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Five Smart-Phone Apps That Promote Smoking

By ash | Published October 24, 2012

Marketing cigarettes ain’t what it used to be. Gone are the days of Joe Camel billboards and T-shirts or caps branded with cigarette makers’ logos. But Big Tobacco hasn’t given up on getting its message out.

A 1999 settlement banned tobacco companies from advertising outdoors or at stadiums but there’s another grey zone where the definition of an ad remains fuzzy — smartphone apps. According to the latest research from Australia, apps are loosely regulated, sold worldwide, and increasingly popular—all appealing features for cigarette makers. They’re even open to kids.

In their report, published in the journal Tobacco Control, researchers at the University of Sydney searched the Apple and Android app stores with keywords like “smoke,” “cigarette,” and “tobacco,” to see how many promotional apps they could find. They tallied up anything that looked to be pro-smoking — apps showing branded images or info about where to buy tobacco products — even if the product claimed to be an aid for quitting. The final count? More than 100 different mobile-phone applications that appear to promote smoking.

It’s doubtful all the promos come straight from tobacco companies. The researchers, however, believe that some may. Speaking to Bloomberg earlier this week, author Nasser BinDhim said he finds it “suspicious” that smoking apps are typically released by developers who work under nicknames rather than business names, unlike in other industries. TIME selected five of the most creative pro-smoking apps described in the study, so you can judge for yourself:

1) myAshtray

Most apps identified by the Sydney researchers were tools to simulate or mimic the act of smoking. In this one, users click on the screen to drop ash into the virtual ashtray.

Although the app’s download page claims it can be used to help to quit smoking, BinDhim and colleagues felt the messages that users receive when they drop ash into the ashtray might actually encourage smoking behavior. One such message: “Would be even better with a beer in your hand!” The scientists also say there is no evidence that simulated smoking can prevent cigarette cravings.

2) Cigarettes

This app for Android gives tar and nicotine specs, photos of packaging, and a list of global availability for major cigarette brands from all over the world. Helpful, perhaps, if you’re visiting Estonia and trying to figure out which smokes to buy.

Don’t underestimate how global the market for smartphone apps has become. Today there are more than 6 billion mobile phones worldwide and while most of those are not smartphones, the number of smartphone users continues to rise. In rich countries, like the U.S., the U.K, and Australia, more than one third of mobile phones are already app-ready, according to the new study.

3) Puff Puff Pass

In this cartoon game, players click on a character to make the virtual person smoke. You win points for passing the cigarette (or the pipe, or the cigar — you choose) quickly between characters in a designated order.

There’s strong evidence that smoking in movies can encourage kids to smoke more. A cartoon game with lots of smoking may have the same effect.

4) Cigarette Battery Widget

This app uses a cigarette icon to show you how much battery power remains on your smartphone. It’s simple and requires very little engagement from users. But it can still be a constant reminder of cigarettes, and smoking. So far, this app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times.

5) CRA — Cigar Rights of America

Cigar Rights of America is an advocacy group that will petition various local, state, and federal governments to “protect the freedoms of cigar enthusiasts,” according to the group’s website. This app lets users stream audio and video related to cigar regulation, and gives updates on news, events, and ways to get involved with the group.

Given this latest research on the number of smoking promotions now available in app stores, it may not be long before CRA finds itself with a new legal battle to address: the rights of the virtual cigar smoker.

See this article at its original location>

Who Smokes Most: A Surprising Map of Smoking Rates by Country

By ash | Published October 19, 2012

Nobody lights up like Eastern Europe, where average annual consumption can exceed 2,000 cigarettes per person. The very highest rate is in Serbia (2,861 cigarettes per person per year), according to data from 71 countries compiled by the World Lung Foundation and American Cancer Society. Fourth-place Russia, not far behind at 2,786 cigarettes per person per year, is now finally dealing with its smoking problem.

Proposed new restrictions in Russia — modeled after laws in Western countries that coincided with a drop in smoking rates — would limit cigarette advertising and public smoking in Russia, and more than double excise taxes on cigarretes. A Wall Street Journal article on the Kremlin’s campaign details Russia’s cigarette problem, which costs 400,000 lives and $48.1 billion every year.

The international smoking data is mapped out above. It’s a fascinating bit of comparative data, with some potentially surprising pieces of information:

• The highest rates are all in Eastern Europe. The one Eastern European exception is Romania, which had similarly bleak numbers until it enacted tough anti-smoking laws in 1997.

• The biggest smokers outside of Eastern Europe are South Koreans, Kazakhs, and Japanese, in that order. China’s smoking rate still lags behind Korea’s and Japan’s (1,711 cigarettes per person in China versus 1,958 in Korea and 1,841 in Japan), but China is the world’s largest overall consumer of cigarettes. As the country urbanizes and develops, don’t be shocked if they rise in the rankings.

• A 1998 study of Russian smoking habits found a direct correlation between cigarette and alcohol consumption rates and a direct correlation between smoking and exposure to “Western influences,” such as Western tobacco companies marketing cigarettes as symbols of a “glamorous Western lifestyle.”

• Americans rank right in the middle. The U.S. is ranked 34th in the available data, with about a thousand cigarettes consumed per person per year. We’re about tied with the Israelis, the Australians and the Irish.

• In this data set, poorer countries tend to be healthier. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have some of the lowest smoking rates in the world. Indians smoke only 96 cigarettes per year per person. Ethiopians only 46. If Americans smoked like that, cigarette companies would collapse overnight, but health-care costs would drop dramatically as well; direct health-care costs related to smoking in the United States are estimated at $96 billion per year.

See this article at its original location>

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DOJ Spars with Tobacco Companies Over ‘Forced Public Confessions’

By ash | Published October 16, 2012

Tobacco company lawyers are challenging the proposed language of public statements that the U.S. Department of Justice wants cigarette manufacturers to distribute to minimize the chance that the companies will make false claims in the future about the health effects of smoking.

The companies are required by court order to widely disseminate the so-called “corrective statements,” which address topics that include the marketing of cigarettes, addiction and health damage. The language of the statements, which must issue through ads in newspapers, on television networks and in retail displays, remains in dispute. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler will have the final say on the text of the statements.

