13-R308

2013 -- H 6189

Enacted 05/30/13

H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING MAY 31, 2013, AS "WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY" IN THE

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

Introduced By: Representatives Handy, Cimini, Blazejewski, Shekarchi, and Ackerman

Date Introduced: May 30, 2013

     WHEREAS, The use of tobacco products remains the nation's and Rhode Island's number

one cause of preventable death and disease. Smoking kills more than sixteen hundred Rhode

Island residents annually, more than all the deaths caused from alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal

drugs, murder, and suicides combined; and

     WHEREAS, Nearly one in every five Rhode Islanders smoke, and ninety percent of

tobacco users begin before the age of eighteen. In Rhode Island, approximately thirteen hundred

children under the age of eighteen become smokers each year, and two million packs of cigarettes

are bought or smoked by Rhode Island children each year; and

     WHEREAS, Tobacco-caused health care costs are hurting Rhode Island's economy, with

over a half-billion dollars each year going toward smoking-caused health care expenditures,

including $179 million in state Medicaid costs. State and federal expenditures on smoking-caused

problems result in an average annual tax burden of $721 per household for Rhode Island

residents; and

     WHEREAS, Tobacco also affects Rhode Island businesses, costing them $379 million in

productivity losses each year; and

     WHEREAS, According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, "every ten percent

increase in the real price of cigarettes reduces overall cigarette consumption by approximately

three to five percent, reduces the number of young-adult smokers by 3.5 percent, and reduces the

number of kids who smoke by six or seven percent"; and

     WHEREAS, A ten percent increase in Rhode Island would motivate 3,700 Rhode

Islanders to quit smoking for good and will stop 2,900 kids from ever becoming addicted to

tobacco products; and

     WHEREAS, Today we recognize the Rhode Island Tobacco Control Network partners,

health and community advocates, and health care workers for their efforts to prevent death and

diseases of our youth and citizens by reducing tobacco use; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby proclaims May 31, 2013, to be "World No Tobacco Day" in the

State of Rhode Island. We encourage the World Health Organization, its partners, and all of the

citizens of our State to highlight the health risks associated with tobacco use and advocate for

effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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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