As an appeals court in Washington heard arguments today on the tobacco industry's lawsuit to block graphic cigarette warnings in the United States, an editorial in The New York Times called the suit a 'bogus challenge' that is all too typical of tobacco industry tactics.
'The tobacco industry has never been bashful about fighting back against attempts to regulate the promotion of its deadly, addictive products,' the Times wrote. 'The latest is an effort to derail new regulations requiring large health warnings on cigarette packages by making baseless First Amendment claims.'
Major League Baseball players who take the field tonight and tomorrow for the opening games of the 2012 season must do so without a tin of tobacco in their uniform pockets — one of the ground-breaking restrictions on smokeless tobacco included in the new contract.
Calls to the toll-free number that provides help to smokers trying to quit more than doubled in the first week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unveiled new anti-smoking ads, which depict former smokers coping with devastating diseases and disabilities caused by their tobacco use.
The first nationwide study of cancer in India shows the clear link between the nation’s urgent tobacco problem and cancer rates. The study published in The Lancet is the first to document the burden of tobacco use in India’s rural areas, where 70 percent of Indians live.
The global tobacco industry has long put profits before public health. Now China National Tobacco Corporation has taken this cynical formula to a new level: It appears to be the world's 30th largest company by sales, with profits that may rival those of the giant retailer Wal-Mart and the international financial conglomerate HSBC.
New York City Mayor and philanthropist Michael R. Bloomberg has pledged an additional $220 million to the global fight against tobacco use, bringing his total commitment to more than $600 million.
Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement at the 15th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Singapore, where public health leaders from around the world are gathered to intensify their efforts against tobacco use, the world’s number one cause of preventable death.
Thousands of young people at more than 1,100 events around the country – and even overseas – are taking action against tobacco today, the 17th annual Kick Butts Day.
In all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and on U.S. military bases at home and abroad, youth have planned creative, high-impact activities to promote proven solutions to tobacco use.
Sagira Ansari suffers from coughs, colds, fever and persistent headaches. But her ailments do not shorten her workday or slow her as she drops flakes of tobacco into square-cut leaves, rolls them deftly and ties the ends of a bidi cigarette with twists of red thread.
'I can't play around,' she laments in a story by the Associated Press.
At age 11, Sagira, is surrounded by dust as she works eight-hour shifts producing bidis, a popular form of tobacco smoked mostly by men in India — but made by women and children.
Meet Terrie. She starts her day by putting on a blonde wig and affixing a hands-free device to her tracheotomy hole to help her speak. Meet Brandon, who sits at the edge of his bed to ease on his artificial limbs. And Roosevelt – he’ll show you the deep scar that runs up and down his torso, the result of heart surgery.
These former smokers are the unlikely stars of the new nationwide media campaign aimed at encouraging smokers to quit and preventing children from starting to smoke. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unveiled the ads at a Washington news conference.
With just nine days to go before Kick Butts Day, youth around the country are organizing high-impact events that highlight the dangers of tobacco use and show public officials how important it is to support policies that reduce tobacco use and saves lives. The fight against tobacco is as urgent as ever following a new U.S. Surgeon General’s report that found youth tobacco use is still a “pediatric epidemic.”
At the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, teens and health advocates will hold a rally to speak out about tobacco’s terrible toll on the state and the benefits of increasing the cigarette tax by $1. The “Bump it Up A Buck” Coalition is telling lawmakers the measure would reduce smoking, improve the health of all Georgians and generate more than $340 million in new revenue each year.
Smoking among American youth is a “pediatric epidemic” that isn’t occurring by accident: It’s directly caused by tobacco industry marketing and promotion that entices teenagers to start smoking and encourages their progression to becoming regular smokers.
Big tobacco companies already have coughed up nearly $15 million to try to kill a California ballot initiative that would boost the state's cigarette tax by $1 to fund cancer research and tobacco-prevention programs.
'Shame on them,' says Dr. Richard Gray, president of the American Heart Association Western States Affiliate. 'But we aren’t surprised — they will always put their profits before the health of millions of Californians.'
Apple, grape, peach, strawberry, cherry, orange. 'It's like Starbursts' says Roberta Hurtado, 17, of Orlando, Florida.
But the flavored products that have Florida communities up in arms aren't candy. They're tobacco products including little cigars, chewing tobacco and newer smokeless products shaped in pellets, sticks and other easily concealed forms. In addition to their sweet flavors, these products are often sold in brightly colored packages that are attractive to kids.
The Marlboro Man has galloped into trouble in Pakistan.
A Pakistani judge has issued an arrest warrant for the head of marketing for Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd., for the company’s blatant violation of laws that tightly restrict tobacco advertisements. Despite the advertising limits, Philip Morris purchased – and magazines published – full-page, color ads for Marlboro cigarettes in many of Pakistan’s leading magazines throughout November and December.
What does people power look like?
It looks like 900 middle and high school students thronging the state capitol in Charleston, West Virginia on Tobacco-Free Day to tell lawmakers to do more to reduce smoking and prevent kids from starting.
Using black-and-white video and dark chocolate syrup to simulate the grim reality of smoking, three students at Suncoast Polytechnical High School in Sarasota, Florida, won the Grand Prize in this year’s Kick Butts Day PSA contest.
From Idaho comes the latest evidence that the tobacco industry will go to great lengths — and spare no expense — to protect its profits and defeat measures proven to keep kids from smoking.
According to a report in the Idaho Falls Post Register, the Altria Group, the nation’s largest tobacco company and parent of Philip Morris USA, spent more money lobbying Idaho officials last year than any other group. Altria spent $165,076 lobbying in the state in 2011 — it’s the only group to spend more than $100,000, and its total is 82 percent more than the next biggest spender.
With just five weeks to go before Kick Butts Day, March 21, more than 700 events around the country and on military bases overseas already are registered for a day of activism against Big Tobacco.
Tired of chocolates? Are flowers all too forgettable?
Give the enduring gift of better heart health by quitting smoking or encouraging a loved one to quit this Valentine’s Day.
In addition to causing cancer and respiratory diseases, smoking is also a leading cause of heart disease. In fact, about 130,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease every year are attributable to smoking, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 26 percent of heart attacks and 12-19 percent of strokes are attributable to smoking, the CDC says.
We're pleased to announce that we have redesigned the international edition of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids website. We’ve added resources, updated our look and improved access to tools and information to support the global fight against tobacco use, the world's leading cause of preventable death.