Coalition for Tobacco Free Arkansas Commemorates Lung Cancer Awareness Month
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: November 14, 2012
One organization is hoping to improve the health of Arkansans by encouraging a tobacco-free state.
The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas held a press conference Wednesday at the state capitol to commemorate Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in and around Arkansas and in the US.
Several speakers, including lung cancer survivors, addressed why the habit is so hard to kick, but must be done.
"If cigarettes weren't profitable, it wouldn't last, but sometimes you have to value humans over money," says lung cancer survivor Rene Hicks. "And I know in a society that we are at where we are right now it's a hard thing to do, but that's what you got to stand up and say 'look, I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.'"
The coalition estimates at least 13 Arkansans die each day from tobacco-related illnesses.
The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas held a press conference Wednesday at the state capitol to commemorate Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in and around Arkansas and in the US.
Several speakers, including lung cancer survivors, addressed why the habit is so hard to kick, but must be done.
"If cigarettes weren't profitable, it wouldn't last, but sometimes you have to value humans over money," says lung cancer survivor Rene Hicks. "And I know in a society that we are at where we are right now it's a hard thing to do, but that's what you got to stand up and say 'look, I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else.'"
The coalition estimates at least 13 Arkansans die each day from tobacco-related illnesses.
