Email
Password
(Forgot Password?)
The Federal Trade Commission today has taken important action to protect public health by proposing to prohibit tobacco companies from claiming that cigarette tar and nicotine ratings are based on an FTC-approved testing method or that they are endorsed or approved by the FTC. The proposal warns tobacco companies that they risk legal action by the FTC if they use the current tar and nicotine ratings in a way the FTC finds false or misleading. The proposal withdraws an FTC guidance issued in 1966 that permits statements concerning tar and nicotine yields if they are based on a smoking machine test known as the Cambridge Filter Method, commonly called "the FTC method."
While today's FTC action is important, it will not by itself end the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing of "light" and "low-tar" cigarettes and underscores the need for Congress to take comprehensive action by enacting pending legislation to grant the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco products. The FTC's action would not explicitly prohibit the tobacco companies from continuing to make statements regarding tar and nicotine levels and would not immediately ban deceptive cigarette descriptions such as "light" or "low-tar."
Jump to full article »
Two new studies published online today in the American Journal of Public Health demonstrate the critical need for Congress to enact pending legislation granting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory authority over tobacco products. One study found that tobacco companies deliberately manipulate levels of menthol in cigarettes in ways the authors conclude recruit new, young smokers and satisfy long-term smokers. The second study found that tobacco companies, because of public relations and litigation concerns, suppressed their own internal research about the presence of polonium-210, a radioactive, cancer-causing chemical, in cigarettes and cigarette smoke.
These studies demonstrate how the current lack of regulation allows tobacco companies to manipulate their products in ways harmful to health and to control what is in their products and what they disclose about them. Currently, no government agency has the authority to regulate menthol, polonium-210 or any of the more than 4,000 chemicals in a cigarette. The legislation before Congress would fundamentally change this harmful status quo by granting the FDA authority over the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products. For the first time, decisions about tobacco products would be made to protect public health rather than to maximize the profits of the tobacco industry.
A poll released today finds that voters from Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties support a law prohibiting smoking inside all workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
By a strong majority (65 percent to 33 percent), Northern Kentucky voters support a law prohibiting smoking "in most public places, including workplaces, public buildings, offices, restaurants and bars." This support comes from a broad-based group of voters across the region, including Republicans, independents and Democrats and a majority of voters in Boone (72 percent), Kenton (61 percent) and Campbell(62 percent) counties. Half of all voters in the region (50 percent) strongly favor such a law. To view the poll results go to http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/pressoffice/kentuckypoll/2008/
"Clearly, there is support for a smokefree law among Northern Kentucky voters," said Joe Geraci, a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and Kenton County citizen. "A strong majority of voters feel that secondhand smoke is a health hazard, believe all workers should be protected from it, and would find restaurants and bars healthier and more enjoyable if they were smokefree."
The survey of 750 voters was released today by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. In releasing the results, the public health organizations called on the Fiscal Courts in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties to make all workplaces smokefree, including all restaurants and bars.
Just because cigarette sales have been steadily falling in recent years doesn't mean the tobacco industry is going up in smoke.
On the contrary, sales of other tobacco products, such as snuff, snus, roll-your-owns and especially cigars are on the rise, according to a new Harvard University study.
(CBS) A government agency did a sharp about face Tuesday, and admitted the test it used to show those cigarettes are low in tar is meaningless. The FTC had endorsed the test for four decades, and during that time, the number of Americans smoking low-tar cigarettes grew from about one and 500,000 to more than 49 million. Now, as CBS News transportation and consumer safety correspondent Nancy Cordes reports, it looks like the low-tar claim has gone up in smoke. . . .
The proposal could open the door for the FTC to sue companies that call their products "light" or "low tar," implying they're somehow safer, Cordes reports.
Matt Myers with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says studies show more than half of all smokers still mistakenly believe that switching to cigarettes with slogans like "light and luscious," will reduce their risk of getting sick. . . .
"The FTC hasn't banned the term 'light' and 'low tar.' But it has put tobacco companies on notice. If they use those terms or the tar and nicotine numbers they risk lawsuit by the federal government," Myers said.
Massachusetts' leaders have taken historic action to protect the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco use by increasing the state cigarette tax by $1 to $2.51 per pack. This brings Massachusetts to the third highest state cigarette tax in the nation. By supporting a high cigarette tax, Massachusetts legislators have taken commendable action that will improve the health of Massachusetts residents for generations to come and continue the state's national leadership in the fight against tobacco use, the number one cause of preventable death in the United States. Governor Deval Patrick is expected to sign the bill into law.
The $1 cigarette tax increase is a win-win-win solution for Massachusetts - a health win that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, a financial win that will raise revenue to help alleviate budget shortfalls, and a political win that polls show is popular with the voters.
The legislation before Congress would ban terms such as "light," "mild" and "low-tar."
Massachusetts' leaders have taken historic action to protect the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco use by increasing the state cigarette tax by $1 to $2.51 per pack. This bringsMassachusetts to the third highest state cigarette tax in the nation. By supporting a high cigarette tax,Massachusetts legislators have taken commendable action that will improve the health ofMassachusetts residents for generations to come and continue the state's national leadership in the fight against tobacco use, the number one cause of preventable death inthe United States. Governor Deval Patrick is expected to sign the bill into law.
The $1 cigarette tax increase is a win-win-win solution forMassachusetts - a health win that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, a financial win that will raise revenue to help alleviate budget shortfalls, and a political win that polls show is popular with the voters.
Along with imposing higher taxes, banning smoking in public places, and antismoking education, prosecuting teens who use tobacco in public is a very effective technique for reducing smoking by children, says a new scientific study and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).
