Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Touts Major Victory: Camel Crush Bold Taken Off the Market

The Rest of the Story would like to extend our congratulations to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, whose successful effort to promote the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act has just resulted in a major public health victory: the removal of Camel Crush Bold from the market.

Why is this such a victory for public health?

Because of these Camel brands currently available to consumers:

• Camel
• Camel Filters
• Camel Filters Wides
• Camel Filters 99's
• Camel Blue (Lights)
• Camel Blue Wides (Lights)
• Camel Blue 99's (Lights)
• Camel Platinum (Silver) (Ultra Lights)
• Camel Platinum (Silver) 99's (Ultra Lights)
• Camel Menthol (Crush)
• Camel Menthol Silver (Lights)(Crush)
• Camel Crush (Lights)
• Camel Crush Bold (Full Flavor)
• Camel Crush Menthol
• Camel Turkish Royal
• Camel Turkish Gold (Lights)
• Camel Turkish Silver (Ultra Lights)
• Camel No. 9
• Camel No. 9 100's
• Camel No. 9 Menthe
• Camel No. 9 Menthe 100's
• Kamel Red
• Kamel Red Smooth Taste (Lights)
• Camel Wides
• Camel Wides Menthol
• Camel Wides Menthol Green (Lights)

Now, only these brands will be available:

• Camel
• Camel Filters
• Camel Filters Wides
• Camel Filters 99's
• Camel Blue (Lights)
• Camel Blue Wides (Lights)
• Camel Blue 99's (Lights)
• Camel Platinum (Silver) (Ultra Lights)
• Camel Platinum (Silver) 99's (Ultra Lights)
• Camel Menthol (Crush)
• Camel Menthol Silver (Lights)(Crush)
• Camel Crush (Lights)
• Camel Crush Menthol
• Camel Turkish Royal
• Camel Turkish Gold (Lights)
• Camel Turkish Silver (Ultra Lights)
• Camel No. 9
• Camel No. 9 100's
• Camel No. 9 Menthe
• Camel No. 9 Menthe 100's
• Kamel Red
• Kamel Red Smooth Taste (Lights)
• Camel Wides
• Camel Wides Menthol
• Camel Wides Menthol Green (Lights)

As you can easily see, this is a major public health victory. My best scientific estimate of the number of lives this FDA action will save is:



But at least our politicians in Congress and at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids can rest easily, knowing that they are able to take public credit by deceiving people into thinking that this is a public health accomplishment that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, when in reality, the action has absolutely no relevance to public health. We did not witness any upsurge in youth cigarette smoking since Camel Crush Bolds entered the market. And we won't witness any downsurge in youth smoking now that this product is being taken off the market. Nor is the removal of Camel Crush Bold going to in any way make the cigarette market safer. However, this is exactly what the Campaign is implying in its self-congratulatory propaganda, which suggests that some cigarettes are less harmful than other cigarettes.

I find it quite ironic (and disturbing) that the major anti-smoking groups in the U.S. are willing to claim that some cigarettes are safer than others, but they are not willing to tell the public that electronic cigarettes are safer than tobacco cigarettes.

According to the Campaign: "The FDA must continue to vigorously enforce the law in order to reduce tobacco’s terrible toll on America’s families. "Unfortunately, the law does nothing to reduce tobacco's terrible toll. And the only two actions that the FDA could have taken that would have made a difference (banning menthol and restricting nicotine to extremely low levels) are actions that the FDA has not taken and will not take.

My best scientific estimate of the number of lives that the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act's regulatory provisions have saved is:



Here is the tally of lives saved by provision:

Prevention of new cigarettes from entering market: 0
Disclosure of ingredients: 0
Listing hazardous and potentially hazardous constituents: 0
Preventing youth access: 0
Promulgating cigarette product safety standards: 0 (no standards have been promulgated)
Raising the age of sale to 21: 0 (precluded by law)

The FDA has literally done nothing in terms of regulatory actions that has resulted in saving any lives. And they won't. To make matters worse, the FDA has focused much of its attention not on setting cigarette safety standards, but on establishing burdensome electronic cigarette regulations that are going to actually result in increased cigarette smoking.

Congratulations to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids on a job well done. It has spewed forth some of the best propaganda that I have ever seen spewed.