The statements are the most publicly visible component of the high-profile injunction issued against tobacco companies following a judge’s conclusion in 2006 that industry leaders participated in a decades-long campaign to dupe consumers about the health risks of smoking. The Justice Department sued the major companies in 1999 under federal racketeering laws.

A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., Noel Francisco of Jones Day, said during a hearing on October 15 that the statements must be “purely factual and uncontroversial.” Francisco argued that the government wants to appeal to consumers’ emotions, moving beyond factual statements to try to embarrass tobacco companies through what he described as “forced public confessions.” One of the proposed statements says that tobacco companies intentionally manipulated cigarettes to make them more addictive.

Francisco took the lead in advocating for the tobacco companies during the hearing. Beth Wilkinson of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher‘s Miguel Estrada were in court for Philip Morris USA.

“[W]hile the government may claim that at least some of its proposed statements do not literally compel defendants to utter the words, ‘We lied,’ there can be no question that the proposed statements are subject to that interpretation,” Estrada said in court papers filed in September.

Justice Department lawyer Daniel Crane-Hirsch, who practices in consumer litigation, argued that the corrective statements must prevent and restrain any future fraudulent statements by the tobacco companies. Generic statements about the dangers of smoking that don’t go to corporate liability, he said, are insufficient. “These companies don’t want people to know what they have done,” Crane-Hirsch told Kessler. He later said the tobacco companies “want to erase history.”

In court papers, Crane-Hirsch disputed that one of the proposed statements—”Smoking kills 1,200 Americans. Every day.”—is an improper appeal to emotion. He said the statement is rooted in an unchallenged finding of fact by Kessler, who presided over a nine-month bench trial in the racketeering case.

The lawyers on both sides are also trying to assess the effect a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will have on the scope and substance of the corrective statements. A divided D.C. Circuit in August struck down a U.S. Food & Drug Administration rule requiring cigarette packages to carry graphic images depicting the hazards of smoking. Francisco said the decision provides a guideline for Kessler to restrict the corrective statements.

The majority on the three-judge panel in the graphic images litigation determined that the images violated the First Amendment. Judge Janice Rogers Brown, writing for the majority, said the “inflammatory images” cannot be deemed an attempt to convey information to consumers. The court said the FDA failed to show that graphic warning images have directly caused a decrease in smoking.

DOJ lawyers last week asked the full D.C. Circuit to rehear that case. “The government’s interest in effectively communicating the health risks of smoking cannot be overstated,” the government said in its petition.

The government said there’s sufficient evidence showing that “cigarette health warnings with graphics are far more effective in communicating health-risk information than are health warnings with text alone.” The tobacco companies are expected to respond to the DOJ petition later this month.

Kessler didn’t say when she would rule in the corrective statements dispute. The judge said she is not bound to accept the proposed language from the Justice Department. She indicated she was inclined to modify the language.

By Mike ScarcellaContact All Articles

The National Law Journal

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Tell Your Representative Not to Take Tobacco Money

By ash | Published October 16, 2012

Below is a sample letter to send to your representative urging them to refuse political contributions from the tobacco industry. To look up your Senator/Representative you can view the ASH campaign contribution map or click here > Senator/Representative

______________________________

Dear Senator/Representative [last name]:

I am writing to express my concern upon discovering that your campaign has received funding from the tobacco industry. I urge you to return these monies immediately, and declare a policy of never accepting political contributions from the tobacco industry or its affiliates in the future.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the world today, and is the only product on the market that, when used exactly as intended, kills. About half a million Americans die prematurely each year because of tobacco use, including nonsmokers who die from secondhand tobacco smoke.

Even if these contributions do not influence your voting, they should be refused on principle. There is an irreconcilable conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health. Accepting contributions from an industry that intentionally addicts and kills millions flies in the face of your obligations to your constituents.

Respectfully,

[name]

[address]*

*It is very important to include your address in order to verify that you are a constituent

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Big Tobacco Buys Big Political Influence

By ash | Published October 16, 2012

Money is doled out to both sides of the aisle

The tobacco industry has always been a major player in congressional campaigns, but a new online map (ash.org/map) shows just how pervasive tobacco money is in politics. The map, produced by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), allows you to click on your home district and see how much money your Member of Congress and Senators have accepted.

“Given the destruction that tobacco causes in this country, it is outrageous that so many politicians accept tobacco money,” said Dr. Alfred Munzer, Chairman of the Board of ASH and former President of the American Lung Association. Dr. Munzer, a pulmonologist, has campaigned for decades against tobacco use. “Roughly 80% of my patients suffer from tobacco-related diseases. No politician should share in the ill-gotten profits of the tobacco industry or owe favors to big tobacco.”

In the nearly 50 years since the 1964 Surgeon General’s report linking smoking with cancer and other diseases, the prevalence of smoking in the U.S. has plummeted, but tobacco still claims the lives of roughly 500,000 Americans each year. Smoking rates are still extremely high in some areas, and approximately 3,000 children start smoking every day.

Globally, tobacco is considered an epidemic by the World Health Organization. About 100 million people died from tobacco in the 20^th century, a toll higher than both world wars combined. The WHO estimates that without dramatic action, tobacco will claim one billion lives this century.

“The United States has joined with the rest of the world in calling for serious action about tobacco, and part of that is acknowledging that the tobacco industry is the vector of the disease,” said ASH director Laurent Huber. The U.S. signed on to a UN political declaration last year that recognizes the need to tackle the tobacco epidemic and highlights “the fundamental conflict of interest between the tobacco industry and public health,” the reason why big tobacco should stay away from public policy. Huber added, “The public interest and the interests of the tobacco industry are diametrically opposed. It is simply unethical for politicians to take tobacco money.”

In addition to the massive health costs of tobacco use, there are dire economic implications. Tobacco disease costs taxpayers, including nonsmokers, hundreds of billions of dollars a year. One study estimated the cost to society of each pack of cigarettes at $18. Stronger tobacco control measures would go a long way toward reducing the deficit and saving medicare.

