USA: Anti-Tobacco Efforts Falling Short
The group implied that heavy lobbying and spending by tobacco companies was influencing at least some politicians and urged Congress to give the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate cigarettes.
The report said, "While many states have failed to make meaningful progress at protecting their most vulnerable citizens, the tobacco companies are spending billions of dollars annually marketing their deadly products."
"A report issued by Common Cause and the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund found that the tobacco industry made almost three million US dollars in Political Action Committee contributions to federal candidates during the 2005-2006 election cycle, including more than 1.7 million dollars in contributions directly to federal candidates."
"The Institute on Money in State Politics found that tobacco companies and retailers gave over 96 million dollars to state-level candidates, committees and ballot measure campaigns during the 2005 and 2006 election cycle."
In 1998, states reached a settlement with tobacco companies in which they received 246 billion dollars over 25 years to pay for the costs of smoking-related illnesses.
But anti-smoking campaigners say states have raided these and other tobacco-prevention funds to cover budget deficits, build roads or pay for non-tobacco related projects.
The report added, "While the American Lung Association applauds the U.S. Congress for increasing the federal cigarette excise tax from 0.61 dollars to 1 dollar per pack, unfortunately it was vetoed by the president and will not take effect."
"The increased tax would have resulted in current smokers quitting and fewer children starting to smoke."
The Lung Association report accuses tobacco companies of marketing to youths and even to children with new flavoured cigarettes and brightly coloured packaging.
Nearly 21 percent of Americans smoke, a total of 45 million people, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.ash.org.uk
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