The “Smoke Screen” image on the front page of the local and state section on Wednesday, Oct. 6, counteracts the many public health efforts aimed to help those addicted to tobacco and those susceptible to initiating its use. Tobacco kills. It costs.
About $811 million in annual health care costs in Maine are directly caused by smoking. Tobacco costs a tax burden of $1,330 per Maine household from smoking caused government expenditures like Medicaid costs caused by smoking (JAMA, Oct. 2016).
And 2,400 adults in Maine die each year from smoking. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined.
Coverage of smoking in the print media has been studied systematically and correlation has been make with the incidence of population smoking behavior (BMJ, Vol. 10, Issue 2, June 2001)
I implore you to employ the “Fairness Doctrine” which allows free air time to state opposing views which was applied to cigarette advertising by innovative legal action in 1967. I ask you to offer free advertising to the Healthy Communities of the Capital area for their tobacco cessation education efforts to counteract the influence you have had in making this costly and deadly habit appear benign and enjoyable.
Barbara Ann Moss, DO, MPH, FACOFP
Manchester
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