltimore, Md. A new study released in the September 2009 issue of Social Marketing Quarterly found that EX was a trusted and empathetic brand and that smokers who were thinking more about quitting or were more motivated to quit were significantly more receptive to the EX brand than those who had not yet reached that point in their quit process. As a result of the successful pilot program, in 2007, Legacy brought together several national organizations and several states to form the NATC and launch EX nationally. The NATC is a group of states, non-profit organizations, foundations and corporations, all dedicated to helping people quit smoking.

Founding members of the NATC include:

• The American Cancer Society
• The American Heart Association
• National Cancer Institute
• C-Change
• Legacy
• The Mayo Clinic
• The Rapides Foundation
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• The Association of State and Health Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
• Arkansas Department of Health
• Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Tobacco Education and Prevention
• Connecticut Department of Public Health
• D.C. Tobacco Free Families, a partnership of D.C. Department of Health, American Lung Association of D.C., and the American Cancer Society
• Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation
• Kentucky Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program
• The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living
• Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health Tobacco Control Program
• Missouri Foundation for Health
• New York Department of Health
• North Carolina Division of Public Health
• North Dakota Department of Health, Division of Tobacco Prevention & Control
• Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, Center for Health Promotions
• Oregon Public Health Division, Department of Human Services, Tobacco Prevention and Education Program
• Rhode Island Department of Health
• Vermont Department of Health
• Washington State Department of Health, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program
• Wyoming Department of Health
  

All of these organizations agree that while smokers may know why they should quit, many just don't know how. Therefore, EX steers away from focusing solely on the reasons for quitting and instead empowers smokers to use FREE resources and methods that have been proven to increase smokers' chances of quitting successfully.

EX(R) is a collaborative public health campaign presented by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation, a partnership of the nation's leading public health organizations and states. The campaign helps smokers prepare to quit and guides them to useful resources that foster successful quit attempts including the EX plan, a free personalized quit plan available on the campaign's Web site www.BecomeAnEX.org. EX is the culmination of several years of research and testing, combining an understanding of the power of nicotine addiction with messages that resonate with and motivate smokers toward behavior change. The EX approach is peer to peer and focuses on "re-learning life without cigarettes" by encouraging smokers to think differently about the process of quitting. The campaign, which began airing nationwide in March 2008, includes television, radio, online AND out-of-home advertising. The EX Web site helps smokers create their own individual plan to quit and connects them to a virtual community of other smokers where they can share stories and strategies about quitting. Founding members of the NATC include numerous states and the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the National Cancer Institute, the American Legacy Foundation, C-Change, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and clinical partner, the Mayo Clinic.

(1) Tobacco Atlas, American Cancer Society and World Lung Association, August 2009.

SOURCE American Legacy Foundation

A new survey conducted by the American Legacy Foundation(R) (Legacy) finds that the majority (63 percent) of sports fans surveyed are current or former smokers and 76 percent of them have smoked while watching or attending sporting events. The study examines whether sports fans were exposed to secondhand smoke while watching sports; smoked while watching sports at certain venues; or whether those who quit smoking relapsed while watching a game. The survey also examined whether watching sports was a trigger for fans who smoke.

The survey also indicated that 60 percent of sports fans have been exposed to secondhand smoke in the past year while watching or attending sporting events and that 36 percent of sports fans who smoke or used to smoke are extremely or very tempted to smoke while viewing sporting events in their own homes. When the score of the game is close, nearly one third are extremely or very tempted to light up.

Starting this week and through the winter, many smokers will be exposed to new quit smoking messages through the EX(R) national smoking cessation campaign. Legacy, along with the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation (NATC), announced today that the next round of new ads in its two-year old EX campaign are now being featured during FOX Sports' broadcast of Major League Baseball's American League Championship Series (ALCS) and World Series. The campaign's new ad debut includes traditional 30-second in-game commercials, as well as new virtual home plate signage that will be seen during live action.

The placement of the ads during the ALCS and World Series is the first of several that will appear in different sports venues through the winter, including "Bassmasters" programming on ESPN2 and national radio programming on Sporting News Radio. The ads are now prominently featured during ALCS games on FOX and will run in various formats through January to encourage smokers to visit www.BecomeAnEX.org for a free comprehensive plan to "re-learn life without cigarettes."

"For years, tobacco industry advertisements were prominently displayed during sporting events, circumventing the federal ban on tobacco advertising on television," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, Legacy's president and CEO. "Through EX, we hope to help fans who smoke to beat this addiction with a free, easy-to-follow three-step plan to quit smoking."

These new ads may also help to counter the images of players who use smokeless tobacco -- both snuff and chew -- whom fans of professional baseball are accustomed to seeing. Eight million Americans 12 and older use smokeless tobacco products and annually one million more begin using them. Adolescents who use smokeless tobacco are more likely to become cigarette smokers.

