Legacy(SM) Statement on the Enactment of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act

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Apr 01, 2010, 11:40 ET

Legacy President and CEO, Dr. Cheryl Healton Comments on Legislation

WASHINGTON, April 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On March 31, President Barack Obama signed into the law the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act. This new law creates barriers to help prevent children from purchasing tobacco products over the Internet as well as eliminating illegal sales of tobacco products sold without sales taxes.

By requiring age and identity information for online cigarette sales, this law will help keep tobacco products away from young people. Since nearly 80 percent of all smokers start before their eighteenth birthdays, any effort to keep cigarettes out of young hands has a positive public health benefit.

This legislation represents another important step taken by the U.S. government to help reduce smoking rates and prevent youth from starting to smoke. Last year, two landmark laws were passed: The Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco and the State Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act enacted the largest federal tobacco tax increase in the nation's history.

We are pleased that a series of evidence-based policies to reduce tobacco use have recently been enacted into law.

Legacy is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the national public health organization helps American live longer, healthier lives. Legacy develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation's programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as having contributed to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.legacyforhealth.org/.

Legacy is equipped with a VideoLink ReadyCam™ television studio system, providing journalists with faster, easier access to the nation's leading tobacco prevention and cessation experts. From this in-house broadcast studio, Legacy can offer immediate access to its experts to comment on breaking news, new research publications, or any news related to youth smoking prevention, adult quit smoking programs, or any issue related to smoking. The studio is connected directly to the Vyvx fiber network and is always available for live or pre-taped interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact Julia Cartwright at 202-454-5596.

SOURCE Legacy