Other Policy
Reports
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids launch new initiative to reduce tobacco use
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids have collaborated on a new advocacy initiative that will focus on reducing tobacco use in the U.S. The initiative will target changing local, state, and federal policies to combat smoking among youth, aid in cessation, and protecting the public from secondhand smoke. The American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association will also provide financial support for state and local efforts associated with this initiative. Click here to read more.
ActionToQuit policy brief: Addressing Tobacco Use Through Healthcare Systems
ActionToQuit has released a new policy brief created from a collaborative effort between the Partnership for Prevention and the Multi-State Collaborative for Health Systems Change. Entitled “Addressing Tobacco Use Through Healthcare Systems: A Real-World Case Example of How to Reduce Smoking Rates, Improve Patient Health and Lower Costs,” the brief discusses the following topics: low healthcare provider rates of smoking cessation interventions; implementing simple systems changes in healthcare sites to increase the percentage of clinical interventions with smokers; increases in the probability of patients quitting smoking per each occurrence of a brief intervention, and how healthcare sites can realize significant cost savings as a result of system changes. Click here to read more about this policy brief. Click here to access the full policy brief.
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State Policy
Bill banning e-cigarettes for minors passes House (AR)
Legislation banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors less than 18 years of age has been passed in the House in Arkansas. If passed, the law would fine retailers who sell e-cigarettes to minors up to $100. Click here to read more, or click here to track the progress of the bill.
Smokers will pay same rates as nonsmokers in D.C. insurance exchange (DC)
Washington, DC will join Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont in not permitting insurers to charge higher rates for smokers. As a part of the new universal healthcare system, health insurance companies are allowed to charge almost 50% higher rates for smokers. Because these penalties could make healthcare unaffordable for many people, especially underserved populations where the smoking prevalence is higher, tobacco control advocacy organizations support DC and the New England states’ measures to not permit the surcharge. Click here to read more.
Bill would close loophole allowing e-cigarette sales to minors (NC)
A new proposed bill aims to change North Carolina’s existing tobacco distribution law by prohibiting the sale and distribution of e-cigarettes or vapor products to youth. This bill was created to protect youth from the potential health effects associated with e-cigarette use as the products become more popular. Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc., both manufacturers of e-cigarettes, support this measure. Click here to read more. Click here to track SB 530, which has been referred to the Committee on Health Care.
Speaker Quinn and council members propose strong action to further reduce smoking in New York City (NY)
A new proposal in New York City would strengthen its already strict tobacco control laws by prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to youth under the age of 21. The current age minimum for tobacco sales is 18, and increasing the limit to 21 would make New York City the first city of its size to implement a law of this kind. This legislation was introduced to prevent youth from picking up the smoking habit since according to city officials, 80% of adult smokers in the city started before the age of 21. Additionally, raising the age restriction would prevent slightly older friends of teens from purchasing cigarettes for them. New York City’s Mayor and City Council are in support of this measure, and will vote on it on May 2. Click here to read more. Click here to read the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ statement on this proposal.
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National Policy
Public health leaders urge FDA to act on menthol cigarettes
The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, along with nineteen other national public health organizations, delivered a Citizen Petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that requests that the agency prohibit menthol flavoring in cigarettes. The FDA is now responsible for the regulation of tobacco products, and has yet to make any decisions regarding menthol. Menthol is the only flavoring that has yet to be restricted, and is the cigarette of choice for many youth and minority smokers. This petition urges the FDA to investigate whether the sale of menthol cigarettes is “appropriate for public health.” Click here to read more. Click here to read the Citizen Petition in its entirety, or click here to read highlights from the petition.
New tobacco chief promises U.S. action as industry waits
Mitch Zeller, the newly-appointed Director of the FDA Center for Tobacco Products, has announced that his agency will soon take action on key issues in tobacco product regulation, including menthol and new tobacco products. Federal regulations require that the FDA review and approve the sale of any new tobacco products introduced after 2007, but there have been delays in the approval process to date. After a 2011 panel report which found that banning menthol cigarettes would benefit public health, the FDA is expected to issue formal guidance on whether menthol cigarettes are more harmful to the public’s health than unflavored cigarettes. Zeller has emphasized that setting a “comprehensive nicotine policy” at the agency is a key issue. Read the full story here.
U.S. Senators call on FDA to regulate e-cigarettes
Due to e-cigarettes’ growth in popularity, five U.S. Senators are requesting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issue deeming regulations, or in other words, assert the agency’s regulatory authority over these products. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jack Reed (D-RI) also requested that the FDA restrict the sale, distribution and marketing of e-cigarettes and other nicotine products to children and young adults. Click here to read more, or click here for a press release from Senator Durbin’s office, which includes the text of the letter submitted to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
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International
Italy bans minors from buying electronic cigarettes
The Italian government recently raised the minimum age for youth to purchase e-cigarettes from 16 to 18 years of age. This new law took effect on April 23. E-cigarettes have been gaining popularity in Italy, and the country’s health ministry found that e-cigarettes exceed the recommended level of nicotine that has been established by the European Food Safety Authority. Health authorities in France are now researching the health effects of e-cigarette use, and several other countries have banned the devices, citing a lack of evidence that they are effective in helping smokers quit. Click here to read more.
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