There’s No Conflict of Interest Here, Right?

admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:52:09 +0000

No wonder many see the plight of e-cigarettes as "doomed". Did you know that Big Tobacco pays up to $500 million annually to help "fund" the FDA? (Source: Join Together) This may only be big news to those of us just tuning in. It has been a long running source of criticism of FDA/US Regulation that these "authorities" are funded by the very companies they are supposed to regulate.

This brings a little more clarity to the FDA's position. Why should they let a new, innovative product compete with one of their main sources of bread and butter?

Think that's ironic? Get this! Ever heard of an organization called "Tobacco Free Kids"? From their Google listing: "Working to expose Big Tobacco's lies, the Campaign reveals the truth about the deadly effects of smoking, tobacco's corporate public relations campaigns to convince the public that it is a reformed industry, and the advertising and marketing tactics tobacco companies use to entice youth as their new customers." Yeah, well they've teamed up with Philip Morris to the tune of $3.5million to lobby for the passage of the Tobacco Bill. Tobacco Free Kids argues that is designed "for the good of the nation" when, in reality, it was designed for the good of Big Tobacco.

For those not familiar with what the "Tobacco Bill" will do, in short it will lead to a ban on alternatives to tobacco cigarettes, like electronic cigarettes, without FDA approval. It will also reduce advertising so smokers will only remember the biggest, most popular brands, read: Philip Morris.

Of course, Philip Morris has a stellar history with regards to health issues and the public interest. Here are just a few examples:

•Philip Morris spent $2 million on a domestic violence program - and then $108 million on a television ad campaign to tell us about it
•While saying it doesn’t want kids to smoke, Philip Morris pressured Florida to stop some of its anti-tobacco ads, which have been among the most effective in the country.
•Philip Morris has secretly helped or funded front groups in Florida and Washington that have been fighting measures to ensure smoke-free indoor workplaces and raise cigarette taxes.
•More kids smoke Philip Morris’ Marlboro cigarettes than all other brands combined.
•Philip Morris issued a report in the Czech Republic last year that argued early smoking deaths have “positive effects” because they save the government money.
•Abroad, Philip Morris has hired underaged Marlboro girls who pass out free cigarettes to other children and sponsored concerts where cigarettes were handed to minors.

There’s No Conflict of Interest Here, Right? is a post from: E-Cigarette Reviews

Get Involved – Urge FDA to Stop Siding W/ Big Tobacco

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:41:45 +0000

Update - 3 of the 4 Producers that we review and recommend are still selling and shipping as of this afternoon.

SmokeFree Pensylvania is urging smokers and tobacco harm reductionists to support a move to:

(1) allow nicotine gum, lozenges and patches to be sold by all retailers that sell cigarettes, (2) allow these nicotine products to be sold in less expensive daily dose units, and (3) change warning labels on these nicotine products to truthfully inform smokers that they are far less hazardous alternatives to cigarettes.

The following is taken directly from an email from Bill Godshall:

Please urge the FDA to approve this petition NOW. Simply go to: www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=FD A-2008-P-0116 and click on the "Add Comments" icon to the right of the first document "State of New York Department of Health - Citizen Petition"

Unless/until the FDA can reasonably and responsibly regulate the least hazardous nicotine alternatives to cigarettes, the FDA cannot reasonably or responsibly regulate cigarettes or other tobacco products (especially when the enabling legislation, sponsored by Waxman/Kennedy, requires the FDA to protect cigarettes from market competion by far less hazardous smokefree tobacco products).

So far, the following organizations/agencies/associations (along with many health professionals and citizens) have submitted comments urging the FDA to approve the NY State Health Commissioner's petition. Noticably absent from the list are the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, American Heart Association, and the national office of the American Cancer Society (all of which have urged the FDA to ban similar e-cigarette nicotine vaporizers, and also are lobbying Congress to enact FDA tobacco regulatory legislation they negotiated and agreed to with Philip Morris in 2004).

Get Involved – Urge FDA to Stop Siding W/ Big Tobacco is a post from: E-Cigarette Reviews

E-Cigarette Reviews » e-cigarette embargo

There’s No Conflict of Interest Here, Right?

Get Involved – Urge FDA to Stop Siding W/ Big Tobacco