Supporters around the country now working to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park
Editor
Aug 18, 2011
As the Little League World Series rolls along and Major League Baseball pennant races heat up, the Knock Tobacco Out of the Park coalition is hitting championship stride.
More than 120 national, state and local organizations — including baseball insiders, youth leagues and dozens of health groups — are urging the players union to agree to Commissioner Bud Selig's call for a ban. More are signing up every week.
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posted August 18, 2011
People hooked on gutka want authorities to take fast action
Rajika Jayatilake, Associate Director, International Communications
Aug 15, 2011
Hundreds of thousands of victims of smokeless tobacco are raising their voices against a regional product — gutka — that is responsible for 90 percent of oral cancer cases in India, the nation with the highest rate of oral cancer in the world.
State by state, tobacco users who became addicted at young ages and suffer from devastating illnesses are trying to shock their state chief executives into action by telling their personal stories. So far, the chief ministers in 11 out of 28 states already have signed a pledge to "rid India of this menace tobacco."
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posted August 15, 2011
But prevention cuts put progress at risk
Editor
Aug 10, 2011
Over the past decade, Indiana has reduced the smoking rate among adults by nearly a quarter, reaching an historic low for the state of 21.2 percent in 2010.
Indiana was in the forefront of tobacco control efforts following the 1998 settlement of state lawsuits against the tobacco industry. It established an independent agency—Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation—and initially provided robust funding for programs to prevent kids from starting to smoke and help smokers quit.
But political will has waned, and funding has dropped steadily, threatening continued progress.
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posted August 10, 2011
Golden State's historic gains against tobacco set model for the nation
Editor
Aug 9, 2011
California recently reported that its aggressive tobacco control programs had reduced adult smoking to just 11.9 percent in 2010 — an historic low for the state.
That got us thinking: What would happen if the United States as a whole reduced smoking among adults from the current national rate of 20.6 percent to 11.9 percent?
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posted August 09, 2011
Groundbreaking advocate David Kessler reflects on 15-Year battle against tobacco
Editor
Aug 5, 2011
David Kessler, the path-breaking former Food and Drug Administration commissioner who began the push for FDA regulation of tobacco during the mid-1990s, reflected recently on progress in the struggle against the tobacco industry, and the critical changes in social attitudes toward smoking that have taken hold in just the past 15 years.
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posted August 05, 2011
Revenues drop after 10-cent cut in tobacco tax
Editor
Aug 4, 2011
The upside-down logic that prompted New Hampshire lawmakers to cut the state's cigarette tax by 10 cents already has backfired: State revenues dropped by $6.6 million in July compared with July 2010 due in part to the falloff in revenues from the misguided cigarette tax cut.
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posted August 04, 2011
Dad's struggle with addiction inspires Little League contest winner
Editor
Aug 1, 2011
Eleven-year-old Louie Lafakis has seen the unhealthy relationship between baseball and smokeless tobacco up close and personal. His father, John, started using it in high school, when his baseball teammates told him he wouldn't make the varsity squad if he didn't dip.
What started as a youthful effort to fit in turned into a harmful addiction for John Lafakis, who is now 44 and still has been unable to quit.
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posted August 01, 2011
House Speaker O'Brien blamed for helping tobacco industry at taxpayers' expense
Editor
Jul 28, 2011
When the New Hampshire Legislature cut the state's cigarette tax by 10 cents a pack, effective July 1, it was touted as a way to boost the state's economy by reducing cigarette prices and attracting smokers from neighboring states.
It's outrageous enough that a state would encourage sales of a deadly and addictive product — one that kills 1,700 New Hampshire residents and costs the state $564 million in health care bills each year.
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posted July 28, 2011
Tobacco Company Comes Under Fire for Green Claims
Editor
Jul 27, 2011
Cigarettes kill and pollute. There's nothing healthy or environmentally friendly about them.
So it's truly outrageous that the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, owned by Reynolds American, is running magazine ads promoting its Natural American Spirit cigarettes as "eco friendly." It's called greenwashing — making deceptive environmental claims to improve the image of a controversial product or company.
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posted July 27, 2011
Long commitment to tobacco prevention, smoke-free policies bring dramatic decline
Editor
Jul 18, 2011
It's not just the sunny climate that gives the Golden State its healthy glow: The rate of smoking among California adults has just hit a record low, dropping to 11.9 percent.
California now joins Utah as one of two states in the nation to achieve the federal Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the prevalence of adult smoking to 12 percent. Nationally, the adult smoking rate is 20.6 percent, a level that's remained essentially unchanged since 2004.
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posted July 18, 2011
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