Page:CAN TOBACCO CURE SMOKING? A REVIEW OF TOBACCO HARM REDUCTION (IA gov.gpo.fdsys.CHRG-108hhrg87489).pdf/9



Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 2123, Rayburn House Office Building, the Hon. Cliff Stearns (chairman) presiding.

Members present: Representatives Stearns, Whitfield, Cubin, Shimkus, Shadegg, Bass, Terry, Fletcher, Ferguson, Issa, Otter, Tauzin (ex officio), Schakowsky, Solis, Markey, Brown, Davis, Stupak, Green, McCarthy, and Strickland.

Also present: Representative Waxman.

Staff present: Kelly Zerzan, majority counsel; Ramsen Betfarhad, majority counsel; Jon Tripp, deputy communications director; Jill Latham, legislative clerk; and Jonathan J. Cordone, minority counsel.

Mr. STEARNS. Good morning. The subcommittee will come to order.

Without objection, the subcommittee will proceed pursuant to Committee Rule 4(e). So ordered.

The Chair recognizes himself for an opening statement.

I am pleased to welcome all of you to the Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing on tobacco harm reduction.

No one disputes the harm to human health from cigarette smoking. Smokers are at a 16-fold increased risk of lung cancer, 12-fold increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and a twofold increased risk of mild cardio-infarction. Oncologists estimate that smoking related illnesses were responsible for 100 million deaths in the 20th century. Those illnesses killed some 400,000 Americans every year.

Over the last few decades this country has invested substantial public and private resources to encourage smokers to quit using tobacco. That investment has paid off. We have made great gains in reducing the use of cigarettes.

While in 1965, 42 percent of Americans smoked cigarettes, today only 26 percent of men and 22 percent of women are smokers. While this is the good news, as noted in the Institute of Medicine report, "Clearing the Smoke," the decline in the rates of smoking among adults has leveled off during the 1990’s.