A U.S. district court has ordered tobacco companies to issue and to pay for “corrective statements” in order to rectify decades of lying and manipulation. Here is what you can expect on the Addictiveness of Smoking and Nicotine: Addictiveness of Smoking and Nicotine A Federal Court has ruled that the
Can you imagine a tobacco company not only admitting that smoking and secondhand smoke cause disease, but admitting that they lied about it for decades? How about tobacco executives “seeing the light” and renouncing the sale of a product that, when used as they intend, kills? Okay, that last one
Philip Morris lobbyist reappointed to committee that should regulate lobbies and revolving doors policy for commissioners. European transparency groups Corporate European Observatory, Lobby Control, and Corporate Accountability International, have lodged a complaint with the European Commission, over the reappointment of a tobacco lobbyist to the Commission’s own ethical committee. Former
Today a new landmark in global health knowledge and evidence was released. After five years and the collaboration of 500 scientists and researchers from around the world, the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) https://www.thelancet.com/themed/global-burden-of-disease has been published in The Lancet. Thanks to dramatic achievements in health over
The 15th negotiating round of the ongoing TransPacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement will end tomorrow in Auckland, New Zealand. This marks the fourth round that U.S. negotiators have failed to “table” (formally propose) a special exception protecting governments’ right to legislate on tobacco, which they promised back in May.
A letter from TPP Medical Student Association Presidents including the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA) went out to TPP negotiators asking for access to the negotiating text as well as revisions or removal of provisions that threaten public health including tobacco. Stating that “Tobacco alone is responsible for
THE NSW government is considering abandoning tobacco investments after a backlash from health experts and anti-smoking campaigners. It has for the first time admitted to having nearly $30 million invested in tobacco companies. The figures were provided in an answer to a budget estimates question asked by the Greens NSW
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is the world’s first global public health treaty. It is also the first treaty negotiated under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and is one of the most widely adopted treaties in the United Nations system. The treaty entered into force
A billion people will be killed by tobacco this century. It has been estimated that the tobacco industry makes approximately $6,000 for every death. This must stop! The tobacco treaty is among one of the best tools the world has today to prevent this senseless massacre that hurts the citizens
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
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
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
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
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
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
ISDS stands for Investor State Dispute Settlement. I know, spelling it out doesn’t help comprehension much. It is a term of art for trade law policy wonks. Unlike most unnecessarily long bits of lingo, this one is dangerous, especially for tobacco control. The United States is insisting that it be
As anyone who follows tobacco-related news now knows, last Friday an appeals court upheld a lower court ruling striking down the FDA’s proposed graphic warnings for cigarette packages. In a 2-1 decision, the court found that the warnings violated “corporate speech” rights. The finding places the rights of tobacco companies
Two state governments have called on the USTR to carve tobacco out of the TransPacific Partnership Agreement over well-grounded concerns that their own state and local tobacco control initiatives will be threatened by international trade tribunals. Maine and Vermont, both leaders among U.S. states in protecting their people’s health, sent
The global tobacco epidemic is far from being over. A recent study published in the Lancet suggests that the number of tobacco users remains very high in many parts of the world, particularly low and middle income countries. Over 60% of Russian men and over 28% of Bangladeshi women use
For someone who had to get involved in tobacco control as relief from seeing patient after patient suffering and dying as a result of their use of tobacco and who has been involved in tobacco control for over forty years, it is immensely gratifying to see the growing number of
WHO has posted a discussion paper on the development of its NCD Action Plan 2013-20 https://who.int/nmh/events/2012/ncd_action_plan/en/index.html The document states that The UN Task Team on the Post-2015 Development Agenda recognized in its report that MDGs did not adequately address the increase of NCDs and it also states that Overseas Development
The Dominican Republic has filed formal papers to sue Australia in the World Trade Organization over its plain packaging of cigarettes. Australia is now being sued in three different courts by multiple countries and multinational corporations. The Australian government is refusing to settle or to back down in its legislation,
The United States did not table its tobacco exception at the latest round of TransPacific Partnership negotiations. The issue apparently did not come up during the closed-door sessions, although it was a central concern of NGOs during the one-hour stakeholder briefing with the chief negotiators. The next round is scheduled
Canada and Mexico are set to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement talks. They have agreed to accept any provisions that have been agreed before they join, in spite of the fact that they are not allowed to see the text. In essence, this is like signing a legal contract without
