Lexington, KY — Cancer patients and survivors will mark the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) 44th annual Great American Smokeout happening tomorrow, November 21, by calling on the General Assembly to protect the health of Kentucky residents by passing strong tobacco control legislation including increasing funding to go towards tobacco control programs. The advocacy affiliate of ACS, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is working to ensure the General Assembly increases funding for tobacco cessation and prevention programs during the 2020 legislative session. These programs give people the resources they need to stop smoking as well as the education they need to never use tobacco products. Kentucky has consistently fallen well below the benchmarks for effectively funding these programs. The use of tobacco products remains the nation’s number one cause of preventable death, killing more than 480,000 Americans and costing $289 billion in health care costs and lost productivity annually. In Kentucky, tobacco is responsible for an estimated 8,900 deaths each year.