WINTER 2023

A new year brings new opportunities and hope for positive change. This year Tobacco Free Mass is very pleased to welcome Dr. Ellana Stinson, MD, MPH as the Chair of TFM.

2023 brings Kick Butts Day (KBD), back to an in-person event. On March 30th, we look forward to seeing the youth of Massachusetts at the State House to share, "what they care about most and what they are doing about it" with their legislators. Join youth from The 84 Movement and community leaders to learn about the influence of the tobacco and vaping industries in their communities. We hope you can join us to, Make Smoking History!

Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (TFK) ran an ad campaign in December to thank members of congress for their support of the FDA's action to eliminate menthol cigarettes. Click to see a copy of the ad. Full page ads ran in the Boston Globe (12/15) and Baystate Banner (12/22).

News you can use

The recently released 21st annual American Lung Association "State of Tobacco Control" report evaluates states and the federal government on the proven-effective tobacco control laws and policies necessary to save lives. The report serves as a blueprint for what state and federal leaders need to do to eliminate the death and disease caused by tobacco use. In the report, the Lung Association assigns letter grades, A through F, to the state and federal policies best proven to prevent and reduce tobacco use.
The new report also shows new steps taken at the federal level to prevent youth tobacco use, including new proposed rules to end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars and new action from Congress giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products made with synthetic nicotine.
A CDC poll, published on February 2nd, shows that there is support for policies to end the sale of all tobacco products. Nearly two-thirds of adults supported prohibiting menthol cigarette sales, while more than half of adults supported prohibiting all tobacco product sales.

In January 2023, the FTC released reports on cigarette and smokeless tobacco sales and marketing expenditures for 2021.The number of cigarettes that the largest cigarette companies in the US sold to wholesalers and retailers nationwide decreased from 203.7 billion in 2020 to 190.2 billion in 2021, according to the Federal Trade Commission's most recent Cigarette Report. The amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion increased from $7.84 billion in 2020 to $8.06 billion in 2021. Smokeless tobacco sales decreased from 126.8 million pounds in 2020 to 122 million pounds in 2021. Smokeless Tobacco Report.

Raising the tax on cigarettes and cigars remains one of the priority issues for TFM. At the end of January, TFM refiled a bill to increase the cigarette excise tax by $1. NY also has hopes of working towards a "tobacco-free" next generation. Governor Kathy Hochol wants the state to increase the cigarette tax bill by $1.00 and ban all flavored tobacco products.

What you can do

The American Lung Association (ALA) would like to show strong support for the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposals to prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. The FDA’s proposals will have a profound impact on reducing youth tobacco use, preventing tobacco-caused disease, and saving lives. It is time to put an end to the tobacco industry’s targeted efforts to use flavored products to lure youth into a lifetime of deadly addiction.

Dan Fitzgerald, ALA Advocacy Director, Rhode Island & Massachusetts, is getting the sign-ons in Massachusetts for the Rep. Pressley letter.The letter is linked below.

We encourage you to sign on! Please confirm your organization name and send your logo for a logo cloud. The sign deadline is February 22nd.

Letter to Rep. Ayanna Pressley

Upcoming Tobacco Free Mass Meetings

Mark your calendar. The next TFM Full Coalition and Advocacy Committee meetings are scheduled for the first Thursday in March.

March 2nd – Full Coalition meeting from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM on Zoom. To attend the meeting, you must register, just click this link.

March 2nd – Advocacy Committee meeting from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM on Zoom. To attend the meeting, you must register, just click this link.

I look forward to meeting many of you on March 2nd.

Last month I received an email from Dr. Howard Koh, a former Chair of TFM when it was the Massachusetts Coalition for a Healthy Future. He wrote to welcome me to TFM. He said he was also writing because, "last year, Gwen Stewart educated me about how complicated current TI activities had become in the era of “harm reduction”. This was an awakening for me and it has all led to this publication Dr. Mike Fiore and I put out in JAMA— attached. Hope you enjoy it."

Thank you all for your warm welcome!

Lisa

Lisa Phillips

Tobacco Coalition Director

m: (617) 795-4129

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