International Tobacco Treaty: U.S. Denied
By Kara Presnell, 11.17.05

The failure of the United States government on Sept. 8 to ratify a global tobacco treaty accepted by 100 other countries has caught some U.S. citizens off guard.

“I really hadn’t heard anything about it,” Kathy Hall, a Mitchell Community College student in Statesville, N.C. said.

“I can’t stand cigarette smoke, and second-hand smoke is as dangerous to my health as smoking a cigarette is to the user. I wish we would outlaw smoking period. It’s a dangerous and unhealthy habit.” Hall said.

According to National Public Radio [NPR], more than 70 percent of the world’s population lives in the 100 countries that have ratified the document, and though the United States signed the document two years ago, it was never submitted to the Senate for ratification.

“Our government is prioritizing Big Tobacco’s profits over people’s lives and international cooperation,” Corporate Accountability International Executive Director Kathryn Mulvey said.

“The Bush Administration is passing on one of the most pressing public health and corporate accountability agreements of our time.”

Even young Americans have strong opinions about smoking.

“I have asthma, and my mom smokes. I don’t like it ‘cause it can make me have an asthma attack,” 7-year-old Caitlin Brittain a second grader in Statesville, N.C. said. “I had to ride in an ambulance once (after suffering an attack). I live with my dad, and I’m glad he doesn’t smoke.”

Known as the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), the global tobacco treaty calls for a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship, and large graphic warning labels on the front and back of cigarette packs.

The signing countries also promise to restrict smoking in public places and to increase cigarette taxes. U.S. government sources acknowledge that tobacco companies here lobbied hard against the treaty, partly because of the increased cigarette taxes. Additionally, the Bush administration, when it signed the document, asked for an exemption on advertising rules that might restrict free speech.

Darryl Jason, vice president of the United States -based Tobacco Merchants Association, said if many countries raise cigarette taxes a lot, demand will fall and manufacturers will feel it.

But that isn’t the biggest concern, according to Mulvey.

“By 2030, the death toll related to cigarette smoke is projected to rise to 10 million a year, with 70 percent of those deaths in developing countries,” she said.

That is where the concern lies for public health advocates.