ASAM Joins Coalition Letter in Support of Funding for CDC's Office on Smoking and Health

ASAM and 88 other health and medical organizations issued letters to House and Senate leadership urging them to reject the administration's elimination of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) and to continue funding CDC projects focused on reducing tobacco use. 

The letters note that tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death, taking the lives of almost 500,000 Americans each year. Treating and managing tobacco-related diseases also comes with a steep annual cost of $241 billion, the majority of which is paid for via Medicare and Medicaid.

OSH has historically focused on tobacco prevention and cessation efforts to curtail tobacco use disorder and tobacco-caused diseases. Specific programs include grant funding to bolster tobacco control programs within underfunded states, a successful national media campaign called Tips from Former Smokers (Tips), which is estimated to have helped approximately one million people end their tobacco use, and funding for state telephone-based counseling services and tobacco cessation medications. 

To protect children and reduce the risk of death and disease caused by tobacco products, ASAM and fellow signatories urge Congress to protect OSH and appropriate critical funding for its work. 

Read the letter to Senate leadership here and House leadership here.