Endgame Training Course

Smoke Alarms: ASH Legal Updates

Protecting Women’s Rights | International Women’s Day

Reproductive rights. Protection from gender-based violence. Maternity leave. Workplace discrimination.  These are the topics that usually come to mind when one thinks about women’s rights. But one important protection is often left off of the list – tobacco control. Tobacco negatively impacts women in myriad ways. A few examples include:

FCTC COP10: Article 19 (Liability) Decision

The tenth Conference of the Parties (COP 10) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) adopted a series of key Decisions including FCTC/COP10(13) Implementation of Article 19 of the WHO FCTC: Liability. ASH is a proud supporter of this Decision adopted by the COP, the governing body of the Framework

FCTC COP10: Human Rights Decision

The tenth Conference of the Parties (COP 10) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) adopted a series of key Decisions including Decision FCTC/COP10(20) Contribution of the WHO FCTC to the promotion and fulfillment of human rights. ASH is a proud supporter of this Decision adopted by the COP, the

Strengthening Social Justice Worldwide

Social justice is both a public health and a human rights issue, and our work at ASH is designed to improve social justice around the world. The United Nations General Assembly recognizes that social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, and

International Advocacy Leads to Local and Global Progress

By: Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, Managing Attorney at ASH Throughout my time at ASH, I have visited the United Nations, both in New York and in Geneva, many times. But every single time I step onto a UN campus, I’m awestruck. This is where international change is made, and I am so

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

By Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, ASH and Dr. Raglan Maddox, ANU College of Health and Medicine While commercial tobacco use negatively impacts the right to health of all people, there are many groups whom have been intentionally targeted by the tobacco industry and their affiliates.[1] Groups have had their culture exploited for

Fighting for your Right to Health | CERD Day 2023

Our goal at ASH is to protect everyone from the harms of tobacco. One way we strive to achieve that goal is by reducing health inequities and fighting for everyone’s right to health. In honor of International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), here are some of the

International Women’s Day 2023 | Tobacco’s Impact on Women

Today, 200 million of the world’s one billion people who smoke are women[1] and 2.15 million women die from tobacco use every year.[2] Over 71% of those women live in low- and middle-income countries[3], where the burden of tobacco-related illness and death is heaviest.[4] While overall, smoking rates are decreasing,

Tobacco Impedes Social Justice

Public health, and more specifically tobacco control, sits at the vortex of many important social issues such as development, human rights, law, and social justice. Tobacco companies have been aggressively targeting African Americans for generations with menthol cigarettes. As a result, over 85% of African Americans who smoke, smoke menthol

ASH’s Ongoing Work at CERD

September 2022 – This year, many people and organizations have focused their energy on social justice, and ASH is no exception. As you may know, this summer, ASH led 120 organizations in submitting a report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The United States was up

Human Rights Day 2020

Happy Human Rights Day! December 10th is International Human Rights Day, in observation of the day that the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This landmark document set out, for the first time, the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being. Tobacco, and

Stamped complaint

ASH & AATCLC File Lawsuit Against FDA

This press release was re-issued on September 3rd and December 3rd, 2020 with the addition of the American Medical Association (AMA) and National Medical Association (NMA) as a co-plantiffs. See the latest news release here.   THE AFRICAN AMERICAN TOBACCO CONTROL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (AATCLC) AND ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH

Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy – Webinar on Endgame for Tobacco: The World We Want

ASH Webinar on Endgame for Tobacco: The World We Want June 11, 2020 Statement from Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy, Managing Attorney at ASH I wanted to give you all a quick overview of the tobacco treaty- the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)

No Legal Right to Smoke

In our work, we spend a lot of time arguing for people’s rights. The right to be free from targeted advertising by the tobacco industry. The right to access cessation products. The right to be free from second hand smoke. The right to be free of addiction. We are also

FINALLY! Corrective Ads Published!

**UPDATE 3** – Beginning on November 26, 2017 the public will begin seeing long-awaited “corrective statements” by the tobacco industry on television and in newspapers. The major U.S. tobacco companies were ordered by the court to issue these ads because those companies had “deliberately deceived” the American public about topics

Human Rights Day 2016

December 10th is recognized worldwide as Human Rights Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the day that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR and other human rights treaties, both international and regional, protect myriad rights around the world, including

We must protect our health gains

What will the next four years hold for the anti-tobacco movement in the U.S.? We can’t say for sure, and if the recent track record of pollsters tells us anything, it is that concrete political predictions are a fool’s game. But for those of us concerned about tobacco and public

What if Tobacco Vanished?

Cigarettes have been commercially marketed and sold in the United States for over 100 years. The negative health effects of tobacco have been public knowledge for at least the last 50 years. The death and disease caused by tobacco has long been an epidemic that has plagued the United States

RJ Reynolds Can’t Make Up Its Mind

In California, RJ Reynolds is spending millions to prevent a new tax on cigarettes. But in Missouri, RJ Reynolds is spending millions to promote a new tax on cigarettes. Tobacco taxes are proven to prevent kids from smoking and to increase the number of adults who quit. Big Tobacco has

ASH Environmental Webinar Recap

When we think of tobacco, a lot of health issues immediately spring to mind – lung cancer, throat cancer, cardiovascular disease, tooth decay, asthma. But tobacco products also wreak havoc on our environment, a problem that is often overlooked. Tobacco is harmful to the environment throughout the product cycle –

No Safe Use of Tobacco

Tasmania, an Australian island off the Southern coast, is considering an historic step for tobacco control. The Legislative Council is currently considering a proposal called Tobacco Free Generation (TFG), which would increase the minimum legal age to buy tobacco products every year, eventually phasing out the sale of tobacco products

Earth Day 2016

The harmful impacts of smoking go well beyond each individual smoker. Cigarettes have a negative impact on the environment throughout their entire life cycle – from growing the tobacco to disposing of the butts. ASH blogs have highlighted several of the environmental harms of tobacco, including cigarette butt pollution. In

Human Rights Day 2015

December 10th is recognized worldwide as Human Rights Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the day that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR and other human rights treaties, both international and regional, protect myriad rights around the world, including