Section 104350 Of Article 1. Tobacco Use Prevention From California Health And Safety Code >> Division 103. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 1.
104350
. (a) The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(1) Smoking is the single most important source of preventable
disease and premature death in California.
(2) More than 30 percent of coronary heart disease cases are
attributable to cigarette smoking.
(3) More than 30 percent of all annual cancer deaths are
attributable to smoking, with lung cancer now the leading cancer
killer in women as well as men.
(4) Smoking is responsible for one-quarter of all deaths caused by
fire.
(5) Involuntary smoking is a cause of disease, including lung
cancer, in healthy nonsmokers.
(6) More than 80 percent of chronic obstructive lung diseases
including emphysema and chronic bronchitis are attributable to
smoking.
(7) Tobacco-related disease places a tremendous financial burden
upon the persons with the disease, their families, the health care
delivery system, and society as a whole. California spends five
billion six hundred million dollars ($5,600,000,000) a year in direct
and indirect costs on smoking-related illnesses.
(8) The elimination of smoking is the number one weapon against
four of the five leading causes of death in California.
(9) Keeping children and young adults from beginning to use
tobacco and encouraging all persons to quit tobacco use shall be the
highest priority in disease prevention for the State of California.
More than 60 percent of all smokers begin smoking by the age of 14,
and 90 percent begin by the age of 19.
(10) The State of California shall play a leading role in
promoting a smoke-free society by the year 2000 and thereby
supporting the National Health Status Objectives for the year 2000
relating to smoking and tobacco use.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature, therefore, to require the
department, local lead agencies, and the State Department of
Education to cooperatively and individually conduct activities
directed at the prevention of tobacco use and tobacco-related
diseases. The campaign shall focus on health promotion, disease
prevention, and risk reduction, utilizing a "wellness" perspective
that encourages self-esteem and positive decisionmaking techniques.
It is also the intent of the Legislature that, for the purpose of
program planning and program evaluation, the department provide data
and technical information on tobacco-related diseases, tobacco use
and its consequences, and effective personal and community
interventions to prevent tobacco use.