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Los Angeles, Long Beach Add E-Cigarettes to Clean Air Laws
This week, the Los Angeles and Long Beach City Councils voted to prohibit use of electronic cigarettes in restaurants, bars and other public places and work places where cigarette smoking is also prohibited. San Francisco is considering similar legislation and a vote is anticipated soon.
Los Angeles and Long Beach join a growing list of cities that have added e-cigarettes to clean air laws, including New York and Chicago.
President's Plan to Expand Early Education with a Tobacco Tax Will Protect Kids and Save Lives
WASHINGTON, DC – President Obama today again called for bold action to protect our children from tobacco addiction and save lives, urging Congress to increase the federal cigarette tax by 94 cents per pack and similarly increase taxes on other tobacco products. The evidence is clear that increasing the tobacco tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking and other tobacco use, especially among kids, as this year’s Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health just reaffirmed.
Leading Health Groups Urge Federal Court to Uphold New York City’s Law Prohibiting Tobacco Discounts
WASHINGTON, DC – Late yesterday, 12 national, state and local public health and medical organizations filed a friend of the court (amicus) brief urging a federal court to uphold New York City’s new ordinance that prohibits the redemption of coupons and other discounts for tobacco products and allow its implementation on March 19.
26 Leading Health Groups Call on Drug Stores and Other Retailers to Follow CVS’s Example and End Tobacco Sales
WASHINGTON, DC – Twenty-six of the nation’s leading public health and medical organizations today issued an open letter calling on drug stores and other retailers to follow the example of CVS Caremark and end the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
An E-Cigarette Ad on an Itsy, Bitsy Bikini
Manufacturers of electronic cigarettes have repeatedly claimed they don’t market to kids. But their actions tell a different story.
In the latest example, Lorillard Inc. has placed an ad for its best-selling blu eCigs in the just-published swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated, no doubt one of the favorite magazines of teenage boys. The ad features the blu logo front and center on the skimpy bikini bottom of a shapely model. You can even zoom in on it on the online version of the ad.
FDA for the First Time Orders Tobacco Products Pulled Off the Market, Sending Strong Message to Manufacturers about Complying with 2009 Law
WASHINGTON, DC – For the first time since being granted regulatory authority over tobacco products by a 2009 law, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today ordered a tobacco company to pull several products off the market. The agency acted under a key provision of the law that requires prior FDA review and authorization before tobacco companies can market a new or changed product.
New Poll: Majority of Utah Voters Support Increasing the Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – A new poll released today shows that 67 percent of Utah voters support legislation that would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. Just 31 percent of voters oppose increasing the age of sale for tobacco products.
U.S. Senators to Walmart: Quit Tobacco Sales
Seven U.S. senators have written to Walmart urging the retail giant to follow the example of CVS Caremark and end sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
“We write to urge Walmart, as the number one retailer of cigarettes in the country, to stop selling tobacco products in all of its stores,” the senators wrote. “We recognize the legality of selling and profiting from tobacco products; however, Walmart’s position as the nation’s largest retailer of any kind puts your company in a unique position to contribute to the health and well-being of all Americans.”
New Poll: Majority of Colorado Voters Support Increasing the Age of Sale for Tobacco Products to 21
DENVER, CO – A new poll released today shows that 57 percent of Colorado voters support legislation that would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. Just 36 percent of voters oppose increasing the age of sale for tobacco products.
Youth Advocate Helps Launch FDA Media Campaign
The Real Cost, the FDA’s new public education campaign aimed at preventing youth tobacco use, launches nationally today across multiple media platforms including TV, radio, print and online. It will run for at least a year.
Daniel Giuffra, one of our 2013 Youth Advocates of the Year, represented his peers at the Feb. 4 launch event in Washington, D.C. Now a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis, Daniel considers himself “a teenager who wants to help other teens understand the risks of tobacco use.”
U.S. FEDERAL ISSUES
The federal government must provide strong leadership in the fight against tobacco use, the number one cause of preventable death in the United States.
After a long battle, Congress and President Obama in 2009 enacted a new law giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco products and marketing.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids was a leader in the fight for this law and is working to ensure it is vigorously enforced.
The Obama Administration also has launched the first national tobacco control strategy, which calls for a public education campaign and other actions to prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from harmful secondhand smoke. It is critical that the plan be robustly funded and effectively implemented.
Go to the Federal Issues section
Key Federal Issues
- FDA Authority Over Tobacco
A landmark 2009 law gives the FDA authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products
- Graphic Warning Labels
New law requires large, graphic cigarette warnings, but tobacco companies fight change to protect profits
- National Tobacco Control Strategy
Learn more about the Administration's plan to reinvigorate efforts to reduce tobacco use
- Health Care Reform
New law bolsters disease prevention and expands coverage for quit-smoking therapies
- Federal Tobacco Taxes
Higher tobacco taxes reduce smoking, raise revenue and are popular with the public
- Internet Tobacco Sales
The Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act bars the illegal sale of tax-evading tobacco products over the Internet
- Trade and Tobacco
Tobacco products should be excluded from trade agreements
U.S. STATE AND LOCAL ISSUES
Tobacco use takes a huge toll in health, live and dollars in every state.
Tobacco costs state taxpayers billions each year in Medicaid and other health care expenses and imposes enormous costs on families and businesses.
State and local governments often have been in the forefront of the drive to reduce tobacco use, save lives and save money. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids works to put proven solutions in place in every state and community.
