News Brief

Although 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have passed strong anti-smoking legislation, and last year seven strengthened their existing laws, federal officials are not getting the job done at the national level.

One wonders why not.

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show that 1 in 5 Americans still smoke.

• In recent years, science has established the highly addictive properties of tobacco. Yes, many people smoke and quit. But so many cannot.

• Tobacco, unlike alcohol, has not one health benefit associated with its use. Moderate alcohol intake has many.

Why, then, is it hard to get action at the federal level?

From Reuters News Service

“The U.S. Congress and President George W. Bush have stymied efforts to tighten regulation of tobacco and discourage smoking and states have not spent nearly enough to battle cigarettes, the American Lung Association said on Thursday.

“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. (Emphasis added)

“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,” the report reads.

Source: Reuters News Service, January 9, 2008