Regulation Versus Price Hike: Which is More Lethal to Big Tobacco

My mom always told us never to use the word “hate,” but when it comes to the Big Tobacco, well, I can’t help myself.

How many nurses have watched how many people die—slowly and painfully—as a result of smoking or using other tobacco products? I can answer the second question; it’s about 438,000 people every year.

Several of my relatives have been among these. Most started smoking in the 1950s or earlier when the tobacco companies told us that it was cool to smoke, that smoking made us sexier, that it was a good way to keep off weight, and—this seems unbelievable now—that certain brands were actually recommended by doctors. So sadly, these people were soundly addicted by the time the surgeon general officially and belatedly pronounced that smoking was dangerous to health.

And what do smoking-related illnesses cost us?

About $75 billion a year.

Imagine what we could do with that money if we didn’t have to spend it taking care of people with lung cancer, mouth cancer, esophageal cancer, cancer of the larynx, emphysema and a whole bunch of other health problems to which the use of tobacco contributes.

I almost cheered and kicked up my heels last week when I read that the tobacco industry will finally come under the control of the Food and Drug Administration. At first, I couldn’t believe my eyes; this move was unimaginable just a decade ago. The idea that the FDA would regulate the production of tobacco products used to be Big Tobacco’s worst nightmare. Unthinkable, they argued.

I’m not sure how the FDA will regulate a product that is designed to kill you or make you an addict. At the least, the agency should be able to assure us that cigarettes contain no asbestos, as some once did, and that the levels of nicotine in cigarettes are not surreptitiously increased.

Still, I’m a little nervous because FDA regulation is supported by the biggest tobacco company, Philip Morris USA, which is responsible for 50 percent of cigarette sales in this country. Big Tobacco never does anything that isn't to its benefit. For instance, they were more than happy to put warning labels on cigarette packages because that took them off the hook for liability.

I’m thinking that the recent hike in federal tax (62 cents), which makes the price of the cheapest pack about $5.50, may do more than anything else to snuff out the sale of cigarettes. Quite a few smokers who were interviewed by television reporters after the tax went into effect threw up their hands and said, “I can’t take it anymore. I’m quitting!”

We can only hope.