Policy

State

Improving health care systems to reduce tobacco use: Lessons learned from states
With support from the CDC, the Multi-State Collaborative for Health Systems Change has released two new resources, Improving Health Care Systems to Reduce Tobacco Use: Lessons Learned from States, and its companion document, Improving Health Care Systems to Reduce Tobacco Use: Promising Practices Case Studies. Lessons Learned from States briefly describes state initiatives to improve health care systems for treating tobacco use. The report synthesizes strategies used, barriers experienced, and lessons learned across 23 projects funded by 12 states. The Multi-State Collaborative is comprised of tobacco control programs working to facilitate sustainable changes in health care systems within states and nationally in order to reduce tobacco use and prevalence. Click here to access the two reports.

Smoking ban snuffed out in committee (LA)
A bill to further restrict smoking in public venues in Louisiana has died after an overwhelming 6-11 House committee vote against the bill. The version of bill passed in the Senate would have banned smoking in all Louisiana bars, casinos, and other gambling establishments. When the bill reached the House committee testimony, a compromise was proposed to only ban smoking in bars that sell food to provide more equal footing for bars and restaurants. However, it was argued that this compromise would simply encourage bars not to sell food, and the amended bill was voted down. Read more here.

Michigan House OKs smoking ban (MI)
After Michigan’s House of Representatives approved legislation to ban smoking in most public spaces in May, a Senate vote has been delayed due to a current focus on the state budget. The ban that the House passed exempts casino gaming floors, cigar bars, and specialty tobacco stores. In previous years, the Senate has disagreed with the House on the exemptions. Last year, the Senate passed a stricter version of the bill with no exemptions. It has been argued that there should be no exemptions from this ban, but the House version of the ban is more comprehensive than the current smoking rules. Read more about the House bill here. Click here to read about the bill’s progress in the Senate.

Bills would force insurers to cover quit-smoking drugs (RI)
After recent federal and state cigarette tax increases brought the price of a pack of cigarettes to $8.35 in Rhode Island, legislators are considering legislation that will make it more affordable for smokers to obtain cessation counseling and medications. A proposal in the General Assembly would require insurance carriers to expand their coverage of smoking cessation medications. Companies are currently required to cover nicotine replacement therapies (NRT), but there is no requirement for companies to cover other drugs, such as Chantix, that can help with cessation but do not work through nicotine replacement. The legislation would also expand the required coverage of cessation counseling from eight to sixteen half-hour sessions. Click here for more information.

Smoking-ban foes play game of delay (SD)
Earlier this year, a comprehensive state smokefree law that bans smoking in bars and casinos was signed into law in South Dakota. The law was scheduled to take effect on July 1, but a petition to put the smoking ban to a popular vote has accumulated enough signatures to delay the implementation of the law for at least 17 months, according to coordinators of the petition drive. However, the signatures must still be verified, and 16,776 valid signatures are needed to bring the issue to a vote in the November 2010 general election.  Click here for more details. Update: Based on a review of a sample of the signatures, South Dakota’s secretary of state has verified that there are enough signatures to delay the ban. However, the high percentage of invalid signatures on the petition has led to a more rigorous independent review of the signatures. Read more here.

Cigarette ban being implemented in Va. state prisons (VA)
Corrections officials in Virginia are planning to have all forty state prisons smoke-free by February 2010. Currently, eight state prisons are either smoke-free or have designated areas for employees to smoke. The ultimate goal is to completely prohibit tobacco products on state prison property, both indoors and outdoors. All inmates and employees will have access to smoking cessation programs and nicotine replacement therapy. The federal prison system and several other state prison systems have gone smoke-free in the past few years. Click here to read more.

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National

President Obama signs tobacco legislation
This month, President Obama signed legislation that will give the Food and Drug Administration new authority to oversee tobacco products, calling the law “a step that will save lives and dollars.” The new law will require the tobacco industry to disclose the ingredients in its products, and the FDA could ban the most harmful chemicals and regulate the amount of nicotine in tobacco products. In addition, the bill requires graphic warning labels to occupy 50% of the space on each cigarette package. Read more here. The legislation was met with years of controversy before eventually gaining support from a varied body of groups and political figures; click here to read a compilation of comments on the bill. Click here to read the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, or click here to read a summary of the impact of the new law from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

U.S. tobacco bill puts focus on menthol cigarettes
With the new legislation authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, there has been ongoing speculation on the future of menthol cigarettes. The legislation bans candy flavorings, but does not ban menthol flavoring, even though menthol cigarettes are the most popular flavored tobacco product in the U.S. The recently-passed tobacco legislation calls for research on the health effects of menthol flavoring, the impact of marketing of menthol, and the potential effects of banning menthol. When more is known about these impacts of menthol cigarettes, the FDA could revisit the menthol issue, which may eventually lead to restrictions or a ban on menthol flavoring. Read more here.

Tobacco regulation is expected to face a free-speech challenge
The new tobacco law that Congress passed enabling FDA regulation also includes marketing and advertising restrictions that are likely to be challenged in court on grounds of free speech. The law bans outdoor advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds and restricts advertising to black-and-white text. Tobacco companies and advertising groups have raised concerns that these new restrictions effectively outlaw legal advertising in many cities and prevent legitimate communication to adults. However, supporters of the legislation claim that the law was carefully drafted to comply with the First Amendment, and the black and white text ads will allow companies to communicate sufficiently. The advertising restrictions will take effect in about a year. Click here to read more.

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International

WHO urges pictures to show tobacco ills
Just before World No Tobacco Day in May, the World Health Organization (WHO) called upon governments to mandate pictures on tobacco product packaging to serve as warnings of the products’ health effects. Studies have shown consistency in the impact of pictures on tobacco packaging, and that policies requiring graphic tobacco warnings can help tobacco users to quit or reduce their use. However, only 10% of the world’s people live in countries where pictorial warnings are required on tobacco packaging. Click here  to read more.

Tobacco warning labels: Evidence and recommendations from the ITC Project
A report from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy Evaluation Project concludes that graphic pictorial warnings on tobacco products are more effective than text-only warnings. The purpose of the report is to present policymakers with evidence on the impact of policies of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). Over 160 nations have ratified the FCTC, which states that health warnings on cigarette packages should cover at least 50 percent of the principal display areas (both the front and back) of the tobacco package. As of May 2009, more than two dozen countries had passed legislation requiring large pictorial health warnings on cigarette packages. Click here for more information and an interview with the researchers, or click here to download the report.

Anti-tobacco bill tests trade ties (Canada)
A Canadian bill that would ban flavoring in tobacco products has caused a stir among American farmers. The farmers are concerned that burley tobacco, a popular American variety of tobacco that undergoes a flavoring treatment during processing, could be banned under the proposed law. The purpose of the legislation, Bill C-32, is to limit youth access to tobacco products by placing new restrictions tobacco sales and marketing. The bill also places limits on the use of cigarette additives, including flavorings, which can make tobacco products more appealing to youths. Read more here, or click here to read the legislative summary of the bill from Parliament.

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