Tobacco and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The inclusion of tobacco control in the Sustainable Development Goals has been in the works for several years. It is due to various advocacy efforts of the Framework Convention Alliance and the support of NGO partners and allied missions in New York and
In Tasmania, Australia last week, a bill was introduced to the Legislative Council that would create a “Tobacco Free Generation.” You can read the draft text of the bill here>. The phrase tobacco free generation is used widely and it often has different meanings. Some use it to describe a
Hear this interview from Amos Hausner who is involved in the Smokefree kaupapa in Israel. He’s currently in Aotearoa and spoke with Dale Husband. Listen here>
The measure, if adopted by the full Parliament, will take effect in May 2016. The ban on smoking in cars in the presence of a minor was also adopted. Read more>
In the past two and half years, ASH has been working to ensure that tobacco control is included in the new UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals are being created to set countries’ development agendas for the next 15 years. In the expiring UN Millennium Development Goals, tobacco control
Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Wednesday that they had started a global fund to help low- and middle-income countries fight legal challenges to their smoking laws by the tobacco industry. The fund is modest, at least so far, with a total of $4 million
This week, several representatives of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) will be attending the World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Abu Dhabi. WCTOH is a five-day scientific conference where presenters highlight the latest developments in tobacco control and the efforts around the world to reduce tobacco use. This
ASH Resources Blog: If Drug Dealers Can Be Found Criminally Liable, Can Big Tobacco? Description: Drug dealers can and have been charged with murder or manslaughter when death results from the drugs they sold. This same logic could apply to Big Tobacco. Quote: The inevitable question is then- Do you
Tobacco products kill more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides combined. Left unchecked, tobacco use will kill 1 billion people this century. As one state Supreme Court recently noted, cigarettes likely constitute “the most dangerous product lawfully sold” to consumers. The lethal consequences of smoking
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Megan Arendt Office: 202-659-4310 Email: arendtm@ash.org PLAIN PACKAGING FOR TOBACCO WILL BECOME THE GLOBAL NORM But will the U.S. be last? WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 12, 2015 – Yesterday, Britain’s House of Commons overwhelmingly approved a law requiring plain packaging for tobacco products, just one day
MPs have voted in favour of introducing standardised packaging for cigarettes in the UK. It means from 2016 every packet will look the same except for the make and brand name, with graphic photos accompanying health warnings if the House of Lords also approves the move. The Irish Republic passed
John Oliver of HBO’s Last Week Tonight continued his original episode on the tobacco industry with this response. Watch here>
WASHINGTON – A temporary order by a Superior Court judge is keeping a man from smoking inside his home in the District of Columbia. WJLA-TV (https://bit.ly/1BrlPLl ) reports that Edwin Gray’s next door neighbors in northeast Washington have filed a civil suit claiming they’re being harmed by smoke that sneaks
Plain Packaging Should be Universal Yesterday, Ireland became the first country in Europe and the second country in the world to pass legislation requiring plain packaging for tobacco products. Under the new rule, all forms of branding will be banned, including logos and colors. The packages will be covered with
Dublin: Ireland has became the second country in the world to pass a law introducing mandatory plain packaging for tobacco products, prompting the tobacco industry to threaten legal action. It follows Australia’s introduction of similar plain packaging legislation in 2012. Under Ireland’s new rules all forms of branding, including logos
Earlier this year Tel Aviv University’s School of Marketing, under pressure from the Israel Cancer Association, canceled an event sponsored by Philip Morris International. Unfortunately, victories like this for public health are few and far between. The tobacco industry continues to use corporate social responsibility (CSR) to market its deadly
By Senator Elizabeth Warren The United States is in the final stages of negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive free-trade agreement with Mexico, Canada, Japan, Singapore and seven other countries. Who will benefit from the TPP? American workers? Consumers? Small businesses? Taxpayers? Or the biggest multinational corporations in the
Smoke-free in the Skies, but not on the Ground Just 25 years ago, smoking was a pervasive norm. People could smoke at work, in restaurants, and even on airplanes. Non-smokers were exposed to second hand smoke often and for extended periods of time. Twenty five years ago today, a huge
The absence of smoking on commercial airliners is something we all now take for granted. But it wasn’t always that way. The ban on smoking was the culmination of years of effort by many individuals and public health organizations fighting an industry that had held sway in the US Congress
If you think the air travel experience generally stinks now, consider what it was like before smoking was banned on domestic flights 25 years ago. Tracy Sear, a flight attendant with US Airways, was looking over some Facebook posts from colleagues recalling those bad old days when a third or
WASHINGTON (AP) — Never underestimate the staying power of big tobacco. In 2006, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ordered the nation’s largest cigarette makers to publicly admit that they had lied for decades about the dangers of smoking. The basis for the punishment: Testimony from 162 witnesses, a nine-month bench
The powerful cigarette industry reignited Florida’s tobacco wars Wednesday with a one-sentence bill that would strip away the right of thousands of Florida victims from collecting millions in damages…. But for Bob Wilcox, 49, a Miami-Dade police lieutenant in the homicide bureau, the bill is an “outrageous” attempt to shield
Only about half of Americans are protected from exposure to secondhand smoke, whether in public places or at work. Yet, a growing number of foreign countries have achieved complete protection, often in the face of strong tobacco industry opposition. While every society is different, some of the strategies used offer