The tobacco industry is bi-partisan when it comes to buying political favors. Dozens of Democrats as well as Republicans gladly accept donations from tobacco corporations, and for decades members of both parties have returned the favor by voting for tobacco interests. After years of effort, Congress finally gave FDA limited authority over tobacco in 2009, but only after Philip Morris, the number one tobacco industry donor, said it was OK. Even now the tobacco industry seeks to undermine the effectiveness of FDA regulation.

# # #

Posted in Blog, Featured News & Events, Press Releases, Related News, Smoke Alarms | Tagged Campaign Contributions, Congress, Domestic News, Eye on Tobacco Industry, Political Map, Senators, Tobacco Money, US News | Leave a comment

Electronic Cigarettes Could be Banned

By ash | Published October 15, 2012

The European Union may be poised to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes, it has been reported.

According to a leaked draft published by Tobacco Journal International, the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive contains a recommended ban on the marketing of all smokeless nicotine-containing products, with the one exception of Swedish snus, unless they are authorised as medicinal products on the basis of their quality, safety and efficacy.

The Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association (ECITA) said it had been “greatly alarmed” by the reports, and urged the European Commission to urgently confirm or deny the veracity of the leaked documents.

In a letter to the European Commission, ECITA president Katherine Devlin said: “As we understand it, the Commission will now have completed the Impact Assessment for this consultation process. This will no doubt have indicated the significant economic growth of the electronic cigarette industry, and your own Eurobarometer survey clearly demonstrates how significant the positive impact on public health could be, if electronic cigarettes remain widely available to smokers.

“It is crucial that the proper regulatory standards are in place, but this cannot be achieved through medicinal regulation. The costs are too high, and the restrictions on the flexibility and appeal of the product are too great, so all the considerable public health benefit potential would be lost.”

Imperial Tobacco, which recently bought into a third-party electronic cigarette business last month, said it was aware that a working version of the EU Tobacco Products Directive proposals had been leaked. “We are expecting the final, formal proposals to be published by the end of the year and we will be in a better position to comment at that time,” a spokeswoman said.

See this article at its original location>

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New Website Highlights Tobacco Lobbyists’ Campaign Contributions and Gifts to Oklahoma Lawmakers

By ash | Published October 1, 2012

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA (October 1, 2012)A new website with searchable databases of all campaign contributions and gifts from tobacco lobbyists to members of the Oklahoma State Legislature was announced today. The website www.tobaccomoney.com was developed in Oklahoma and is gaining national attention for helping to educate the public on how the tobacco industry influences policymaking. The website encourages state legislators and legislative candidates in Oklahoma to sign a pledge to not accept campaign contributions, meals, or other gifts from any tobacco company political action committee (PAC) or from any individual registered as a lobbyist for a tobacco company or tobacco trade association.

“The tobacco industry is seeing a major return on its investment in Oklahoma’s political system,” said Robert McCaffree, MD, Co-Director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center. “There’s a clear correlation between tobacco industry contributions and the suppression or opposition of legislation intended to reduce tobacco use in our state, particularly among legislators accepting campaign contributions from tobacco company PAC’s.”

Since 2006, Oklahoma state legislators now in office have accepted $242,719 in campaign contributions, meals and other gifts from current tobacco lobbyists and tobacco company PAC’s. Separately, over $50,000 has been accepted by various statewide House or Senate election committees. The highest total amount taken since 2006 by any individual representative is $6,298 and by any individual senator is $11,239. Nine representatives and 11 senators have accepted a total of $3,000 or more.

“The more light we can shine on industry efforts to stop meaningful tobacco prevention measures, the less effective those efforts will be,” says Laurent Huber, executive director of Action on Smoking & Health (ASH). A national leader in the fight on tobacco, ASH is focused this election year on political contributions. “Oklahoma’s website is a model we hope to help replicate in all states, said Huber.”

According to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, there are 11 individuals currently registered to lobby the Oklahoma legislature on behalf of tobacco companies or tobacco industry trade associations. The tobacco lobbyists and listings of their clients are shown on the website.

“For decades, we’ve watched tobacco lobbyists manage to kill bills they oppose and pass bills they support,” said Doug Matheny, the website’s author. “Even if it never influenced legislation, money distributed by tobacco lobbyists should be refused as a matter of principle. Accepting money or gifts from representatives of an industry that addicts young people to deadly products is inconsistent with Oklahoma values. Most tobacco lobbyists in Oklahoma take direct orders from companies that federal courts recently found guilty of racketeering.” Matheny is the former director of tobacco prevention at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. He retired in February 2011 after 28 years of service.

“Speaking on behalf of physicians now starting practices in Oklahoma, our legislators need to take a stand for health,” said Chris Sudduth, MD, MPH of Tulsa. Dr. Sudduth is Chair of the Oklahoma State Medical Association Resident and Fellow Section. “These powerful tobacco lobbyists and their money should be rejected. Business as usual must change.”

###

Posted in Press Releases, Related News | Tagged Campaign, Eye on Tobacco, Eye on Tobacco Industry, Oklahoma, Tobacco Money, U.S. News | Leave a comment

Top 5 Recipients @ tobaccomoney.com

By ash | Published October 1, 2012

New website tobaccomoney.com highlights campaign contributions and gifts from tobacco lobbyists to members of the Oklahoma State Legislator. Here is a listing of some of the websites top 5 recipients:

Top Recipients of Tobacco Lobby Money in the Oklahoma House of Representatives*

State Repre sentative	Campaign Contributions from Tobacco Lobbyists	Campaign Contributions from Tobacco Company PAC’s	Meals & Other Gifts from Tobacco Lobbyists	TOTAL
Randy Terrill	$2,850	$3,250	$198	$6,298
T.W. Shannon	$1,600	$3,700	$332	$5,632
Mike Jackson	$2,650	$1,000	$1,501	$5,151
John Trebilcock	$1,450	$2,250	$507	$4,207
Mike Sanders	$3,200	$500	$297	$3,997

* Since January 1, 2006

Top Recipients of Tobacco Lobby Money in the Oklahoma Senate*

State Senator	Campaign Contributions from Tobacco Lobbyists	Campaign Contributions from Tobacco Company PAC’s	Meals & Other Gifts from Tobacco Lobbyists	TOTAL
Rob Johnson	$6,700	$3,500	$1,039	$11,239
Brian Bingman	$3,500	$2,500	$1,046	$7,046
Dan Newberry	$4,250	$2,500	$146	$6,896
Patrick Anderson	$5,250	$500	$233	$5,983
Don Barrington	$4,650	$1,000	$67	$5,717

* Since January 1, 2006

Health & Economic Impact of Tobacco in Oklahoma*

Number one cause of preventable disease and premature death, killing an estimated 6,000 Oklahomans each year.
For every person who dies from tobacco use, another 20 are suffering with at least one serious tobacco-caused disease.
The vast majority of tobacco users become addicted as young people. If current trends continue, an estimated 87,000 Oklahoma youth alive today will ultimately die early from smoking.
Most current tobacco users in Oklahoma want to quit and have tried many times.
Every pack of cigarettes sold costs Oklahoma’s economy an estimated $7.62 in medical expenses and lost productivity caused by premature death and disease.

