CRE is issuing a new report, “The Countervailing Effects of Counterfeit Cigarettes” to assist the TPSAC in fulfilling their as yet unmet Congressionally-mandated duty to opine on the “countervailing effects” of counterfeit cigarettes on the health of underage and adult smokers. The Tobacco Control Act requires that the TPSAC’s health scientists evaluate the health efffects, not economic impact, of counterfeit cigarettes.
The need for researchers to study the health effects specific to counterfeit cigarettes is long established in the peer reviewed literature. As a 2005 study in Environmental Science & Technology explained,
“Any investigation of the harmful effects of commercial tobacco products must take into account potential differences between genuine bona fide brands and the illicit market….”
CRE’s report documents the:
- Health effects of counterfeit cigarettes;
- The global trade in counterfeit cigarettes, including how easy it is for US consumers to buy cheap counterfeit cigarettes from China over the internet;
- The close relation between counterfeit cigarettes and terrorism; and
- Enforcement actions against the trade in counterfeit cigarettes.
The CRE paper also discusses the role of the Counterfeit Cigarettes IPD (www.theCRE.com/cc) in documenting and discussing the rapidly growing criminal enterprise of manufacturing, transporting and selling counterfeit cigarettes as well as actions by law enforcement authorities and private parties around the world in fighting against the trade in illicit tobacco.
See, the CRE-The Countervailing Effects of Counterfeit Cigarettes.
