Report Details How Tobacco Companies Have Made Cigarettes More Addictive, More Attractive to Kids and More Deadly

First released:        June 23, 2014

CONTACT:    Peter Hamm, 202-296-5469

New Report Details How Tobacco Companies Have Made Cigarettes

More Addictive, More Attractive to Kids and More Deadly

FDA Urged to Stop Harmful Changes Made by Tobacco Industry

WASHINGTON, DC – Design changes and chemical additives introduced by tobacco companies in recent decades have made cigarettes more addictive, more attractive to kids and even more deadly, according to a report issued today by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The report, titled Designed for Addiction, details how tobacco companies purposely design cigarettes to make tobacco smoke smoother, less harsh and more appealing to new users, especially kids, and to create and sustain addiction to nicotine.  Tobacco companies have made these changes without regard for the health impact and actually have increased smokers’ risk of developing lung cancer.

The report is being released on the fifth anniversary of the landmark law, signed by President Obama on June 22, 2009, that gave the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products.  It calls on the FDA to require tobacco companies, at a minimum, to reverse the harmful changes they have made by issuing the first-ever product standards governing the design and content of tobacco products.

The report shows how tobacco companies have:

·         Made cigarettes more addictive by controlling and increasing nicotine levels and enhancing the impact of nicotine.

·         Made cigarettes more attractive to kids by adding flavorings such as licorice and chocolate that mask the harshness of the smoke, menthol that makes the smoke feel smoother and other chemicals that expand the lungs’ airways and make it easier to inhale.

·         Made cigarettes more deadly, as disclosed in the new Surgeon General’s report on tobacco and health, released in January.  The report found that smokers today have a much higher risk of lung cancer than smokers in 1964, when the first Surgeon General’s report alerted Americans to the deadly consequences of smoking. The new Surgeon General’s report attributed smokers’ increased risk of lung cancer to “changes in the design and composition of cigarettes since the 1950s.”

“For decades, the tobacco industry had complete control over how cigarettes were made, and they responded by making a deadly and addictive product even worse,” said Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.  “Now that it has the authority to regulate tobacco products, the FDA must require changes in these products to reduce the death and disease they cause.  Decisions about how tobacco products are made and what is in them must now be based on protecting public health, not tobacco industry profits.”

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other public health organizations have called on the FDA to issue the first-ever product standard to reduce the toxicity, addictiveness and/or appeal of cigarettes and other tobacco products.  Among its key recommendations for accelerating progress in reducing tobacco use, the latest Surgeon General’s report called for “[e]ffective implementation of FDA’s authority for tobacco product regulation in order to reduce tobacco product addictiveness and harmfulness.”

While the United States has made enormous progress in reducing smoking, tobacco use is still the nation’s number on cause of preventable death.  Smoking annually kills 480,000 Americans and costs the nation at least $289 billion in health care bills and economic losses.

Key Findings: 9 Ways the Tobacco Industry Has Made Cigarettes

More Addictive, More Attractive to Kids and More Deadly

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids report is based on an extensive review of scientific studies and tobacco industry documents made public as a result of litigation against the industry.  It also draws on the conclusions of Surgeon General’s reports and the 2006 Final Opinion of U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in her racketeering verdict against the major cigarette manufacturers.

The report highlights nine key ways in which tobacco companies have made cigarettes more addictive, more attractive to kids and more deadly:

Making Cigarettes More Addictive

Increased Nicotine: Tobacco companies precisely control the delivery and amount of nicotine to create and sustain addiction.

Ammonia: Added ammonia compounds produce higher levels of “freebase” nicotine and increase the speed with which nicotine hits the brain.

Sugars and Acetaldehyde: Added sugars make tobacco smoke easier to inhale and, when burned in cigarettes, form acetaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical that enhances nicotine’s addictive effects.

