Country with sky-high smoking rates shows strong support for government action
Editor
Apr 27, 2011
Health ministers from around the world are meeting in Moscow this week to discuss the growing global health threat from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer and heart disease. Russia’s severe tobacco epidemic makes it a case study in NCDs.
The good news is that the Russian public strongly supports effective solutions: Eight in ten Russians — including nearly two-thirds of daily smokers — support a national tobacco control policy to help reduce tobacco use.
Read the full blog post
posted April 27, 2011
On Earth Day, a reminder that cigarettes are an environmental hazard as well
Editor
Apr 21, 2011
As we celebrate Earth Day on April 22, new research shows that cigarettes not only are a grave health hazard, but a serious threat to the environment as well.
Research funded by Legacy and published in the journal Tobacco Control shows that, “Tobacco is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States, and cigarette filters/butts are the No. 1 littered item found on beaches and in urban environments.”
Read the full blog post
posted April 21, 2011
Another reminder that public wants the right to breathe clean air
Editor
Apr 20, 2011
By a 60-40 percent margin, voters in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Tuesday approved a ballot measure extending the city's smoke-free law to bars, truck stops and tobacco stores. Voters rejected a separate measure that would have allowed "smoking huts" outside bars. The new law will take effect in about a week.
The Bismarck vote underscores once again the strong public support for smoke-free laws that apply to all workplaces and public places. As demonstrated by ballot initiatives and polls across the country, the public strongly supports everyone's right to breathe clean air, free from the toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke. That support is strong across party lines and in every region of the country.
Read the full blog post
posted April 20, 2011
Tots on a train underscore need for enforcement of China’s new smoke-free rules
Editor
Apr 15, 2011
The world was shocked last summer to see videos of an Indonesian toddler chain-smoking as part of his daily routine.
Now China has doubled the trouble: A video of two toddlers in a train car, puffing on cigarettes and blowing smoke in each other's faces, has surfaced on the Internet.
Adults nearby watch, comment and even chuckle at the kids' disturbing use of deadly tobacco.
See for yourself ...
Read the full blog post
posted April 15, 2011
Tobacco companies whine to federal court about their humiliation and shame
Editor
Apr 14, 2011
Maybe you thought you’d heard everything when the executives of Big Tobacco companies raised their right hands and swore to Congress that they didn’t believe nicotine was addictive or that cigarettes cause cancer.
Well, you were wrong.
Now they’re saying that the statements the Justice Department wants them to make under a federal court order stemming from the companies’ racketeering conviction are designed to “shame and humiliate” them.
Read the full blog post
posted April 14, 2011
Marketing shift threatens kids and undercuts quitting efforts
Editor
Apr 11, 2011
The 21st-century version of the "light" and "low tar" ruse that kept smokers hooked despite their health concerns may well be the emergence of a new marketing strategy for smokeless tobacco that pushes these harmful products as an alternative to cigarettes.
A new study conducted by Legacy clearly documents a shift in smokeless tobacco magazine advertising away from a determined focus on men's sporting and leisure publications toward general-interest magazines aimed at a much broader market. The industry is increasingly pushing flavored products — which could influence kids to start using smokeless tobacco. And it's trying to attract smokers who are restricted from lighting up due to the success of smoke-free air policies — when the best step they could take for their health is to quit.
Read the full blog post
posted April 11, 2011
Handful of industry executives make more than 49 states and DC spend on prevention
Danny McGoldrick, Tobacco-Free Kids Vice President of Research
Apr 8, 2011
How do big pay packages for top tobacco executives stack up against state funding for programs to keep kids from smoking and help smokers quit?
It's a lopsided mismatch that the tobacco execs win. Guess the lifestyles of the Big Tobacco Execs are worth more than the health of our kids.
Read the full blog post
posted April 08, 2011
Tobacco linked to major non-communicable diseases that cause two out of three deaths
Editor
Apr 7, 2011
Tobacco use is a risk factor for all major categories of non-communicable diseases — heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes — and tobacco control must be the "top priority" if the world is to reduce the toll of diseases that now cause two out of every three deaths worldwide, according to a global alliance of scientists and non-governmental organizations.
Read the full blog post
posted April 07, 2011
Four decades after Virginia Slims, lung cancer deaths among women finally drop
Editor
Apr 4, 2011
Cigarettes were never sexy, sophisticated or a sign of independence — despite tobacco industry marketing that targets women for profit. Now women are truly breaking free by quitting smoking and finally lowering their death rate from lung cancer.
Read the full blog post
posted April 04, 2011
Editor
Apr 1, 2011
Thanks to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who has just stated his view that "smokeless tobacco should be banned at the Major League level" and that MLB will propose such restrictions in contract talks with the players' union.
Read the full blog post
posted April 01, 2011
Our Blog Posts
