June 2, 2016
Lauren Lempert and I just published “Packaging colour research by tobacco companies: The pack as a product characteristic” in Tobacco Control. This paper shows that the industry treats pack color as an “ingredient” interchangeably with the contents of the physical cigarette to create “new prodcuts.” This evidence has important implications for FDA “substantial equivalence” determinations demonstrating that changes to packaging should not be considered substantially equivalent to existing products.
The main paper presents the relevant internal tobacco industry documents that prove this point. There is also an extensive appendix with the legal analysis showing why, under the provisions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act the FDA should not consider products that have packaging changes “substantially equivalent.”
Here is the abstract:
June 2, 2016
Given how many years any new rule takes, the FDA should take the 17 pages OMB deleted from the deeming rule and issue that as a new rule right now. You can read the changes the White House made from what the FDA wanted to do here.
Here is the TFK press release on the subject, which I completely support.
White House Missed Opportunity to Protect Kids by Deleting Provision to Remove Flavored E-Cigarettes and Cigars from the Market
May. 31 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On May 5, the Obama Administration issued a long-awaited rule extending Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight to all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes and cigars. On May 27, the Administration published a “redline” version of the rule showing changes made by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) after the FDA submitted the rule to OMB for final review. In a key change, OMB deleted a provision that would have removed flavored e-cigarettes, cigars, hookah and other newly regulated products from the market by November 2016. This provision would have included menthol-flavored products.
June 1, 2016
Since 2007, the Motion Picture Association of America's rating system has labeled a small fraction (11%) of all the US top-grossing, youth-rated movies with tobacco. This week's rating bulletin recently announced two more films labeled for smoking:
The Magnificent Seven | "Rated PG-13 for extended and intense sequences of Western violence, and for historical smoking, some language and suggestive material."
Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke
Distributor: Sony
US release: 23 September 2016
Little Men | "Rated PG for thematic elements, smoking and some language."
Starring Greg Kinnear
Distributor: Magnolia/2929 Entertainment (independent)
US release: 5 August 2016
Learn more |
May 23, 2016
Four major US media companies are tied into Vice Media Inc., a 'global youth culture' brand that works for Philip Morris International (PMI).
In March 2016, the Financial Times’ Matthew Garrahan reported that a London ad agency owned by Vice Media produced video content for PMI, which operates in 180 markets. PMI can deploy Vice Media's nightlife videos on its web sites and in countries with weak tobacco marketing rules.
The Guardian reported on May 20, 2016 that the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids contacted Disney on 15 April 2016 about Vice Media's work for Philip Morris International. As of 20 May it had yet to receive an answer.
A privately-held company valued at $4 billion, Vice Media has high-profile backing:
May 23, 2016
Dorie Apollonio and I just published “Minimum Ages of Legal Access for Tobacco in the United States From 1863 to 2015” in American Journal of Public Health. I started work on this paper skeptical that Tobacco 21 was a good idea and ended up thinking it was an important policy to pursue. (Given how hard the tobacco companies fought it here in California was another good indication that Tobacco 21 is a good idea.)
Here is the abstract:
In the United States, state laws establish a minimum age of legal access (MLA) for most tobacco products at 18 years. We reviewed the history of these laws with internal tobacco industry documents and newspaper archives from 1860 to 2014.
The laws appeared in the 1880s; by 1920, half of states had set MLAs of at least 21 years. After 1920, tobacco industry lobbying eroded them to between 16 and 18 years. By the 1980s, the tobacco industry viewed restoration of higher MLAs as a critical business threat. The industry’s political advocacy reflects its assessment that recruiting youth smokers is critical to its survival.