[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 26 (Monday, July 3, 2000)]
[Pages 1509-1510]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Expanding Access to Smoking Cessation Programs

June 27, 2000

    Today the Surgeon General is releasing updated guidelines, compiled 
by top public and private sector experts, to help more people overcome 
their tobacco addiction and to give health care professionals an 
important tool to help their patients quit using tobacco products. 
Tobacco addiction and related health disorders pose one of the greatest 
public health threats facing our Nation today. Over 400,000 Americans 
die every year from tobacco related diseases--more than AIDS, illegal 
drugs, alcohol, fires, car accidents, murders, and suicides combined.
    While more than 25 percent of U.S. adults smoke, studies show that 
70 percent of them would like to quit. To build on the new guidelines 
and progress we have already

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made to help Federal personnel stop smoking, today I am issuing an 
Executive memorandum directing all Federal departments and agencies to: 
encourage their employees to stop, or never start, smoking; provide 
information on proven smoking cessation treatments and practices; and 
describe assistance they can provide to help their personnel quit 
smoking. I am also directing the agencies to review their current 
tobacco cessation programs using the updated guidelines, and to report 
on their effectiveness and opportunities for enhancement to the Director 
of the Office of Personnel Management.
    Finally, I urge Congress to enact my budget proposal to ensure that 
every State Medicaid program covers both prescription and 
nonprescription smoking cessation drugs--helping millions of low income 
Americans gain access to medical treatments that would help them break 
their addiction to tobacco.

Note: This statement was embargoed for release until 4 p.m.