Greg Ganske: “the number one public health problem facing the country today is the death and morbidity associated with the use of…”

“the number one public health problem facing the country today is the death and morbidity associated with the use of tobacco. Tonight, I want to discuss why the use of tobacco is so harmful, what the tobacco companies have known about the addictiveness of nicotine in tobacco, how tobacco companies have targeted children to get them addicted, what the Food and Drug Administration proposed, the Supreme Court's decision on FDA authority to regulate tobacco, and bipartisan legislation that will be introduced tomorrow in the House to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the manufacture and marketing of tobacco. Mr. Speaker, let me repeat. The number one health problem in the Nation today is tobacco use. It is well captured in this editorial cartoon that shows the Grim Reaper, Big Tobacco, with a cigarette in his hand, a consumer on the cigarette, and the title is 'Warning: The Surgeon General Is Right.' Here is some cold data on this peril. It is undisputed that tobacco use greatly increases one's risk of developing cancer of the lungs, the mouth, the throat, the larynx, the bladder, and other organs. Mr. Speaker, 87 percent of lung cancer deaths and 30 percent of all cancer deaths are attributable to the use of tobacco products. Tobacco use causes heart attacks, strokes, emphysema, peripheral vascular disease, among many others.”