US Abstains in the War on Tobacco

Hippocrates vs. hypocrites? Bush’s government ignores “the Hippocratic Oath: Do No Harm”, says columnist Derrick Z. Jackson. The US has already signaled objections to the ‘Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,’ a recent U.N endorsed global treaty that is hoped will stop tobacco from killing 10 million people a year by 2030. Almost everything in the treaty – from state funded anti-tobacco programs to larger health warnings on cigarette packs – is not agreeable to the U.S. When Bush refuses to support the global war on tobacco, but asks all nations to help combat the “global threat” posed by Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction, he appears hypocritical, Jackson argues. The weight of American tobacco companies, with their contributions of millions of dollars to Bush’s 2002 election campaign, also becomes more obvious. – YaleGlobal.