141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 2 - November 6, 2013), Nov 4, 2013
ABSTRACT Many steps have been taken at the state and local levels to reduce cigarette addiction, ... more ABSTRACT Many steps have been taken at the state and local levels to reduce cigarette addiction, including large tax increases, smoke-free public places, counter-advertising, quitting assistance, banning sales to teenagers, and public education. Together with the delegitimization of the tobacco industry following incriminating revelations from their internal documents obtained in litigation, these steps have reduced US smoking prevalence by about 50%.None of these steps, however, have sought to end cigarette addiction entirely. The Smoke-free Generation proposal seeks to do just that. It would raise the minimum age of sale each year by one year, a legal power that all states and many localities presently possess. For example, if a jurisdiction began the process in 2018, no one who was born on or after January 1, 2000 could ever be sold cigarettes there, since each year the minimum age would be one year older. Thus, residents currently 13 or younger would never legally be sold cigarettes, never have peers who smoked legally, and never have to try to break the addiction. Older cohorts would be "grandfathered" in, but would increasingly lose normative status. American teenagers today have very low smoking rates and opinions of smoking, and may take kindly to the proposal. Even smoking parents do not want their children to smoke, ever. Only the tobacco industry would lose. Strengths of and responses to objections to the proposal will be discussed.
HE paper by Yach et al. in this issue celebrates WHO's T extraordinary accomplishment in fost... more HE paper by Yach et al. in this issue celebrates WHO's T extraordinary accomplishment in fostering the development and adoption by the World Health Assembly of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control P c) (FCTC) and investigates the possibility of applying *'5M policies and mechanisms similar to those in the FCTC to the developing epidemic of obesity. The FCTC requires parties to adopt strong measures in a number of areas, including protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke; requiring manufacturers to disclose the contents and emissions of tobacco products and to place large health warnings on the packages; restricting and, if constitutionally permissible, banning all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; impeding smuggling; and banning tobacco product sales to minors. In addition, the FCTC urges parties to consider tax increases to reduce demand; banning deceptive or misleading terms such as "low tar," "light," and "mild;" including pictures or pictograms on the mandated package warnings; enacting legislation or applying existing laws to "deal with criminal and civil liability, including compensation where appropriate;" and generally to exceed the minimum requirements of the treaty so as to best control the spread of tobacco-related addiction, disease, and death.
Momentum toward Congressional action on tobacco issues began with the announcement in June 1997 o... more Momentum toward Congressional action on tobacco issues began with the announcement in June 1997 of a proposed "global tobacco settlement" between the tobacco industry, a group of state Attorneys General, and private class action lawyers. For the next year, tobacco issues received unprecedented national attention, culminating in the U.S. Senate's consideration and ultimate defeat of the McCain tobacco bill. Through the proposed settlement, the Attorneys General and others involved in talks with the industry sought to reduce tobacco use by attempting to forge a "win-win" solution for all parties. In exchange for money and public health concessions, the industry would be granted sweeping protection from litigation and thus a stable environment in which to operate. Members of the public health community responded to the "global tobacco settlement" in very different ways. The authors explore how different visions of possibilities and practicalities were played out in the fight for strong Federal tobacco control legislation and attempt to draw lessons for the future.
▪ In recent years there has been an increasing use of litigation as a public health tool. Litig... more ▪ In recent years there has been an increasing use of litigation as a public health tool. Litigation has been brought to advance policies concerning such matters as tobacco, gun violence, and lead paint. This article discusses this development and the criticism that can be leveled at using litigation to develop public health policy. The article concludes that, although litigation may not always be successful, it can deter dangerous activities and play an important role in advancing the political and social struggle for public health.
Fifty years after the original 1964 US Surgeon General's Report o... more Fifty years after the original 1964 US Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health three paths can lead the world to largely eliminating tobacco use altogether: (i) expand current practices for demand reduction, (ii) make use of current legislators to build programs into the future, and (iii) think out of the box with new ideas, such as reducing nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. It is possible to believe that tobacco use can be eliminated before the 100th anniversary.Journal of Public Health Policy advance online publication, 5 February 2015; doi:10.1057/jphp.2014.57.