* Source: Oklahoma State Plan for Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation (http://www.ok.gov/health/Disease,_Prevention,_Preparedness/Tobacco_Use_Prevention_Service/)

Federal Racketeering Conviction of Major Tobacco Companies*

On August 17, 2006, Philip Morris, Altria, R.J. Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, Lorillard, American Tobacco, and British American Tobacco Company were found guilty in U.S. District Court of racketeering and conducting a conspiracy. The decision noted that they have not ceased engaging in unlawful activity and that “their continuing conduct misleads consumers in order to maximize Defendants revenues by recruiting new smokers (the majority of whom are under the age of 18), preventing current smokers from quitting, and thereby sustaining the industry.”
On May 22, 2009, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a unanimous opinion upholding the District Court judgment.
On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear appeals in the case, thereby allowing the federal racketeering conviction to stand.

* Source: U.S. D epartment of Justice (http://www.justice.gov/civil/cases/tobacco2/index.htm)

ABOUT TOBACCOMONEY.COM

The purpose of tobaccomoney.com is to help expose and eliminate the influence of the tobacco industry in the Oklahoma State Legislature through public awareness and by encouraging the refusal of all campaign contributions and gifts from all registered tobacco lobbyists and tobacco company PAC’s. No disrespect towards any individual person is intended. The databases on the website are compiled using information available to the public from the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. For more information, please contact Doug Matheny at contact@tobaccomoney.com or 405-474-8381.

Posted in Blog | Tagged Campaign, Eye on Tobacco, Eye on Tobacco Industry, Oklahoma, Tobacco Money | Leave a comment

Smoking Makes People Poorer

By ash | Published September 25, 2012

A new report comes to some startling conclusions about the up-front economic costs of smoking. Nationwide, the average smoker spends 14% of income on cigarettes. In New York, where taxes are among the highest, low-income smokers spend a staggering 25% of their money on their addiction!

Cigarette costs add up to about $7400 a year for a New Yorker with a two pack-a-day habit. Here are some suggested alternatives for spending that kind of money:

Lease a 5 series BMW, and have enough left over for gas.
A sailing vacation in the Galapagos for you and your spouse, every year (or you could go somewhere different each year).
Start a college fund for your 4 year old. Private university tuition would be completely covered when they turn 18.
VIP seats for you and a friend at every Super Bowl.

Next time> the retail cost is only the tip of the iceberg for what cigarettes cost us

Posted in Blog | Tagged Smoking Cost, U.S. News | Leave a comment

CDC Studying Anti-Smoking Ad Outcome

By ash | Published September 24, 2012

The CDC is trying to find out how well a $54 million campaign of emotional ads to scare smokers into quitting worked, researchers said.

During the 3 months that the ads aired on TV, radio, and social media, calls to a national quit line more than doubled and hits on the smoking cessation website smokefree.gov tripled, according to Nancy Rigotti, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and Melanie Wakefield, PhD, of the Cancer Council Victoria in Australia.

Whether the boosted short-term response will translate to a lower smoking prevalence remains to be seen, and the CDC is watching closely. It has sponsored an ongoing longitudinal study of 5,000 adult smokers and 2,000 adult nonsmokers who completed online surveys a month before the campaign launched and immediately after it ended.

The stars of the ads were former smokers who were now living with the consequences of smoking — particularly the stoma, which turns voices robotic.

“Emotive personal testimonials and narratives are powerful strategies for reaching and influencing the broad population of smokers,” the researchers wrote. “Emotionally laden stories show the risks of tobacco use in a far more potent way than abstract information can.”

The idea was to “increase smokers’ sense of personal vulnerability to serious disease and increase their sense of urgency for quitting,” they wrote.

In the survey, respondents were asked questions about their awareness of the campaign, as well as their attitudes toward smoking cessation and secondhand smoke exposure.

Nonsmokers also were asked if they had encouraged friends or family members to quit. Survey results are expected by the end of the year, the researchers wrote.

The public health literature is on the CDC’s side, Rigotti and Wakefield wrote, with strong evidence that mass-media education campaigns can have an impact on behavior, particularly when it comes to smoking.

They warned that the campaign’s brief 3-month run will probably limit its effects. CDC said it will run another 3-month campaign in the first quarter of 2013.

Funding for the ad series, titled “Tips From Former Smokers,” came from the Affordable Care Act’s prevention and public health fund. The $54 million pricetag was an “unprecedented” amount spent on tobacco control in the U.S., the researchers said — though they warned that it “pales in comparison to the $27 million spent daily by the tobacco industry to market its products.”

FDA also has gone graphic with its anti-smoking initiatives, including a plan to make warning labels on cigarette packs much more intimidating. The new graphic labels were supposed to appear this month, but implementation was halted due to ongoing litigation with the tobacco industry.

See this article at its original location>

Posted in Related News | Tagged Advertising, CDC, Plain Packaging, Tobacco Ads | Leave a comment

Swiss Reject Full Ban on Smoking in Public Spaces

By ash | Published September 23, 2012

Voters in Switzerland have rejected a total ban on smoking in enclosed public places at a referendum.

Although Geneva voted slightly in favour, results from the country’s other 25 cantons showed a majority of voters rejected a full ban.

Hotels, restaurants and bars are allowed rooms for smokers but critics say workers’ health is at risk.

Restrictions introduced two years ago were watered down after lobbying from the catering trade and tobacco firms.

