A newly proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would require corrective statements about cigarettes to be posted by manufacturers at the point of sale (POS) in stores where cigarettes are sold.
Background
In 1999, the U.S. government sued the major cigarette manufacturers, asserting claims under several federal statutes for conduct by the companies dating back to the 1950s.
Then, in 2006, as a part of the ongoing litigation, the federal district court approved a remedial order that, among other things, required Altria, Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco Co. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to publish “corrective statements” and disseminate them through several distribution channels to the public. Over the past few years, these messages were published in newspapers, on TV, on the manufacturer websites and on cigarette packages.
This remedial order also included a requirement for each of the manufacturers to display a sign with the corrective statements in retail stores that have promotional contracts with the companies. A federal appeals court struck down the retail sign requirement and instructed the lower federal court to either abandon the signage remedy or adopt a remedy that protected innocent retailers’ rights. Note that retailers were never a party to this litigation, nor did the retailers make the statements that the U.S. government sought to have manufacturers correct.
Current Proposal
Now, the DOJ has proposed a new POS sign remedy to the federal District Court that the manufacturers be required to display — for at least two years — 18 different POS message signs in stores that are under contract with one or more of the manufacturers.
Specifically, 25% of the area of POS cigarette displays for each manufacturer would need to be covered by the POS message signs. Moreover, 25% of any other point-of-purchase material that advertises or promotes the manufacturers’ cigarette brands must also be covered by the POS messages, whether or not a retailer has a contract with the manufacturers.
There are five main corrective statement topics, with each topic including either three or four specific proposed corrective messages (which add up to the 18 messages that the DOJ proposes to be displayed in retail stores). The five main topic areas are incorporated into a preamble and then followed by the specific messages under each main topic as outlined on the following page.
Preamble: A federal court has ordered Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA to make this statement about the health effects of smoking.
- Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day.
- More people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes and alcohol, combined.
- Smoking causes heart disease, emphysema, acute myeloid leukemia and cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, lung, stomach, kidney, bladder and pancreas.
- Smoking also causes reduced fertility, low birth weight in newborns and cancer of the cervix.
Preamble: A federal court has ordered Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA to make this statement about the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine.
- Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco.
- Cigarette companies intentionally designed cigarettes with enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction.
- It’s not easy to quit.
- When you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain — that’s why quitting is so hard.
Preamble: A federal court has ordered Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA to make this statement about low tar and light cigarettes being as harmful as regular cigarettes.
- Many smokers switch to low tar and light cigarettes rather than quitting because they think low tar and light cigarettes are less harmful. They are not.
- “Low tar” and “light” cigarette smokers inhale essentially the same amount of tar and nicotine as they would from regular cigarettes.
- All cigarettes cause cancer, lung disease, heart attacks and premature death — lights, low tar, ultra lights and naturals. There is no safe cigarette.
Preamble: A federal court has ordered Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA to make this statement about designing cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine.
- Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA intentionally designed cigarettes to make them more addictive.
- Cigarette companies control the impact and delivery of nicotine in many ways, including designing filters and selecting cigarette paper to maximize the ingestion of nicotine, adding ammonia to make the cigarette taste less harsh and controlling the physical and chemical make-up of the tobacco blend.
- When you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain — that’s why quitting is so hard.
Preamble: A federal court has ordered Altria, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Lorillard and Philip Morris USA to make this statement about the health effects of secondhand smoke.
- Secondhand smoke kills over 38,000 Americans each year.
- Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and coronary heart disease in adults who do not smoke.
- Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, severe asthma and reduced lung function.
- There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
The DOJ proposal includes a multi-color design for each sign, which consists of a magenta and aqua-blue stylized asterisk, the message in white text on a black background, and the preamble in black text on an aqua-blue background. Below is an example of one of the proposed DOJ POS signs:
An evidentiary hearing on the DOJ proposal is scheduled before the federal district court for this July. The cigarette manufacturers, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) and the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) are opposing the DOJ POS remedy.
Note: The proposed DOJ POS messages are separate and different from the Food and Drug Administration’s new graphic cigarette health warnings, which are to be printed on cigarette packages, cigarette cartons and in cigarette advertisements.
Thomas Briant is the executive director for the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO).