In this episode, we’re talking about the largest monetary settlements in the tobacco prevention and control field since the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998, which was 25 years ago. Starting in 2021, Juul, the company known for leading the way in addicting an entire generation of youth to nicotine through its targeted marketing and wide array of flavors, began settling with states’ Attorneys General, cities, counties, tribes, school districts, and individuals who brought personal injury claims after using Juul products, for intentionally and inaccurately marketing their highly addictive products to minors. In this episode, we walk you through these settlements involving Juul and Altria that totaled well over 1 billion dollars and the settlements’ impact at the point of sale.

Notes: 

• More on Juul’s rise and fall
  • Read Jamie Ducharme’s book, Big Vape
  • Watch Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul documentary on Netflix
• Public Health Law Center’s Juul Litigation Settlement Guide & Interactive Map
• More on how public health organizations believe Juul Settlement Agreement funds should be used:
  • Health groups urge states to spend Juul settlement dollars on tobacco prevention
  • Public Health Law Center’s document, How to Spend Juul Settlement Funds: Champion Our Children, Target Commercial Tobacco

In this episode, we’re talking about the corrective statement signs that tobacco companies are currently being required to post at the point of sale. These signs are part of the results of a court case decision from 2006 that convicted major tobacco companies of racketeering – for a decades-long conspiracy to deliberately mislead the public about the health risks of smoking and secondhand smoke and about the addictiveness of their deadly products. We'll cover  some background on what led to this requirement, what the requirements really are, and how tobacco prevention and control advocates can use this as an opportunity to work toward change. 

Notes: 

• Read the full text of these court-ordered corrective statements and see images of all 17 point-of-sale signs.
• Read Judge Kessler's final opinion and the court order
• History of the case:
• • 23 Year History of the Racketeering Lawsuit Against the Tobacco Industry: Guilty of Deceiving the American Public, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
  • United States vs. Philip Morris (1999), Public Health Law Center
  • Timeline: United States v. Philip Morris USA Inc., et al., Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids
  • U.S. Racketeering Verdict: Big Tobacco Guilty as Charged, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids 
  • Department of Justice Lawsuit Against the Tobacco Industry, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
• More on the corrective statements at the point of sale:

o   Starting July 1, Tobacco Companies Must Post Signs About Health Risks of Smoking at About 220,000 Stores Across U.S. – Signs Stem from 2006 Racketeering Verdict Against Companies, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids 

• Media campaign: "Tobacco Stops With Me" Corrective Statement Media Campaign, Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Fund (TSET) 

In this episode, we're talking about the environmental impact of commercial tobacco products. Despite not typically being at the forefront of commercial tobacco prevention and control efforts, now more so than ever, it is paramount to understand how commercial tobacco products negatively impact our environment. You’ll hear about the manufacturing of tobacco, the use of non-biodegradable cigarette filters which remain the world’s most littered plastic item, the impact of e-cigarette and e-liquid waste, and ways that communities across the country are standing up to the commercial tobacco industry to reduce the environmental impact of tobacco products. 

Read a transcript of the episode.

In this episode, we are talking about advocacy through the eyes of youth. On May 16-19th, youth groups and organizations from around the country came together in-person in Washington D.C. to meet each other, participate in activities, learn more about the tobacco industry, and rally against one of the largest tobacco companies, Altria. One of these groups is Reality Check out of New York, who organizes this Mobilize Against Tobacco Lies (MATL) event each year. During this event last month, participating youth spoke out against tobacco industry targeting and made it known they will not stand for this through their advocacy efforts. You will hear more about this example of youth who are making a difference during this episode.

Read a transcript of the episode. 

In this episode, we’re taking a look into the future! Each January, we make some predictions about the top trends in retail tobacco prevention and control work to pay attention to. In this episode, we walk you through each of our 8 categories of focus for 2023. They are:

• a focus on health equity in pos tobacco control
• comprehensive bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products
• tobacco retailer licensing
• a changing tobacco product and nicotine landscape
• endgame strategies
• battles over preemption, and
• partnerships to create healthier places. 

Read a transcript of the episode. You can also see a written version of our top point of sale trends to watch in 2023 here.

In this episode, we're talking about contracts between tobacco retailers and tobacco companies and their impact on the retail environment with our guest, Allie Reimold, MA.

Allie is a doctoral student in the Department of Health Behavior at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She studies how the private sector creates retail environments that ultimately impact chronic disease. Her current work utilizes mixed methods approaches to understand how food- and tobacco-purchasing behavior can be influenced by product availability, pricing, and promotion, particularly in the rapidly expanding dollar store market. As part of this work, Allie highlights the need for policy options and organizational programming that equitably addresses the commercial determinants of health in the retail setting.

She and her colleagues recently published a paper entitled "Tobacco company agreements with tobacco retailers for price discounts and prime placement of products and advertising: a scoping review." Join us as we talk through their findings, including what these contracts are, what they require of retailers, what they provide to them, and what the contracts' ultimate impact is on the retailers, on consumer behaviors, as well as on tobacco use and health.

In this episode, we're talking all about preemption. Earlier this year, along with our partners at ChangeLab Solutions, we published a resource on this topic called the Tobacco Point of Sale Preemption Playbook. It equips tobacco prevention staff and their partners with the knowledge, context, and resources needed to understand how preemption influences their work. In this episode, we talk through some of the basics of what preemption means, the different forms it can take, how to determine what your community’s local authority to pass policy actually is, and ways that communities across the country are making progress despite being preempted.

In this episode, we provide a primer on tobacco-related Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC), which are legally binding and enforceable agreements between companies (i.e. big tobacco retailers) and one or more states (under each state attorneys general) in which the retailer agrees to adhere to certain standards and practices to reflect their commitment to the responsible marketing of tobacco products. Common examples of these standards and practices include limiting the type and location of tobacco advertising permitted, prohibiting the sale of look-a-like products, and prohibiting self-service tobacco displays. These provisions are designed to prevent the sale of tobacco to minors and to reduce the appeal of tobacco products and tobacco product advertising that are targeted to youth. Learn more about the background behind these agreements, why AVCs are beneficial, and how local and state tobacco control programs can help.