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As a lifelong Mainer, I’ve seen how devastating tobacco use can be. Friends and family members have struggled for decades to quit, and too many neighbors live with tobacco-related illness. What makes the difference are prevention and cessation programs — and those are now on the chopping block.
The elimination of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health would gut Maine’s tobacco prevention efforts. Nearly all of our QuitLine funding and school-based education programs rely on this support. These are the very resources that help prevent youth vaping, reduce secondhand smoke exposure, and help adults break free from addiction.
We know these programs work. They have helped thousands of Mainers quit, prevented countless kids from starting, and saved millions of dollars in health care costs. Without them, Big Tobacco wins — and Maine families lose.
I urge our congressional delegation to fight to restore this CDC funding. Maine kids deserve protection from an industry that has targeted them for decades. We cannot afford to turn our backs on prevention.
Kaitlyn Ross
Kennebunk
