Tobacco.org

• Regulatory assessment of brand changes in the commercial tobacco product market 

Product regulators cannot discount the potential of ongoing commercial brand revisions to alter product use and effects of established brands--whether intentionally or unintentionally--and thereby increase the potential for public harm.. Any system of evaluation adopted by regulators must include the ability to monitor brands within the commercial market; further, until such a system has been set in place, regulations should restrict all brand changes within the commercial market. Once a system for evaluation is successfully implemented, regulators should seek to identify and reverse potentially harmful brand changes, including those which attract children, enhance addiction, or support measurable increases in exposure.

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• Indonesia May Complain to WTO About U.S. Tobacco Legislation 

Indonesia, the largest maker of clove cigarettes, may complain to the World Trade Organization about U.S. legislation that gives regulators expanded powers to regulate tobacco products, including possible bans on flavors made from the tropical spice.

“We’ll be having consultations,” Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “If we feel that this is treated discriminately, we’ll of course take it to the normal processes in the WTO.”

The legislation, which was approved by the House of Representatives and Senate earlier this month, offers a concession on menthol, the most popular flavored cigarette in the U.S. Pangestu’s comments reiterate Indonesian objections made last month.

“We feel this is discriminating against cloves because menthol is not considered,” Pangestu said today from Jakarta

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• Effects of Timing and Extent of Smoking, Type of Cigarettes, and Concomitant Risk Factors on the Association Between Smoking and Subclinical Atherosclerosis  

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of timing and extent of smoking, type of cigarettes, and concomitant vascular risk factors (VRFs) on the association between smoking and carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) in a lipid clinic population. . . .

Conclusions-- In the present cross-sectional observational investigation, carried out in a cohort of patients attending a lipid clinic, consumption of light cigarettes does not reduce the atherogenic effect of smoking on C-IMT. The number of pack-years, cigarettes/d, and years of smoking are relevant covariates in evaluating the effects of smoking on vascular health. The presence of diabetes or hypertension strengthens the association between smoking and cardiovascular risk.

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• Big Tobacco down but not snuffed out  

* President Obama soon will sign bill putting tobacco under FDA legislation

* The bill is a win for Philip Morris, anti-tobacco advocate says

* Grandson of R.J. Reynolds founder: Bill marks "diminished clout" of tobacco lobby . . .

Patrick Reynolds, whose grandfather founded the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said the passage of the bill "marks the diminished clout of the tobacco lobby on the Hill."

Stanton Glantz, a longtime anti-tobacco advocate and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said the public health community has made "gigantic progress" over the past few decades, but he sees the FDA bill as a win for Philip Morris USA, the nation's biggest cigarette company.

At last week's annual National Conference on Tobacco or Health, a large anti-tobacco gathering, in Phoenix, Arizona, Glantz said only about half of the room applauded when it was announced that the legislation passed.

"People were talking about making lemonade out of lemons," he said. "Basically, the public health people cut a deal with Philip Morris." . . .

His biggest complaint: The bill creates a 12-member advisory board through which all regulations will flow. Tobacco industry representatives will hold three nonvoting seats.

"Putting three guys on this committee would be a little bit like putting three mobsters on the Department of Justice committee on organized crime," Glantz said, echoing the sentiment of other strong tobacco-control advocates.

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• Big Tobacco: A history of its decline 

* Tobacco industry once known for big spending on campaigns, effective lobbyists

* As public opinion has turned on Big Tobacco, courts and Congress has too

* Despite moves against industry, "tobacco wars are anything but over," author says . . .

"My own view is that in many ways, the tobacco industry invented the kind of special-interest lobbying that has become so characteristic of the late 20th- and earlier 21st-century American politics," said Allan Brandt, dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The industry was known for its giant spending on political campaigns and effective lobbyists. The industry's representatives often had experience in politics or close ties to major power players.

"Today obviously, that lobby is much less powerful and successful than it was a generation ago," said Brandt, author of "The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America." . . .

And just last month, in what Brandt considers "one of the most significant racketeering and fraud litigations" the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler's ruling in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, case, which found the tobacco industry guilty of engaging in a decades-long conspiracy to defraud the American public about the health risks of tobacco.

"Given the character of Kessler's findings -- and now the fact that her findings have been upheld by the appeals court -- this is really in a way a road map to tobacco regulation," Brandt said.

Stanton Glantz, a longtime anti-tobacco advocate and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said the RICO ruling is what the public health community should use in its fight against the tobacco industry.

"I think it really can undermine the power of the industry politically by going to politicians and saying, 'These guys are crooks. They are crooks according to the D.C. Court of Appeals. Not just me,' " Glantz said.

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• Low fines make for a 'cigarette smugglers' paradise'  

THE average fine for handling illegal cigarettes was just €423 during the first three months of the year, new figures reveal.

The paltry size of the fine last night prompted calls to end Ireland's reputation as a cigarette smugglers' paradise.

The tobacco industry is among those who want stiffer penalties imposed on smugglers and sellers of illegal cigarettes.

Figures released by the Revenue Commissioners showed that the fines handed down by the courts to those convicted in the first three months of the year.

Convictions

A breakdown of the revenue statistics reveals that Dublin, Louth and Kerry top the list for cigarette convictions. . . .

A spokesman for the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee said: "This evidence highlights that, with continued insufficient penalties, Ireland will remain a smugglers' paradise".

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• Imperial Tobacco Canada to governments: Do your job and stop illegal tobacco sales 

Imperial Tobacco Canada today stated that Canada has lost its leadership in tobacco control because the provincial and federal governments have, for too long, ignored the growing crisis of illegal tobacco sales.

In a speech delivered today at the Economic Club of Canada, Benjamin J. Kemball, President and Chief Executive Officer of Imperial Tobacco Canada said, "Despite supposedly world renowned tobacco control policies, over one third of the Canadian tobacco industry has been handed over to an illegal, unregulated, un-enforced and un-taxed free for all and tobacco control is collapsing around us."

Imperial Tobacco Canada believes that something should and can be done now. "Let's get someone in charge - a senior government official would be a good start. Let's get the laws enforced. Let's control the supply of raw material and machinery. Let's get taxes applied, including perhaps a revenue sharing agreement on a First Nations tax, equivalent to the Provincial Tobacco Tax," said Mr. Kemball. "This would facilitate tobacco control across Canada, including the reserves that could benefit from the proceeds of this tax. Let's bring everyone involved to the table, from the health authorities to the First Nation communities."

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