As your constituent, I am writing to you today to draw attention to the beginning of possibly the largest public health crisis of our time. The CDC's Office of Smoking and Health (OSH) is at risk of losing it's $250 million in government funding. This office provides more than $96 million in funding to state health departments for various tobacco control initiatives. If these cuts are allowed to happen, Tim McAfee, the head of OSH from 2010 to 2017, said it will be "the greatest gift to the tobacco industry in the last half century."

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death within the United States, with nearly 500,000 deaths annually. OSH is responsible for nearly a 15% drop in smoking adults in the past quarter century. Since 1999, they have brought the percentage of American adults who smoke from 25% to 10.8%. Without these funds to power these programs, all the progress made over the past 25 years is at risk of coming undone.

Tobacco-related issues cost the US healthcare system nearly $241 biillion annually, with more than 60% of these costs paid by taxpayers. The organization is also responsible for providing funds to all 50 states for cessation hotlines, which have been proven to be one of the most accessible forms of smoking cessation treatment. These hotlines also provide access to essential medication and resources to aid in a smokers journey to quit. In 2024, nearly 1.2 million calls were made to quitlines across the country. Those with access to a hotline are nearly 5 times more likely to be successful in quitting than those without access.

CDC OSH runs the national TIPS From Former Smokers media campaign, which gives people information regarding smoking cessation as well as educates people through stories about the harms of smoking. The campaign is highly sucessfully, and has been estimated to help over 1 million Americans stop smoking. OSH also is responsible for the Surgeon General's reports on tobacco use and the National Youth Tobacco Survery, both of which were partially responsible for federal action several years ago when Juul and other e-cigarettes became popular with teenagers.

If these funds are not continued and these resouces fall away, we could be looking at a strain on our healthcare system over the next several years, as well as an increase in smokers, cancer, stoke, heart disease, and other chronic illnessess across the country. Everyone knows someone who has been impacted by the harms of tobacco at some point in their life. Help us more towards a tobacco-free future.