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Lawmakers turn back plan to fight candy-flavored tobacco with stimulus dollars

By JASON STEIN |WI State Journal| Posted: Thursday, January 14, 2010 1:15 pm

Lawmakers on Thursday morning rejected a plan to use $3 million in federal stimulus funding to restrict the sale of candy-flavored tobacco products that critics say are aimed at youths.

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted to send the request back to the state Department of Health Services.

The department had proposed to use the money to fund a statewide campaign to persuade local communities around Wisconsin to ban sales of products like cherry-flavored chaw.

A state official said the backdoor approach could eventually lead to a statewide prohibition just as local bans on smoking in bars and restaurants led to the statewide ban taking effect in July. But one Republican lawmaker said the idea makes a mockery of the federal stimulus bill's primary goal of creating jobs.

"This has nothing whatsoever to do with job creation," said Rep. Phil Montgomery, R-Ashwaubenon, who pledged to oppose the proposal.

Health Services spokesman Seth Boffeli said the proposal would improve people's health and save money on health care costs from diseases linked to tobacco.

"This candy-flavored smokeless tobacco is being marketed directly at kids in junior high and high school," Boffeli said.

New tobacco products range from mango-flavored cigars and apple snuff to snus packets, which are similar to tiny teabags filled with tobacco that users place in their mouth, and "dissolving" tobacco that can be put in candies similar to mints.

"Most parents I've talked to had no idea most of (these products) existed," Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smokefree Wisconsin, said. "It's important that teachers, coaches, mentors of kids all know what is out there and intervene early."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that in 2004 a study found that 22.8 percent of 17-year-old smokers reported using flavored cigarettes over the past month - compared to just 6.7 percent of smokers over the age of 25.

A federal law signed by President Obama in June bans the sale of candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes but doesn't extend that prohibition to other tobacco products. New York City passed a ban on most other flavored tobacco products in October.

Boffeli acknowledged that lawmakers could simply pass a statewide ban on flavored tobacco if there is support for it but said it was better to build that support first.

Montgomery said that any ban on flavored products was best left to the federal government and that the state shouldn't be paying groups to influence local governments or public opinion.

Busalacchi, whose group won't receive money from the grant, said she believed any campaign would focus on informing the community, not direct lobbying of leaders.

Bill Phelps, a spokesman for Altria Group, which owns Phillip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, said federal law preempts local governments such as New York City from passing their own bans.

"When you ban a product like this, it can have a significant effect on local businesses," Phelps said.

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Injury Policy Brief from MCW's Injury Research Center

Contributed by: Stephen W. Hargarten, MD, MPH (Director, Injury Research Center) & Timothy E. Corden, MD (Co-Director, Injury Research Center Policy Core)

Attached is the most recent Injury Policy Brief from the Injury Research Center (IRC) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. The brief entitled, Graduated Driver Licensing Policy Across the Great Lakes Region: Benefits and Future Potential, outlines the benefits of Graduated Drivers Licensing's policy for teen age drivers and their families, as well as how these policies can be enhanced to further reduce the burden of unnecessary death and injury associated with teen drivers.

The IRC is a comprehensive federally funded research center dedicated to reduce the burden of injury in Midwest Region V states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). IRC injury briefs are intended to bring the best research available to decision makers as they consider how to address critical public health safety issues. One of the Center's aims is to foster the process of "evidence-based" policy decision-making, bring research solutions to communities in an effort to save lives and health care dollars while improving the quality of life for citizens in the Great Lake Region.

Should you have any questions or desire additional information, please feel free to contact us at the Injury Research Center. We look forward to partnering with decision makers in an effort to safeguard the health of our communities.

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WPHA Board Approves Position on Health Care Reform

Members Urged to Participate in PHACT Campaign

The Board of Directors met August 21 and discussed a position and principles on health care reform. Eric Gass, PhD (Chair of the Policy Develop and Review Committee) presented a summary of current proposals and reviewed the APHA agenda on health care reform. The board agreed to adopt the APHA principles, urge members to participate in the PHACT campaign (http://www.apha.org/advocacy/tips/PHACT+Campaign.htm) and present a resolution to the membership for their consideration at the next annual meeting. For a copy of the resolution, click here.