Making Cigarettes More Attractive

Tobacco companies know that 90 percent of adult smokers start at or before age 18 and that smoking is unpleasant for new smokers, so they use chemical additives to make tobacco smoke smoother, less harsh and more appealing to the young, novice smoker. These additives include:

Levulinic Acid: Added organic acid salts, like levulinic acid, reduce the harshness of nicotine and make the smoke smoother and less irritating.

Flavorings: Added flavors like licorice and chocolate mask the harshness of the smoke and make tobacco products more appealing to young people (the 2009 tobacco regulation law prohibited cigarettes with “characterizing flavors” other than menthol, but did not prohibit the use of flavorings at levels not considered to be characterizing).

Bronchodilators: These added chemicals expand the lungs’ airways, making it easier for tobacco smoke to pass into the lungs.

Menthol: Menthol cools and numbs the throat to reduce irritation and make the smoke feel smoother.

Making Cigarettes More Harmful

The new Surgeon General’s report concluded that smokers’ increased risk of lung cancer was most likely the result of two design changes in cigarettes:

Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines: Levels of tobacco-specific nitrosamines, a potent carcinogen, have increased substantially in American cigarettes in recent decades and are much higher than in cigarettes from Australia and Canada.  Factors affecting levels of nitrosamines include the tobacco blends and curing process used.

Ventilated Filters: Ventilation holes in cigarette filters cause smokers to inhale more vigorously, drawing carcinogens deeper into the lungs.  (Cigarettes with ventilated filters were introduced by tobacco companies because they produced lower levels of tar and nicotine in machine tests and were marketed as less hazardous. However, the evidence now shows that these cigarettes did not reduce health risks and likely increased smokers’ risk of lung cancer.)

Visit CTFK’s web site to find the full report, an executive summary and related infographics.

Poll: Strong Support for Early Childhood Education Funded by Cigarette Tax

Posted by Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,

More evidence that cigarette tax is a win-win-win

Early learning advocates today released results of a national survey (PDF) showing strong support across party lines for a plan to expand early childhood education programs with funding from a 94-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax.

The poll, released by the First Five Years Fund, found that 70 percent of American voters supported the early childhood education initiative funded with the cigarette tax increase. The poll found strong majorities of support among Republicans (60 percent), Independents (64 percent) and Democrats (84 percent).

Mayor Emanuel Takes Bold Steps to Protect Chicago’s Kids from Menthol Cigarettes

Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

WASHINGTON, DC – The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids applauds Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his bold leadership in working to protect the city’s kids from the serious public health problems posed by menthol cigarettes.

Mayor Emanuel announced today that he has asked the Chicago Board of Health and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to undertake a series of initiatives aimed at curtailing the use of menthol cigarettes by youth in Chicago. These agencies will host a series of town hall meetings to identify innovative, community-driven solutions to reduce menthol cigarette use among Chicago’s youth. In addition, CDPH will launch a tobacco prevention ad campaign in October that focuses on menthol cigarette use.

Mayor Emanuel’s initiative comes just days after a 153-page report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration underscored the serious public health problems posed by menthol cigarettes. The report reached three key conclusions, finding that menthol cigarettes lead to 1) increased smoking initiation among youth and young adults; 2) greater addiction; and 3) decreased success in quitting smoking. “These findings, combined with the evidence indicating that menthol’s cooling and anesthetic properties can reduce the harshness of cigarette smoke and the evidence indicating that menthol cigarettes are marketed as a smoother alternative to nonmenthol cigarettes, make it likely that menthol cigarettes pose a public health risk above that seen with nonmenthol cigarettes,” the FDA’s report concluded.

As Mayor Emanuel wrote to city health leaders, among African-American youth ages 12-17 who smoke, 72 percent use menthol cigarettes and among LGBT youth who smoke, 71 percent smoke menthol. In March 2011, an FDA scientific advisory committee found that menthol cigarettes have been disproportionately marketed to youth and African Americans.

Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 Americans and costing the nation $96 billion in health care bills each year. Mayor Emanuel is providing the strong leadership we need to protect our children from tobacco addiction and win the fight against this deadly epidemic. CONTACT: Peter Hamm, 202-296-5469

Peter S. Hamm
Director, National Communications
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
202-296-5469
Phamm@tobaccofreekids.org

Kenneth Warner Lecture Series

Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,
The Passion and Power of Young People in the Ongoing Fight Against Tobacco Webinar

On Wednesday, July 24th, Legacy and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK) will host a special youth-led panel discussion, as part of the Kenneth E. Warner Series Lecture, which will highlight the power and passion of youth engagement in tobacco control. Young leaders will discuss the challenges and successes of the movement and, with the upcoming release of the 50th Anniversary of the Surgeon General's report, its significance in the future of tobacco control for years to come.   The live webcast will be archived for your convenience.   Moderator: Ritney Castine, Associate Director of Youth advocacy, CTFK (Former Legacy Youth Board Liaison)    Panelists: Chad Bullock, Founding Director of Forget Tobacco Kaitlyn Reilly, Communications Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton Anna Santayana, Grassroots Marketing Coordinator for Legacy (Former crew marketer for the truth®tour) Lee Storrow, Managing Director of the NC Alliance for Health and Member of the City Council for North Carolina Chapel Hill (Former Legacy Youth Board Liaison) ·         Gustavo Torrez, Program Manager for the Network for LGBT Health Equity

For more information, please contact Laura Cruzada at lcruzada@legacyforhealth.org or 202-341-0324.

SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday July 24, 2013 from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM EDT

Federal Tobacco Tax Hike Would Reduce Smoking, Raise Revenue

Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,

 

Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

WASHINGTON, DC – A report issued today by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides important new support for increasing the federal tobacco tax, finding it would be both highly effective in reducing smoking and a reliable and predictable source of revenue to fund early childhood education initiatives proposed by President Obama.  The report also finds that the tobacco tax increase would deliver the greatest benefits to lower-income people, including health benefits from reductions in smoking and educational benefits from expanding early childhood education.  These conclusions refute tobacco industry claims that a tobacco tax increase is not a reliable source of revenue and would hurt lower-income people.

The combined policy of a tobacco tax increase and expansion of early childhood education “is designed to benefit people both at the ‘front end,’ by expanding opportunity, and at the ‘back end,’ by improving health and extending lives,” the report concludes.

This report demonstrates that the President’s proposal to increase the federal cigarette tax by 94 cents per pack to fund early childhood education would be a “win-win” for our nation’s children, improving their health and education.  The proposal also calls for increasing taxes on other tobacco products.  The tobacco tax increases would raise $78.1 billion over 10 years, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

The new report found the tobacco tax increase would:

·         Be an effective way to reduce smoking:  “Tobacco taxes are a proven strategy to reducing smoking, particularly among teenagers and low-income people.  Given the high health costs of tobacco use, reducing smoking rates would lead to substantial health gains.”

 ·         Be a reliable and predictable source of revenue:  The report finds that the higher tobacco tax would raise the revenue needed to fund early childhood education, even while reducing smoking.  “The President’s proposal takes into account this positive behavioral response and assumes that revenue falls at the end of the ten-year budget window.  Even so, the estimated revenue is sufficient to pay for the proposal over ten years.”

·         Deliver significant health benefits to lower-income people.  “The health benefits of a higher tobacco tax are progressive.  Because low-income people are more sensitive to changes in tobacco prices, they will be more likely than high-income people to smoke less, quit, or never start in response to a tax increase.”  The report also concludes, “Expanding early childhood education – in particular for low- and moderate-income children – as the President has proposed is a very progressive use of the revenue from raising the tobacco tax.”

Study after study has shown that increasing the tobacco tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking and other tobacco use, especially among kids.  Even tobacco companies admit in their own documents that tobacco tax increases reduce youth smoking, which is why they vehemently oppose them.  Economic research has found that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by six or seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by three to five percent.

