Events Archive
Events Archive
September 2009
On June 22, 2009, President Obama signed the historic Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, giving the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco products. This landmark legislation will give states and local jurisdictions important new authority to restrict cigarette advertising and promotion, while reserving for the federal government the exclusive authority to regulate the design of tobacco products themselves.
Given the scope and complexity of the new legislation, you may have questions about the law’s effect on local and state policies. The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium is pleased to introduce two new publications that we hope will address some of your questions.
Federal Regulation of Tobacco Products: A Summary. A series of fact sheets on key provisions of the new legislation.
Federal Regulation of Tobacco Products: Impact on State and Local Authority. A series of fact sheets on how the new federal law is likely to affect state and local governments.
In the coming months, the Consortium will be developing additional materials to address legal issues raised by the new legislation, to help state and local advocates take full advantage of the new opportunities it creates. Our main concern, as always, will be to provide the public health community with timely, accurate and practical information.
» Read more about the FDA regulation of tobacco.
April 2009
On April 8, the St. Paul City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance to prohibit the sale of novelty lighters and imitation tobacco products, such as candy cigarettes, in St. Paul. The law takes effect in a month and, according to the Star Tribune, makes St. Paul the only U.S. city to ban the sale of both fake tobacco products and lighters. The Tobacco Law Center prepared the first draft of the ordinance, in collaboration with the Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota (ANSR). While working with ANSR to evaluate the influences of the tobacco industry in their communities, several St. Paul high school students discovered that candy cigarettes were still sold in many stores. The students lobbied the mayor and council members to prohibit these products, and also testified at the April 8 public hearing when this topic was discussed.
» Read the St. Paul ordinance prohibiting the sale of imitation tobacco products
St. Paul Central High School School junior Calitta Jones testified about imitation tobacco products at the St. Paul City Council public hearing on April 8, 2009
The Tobacco Law Center’s WorkSHIFTS program launched the intervention phase of its newest research project at a luncheon presentation event entitled Tobacco Cessation: Making the Case for Action, held April 4, 2009, at the Minneapolis Convention Center in conjunction with the 2009 Labor Care Health and Benefits Fair. The event featured presentations by Dr. Jane Korn, Medical Director of the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Division at the Minnesota Department of Health, and Susan Weisman, JD, Director of WorkSHIFTS.
WorkSHIFTS and its community and research partners, the Minnesota Laborers, UNITE HERE, UFCW Local 789, and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, organized the event to promote the importance of tobacco cessation coverage in reducing tobacco use among the blue-collar workforce. Blue-collar workers have some of the highest smoking rates among all occupations and have a harder time quitting. Study participants who attended the event included consultants, administrators, and fund attorneys who advise labor and management trustees of Minnesota-based Taft-Hartley Health and Welfare Funds. Nationwide, Taft-Hartley Funds provide health benefits for an estimated 10 million union members, 20 million dependents, and millions of retirees.
On March 8-12, Doug Blanke, Director of the Tobacco Law Center, attended the World Conference on Tobacco Or Health in Mumbai, India. On March 13 and 14, he participated in the second international meeting of the Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network in Mumbai, India, where he presented on “A Human Rights Based Approach: Some Legal Challenges and Opportunities” and moderated a panel on legal challenges in applying human rights instruments to issues of tobacco and health.
» Read more about the Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network PDF, 25 Kb
Doug Blanke and Rajender Babu, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India and current Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of India, at the Human Rights and Tobacco Control Network meeting.
January 2009
Doug Blanke, Director of the Tobacco Law Center, was quoted in the Dec. 23 Finance and Commerce story, "’Light’ cigarette ruling will reignite Minnesota tobacco litigation.” Blanke said the U.S. Supreme Court in the recent Altria Group, Inc. v. Good decision, addressed what has been the “key issue” in several pending Minnesota “light” cigarette cases. “Blanke noted that the plaintiffs in the Minnesota marketing-related cases against ‘light’ cigarette makers are not seeking damages for an illness such as cancer, but instead are seeking monetary compensation for being lured by false claims into buying a product they otherwise would not have bought. Thus, plaintiffs don’t have to worry as much about causation issues as they would in a cancer case.” He pointed out that compensatory damages for individual plaintiffs are unlikely to be large dollar amounts, but that these cases still can be very lucrative since they can be combined into class actions and punitive damages may also be available.
