Letter to the editor: Cancer care or cancer cause?
I see that Senator Mike Thibodeau’s latest campaign literature leads off highlighting his support for cancer care. Voters deserve a bit of enlightenment.
Since 2015, Thibodeau-controlled Political Action Committees (PACs) have accepted $6,500 from tobacco companies, and nearly $11,000 from alcohol producers and distributors.
Every year in Maine, tobacco products cause around 2600 new cancer cases. Also every year, 1,459 Mainers die from tobacco-caused cancer. These numbers represent a whopping 32 percent of all new cancer cases and 45 percent of all cancer deaths. Alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer as well as other cancers.
Thibodeau was one of only four senators to vote against legislation to provide smoking cessation support under MaineCare in 2014. Smoking cessation support is a no-brainer that reduces the single biggest cancer risk while saving Maine taxpayers money.
Against these facts, Thibodeau’s claim to be a champion against cancer is the height of hypocrisy.
This November I will be voting for Jonathan Fulford for State Senate, Thibodeau’s challenger. Fulford is a Clean Election candidate not corrupted by big corporate cash. I trust him to make decisions that benefit the health of Maine taxpayers, not further the wealth of Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol.
Heather Selin lives in Jackson