Hello Supporters!

Here is a message from our CEO John Seffrin.

I’m writing with exciting news for the American Cancer Society community nationwide and for everyone involved in the fight against cancer. With the stroke of a pen, President Obama has signed into law a measure that will save lives by lowering smoking rates and reducing tobacco consumption while giving millions of uninsured children access to quality health care.

The new law expands the successful State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by increasing the federal cigarette tax by the largest amount ever, to a total of just over $1 per pack. The increase will prevent more than 900,000 smoking-related deaths, deter nearly 1.9 million children from smoking, and encourage 1.4 million adults to quit.

This victory is the result of years of leadership on tobacco control issues by your American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). ACS CAN launched the current push to increase the federal tobacco tax in 2007, and with the strong support of cancer advocates nationwide we convinced elected officials from both political parties to pass this bill.

On behalf of the American Cancer Society and ACS CAN, I want to thank you for your efforts in the fight against cancer. I also want to challenge you to continue the fight by helping to convince elected officials and policymakers to support laws and policies that increase funding for cancer research, expand access to cancer prevention and early detection programs, strengthen tobacco control policies, and ensure insurance coverage of lifesaving cancer screening tests and treatments.

Victories like this one remind us that we have accomplished much, but that we have a lot more work to do to defeat cancer. Thank you for your continued support