Tobacco politics
[1][2][3] Despite the efforts of public health advocates, scientists, and those affected by smoking, both Congress and courts favored the tobacco industry in policy and litigation.
This failure could have been due to a variety of factors, such as opposition from senators with differing political views, concerns over specific provisions within the bill, or procedural hurdles that prevented it from moving forward.
Since 2018 Philip Morris International (PMI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) have circumvented the EU ban by using corporate mission statements and associated branding to link their ‘potentially reduced risk’ products to Formula One (F1) and Grand Prix motorcycle (MotoGP) racing teams.
[17] Although multiple proposals for relaxed electronic cigarette regulation, such as the Cole-Bishop Amendment in the 2017 omnibus bill and FDA Deeming Authority Clarification Act of 2017, have emerged, none have passed yet.
[19] In a measure to curb use of E-cigarettes' among youth US FDA banned promoting and selling of flavored vaping products in January 2020.
[23] Individual smokers filed lawsuits against the tobacco industry, claiming negligence in manufacturing and advertising, breach of warranty, and product liability.
[24] However, the tobacco industry responded by challenging the science of smoking causing disease and claiming that smokers assumed any risks.
[24] During the second wave, plaintiffs charged tobacco companies with failure to warn about the addiction and disease risk of cigarettes and strict liability.
[24] In addition, the tobacco industry poured a massive amount of money into these cases, trying to overwhelm plaintiffs with legal costs.
[23] State attorneys general charged the tobacco industry of using misleading marketing, targeting children, and concealing the health effects of smoking.
[28] Tobacco advertising fails to influence non-smokers Epidemiology cannot show causation As of 2000, litigation also continued in several countries outside the United States.
Citing third-party reimbursement, several countries, such as Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, have filed lawsuits both in the United States and in their own courts against tobacco industries.
[40] As of 2000, individual suits have also been filed in a multitude of countries, including Argentina, Finland, France, Japan, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Turkey.
[7] In response, organizations such as Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation increased their philanthropic contributions to the WHO, creating MPOWER tobacco control, which focuses on implementation of FCTC.
[40][44] Personal injury cases are less common in Australia, as unsuccessful plaintiffs must pay the legal fees of the defendant, less profit incentives exist for Australian lawyers, and momentum from successful tobacco litigation has not been generated.
[45] The plaintiff, Rolah McCabe, who was diagnosed with lung cancer, claimed British American Tobacco Australia misled her in estimating the risk for smoking cigarettes.
[46] Afterwards, the companies started to describe cigarettes with terms such as “rich”, “classic”, “smooth”, “fine”, “ultimate”, “refined”, and “chilled”.
[47][48] In Meeuwissen v Hilton Hotels of Australia Pty Ltd (1997), the plaintiff argued environmental smoke in a nightclub constituted unlawful discrimination based on disability, and was awarded $AU2000 in compensation.
[50] Philip Morris Asia Limited challenged this directive under a bilateral trade agreement with Hong Kong, but did not succeed.
[51] Cuba, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Indonesia also filed a World Trade Organization complaint, but the WTO upheld the plain packaging law in 2017.
[52] Some magazines have not yet ended tobacco advertising within their issues, largely due to the fact that it remains unprohibited upon a legal basis, likewise with promotions as well as free public distribution, mounting concern amongst organisations as a result.
Canada proposed a plan for their three biggest tobacco companies to pay out $32.5 billion to Canadian provinces, territories, and smokers.
[57] In 2011, the National People's Congress (NPC) passed the 12th Five-Year Plan, which included a call to completely ban smoking in public places.
[59] However, public health advocates have been pushing for stricter regulations to curb tobacco use, citing the economic burden of tobacco-related diseases on the healthcare system.
India is a signatory to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), which mandates strong anti-tobacco measures, including bans on advertising, higher taxes, and warning labels.
[62] In 2017, in preparation for the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted in Tokyo, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry called to ban smoking in public facilities.
[61] In 2018, the plan for a total smoking ban was revised to include certain exceptions, such as separate rooms for smokers in restaurants in exempting "small-scale" establishments.
[67] In 2006, the Duma passed limited tobacco advertising regulations, which still allowed for small warnings on cigarette packs without graphics.
[67] When the Ministry of Health and Social Development (MoHSD) proposed tobacco legislation based on the concept, the bill was suspended within two days.
The remaining countries are: Ireland, UK, France, Finland, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Lithuania, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Austria, Greece and Belgium.
