WHEREAS, The Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. World No Tobacco Day is celebrated around the world every year on May 31st; and

WHEREAS, This yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what the WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations; and

WHEREAS, Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the world. The WHO attributes about five million deaths a year to tobacco use, a figure expected to rise to about 10 million deaths a year by 2020. Additionally, one in three cancers is attributable to tobacco use; and

WHEREAS, Tobacco use kills one in five Americans. Nationwide, tobacco use kills more Americans than AIDS, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, homicides, suicides, car accidents, and fires combined. In one year alone, tobacco caused over 37,000 deaths in California and resulted in lost productivity costs of over $8 billion; and

WHEREAS, Among California’s ethnic communities, the problem of nicotine addiction is alarming. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death among Latinos in the United States. One in five African Americans are smokers and one in three Native Americans smoke twice the California average. Tobacco” related cancer and cardiovascular disease are the top two causes of death among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Further, lung cancer is rising among recently immigrated Cambodian and Vietnamese men, who also have among the highest smoking rates of all ethnic groups. Lastly American males of Indian descent also have high smoking rates and suffer from high lung cancer rates; and

WHEREAS, The risk of developing, and dying from, tobacco” related diseases varies considerably by race and ethnicity in California. The medically underserved are often diagnosed at later stages and with a higher incidence of cancers with higher mortality rates, like lung cancer, and are more likely to receive lower quality health care; and

WHEREAS, The State of California has implemented some of the strictest smoking laws and ordinances that ban tobacco use in most public places, including office buildings, restaurants, sporting venues, parks, beaches, public transportation, and automobiles where children are present; and

WHEREAS, Research shows that nicotine is one of the hardest substance use dependencies to break, just as difficult or perhaps even more difficult than cocaine or heroin. The United States Department of Health and Human Services states that 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but fewer than 7 percent of those who try to quit actually remain smoke free after a year. Consequently, smokers typically try to quit an average of six times before succeeding; and

WHEREAS, Most health plans in California do not include smoking cessation in their general benefit structure, leaving employers to pay for it separately. As a result, many employers do not offer smoking cessation benefits to their employees and smokers who want to quit do not have the resources to do so successfully; and

WHEREAS, Studies show that smokers are more likely to quit permanently if they receive counseling, behavioral therapy, and pharmacologic treatment. Access to these supports can achieve quit rates of 25 to 30 percent, which not only saves lives, but saves billions of dollars for smokers, employers, the health care system, and California taxpayers; now, therefore, be it