» Read the Finance and Commerce story online (member login required)
October 2008
On October 8 and 9, 2008, ClearWay Minnesota hosted a symposium entitled Reducing Tobacco’s Harm: Innovation and Leadership in a Changing Environment at the IDS Center in Minneapolis, celebrating the organization’s successes in reducing the harms of tobacco use and commemorating ClearWay’s ten year anniversary. The event featured Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General, as the keynote speaker and included a panel discussion and breakout sessions on current topics in tobacco control. Other speakers included Dr. Michael Fiore, University of Wisconsin, Center of Tobacco Research and Intervention; Kay Kahler Vose, KKV Marketing and Consulting; Frank Vitale, Pharmacy Partnership for Tobacco Cessation; Rod Lew, Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organization; and Dr. Michael Cummings, Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Over the course of the two days, attendees at the symposium were able to view exhibits and displays by ClearWay grantees providing information about their research projects and tobacco control activities.
Dr. C. Everett Koop with Doug Blanke, recipient of the 2004 American Lung Association’s C. Everett Koop “Unsung Hero” Award, at the ClearWay symposium
» View more photos of this event on Picasa
September 2008
On October 23, 2007, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium held an interactive public health law symposium entitled “Going Too Far? Exploring the Limits of Smoking Regulation” at William Mitchell College of Law, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium symposium proceedings were published in William Mitchell Law Review Vol. 34:4 (2008).
» Read the symposium proceedings.
June 2008
The Tobacco Control Legal Consortium has filed an amicus brief in a significant U.S. Supreme Court case that could determine if consumers can sue tobacco companies under state law for false advertising of “light” cigarettes.
» Read more about this amicus brief.
May 2008
On Thursday, May 8, the Tobacco Law Center, in conjunction with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, hosted a reception at the Minneapolis Marriott Southwest in Minnetonka to commemorate the ten year anniversary of the historic Minnesota Tobacco Settlement. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop has called the settlement “one of the most significant public health achievements of the second half of the 20th century.” The reception capped off Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Prevention Minnesota Conference, a conference focusing on Blue Cross’ three health target areas: tobacco control, healthy eating and physical activity.
Doug D. Blanke, Director of the Tobacco Law Center, introduced the key participants in the original litigation who were attending the event: Andrew P. Czajkowski, former chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota; Michael V. Ciresi, partner with Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi; Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey III, former attorney general for the state of Minnesota; and Kenneth J. Fitzpatrick, presiding Ramsey County judge for the trial. The participants shared a few memories of the trial and spoke briefly on the settlement’s legacy, and each litigant received a plaque memorializing his involvement in the lawsuit.
» View photos of the reception on Flickr
Ten years ago, Minnesota reached an historic settlement with the tobacco industry. The landmark agreement opened the tobacco industry’s secret document vaults, exposing fifty years of deception. It created the first ban on cigarette marketing aimed at children. It brought down tobacco billboards and imposed the first bans on tobacco-branded merchandise and secret payments for using cigarettes in movies. It funded support for Minnesota smokers who want to quit. And it required the tobacco industry to pay the state of Minnesota $6.1 billion.
September 2007
The Tobacco Law Center at William Mitchell College of Law played an instrumental role as a legal resource during the drafting and debate of Minnesota’s new statewide smoke-free law. The Freedom to Breathe legislation eliminates smoking in all indoor public places and indoor places of employment, including bars and restaurants.
» William Mitchell College of Law profiles the Tobacco Law Center
» Freedom to Breathe PDF, 45 Kb
A summary of the Freedom to Breathe Provisions in the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act
A fact sheet from the Minnesota Department of Health