Democracy – Big Tobacco’s Achilles Heel When the ball fell at midnight to inaugurate 2024, only one place in the world had implemented a birthdate-based phase-out of the sale of tobacco products: Brookline, Massachusetts. The law had already been in effect for three years. In March, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
All of ASH’s programs are based on the foundational concept that tobacco violates the right to health of all people. We take a human rights-based approach to tobacco control. Our liability program focuses on utilizing the courts and legal systems to protect the right to health from the harms of
Sunday, December 1, 2024 – Member States met in Informal and Regional Sessions today behind closed doors, without the participation of Observers for the third day in a row. A revised Chair’s non paper text was released late in the day. Cigarette filters made of plastic remain in an optional Annex. Plenary
Saturday, November 30, 2024 – We’re disappointed to report that Observers were unable to participate again today as all sessions were Informal Consultations for Member States only. We understand that yet another new version of text will be available at some point this evening. We’ll provide the link as soon
Friday, November 29, 2024 – We learned early this morning that the agenda would only include Informal Consultations with a Plenary at 7:00pm. It’s important to note that Observers like ASH’s delegation and our environmental organization allies are not permitted to access Informal Consultations. Late in the day, we learned
Guest Contribution: The Filter Myth: Widespread Misconceptions Among INC5 Attendees Could Undermine Efforts to Ban Cigarette Filters in the Global Plastics Treaty Geoffrey T. Fong, OC, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS University Professor of Psychology and Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo Senior Investigator, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research Shannon Gravely, PhD
Updates from the Floor November 27, 2024 – Contact Group 1 continued this morning with several Member States and groups of Member States presenting proposals for text for Article 3 – Plastic Products and Chemicals of Concern as Used in Plastic Products. As anticipated, there was broad support and broad
Guest Contribution Amélie ESCHENBRENNER (Communications Manager, Comité National Contre le Tabagisme) and Raquel VENÂNCIO (Senior Policy Officer, Smoke Free Partnership) attended the EU stakeholder meeting and reports: During the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission stakeholders meeting for NGOs and Civil Society on Tuesday, 16th
Monday, November 25, 2024 – Thank you to the Republic of Korea and our local colleagues for your warm hospitality and for welcoming us all to your lovely city of Busan. Yesterday, regional consultations were held, and NGO observers were invited to attend an informal session for discussions with INC
Media Contact Megan Manning manningm@ash.org (202) 659 – 4310 Santa Cruz County’s First-in-the-World Cigarette Filter Ban Passed SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 29, 2024 – Today, the Board of Supervisors of Santa Cruz County, California finalized its approval of a ban on the sale of filtered cigarettes and cigars. The sales
ASH is privileged to work with amazing advocates and researchers around the world who give their time selflessly to help end the tobacco epidemic. We are not the biggest anti-tobacco group in the world (far from it), but we have been very impactful by leading the way into new horizons
Time and time again, Switzerland has prioritized the interests of the deadly tobacco industry over the interests and wishes of Swiss citizens, while publicly claiming to be fully committed to the universal protection of human rights. This new report exposes how Switzerland is failing to adequately protect human rights. Read
Media Contact: Megan Manning manningm@ash.org Press Release Below The tobacco industry is relentlessly targeting women worldwide, using advertisements that portray smoking as glamorous and sexy. But the truth is far darker: tobacco kills millions, and these aggressive marketing tactics violate women’s human rights. We Are Taking Action. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Tobacco products are by far the biggest health scourge of the last 100 years, killing 100 million people in the 20th century and on track to kill 1 billion this century. In the U.S., tobacco will kill about 480,000 people this year, far more than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, vehicular
Welcome to Plastic-Free July. As the northern hemisphere heads to the beach or the mountains for well-deserved R&R, Plastic-Free July is a reminder that the plastic pollution crisis is only getting worse and we have it in our power to make small decisions that, multiplied by many millions, can have
June 5th is World Environment Day. One might well ask – “Why is ASH marking this day? It’s an anti-tobacco group?” The number one source of global pollution – and the number one source of plastic pollution – is cigarette filters. Getting rid of them would go a long way
Yellowing teeth. Wrinkling skin. A dry as hell cough. We’ve all seen the ads showing the dangers of smoking cigarettes. In middle school, our teachers would pass out red ribbons and “D.A.R.E.” us to be drug free. “Just Say NO” still lingers in my brain all of these years later.
The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) is silently struggling in the battle against the tobacco epidemic that’s plaguing the World Health Organization region. Driven by a high rate of tobacco use, particularly among young people, smoking in EMRO is expected to increase by 2025, which is contrary to the trend in
April 30, 2024 – The fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for a treaty to end plastic pollution was relatively grueling. Eight days (Weekend? What weekend?) with informal meetings for the three days leading up to the official start. ASH and its allies in the Stop Tobacco Pollution
April 18- 19, 2024, ASH hosted the first National Tobacco Endgame Summit in Washington, DC. It was the culmination of over a year of planning and comes at an opportune and exciting time as endgame policies are being implemented worldwide, with three Massachusetts towns joining Brookline in implementing Nicotine-Free Generation
Media Contact: Megan Manning (202) 390 – 9513 UN Plastics Treaty Negotiations Move Forward with Strong Support for Banning Cigarette Filters WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 30, 2024 – The Fourth Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to develop an international legally binding treaty on ending plastic pollution, adjourned April 29, 2024, in
April 28, 2024 – INC4 returned to full plenary for the first time in several days in order to discuss the possibility of intercessional work. Given the state of the draft text, it seems impossible to finish at INC5 in the absence of work over the next few months. –
April 27, 2024 – It is the fifth day of negotiations and fatigue is becoming evident as sessions go to 11:00pm and later, and the weekend brings no respite. Working groups are deep in text negotiations. And both contact groups that are negotiating our major interests will begin to move
April 26, 2024 – The third and fourth days of negotiations were spent discussing the minutiae of critical sections of the treaty. The highlight of the day came when Peru called for cigarette filters to be banned. Panama quickly supported them. Other notable news: – Switzerland, supported by four other
April 24, 2024 – Today the INC broke into groups to begin the arduous task of editing the zero draft. Even on the second day, the need for quick progress was recognized, and negotiations continued throughout the evening hours. This is when the work becomes a marathon; large delegations have
