August 21, 2016
I just published this piece on The Conversation at https://theconversation.com/big-tobacco-aims-its-guns-to-kill-california... (Visit that site to see the graphics.)
Big Tobacco aims its guns to kill California tobacco tax
August 21, 2016 8.21pm EDT
August 5, 2016
Despite the fact that the rules under India’s tobacco control law mandate that, “Promotional materials and posters of film and television programmes shall not depict any tobacco products or their usage in any form,” posters for the feature film Dishoom show popular actor John Abraham smoking a cigarette.
This situation echoes the US situation when Hollywood’s inclusion of smoking in television advertisements for movies effectively promoted cigarettes on television despite the prohibition on cigarette advertising on television. The difference, of course, is that what Bollywood is doing in India is a violation of law.
On August 2, 2016, the Indian NGO HRIDAY filed a complaint with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, noting that large versions of the poster showcasing Abraham, the lead actor, were prominently displayed at public places across the country and violated Indian law and urged Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to direct the filmmakers to stop using such irresponsible promotional materials.
August 4, 2016
After a long battle, including lawsuits that went to the Supreme Court, the Government of India implemented strong policies to counter the effects of smoking and other tobacco use in movies.
Now, India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which fought sensible regulation of onscreen smoking, is trying to re-open the issue and roll back the current rules, which will make it easier for the kind of backroom deals between multinational tobacco companies and Bollywood described in the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 report, Smoke-free movies: From evidence to action:
August 3, 2016
Ventura County just released a very well done report on severe problems with the proposed marijuana legalization initiative, The 2016 California Marijuana Initiative and Youth: Lessons from Alcohol Policy
Here is their press release; the report is here; I also deposited a copy in the UC eScholarhip library where it is freely available here.