May 10, 2012
The Sacramento Bee just reported that Governor Jerry Brown removed LaDonna Porter from the state scientific committee charged with evaluating potential water pollutants for the state of California. Porter has served as spokesdoctor for two tobacco industry campaigns against cigarette tax increases, as well as supported industry positions opposing regulation of perchlorate, a toxic water pollutant (details). The Bee reported that health groups and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom called for her removal.
This was an important action by Governor Brown to protect the public interest against tobacco industry interference. Now he should finish the job by returning the $26,000 campaign contribution Philip Morris gave him last week.
May 10, 2012
The attorneys general just sent made VERY strong letters to the studios telling them to get smoking out of youth-rated films. The letter will curl your hair.
It is especially encouraging that, in this day of divisive hyperpartisanship, the signatories are so bipartisan. Of 25 GOP-affiliated AGs, 13 (52%) signed and of 27 Democratic AGs, 21 (78%) signed. (The remaining are unaffiliated.)
People should thank the AGs who signed and ask the few that didn't ... including my AG, Kamala Harris ... why they didn't.
May 10, 2012 — BREAKING NEWS
MOVIE STUDIOS SHOULD STOP DEPICTING SMOKING IN YOUTH-RATED MOVIES, SAY ATTORNEYS GENERAL
May 9, 2012
The National Institutes of Health has announced that it is creating a new "National Institute of Substance Use and Addiction Disorders" and invited public comment on this plan. If done well, this could be an improvement. If done poorly -- particularly if all tobacco-related work was swept into the new institute -- this plan could do great harm to the tobacco research enterprise. The public comment period is open until 11:59 PM on Friday May 11. While the deadline is near, I urge everyone to put in comments on this proposal.
Details of the proposal are at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-12-045.html, where you can post a comment.
Here is the public comment I submitted:
May 7, 2012
The San Francisco Chronicle just reported that Philip Morris gave Jerry Brown a sizable contribution for his re-election campaign 2 1/2 years from now.
I can think of several reasons that Philip Morris would make such an investment:
1. Brown has allowed tobacco industry No-on-29 spokesphysican LaDonna Porter to continue to served on the Proposition 65 Development and Reproductive Toxicants (DART) committee, despite her consistent work for the tobacco and perchlorate industries. Maybe Big Tobacco doesn't want the embarrassment of Brown removing her from the committee.
2. Brown has not taken a position on Proposition 29. Maybe Big Tobacco wants to keep him quiet on the issue.
April 26, 2012
Her work fronting for the tobacco industry in its' advertising against California's Proposition 29 is not Dr. LaDonna Porter's first work promoting a toxic industry. (You the ad she made for the tobacco companies by clicking here.)
According to the Wall Street Journal, she fronted for the chemical industry a decade ago in opposing strict regulation of percholarte, a water pollutant that has particularly bad effects on infants. Here is the key part of the story:
"The furor the EPA had stirred was soon evident at a gathering known as a peer-review workshop, where a panel of scientists discussed the proposal. The workshop took place in early 2002 in Sacramento, near the site of decades of groundwater perchlorate pollution from an Aerojet missile factory.