Smoking Controversy to Erupt in 2009 as Tobacco-Funded President Exits

As George W. Bush prepares to pass the torch of the presidency, there are many questions at hand, but one thing is for certain: when the new president of the United States of America takes office in 2009, the controversies regarding tobacco-related legislation are sure to heat up.

Since the turn of the century, lawmakers in America have consistently imposed restrictions on the use of tobacco products. In a newly published report, the Center for Disease Control stated that from December 31, 2004 to December 31, 2007 seventeen states began requiring the private work sector to become smoke-free, fourteen states banned smoking in restaurants, and nine states banned smoking in bars.

USA Today reports that bills limiting the sale of tobacco products in pharmacies have been proposed in the states of New Hampshire, Illinois, Tennessee, and New York as well as the city of San Francisco. In addition to that, California, a state that already prohibits smoking in playgrounds, concert halls, and some public beaches, recently saw its state Senate pass a proposal that would allow landlords to ban smoking in their buildings according to the Los Angeles Times.

Just this year, the Federation of Tax Administrators has reported cigarette tax increases in forty-four states from the years 2000-2008. The FTA also showed four increases in the state of New Jersey alone, putting New Jersey atop the nation collecting $2.575 in state tax per pack of twenty cigarettes sold. In September of 2007, Fox News reported that both the House and Senate passed a $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program to be funded by a 156 percent increase to the federal cigarette tax, which was ultimately vetoed by President George W. Bush.

That brings us to the passing of the torch. The above-mentioned restrictions on tobacco products were all imposed during the tenure of a president whose campaigns received over a quarter of a million dollars in donations from tobacco industry employees according to Media General News Service. In comparison, Media General News Servicereported that Republican presidential nominee John McCain has received only $25,000 from similar donors and likely Democratic nominee Barrack Obama has received only $20,000 from tobacco industry employees. Media General News Servicealso reported that unlike President Bush, both McCain and Obama are in favor of giving the FDA authority over tobacco and both candidates have voted for stricter tobacco control measures than Bush.

Whoever takes over the oval office in 2009 can also expect to receive a barrage of attacks from non-smokers for financial reasons alone. In a time where gas prices are soaring and the value of the American dollar is plummeting, Americans are also facing health care costs that are rising at the fastest rate in our history as the National Coalition on Health Care is reporting that the average employee contribution to company-provided health insurance has increased more than 143 percent since 2000. Consider the fact that the cost of treating lung cancer along in the year 2004, the most recent year that the CDC reported this statistic, was $9.6 billion, and it seems apparent that tobacco will become a target of American non-smokers who are enraged by the increased cost of health care.

Though no one knows for certain what the future holds for the tobacco industry, given the recent trend of tobacco restrictions, the tobacco-related voting records of our presidential candidates, and the relationship between the cost of treating diseases caused by the use of tobacco and increasing healthcare costs, it seems as if the debate on smoking is only beginning to heat up.

Sources Cited:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5720a3.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-05-09-cigarettes-sales_N.htm
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-smoke30-2008may30,0,4402494.story
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/cig_inc02.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298663,00.html
http://www.oanow.com/oan/news/local/article/on_tobacco_issues_advocates_say_all_presidential_candidates_better_than_bus/18074/
http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/statistics/cost.htm