February is National Cancer Prevention Month, and Iowans from across the state recently spoke with legislators at the state capitol about legislation to help protect people from the risk of cancer.

Guthrie County residents Kim Durst, Donna Baker, Nancy Smith, and Becky Peterson were among those who urged legislators to make tobacco prevention a priority this year. Durst explains, “The one thing that we asked our representatives was to cosponsor Representative (Ashley) Hinson’s bill that would increase Iowa’s cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack with a parallel tax increase on other tobacco products including e-cigarettes. And then we asked our senators to support an increase in the Iowa cigarette tax and all work together in a bipartisan effort in order to save lives.”

Durst adds, this legislation could prevent 12,900 youth from becoming adult smokers, help 19,400 adults who smoke quit, save 8,800 lives, and save $665 million in long-term healthcare costs. It has been more than a decade since the tobacco tax was last increased. To hear more from Durst, listen to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County on air and online at raccoonvalleyradio.com.