Young New Yorkers who want to light up will soon have to wait for their 21st birthdays before they can buy a pack of smokes after lawmakers in the nation’s most populous city voted overwhelmingly to raise the tobacco-purchasing age from 18 to 21. The City Council’s vote Wednesday makes
33rd Congressional District of California Rep. Henry A. Waxman For Immediate Release: October 30, 2013 Karen Lightfoot (Waxman): (202) 225-5735 Doug Molof (Doggett): (202) 225-4865 Chris Meagher (Capps): (202) 225-3601 Reps. Waxman, Doggett, Capps, and Over 50 Members Urge Administration to Strengthen Tobacco Proposal for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement WASHINGTON,
Smoking may be under siege, but it is still the world’s second-biggest cause of preventable death. Tobacco kills nearly 6 million people every year, approximately 10 percent of all deaths. Smoking also results in hundreds of billions of dollars in economic costs from increased health care expenditure and lost productivity.
This week there has been discussions between leaders from the Pacific Rim over the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Bali, Indonesia at APEC. President Barack Obama has demanding a ‘trade promotion authority’ from the United States Congress to fast-track the Pacific Rim treaty, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.[1] The fast-track authority plays a pivotal
State Legislators sent a joint letter to President Obama to urge U.S. Trade Policy to support State & Federal policies to reduce tobacco use and promote health. Read their full letter here. Joint Letter to President Obama
PHI Letter to White House regarding Tobacco Control and the Trans-Pacific Partnership October 3, 2013 President Barack H. Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: I am writing on behalf of the Public Health Institute (PHI), a nonprofit that generates and promotes research,
Euro MPs have voted to tighten tobacco regulations aimed at putting young people off smoking, but some measures do not go as far as originally planned. They rejected a European Commission proposal to treat electronic cigarettes as medicinal products – a move that would have restricted sales. They backed a
President Barack Obama‘s absence from a meeting of leaders from Asia Pacific dealt a symbolic blow to efforts to forge a regional trade pact. But Mr. Obama’s no-show, due to the drama of debt-ceiling talks in Washington, has little practical effect on the trade talks. Before news of Mr. Obama’s
Tobacco sickens and, eventually, can kill if consumed as intended. Every country, the United States included, should be taking every effective step to prevent smoking. The costs and benefits of free trade are clear, but, as recent presidents, Republican and Democratic, have recognized, the long-term gains to society outweigh the
Honduras is reviving its complaint to the World Trade Organization over Australia’s standardized tobacco packaging law, according to a story by Tom Miles for Reuters. The complaint, that Australia’s tobacco-packaging requirements create obstacles to world trade, had lain dormant, but now Honduras has asked for a WTO meeting on Sept.
ASH Director Laurent Huber appeared on Fox 5 DC to discuss the success of the CDC’s graphic anti-tobacco ad campaign (which helped nearly 100,000 people quit smoking) and the work that is still needed to help combat the global tobacco epidemic. DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG
Global trade negotiations in Washington this week will determine how cigarette companies will be able to market their products in developing nations—and potentially, overturn smoking restrictions around the world. As cigarette smoking has fallen in the United States and Europe thanks to public health laws and liability lawsuits, global tobacco
Even well-informed people shake their heads in disbelief when they hear that tobacco killed 100 million persons in the 20th century and is projected to kill a billion in the 21st century. It is only when they are told that these are authentic estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO)
An estimated 1.6 million Americans tried to quit and at least 100,000 likely succeeded as a result of graphic anti-smoking ads, a new study says. Want a smoker to quit? Scare, shock or disgust him. That’s what the U.S. government did with its first federally funded anti-smoking ad campaign and,
The U.S. has a rare opportunity this week to rein in the tobacco industry, and assert its mandate to protect and save lives, while proudly exercising cross-border diplomacy. The U.S. Trade Representative should accept a proposal to carve protections for Big Tobacco out of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a
E-cigarettes have been surging in popularity, and a new government study suggests this effect is trickling down to U.S. teens. Electronic cigarettes’ popularity and safety concerns on the rise New findings from a national survey on youth tobacco use showed that the percentage of middle and high school students using
Should tobacco be like any other product in U.S. trade? The question bedeviled U.S. policymakers for decades, but it has now arisen again, with much controversy, in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the pending trade deal between the United States and eleven other countries. The White House has
Vietnam and other countries involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations face aggressive interference from Big Tobacco in the passage and implementation of public health policies, critics warn. The US government has sought to include tobacco in a regional free-trade pact, which would enable tobacco companies to use trade rules to
Give thanks to Malaysia for heading off, at least temporarily, an American effort to weaken the ability of countries to impose stiff rules on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products within their own borders. The Malaysian proposal to preserve that ability led to a stalemate at a Trans-Pacific
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — U.S. public health and medical groups applauded Malaysia’s historic proposal to “carve out” tobacco from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact now being negotiated by the U.S. and 11 other nations. “We have long urged the U.S. Trade Representative and the
Washington, DC 26 August – Tobacco control advocates from over 20 different countries lauded Malaysia for its announcement to exclude tobacco from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). The TPP is a free trade agreement involving twelve countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) bloc: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei – The Malaysian government is poised to table a proposal here that would completely carve out tobacco control measures from having to comply with any obligations in a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, according to informed sources. The proposal, which would effectively shield TPP governments from any
LAST year I endorsed President Obama for re-election largely because of his commitment to putting science and public health before politics. But now the Obama administration appears to be on the verge of bowing to pressure from a powerful special-interest group, the tobacco industry, in a move that would be
The Obama administration is facing a furore over its latest tobacco proposal in trade talks with 11 Pacific Rim countries, with critics charging it will boost smoking in the region and business groups fighting back. Michael Froman, US trade representative, brought a new offer on tobacco to the 19th round
On the threat from trade agreements to tobacco regulations, few have been able to come as close to the heart of the matter as Mayor Bloomberg. His opinion piece in today’s New York Times in reaction to President Obama’s reversal on tobacco in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement brilliantly summarizes why
