Markey: 50 Years Later, More to Be Done to Protect Public from Consequences of Smoking

Press Release

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement today after the Surgeon General released the report, "The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress." Since 1964 when the Surgeon General released its landmark first report on smoking, more than 20 million premature deaths can be attributed to cigarette smoking and cigarette smoking has been causally linked to diseases of nearly all organs of the body.

"We know that the public health catastrophe caused by tobacco was premeditated and promulgated by a tobacco industry that intentionally misled the public about the risks of smoking. When they needed new and more customers, they targeted children and teens. In the 21st century, those tactics are still being employed but with new danger coming from e-cigarettes. These e-cigarettes are a gateway to tobacco use and nicotine addiction by children and teens and should not be marketed to youth. It's time we tell these companies once and for all to kick the habit of marketing potentially deadly products to children and teens. Today's historic report reaffirms that we have much more to do on new fronts to ensure that we will one day look to the history books to know that there ever was a time when society had to suffer the damage of nicotine addiction and smoking-related deaths."

Source