Policy

State

Arkansas's public universities to go smoke free (AR)
In late March, the Arkansas Senate passed the Clean Air on Campus Act, which will make all of the state’s public universities smoke-free by August 1, 2010. Around the same time, the Faculty Senate at Arkansas State University passed a resolution introduced by the student government to institute smoking restrictions a year earlier. Unlike the state law, the ASU resolution includes a smoking cessation program for smokers on campus. Although the state law would give ASU extra time to implement the smoke-free policy, the ASU student government intends to push for approval from the university administration for the earlier implementation timetable. Find out more here.

Endangered investment: Toward a tobacco-free California 2009-2011 (CA)
This report notes that without additional tobacco control funding, the trend of decreasing tobacco use in California could stall or reverse. In order to achieve the state’s goals of a ten percent adult and eight percent youth smoking prevalence by the end of 2011, the report recommends a cigarette tax increase of $1.50 per pack, with 25 cents of the per-pack tax hike earmarked for comprehensive tobacco control, education, and research. Click here to download the executive summary. Click here for more information about the Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee (TEROC), or to download the full report.

Despite threats, casino smoking ban advances (CT)
Mohegan tribal leaders are strongly opposed to pending legislation that would ban smoking in the two casinos in Connecticut. Mohegan Tribal Chairman Bruce Bozsum has responded to legislators with a letter stating that if the law passes, the tribes will take legal action and will withhold their annual slot machine payments from the state. Bozsum believes that the legislation imposes on the Mohegans’ tribal sovereignty, and has indicated that the tribe would be willing to negotiate directly with the Governor rather than having legislation imposed upon the state’s tribes. Having passed a key committee vote in mid-April, the controversial bill will now move to the state House and Senate. Click here to read more.

House passes ban on smoking: Curbs affect most workplaces, restaurants; exemptions for bars creates tempest (NC)
After passing the North Carolina House in early April, a smoke-free law is up for discussion in the Senate. The bill would forbid smoking in most indoor workplaces and public venues, including restaurants. The House approved a weakened version of the original bill, which allows smoking in bars and other establishments that prohibit minors. Restaurant owners were generally in favor of the more comprehensive version of the ban, but feared that the “unlevel playing field” created by the bar exemption could harm restaurants’ sales. Lawmakers have expressed optimism toward the passage of a state smoke-free law, but a lack of support from restaurant owners could be an influential factor in the debate. Click here for more information. Click here to read about the opposition to the bar exemption from hospitality organizations and health groups.

Cigar bar exemption squeaks by final vote (NE)
After a District judge in Nebraska eliminated nearly all exemptions from the state’s pending smoke-free law, state legislators recently passed a bill that will permit smoking in cigar bars. On June 1, all public areas in Nebraska will be smoke-free, except for smoking research facilities, retail tobacco outlets, and some hotel rooms. The Arkansas governor has approved the cigar bar exemption, but opponents of the bill are likely to challenge the bill in court before the exemption goes into effect in September. Click here for more details, or read more here (article includes link to access the exemption bill, “LB355”).

Going against the trend, Nevada lawmakers consider easing the state’s ban on smoking (NV)
A measure that would ease Nevada’s statewide smoking ban passed in the state’s Senate and has moved to the Assembly for deliberation. The current law, the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, was implemented in 2007 and bans smoking in any indoor space where minors could be present or where food is served. The proposed exemption would allow establishments that serve food to allow smoking if they restrict entry to patrons over the age of 21. If the measure passes, Nevada would be the first state in the nation to ease restrictions on a statewide smoking ban. Click here to read more. Update: Study says ban causes no harm: Bar owners disagree with research A UNLV study of ten years of economic data concluded that the state smoke-free law has not harmed businesses in Las Vegas and surrounding areas of southern Nevada. Read more here.

Bill would raise smoking age in Oregon (OR)
Lawmakers in Oregon are proposing a new measure that would not permit tobacco to be sold or possessed by anyone under the age of 21. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Betty Komp, was once a high school administrator who regularly saw young students addicted to nicotine. Additional anti-tobacco bills currently being considered in Oregon include a sixty-cent excise tax increase, outlawing cigarette vending machines, and imposing penalties for adults who smoke in vehicles where children are present. Click here to read more. Click here to read about a newspaper campaign backed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to educate the public on the benefits of the proposed tax increase.

