Tobacco

Beware The Tobacco Company That Begs for FDA Regulation

It's not often you hear of a tobacco company begging for government regulation--especially one that has screamed "too much government regulation" at virtually every tobacco-related public health law proposed in the past. But that's exactly what tobacco company lobbyists are doing. Lobbyists for Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris (PM), have reportedly been distributing to Congress members summaries of two legislative bills that both propose the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate cigarettes. A colleague of mine managed to obtain a copy of the summaries. It has Altria's logo on it.

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The Gori Truth: Tobacco Industry Payments to Toxicologist Undisclosed

Submitted by Anne Landman on February 12, 2007 - 4:27pm

As part of a program to give voice to a select group of think tanks, on January 30 the Washington Post printed an article by toxicologist and epidemiologist Gio Batta Gori, titled "The Bogus 'Science' of Secondhand Smoke." Gori claims that many published studies on the health hazards of secondhand smoke are bas

Main Source:

Washington Post, January 30, 2007

Topics:

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Talking Down Cold Turkey

Submitted by Diane Farsetta on February 9, 2007 - 6:02pm

Main Source:

Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), February 8, 2007

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As Nicotine Dose Increases, So Must Awareness of the Pitfalls of FDA Regulation

The Harvard School of Public Health released a study Thursday revealing that the amount of nicotine in cigarettes has increased significantly since the major American tobacco companies signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998. Predictably, Philip Morris (PM), in a media release available at their web site, denies the study results. The U.S. Surgeon General in 1988 warned that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine, but these drugs don't have decades of sophisticated R&D behind them aimed at heightening their addictiveness. Cigarettes, among the most highly engineered consumer products in the world, deliver nicotine into more people's bodies more times every day than aspirin. Still, they remain unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

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Philip Morris’s Project Sunrise: Wake Up and Smell the Efforts to Undermine Public Health

Submitted by Anne Landman on January 10, 2007 - 6:24pm

An article published in the medical journal Tobacco Control reveals Philip Morris' "Project Sunrise" (1995-2006), a long-term plan to bolster the social acceptability of smoking and ensure the company's future.

Main Source:

Tobacco Control, Issue 15

Topics:

Activism

Corporate Social Responsibility

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Blowing Smoke

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on January 5, 2007 - 11:19pm

Dr. Norbert Hirschhorn has released an updated tobacco documents bibliography listing important books, papers and other analyses of the tobacco industry's efforts to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking.

Main Source:

Tobacco Documents Bibliography, University of California, San Francisco

Topics:

Tobacco

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"Equal Protection" Suit: A Tired Last Gasp for Tobacco Industry Allies in Nevada

Submitted by Anne Landman on December 8, 2006 - 2:36pm

The tobacco industry’s buddies in the bar and gambling businesses are at it again, suing to try and stop Nevada's new smoke-free law, which voters approved November 7 by a margin of 54% to 46%. The law bans smoking in bars that serve meals, slot machine sections of grocery and convenience stores, in video arcades, shopping malls, schools and day-care centers. Bar and casino owners are claiming the law is unconstitutional, and saying that it will hurt their businesses, while offering no proof that it has.

Main Source:

Las Vegas Sun, December 5, 2006

Topics:

Election 2006

Front Groups

Tobacco

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Do I Smell Cigarette Ads on YouTube?

Submitted by Anne Landman on November 20, 2006 - 12:16pm

Simon Chapman, Ph.D., a global authority on tobacco marketing at the University of Sydney, Australia School of Public Health, has accused cigarette manufacturers of carrying on a below-the-radar advertising campaign by flooding the Internet web site You Tube with thousands of videos showing sexy, smoking teens. Chapman notes that the vast majority of clips show young women partying, talking or assuming seductive poses while smoking.

Main Source:

Sydney Morning Herald, November 18, 2006

Topics:

Arts / Culture

Tobacco

Philip Morris Using PR To Look Like A Good Actor In The Movies

Submitted by Anne Landman on November 16, 2006 - 12:05pm

The Philip Morris (PM) tobacco company has announced a brand new advertising campaign aimed at begging the movie industry not to use Marlboro cigarettes in movies.

Main Source:

International Herald Tribune/AP, November 15, 2006

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Tobacco Lobby Aims To Stub Out Safer Cigarettes

Submitted by Bob Burton on November 13, 2006 - 3:43am

The Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA), a U.K.-based trade association, is lobbying against a European Union proposal to require companies to manufacture cigarettes that reduce the chances of causing a fire if not being smoked.

Main Source:

The Observer (UK), November 12, 2006

Topics:

Corporate Social Responsibility