Tobacco.org

Editorial | Butting in 

Not long after the provincial government banned smoking in bars, a Telegram editor was talking to a St. John's bartender about just how bad it must have been to work in a constant cloud of cigarette smoke.

The bartender said he and other staff had constant headaches and coughs and didn't realize how bad the air was until they decided to redecorate and move the bar's pictures around one day.

"... We took the first picture down and realized the wallpaper used to be white."

Where it hadn't been covered, the wall was brown.

Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed legislation that one day may have others looking back and thinking about just how bad things used to be. . . .

That's not to say this province hasn't made any strides when it comes to getting people to butt out. The provincial government's efforts to remove display advertising "power walls" was a good start, even though we were the last province in the country to take that step.

But there are aspects of the American changes that are well worth watching.

It will be interesting to see what the FDA can do, and whether the new oversights will put another nail in the coffin of the "coffin-nail" industry.

Sometimes, keeping up with the Joneses is not such a bad idea.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: A major victory vs. Big Tobacco 

The bill passed by Congress stops short of allowing the FDA to ban nicotine or tobacco products outright.

But it will require tobacco companies and importers to reveal ingredients in their products and gives the agency the power to order content changes to protect public health.

This tobacco legislation was a long time coming and has the power to be a game-changer in the public health battle against smoking.

Jump to full article »

McINTYRE: The Tobacconist’s Lament: The Government’s Campaign Against Cigarettes And Fast Food  

The war on smoking is not at all like the war on drugs. The government collects huge sums in taxes from the sale of tobacco. It is ironic that it wants to take a substantial portion of the money and use it to regulate what goes into cigarettes and stipulate how they will be marketed. It is behavior that makes bringing the deficit down more difficult by keeping a sin tax high but using receipts to abolish the sin.

The big tobacco companies actually got what they wanted as the FDA steps in to regulate them. It will be harder to sue the firms once the government is passing judgment on how they do marketing and what chemicals their products contain. The industry may end up being more profitable as legal costs and settlement fees disappear.

Putting tobacco company behavior under the FDA does everything that the government wants from the regulation of the industry, except the ability to make even one single person stop smoking.

Jump to full article »

Etheridge explains his vote 

When U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge pondered his vote on sweeping legislation to regulate tobacco through the Food and Drug Administration, he had to consider two interests close to his heart: tobacco and kids.

Etheridge, a grandfather and conservative Democrat from Lillington, sided with the kids.

It was the obvious choice for many of his fellow Democrats, but the issue put Etheridge in a delicate spot-- between the growing number of suburban families in his district and the tobacco farmers who have supported him for years.

"It wasn't an easy vote," Etheridge said. "No kidding. It wasn't. But you've got to vote. You've got to make a decision."

Etheridge, 67, is the only former tobacco farmer in Congress. And although he sold out his quotas after the federal buyout four years ago, he still raises other crops.

Jump to full article »

How FDA might flex new power 

Under the bill, the addictive chemical nicotine could be drastically reduced -- though not eliminated. The FDA could alter other chemical content, potentially changing both the taste and the health impacts of tobacco products.

Warnings would cover at least half of tobacco packages. Advertising would be restricted to black-and-white. No tobacco product could be marketed as "reduced risk" without extensive scientific backup.

Candy-sweet tobacco lozenges and sugary products would be pulled off the market.

Once Obama signs the legislation, parts of the bill could take effect by fall. Within three months, the FDA would develop its new Center for Tobacco Products. By winter, tobacco companies would pay FDA fees.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: New bill is necessary measure 

Smoking is one of the foulest habits known. The residue stinks. It causes numerous health problems. It stains the teeth. There's not a redeeming quality about it. . . .

The new measure, which President Obama (a smoker) expects to sign into law soon, also forbids the sale of "flavored" cigarettes, more popular with young smokers. Cigarettes advertised as "light" or "mild" will disappear from the market.

The move is one needed for a long time when one considers the 400,000 deaths and $100 billion in health care costs attributed each year to smoking in this nation.

Jump to full article »

Money, Congress, and We the People 

If you want to know what a conflict of interest looks like, here are some examples. First from Yahoo! News:

Influential senators working to overhaul the nation's health care system have investments and family ties with some of the biggest names in the industry. The wife of Sen. Chris Dodd, the lawmaker in charge of writing the Senate's bill, sits on the boards of four health care companies.

Members of both parties have industry connections, including Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Tom Harkin, in addition to Dodd, and Republicans Tom Coburn, Judd Gregg, John Kyl and Orrin Hatch, financial reports showed Friday. . . .

Congressional and Presidential elections aren't the same - but even so, it would be hard for any of these people to justify letting any conflict of interest get in the way of doing right by the people.

Senator Burr, for instance, faces a potentially competitive re-election campaign next year. Senator McConnell, on the other hand, doesn't face the voters again until 2014. And yet both felt the need to break from the vast majority of their colleagues to vote against the best interests of the people of our nation.

Members of Congress are supposed to represent We the People. That's why we have a Congress in the first place. If a lawmaker won't do right by We the People, then what does that tell you about their integrity - and whether they're fit to stay in Congress?

Jump to full article »

Senate Passes Bill for FDA to Regulate Tobacco 

In a 79-17 vote yesterday, the Senate passed a bill giving the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over the tobacco industry.