Go to the State and Local Issues section
The Toll of Tobacco in the U.S.
Key State and Local Issues
- Smoke-Free Laws
More and more states and localities are passing smoke-free laws that protect everyone's right to breathe clean air
- State Tobacco Taxes
Tobacco taxes are a win-win-win for states: they raise billions in revenue, reduce smoking and are popular with voters
- Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Programs
Every state should fund prevention programs at CDC-recommended levels. Only two states currently do
- Broken Promises to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 15 Years Later
Read our report on how the states are collecting billions in tobacco revenue, but are spending less to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit
- Increasing the Sale Age for Tobacco Products to 21
Nearly all smokers start as kids or young adults, and these age groups are heavily targeted by the tobacco industry. Increasing the sale age will help prevent young people from ever starting to smoke
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
Tobacco use killed one hundred million people worldwide in the 20th century. Without urgent action, it will kill one billion people in the 21st century.
An international treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, requires nations to implement proven measures to reduce tobacco use.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids supports governments and non-governmental organizations around the world in promoting and implementing these policies. We are a partner in the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which focuses on low- and middle-income countries where more than 80 percent of tobacco-related deaths will occur in the coming decades.
International Resources
Visit our international website to find multilingual resources.
[ English | Español | Français | Português | Русский | العربية | 中文网 ]Toll of Tobacco Around the World
Get the latest data on tobacco's devastating impact on health, lives and the economy.Tobacco Control Laws
Explore tobacco-control laws and litigation from around the world.Key International Issues
- Advertising and Promotion
Bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship reduce tobacco use, especially among youth
- Illicit Trade/Smuggling
International and national policies are needed to combat the illicit tobacco trade, which harms public health and global security and costs governments billions
- Light and Low-Tar Cigarettes
Nations must stop the marketing of cigarettes as "light" and "low-tar," which falsely promotes some cigarettes as less harmful
- Public Education Campaigns
Aggressive campaigns prevent children from smoking, help smokers quit and change public attitudes
- Smoke-Free Laws
There is a fast-growing global movement to adopt 100 percent smoke-free laws that apply to all workplaces and public places
- Taxation & Price
Higher tobacco taxes reduce smoking, save lives and increase revenues
- Warning Labels
Large, graphic warning labels increase knowledge of health risks and influence decisions whether to smoke
TOBACCO INDUSTRY WATCH
For decades, the tobacco industry has marketed its deadly products to kids, deceived the public about the harmful effects of tobacco use and fought proven measures to reduce tobacco use.
In a landmark 2006 U.S. federal court ruling, the big cigarette makers were found to be racketeers who engaged in a deadly fraud.
Despite marketing restrictions and the imposition of new Food and Drug Administration regulations, the industry continues to try to thwart the law.
And it has redoubled its promotion of tobacco products around the world, targeting low- and middle-income countries with limited resources to deal with its deadly products and deceptive marketing.
View All Tobacco Industry Watch Reports
Featured Reports
- America's Most Wanted Tobacco Villains
The usual suspects, new villains, and emerging threats
- Deadly Alliance
How Big Tobacco and Convenience Stores Partner to Market Tobacco Products and Fight Life-Saving Policies
- U.S. Courts: Big Tobacco Guilty as Charged
Major tobacco companies are racketeers who conspired to deceive the public and target children
- The "Light and Low" Deception
The tobacco industry is trying to thwart FDA's new ban and perpetuate a deadly fraud
- International Industry Watch
Big Tobacco targets low- and middle-income countries with its deadly products and deceptive marketing.
Fact Sheet Finder View all
- Toll of Tobacco in the U.S.A.
- Toll of Tobacco Around the World
- FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products: A Common Sense Law to Protect Kids and Save Lives
- Raising Cigarette Taxes Reduces Smoking, Especially Among Kids (and the Cigarette Companies Know It)
- Smoke-Free Laws Do Not Harm Business at Restaurants and Bars
Outside the US? Click here. Are You Inside the US or Canada?CloseWhy join our fight?
- Tobacco will kill 1 Billion people worldwide this century ... unless we act now.
- Tobacco companies must be held accountable for their marketing practices and deception.
- pass strong tobacco control laws, we need public support — we can't do this without you!
By joining our fight, you can help:
- Get artists like Kelly Clarkson and Alicia Keys to drop tobacco sponsors from their concerts around the world.
- Help pass local legislation that is proven to reduce tobacco use.
Sign up today to receive updates and alerts about opportunities to fight Big Tobacco internationally and in your country.
Your privacy is fully protected and we will never sell your information to a third party. (See Privacy Policy)
Why join our fight?
- Tobacco use will kill 1 Billion people worldwide this century ... unless we act now.
- Tobacco companies must be held accountable for their marketing practices and deception.
- To pass strong tobacco control laws, we need grassroots support — we can't do this without you!
By joining our fight, you can help:
- Get musicians like Kelly Clarkson and Alicia Keys to drop tobacco sponsors from their concerts around the world
- Knock tobacco out of the park by getting all tobacco use out of Major League Baseball.
- Pass government policies at the federal, state and local levels that are proven to reduce tobacco use.
Sign up today to receive updates and alerts about opportunities to fight Big Tobacco nationally and in your own community.
Your privacy is fully protected and we will never sell your information to a third party. (See Privacy Policy)
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Featured International Content
The Global Epidemic
Tobacco will kill one billion people in the 21 century - unless we act now.