In some cantons, more than 70% of voters rejected the ban, according to Geneva newspaper La Tribune de Geneve. Geneva itself bucked the trend by supporting the ban by 52% to 48%.

Geneva and seven other cantons have already imposed their own comprehensive bans on indoor smoking in places of employment while the remaining, smaller cantons have been less restrictive.

The result was welcomed by the Swiss Business Federation which called it “heartening”.

“The initiative would have imposed more costs on restaurateurs who have already made considerable investments to protect non-smokers,” it said in a statement.

Result ‘deplored’

Swiss hotel association Hotelleriesuisse said it was relieved by the outcome. It said a “yes” vote would have made “some investments obsolete”.

The Swiss Socialist party “deplored” the result, saying that better protection against passive smoking would have “incontestably been a major step in the improvement of (workers’) conditions”.

Speaking before the vote, Jean-Charles Rielle, a doctor and member of the committee behind the proposal, told AFP news agency that they wanted to clear up confusion created by the existing regulations.

“In the cantons where these laws [banning smoking rooms] are already in effect, we saw immediately… a 20% drop in hospitalisation due to cardiovascular incidents, heart attacks and these kinds of problems,” he said.

La Tribune de Geneve suggests voters rejected a full ban because they did not want to force the smaller cantons into changing their local laws, and because of resentment at perceived state interference in people’s lives.

See this article in it’s original location>

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Holy Smokes! Some People Spend 25% of Their Income on What?!

By ash | Published September 22, 2012

As far as money-draining (and life-shortening) habits go, smoking is a popular example of one to give up. Now there’s a new report that makes an even more dramatic financial case for quitting: In New York State, which levies some hefty taxes on tobacco, low-income smokers are spending roughly one-quarter of their income on cigarettes.

If you’re feeling relieved that you live in one of America’s 49 other states, don’t rest so easy. The national average is about 14% of smokers’ incomes spent on cigarettes — that’s about one-seventh of total income, and still a whopping percentage.

Even if you don’t smoke, keep reading — because these shocking statistics can help all of us rethink and improve our spending habits.

How Much We Shell Out for Smokes

Let’s get a little more precise now. In New York State, the average cost of a pack of cigarettes recently was $10.14, the highest in the nation. The lowest average price per pack was $4.02, in Missouri. Nineteen states — plus the District of Columbia — sported average prices above $6.

New York is certainly not alone in taxing cigarettes heavily. The total taxes per pack in New York average about $4.74, and 17 states (including D.C.) levy taxes of $2 or more. (Remember that these are average numbers. In some spots in New York, cigarettes can cost more than $12 a pack!)

A little simple math shows us that a one-pack-a-day habit in New York can cost $3,701 a year. Those who smoke two packs a day are coughing up more than $7,000 annually. Even if you only pay $6 per pack, that amounts to more than $2,000 per year for a daily pack.

Here’s the biggest problem with these numbers: Taxes and the price of tobacco have clearly been rising in recent years — yet the typical household’s income has not. In fact, according to a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income slipped 1.5% between 2010 and 2011, and remained lower than (inflation-adjusted) 1989 levels. Thus, the cost of cigarettes has been taking up a bigger and bigger slice of the typical household’s budgetary pie in recent years. Ouch.

How Much Should Smokers Spend?

It can be helpful to look at the big picture, to see how much average Americans spend on major budgetary categories — and how much they’re advised to spend on them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics can help with that. Here are some interesting stats, revealing the percentage of after-tax income the average household in America spends on various categories, as of 2010:

27% Housing (including mortgage, rent, utilities, furnishings, and upkeep)
13% Transportation
10% Food
5% Health care
4% Entertainment
3% Clothing
1% Alcohol
1% Tobacco

(The tobacco percentage is low because it’s averaged across smokers and nonsmokers alike.)

It’s very valuable for us to keep tabs on our own spending, to see how much of our hard-earned assets we’re devoting to various items. It’s also good to compare that data to an ideal — to how we should be spending our money.

Spending Guidelines From the Experts

The 50-30-20 Rule: This has been advocated by, among others, Elizabeth Warren, Harvard professor, creator of the new and vital Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Senate candidate in Massachusetts. It suggests that you take your after-tax income and devote no more than 50% of it to your “needs” — such as food, housing, transportation, medications, insurance, and so on. Then spend no more than 30% on your “wants” — which would include items such as most clothing, cable television, entertainment, eating at restaurants, travel, etc. Finally, devote at least 20% of your after-tax income to your financial security, by paying off debts, maintaining an emergency fund, and contributing aggressively to retirement savings.

Read the rest of this article at it’s original location>

Posted in Related News | Tagged U.S. News | Leave a comment

FC Barcelona and the European Commission Join Forces to Help Millions of Europeans to Give up Smoking

By ash | Published September 18, 2012

FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with the European Commission to launch a campaign aimed at helping Europe’s 28 million smokers to give up tobacco

“With this joint action, we aim to help football fans all over Europe to retake control over their health and their lives, encouraging them to be as passionate and committed to their own health as they are to good football” explained Rosell

The European Commission (EC) and FC Barcelona today announce an unprecedented partnership. ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ (quitsmokingwithbarca.eu) will harness the success of the European Commission’s “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign and the support of Barça’s millions of fans to help 28 million European smokers* kick the habit forever.

Partnering one of the world’s most prestigious sports clubs and a European institution is an ambitious project never before tried on such a scale. ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ is the latest and most audacious initiative of the award-winning “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign, this is the first time that the European Commission has collaborated with a sporting partner that reaches the hearts of millions of people. The programme aims not to judge smokers, but instead underlines the many benefits of quitting smoking, combining these positive messages with the evidence-based tools of the “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign. ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ offers supporters of Barça, football and sport in general, a personalised health training programme with daily quit smoking tips and encouragement direct from the hearts and mouths of the club itself.

The campaign will be powered by iCoach (www.exsmokers.eu), a free, proven digital health tool already helping almost a quarter of a million people across Europe (equivalent to 1 in every 500 smokers) in their quest to give up smoking for good. iCoach is available from today as an app for both for iPhone and Android (www.exsmokers.eu/mobile).