Released just prior to Lung Cancer Awareness Month and the Great American Smoke Out in November, a critical time to help the 43 million Americans who smoke to finally quit, these findings indicate a high proportion of smokers among sports fans surveyed (34 percent). Eighty-four percent of sports fans who are current smokers reported that they smoke cigarettes while watching or attending sporting events.

The NATC encourages fans who smoke to use the EX quit plan, a two-year old collaborative of state and national public health groups spearheaded by Legacy. This is the second phase of EX advertising and promotions which are designed to help smokers "re-learn" life without cigarettes.

EX is more than an advertising campaign. It provides evidence-based tools to help smokers quit, including information that can help them prepare for a quit attempt by 1) "Re-learning" their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation; 2) "Re-learning" their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and 3) "Re-learning" their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.

Because social support is so important, EX has supplemented its online quitting plan at www.BecomeAnEX.org with a virtual community for smokers who want to convene and collaborate on their successes and challenges in the difficult quit process. Since March 2008, when the program first debuted, more than a million people have visited www.BecomeAnEX.org for help re-learning life without cigarettes. More than 14,000 smokers have joined the online community, forming nearly 300 customized support groups. EX tools were designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and with input from former and current smokers who have lived with this struggle, in order to provide smokers with a realistic approach with evidence-based research.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, most smokers in America -- 70 percent -- want to quit, but in 2000, only about five percent were successful in quitting long-term. Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes one can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco-related disease is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; smokers therefore need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation resources available to them.

SOURCE American Legacy Foundation

The following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

A landmark report released today by the Institute of Medicine provides powerful new evidence that elected officials have no excuse for failing to enact comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws. The IOM report concludes smoke-free laws reduce the number of heart attacks and save lives. The report also confirms that there is conclusive scientific evidence that secondhand smoke causes heart disease, including heart attacks, and finds there is compelling evidence that even relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to a heart attack.

These powerful conclusions, reached by one of the most prestigious scientific authorities in the United States, send a loud and clear message to elected officials across the U.S. and worldwide: No excuses, no half-measures. It's time to protect everyone's right to breathe clean air by enacting comprehensive smoke-free laws that include all workplaces and public places, including restaurants and bars. There should be no exceptions or loopholes. No one should have to put themselves at risk of a heart attack, lung cancer or the other serious diseases caused by secondhand smoke in order to earn a paycheck or enjoy a night out.

In the United States, 27 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have enacted smoke-free laws that include restaurants and bars. The new report should spur the remaining 23 states to enact comprehensive laws that include all workplaces, restaurants and bars (and all states to eliminate any exceptions that remain in their laws). This report should also spur countries around the world to enact comprehensive smoke-free laws in compliance with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the international tobacco control treaty ratified by 167 countries.

Even before this IOM report, there was already conclusive evidence that secondhand smoke causes death and disease, while smoke-free laws protect health and save lives. As the U.S. Surgeon General stated in issuing a groundbreaking report on secondhand smoke in June 2006, "The debate is over. The science is clear: Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard that causes premature death and disease in children and nonsmoking adults."

Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including at least 69 carcinogens. The Surgeon General found that secondhand smoke is a proven cause of lung cancer, heart disease, serious respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome. The Surgeon General also found that secondhand smoke is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year, there is no safe level of exposure and smoke-free laws protect health without harming business.

The IOM's conclusions that smoke-free laws prevent heart attacks and that even short-term exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to a heart attack add significantly to the Surgeon General's report. The IOM report was requested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the wake of a growing number of studies in smoke-free localities, states and countries that found reductions in heart attack rates after smoke-free laws are implemented. After reviewing 11 such studies in the United States, Canada, Scotland and Italy and a multitude of other scientific studies examining the relationship between secondhand smoke and cardiovascular disease, an IOM committee of scientific experts reached the following conclusions:

• "The committee concludes that there is a causal relationship between smoking bans and decreases in acute coronary events."
• "The evidence reviewed by the committee is consistent with a causal relationship between secondhand-smoke exposure and acute coronary events, such as acute MI (myocardial infarction)."
• "The committee concludes that it is biologically plausible for a relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke to precipitate an acute coronary event." According to the report, experimental studies have found that secondhand smoke exposure causes adverse changes in the cardiovascular system that increase the risk of a heart attack.
  

In the U.S., 27 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have passed smoke-free laws that cover restaurants and bars. The states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina (Jan. 2, 2010), Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota (on hold pending resolution of litigation), Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin (July 5, 2010).

Internationally, a growing number of countries have enacted strong, nationwide smoke-free laws. These include Bermuda, Bhutan, Colombia, Djibouti, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay. Most Canadian provinces/territories and Australian states/territories have also enacted such laws.

