The Legislature finds and declares that, although this State has the highest cancer death rate in the nation for many of the most frequently fatal types of cancer, it has provided relatively little encouragement for cancer studies at any of its local institutions involved in basic biological research; and that this failure has made New Jersey unattractive for the recruitment of highly skilled cancer investigators, has reduced the State’s capacity to compete for its fair share of federal and private research dollars, and has been responsible for delaying the development of services and facilities necessary to conduct productive research. New Jersey’s failure to make a concerted and intense effort in the war against cancer has deprived its citizens of the benefits resulting from the latest advances in basic cancer research.

The Legislature further finds that the State can ill afford to continue its present policy in this regard. Corrective measures should be adopted promptly and funded adequately to make up for lost ground and to make the State competitive in the area of cancer research within the next 5 years.

L.1983, c. 6, s. 2, eff. Jan. 17, 1983.