Thread by @pleasesaveour

‼️Kentucky big tobacco thread‼️

@senatemajldr says one of his "highest priorities" is to take on the leading cause of preventable death in the United States: smoking

npr.org/2019/06/17/730…
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In a speech on the Senate floor last month, McConnell said, "The sad reality is that Kentucky has been the home to the highest rates of cancer in the country. We lead the entire nation in the percentage of cancer cases tied directly to smoking."

McConnell has received hundreds

of thousands of 💰 from the tobacco ind, and some of his former staffers now lobby for tobacco giant Altria

"Our state once grew tobacco like none other And now we're being hit by the health consequences of tobacco use like none other."

prospect.org/article/mcconn…
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"I might seem like an unusual candidate to lead this charge."

For many public health advocates, that was a vast understatement.

McConnell repeatedly cast doubt on the health consequences of smoking, repeated industry talking points word-for-word, attacked federal regulators at

the industry's request and opposed bipartisan tobacco regulations going back decades.

So what is the real deal? And why has @timkaine signed on?

prospect.org/article/mcconn…

Tucked into the bill is an update to a 1992 law, the Synar Amendment, that requires states to enact and enforce their own laws prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco products to people under the age of 18.
samhsa.gov/synar/about

The McConnell bill, which is co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, would raise that age limit to 21, forcing states to update their laws in order to remain in compliance. If states are not in compliance with the Synar requirement, they could lose federal funds.

@brianschatz “Forcing state action creates a dangerous loophole that gives the tobacco industry an opening to intensify their efforts at the state level to undermine strong anti-tobacco proposals, such as regulations on flavored tobacco products,”

Indeed, Juul has come out in

support of the McConnell measure, a seemingly surprising move considering the bill would ostensibly restrict the company from selling to a large portion of its current customer base.

theverge.com/2019/4/18/1848…

Much of the relationship between McConnell and the tobacco industry happened behind the scenes. But the disclosure of millions of once-secret tobacco industry documents has opened a window into McConnell's interactions with tobacco executives and lobbyists
industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/tobacco/

Big tobacco instructed him on smoking-related legislation. He offered to amend bills on the Senate floor at their direction. During the 1990s, when he attacked the Food and Drug Administration for its anti-smoking efforts, he followed talking

kentucky.com/news/special-r…

points they fed him. Their attorneys helped draft a bill he filed to protect their companies from lawsuits, as well as his correspondence to the White House to oppose federal smoking-prevention programs.

One concern for these groups is that the legislation will stave off

tougher regulations on vaping, particularly regulations on flavored e-cigarettes.

"It's a Jedi mind trick," says Sharon Eubanks, who led the Justice Department's landmark racketeering case against the industry.

E-cigarette companies want to avoid liability for the youth vaping

epidemic, says Eubanks, and "the industry's support for such measures gets them off the hook.

npr.org/2019/06/17/730…

prospect.org/article/mcconn…

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