Tobacco Industry Still Kicking Ash

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Now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [5] is set to start regulating tobacco, you might think that the tobacco industry [6] has finally been brought to heel. The industry's activity in California [7] shows that's far from the case. On the very day that the U.S. House of Representatives [8] approved the legislation giving FDA authority over tobacco [9], the tobacco industry sent e-mails to California legislators inviting them to a "cigar mixer." Philip Morris [10] also carried out a successful campaign in the notoriously cash-strapped state to defeat an additional cigarette tax that would have helped pay for state-funded health care and higher education, even though 30 other states now have higher taxes than California. Many of the groups who opposed the tax hike -- like chambers of commerce and anti-tax groups -- have histories of accepting tobacco industry largesse. For years, tobacco companies have been working to convince the public they've changed [11], supposedly for the better, but if California is any indicator, no real change is on the horizon.