The Institute of Medicine is part of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. The report and related materials can be found at www.iom.edu.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

District public health and faith leaders today called on the DC Council to immediately renew funding for the DC Tobacco Free Families (DCTFF) Campaign, the District's highly successful tobacco prevention and cessation program.

Health advocates are urging the Council to maintain funding for DCTFF at its current level of $3.6 million annually so it can continue its effective work to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. Unless the Council quickly renews funding, DCTFF will be forced to eliminate most of its activities by the end of the month - just as a 50-cent increase in DC's cigarette tax, which takes effect October 1, will encourage more smokers to seek help in quitting.

Underscoring the urgent need to renew funding, public health leaders released a new report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids that details both the dramatic effectiveness of DCTFF's programs and the severe health and financial harm DC will suffer if the program's funding is not renewed. If funding is not renewed, the report concludes that DC can expect the following increases in youth smoking and related costs:

• Youth smoking will increase by 9.6 percent, resulting in 2,400 more current high school smokers.
• 760 more kids alive today will eventually die prematurely from smoking-caused deaths.
• Health care costs due to smoking will increase by $42 million, including $4.8 million under the Medicaid program.
• At least a dozen DC organizations will no longer have funding to conduct prevention and outreach activities to help smokers quit and prevent youth from starting to smoke. These organizations provide direct services to the most at-risk groups in the District, including youth and the underserved African-American, Latino and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) populations.
  

"City elected officials must find the resources necessary to continue funding for these tobacco use control programs that have lowered tobacco use in the nation's Capital," said Bonita Pennino, Government Relations Director of the Maryland American Cancer Society. "The withdrawal of city support will result in a rise in tobacco use among our youth and a slowing down of the number of adults who are seeking help to quit smoking."

"Our report makes it clear that DC will pay a high price if the Council fails to renew funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs - more kids will become addicted to tobacco, more lives will be lost and taxpayers will pay more to treat tobacco-caused disease," said Peter Fisher, Vice President of State Issues for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

In January 2007, the DC Council allocated $10 million in funding over three years for DCTFF to implement programs to help tobacco users quit and to prevent youth from starting to smoke, especially among Medicaid recipients and underserved residents.

Along with DC's comprehensive smoke-free law, which took effect in January 2007, and a doubling of DC's cigarette tax to $2 per pack in October 2008, DCTFF's programs have contributed to a significant decline in smoking in the District. Between 2005 and 2008, adult smoking rates declined by 19 percent, from 20.1 percent to 16.2 percent. These declines translate into the following health and financial gains:

• 18,500 fewer adult smokers in the District;
• 4,900 fewer premature deaths from smoking;
• More than $175 million in future health care savings, including $19.9 billion in Medicaid savings.
  

Despite this progress, tobacco use is still the leading preventable cause of death in DC, annually claiming more than 700 lives and costing the District $243 million in health care bills. Sixteen percent of adults and one in ten youth still smoke. While youth smoking has declined since 2003, the most recent data show a slight increase in youth smoking, from 9.2 percent to 10.6 percent.

There are also alarming disparities in tobacco use in the District. In Ward 8, for example, while progress has been made in reducing tobacco use from 32 percent to 26 percent in the last three years, it still has a smoking rate ten percentage points above the overall rate for DC.

Other key findings of the report include:

• DC has plenty of tobacco-generated revenue from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes to fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The requested funding of $3.6 million amounts to less than five percent of the $74.9 million in tobacco revenue DC will collect this year. (Ideally, DC should spend even more on tobacco prevention and cessation programs as the CDC recommends the District spend $10.5 million a year on such programs).
• Tobacco companies spend $16 million a year to market their deadly and addictive products. $3.6 million amounts to less than a quarter of this amount.
  

About DC Tobacco Free Families (DCTFF):

DCTFF is a partnership of the American Cancer Society (ACS), the American Lung Association of DC (ALADC), and the DC Department of Health (DOH), with funding from the District's tobacco settlement funds. DCTFF provides community-based grants, quitline services, free nicotine replacement therapy, youth prevention programs, and a mass media campaign, all designed to encourage District smokers to quit and youth to never start. For more information please log onto www.dctff.info.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

The following is a statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

An Ohio judge today delivered an important victory for the state's children and health by ruling that Governor Ted Strickland and the Legislature acted illegally when they sought to take back $230 million in tobacco settlement funds they had placed in an endowment to fund programs to reduce tobacco use. Judge David Fais of the Franklin County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas issued a permanent injunction on the diversion of funds and ordered that they must be used as intended: to fund programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. We urge Gov. Strickland not to appeal this ruling and to support the use of these funds for tobacco prevention and cessation.

