March 21, 2000
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute president responds to Supreme Court decision to strike down FDA regulation of cigarette sales to minors
Despite all the attention paid to new cancer treatments, and all the research into cancer and disease prevention, we have known for decades the best way to prevent cancer---stop smoking. Like nothing else, tobacco kills.
As a pediatrician who heads a major cancer center, it's hard to watch teenagers smoking outside suburban malls, or to see kids on urban street corners seduced by decades of advertising that makes tobacco seem safely rebellious. It's not easy to see them and know that in the years ahead, too many of those kids will be in our cancer centers, fighting for a second chance at life.
We must do whatever we can to fight the growth of smoking, particularly among children and teenagers. The Supreme Court's decision's today is a major setback in the war on cancer, and I hope the Congress will act swiftly to authorize the federal Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco as the deadly, addictive substance it so obviously is. Too many lives depend upon it.
David G. Nathan, M.D. President Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
