Tobacco Policy Statement: Fill & Download for Free

The question originally stated that she was going to ban firearms. As much as I dislike the policies of California’s former Attorney General, this question posits something that is untrue. Her actual policy statement is laid out in this article:Kamala Harris says she would give Congress 100 days to enact gun control laws before signing executive orderFrom that article:Points Harris mentioned would include a requirement that any individual or business selling more than five guns a year perform background checks on gun purchasers, and that any dealer or manufacturer who breaks the law would have their license revoked by the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. She would also reinstate a "fugitive ban" that would prohibit anyone with an outstanding warrant from buying a gun.Harris' plan would also extend a law that prevents individuals convicted of domestic violence from buying firearms to include dating partners, CNN reported. Currently, the law applies only to convicted individuals who are married.I have to say that as a believer in the Second amendment, I don’t really have much of a problem with these policies. There are several incidents on record that would have been stopped if these policies had been implemented. In addition, these could fall within the power of a sitting president to implement with an executive order, since it would be interpreting laws that are currently on the books.There is nothing in what she has said concerning a “100-day ultimatum” that would “end gun ownership” in the United States.I trust Kamala Harris as I do a snake. Her arguments as Attorney General to infringe upon the rights of Californians were poorly constructed upon a foundation of supposition and quicksand. They would not have stood in states with more rational courts and certainly would not have withstood the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.Still… this question is inaccurate and unfair to her.She also cannot reinstate an Assault Weapons Ban unilaterally. That would have to be legislated by Congress. That would almost certainly go to the Supreme Court and, in a post-Heller world, likely be struck down.

Assuming that you are not a smoker, the stuff in the house that is most likely to give you cancer is the food in your cupboard and refrigerator. It's not the selection of food. It's the volume.The American Society of Clinical Oncology recently predicted that within a couple of years, obesity will surpass tobacco as the leading cause of serious cancer.The American Society of Clinical Oncologists said obesity is now implicated in as many as 1 in 5 cancer deaths — about the same rate as cancers linked to smoking.Yet most people aren’t aware of the link.“It’s pretty rare to find someone who doesn’t know the association of tobacco with cancer,” said Dr. Clifford Hudis, an author of Wednesday’s policy statement and chief of breast cancer medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “If you ask the general population if there’s a relationship between obesity and cancer, the general answer is no.”Hudis said obesity would eclipse tobacco use as a cause of cancer “within a couple of years.”Obesity may soon eclipse tobacco as cancer cause, doctors group warnsThere isn't going to be a household item that's scarier than that when it comes to cancer. Currently, obesity accounts for about one third of major cancers in America.Obesity and Cancer Risk

