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ALABAMA FAITH COMMUNITY RESOLUTION

WHEREAS: As people of faith, we believe that the body is a spiritual temple; a major tenet of every faith is spiritual well-being and the promotion of good physical and mental health, and tobacco use undermines both; we therefore have an essential interest in reducing the toll of tobacco, particularly among children and youth who are targeted by the tobacco industry.

WHEREAS: Every year, more than 7,400 Alabamians die horrible but preventable deaths caused by tobacco addiction, due to both smoking and other forms of tobacco use, and thousands more suffer from tobacco-caused disability and disease;

WHEREAS: One in every four high-school aged youth (62,700) in Alabama is a current smoker; and another 11,100 Alabama children become addicted smokers every year; in addition 26% of Alabama male high school students use spit or smokeless tobacco;

WHEREAS: Exposure to secondhand smoke in workplaces kills and harms thousands of Alabamians every year;

WHEREAS: Health care expenditures in Alabama caused by tobacco use total over $1.49 billion each year, including more than $238 million in annual smoking-caused expenditures by the state Medicaid program;

WHEREAS: Alabama invests less than 1% (0.3%) of the $256.7 million it receives from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes each year to prevent and reduce tobacco use and its many harms and costs, which is only 2.6% of the amount recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC);

WHEREAS: Alabama also has weak smoke-free laws and below-average tobacco tax rates, and needs to do more to keep tobacco products out of reach from kids;

BE IT RESOLVED: That the undersigned Alabama faith organization endorses comprehensive and effective public policy measures recommended by the CDC and other experts to prevent and reduce smoking and other tobacco use in the state, particularly among children and pregnant women, including:

• Prohibiting smoking in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars;

• Increasing Alabama's tobacco tax to at least the national state average to reduce teen smoking and help fund Alabama's health care needs;

• Funding Alabama's tobacco prevention and cessation programs at no less than the minimum level of $26.7 million per year recommended by the CDC.

Name of Organization__________________________________ Number of Members ______

Contact Person_______________________________________________________________________

Address, City, State, Zip ______________________________________________________________________________

Phone, Fax, E-mail ______________________________________________________________________________

Authorized Signature __________________________________ Date __________________