Lobby Day!

It's kind of amazing to walk into a room full of people and know you're all there for the same reason.  Wednesday, I walked into that kind of a room at the State House in Boston.  The opening speakers for Lobby Day were behind everything we are trying to do, and that means a lot. 

Marc Hymonvitz of ACS CAN opened with our reasons for being there and the goals for the day.  In Massachusetts:

• 70% of adult smokers want to quit
• 60% of smokers have tried to quit in the past year
• 41% of smokers state they are planning to quit in the next month
• The budget for tobacco cessation/prevention programs has been cut by 90% in the past 10 years
• One of the most effective ways of reducing tobacco consumption and improving public health is to increase the price of tobacco products, and a tax increase of $1.25 will raise more than $140M annually
• Comprehensive smoking cessation benefits offered to the Medicare population resulted in a 25% reduction in smoking rates and provided a net savings of $2.12 for ever $1 invested

We are looking for three things:

1. Support for a comprehensive smoking cessation benefit for Commonwealth Care and Group Insurance Commission (GIC) health plans (Senate Bill 2121 and House Bill 2048)
2. Support to increase the tax on cigarettes by $1.25 and equalizing the tax rate on other tobacco products (House Bill 2452)
3. Support a $1.7M increase for the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention program (MTCP)

The next speaker was Representative Jeffrey Sanchez.  He serves the 15th Suffolk/Norfolk District, serving the communities of Mission Hill, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, and Brookline.  He spoke about improving the quality of health in his communities and how important it was for us to be there.  He also noted that money toward the our programs help to save lives and bring people together.  And he also made sure to give us some important advice for our meetings:  Smile, smile, smile....smile SMILE!!  We are working on an important topic, but we need to be sure to be personable and approachable.

Then Representative Jonathan Hecht took the floor.  He serves the 29th Middlesex District, serving the communities of Watertown and West Cambridge.  He is also active in the Watertown Relay For Life.  He introduced House Bill 2452 - for legislation to provide smoking and tobacco use cessation treatment benefits to active and retired public employees..  He discussed several items, such as the fact that there are now two generations that have been raised with knowledge about the dangers of tobacco, and yet we are still pouring billions into health care issues related to tobacco use.  He also mentioned that tobacco companies are looking for "replacement smokers" and are drawing kids in with tobacco mints, flavored cigars, and "no need to spit" flavored chewing tobacco.  He has 4 children of his own, so this is a cause close to his heart.  He also has a write-up on his website of our event.

Next up was Representative Jason Lewis.  He serves the 31st Middlesex District representing the people of Stoneham and Winchester.  He is also the co-chair of the Preventative Health Caucus.  The Caucus' mission is to educate colleagues regarding the value of prevention.  Health care costs continue to rise, and prevention has a direct effect on lowering them.  He also noted that more high school kids are using non-cigarette based tobacco products, like cigars, mints and snuff, and it has been proven that higher taxes mean lower smoker rates. 

Then, Rep. Lewis's co-chair spoke to us.  Senator Harriet Chandler serves the 1st Worcester district, which includes parts of the city of Worcester and the towns of Berlin, Boylston, Holden, Paxton, Princeton,West Boylston, parts of Clinton, and parts of Northborough.  She is a cancer survivor and she decided to be the "voice of doom".  She reminded us of the statistics in Massachusetts for smokers, and she also talked about the first major move for smoking prevention with the tax increase 20 years ago.  She also introduced Senate Bill 1075 - for legislation to direct tobacco tax revenues to reduce tobacco use and its harms.

And last, but certainly not least, Carol Clark reminded us why we were there.  She, along with Paul Richards, founded the Cape Anne Relay For Life, and she has been extremely instrumental in our fight against cancer. 

This was an emotional and uplifting day.  I, unfortunately, didn't have time to schedule meetings with my represenative or senator, as I was only there for my lunch hour.  The State House was booming, though.  Many people were vying for the ear of their represenatives and senators for their projects, so I hope everyone was successful and well received.

Don't forget to follow us on Facebook! You can also reach the website at http://www.relaybridgewater.org/ or email us at relaybridgewater@gmail.com.