CALIFORNIA, USA: A decade after California initiated the nation’s most comprehensive and aggressive anti-smoking program, the incidence of deadly lung and bronchial cancer has dropped far more dramatically there than it has nationwide. California lung cancer rates were found to have dropped 14 percent between 1988 and 1997, while the estimated drop nationwide was 2.7 percent, according to a report released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, making it the strongest evidence yet that aggressive anti-smoking programs will save people’s lives. According to the CDC, cigarette smoking is responsible for about 85 percent of lung and bronchial cancers, most of which are fatal. In 1989, California increased the price of cigarettes by 25 cents a pack and dedicated the money to fund the state’s smoking prevention program. Analysts say that the high price of cigarettes has contributed greatly to a steep decline in California smoking rates. Many states are still determining how to spend the money they will receive under the $246 million 1998 national settlement with the tobacco industry, and Fleming said he hoped the new findings would persuade states to fully fund anti-tobacco programs.
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