The new study comes just in time because the decline in smoking by kids seems to be stalled, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, Executive Director of ASH, who suggests that youth possession, use, and purchase (PUP) laws which currently exist in 45 states -- but are rarely enforced -- should be dusted off and more actively used as an additional technique to help prevent an entirely new generation from becoming addicted to nicotine.
Contrary to some alarmists, teens are not thrown in jail for smoking.
Nearly six months after implementation of the state's smoke-free workplace law, a poll released today finds that Illinois voters overwhelmingly support the law making public places smoke-free by prohibiting smoking inside all workplaces, including restaurants, bars, and casinos. The poll also finds that voters would reject attempts to exempt casinos from the new law.
"The smoke-free law is working exactly as intended to protect the people of Illinois from the health harms of secondhand smoke and preserve their right to breathe clean air. Clearly, Illinois voters appreciate the new law," said Clement Rose, MD, President, American Cancer Society, Illinois Division.
The poll found that nearly three out of four (73 percent) Illinois voters support the smoke-free workplace law, with 62 percent expressing strong support. Just 25 percent of voters oppose the law. The smoke-free law is even more popular now than when passed a year ago by the state legislature - with the margin of support growing by 10 percentage points from a similar poll conducted a year ago. At the same time last year, voters favored the legislation 68 to 30 percent. Support for the new law comes from a broad coalition of voters, including Democrats and Republicans as well as voters in every region of the state.
By a 2 to 1 margin, voters also feel that casinos should continue to be included under the smoke-free law.
The good news in the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey is that the high school smoking rate declined by 45 percent between 1997 and 2007, from 36.4 percent to 20 percent. The high school smoking rate is now at the lowest level since this survey was first conducted in 1991. Smoking has declined significantly among both boys and girls and among all populations surveyed. Since 1997, smoking has declined by 42 percent among white students, 49 percent among African-American students and 51 percent among Hispanic students. In 2007, high school smoking rates were 23.2 percent for white students, 16.7 percent for Hispanic students and 11.6 percent for African-American students.
The dramatic decline in youth smoking since 1997 is powerful proof that scientifically proven measures, implemented primarily at the state and local level, are working. These include higher cigarette prices resulting from state cigarette tax increases and the 1998 state tobacco settlement; a growing number of state and local laws requiring smoke-free workplaces and public places; and effective, well-funded tobacco prevention programs run by the states and nationally by the American Legacy Foundation.
Thanks to these efforts, the country has made great progress over the last decade in reducing youth smoking. Unfortunately that decline has stalled in recent years. From 2003 to 2005, high school smoking rates rose by just over one percentage point, from 21.9 percent to 23 percent. While there was a small improvement from 2005 to 2007 -- rates declined to 20 percent last year -- the reduction was not statistically significant.
This recent stall in progress coincides with aggressive efforts by tobacco companies to discount cigarette prices and undermine state cigarette tax increases, cuts in tobacco prevention programs, and huge increases in tobacco marketing
A new poll released today shows that Mississippi voters overwhelmingly support a significant increase in the state's tobacco tax to fund vital Medicaid programs and help reduce smoking among kids.
Nearly seven out of 10 Mississippi voters (69 percent) support a $1 per pack increase in the state's tobacco tax to fund Medicaid and reduce tobacco use, particularly among kids. This support comes from a broad-based coalition of voters, including 69 percent of Republicans, 70 percent of Democrats, and 68 percent of Independents. Only 29 percent of voters oppose a $1 per pack increase in the tobacco tax. The survey of 500 registered likely Mississippi voters was released by Communities for a Clean Bill of Health, a statewide coalition of health organizations and individuals that includes the Mississippi affiliates of AARP, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Children's Defense Fund, the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, and the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.
As Mississippi's leaders begin working next week to resolve a projected state budget deficit, a report released today finds that a proposed $1 cigarette tax increase would raise more than $150 million in new revenue to fund Medicaid and also drastically reduce youth smoking, cause many smokers to quit, reduce tobacco-related health care costs and save thousands of lives.
The 32-page report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids - titled "Tobacco Tax Benefits for Mississippi: Reducing Smoking, Saving Lives, and Saving Money" - finds that a $1 cigarette tax increase would:
* Prevent more than 45,000 Mississippi kids from becoming smokers;
* Spur 26,000 current adult smokers to quit for good;
* Save more than 21,000 Mississippi residents from premature, smoking-caused deaths; . . .
The Mississippi Legislature returns to Jackson next week for a special session to resolve a $90 million budget shortfall triggered by a Medicaid funding crisis. The Mississippi House has proposed increasing the state cigarette tax by $1 per pack, while Governor Haley Barbour's plan calls for increasing the hospital bed tax - the cost of which could be passed on to patients and cause health insurance costs to rise, according to news reports.
I admit I didn't read all 381 or so letters people wrote for or against Oxford attorneys Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and Sidney Backstrom, who face federal sentencing Friday in a judicial bribery scandal. . . .
"Over the years, I have interviewed, profiled and worked with countless members of the Bar all over this country. None have impressed me more than Richard Dick' Scruggs. Without Mr. Scruggs, the revelations that appeared in court proceedings and the media about the tobacco industry, as well as the unprecedented settlements, simply would not have happened. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of consideration, kindness and compassion."
"It is not an exaggeration to say that the efforts of Dick Scruggs and his colleagues have saved millions of people from a premature death caused by tobacco."
"When I first learned of the issue that has caused Dickie's current situation, I was shocked as well as others that know or have worked with him. How could a man with such a strong moral fiber err like this? I owe Dickie my life, my success in getting the truth to the world, ... a bond of friendship that was made in the caldron of molting steel, always faithful when needed and a source of unfettered moral guidance. Without Dickie, this all would be impossible. The world is a better place due to his unique contributions to the public, his generous philanthropy and his unfettered devotion to his profession, family and friends."