The health and economic benefits of a federal tobacco tax increase were confirmed in a 2012 report by the Congressional Budget Office.  The CBO found that a 50-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax would raise substantial new revenue while prompting nearly 1.4 million adult smokers to quit by 2021, saving tens of thousands of lives and reducing health care costs, including for the Medicaid program. Based on the CBO’s statement that a $1 tax increase would roughly double those benefits, we estimate that a 94-cent cigarette tax increase would prompt 2.6 million adult smokers to quit and save 18,000 lives by 2021.

In addition to these gains from helping current smokers quit, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has estimated that a 94-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax would:

·         Prevent 1.7 million kids from becoming addicted adult smokers

·         Prevent 626,000 premature deaths from these reductions in youth smoking alone

·         Save $42 billion in future health care costs from these reductions in youth smoking.

In addition to the many health and revenue benefits, national and state polls have consistently found strong public support for substantial increases in tobacco taxes, with Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike expressing support.

Tobacco use is the number on cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year.  The evidence is clear: The proposed increase in federal tobacco taxes would be both a health win and an economic win for our nation.

FTC Reports First Increase in Tobacco Marketing Since 2003, Underscoring Need for Continued Vigilance in Fighting Tobacco Use

Statement of Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids May. 21 2013 Repreinted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,  For full statement go to http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press_releases/post/2013_05_21_ftc

WASHINGTON, DC – It is troubling news for our nation’s health that marketing expenditures for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco increased by nearly four percent to $8.82 billion in 2011, representing the first increase in overall tobacco marketing since 2003. This increase, by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is a timely reminder that the tobacco companies continue to aggressively market their deadly and addictive products, often in ways that appeal to kids. Elected officials must be equally aggressive in implementing proven strategies to reduce tobacco use, including higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs, and effective regulation of tobacco products and marketing.

The FTC reported that total marketing expenditures for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco increased from $8.49 billion in 2010 to $8.82 billion in 2011. This means tobacco companies spend $24 million a day – $1 million each hour – to market their harmful products.

The FTC’s specific findings include:
Cigarette marketing expenditures rose from $8.05 billion in 2010 to $8.37 billion in 2011, due mainly to an increase in spending on price discounts. Spending on price discounts increased from $6.49 billion in 2010 to $7 billion in 2011, representing more than 83 percent of all cigarette marketing.

• Smokeless tobacco marketing increased from $444.2 million in 2010 to $451.7 million in 2011.

The huge amount spent on price discounts is especially troubling as this makes cigarettes more affordable and appealing to price-sensitive kids. The 2012 Surgeon General’s report, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults, concluded that “the industry’s extensive use of price-reducing promotions has led to higher rates of tobacco use among young people than would have occurred in the absence of these promotions.” In her 2006 ruling that cigarette manufacturers have violated civil racketeering laws and deceived the American public, U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler concluded, “Defendants could significantly reduce adolescent smoking by… stopping all price related marketing.’

To counter this price discounting, the federal government and the states must increase the price of tobacco products by increasing tobacco taxes. Congress should approve President Obama’s proposal to increase the federal cigarette tax by 94 cents per pack and Congress should similarly increase taxes on other tobacco products. The states must also significantly increase tobacco taxes, as Minnesota did this week in approving a $1.60 per pack hike in the cigarette tax. The evidence is clear that increasing the price of tobacco products is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking and other tobacco use, especially among kids.

New Study: Healthy Lifestyle Starts with No Smoking

It has the greatest impact on heart health, lower death rate

Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com  posted at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/tobacco_unfiltered/post/2013_06_04_heart  on June 5, 2013

It’s no news flash that exercise, eating healthy and watching your weight are all good for your heart – and that smoking is most decidedly not.

But a new study published by the American Journal of Epidemiology underscores the huge benefits of adopting heart-healthy behaviors, and shows that not smoking has the greatest benefit of all.

The study found that adopting four healthy behaviors – not smoking, regular exercise, eating a Mediterranean-style diet and keeping a normal weight – protected against coronary heart disease and reduced the chance of death from all causes by 80 percent over an eight-year period.

“Of all the lifestyle factors, we found that smoking avoidance played the largest role in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and mortality,” said Dr. Roger Blumenthal, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was the senior author of the study.

