Friday, June 4, 1999
Thank you Jennie for accepting our " rendez-vous ". May I ask you to introduce yourself ?
My name is Jennie Cook and I have been a volunteer with the American Cancer Society for over 34 years.
Most recently I have served as the National Chairman of the Board.
I have been involved in Tobacco Control for over 25 years and for the past ten years I have been a member of the California Tobacco Education Research Oversight Committee (TEROC) and currently Chair that committee.
1. The newly elected Governor of California, Democrat Gray Davis, relaunched the anti-tobacco campaign his Republican predecessor had tried to limit as much as possible.
As Chair of the California Tobacco Education Research Oversight Committee you have been and you still are at the center of the political "bargaining table" on these issues.
Can you share with us the main lessons you have learned about how to deal -as an NGO representative- with elected/changing officials?
During my tenure with TEROC I have been to the "bargaining table" with three different governors.
One who was so busy with other matters that he more or less let us do whatever we felt was necessary to make the program successful.
One was so dedicated to big business and felt that government should do nothing to harm big business; even though that business kills thousands of Californians each year. Under his two terms our tobacco control program bogged down and slipped badly because he macro managed the process and tied our hands on the media account as well as reducing funding for the entire program. The non-profits (NGO's) sued the Governor and the Legislature to recover the reductions, and the court ordered the funds to be replaced. To date, this has not been completely accomplished.
The current Governor who has only been in office 5 months has been more cooperative and we look forward to working positively with him.
I have learned through this experience that this is a war on tobacco and one must take proactive measures to save lives.
Some of those measures involve using the media to express the needs to make this program successful and get the public involved.
2. As far as the other states are concerned there have been lots of
discussions about how the Attorney General's settlement money is going
to be used. In many cases it seems like tobacco control is going to win
very little (sometimes if anything) from this windfall.
Is organizing a referendum the only way to go?
What is your perception of this settlement?
Are some states back to square one?
3. What about the Federal level?
What do you see on the agenda there?
Canada is seriously considering changes in the labeling and packaging; could that be an issue in the US?
I find it easier to discuss items 2 and 3 together since they are intertwined.
First I feel the settlement has some good points such as the banning of billboards, the infusion to the states of the billions of dollars, etc.
However I am terribly concerned how the states will use these dollars.
So many of them have indicated they will use the money for other than tobacco control and not even for health issues. States such as California, Massachusetts, Arizona, Oregon etc. have comprehensive programs based on tax initiatives dedicated to anti tobacco use, and have showed great success in the decrease in tobacco use, but those states who look at this settlement as a windfall will continue to do business as usual.
Having said that I have learned that seven states have agreed to spend a portion of the money on tobacco control and eight more are considering the same. Our hope will be that all the states will use this money wisely.
I also have great concern about the so called media program the tobacco industry is promoting. Those ads I have seen are not the type that will convince teenagers to quit smokingÖthey are too soft.
Secondly, I still feel that the best way to discourage tobacco use in youth as well as adults is to raise the tax on tobacco products. I urge the President and the Congress to raise the federal tax to at least an additional 50 cents and preferably $1.00.
I don't think the answer is changing labeling and packaging unless the packaging is in black and white-no color-no logo and the labeling much larger and the warning more threatening.
4. What about the international level?
There is a very active new WHO Director General, there is the UICC where ACS is an important contributor, there is the preparation of the next World Conference in Chicago, there is a world conference for cancer societies in Atlanta right nowÖ You have had the opportunity to visit a few cancer societies in various countries, do you think they could do more for tobacco control?
In reference to what needs to be done on the international level the U.S.
MUST begin to look at the tobacco program from a global view. What happens in the U.S. affects the entire world.
I congratulate the WHO and its Director General for her commitment to tobacco control and urge all the Cancer Societies globally to get involved and collaborate with the WHO to bring better control of tobacco in the world.
My perception of what is happening in other countries and with other cancer groups are their reactive involvement. They must become proactive and stress the future epidemic which will occur if something is not done. As well, the U.S. government must also cease to export tobacco products and ban the building of factories in developing countries.
The rest of the world must learn more about ADVOCACY and be prepared to become more aggressive where tobacco is concerned. This is not easy but we have found in this country it does save lives.
5. How do you see the role of women in cancer societies and in tobacco control?
Women need to take a stronger role in tobacco control.
In the U.S. more women die from Lung Cancer and related diseases than those who die from Breast Cancer.
Most American women don't realize this.
They spend their energies on Breast Cancer Control (and understandably so) but they need to give more of their energies to tobacco disease prevention. We all know tobacco is the most preventable disease and women need to step forward toward better control of tobacco use globally.
Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Thank you for the opportunity to express my views.
If any of the readers wish to contact me to explore further my comments I can be reached by FAX 415-924-3915 or E-mail [email protected]
Thank you Jennie for taking the time to be with us today.
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