June 2, 2014
Today, June 3, 2014, Rachel Barry, Heikki Hiilamo, and I published "Waiting for the Opportune Moment: The Tobacco Industry and Marijuana Legalization" in Millbank Quarterly.
Here is Millbank Quarterly's press release on the paper.
Tobacco Companies Were Waiting for the Opportune Moment - the Legalization of Marijuana
Documents Reveal that “Pot” Was Both A Rival and Potential Product
New York, New York, June 3—It turns out that the history of Big Tobacco companies and marijuana is more intertwined than was previously known, according to a new study in The Milbank Quarterly. Based on previously secret tobacco industry documents, the study reveals that, since at least the 1970s, tobacco companies have been interested in marijuana as both a rival and potential product.
June 2, 2014
Jennifer Duke and colleagues just published "Exposure to Electronic Cigarette Television Advertisement Among Youth and Young Adults" in Pediatrics. This paper shows major penetration into the youth market.
Here is the abstract:
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Currently, the US Food and Drug Administration does not regulate electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) marketing unless it is advertised as a smoking cessation aid. To date, the extent to which youth and young adults are exposed to e-cigarette television advertisements is unknown. The objective of this study was to analyze trends in youth and young adult exposure to e-cigarette television advertisements in the United States.
METHODS: Nielsen data on television household audiences’ exposure to e-cigarette advertising across US markets were examined by calendar quarter, year, and sponsor.
June 2, 2014
Lauren Lempert and I submitted a public comment today opposing FDA's "Option 2" to exempt "premium cigars" from regulation. Here is what we submitted:
In its proposed deeming rule, FDA solicits public comment on a proposal (Option 2) to exempt a subset of cigars (“premium cigars”) from regulation. Option 2 is not appropriate for the protection of the public health, and would result in negative public health consequences. Indeed, all the scientific evident that the FDA summarizes in the draft rule makes a compelling case for rejecting Option 2 and including all cigars among deemed products that will be subject to uniform regulations.
June 1, 2014
On June 2, 2014, Reuters published a long article about the FDA's application of a 70% consumer surplus discount to account for the "lost pleasure" due to any health benefits generated by the proposed deeming rule because people smoke less. (The FDA had discounted the health benefits of its failed warning labels by 50%.)
Not a single outside economist Reuters contacted supported the FDA's decision, including several conservative economists and Jonathan Gruber, whose work the FDA quoted to justify what it did.
Here is what they said:
John Graham, who headed the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which vets agencies' cost-benefit analyses, under President George W. Bush, said he could "not recall a specific instance" during his 2001-to-2006 tenure "where lost enjoyment played a significant analytical role."
Loss of pleasure had occasionally been used when analyzing proposals to ban products, Graham said, but was not treated as a deduction from benefits, as the FDA is doing.