Analyzing Cigar Regulation and other Legal Interventions to Reduce Cigar Use

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Project Summary:

A recent report issued by the National Institutes of Health documented the serious health consequences of cigar smoking as well as alarming national marketing and consumption trends. Cigar smoking causes oral, esophageal, laryngeal and lung cancers. Cigar consumption has risen dramatically in the United States since 1993, a trend which coincides with a period of intensive marketing and promotion by the cigar industry. Adolescent cigar smoking rates are particularly alarming, with both boys and girls reporting cigar use. Policy-makers at the state, local and national levels have largely ignored the public health risks of cigar smoking. For example, on the federal level, cigars are excluded from health warning and labeling requirements, the prohibition on television and radio advertising, regulation by the Food and Drug Administration and tobacco ingredients reporting and disclosure laws. Despite the increase in consumption and proliferation of information about the health risks of cigar smoking, the legal policy gap between cigars and cigarettes (as well as smokeless tobacco) continues to widen. The recently adopted Multi-State Settlement, which does not cover cigars, is the most recent example of this trend. This project will produce and disseminate research in five key areas of cigar legal policy: health warnings and labels, ingredients reporting disclosure, electronic advertising restrictions, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) litigation and regulation and vending machine and self-service display restrictions. The goal of each of the five research components is to articulate policy rationales and to identify legal theories and mechanisms to close loopholes in public health policy and regulation of cigars. Project methodology will feature the use of traditional and computer-assisted legal research. Literature reviews in social science, science and public health journals will also be undertaken in relevant areas. Six legal policy articles presenting project findings with regard to health warnings, ingredients reporting and disclosure, electronic advertising, ETS litigation, ETS regulation and selected youth access restrictions (vending machines and self-service displays) will be produced for publication. Press conferences will be held for each topic when results are ready for public release. This combination of peer-reviewed publication and media exposure is designed to maximize the opportunities for project results to reach and be considered by public policy decision makers.