As reported in a CSNews Online newsflash yesterday, the vote sends the measure back to the House, which passed a similar version in April, the AP reported. If the House accepts the Senate version, then the bill would go directly to President Barack Obama, who supports the action. (Note: another industry media outlet reported the bill was on its way to the President already.)

Jump to full article »

Congress Sends Tobacco Bill To Obama  

But the bill is not as strong as some had wanted, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

For example, the bill bans all flavorings, like banana or cinnamon, but not the most common flavoring - menthol. It allows the FDA to reduce nicotine content - but not remove it altogether, Cordes reports.

"We will never be able to get rid of the addictive nature of tobacco because we are now forced to maintain the nicotine," said Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Health. "That is a tremendous victory for Philip Morris and for big tobacco."

Altria Group, parent company of Philip Morris USA, the largest US tobacco company, issued a statement Thursday supporting the legislation and saying it approved "tough but reasonable federal regulation of tobacco products" by the FDA. Rival companies have voiced opposition, saying FDA limits on new tobacco products could lock in market shares for Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro cigarettes. (Read more about why Philip Morris supports the bill.)

Jump to full article »

Concerns, praise as Tobacco bill heads to Obama  

Groups and politicians from around the nation expressed concerns as well as satisfaction after the Senate passed a bill to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate Tobacco.

The legislation, which was reconciled with a House of Representatives version of the bill, was sent to President Obama on Friday for his signature to enact it into law.

Below are selected comments from various health organizations, lobby groups, and lawmakers, bureaucrats and the Altria Group, which runs Philip Morris, the leading cigarette maker in the U.S.:

Jump to full article »

VIDEO: Former FDA Chief On Tobacco Reform  

A: It is very historic, Katie. It's a landmark piece of legislation. For the first time, we have the opportunity to regulate this deadly, addictive product.

Q: The nation's biggest cigarette maker, Phillip Morris, supports this bill. That seems a bit counter-intuitive. What does Phillip Morris have to gain by this?

A: I was a little nervous. Here we worked for 15 years for this legislation - they fought us all along the way. They fought us very hard. And then they switched. Then they backed the legislation. I think they understood that the 50 years that they deceived the American public, they deny the addictiveness of the product - that just was not going to work. . . .

the last number of years have been hard on the F.D.A., but I think this is a shot in the arm. I think this will help the agency, you know, be the most important consumer protection agency that it's been for the last 100 years. This will save lives, Katie.

Jump to full article »

Organizer: Smoking petition a success  

Larry Mann, a lobbyist coordinating the petition effort on the behalf of a coalition of video lottery and licensed liquor establishments, said Friday that more than enough signatures have been gathered. He expects to turn in the petitions June 22.

South Dakota’s smoking ban appears headed for a public vote, according to the man who has led a petition drive to bring the issue to the ballot.

Larry Mann, a lobbyist coordinating the petition effort on the behalf of a coalition of video lottery and licensed liquor establishments, said Friday that more than enough signatures have been gathered. He expects to turn in the petitions June 22.

“We’re in good shape as far as signatures needed. Now we’re just trying to build a buffer,” said Mann, of Rapid City.

If the petitions, and the signatures on them, are determined to be valid, South Dakotans will vote on a smoking ban in November 2010. Also, it will delay implementing the smoking ban, which the Legislature passed earlier this year and which is scheduled to take effect July 1.

Jump to full article »

• Smokers' Muscles Tire More Quickly 

Smokers’ muscles tire much more quickly than those of non-smokers, irrespective of how many cigarettes they smoke per day or how long they have smoked. In his PhD thesis, Rob Wüst concluded that smoking has an immediate effect on muscles, possibly as a result of the reduced oxygen supply and oxygen deficiency in the muscle due to substances in cigarette smoke. He studied how changes in skeletal muscles can result from smoking and will obtain his doctorate for this work on 9 April 2009.

Jump to full article »

• No Doom: Industry's profits unlikely to suffer 

Analysts on both sides of the regulatory fence said that tighter regulation of the tobacco industry is not likely to produce a doom-and-gloom future for the industry.

But in the long term, they agree that the new regulatory standards passed yesterday by the U.S. Senate likely will cement Philip Morris USA's status at the top manufacturer, and that extra compliance costs will be passed on to smokers. . . .

"Given that today's tobacco products are grandfathered into the legislation, and tobacco products will continue to be sold in retail outlets, we do not expect any significant immediate effects on the sector," said Christopher Collins, an associate director at Fitch Ratings. . . .

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has had more than 10 years to consider the possibility that a bill like this would pass, spokeswoman Maura Payne said.

"Thus, we have spent considerable time analyzing how best we could comply with regulations like these, what we needed to do in our organization to prepare for compliance, and what we needed to do across all of our operating companies to ensure that all were successfully able to comply," she said.

Payne said that the rule-making process and establishment of the details surrounding the bill will take some time.

"We will participate to the degree that we are able to in that process, but, at the end of the day, we intend to continue to successfully compete for the business of adults who choose to use tobacco," she said.

Jump to full article »

Fast growth in farm produce exports by SW China's Yunnan in 1st 5 months 

Southwestern China's Yunnan Province, which boasts a bonanza of bio-resources, saw a double-digit growth in exports of farm produce in the first five months of this year . . .

The total exports included 31,000 tonnes of tobacco and related products, up 29.5 percent, 80,000 tonnes of vegetables, up 40.4 percent, and 19,000 tonnes of coffee, up 35.1 percent.

The tobacco exports were valued at 120 million U.S. dollars, up88.6 percent

Jump to full article »