141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 2 - November 6, 2013), Nov 4, 2013
ABSTRACT Many steps have been taken at the state and local levels to reduce cigarette addiction, ... more ABSTRACT Many steps have been taken at the state and local levels to reduce cigarette addiction, including large tax increases, smoke-free public places, counter-advertising, quitting assistance, banning sales to teenagers, and public education. Together with the delegitimization of the tobacco industry following incriminating revelations from their internal documents obtained in litigation, these steps have reduced US smoking prevalence by about 50%.None of these steps, however, have sought to end cigarette addiction entirely. The Smoke-free Generation proposal seeks to do just that. It would raise the minimum age of sale each year by one year, a legal power that all states and many localities presently possess. For example, if a jurisdiction began the process in 2018, no one who was born on or after January 1, 2000 could ever be sold cigarettes there, since each year the minimum age would be one year older. Thus, residents currently 13 or younger would never legally be sold cigarettes, never have peers who smoked legally, and never have to try to break the addiction. Older cohorts would be "grandfathered" in, but would increasingly lose normative status. American teenagers today have very low smoking rates and opinions of smoking, and may take kindly to the proposal. Even smoking parents do not want their children to smoke, ever. Only the tobacco industry would lose. Strengths of and responses to objections to the proposal will be discussed.
HE paper by Yach et al. in this issue celebrates WHO's T extraordinary accomplishment in fost... more HE paper by Yach et al. in this issue celebrates WHO's T extraordinary accomplishment in fostering the development and adoption by the World Health Assembly of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control P c) (FCTC) and investigates the possibility of applying *'5M policies and mechanisms similar to those in the FCTC to the developing epidemic of obesity. The FCTC requires parties to adopt strong measures in a number of areas, including protecting non-smokers from secondhand smoke; requiring manufacturers to disclose the contents and emissions of tobacco products and to place large health warnings on the packages; restricting and, if constitutionally permissible, banning all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; impeding smuggling; and banning tobacco product sales to minors. In addition, the FCTC urges parties to consider tax increases to reduce demand; banning deceptive or misleading terms such as "low tar," "light," and "mild;" including pictures or pictograms on the mandated package warnings; enacting legislation or applying existing laws to "deal with criminal and civil liability, including compensation where appropriate;" and generally to exceed the minimum requirements of the treaty so as to best control the spread of tobacco-related addiction, disease, and death.
Momentum toward Congressional action on tobacco issues began with the announcement in June 1997 o... more Momentum toward Congressional action on tobacco issues began with the announcement in June 1997 of a proposed "global tobacco settlement" between the tobacco industry, a group of state Attorneys General, and private class action lawyers. For the next year, tobacco issues received unprecedented national attention, culminating in the U.S. Senate's consideration and ultimate defeat of the McCain tobacco bill. Through the proposed settlement, the Attorneys General and others involved in talks with the industry sought to reduce tobacco use by attempting to forge a "win-win" solution for all parties. In exchange for money and public health concessions, the industry would be granted sweeping protection from litigation and thus a stable environment in which to operate. Members of the public health community responded to the "global tobacco settlement" in very different ways. The authors explore how different visions of possibilities and practicalities were played out in the fight for strong Federal tobacco control legislation and attempt to draw lessons for the future.
▪ In recent years there has been an increasing use of litigation as a public health tool. Litig... more ▪ In recent years there has been an increasing use of litigation as a public health tool. Litigation has been brought to advance policies concerning such matters as tobacco, gun violence, and lead paint. This article discusses this development and the criticism that can be leveled at using litigation to develop public health policy. The article concludes that, although litigation may not always be successful, it can deter dangerous activities and play an important role in advancing the political and social struggle for public health.
Fifty years after the original 1964 US Surgeon General's Report o... more Fifty years after the original 1964 US Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health three paths can lead the world to largely eliminating tobacco use altogether: (i) expand current practices for demand reduction, (ii) make use of current legislators to build programs into the future, and (iii) think out of the box with new ideas, such as reducing nicotine in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. It is possible to believe that tobacco use can be eliminated before the 100th anniversary.Journal of Public Health Policy advance online publication, 5 February 2015; doi:10.1057/jphp.2014.57.
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