Thanks to California’s anti-smoking legislation and public awareness campaigns, the state has seen a 14-percent decrease in lung cancer rates over the last 10 years -- well above the 2.7 percent average decrease reported nationally -- according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.

The state's anti-smoking efforts began in 1988, when voters approved a 25-cents-per-pack tax that launched the California Tobacco Control Program. The Tobacco Control Program funds tobacco-related disease research, public awareness advertising and information programs, and health care for indigent families.

Local governments also began restricting smoking in public work places, restaurants, and other buildings.

The state will spend an estimated $45 million on anti-tobacco advertising and another $136 million on other anti-smoking efforts this year alone, the Associated Press reports.

"Based on the California experience, we would hope to see similar effects in other states using similar programs," said Dr. Terry Pechacek, the CDC's associate director for science and public health.

The state's lung cancer rate dropped from 72 cases per 100,000 people in 1988 to 60 cases per 100,000 people in 1997, according to CDC statistics.

State health department spokesman Ken August told the news service that these figures mean there will be 4,000 fewer lung cancer cases in California this year, and about 2,000 fewer deaths.

The full text of this article can be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/
01/science/01CANC.html