Category: News This Week

May 25, 2012—A report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms that US states have been spending a small and dwindling portion of their tobacco revenues on programs to prevent young people from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a PRNewswire story from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (CTFK).

‘From 1998 to 2010, the states collected a combined $243.8 billion in revenue from legal settlements with the tobacco industry and from cigarette taxes, but appropriated only $8.1 billion for tobacco prevention and cessation programs (counting both state funding and federal grants),’ the story said.

‘Total funding for these programs amounted to just 3.3 per cent of the states’ tobacco revenues and less than 28 per cent of the CDC’s recommended amount.

‘This is particularly tragic because, as the report also found, states that have made sustained investments in comprehensive tobacco control programs have seen cigarette sales drop about twice as much as in the United States overall.’

And the states’ record in respect of fighting tobacco use has become even worse during the past several years, as was shown by a report released in November by the CTFK and other public health organizations. ‘The states have slashed funding for tobacco prevention programs by 36 per cent in the past four years,’ the story continued.

‘In the current budget year (fiscal year 2012), the states will collect $25.6 billion in tobacco revenue, but will spend less than two per cent of it – $456.7 million – on tobacco prevention programs.

‘Total state spending currently amounts to just 12 per cent of what the CDC recommends.’

The CTFK said that the CDC report had confirmed that most states had broken the promises they made at the time of the 1998 tobacco settlement to invest a significant portion of their settlement funds in fighting tobacco use, especially among young people. ‘The states’ failure amounts to an enormous missed opportunity to accelerate progress against tobacco use in the United States,’ the story said.

‘It’s also no coincidence that smoking declines have slowed at the same time that states have slashed tobacco prevention funds.’

May 25, 2012—The metropolitan government of Seoul, South Korea, said on Wednesday that it would begin enforcing tobacco smoking bans in more public places next month in an effort to turn all public areas of the city into smoke-free zones, according to a story by Lee Eun-joo for the Korea JoongAng Daily.

In June, the city will impose fines of up to WON100,000 on people found smoking tobacco in any of 1,950 non-smoking areas that include parks, children’s playgrounds, squares and bus stations.

Of the 25 districts in Seoul, five districts, Gwanak, Gwangjin, Dongdaemun, Gangdong, and Dobong, began enforcing tobacco smoking bans in March.

Starting next month, Jung, Seongdong, Mapo and Geumcheon will start to impose fines, while the remaining districts, excluding those of Seodaemun and Jongno, will levy fines from July 1. Seodaemun will start enforcing the ban from September while Jongno will begin doing so in January of next year.

May 30, 2012—PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is campaigning against a draft recommendation by the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products that some tobacco products be tested on animals, according to an Ecorazzi story relayed by Tobacco China Online.

‘This guidance would allow companies to conduct cruel animal tests to demonstrate the “reduced risks” of new products and ingredients,’ PETA was quoted as saying.

PETA says that the tests are not beneficial to humans because animals that are forced to breathe in smoke do not develop the same diseases as those that humans develop.

It says that the tobacco industry has misled the public with such results for decades, denying the link between smoking and cancer.

‘In some of the horrendous tobacco tests that could be conducted, rats would be forced to breathe tobacco smoke for as long as six hours a day for months at a time by jamming the animals into tiny canisters and pumping concentrated cigarette smoke directly into their noses,’ PETA was quoted as saying. ‘The animals would then be killed and their bodies dissected.’

Belgium, Germany and the UK are said to have banned animal testing for tobacco products, while Canada uses ‘modern, non-animal methods’ to test the products’ safety.

PETA is asking the public to urge the FDA to do the same.

The organisation said that people needed to tell the FDA loudly and clearly that no more animals should suffer and die in these archaic, inaccurate, and cruel tests conducted in respect of products that were known to be deadly when used as directed.

‘Please exercise your right as a US citizen to submit a polite comment to the FDA urging it to remove any language recommending or allowing animal tests from its draft guidance on tobacco product testing,’ PETA urged.

Comments to the FDA regarding the draft recommendation can be made before June 4.