It’s often said if cigarettes were invented tomorrow, and we knew now what we didn’t know then, they would be banned outright. But vaping is showing us we’re repeating the same mistakes.
Big Tobacco’s efforts to rehabilitate its image should not go unchallenged because the tobacco industry’s goal remains advancing corporate profit at the expense of public health.
In places around the world that lack restrictions to combat the problem, tobacco companies are using marketing strategies aimed at children, like displaying tobacco products at kids’ eye level.
Product placement in music videos totals $15 million to $20 million a year and is rising. E-cigarette makers are discovering it’s a great way to lure young adults into vaping.
Australia has won a decisive victory against tobacco interests using trade deals to challenge plain packaging laws. But don’t expect that to deter similar threats against other nations.
The World Trade Organisation has thrown out the final legal challenge to Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws. Now countries across the world can implement this game-changing public health policy.
Concerns about e-cigarettes are growing, with the AMA calling for a ban. With the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 21, it’s worth asking: What do smokers think?
The steady flow of politicians and government staffers switching sides to lobby for powerful food, alcohol and gambling companies is a threat to public health.
Charles Betley, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
April 15 is not only a day to pay individual taxes to the IRS. It is also the day that tobacco companies must pay a penalty to help offset states’ costs for the treatment of tobacco-related diseases.