“Through this collaboration we will seek to help football supporters across Europe to take back control of their health and their lives, encouraging them to be as passionate about their health as they are about the “beautiful game”,” said FC Barcelona President, Sandro Rosell speaking at the launch announcement at the European Commission Headquarters in Brussels.

Rosell continued, “We feel proud to be here today and to work side by side with the European Commission to improve the health of our supporters and all fans of football. At Barça we firmly believe in our slogan ‘more than a club’ and we promote values of respect, health and social commitment. Our fans and members have given us their unconditional support and dedication for 113 years, and it is our duty to look after their most important asset of all – their health. Barça understands how important teamwork is in overcoming challenges, so through the ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ campaign we are going to be their teammate in helping them win their battle against cigarettes. We will offer them guidance, encouragement and practical help. I’m calling on all smokers to join this campaign.”

Speaking about the new alliance, John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumers says “I am delighted to work together with FC Barcelona to help Europeans keep away from smoking. The European Commission has a solid track record in raising awareness about smoking and in delivering successful tobacco control measures across the EU. Our “Ex-Smokers are Unstoppable” campaign is helping hundreds of thousands of men and women on their journey towards a smoke-free life, and this collaboration should help amplify our message. Using the universal language of football, we can support more Europeans in their efforts to quit smoking and becoming unstoppable ex-smokers for life.”

Dr. Jordi Monés, the director responsible for Barça’s medical area, and pioneer of the club’s previous smoking cessation initiative, ‘Barça Sense Fum’ (Smoke-Free Barça), which saw a smoking ban across all Barça facilities said “Barça feels very proud to collaborate with an institution like the European Commission. We wanted to join forces with the biggest public body in Europe to convince people to take the first step towards smoke-free living. Just as our fans support and cheer us to victory, through ‘Quit Smoking with Barça’ we will now support them through their toughest challenge -to quit smoking for good.”

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Posted in Related News | Tagged Global News, International News | Leave a comment

More Resources Needed to Decrease Tobacco Dependence Prevalence

By ash | Published September 17, 2012

In the decade since the adoption of the FCTC, we have seen significant progress in the area of tobacco control policies that have helped decrease smoking prevalence.

We have also seen increased demand in cessation support, in the form of a short intervention by a health care provider, counselling, or other treatment modality.

However, medical practitioners and tobacco cessation specialists express the concern: “It is so difficult for a smoker in my country to have access to quitting support once they make the move to quit.” This is typically followed by “so they often give up and keep on smoking because it is cheaper for them in the short term.”

A number of global health governance tools and global advocacy opportunities can help secure resources for tobacco treatment at the local level.

The medical community can help advocate at the national and global levels.

This advocacy can create a global mechanism that will help secure resources for treatment and reach the objectives set by the UN Summit on Non Communicable Diseases.

Following the UN Summit in Sept 2011, the World Health Assembly adopted a global target calling for a 25% reduction in preventable deaths from NCDs by 2025.

Given tobacco is a leading risk factor for NCDs, this target can be achieved only if we address the tobacco epidemic through a number of interventions such as a ban on tobacco product advertising, tax and price measures to reduce smoking prevalence, smoke free policies and ensuring that smokers have access to treatment.

We expect that in September, a target will be approved demanding a 30% reduction in global smoking prevalence by 2015.

We need to use these targets in all of our advocacy efforts as we hold our governments accountable to these commitments.

The upcoming 5th Conference of the Parties (COP5) of the FCTC (November 2012) in Seoul, Korea, provides a unique opportunity to address the lack of resources for tobacco control, including resources for the treatment of tobacco dependence.

The meeting will provide more than 170 governments a platform to discuss and explore solutions to address the lack of resources for implementation of tobacco control measures.

It is crucial that governments agree at COP5 to set up a process that reviews the barriers countries face and develop solutions to address them.

The FCA proposes that governments move forward with the development of a working group that will review the implementation of the treaty, review mechanisms of assistance for implementation of the treaty, and identify implementation challenges as well as provide assistance to overcome them.

Another problem we face is that Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs ) — which include Cardiovascular, Cancer and Chronic Lung Diseases, for which tobacco is the leading risk factor — are absent from the development agenda and global development goals such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This has led to a lack of resources for treatment of tobacco addiction from the major development agencies such as USAID, CIDA, DFID and other major development donors.

The MDGs are up for review as they expire in 2015, and this process, along with the outcomes of the UN Summit on NCDs, provides a unique opportunity to address the lack of treatment resources.

Our strategy should be to move from a current over- dependence on philanthropic funding to development aid in countries that need it, followed by fiscal independence at the national level for tobacco control programs through taxation of tobacco products.

There are examples from other fields that could be applied to tobacco in the area of development and prevention of NCDs.

There is an interesting example from Sweden, where they are attempting to move from only addressing pathogenesis to addressing salutogenesis.

Sweden found it to be cost effective to implement interventions through the medical community that encourages sedentary individuals to change their behaviour and exercise.

When a patient visits a doctor, they are asked if they exercise, frequency, intensity etc…

If the patient says they do not exercise, then a referral is made to a motivational therapist, a personal trainer, etc…

Based on the success of these interventions, they developed a pilot program through the Swedish Development Agency, and funds were made available to start a similar project in Vietnam.

These types of programs could be developed for tobacco control by integrating cessation measures along with other tobacco control measures in the development agenda of donor agencies.

For this to happen, the medical community will need to advocate in both donor countries as well as low and middle countries.

The medical community can engage in these processes by staying attuned to the development of the FCTC COP campaigns.

You can do this by visiting the Framework Convention Alliance web site and by following the FCTC Action Now! campaign.

Posted in Blog | Tagged COP5, FCA, FCTC, International News, Tobacco Treaty, WHO | Leave a comment

Plain Cigarette Packaging: Australia’s Victory

By ash | Published September 17, 2012

“We have taken on big tobacco… and we have won”, said Australia’s Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, hailing the judgement from Australia’s High Court that the country’s tobacco companies had failed in their challenge to the Australian Government’s plans to introduce plain packaging for all cigarettes from Dec 1, 2012.