The principles adopted by the board include:

Reform Health Care Coverage and Delivery. We must ensure coverage for quality, affordable health care for all. This means covering the over 46 million uninsured, and improving the quality and safety of the health care system, including building a modern health information infrastructure.

Comprehensive health care coverage for all. All people living in this country should have comprehensive benefits, including evidence-based clinical preventive services, managment of chronic diseases and conditions, behavioral health, dental and vision care, and reproductive health services, without restrictions in coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

Strong public programs. Public programs serve vital functions in our health system. Safety net programs such as public health clinics and Veterans Administration health services provide direct services for particular populations that cannot be replaced by private providers. As people move from the rolls of the underinsured and uninsured, we must strengthen funding for these public programs to assure that patients do not fall through the cracks. In addition, strengthening and expanding public insurance programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP builds on what works best in our system. As a starting point, Medicare, which is consistently scored as the most efficient insurance program for health coverage, should be expanded as a coverage option for all.

Access to affordable and high-quality health care for all. Health reform must strengthen the health service delivery system to ensure access to timely, appropriate, culturally competent and affordable high quality health care services, and create an equitable distribution of resources nationwide. A fundamental shift in reimbursement and other policies that promote primary care is also required to ensure individuals are given the best opportunity for disease prevention or treatment at the earliest opportunity. A continued investment in health information technology that promotes achieving care of the highest quality, safety and efficiency is required.

First dollar support for evidence-based clinical preventive services. Clinical preventive services are critical for long-term health and wellness. There are clear data indicating which clinical preventive services are most effective, but barriers still exist to providing and accessing these services. High priority, age appropriate, evidence-based clinical preventive services must be provided with no co-pays or co-insurance in all public and private health insurance programs.

Expand the public health and primary care workforce. Health reform legislation must significantly increase support and funding for programs that provide loan repayments, scholarships and other grants for the training of public health personnel, primary care physicians, nurses and other health providers. It must also improve the distribution and diversity of health professionals in medically underserved communities, as well as ensure there is a capable health work force able to provide care for all Americans and respond to the growing demands of our aging and increasingly diverse population.

Address the Social Determinants of Health. Inform policy-makers and the general public that health care accounts for only a small fraction of what determines health outcomes. If Americans’ overall health outcomes are to become competitive with other developed countries, steps must be taken beyond the health care reform principles outlined above. Broader discussions and policy that addresses poverty, education, employment, and a variety of other social determinants of health that, when taken together, actually have a stronger influence than health care on whether people can be healthy and stay healthy in the first place.

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Swine Flu Updates

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has established a web page that will be updated daily concerning the current investigation of human cases of Swine Flu Influenza A. The page includes information and guidance for clinicians, public health personnel, and the public: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/swine/investigation.htm. Wisconsin information is available at the Department of Health Services website at http://dhs.wisconsin.gov.

Your local health department may have information available on its website as well; see http://dhs.wisconsin.gov/localhealth/index.htm for a list of local health departments and their websites.

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Be a Friend of Public Health Today..

WPHA supports activities to promote and protect our state’s public health. With your help, we can do even more. Friends of Public Health increases our efforts to promote and protect health by raising money for special projects, activities and new initiatives. Become a friend of public health today!

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Visit WPHA's Online Merchandise Store!!!

Show your support of WPHA by purchasing WPHA merchandise that proudly displays the WPHA logo. WPHA has joined with Cafe Press, an online merchandise company, to offer a variety of items available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds from each sale will help support WPHA activities.

Click here to browse and purchase WPHA items.

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WPHA Survey to Assess Member Learning Needs

Survey conducted and results compiled by theWPHA Workforce Development Committee

Click here to view survey results

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This is Public Health

Lawmakers turn back plan to fight candy-flavored tobacco with stimulus dollars