***State
of Virginia
and secondhand smoke
** Breast Cancer linked --
again -- to 2ndhandsmoke
***Nicotine
Cartel's Shareholder
Cheerleader Meetings
***FDA
-- federal legislation
Why oppose the current legislation to
have the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) "regulate" some tobacco products? The mission statement of
the FDA is to protect the public health. Allowing addictive
lethal drugs to be advertised and marketed does not protect the public
health, and the FDA legislation would prohibit the FDA from
taking
effective action on tobacco.
Additionally, and most importantly, the FDA legislation would give
tobacco companies virtual immunity from legal prosecution.
In less than a month there have
been two jury decisions in Florida, a decision of the Massachusetts
Supreme Judicial Court, and a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, all
against the
tobacco companies -- this underscores that the current FDA
legislation should be
defeated since it would provide virtual legal immunity for the tobacco
industry from being held accountable for their actions. There are
other reasons to oppose the current language of the legislation.
Legislation before the US House of
Representatives,
HR 1256
(text - 3 versions, see one that passed House), on the Food and Drug
Administration and oversight
of
cigarettes and smokeless tobacco --
***
Philip
Morris supports this bill,
*** it would endanger state laws
on
tobacco,
***
would provide immunity for
tobacco companies from legal prosecution by establishing national
standards for cigarettes,
***
would give PM the market advantage
over other companies,
***
would not regulate nicotine
as the poison and addictive core of the tobacco products,
***
the FDA would be prohibited
from eliminating nicotine from cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and
prohibited from banning these products, unlike their powers over other
dangerous, addictive, lethal drugs,
*** would put the federal
government in partnership with the nicotine cartel, and put
tobacco representatives on science boards,
and
*** would not touch any tobacco product such as cigars, cigarillos, hookah, electronic
nicotine delivery devices, and other new products currently
being test marketed by the industry.
This has passed the U.S. House of Representatives. It is also
called the Family
Protection and Tobacco Control Act. It would not protect families
and it would not control tobacco. It is a Philip Morris
protection bill.
The Senate version will be introduced soon.
You may wish to call your two Senators in the US Congress
(1-202-224-3121 switchboard) to urge
defeat of all legislation to put the FDA in charge of SOME tobacco
products.
Florida Republican Senator seeks appeals
bond-cap on lawsuits -- Opponents say it's a free gift to tobacco
companies
Second Jury
in less than a month finds against tobacco companies for addicting
& killing customer -- this time it is the Vector Group
(Chesterfield cigarettes) --
No other manufacturer treats their
consumers this way -- addicting them, killing them, blaming the victim
for becoming addicted and dying, and the tobacco companies have never
apologized, never repented, never agreed to stop doing this. If
the FDA legislation passes, tobacco companies will be able to expand
their nicotine cartel to put nicotine in almost everything.
Jury
finds against Philip Morris in smoker's death -- PM must pay $8
million
-- how much is a life worth to the nicotine cartel?
From news
articles: "The jury that
decided a 40-year chain-smoker was helplessly addicted to
nicotine must now decide whether tobacco giant Philip Morris owes his
family potentially millions of dollars for his death from lung cancer.
..."
and
"They
are
co-conspirators with other major corporations regarding the health
effects and dangerous nature of smoking," another of Hess' attorneys,
Gary Paige, said. "There's no more of a sinister act than that."
and
"It
certainly
is a very bad sign for Altria that this first of the potentially up to
thousands of cases has gone against them so dramatically and so
emphatically," [Edward] Sweda said.
and
Alex
Alvarez, an attorney for Elaine Hess, said, "She's a 110-pound
elementary school teacher, and she went up against Philip Morris, one
of the most powerful companies in the world, and won."
March 16, 2009: Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court allows trial to go forward in
Aspinall, et al. v. Philip Morris, et al. regarding light cigarette scam
Virginia --
2009 Election, Governor -- Big
tobacco and its money is now an election issue
2009
legislation Legislation 2009
--- News Excerpts 2009 Current Law
until December 1, 2009.
March 9, 2009 -- Governor
Timothy Kaine signed the no-smoking in restaurants, bars
legislation, 2 pm at Croc's 19th Street Bistro in Virginia Beach, Va.
Governor
Kaine noted that when he signed an executive order in 2006 banning
smoking in state buildings and vehicles, he did not hear a single
complaint.
Delegate
David Englin (D) said: "Knowing that workers in restaurants that
allow smoking are twice as likely to develop lung cancer, this new law
is a real victory for public health."
Dr.
Thomas Eppes, Medical Society Virginia remarked: "The knock in
pediatrics is children exposed to secondhand smoke get sick at twice
the rate."
On
the passage of a restaurant, bar smoking ban in Virginia, to be
effective December 1, 2009:
[Governor] Kaine ...
called passage
Thursday “a very significant accomplishment” .... He said he ranks it alongside the
administrative ban on smoking he imposed on all state buildings in
2006, shortly after he took office. Associated
Press article.
Text
of the legislation following the conference committee action --
this incorporates both the current state law and the proposed changes
related to restaurants.
Thursday,
February 19, 2009 -- afternoon --
The Virginia Senate and Virginia
House of Delegates has passed the conference committee rewriting of the
"compromise" bill on no-smoking in restaurants and bars. Smoking
is prohibited as of Dec. 1, 2009, unless the restaurant owner
constructs a separately ventilated room preferably with an outdoor
entrance. Hopefully, most restaurant owners will prefer to have
no-smoking rather than construct a separate room where employees are
still exposed to deadly secondhand and even thirdhand (particulate
matter, nicotine residue, etc.) smoke.
Thursday, February 19, 2009 --
7:30 am, subcommittee of the
House Militia, Police and Public Safety
left
Senator Northam's SB 1106, no-smoking in
cars when children are present, "on the table" which kills it.
Delegates Cline, Athey,
Poindexter, Gilbert, and Shuler are on this subcommittee.
House
rules allow subcommittees to pass or kill a bill. The chair of
the full committee, Delegate Beverly Sherwood, had the power to bring
the bill before the full committee even if the bill is killed by
subcommittee, but she did not do this.
More of the saga is at the 2009
legislative history page, and the excerpted media
reports page.
Virginia's current
no-smoking
law
Virginia 2009
Legislative efforts to free
people from secondhand smoke, and 2009
News items about the legislation.
Ohio judge
-- no constitutional right to smoke in public!
Review of selected 2008
Entries -- health vs. tobacco
Review of the selected entries for 2007
The Face
of Evil
Contents
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Updated 6 May 2009