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CDC Responds to Boston Globe Article
In contrast to the impression
conveyed in the November 26, 2002, Boston Globe article, “Massachusetts Seen
Inflating Gains in Tobacco Fight,” the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) stands behind the demonstrated effectiveness of the state's
tobacco control program.
The
article inaccurately characterized the findings of CDC research. CDC's analysis concluded that the Massachusetts program has
significantly reduced tobacco sales as well as adult and youth smoking rates. This analysis controlled for excise tax increases, cross-border sales,
and other potential confounding factors. The CDC paper concluded that the results
"reinforce the findings from individual
state trend analyses (such as the Massachusetts Abt evaluation reports) and
provide strong evidence that tobacco control programs are effective."
The Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program is exemplary
because it is highly effective, well evaluated, and very innovative. CDC's 1999 Best Practices for
Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs drew heavily from the Massachusetts
program. The state’s successful program features a complex combination of tax
increases, community programs, media campaigns, treatment options for smokers
who want to quit, clean-indoor-air policies, and efforts to regulate tobacco
products. The effectiveness of these Massachusetts program efforts was confirmed in the 2000 Surgeon
General's Report, Reducing Tobacco Use, and the 2001 Guide to Community
Preventive Services.
Excise tax increases certainly contributed to the impact of the Massachusetts program,
but CDC's analysis finds that the program effects are also large and highly
significant. In short, both comprehensive program activities and excise taxes increases have proven to be
effective.
Additionally, there have been significant increases in the
proportion of Massachusetts residents protected from secondhand smoke, a known
cause of lung cancer and heart disease in exposed nonsmokers, and in public understanding of the health risks of smoking. These important changes clearly are
because of the statewide education effort
rather than price increases. Plus, the education campaign very likely strengthened public support for recent excise
tax increases.
Rates of tobacco use among both youth and adults
have been declining in Massachusetts, but will the declines continue in the
absence of a comprehensive education program? Tobacco use causes a chronic,
relapsing addiction that is difficult to break. Without constant reinforcement and cues for nonsmoking,
smokers postpone quitting and new nonsmokers take up use again. An intensive, sustained, and multifaceted approach is necessary to keep
reaching vulnerable youth and addicted smokers — the very approach taken by
the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program.
James S. Marks, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
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Terry
F. Pechacek, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Science
Office on Smoking and Health
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention |
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