The vast majority of Americans require their homes and cars to be smoke-free, according to a new study published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The study, based on a 2009-2010 survey, found that 81 percent of U.S. adults report having smoke-free rules in their homes and 74 percent have such rules in their vehicles. The percentage of Americans with smoke-free homes has increased dramatically from 1992-1993, when only 43 percent had such rules.
At last week’s annual meeting of Philip Morris International shareholders in New York City, CEO Louis Camilleri answered a question from a youth tobacco control advocate by denying that the company markets to kids, saying “That’s just not true. It’s a fable.”
Overcoming more than four years of delays and strong tobacco industry opposition, the Parliament of Bangladesh has enacted a new law that significantly strengthens the country’s efforts to reduce tobacco use.
The new law is a major step forward in a country where about 43 percent of adults use tobacco, with high rates of both cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use.
Today is Earth Day, and we couldn’t let the day pass without pointing out that cigarettes are not only the world’s number one cause of preventable death, they’re also a major cause of air, land and water pollution.
Thanks to strong government action to reduce tobacco use, the tobacco industry's outlook in Latin America is dimming according to new analysis by Euromonitor International, a strategy research group for consumer products.
The analysis cites the example of Chile, which recently became the 14th Latin American country to go smoke-free. In February, Chile implemented a comprehensive tobacco control law that makes restaurants, bars and other public places smoke-free; restricts tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; and prohibits the use of additives, including menthol, in tobacco products.
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced today that the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco use has awarded 500 grants since 2007, totaling $100 million, to support efforts to reduce tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries. It marks a significant milestone in fighting the world’s number one cause of preventable death, especially in countries that have the highest rates of tobacco use and are the tobacco industry’s biggest targets.
Earlier this week, President Obama presented his 2014 budget, which proposes to fund early childhood education initiatives by increasing the federal cigarette tax by 94 cents per pack and similarly increasing taxes on other tobacco products.
We know that cigarettes are the number one cause of preventable death in the United States and around the world.
Here’s a fact that isn’t as well-known: Cigarettes are also the number one littered item on U.S. roadways and on beaches and in waterways worldwide.
Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state with more than 200 million residents, has become the country’s latest state to begin implementing the ban on the sale of gutka, a deadly form of chewing tobacco that is fueling an oral cancer epidemic. This action follows the Supreme Court’s denial of a tobacco industry petition to stay implementation of the ban.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching the second year of its “Tips from Former Smokers” advertising campaign that tells the harsh truth about how devastating cigarette smoking truly is.
When young fans attended the Java Jazz music festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, earlier this month, they had to walk through concert grounds plastered with advertising for Djarum Super Mild, the cigarette brand that sponsored the concert.
When performers such as Joss Stone took the stage, they performed under a cigarette logo.
And for weeks before the concert, Djarum promoted its deadly products using the images of music stars, in the process telling kids that smoking is fun and glamorous.
Today is the 18th Kick Butts Day, our annual celebration of youth leadership and activism in the fight against tobacco.
With more than 1,200 events happening across the country and on military bases around the world, this is the biggest Kick Butts Day yet. Today and throughout the week, thousands of kids are taking a stand against tobacco. Find Kick Butts Day events in your area.
As smoking has declined in higher-income countries, multinational tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International have targeted low- and middle-income countries as their main opportunities to increase sales and profits.
Now, these countries are fighting back by enacting strong measures to reduce tobacco use and save lives, and Wall Street analysts are taking note. Writing in Forbes, analyst Charles Sizemore concludes, 'Though enforcement varies from country to country, there is really no such thing as a 'tobacco friendly' country anymore. Everywhere you look, the noose is getting tighter.'
Tobacco companies have a long history of secretly adding things to their products that could make them more addictive, appealing or harmful.
Add another example to the list: Bloomberg News reported today that some of Cheyenne International’s cigars have a filter containing sepiolite, a clay material used in kitty litter.
The Java Jazz festival kicks off this Friday in Jakarta, Indonesia. It's one of the largest annual music festivals in the world, and concert promoters have spent the last few months promoting the stars who will perform. But they've promoted tobacco even more.
What are the biggest words on Java Jazz's official poster and billboards? It's not 'Java Jazz.' It's not the names of star performers. It's a brand of cigarettes made by Djarum, the tobacco company sponsoring the music festival.
There will be plenty of glitz and glamour at the Academy Awards this weekend, but there’s one thing about the Oscars that’s not so glamorous: the continued prevalence of smoking in movies.
New Zealand plans to become the second country to require that cigarettes be sold in plain packaging, free of colorful logos and other branding. New Zealand’s government announced today that it will introduce legislation requiring plain packaging, following the lead of Australia, which implemented its plain packaging law in December 2012.
As China celebrates the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, cigarettes are casting a deadly pall over the festivities.
A new report by Bloomberg News highlights how the exchange of cigarettes as gifts is a deeply ingrained part of the country’s New Year celebrations, contributing to a tobacco epidemic that kills more than one million Chinese each year.
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera has signed a new law that requires all enclosed public places to be smoke-free and includes marketing restrictions and other measures to reduce tobacco use. The new law continues Latin America’s rapid progress in fighting the tobacco epidemic and makes Chile the region's 14th country to go smoke-free.
The law's smoke-free requirement applies to all enclosed public spaces, including restaurants, bars, nightclubs, casinos and stadiums throughout the country. The law also bans smoking on live television before 10 pm and restricts tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.
Underscoring the bipartisan backing for smoke-free laws, Kentucky’s Democratic governor and Oklahoma’s Republican governor have highlighted their support for such laws in their state-of-the-state speeches this week.