From this date forward, all cigarettes will be sold in drab, olive-green packaging with enormous health warnings, with the brand only visible in a small, standard font. The government hopes to make smoking less appealing to children and reduce smoking levels population-wide. “This is good news for every Australian parent who worries about their child picking up an addictive and deadly habit”, said Roxon, who, as Australia’s former Minister for Health and Ageing, introduced this pioneering legislation. Big tobacco has not yet given up, with two other cases ongoing. Philip Morris Asia is suing Australia for breach of an investment treaty with Hong Kong, while Ukraine, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic have fi led a complaint with the World Trade Organization, claiming the legislation breaches Australia’s commitment under global trade rules. Both cases are likely to take years and will not prevent Australia actually introducing plain packaging. However, should the tobacco companies succeed, the government would likely have to fi nancially compensate them for their loss of brand (but not withdraw the plain packaging).

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said she hoped that this decision would start a domino-eff ect of similar legislation in other countries, helping prevent some of the 6 million deaths estimated to be caused by smoking every year. The UK has just fi nished a consultation on plain packaging and another is ongoing in New Zealand.

The European Union has announced it will probably revise its tobacco products directive during 2012, which could include plain packaging measures. “This decision will embolden governments, especially in low- and middle-income countries, that have been hesitant to implement the
measures in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC], fearing some sort of ‘backlash’ from the tobacco industry, such as a lawsuit”, said Laurent Huber, Director of the
Framework Convention Alliance, a group of more than 350 organisations in more than 100 countries that support the FCTC. “India, South Africa, Indonesia, and China are said to be
considering plain packaging”, he added.

By Tony Kirby of the Lancet

Posted in Related News | Tagged Australia, Court Rulings, Eye on Tobacco Industry, Plain Packaging, WHO | Leave a comment

FCAP Protests Tobacco Industry-Backed Party-List Group

By ash | Published September 16, 2012

A NETWORK of anti-tobacco advocates is asking the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify a party-list organization, accusing it of being a front group for the powerful tobacco industry

In a letter addressed to Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), an umbrella organization of groups and individuals from medical and professional organizations, faith-based youth and environmental groups involved in upholding tobacco control laws, opposed the candidacy of the Agrarian Development Association (ADA) whose nominees are closely identified with the tobacco industry.

ADA, a party-list group representing farmers, was accredited by the Comelec but lost during the last sectoral election, is again vying to get a seat in the 2013 elections. The party-list law requires that 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives should comprise of marginalized groups.

A check on the Comelec web site reveals the following ADA nominees: Eric Singson, Eric Singson Jr., Rodolfo Salanga, Blake Clinton Dy, Grace Kristine Singson Meehan and Victor Manuel Jr.

“The four nominees of ADA belong to the affluent, the influential and the powerful by reason of their individual or familial wealth or the political and economic ties they have honed and developed through the years. They are neither marginalized nor underrepresented. They are rich people who use the poor, marginalized sector, in the hope of gaining a seat in Congress,” said FCAP in its letter to the poll body.

Eric Singson was the former representative of Ilocos Sur’s Second District, while his son, Eric Singson Jr., is the incumbent representative of the same district. Salanga is a longtime president of the Philippine Tobacco Institute (PTI), while Dy operates the Anglo-American Tobacco Corp.

FCAP reminded the Comelec that Section 2 of Republic 7941, or the Party-List System Act, requires nominees of sectoral parties to “belong to marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties.”

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Posted in Related News | Tagged Campaign, Eye on Tobacco Industry, International News | Leave a comment

Big Tobacco Warning at Free-Trade Talks

By ash | Published September 11, 2012

Delegates attending trans-Pacific free-trade negotiations in the United States are being warned their countries could end up like Australia if they agree to allow corporations to sue governments in international courts.

Australia is fending off a challenge to its plain cigarette packets legislation from Philip Morris International under the terms of an obscure Hong Kong investment treaty even though Philip Morris has lost its case against Australia in the High Court.

“The Philip Morris company’s persistence with the investor state dispute settlement case shows such procedures are a threat to democratically enacted legislation and national judicial decisions,” Australia’s Patricia Ranald told stakeholders forum at the negotiations in Leesburg, Virginia.

The United States is insisting on so-called investor state dispute settlement (SDS) provisions in the Trans Pacific Partnership even though it does not have them in its existing free-trade agreement with Australia and even though Australia has said it will not sign a deal that includes them.

The Trans Pacific Partnership will encompass Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam, many of whom already have in their agreements with the United States clauses that allow corporations to sue governments in supra-national forums.

Philip Morris International moved the head office of its Australian subsidiary to Hong Kong shortly before it launched action against Australia under the terms of Hong Kong treaty in what Dr Ranald said was jurisdiction shopping.

“Philip Morris International described itself as a US-based company when it made a submission in 2010 to the US trade representative supporting an investor state dispute settlement process in the trans-Pacific partnership.”

“However, it claimed to be a Swiss-based company when it used an investor state dispute settlement process to sue the Uruguayan government for damages under a Uruguay-Swiss investment agreement when Uruguay introduced legislation restricting tobacco advertising.

“Philip Morris can also claim to be a Hong Kong company because Philip Morris Asia, incorporated in Hong Kong, invested in Australia by becoming the sole shareholder of Philip Morris (Australia) after the Australian government announcement of its intention to legislate for plain packaging of tobacco.”

Speaking as convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network the Sydney University academic told the forum Australia’s problems showed none of the eleven nations negotiating the treaty should agree to provisions that would allow corporations to sue them extra-nationally.

Sean Donnelly from the US Council for International Business told the forum investor state dispute settlements procedures did no more than give international investors access to the rule of law.

He said business would like more protections, but believed what the US was proposing struct the right balance.

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Posted in Related News | Tagged Australia, Plain Packaging, Tobacco & Trade, TPP, TPPA, U.S. News | Leave a comment

Tobacco A Big Issue Among TPP Negotiators

By ash | Published September 10, 2012

At yesterday’s TransPacific Partnership stakeholder event – a bit of political theater set up by the United States Trade Representative to demonstrate the “transparency” of the highly-secretive negotiations – negotiators from other countries eagerly sought us out to hear about how tobacco regulation is threatened by trade law. ASH’s Chris Bostic and Georgetown University law professor Robert Stumberg spoke to a standing-room-only audience about the risks and the opportunity to carve tobacco out from the historic free trade agreement.

