Uncle Sam Gets Big Tobacco to Fund Anti-Smoking Campaign

Posted by Mark J. Miller on November 3, 2011 03:03 PM

The U.S. government is always happy to make a few extra tax dollars but there is one source of tax cash that they are hoping to stop receiving — and are even willing to spend money to try and help make it end.

We’re talking, of course, about cigarettes, the cough-inducing habit that our culture is working hard to stamp out with its collective heel. That stamping often comes in the form of so-called sin taxes so high that it can cost close to $15 to buy a pack of smokes in New York City. And, of course, there are the nasty packages slated for Sept. 2012 that will inform consumers of just what tobacco can do to you or your unborn child that cigarette manufacturers will soon have to put their product in.

Uncle Sam is now planning to augment the graphic shock packaging with the dreaded E word: education.

The Associated Press reports that the Food and Drug Administration “is planning to spend about $600 million over five years to educate the public about the dangers of tobacco use.” The massive push will augment its current "Break the Chain of Tobacco Addiction" consumer education campaign.

This new effort is partially because the number of smokers, which had been decreasing, has hit a plateau in recent years, the AP notes. The number of adult smokers in the U.S. in 1970 was about 40 percent and that number has fallen to about 20 percent (or 46 million Americans) but has remained there since 2004, the AP notes. Still, though, there are about 443,000 Americans dying each year from tobacco use.

“One of the big lessons that I’ve learned is that we might have great public health programs, but they will fail if we do not adequately educate the public about them,” Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, told the AP.

So “the first campaign will target youth, minorities and other groups including gays, the military and people with disabilities,” the Associated Press reports. “Ads will run in print and on TV, and the campaign will also use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.”

Oh, and don’t worry, citizens — your tax dollars aren’t paying for this. Guess who’s paying for it? That’s right, the tobacco industry.

More about: FDA, Tobacco, Cigarettes, Health, PSA, Campaigns, Advertising, US

florarie comenzi flori says:

From my view the best will be if all the cigarettes are banned in every country.

November 3, 2011 04:58 PM #

Rich says:

What a stupid idea. If you outlaw cigarettes (just as when you outlaw anything), a black market will develop. So you are replacing an industry that has structures to reduce underage smoking and that reports to the FDA on everything they do with an industry that will report to NO ONE. Underground markets don't care about age restrictions nor do they bother themselves with the ingredients that go into their products. I do not smoke and never will, but the idea of outlawing cigarettes is not adequately thought through. Essentially, you are talking about turning cigarettes into the next marijuana. And we know that no one uses that anymore right? It is everywhere and people of all ages use it to the point that the amount of drug usage continues to grow amongst younger age groups. As cited in the article, roughly 46 million people still smoke. Do you really think that many people will stop smoking cigarettes if they're outlawed?

Another fun fact, tobacco companies probably pay the most taxes of any companies operating in the US. So if you are not worried about budget deficits now, wait and see what happens when you eliminate all of the tax revenue the government relies on from cigarette manufacturers.

November 4, 2011 05:09 PM #