Tobacco

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

by Anne Landman — January 23, 2007 - 11:12pm
  • Topics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Issue Management, U.S. Congress, Health, Marketing, Public Relations, Science, Tobacco

    • 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).

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

    by Anne Landman — 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

    Blowing Smoke

    by Sheldon Rampton — 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

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

    by Anne Landman — 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

    Do I Smell Cigarette Ads on YouTube?

    by Anne Landman — 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

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

    by Anne Landman — 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

    Tobacco Lobby Aims To Stub Out Safer Cigarettes

    by Bob Burton — 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

    Voters Back Smokefree Initiatives in Three States

    by Anne Landman — November 10, 2006 - 10:45am

    Residents of Arizona, Nevada and Ohio will soon enjoy smokefree air in public places and most workplaces, thanks to voter-approved ballot measures. The new smokefree laws, combined with other statewide laws and hundreds of local laws already in place around the U.S., mean that smokefree workplaces will now be the norm for the majority of the U.S. population.

    Main Source: 
    The New Standard (New York), November 8, 2006

    Imposter ballot initiatives from cigarette company

    by Anne Landman — November 7, 2006 - 1:39pm

    Arizona and Ohio have initiatives on the ballot to end smoking in public places and workplaces, including bars and restaurants. If the measures pass, these states will join Florida, California, New York and 9 other states that have enacted comprehensive laws protecting workers from unnecessary exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Instead of fighting these measures head-on as they always have, though, R.J.

    Main Source: 
    PR Newswire, November 2, 2006

    "Equal Rights" Ad Promotes Black Lungs

    by Anne Landman — October 19, 2006 - 10:07am

    The September 2006 issue of a Denver area LGBT magazine, MetroMode, carries a curious full-page ad titled "Busting the Myths of Smoke-Free Colorado" that urges readers to protest Colorado's Clean Indoor Air Act, the law that ended smoking in most workplaces (including bars and restaurants) as of July 1, 2006.

    Main Source: 
    MetroMode, September 2006
    Syndicate content