January 14, 2012
UC President Mark Yudof has written the chancellors of all 10 UC campuses instructing them to develop and implement smokefree policies by 2014. (UCSF is already smokefree, including e-cigarettes).
The policy includes all tobacco products (including smokeless and e-cigs) and indoor and outdoor spaces. It also prohibits the sale and advertising of tobacco products. It applies to all UC facilities, including housing, which may make this the largest single expansion of smokefree multiunit housing.
This decision was announced in response to recommendation from the systemwide Smoking Policy Subcommittee of the Occupational Wellness Forum; its report is an excellent resource for people considering similar policies elsewhere.
UCSF is already smokefree.
There is a good story on this in the San Francisco Chronicle.
January 14, 2012
The University of California Press just published Robert Proctor's new history of the tobacco industry, The Golden Holocaust. It is the first history to draw heavily on the tobacco industry documents and provides many new insights.
I (and several of our fellows and staff) had an opportunity to review and critique an advanced draft of the book and met with Robert several times to offer feedback. We all found the book a great read. There was lots in it that I did not know.
Everyone working on tobacco control should read this book.
January 7, 2012
The FDA has appealed the DC district court ruling that the new graphic warning labels required by the FDA we violations of the First Amendment on the grounds that they were compelled speech. A group of attorneys general and coalition of health groups have submitted amicus (friend of the court) briefs to the DC Court of Appeals.
Both briefs address the constitutional issues (making complementary points). The AG's do a great job of putting the warnings in the context of the fact that the major cigarette companies are racketeers and has some great quotes from Judge Kessler's RICO opinion. The health groups outline the need for graphic warning labels in general and provide specific justification for each image selected.
January 3, 2012
Jobs is the argument for subsidizing smoking movies in California. As part of another research project, I obtained some statistics on job creation by spending on various industries in California from the US Department of Commerce (known as RIIMS II multipliers). Here are the number of jobs created by $100 million:
Elementary and secondary schools 2609
Museums, historical sites, zoos and parks 2387
Higher education 2185
Civic, social and professional organizations 1971
Advertising and related services 1508
Scientific research and development 1391
Motion picture and video industries 1123
I included Museums, historical sites, zoos and parks and the education sector because they have suffered huge cuts in California and affected millions of lives and the three categories Civic organizations, Advertising, and Scientific Research because they comprise California's tobacco control program. All of these activities produce many more jobs per dollar spent than putting money into the big (mostly out-of-state) media companies that own Hollywood.
(You can get your state multipliers at https://www.bea.gov/regional/rims/rimsii/.)