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Parallel issues

There are numerous other issues that provide legal or political precedent that can be applied to tobacco and human rights. Environment Environmental Issues that are Indirectly Relevant to Tobacco Climate Litigation against Companies: An Overview of Legal Arguments 2018- The Business and Human Rights Resource Center tracked 14 climate lawsuits

Using Human Rights Arguments in Litigation

Some advocates have begun using human rights arguments in litigation against the tobacco industry. Below are several cases relevant to human rights, but this list is far from exhaustive of all tobacco litigation. For a much more in depth look at tobacco litigation worldwide, please visit the excellent resource put

WTO Panel Puts Health Ahead of Tobacco Industry Profits

Landmark case gives governments more discretion in health policies Contact: Megan Arendt, (202) 659 – 4310 Statement of Laurent Huber, Executive Director, Action on Smoking & Health WASHINGTON, DC – June 28, 2018 – In a long-awaited and welcome decision, today the World Trade Organization (WTO) found in favor of

FINALLY! Corrective Ads Published!

**UPDATE 3** – Beginning on November 26, 2017 the public will begin seeing long-awaited “corrective statements” by the tobacco industry on television and in newspapers. The major U.S. tobacco companies were ordered by the court to issue these ads because those companies had “deliberately deceived” the American public about topics

Monograph: The Economics of Tobacco & Tobacco Contol

This collaborative analysis from the National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization is the result of several years’ work from noted experts in economics, public health and law. It is the most detailed look yet at the economic harm caused by tobacco use. ASH Deputy Director Chris Bostic was

We must protect our health gains

What will the next four years hold for the anti-tobacco movement in the U.S.? We can’t say for sure, and if the recent track record of pollsters tells us anything, it is that concrete political predictions are a fool’s game. But for those of us concerned about tobacco and public

Tougher smoking laws passed in Queensland

Queensland has passed some of the toughest smoking laws in the country. From September 1, lighting up will be outlawed at or near childcare facilities, bus stops and taxi ranks, public pools, children’s sporting venues, skate parks and outdoor malls. The new laws also ban the sale of tobacco products

Potentially pivotal suit pits smokers vs. Big Tobacco

A decade after a group of American smokers sued Philip Morris USA to try to force the cigarette maker to pay for lung cancer screenings, the case will finally be heard by a jury. Smokers from Massachusetts allege in the class-action lawsuit that Philip Morris manufactured a defective cigarette knowing

Philip Morris loses case against Australia’s tobacco plain packaging law

Cigarette company Philip Morris has suffered another defeat in its long-running bid to overturn Australia’s plain packaging laws. An arbitration tribunal based in Singapore has issued a unanimous decision agreeing with Australia’s position that it has no jurisdiction to hear Philip Morris’s claim. The Public Health Association of Australia described

Human Rights Day 2015

December 10th is recognized worldwide as Human Rights Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the day that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR and other human rights treaties, both international and regional, protect myriad rights around the world, including

Criminal Cases about Consumer Products

The tobacco epidemic continues to spread around the world. Tobacco is unique – no other product kills half of its consumers when used exactly as intended. If tobacco products were released as new products today, they would quickly be banned, and civil and criminal cases would be brought against tobacco

ASH 2015 Tobacco Criminal Liability and Tobacco & Human Rights Report Card

ASH’s tobacco criminal liability program was created to investigate the possibility of holding tobacco corporations and their executives criminally liable for the millions of tobacco-related deaths. The tobacco and human rights program is related; it seeks to investigate the use of international and regional human rights bodies and treaties as

Human Rights Resources

Click here to read our Reference Guide ASH Blog and Presentations Danish Institute on Human Rights- Quit PMI Hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Human Rights Day 2016 Human Rights Day 2015 Presentation at the World Conference on Tobacco or Health 2015 Journal Articles Tobacco Marketing: A Violation

Human Rights Violations

Could tobacco executives/corporations be found guilty of human right violations? ASH is investigating the possibility of holding tobacco corporations responsible for tobacco-related deaths under human rights laws. These charges, for example, a violation of the right to life or right to health, among many others, would be levied against governments

Michael Bloomberg says big tobacco preys on the world’s poor

Bloomberg said: “Someday somebodies going to come along and say to the people who are running these companies, you are killing people. If you kill somebody on the streets with a gun or beat them over the head, we put you in jail or worse. “These people [tobacco companies] deliberately

International Day of the Girl

In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges that girls face around the world. Girls and women around the world face challenges unique to their gender- discrimination, violence, education disparities- but one issue

Push grows to target tobacco, health in Pacific trade rules

No final consensus has been reached on whether any exclusion would target only tobacco companies or shield a wider range of government regulations from legal action, but Australia’s Andrew Robb is optimistic about his country’s push for a broad carve-out for both health and environmental regulations. “I think we’re on

What does peanut butter have to do with tobacco?

Recently, a landmark case was decided in federal court in Georgia. The subject of the case? Peanut butter. The Peanut Butter Case: United States of America vs. Stewart Parnell From 2008-2009, there was an outbreak of salmonella infections in the U.S., an epidemic eventually linked to contaminated peanut butter. As

Legal Events

The American Society of International Law ( ASIL), the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network ( ACS CAN), and ASH hosted: Tobacco and International Law: Evaluating and Enforcing the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Wednesday, September 16, 2015   The world’s first public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco

International Smoke-free Air Successes

Many Americans view smoking, and secondhand smoke, as a problem that has mostly been solved, at least in the United States. However, only half of all Americans are protected from exposure to secondhand smoke, whether in public places or at work. Several countries around the world have achieved complete protection

Tobacco Demonstrates Troubles for Trade Agreements

In 2012, Australia implemented tough anti-tobacco regulations, requiring that all cigarettes be sold in plain, logo-free brown packages dominated by health warnings. Philip Morris Asia filed suit, claiming that this violated its intellectual-property rights and would damage its investments. The company sued Australia in domestic court and lost. But it

Tobacco & Human Rights in Latin America

An article written by ASH Staff Attorney Kelsey Romeo-Stuppy was recently published in the American Bar Association’s “International Law News.” The article discusses the growing problem of tobacco use in Latin American countries. There are 145 million current smokers in Latin America, more than half of whom will die from