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2013 -- H 6189 | |
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LC02711 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
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IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
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JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013 | |
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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N | |
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PROCLAIMING MAY 31, 2013, AS "WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY" IN THE | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
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Introduced By: Representatives Handy, Cimini, Blazejewski, Shekarchi, and Ackerman | |
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Date Introduced: May 30, 2013 | |
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Referred To: House read and passed | |
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WHEREAS, The use of tobacco products remains the nation's and Rhode Island's number |
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one cause of preventable death and disease. Smoking kills more than sixteen hundred Rhode |
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Island residents annually, more than all the deaths caused from alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal |
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drugs, murder, and suicides combined; and |
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WHEREAS, Nearly one in every five Rhode Islanders smoke, and ninety percent of |
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tobacco users begin before the age of eighteen. In Rhode Island, approximately thirteen hundred |
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children under the age of eighteen become smokers each year, and two million packs of cigarettes |
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are bought or smoked by Rhode Island children each year; and |
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WHEREAS, Tobacco-caused health care costs are hurting Rhode Island's economy, with |
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over a half-billion dollars each year going toward smoking-caused health care expenditures, |
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including $179 million in state Medicaid costs. State and federal expenditures on smoking-caused |
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problems result in an average annual tax burden of $721 per household for Rhode Island |
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residents; and |
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WHEREAS, Tobacco also affects Rhode Island businesses, costing them $379 million in |
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productivity losses each year; and |
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WHEREAS, According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, "every ten percent |
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increase in the real price of cigarettes reduces overall cigarette consumption by approximately |
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three to five percent, reduces the number of young-adult smokers by 3.5 percent, and reduces the |
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number of kids who smoke by six or seven percent"; and |
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WHEREAS, A ten percent increase in Rhode Island would motivate 3,700 Rhode |
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Islanders to quit smoking for good and will stop 2,900 kids from ever becoming addicted to |
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tobacco products; and |
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WHEREAS, Today we recognize the Rhode Island Tobacco Control Network partners, |
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health and community advocates, and health care workers for their efforts to prevent death and |
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diseases of our youth and citizens by reducing tobacco use; now, therefore be it |
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RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and |
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Providence Plantations hereby proclaims May 31, 2013, to be "World No Tobacco Day" in the |
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State of Rhode Island. We encourage the World Health Organization, its partners, and all of the |
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citizens of our State to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocate for |
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effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption; and be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the director of the World Health Organization. |
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LC02711 | |
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