The Court rightly found that the seizure of the tobacco settlement funds and the reduction or elimination Ohio's highly successful tobacco prevention programs would cause profound harm to the health of the citizens of Ohio. As Judge Fais wrote in his ruling, "Depletion of the Endowment Fund, and discontinuance or reduction of the tobacco prevention and cessation programs funded by the Endowment Fund, would result in a substantial increase in tobacco-related premature death and disease in Ohio, and result in a substantial increase in medical expense for both Ohioans and the state of Ohio for treatment of tobacco-related disease."

We applaud the American Legacy Foundation for their leadership in pursuing this litigation to ensure these tobacco settlement funds are used as intended to prevent children from starting to smoke and help smokers quit.

At the time of the 1998 state tobacco settlement, Ohio leaders promised to use a portion of the approximately $300 million in settlement funds the state receives each year for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. In 2000, they created the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation to receive this portion of the annual settlement funds and establish a permanent endowment to run tobacco prevention and cessation programs. However, Ohio leaders since regularly diverted funds intended for the Foundation. Then last year, Governor Strickland and the Legislature sough to raid the Foundation's remaining funds to help pay for an economic development plan.

The Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation has a strong record of success. The Foundation's programs have helped reduce smoking by 63.5 percent among middle school students and by 42 percent among high school students since 2000. Adult smoking in the state has declined as well, with 20.1 percent of Ohio adults reporting that they smoke, down from 26.3 percent in 2000.

It is critical that Ohio continue to invest in programs to prevent children from starting to smoke and help smokers quit. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in Ohio. Each year in Ohio, tobacco use claims 18,500 lives and costs the state $4.37 billion in health care bills, including $1.4 billion in Medicaid payments alone. Government expenditures related to tobacco amount to a hidden tax of $625 a year on every Ohio household.

SOURCE Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Today, the Florida state tobacco tax will increase by $1.00, the biggest of its kind in Florida history, to a total of $1.34 per pack, as part of the Protecting Florida's Health Act. The pressures of a higher price tag on cigarettes may prompt Florida smokers to try and quit spontaneously.

New data published in the journal, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, shows that many U.S. quit attempts are unplanned and these types of attempts can be a successful route to cessation. In the study, almost 40 percent of subjects reported that their most recent quit attempt started without any advance planning, suggesting that for some smokers, setting an advance quit date may not be as necessary as once thought.

"The study examines the possibility that while quit attempts may seem like spontaneous efforts on the surface, they may actually be the result of prolonged subconscious dissatisfaction with or concern about one's smoking. The results do not discredit planning out a quit attempt, however, a smoker needs to determine what may be the best approach to ensure long-term cessation," said Dr. Saul Shiffman, professor in the departments of psychology and pharmaceutical science at the University of Pittsburgh and study co-author. "All smokers should consider ways to manage tough situations such as cravings and withdrawal symptoms to ensure long-term success."

Smokers who make an unplanned quit attempt can improve their chances significantly by getting help and support from proven stop smoking tools such as therapeutic nicotine products like Nicorette(R), NicoDerm(R) CQ(R) and Commit(R). Consistent with their FDA-approved labeling, therapeutic nicotine products help reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms, including nicotine craving, associated with quitting smoking. Smokers who quit spontaneously can also access therapeutic nicotine medicines which are available over the counter without a doctor's prescription at more than 35,000 retail outlets.

To encourage smokers to pick the approach best for them, whether they're spontaneous quitters or planners, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare and the American Cancer Society, Florida Division, are teaming up to offer starter packs of Nicorette through the Florida QuitLine at 877-U-CAN-NOW (877-822-6669). The QuitLine is a smoking cessation service offered by the State of Florida for its citizens, and the GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare-provided starter packs will augment a significant allocation of nicotine replacement therapy products funded by the Florida Legislature.

"With tobacco being the leading preventable cause of death and disease in Florida, this significant increase in the price of cigarettes gives the state an excellent opportunity to reduce smoking rates and improve public health," said Marty Larsen, chairman of the board and president of the American Cancer Society, Florida Division. "We are dedicated to helping Florida smokers manage the challenges of quitting smoking. By providing safe and effective cessation aids, like therapeutic nicotine, all smokers looking to quit - spontaneous and planners - have the opportunity to re-evaluate continued smoking and finally quit for good."

About the Study

A study of 1,700 adults (900 adults age 18 and over who currently smoke cigarettes every day and 800 adults, age 18 and over, who previously smoked every day but quit between one month and ten years ago) were recruited from an online U.S. market research database (Survey Sampling International, Shelton, CT) and completed an online survey. A random sample of people in the database panels were sent an e-mail that contained a link to an online survey.

About Florida's QuitLine

Florida's QuitLine is a toll-free, telephone-based tobacco cessation service available at 877-U-CAN-NOW. Anyone living in Florida who wants to quit smoking can use the QuitLine, which offers counselling sessions, self-help materials and pharmacotherapy assistance. The State of Florida contracts with the American Cancer Society to provide the service.

SOURCE GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare