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• Connecticut Cigarette Tax Increase Delivers Victory for Kids and Taxpayers; $1 Increase Gives State Second Highest Cigarette Tax in the Nation 

Connecticut's leaders have taken decisive 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 $3.00 per pack, making it the second highest state cigarette tax in the nation (Rhode Island's tax is $3.46 per pack). Connecticut is also increasing its tax rates on most other tobacco products, but they still remain shamefully low compared to the state's exemplary new tax rate on cigarettes. Increased tobacco taxes are a win-win-win solution for Connecticut and every other state - 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 evidence is clear that increasing the cigarette tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking

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RJR, Other Tobacco Companies Go to Court to Evade Regulation by FDA 

Today's announcement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Lorillard Inc. and other tobacco manufacturers that they have filed suit to overturn portions of the recently passed FDA tobacco legislation is not unexpected. The lawsuit, filed in the federal court in Bowling Green, Kentucky, seeks to overturn portions the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which deal with advertising, marketing and labeling of tobacco products.

The tobacco companies have challenged language in the bill that would compel them to scientifically justify claims of "reduced risk" for any tobacco product. They are also challenging the requirement for larger graphic warning labels on cigarette packs, as well as restrictions on colorful advertising which impacts children, advertising within 1000 feet of playgrounds or schools and numerous other marketing and advertising restrictions. In challenging these restrictions in the FDA tobacco legislation, R.J. Reynolds and the others are asking a federal court to allow them to continue to employ the same irresponsible and deadly marketing techniques which have addicted generations of American children and caused an epidemic of disease, death and heartbreak for American families.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, signed into law on June 22, 2009 by President Obama, is carefully crafted and consistent with the First Amendment. The advertising and marketing restrictions in the bill, first introduced in 1996 as the FDA Tobacco Rule, have been reviewed and cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Federal Court Orders Long Island, N.Y. Tribal Smoke Shops to Stop Selling Untaxed Cigarettes to General Public  

In a major victory for public health and New York taxpayers, a federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y. has ruled that cigarette selling businesses based on Indian tribal lands are not exempt from federal, state or New York City tax laws. Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has issued a preliminary injunction stopping smoke shops on the Poospatuck reservation on Long Island, N.Y from selling and distributing cheap, tax-free cigarettes to non-tribal customers. Judge Amon's ruling will not only increase New York City and State cigarette tax revenues but also, by collecting taxes and raising prices, directly reduce New York smoking rates and related harms and costs. . . .

Governor Patterson should follow Mayor Bloomberg's example and take more aggressive action to stop the sale and trafficking of tax-free cigarettes from tribal lands. Ideally, the Indian tribes will enter into mutually beneficial agreements with the state to collect and share all taxes owed on tobacco products sold on or from tribal lands. But if the tribes do not cooperate, Governor Patterson should take full advantage of existing law, as clarified in Judge Amon's ruling and other court decisions, to stop the illegal trafficking of tax-free cigarettes on tribal lands.

Other states and localities would do well to follow New York City's example and use all the existing laws that can be validly applied to stop illicit cigarette smuggling and tax evasion. Judge Amon's ruling proves that the federal Contraband Cigarette and Smokeless Tobacco Trafficking Act is an extremely effective new tool for state and local law enforcement. More state and local governments should consider using it to protect their tobacco tax revenues and improve public health.

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Campaign Mourns the Death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy 

The incomparable legacy of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in the protection of America's public health is a lasting tribute to his memory. Senator Kennedy was among the first in Congress to fully comprehend the devastating effects of tobacco use in the U.S. He was in the vanguard of supporters of FDA regulation of tobacco at a time when it was political anathema to even suggest government regulation of an industry which had always been protected by powerful friends in Congress. But Ted Kennedy knew it was the right thing to do.

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the authority to regulate tobacco had to be expressly granted by Congress, Senator Kennedy took action. He worked unstintingly, in many cases reaching across the aisle, to craft legislation to empower the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. He wrote and spoke eloquently about the need to stop the tobacco companies from targeting children. He reminded his colleagues about the terrible toll of tobacco addiction and disease on America's families. And slowly but surely, his message began to break through.

In 2004, despite White House opposition, Senator Kennedy succeeded in getting the Senate to pass the FDA tobacco legislation but the House leadership was able to kill the bill in a conference committee. Where lesser men would have given up the fight, Senator Kennedy only strengthened his resolve to pass the tobacco bill. He never lost hope. He said he'd get it done, and five years later, he did.

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Tobacco-Free Kids Welcomes Formation of FDA's Center for Tobacco Products and Selection of Center Director 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcement today that it is establishing the Center for Tobacco Products and has selected Lawrence Deyton, MSPH, MD, a highly respected and experienced public health leader, as the Center Director is a demonstration of its commitment to moving quickly and vigorously to implement its new authority to regulate tobacco products, the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. This announcement comes just two months after Congress approved and President Obama signed into law historic legislation giving the FDA authority over tobacco products.

Dr. Deyton is a highly respected public health leader, an experienced administrator with a track record of success and a long standing appreciation of the importance of tobacco. He possesses precisely the type of leadership skills and commitment to public health that will be needed to build the new Center for Tobacco Products.

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Van Ost: Shameful tobacco control laws  

It's hard to fathom where Congress is finding the political cover necessary to pass an industry-sponsored love letter like this one. But it's coming from Philip Morris' partner in crafting the bill: a non-profit anti-smoking organization, "Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids." Why the exclusion of menthol cigarettes? . . .

A recent study of 1,700 smokers from the New Jersey University of Medicine and Dentistry Tobacco Dependence Program found that smokers of menthol cigarettes -- notably blacks and Latinos, more than 80 percent of whom smoke menthols -- had a harder time quitting even though they smoked fewer cigarettes per day. Minority communities are heavily marketed because its members tend to become addicted even when smoking fewer cigarettes and have half the quit rate of those who smoke non-menthol cigarettes. Result: much higher rates of lung cancer,

Coincidence? I think not. In early June, just prior to passage of the above control bill, Philip Morris introduced what it describes as its new "Marlboro menthol Blend No. 54", a "richer, bolder" flavor than its regular Marlboro menthol and Marlboro Smooth menthol cigarettes.

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District of Columbia Cigarette Tax Increase Delivers Victory for Kids and Taxpayers 

The D.C. Council has taken an important step to protect the District's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco use by increasing the cigarette tax by 50 cents to $2.50 per pack -- the seventh highest cigarette tax in the nation. We applaud the City Council for its unanimous support of this life-saving proposal, and we look forward to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty signing it into law.

At the same time, the Council missed an opportunity to renew funding for the highly successful DC Tobacco-Free Families tobacco prevention and cessation program. Without action, funding for this program will largely expire at the end of September. To enhance and sustain the benefits from the tax increase, D.C. leaders should act quickly to provide the needed funds.

Higher tobacco taxes are a win-win-win solution for the District of Columbia -- a health win that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, a financial win that will raise revenue for critical programs, and a political win that polls show is popular with the voters. With the increase, the District of Columbia will join 11 states that have increased their cigarette taxes this year.

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Groups Hail Senate Over Tobacco Bill 

The public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill, conducted this week by the Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello-led Senate Committee on Health, has been commended by international agencies and non-governmental organisations.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, who was represented at the Public hearing by Dr. Kayode Soyinka, said the hearing was a significant step by the Upper Chamber to rescue the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco addiction.

"We fully support this effort which is to domesticate the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Nigeria became a party to this Convention in October 2005 and this bill fully conforms to the provisions of the international treaty," Soyinka said.

In a memorandum to the public hearing, signed by its president, Matt Myers, a leading tobacco control group in the United States, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CFTK), expressed support for the tobacco control bill "in its current form" and urged the Senate to pass it promptly.

CTFK said: "The National Tobacco Control Bill is essential to bring Nigeria into compliance with its international obligations under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)

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Groups Hail Senate over Tobacco Bill  

The public hearing on the National Tobacco Control Bill, conducted this week by the Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello-led Senate Committee on Health, has been commended by international agencies and non-governmental organisations.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative in Nigeria, who was represented at the Public hearing by Dr. Kayode Soyinka, said the hearing was a significant step by the Upper Chamber to rescue the lives of millions of Nigerians from tobacco addiction.

“We fully support this effort which is to domesticate the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Nigeria became a party to this Convention in October 2005 and this bill fully conforms to the provisions of the international treaty,” Soyinka said.

In a memorandum to the public hearing, signed by its president, Matt Myers, a leading tobacco control group in the United States, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CFTK), expressed support for the tobacco control bill “in its current form” and urged the Senate to pass it promptly.

CTFK said: “The National Tobacco Control Bill is essential to bring Nigeria into compliance with its international obligations under the Framework

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FDA Acts to Protect Public Health from Electronic Cigarettes 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has acted to protect public health from so-called electronic cigarettes by seeking to block importation of these products and, during a press briefing today, informing the public about the potential health risks of these products.� The FDA announced today that a laboratory analysis of electronic cigarette samples found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.� We look forward to the FDA taking additional action to stop the marketing and sale of these unapproved products.

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• Cigarette companies skirt advertising ban 

Now prohibited from advertising their products in the so-called "paid media"--television, radio, and newspapers--tobacco companies have found ways to defeat the ban through subtle but potentially more effective promotional activities.

Their activities range from donating to community projects to influencing the content of movies or shows to being the subject of positive news reports.

Advertising specialists told Newsbreak that these new approaches taken by tobacco companies may be "more expensive," but they sure "built relationships" with consumers and can therefore help maintain, if not expand, the tobacco market.

The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 stopped the elaborate marketing strategy of tobacco companies in the "paid media." Anti-tobacco advocates have reported violations of the ad ban in province-based television and radio stations, but noted that the national media have generally heeded the law.

The law, however, has been unable to prevent the invasion of "free media"--the very content of news and entertainment media--by tobacco products and brands. . . .

Tobacco companies have also maintained their presence in newspapers, particularly through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities.

CSR activities of Fortune Tobacco made it in the news last year, for example. Major newspapers and at least one television network featured stories on the efforts of Lucio Tan, Fortune Tobacco owner, to help the tobacco farmers in the Ilocos region, where the bulk of his raw materials come from. . . .

Newspapers ran a story on Philip Morris's P2-million donation to Red Cross, which was given on Gordon's 63rd birthday in August 2008. . . .

"Promo girls" are most common in the Philippines. Pretty girls are recruited to distribute cigarettes in parties sponsored by the tobacco companies. This is the lowest level of promotional activity.

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North Carolina Should Increase Cigarette Tax by at Least 50 Cents to Save Lives and Raise Revenue 

We urge North Carolina legislators to take a stand to protect the health and pocketbooks of North Carolina families by heeding Governor Bev Perdue's call to include a 50-cent cigarette tax increase in the state budget. While a larger cigarette tax increase would produce even greater benefits, an increase of at least 50 cents -- to 85 cents a pack — would be an important step toward protecting the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco. The state's current tax of 35 cents is the fourth lowest in the country and the national average is $1.31 a pack.

While the North Carolina Legislature grapples with a $4 billion budget deficit and potentially devastating cuts to state services, including many vital public health programs, other states are turning to tobacco tax increases to raise new revenue and dramatically reduce health care costs by reducing smoking. This year alone the following states have increased their taxes: Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

These 11 states have recognized that increasing tobacco taxes is a win-win-win solution

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• VIDEO: Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped the New Smoking Bill 

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Dr. Nitzkin. Would you say this bill was written by Philip Morris?

DR. JOEL NITZKIN: I would say so. The bill was negotiated between Philip Morris and Tobacco-Free Kids, and it appears from the actual text of the bill that the Philip Morris people did their homework very well and knew exactly what they wanted, while those appointed from Tobacco-Free Kids to negotiate on behalf of the public health community really had no understanding of tobacco-related science, of how and why kids initiate tobacco use, or the steps that could be taken to stop them. So it resulted in a bill that gives the appearance of effective regulation, but not the substance. And with the exception of the graphic warnings, which were added in the Senate, not in the original House bill, every provision having to do with restriction of marketing of tobacco products falls into one of two categories: either it’s already in place as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement, or it has already been thrown out by the US Supreme Court.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And why this alliance between the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Altria?

DR. JOEL NITZKIN: Well, it appears that a political decision was made that the only way they could get tobacco regulation through the Congress is if they could get Philip Morris, our nation's largest and most dominant cigarette company, to endorse the bill. And they felt that without that endorsement, they could not get a bill through Congress. . . .

DR. JOEL NITZKIN: There were strong objections from the African American community about the menthol exclusion. To satisfy those requests, Representative Waxman wrote in a provision saying that the Science Advisory Committee to the FDA would have to consider the menthol issue and issue a ruling on it.

The problem is, the guidelines that the committee is mandated to go by, written into the law, says they can only ban things on the basis that they increase the risk of cancer or some other serious disease, or they increase the addictiveness of the tobacco product. There is nothing in the law that would allow them to ban any ingredient that’s there for the purpose of attracting people to cigarettes who otherwise would not smoke. . . .

To make things even worse, if I could continue for a moment, if somebody with a smokeless product wants to prove that their product is of lesser risk than cigarettes, they have to undergo basically impossible-to-do scientific studies. But if a cigarette company wants to market its cigarette as lower exposure, all they have to do is change the chemical composition by that small amount, and then they can advertise it as lower exposure without any scientific proof that it’s safer or less risky.

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Wisconsin Tobacco Tax Increase Is Positive Step for Health, but Budget Disappoints by Cutting Funding for Tobacco Prevention Programs 

Wisconsin leaders have taken a positive step to protect the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco by increasing the state cigarette tax by 75 cents. However, it is deeply disappointing that despite this increase in tobacco-related revenue, state leaders approved a budget that cuts funding by more than half for critical tobacco prevention and cessation programs. This devastating cut will reduce the number of people who quit as a result of the cigarette tax increase and undermine successful programs already in place to protect kids and help smokers quit.

The budget cut will reduce the amount Wisconsin spends a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to just $6.85 million a year. This is barely one-tenth of the $64.3 million that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Wisconsin spend each year on such programs. It is also just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars the state collects each year from tobacco taxes and the 1998 state tobacco settlement.

It is penny-wise and pound-foolish to shortchange tobacco prevention programs.

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• SMALERA: Lost in the Weed: We stopped subsidizing tobacco farming. The result? Tobacco farming’s on the rise.  

But the bill Obama signed is actually the second half of a legislative push, or maybe a putsch, that Philip Morris and its parent, Altria (MO), have been shepherding through Congress for more than a decade. In 2004, President Bush signed the first half of the legislation, which had to do with tobacco production rather than consumption. That bill, the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act of 2004, eliminated the quota system for tobacco farmers that had been in place since the 1930s. Similar to its other crop insurance programs, the government had created a system to guarantee a minimum price for tobacco farmers by limiting the amount that could be grown each year.

In what is a familiar refrain, the buyout was sold to Congress and anti-smoking groups as something that was necessary to help impoverished small tobacco farmers get out of the business. . . .

In 2004 it was Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, who tried to pull back the curtain. He said at the time, "The House buyout plan is an incredible rip-off of the taxpayer, mostly to benefit a handful of large tobacco interests and tobacco companies." . . .

The South, after a few years of production declines adjusting to the new market dynamics, is again growing plenty of tobacco. And tobacco acreage, after declining following the buyout, has jumped up by more than 20 percent, including in some states where tobacco hasn't been farmed in 100 years, like Ohio and Illinois.

According to one story on the buyout, some farmers have stopped growing commodity crops like corn and wheat to switch to the wildly more profitable tobacco crop. . . .

So, five years later, the first prong of the tobacco legislation effort spearheaded by Philip Morris USA and supported by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has consolidated, boosted, and industrialized American tobacco farming and removed the price supports that made American tobacco exports unattractive on the open market. The only problem is that now that Philip Morris International is using so much American tobacco, its profits had fallen last quarter due to the stronger American dollar. But before some congressman jumps to Big Tobacco's rescue, as they seem to love to do these days, I should note that the dollar is already weakening once again.

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