THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

                           PRESIDENT CLINTON 
         SAYS NEW SURGEON GENERAL'S REPORT UNDERSCORES THE NEED 
            FOR COMPREHENSIVE BIPARTISAN TOBACCO LEGISLATION

                            April 27, 1998

President Clinton said today that a new Surgeon General's report on tobacco underscores the urgent need for comprehensive legislation to reduce youth smoking. Over the last six years, youth smoking has increased by one third. Smoking has increased among young people of all races and ethnicities, growing by a startling 80 percent among African American youth. Today, 40 percent of white high school students smoke, as do one-half of young Native Americans, one third of Hispanics, and one-fifth of Asian and African Americans. Every day, 3000 children become regular smokers -- and 1000 of them will die as a result. This report -- the first to be released by newly appointed Surgeon General David Satcher -- is the first comprehensive source of data on the use and health effects of tobacco among ethnic groups.

The Surgeon General's Report Documents Disturbing Trends in Tobacco Use. African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives make up nearly one-fourth of the United States population. The report provides a comprehensive analysis on the effect of tobacco on these groups, including that:

Teen smoking rates are rising in all ethnic groups.

• Teen smoking rates rose dramatically among African Americans and Hispanics from 1991 to 1997. Smoking rates among African American high school students were up by a startling 80 percent, and smoking rates among Hispanic high school students increased by 34 percent. Smoking among white high school students increased from 31 to 40 percent.
  • The most recent data also shows disturbing trends among Asian American and American Indian/Alaska Native youth. From 1990 to 1995, cigarette smoking increased by 17 percent among Asian American 12th graders and by 26 percent among their American Indian and Alaska Native counterparts.
• The report also documents that American Indians have the

  highest adult smoking rates of any ethnic or minority group in the United States -- nearly 40 percent, compared to 25 percent of all adults.

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of death and disease among all minority and ethnic groups. The report documents that:

• Lung cancer is the leading cancer death for all four minority groups. The increase in youth smoking threatens to reverse recent progress made against lung cancer among these groups.
• African-American men bear the greatest health burdens from lung cancer, with death rates about 50 percent higher than whites. Lung cancer incidence has increased substantially among Alaska Natives (93 percent increase for men and 241 percent increase for women) since the 1970s.
  • Smoking increases infant mortality and low birth weight. The risk of low birth weight babies is almost twice as high for smokers than for non-smokers. Among smokers, the rate of sudden infant death syndrome is particularly high among Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans.

The tobacco industry has targeted advertising and promotion campaigns in ethnic and minority communities that pose serious challenges to reducing smoking among this population. The report found that:

• Tobacco products are advertised intensively in minority communities. For example, in one city, 62 percent of billboards in predominantly African American neighborhoods advertised cigarettes, compared with 36 percent of billboards citywide.

More research is needed to understand racial and ethnic smoking patterns and to reduce tobacco use among racial and ethnic minorities.

• The Surgeon General's report highlights successful communitybased tobacco prevention and cessation programs, as well as successful federal programs that are tailored to the needs of specific minority and ethnic communities.
• The report, however, also demonstrates the need for further research to develop the prevention and cessation programs that will be most effective in minority communities.

The President Renewed His Call for Comprehensive Bipartisan Tobacco Legislation. The President emphasized that this report again demonstrates the need to pass bipartisan comprehensive tobacco legislation to reduce youth smoking this year. Noting that Senator McCain's bill is a strong step in the right direction, the President renewed his call for Congress to send him legislation that:

Raises the price of cigarettes by up to $1.50 a pack over the next ten years and imposes tough penalties on companies that continue to sell to kids;

Confirms the FDA's authority to regulate tobacco products;

Gets tobacco companies out of the business of marketing to children;

Furthers public health research and goals; and

Protects tobacco farmers and their communities.