Abstract
Involving companies that produce and market products for smoking into preventive measures is a solution proposed by the Assembly of the State of New Jersey. The purpose of the current analysis is to explore the Act establishing a Fund to Prevent the Use of Tobacco and Electronic Smoking Devices. The Act was developed to support activities for limiting and preventing smoking within the population of the state and promote awareness linked to adverse health conditions. The critical proposal within the Act is to enable companies that produce electronic smoking devices and tobacco cigarettes to forward $.25 from every $1 they spend on marketing and advertising their products to the Fund on a quarterly basis. The advantages and disadvantages of the legislation were discussed in this case because of the complexity of the topic at hand as well as the potential effects of the solution on the sphere of public health. The key finding of the paper is that the Fund enables the efforts targeted at the prevention of smoking and raising awareness of its adverse health effects, this means that companies selling tobacco or electronic cigarettes get involved in preventing customers from buying their products. To conclude, the legislation is expected to empower public health practitioners to be more proactive in communicating the adverse effects of smoking and decrease its state-wide use.
Introduction
Smoking represents a public health issue that remains to be addressed as the burden of disease and mortality associated with it are extensive, ranging from nervous system damages to lung cancer. The sphere of public health has been working on implementing policy changes that reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking and its health consequences. However, large corporations make a lot of money from producing and marketing tobacco and other smoking-related products to the population. Such companies are not interested in communicating the actual effects of smoking to the public, which is why legislative action is needed to regulate the way in which harmful substances are marketed to customers.
Main body
For this reason, it was chosen to focus on the Assembly of New Jersey Act “establishing a fund to support prevention and awareness activities concerning the use of tobacco and electronic smoking devices” (“New Jersey Assembly Bill 375,” 2018, p. 1). The legislation intends to regulate the marketing of cigarettes to the general public by imposing the payment of $.25 from every $1 that companies spend on promoting their products. This paper will focus on exploring the legislation in greater detail, discussing its implications, and reviewing the benefits and limitations. Since more efforts to regulate the marketing of tobacco products are needed, the state of New Jersey has implemented a regulatory step that can address the issue.
For understanding the nature of the discussed legislation, it is crucial to consider the New Jersey legislative and regulatory process. The Legislature of the state is divided into the Senate with forty members and the Assembly that includes eighty members. A bill becomes law in the case when both the Senate and the Assembly agree upon passing it, and the governor signs it. There are eleven stages that an idea has to pass in order to become law. For example, in the first stage, an idea is developed when a legislator decides to sponsor a bill and asks other legislators in the same chamber to join in. Subsequently, a bill is drafted, introduced, there is a committee reference followed by a committee action, second, and third readings. After these stages, either a Senate or Assembly vote is needed to ensure that twenty-one votes are given in the Senate and forty-one are given in the Assembly. A second vote occurs after either of the parties’ vote to approve the bill in the legislative process. The approval of the law leads to the action of a governor, who can sign it, veto it conditionally (which means that changes should be made), or veto it absolutely.
There may be differences in the Senate and Assembly versions of a particular bill because a bill is moved through legislative bodies separately before being approved by both of them. This means that a New Jersey Senator does not have to vote on a House bill while the House of Representatives members do not have any say on the Senate bill. If to compare the bill chosen for analysis, no differences between the Senate and Assembly versions of the document are present, which means that consensus has been reached between the two participants of the legislative process. Based on the latest information of Assembly Bill 375, it was referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, implying that there may be additional changes made in the Senate and Assembly versions.
The legislation was chosen for discussion because of the need to continue the efforts associated with raising awareness of the adverse effects of tobacco use. However, one of the key characteristics of the bill is the attention to the use of electronic smoking devices that have been considered less harmful than cigarettes in general (Callahan-Lyon, 2014). The bill acknowledges the adverse effects of using e-cigarettes because they also contain nicotine and should be regulated in their use in the state of New Jersey. In its essence, the Act intends to establish a fund for supporting the prevention and awareness of activities associated with the use of tobacco and electronic smoking devices. This means that the manufacturers of cigarettes and the producers of e-cigarettes are expected to forward a set percentage from the money they spend on advertising to the Fund to Prevent the Use of Tobacco and Electronic Smoking Devices established by the Act. The funds collected from the organizations shall be used to support the activities targeted at the prevention of tobacco and electronic cigarette use in New Jersey alongside raising awareness regarding the adverse consequences of their use. According to the bill, $.25 of every $1 manufacturer spend on advertising should be transferred to the Fund.
The key benefit of the legislation is associated with ensuring that companies that make money on selling tobacco cigarettes and electronic smoking devices financially contribute to raising awareness of the impact their products have on human health. Thus, the monetary contribution to prevention efforts and informative actions ensures that companies that market potentially harmful substances understand the consequences of their operations. Another potential benefit of the bill is the increased capability of the state of New Jersey to be more effective in raising awareness of the implications of tobacco use. Healthcare organizations, as well as non-profits, require the support of governmental bodies in terms of informing the public about the harmful effects of smoking. The bill is expected to strengthen the abilities of healthcare organizations to address the excessive use of cigarettes within the population through additional support from the state.