“In fact, if you exercised, ate healthily, and maintained normal weight, but smoked, you still were worse off than people who did nothing else right but stayed away from cigarettes,” said Dr. Haitham Ahmed, the lead investigator.

“This really highlighted how important it is to stay away from smoking. It is probably singlehandedly the best thing you can do for your cardiovascular and overall health,” Dr. Ahmed added.

Researchers evaluated data on more than 6,200 U.S. men and women, age 44-84, from white, African-American, Hispanic and Chinese backgrounds. All were followed for an average of 7.6 years

Kick Butts Advocacy Day 2013

Kick Butts Advocacy Day 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Mar. 20, 2013
at Vern Riffe Center, 19th Floor, Columbus, Ohio

 

Young people and their mentors are invited to join the American Lung Association to stand up and speak out against tobacco. Join us at the Statehouse to have fun and talk with legislators about the importance of funding tobacco prevention programs so that our state no longer ranks the worst in the country when it comes to helping kids avoid tobacco!

Our theme is "Don’t be a tobacco zombie," because when you’re addicted to tobacco you become a mindless slave to tobacco and the tobacco industry. Smokers are the real walking dead, and this day will be an opportunity for you to say you don’t want Ohio’s youth becoming mindless zombies to the tobacco industry.

 

Dress like a zombie … Or, if you’re not that great at makeup, we’ll have people available to do your makeup at the event. And that’s not all the fun, check out these other activities:  Free pizza party and snacks Prizes; Sign decorating Zombie costume contest; Press conference (you can be on TV!) Statehouse tour; Meetings with legislators Zombie march.

 

This event is made possible by a Kick Butts Day grant from the Campaign for Tobacco‐Free Kids.

To register, visit: www.ohiolung.org. Please sign up everyone in your group individually since we will need each individual’s home address to schedule legislative meetings.

For more information, contact Shelly Kiser, American Lung Association in Ohio, skiser@midlandlung.org, 614
‐279‐1700

ACA and Tobacco Cessation

ActionToQuit attended a briefing entitled The Affordable Care Act and Tobacco Cessation: Advocating for Clarity and Accountability.  The speaker, Mila Kofman, presented the results of a report published by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute examining 39 health plans to determine the degree to which they provided the cessation benefits required under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Mila is also the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Health Benefit Exchange and is a nationally recognized expert on private health insurance markets.  She discussed the finding of the report which revealed poor performance among insurers across the board in providing the ACA-required tobacco cessation benefits. In addition, she encouraged tobacco control advocates within states to inform their state insurance commissioner of these compliance issues and ensure tobacco users are receiving the coverage required under the law.

 

These results are especially relevant after yesterday’s announcement of the final rule outlining health insurance issuer standards for a core package of benefits, called essential health benefits, that insurers must cover both under the ACA.

 

For more information on ACA and how it impacts tobacco cessation, check out the American Lung Association’s toolkit which provides materials and analyses exploring ACA provisions that address tobacco cessation and prevention.

Study: Graphic Campaigns Increase Quit Attempts

Reposted at http://www.tobaccodeathray.blogspot.com,

New study shows clearly that highly emotional and graphic anti-smoking advertisements increase quit attempts A new study reports the effects of emotional, graphic anti-smoking advertisements on smoking cessation. Data were used from the 2003-2010 New York Adult Tobacco Surveys to analyze the impact of exposure to anti-smoking advertisements on adult smokers’ attempts to quit smoking in the previous twelve months.

The reported recall of advertising, type (emotional and/or graphic as well as others), and amount of exposure were measured. The participants were categorized by desire to quit, income, and education. Increased exposure to emotional and/or graphic anti-smoking advertisements was found to increase the amount of attempts to quit smoking among all smokers, smokers who want to quit, and in all income and education levels studied.

Click here to access the study abstract and full report published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Click here for a press release from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids which notes that the study findings support the use of emotional, anti-smoking advertisements as an effective method of promoting population-level smoking cessation in adults.