 |
|
|
|
RESOLUTION TO URGE VIRGINIA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO SUPPORT NATIONAL YOUTH SMOKING REDUCTION LEGISLATION WHEREAS, We recognize that tobacco is the number one leading cause of preventable death in the United States and is responsible for over 400,000 deaths per year; and WHEREAS, Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined in the United States; and WHEREAS, More than 21 percent of high school students in Virginia smoke; and WHEREAS, On an annual basis, an additional 9,700 Virginia children under the age of 18 acquire a daily smoking habit; and WHEREAS, Smoking-caused productivity losses in Virginia total $2.42 billion annually; and WHEREAS, Smoking-related health care costs in Virginia total $2.08 billion annually, including $ 401 million by the state-funded Medicaid program; and WHEREAS, The tobacco industry marketing expenditures increased by 123 percent since 1998 to a record $15.4 billion in 2003 according to the Federal Trade Commission; and WHEREAS, The public health and safety of its citizens, particularly our children, are being endangered by the failure of the United States Congress to pass meaningful and effective legislation that would grant the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] authority to regulate tobacco products, including the authority to prevent illegal sales of tobacco to children; and crack down on other forms of tobacco marketing that appeals to children; therefore, BE IT RESOLVED that the undersigned calls upon the Virginia Congressional Delegation to support S. 625 introduced by Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and John Cornyn (R-TX) and H.R. 1108, introduced by Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA) that would authorize the FDA to regulate tobacco products. Name________________________________________________________________ |
