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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 281-09
June 22, 2009

STATEMENT OF MAYOR BLOOMBERG ON PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNING THE FAMILY SMOKING PREVENTION AND TOBACCO CONTROL ACT

President Obama’s signature on Congress’ aggressive bill to limit the number of Americans who smoke means the battle to save millions of American lives has been joined by a newly engaged federal government.

“New York City has been on the front lines of this battle for years.  The City’s initially controversial smoking ban became a model for cities, states and countries across the globe.  And today the federal government has adopted the truth-telling tactics we have used in anti-smoking advertisements, in which the public is shown the severe costs that smoking imposes on a person’s health and appearance.  New York’s anti-smoking strategy has yielded real results.  We have reduced the number of adult smokers by 300,000, prevented 100,000 premature deaths, cut teen smoking by more than half and prevented at least 24,000 additional teens from smoking.

“After years of inaction and subservience to powerful lobbyists, our leaders in Washington sent a clear message: the tobacco industry no longer sets national health policy.  I salute President Obama and Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle for enacting this historic legislation.”







MEDIA CONTACT:


Stu Loeser/ Dawn Walker   (212) 788-2958




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