A new report published today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides powerful and concrete evidence that the nation’s battle against tobacco use has not only driven down smoking rates, but is also saving lives by reducing lung cancer, the number one cancer killer in the United States, according to a national organization committed to reducing tobacco use.

But that's not all it does, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. It also tells elected officials that if they care about protecting constituents from lung cancer, they must take action to reduce smoking.

Research shows that there are strategies demonstrated to reduce tobacco use and the health harms that result.

"The most successful states have implemented a comprehensive, scientifically proven strategy that includes higher tobacco taxes, smoke-free workplace laws and well-funded programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit," according to a statement by Matthew Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. 

California, the first state to implement such a strategy, reduced lung and bronchus cancer rates nearly four times faster than the rest of the U.S. between 1988 and 2004. California's adult smoking rate in 2010 was 11.9 percent, compared to 19.3 percent for the nation as a whole. 

"It is telling that the ten states with the lowest smoking rates all have strong smoke-free laws that cover restaurants and bars and have an average tobacco tax that is almost three times as high as the ten states with the highest smoking rates."

"Every state can do as well as California — and even better — in reducing smoking and lung cancer. The states must step up their efforts to increase tobacco taxes, enact smoke-free laws and fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. It is especially critical that states reverse budget cuts that have decimated tobacco prevention and cessation programs in recent years, cutting total funding by more than a third."