I couldn’t stop laughing this morning when I saw the full page advertisement in the newspapers with a grey-bearded Pierce Brosnan endorsing a Pan Masala brand- Pan Bahar.Image sourceWhile clearly Pierce Brosnan is desperate enough to endorse a pan masala brand- I suspect the choice of this particular actor might be because of his Bond films gaining a lot of traction in India. Rural folk in India love uncomplicated spy thrillers and action films with fight sequences (A market discovered unintentionally by Mithun Chakraborty)- which is never in short supply from the English movies from US and UK. Most of such English films are dubbed to Hindi and other regional languages for the benefit of the rural audience. The rural men are the prime focus of business for this company. Pierce Brosnan is not new to the Indian advertising scene as I remember that during his prime in the late 90s, he was endorsing an Indian owned suiting brand- Reid & Taylor. So Indians recognize him despite his declining appeal. Most of the target population might not even know Brosnan by name but can recognize him by face.The twitterati had a field day trolling both Pan Bahar and Pierce Brosnan but I think the company achieved what it intended to by those adverts- major attention. The shock value of Pierce Brosnan endorsing a pan masala product clearly worked for their brand. Any publicity is good publicity in the tobacco business.Did I just say tobacco?I’ll explainGutka is a tobacco and arecanut containing product meant for chewing. Tobacco chewing in India accounts for India having the highest rates of oral cancer in the world. Among more than 275 million tobacco users, 206 million are non-smoke tobacco users (2012).[1]Many states in India have banned Gutka manufacturing and sale in the states but Gutka continues to be sold in the black market. Like alcohol and cigarettes, Gutka too is banned from advertising in media channels like TV, movies and print. Hence Gutka manufacturers use the term “Pan Masala” to do surrogate advertising for their similarly named tobacco containing brands. This is much like Kingfisher using their airline and IPL team to do surrogate advertising of their beer brand of the same name.Despite government measures for curbing tobacco usage and advertising, tobacco still continues to be the major cash inflow for the government in the form of tax revenues.Then why doesn’t the Indian government ban tobacco products manufacture and sale? Because, evidently, tobacco is a prime cash cow for the Indian government. India is the second-largest producer of tobacco in the world after China. It is also the ninth largest exporter of tobacco and tobacco products in the world. In India, the gutka and pan masala industry size is worth Rs.100 billion. The cigarette industry size separately is equivalent to Rs.220 billion annually. Tobacco contributes approximately 12% to India’s excise revenues. Also, it employs around 60 lakh people. These statistics are peddled around by the Indian government, which officially claims that “Tobacco is a principal cash crop of national importance.” What is conveniently forgotten is the previously mentioned fact that between 700,000 to 10,00,000 Indians die every year due to tobacco use.[2]So in a Rs. 10, 000 crore industry, Pan Bahar - annual revenue of around Rs. 230 crores- is not short of money and they would have got Pierce Brosnan on board for a good bargain because I can’t remember his last decent movie after the Bond films.* However I do hope the government cracks down on such type of surrogate advertising because the damage being done is quite immense and the message by these celebrities misleading.Remarkably, Brosnan lost his wife and daughter to ovarian cancer.[3]He has been part of many cancer awareness campaigns in the past. So it is quite surprising to see him endorse carcinogens like this.*Edit: I had quite forgotten about Roman Polanski's Ghost Writer which was a fine movie starring Brosnan. Thanks for reminding Koyel.Edit2: To avoid repetition of the same comments saying pan masala being advertised here doesn't contain tobacco I would like to respond with this:Tobacco is not the only carcinogenic ingredient in pan masala. Arecanut or Betel nut as it is called is a key ingredient in Pan Masala and even the regular Paan. Carcinogenic properties of arecanut has been established by reliable studies. One of the review papers is below.A review of the systemic adverse effects of areca nut or betel nutTo skirt the ban on advertising tobacco products in India, the company has not added tobacco in this particular product. Otherwise tobacco is very much part of the usual pan masala and in pan of habitual pan consumers.There is also the issue of surrogate advertising where the Gutka manufacturers use Pan masala as a front to advertise their tobacco containing products of the same name.For those commenting here that tobacco products causing cancer is some conspiracy theory- please spare yourself the trouble and continue living in that imagined world called “Denial”.Edit 3 (21/10/2016): The news has recently come to light that Pierce Brosnan was mislead into featuring in this ad. He apparently had no idea that he was selling something harmful. He was under the impression that he was selling mouth fresher.“Having endured, in my own personal life, the loss of my first wife and daughter as well as numerous friends to cancer, I am fully committed to supporting women’s healthcare and research programs that improve human health and alleviate suffering,” his statement read.PEOPLE.com reported that Brosnan’s contract explicitly stated that he was to endorse a “breath freshener/tooth whitener”. He claimed to have committed himself to advertise for just one product as Pan Bahar allegedly claimed it was an “all-natural containing neither tobacco, supari, nor any other harmful ingredient.” Brosnan demanded the company to remove him from its advertising campaign, and claimed to have had no prior knowledge of endorsing something that would harm one’s health.Pierce Brosnan says Pan Bahar violated contract, he didn’t know what he was sellingWell this story doesn’t earn him any brownie points. I have a fair reason to doubt his story. If he endorses a product that he doesn’t even know what it is, it’s quite unflattering on his image. I feel this statement is a PR save since his team were not expecting this negative reaction from the public.I also hear that the ad has subsequently banned since it violates government rules. Pierce Brosnan ad banned? Why the Pan Bahar TVC will no longer be screened - FirstpostI guess it’s a good thing, however the damage has already been done!Footnotes[1] 206 million Indians use smokeless tobacco: study[2] The Worst Policy Excuse of all! -[3] Family tragedy returns to haunt Pierce Brosnan as his darling daughter dies of cancer