California Lung Cancer Rates Drop

S A C R A M E N T O, Calif., Nov.30 -- California’s tough anti-smokingmeasures and public health campaigns have resulted in a 14 percentdecrease in lung cancer over the past 10 years, the governmentreported today.

Other regions of the country reported only a 2.7 percentdecrease over the same period, the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention said.

“Based on the California experience, we would hope to seesimilar effects in other states using similar programs,” said Dr.Terry Pechacek, CDC associate director for science and publichealth.

Investing in PreventionLung cancer develops slowly and the full benefits of quittingcan take up to 15 years to be realized. However, Pechacek said,researchers can start seeing some results within five years.

Smoking rates in California began dropping in the late 1980s,helped in part by Proposition 99 in 1988. The voter-approvedmeasure added a 25-cent-per-pack tax on tobacco products that paidfor anti-smoking and education programs. Local governments alsobegan restricting smoking in public buildings and workplaces.

Two years ago, voters bumped the price of cigarettes anadditional 50 cents per pack, money also earmarked for education.And this year alone, the state will spend $136 million on smokingprevention, cessation and research — some $45 million of it onanti-tobacco advertising.

“California has the most comprehensive program for protectingnonsmokers from secondhand smoke,” said Ken August, spokesman forthe state health department. “Restaurants, bars and almost allindoor workplaces are smoke-free.”

The effect of the anti-tobacco efforts has been fewer smokersand fewer deadly cases of cancer related to smoking, healthofficials said. August and Pechacek both said they expect the trendto continue.

August said that means there will be up to 4,000 fewer lungcancer cases in California this year and about 2,000 fewer deaths.

Rates Rise Elsewhere

In its report, the CDC compared cancer registries in California,Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico and Utah, as well as Seattle,Atlanta and Detroit.