The 14^th round of TPP negotiations started on the 6^th and will continue through the 15^th in Leesburg, VA. The negotiations are closed-door and the draft text is kept secret, largely even from members of Congress. ASH has helped form a loose coalition of experts and advocates from the nine negotiating countries which has talked to negotiators over the past 14 months to press for the unique treatment of tobacco in the TPP.

Posted in Blog | Tagged Tobacco & Trade, TPP, TPPA, U.S. News | Leave a comment

Does Cigarette Marketing Count as Free Speech?

By ash | Published September 7, 2012

Historians of free expression will one day write that early 21st century America was a place where the Supreme Court held that schools could punish kids who make a dumb joke that some humorless prig might think advocated drug use, but that tobacco companies could not be stopped from marketing their products near schools, and where a federal court decided that the federal government could not require cigarette companies to give “inflammatory” warnings that cigarettes kill.

In other words, free speech has taken on a strange shape in recent years.

These reflections are sparked by the decision of the District of Columbia Circuit Court in R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Food and Drug Administration. By a vote of 2-1, the Court invalidated an FDA regulation requiring color photographs and text warnings on each pack of cigarettes sold in the U.S. The regulations were issued at the direction of Congress, which, in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, directed the agency to “require color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking” to accompany text warnings such as TOBACCO SMOKING CAN HARM YOUR CHILDREN and SMOKING IS ADDICTIVE. The FDA complied, promulgating a series of images that companies must display prominently on each pack.

The cigarette companies rushed to court, claiming a gross violation of their First Amendment rights. They concede that the government can require some kind of warning; but not these, because — well — they might be effective. “FDA is communicating an ideological message, a point of view on how people should live their lives: that the risks from smoking outweigh the pleasure that smokers derive from it, and that smokers make bad personal decisions, and should stop smoking,” the companies’ brief complained. In the new world of the First Amendment, the claim that smoking is good is an “ideology,” and government attempts to combat this public-health scourge are a kind of politically correct liberal propaganda.

Two judges of the court bought the argument. They treated the government’s “subjective — and perhaps even ideological — view that consumers should reject this otherwise legal, but disfavored, product” as if it were a federal mandate to preach about politics or religion. Examining the legislation carefully, they rejected it because, in essence, the government could not prove that it would work. This level of inquiry is called, in constitutional law, “strict scrutiny,” and is reserved for the most intrusive restrictions on speech, such as laws forbidding speakers to discuss politics or advocate one point of view.

The majority denies they are doing this. They claim that their holding is well within the Court’s precedents on commercial speech, which mandate a less demanding test. But the dissent, by Judge Judith W. Rogers, points out that the proper level of scrutiny allows the government to rely on experience and common sense. Other countries require such warnings, and some have seen declines in smoking; but no study can show exactly how much the warnings reduce smoking, because those requirements are usually teamed with other anti-smoking measures like higher taxes.

The majority claims to be rejecting only these specific images — of a man smoking a cigarette through a tracheotomy tube, or a baby wreathed in smoke — but their hostility to the entire anti-smoking enterprise is ill concealed: “We are skeptical that the government can assert a substantial interest in discouraging consumers from purchasing a lawful product, even one that has been conclusively linked to adverse health consequences,” they sniff. If there is no such “substantial interest,” of course, then no government warnings can be required.

What is terrifying is not just the radical nature of the statement: that government can do nothing to combat the single greatest public health threat of our time. The hidden message of the opinion — a message correctly deduced from much of the Roberts Court’s First Amendment jurisprudence — is that the Constitution requires us to live in a make-believe world, where, for example, gross imbalances of wealth have no effect on political campaigns, and “smoking isn’t addictive” is as protected as “I pledge allegiance to the flag.”

I yield to no one in my devotion to free speech. But a legal system that can’t differentiate between political opinion and the sale of cigarettes has forfeited any claim to relevance to the nation it supposedly serves.

by Garrett Epps

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Business Representatives Working on TPP Issues Start New Jobs This Fall

By ash | Published September 7, 2012

A handful of business representatives that are closely following the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations have taken new jobs over the last few months.

Linda Menghetti, an expert on investment issues who formerly served as vice president of the Emergency Committee for American Trade, left that position at the end of August and has moved over to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), where she is taking the position vacated by Frank Vargo, sources said.

Vargo retired last June after serving for years as NAM’s vice president for international affairs. In her new role, Menghetti will likely have a hand in hiring a replacement for Steve Jacobs, who left his job as senior director for international business policy at NAM earlier this year in order to work for Philip Morris International.

Philip Morris is vehemently opposing U.S. efforts to craft tobacco-specific provisions in a TPP deal, and is working with other business groups and members of Congress to gin up opposition.

In another big move, the biotechnology company known as Amgen this summer hired Paul Neureiter to serve as executive director for international government affairs. Neureiter previously served as senior director for international trade at Pfizer Inc., and before that covered trade-related insurance issues for The ACE Group.

Amgen is pushing hard to convince the Obama administration to demand stringent intellectual property protections for biologic drugs in the TPP talks. At Amgen, Neureiter now works alongside Catherine Robinson, who joined the international corporate affairs team at Amgen last year after covering high-tech trade issues at NAM for years.

In his previous role at Pfizer, Neureiter worked with Doug Goudie, who served as NAM’s director of international trade policy for five years before joining Pfizer last January as its director of international government affairs.

Kathryn Dickey Karol is joining Caterpillar Inc. next week in the newly created position of vice president with responsibility for global government and corporate affairs. Karol previously served as vice president of global government and corporate affairs for Amgen, a position she had held since 2006.

Prior to her work at Amgen, Karol served as executive director of government affairs for Eli Lilly & Company, according to a Caterpillar press release.

Rounding out the job swaps, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) announced on Aug. 28 that Scott Miller, the former director of global trade policy at Procter & Gamble, has joined CSIS as the new William M. Scholl Chair in International Business.

Miller takes the place of Meredith Broadbent, who has been appointed to the International Trade Commission.

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Posted in Related News | Tagged Tobacco & Trade, TPP, TPPA, U.S. News, USTR | Leave a comment

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