State Senate passes bill to raise smoking age to 19 (TX)
With a 25-5 vote, the Texas Senate passed a measure that would increase the legal age to possess tobacco products in the state to nineteen years. Supporters of the bill believe it would keep cigarettes out of high schools and prevent many teenagers from picking up the habit. A similar proposal passed the Senate in 2007, but lost momentum in the House. Opponents say the state will lose millions of dollars in tobacco tax revenue, yet backers of the proposal counter that an even greater amount of money would be saved in healthcare expenditures if the law forces teens to delay smoking initiation. Alaska, Alabama, New Jersey, and Utah have all increased the legal smoking age to nineteen. Click here for the full story, or click here for additional background on this legislation. Click here to view a press release on a Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids ad campaign in support of the smoke-free legislation.

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National

American Lung Association update: 2008 State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI) report
The American Lung Association (ALA) recently released an updated version of its tobacco policy review, the State Legislated Actions on Tobacco Issues (SLATI) Report. The ALA grades each state based on the quality of tobacco control policies in several categories, including smoking restrictions, tobacco taxes, laws restricting youth access to tobacco products, and funding for state tobacco prevention and cessation programs. This year’s edition includes tobacco control laws through January 1, 2009, and is the 21st annual update of the report. According to the report, this year brought few legislative changes, with only two states passing comprehensive smoke-free laws and three increasing tobacco taxes. Click here to read a brief overview of the report. The SLATI report is available online here, and hard copies of the report will soon be available. The interactive online version of the report is updated regularly to reflect changes in tobacco control policies.

House passes tobacco bill, but Senate battle looms
With an overwhelming 298-112 majority, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to grant the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products. The bill was introduced in the Senate in mid-April. With Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) threatening a filibuster, sixty votes may be needed to pass the controversial bill. Last year, a similar version of the bill had sixty Senate sponsors, but the legislative session ended before the Senate reached a vote. With President Obama’s support and ample time in this year’s legislative session, supporters of the bill are optimistic that it will pass. Click here to read more. Click here to read a statement from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Cost estimate: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act
In April, the Congressional Budget Office issued a report estimating the cost of implementing FDA regulation of tobacco products based on the version of the bill recently passed in the House, H.R. 1256. The bill would assign the FDA the responsibility of collecting user fees from manufacturers and importers of tobacco products. The Center for Tobacco Products would be established within the FDA to enforce regulations on the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of tobacco products. Because the regulatory activities would be funded by the tobacco industry user fees, there would be no net effect on government spending through 2019. The CBO also estimates that H.R. 1256 would lead to an 11% decline in the prevalence of tobacco use among youths and a 2% decline among adults. Click here to download a PDF of the cost estimate.

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International

Reported awareness of tobacco advertising and promotion in China compared to Thailand, Australia, and the United States (China)
A recent study compared adult smokers’ awareness of tobacco advertising in China, where there are minimal restrictions against this type of marketing, to countries that have many restrictions on tobacco advertisements, the U.S., Australia and Thailand. All four countries included in the analysis are part of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Survey. Chinese respondents reported seeing tobacco advertisements in a wide range of venues and channels, with the highest exposure from television (34.5%), billboards (33.4%) and stores (29.2%). When compared, China reported significantly higher levels of awareness of product promotions over Thailand and Australia, but lower levels of awareness compared to the U.S. The researchers concluded that China should enact and enforce stronger policies to restrict tobacco advertising. Click here to access the study in the journal Tobacco Control.

Death of monks prompts ban on smoking in temples (Thailand)
The Department of Disease Control in Thailand is announcing a new ban on smoking in temples, schools and hospitals. A study conducted from 2003-2004 by the Priest Hospital found that the most common chronic diseases among 18,000 monks who smoked were cancer, tuberculosis, and pulmonary emphysema. A public health study conducted in 2004 by Thailand’s Mahidol University assessed monks’ attitudes toward banning smoking, and found that 91% supported prohibiting monks from smoking. The ban is intended to reduce smoking among monks to protect their health, but was also enacted because the monks are considered community role models.  Click here to read more.

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