The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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August 4, 2008

Our View: Tobacco companies are tenacious

If nothing else, you have to admire tobacco companies for their unabashed arrogance in promoting the future of their industry.

Decades after being exposed for their deceptive marketing tactics, being forced to pay billions in settlements and promising to stop targeting youths, tobacco firms are still putting on a full-court press to hook kids.

The Harvard School of Public Health recently reported that tobacco companies have “a deliberate strategy to recruit and addict young smokers by adjusting menthol to create a milder experience for the first-time smoker.” The report was based on industry studies and memos uncovered by Harvard.

Juicing up the menthol was done after tobacco companies learned that about half of kids 12 to 17 who smoke prefer the milder menthol. (Some research is also beginning to show that kicking the smoking addiction is harder for menthol smokers because menthol intensifies the effects of nicotine.)

Tobacco companies are using other tactics to try to keep a steady source of future customers by targeting kids. Cigarettes with vanilla, clove and other flavorings are being marketed to make them more candy-like. Camel has a floral and pink designed cigarette box that appeals to girls.

The continuing campaign to get kids to try smoking is reason to support legislation that would give the federal government the power to regulate tobacco products for the first time.

The bill, which would give the FDA oversight of tobacco products and would specifically ban adding flavorings to cigarettes, has been approved by the House and awaits Senate action.

In spite of success in education and in instituting bans on smoking in public buildings, tobacco continues to kill 400,000 Americans a year. Tobacco companies have again and again shown they have no interest in simply offering a product to consenting adults, but instead use manipulation and deceit to hook kids.

It’s time the industry be given some oversight.

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