Despite the benefits, it is essential to account for a limitation of the legislation. Most notably, the Act does not consider the scope and the financial capabilities of organizations that manufacture and market smoking-related products. While large corporations can afford to give away $.25 for every $1 spent on marketing, smaller companies, predominantly those producing supplementary products for e-cigarettes, cannot. Therefore, the bill should have gone into more detail regarding the differentiation between companies that produce tobacco cigarettes, those manufacturing e-cigarettes, and companies that specialize in making complementary products for electronic cigarettes. There could have been a difference in the amount that various organizations have to pay as related to their financial capacities. While there is no financial impact statement attached to the bill, it is important to understand that the economic implications of the legislation are vast as companies are expected to pay a fourth of their marketing budget on funding efforts targeted at decreasing the use of products that they sell to customers.
From a personal standpoint, the legislation is extremely smart in increasing financial support for the efforts of cigarette use prevention. Since companies earn money from manufacturing and marketing potentially harmful products that have health implications for their customers, they should be involved in actively raising awareness of the negative effects of smoking. While such a process may seem counterproductive to business, being honest about the implications of using certain substances is a key to transparency and fostering trusting relations with customers. If the customers that buy from tobacco companies understand the implications of their actions based on the existing awareness and prevention programs, they are less likely to engage in damaging behaviors. From another perspective, it can be assumed that the bill limits the financial well-being of companies in the long run because they are required to invest in counter-advertisement efforts of the products they sell themselves.
The legislation is expected to receive mixed views from different stakeholders. It is evident that companies operating in the cigarette business would be opposed to it. Giving away a quarter of the budget they spend on marketing is a significant contribution to raising awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco smoking. However, healthcare stakeholders are more likely to support the legislation. For example, the American Nurses Association (ANA) will be of support the bill because the organization continuously works with state regulatory bodies to update and improve the manufacturing, marketing, and use of tobacco products. It is important for the ANA that the population has access to appropriate reporting pathways related to experiences associated with tobacco use. Such pathways require the support of non-profit organizations and funds that can facilitate the increased sharing of relevant information on smoking cessation. It is imperative to equip such organizations as the ANA with financial resources to pursue the prevention of cigarette use among the population.
The efforts targeted at smoking cessation, according to the legislation, include “activities to prevent the use of tobacco and electronic smoking device in the State, and promoting awareness of the health conditions associated with such use” (“New Jersey Assembly Bill 375,” 2018). These activities may include public events, advertisements disseminated across the state, community-based programs, educational materials distributed across schools and colleges, promotional leaflets available at healthcare facilities, and many more. The legislation will also be supported by the New Jersey Nurses Association and the New Jersey Hospital Association because the organizations also work toward reducing the health burden of tobacco cigarette and electronic cigarette smoking. Integrating smoking cessation into the daily practice of such an organization is a complex task that requires flexibility and accommodation for the public’s needs. Because of this, financial support granted by such players as the Fund to Prevent the Use of Tobacco and Electronic Smoking Devices is fundamental.
When contacting impacted stakeholders at the mentioned organizations, it is vital to get the opinions of the Board of Directors members. The ANA Board of Directors, for example, includes professionals with decades of experience in the field of nursing management, public health, nursing science, training and mentorship, and more. The organization’s Vice President, Faith M. Jones (MSN, RN, NEA-BC) has leadership experience in multiple areas related to public health and can give some perspective on the legislation. The sphere of public health requires the support of the state in addressing such complicated issues as excessive smoking, which is why the legislation is highly likely to get promoted by multiple healthcare organizations operating both in the state and country-wide.
In terms of the impact on nurses and the nursing profession, the legislation is expected to help practitioners in the field to be more proactive in advocating for smoking cessation among the state’s public. Also, nurses may assume the roles of educators for their patients, especially in terms of those struggling with smoking abuse. The increased awareness of the health conditions caused by the use of tobacco and electronic smoking devices will provide nurses with more leverage in educating their patients. The increased awareness of the implications of tobacco and e-cigarette smoking can benefit the nursing practice in several ways. For example, the wide availability of electronic cigarettes has increased the exposure of young adults and the youth (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health, 2016). The legislation is expected to raise awareness of the adverse effects of smoking among the youth with the help of nurses acting as advocates (Pozgar, 2020). The increased transparency reached with the help of the legislation is highly likely to make healthcare organizations and nurses be more proactive in communicating the adverse effects of smoking on the health of the population.
Conclusion
The chosen 10th congressional district of New Jersey, which includes East Orange county, is represented by Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez. It is also represented by the congressman Donald Payne Jr. and assemblywomen Mila Agency and L. Grace Spencer. All of the mentioned representatives of the district are democrats. Orange County citizens who are interested in the legislation that regulates the marketing of tobacco and electronic cigarettes are recommended to contact the representatives mentioned above to inquire about the Act as well as give suggestions regarding its implementation. The proactiveness of citizens is essential in the issues associated with public health, and the legislation developed in the state of New Jersey requires the support of the population.
References
Callahan-Lyon, P. (2014). Electronic cigarettes: human health effects. Tobacco Control, 23(Suppl 2), 36-40.
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. (2016).E-cigarette use among youth and young adults: A report of the surgeon general.Web.
New Jersey Assembly Bill 375. (2018). Web.
Pozgar, G. (2020). Legal and ethical issues for health professionals (5th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.