Author: Alexa Arejian, ASH Project Assistant August 2022 – This year, the National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. NCTOH is one of the largest U.S. conferences for tobacco control professionals and focuses on best practice
Guest Author: Dr. Carolyn Dresler, ASH Volunteer The FDA has recently made several exciting announcements, proposing new rules and making decisions about tobacco products. For one, JUUL is to be removed from the market, but, unsurprisingly, the industry sued the next day for a ‘stay’. The FDA just closed a
Tobacco companies have long targeted youth with their products. Adding flavors to tobacco products plays a crucial role in youth and young adult use of tobacco products. Research shows that children and adolescents have more of a preference towards sweet flavors than adults. Nearly three-quarters — 72.7% — of young
July 2022 – ASH staff attended the 7th ENSP European Conference on Tobacco Control (ECTC) in Greece. This was a valuable opportunity to host a workshop, present on the environment, and host a panel on the tobacco endgame, while networking with partners from across Europe. Given that Greece has the
Author: Maia Murphey, ASH Program and Communications Intern From manufacture to consumption, tobacco products are not only a dangerous public health concern, but also an environmental concern. In addition to over 8 million human lives lost every year to the tobacco industry, we also lose 600 million trees, 200,000 hectares
Media Contact: Nichelle Gray (202) 659 – 4310 Our Environment Must be Protected from Tobacco Product Waste New Report from 3 Organizations Highlights European Union, French, and American Progress WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 25, 2022 – Tobacco Product Waste is a completely preventable and controllable environmental disaster. With natural resources
Guest Authors: Geoffrey T. Fong, Janet Chung-Hall, and Lorraine V. Craig, ITC Project, University of Waterloo Michael O. Chaiton, Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and Ontario Tobacco Research Unit On April 28, 2022, the US FDA announced its long-awaited proposed rule to ban menthol in cigarettes, with a parallel
Most people view cigarettes as a health problem, but they are a huge environmental problem as well. The tobacco control community is increasingly recognizing the importance of this issue; this year’s theme for World No Tobacco Day is “Tobacco: Threat to our environment.” Cigarettes have a negative impact on the
Testimony of DC Tobacco Free Coalition Delivered by Liz Furgurson, ASH Chief Operating Officer DC Council Committee of The Whole Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Support for Funding FY 2023 D.C. Law 24-25. Flavored Tobacco Product Prohibition Amendment Act of 2021 April 8, 2022 Chairman Mendelson, and Members of the
Tobacco Endgame Matters TEM is created and produced by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Advancing Momentum for a Tobacco-Free California. The podcast is dedicated to conversations focused on how we can achieve and plan for a tobacco-free California using policy and people power. In each episode, we’ll engage subject
With several tobacco endgame (Project Sunset) policies be explored and implemented around the world, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) produced a guide for reporters on the key elements and distinctions of these policies. For any additional questions, contact Megan Arendt, ASH Associate Director of Communications. For more information on
February 20th is World Day of Social Justice. The UN General Assembly recognizes that “social development and social justice are indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within and among nations and that, in turn, social development and social justice cannot be attained in the absence of peace
February 15, 2022 Dear Dr. Califf, Congratulations on your confirmation as the new FDA Commissioner. In addition to sending our congratulations on behalf of our staff and Board, I am writing to introduce our organization, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and also to commend and thank you for your
“Health is a fundamental human right indispensable for the exercise of other human rights. Every human being is entitled to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health conducive to living a life in dignity.” – the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights When we talk about human
As Susan Sontag once wrote, “Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify
Guest Author: Dr. Carolyn Dresler After recently retiring from income-producing work, I found myself revising my will. I still volunteer my time for causes of importance to me, like ASH. So, while I was working on my will, I was similarly thinking about those causes that are important to me
ASH’s work is based on the principle that the behavior of the tobacco industry – producing, marketing, and selling addictive products that kill when use as intended – violates human rights, such as the right to health, that have been recognized at the highest level through international, regional, and national legal
Every December 10th is Human Rights Day, and this year (2021) the theme is “Equality- Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights.” For ASH, this theme is very welcome, as we strive to center our tobacco control work around these principles. This year in particular, ASH has been focused on the intersection
Guest Author: John Mirisch UC San Francisco Professor and distinguished anti-tobacco advocate Ruth Malone once pointed out that in the history of consumer products, there has never been anything deadlier than cigarettes. She went on to note that somebody would finally say that tobacco is too dangerous to be sold
Author: Gabrielle Ballweg, ASH Human Rights Policy and Communications Intern Arguably the most compelling justification for permitting cigarette sales in the U.S. is profit. However, when a U.S. industry inflicts 226.7 billion dollars in U.S. healthcare costs annually – in addition to causing 20% of all U.S. deaths – this
Author: Vivienne Brandt, ASH Policy and Communications Intern In 2003, the World Health Organization concluded negotiations of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which reaffirmed the right of all people to the highest attainable standard of health. This international treaty lays out the best practices to end the tobacco
The year 2020 brought much needed attention to social justice, and placed the right to health front and center in global public health. In a matter of months, we saw the world come to a halt because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic that has made it even clearer
Author: Mitch Schuster, ASH Policy and Communications Intern The tobacco industry is frequently criticized for its product’s harmful effects on global health, financial security, and manipulative marketing tactics. However, one of the tobacco industry’s least recognized impacts on global populations has been the exploitation of child laborers working on tobacco
Statement from Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking and Health Brookline, MA Becomes 1st City in the U.S. to Ban Tobacco Sales to Anyone Born in the 21st Century WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 19, 2021 – This morning Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey approved Brookline’s first-in-the-nation Tobacco Free Generation
[en Français | en Español] 154 Organizations Call for Phasing Out Sales of Combustible Tobacco Products The lessons learned in 2020 from the bold actions taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to consider equally bold actions that will be required to tackle other global health pandemics. The undersigned organizations
