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Excerpt from Toxic-Tobacco Law-1

To protect the public health by (1) making it illegal for corporations and other legal entities operating in the United States to manufacture, market, sell, or import cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, cigarillos, chewing tobacco, snuff, pipe tobacco, and cigarette tobacco for commercial trade, (2) providing to all stakeholders (e.g., farmers) an adjustment period of five years between the date of passage and date of implementation of this Act, while (3) allowing adult consumers 21 years of age and older to buy, make, import, possess and use toxic-tobacco products for their personal use.

See the whole Law (the Bill) and discussion.

Toxic-Tobacco Law: "Appropriate Remedial Action"

Presented at the 11th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health, Chicago, August 9, 2000

Toxic-tobacco products, despite being lethal and addictive, are highly attractive and accessible to children at hundreds of thousands of retail outlets in the United States. The proposed Toxic-Tobacco Law (Law) would end this state by prohibiting corporations in the United States from making, marketing or importing toxic-tobacco products.

The Law would go into effect twenty years (latest proposal, five years) after enactment, giving all stakeholders (e.g., farmers, taxing jurisdictions) time to adjust. During the twenty-year adjustment period adults would be "free" to obtain products from their usual sources, and thereafter import them, or possibly buy them from "federal stores." Unlike Prohibition, which sought to stop Americans from consuming alcohol, the Toxic-Tobacco Law does not seek to restrict consumption by adults.

The purpose of the Toxic-Tobacco Law is to end the massive presence of toxic-tobacco products in American society in order to prevent the addiction of children to toxic-tobacco and its subsequent devastating health consequences (e.g., heart and lung disease). Also, the advertising and retail milieu, devoid of toxic-tobacco products, would become more conducive to quitting toxic-tobacco than the current one.

The U.S. Congress, under the "commerce clause" of the Constitution, has the authority to pass the Law. By passing the Toxic-Tobacco Law, Congress would be heeding the response of twelve editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association to the revelations in the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Documents: "[W]e should force the removal of this scourge from our nation and by doing so set an example for the world."

This presentation expanded the debate on reducing the negative health effects of toxic-tobacco by giving 1) arguments for passing the Law, 2) advantages and disadvantages of 20-year adjustment period, 3) comparisons of the Law to Prohibition, and 4) alternative legal remedies for ending the massive presence of tobacco products in American society.

The Toxic-Tobacco Law: "Appropriate Remedial Action"

Abstract from Gerace,TA. Journal of Public Health Policy. 1999;20(4):394-407

Tobacco products, despite being lethal and addictive, are highly attractive and accessible to children at hundreds of thousands of retail outlets. The proposed Toxic-Tobacco Law (Law) will end this access by prohibiting U.S. corporations from making, marketing, or importing tobacco products. The Law will go into effect twenty years after enactment, giving all stakeholders (e.g., farmers) time to adjust. After this adjustment period, adults will be "free" to import tobacco products for personal use. Unlike Prohibition, which sought to stop Americans from consuming alcohol, the Toxic-Tobacco Law does not seek to restrict consumption by adults.

The purpose of the Law is to end the massive presence of tobacco products in American society in order to prevent the addiction of children to tobacco and its devastating health consequences (e.g., lung cancer). The U.S. Congress, under the "commerce clause" of the Constitution, has the authority to pass the Toxic-Tobacco Law.