Deborah Brown, Chief Mission Officer of the American Lung Association, spoke on the various forms of lung disease, from lung cancer to genetic diseases and environmental issues such as asthma.  We talked about lung health and the benefits of avoiding tobacco and second hand smoke, and she plugged their stop-smoking programs.  Ms Brown pushed screenings, low risk scans can discover disease early, and lungs never 100% recover from cigarette exposure.  She discussed their advocacy work locally and nationally.  Each year the Lung Association releases its ‘State of the Air’ report, looking at air standards and pushing for clean air laws and regulations.  She also talked about their recent work on increased bans and restrictions on tobacco products.  We discussed recent age restriction on buying cigarettes, raising the age of purchase to 21 and up, and their current push to stop sales of flavored vaping products.

Finally, she discussed their concerns about flavored vaping and the future effects of e-cigarettes, hookahs and other smokeless tobacco delivery systems.  She was concerned about the marketing of these products to young people, most of whom don’t realize their high tobacco content.

For more information visit LUNG.org