Online Program

Oral

While many members of the general public and legislative bodies believe that tobacco industry tactics to hook young people onto their products are all in the past, the presenters in this session will reveal how the industry continues to use several key tactics to undermine tobacco control and prevention policies at the local, state, national and international levels. Stories describing how lawmakers and tobacco control advocates are presented with false choice legislation pushed by the tobacco industry will be the focus of this session. Presenters will describe the landscape and structures of tobacco control efforts in various jurisdictions. Presenters will discuss how the industry increases sales and profits by pushing anti-preemption language, undermining excise taxes and price increases, using marketing, flavoring and celebrities to increase sales of cigars to young people, using children to get e-cigarettes and non-FDA approved nicotine-delivery devices reclassified as neither a tobacco product nor a cessation device and shirking responsibilities by demonizing smokers through legislation. A discussion of the impact that funding has on tobacco control efforts will also be discussed as an example of false choice.

Session Objectives: Describe how tobacco companies continue to use age-old tactics to undermine local, state, national and international tobacco control policies and public health. Explain how tobacco companies push false choice legislation in which lawmakers and tobacco control advocates are faced with political and ethical dilemmas. Identify what tobacco control advocates can do to side step and combat tobacco industry tactics. Identify strategies Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other countries have used to structure tobacco control and prevention efforts to combat tobacco industry tactics.