Ending Smoking?

Northeastern University law professor Richard Daynard says that the country is due for another serious anti-smoking crusade to reduce levels of smoking below 10 percent. Snuffing out the habit is possible, he says, with a few easy steps. Smoking advocates, however, see it as a campaign that's gone too far.

Richard Daynard, professor of law at Northeastern University and president of its Public Health Advocacy Institute. His recent op-ed in The New York Times, calling for a new anti-smoking push, is here.

Stephen Helfer, a Cambridge-based independent smoker’s rights advocate

New York Times: "What we need is an all-out push to reduce smoking rates to well below 10 percent. The notion is nothing new to tobacco-control advocates, many of whom gathered last week in Cambridge, Mass., for a conference on the governance of tobacco, sponsored by Harvard with support from the World Health Organization."

The Atlantic: "Products introduced before March of 2011 have been allowed to enter the market provisionally, although the agency may order their removal at any time. The approximately 500 products submitted for review since then, however, are hostage to an approval process that progresses glacially, presents vague standards, and makes no promise of reaching a conclusion."