Public health advocates battling cigarette-makers have welcomed an unexpected ally to their foxhole: religious groups.
Interfaith organizations in New Jersey, Ohio and other states have joined efforts to discourage smoking and broaden tobacco regulation.
Religious leaders said tobacco companies are morally wrong to market lethal products, particularly to youth. One group is pressuring Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to drop his opposition to Food and Drug Administration oversight of cigarette sales.
“I’m sure there will be some people who think we’re meddling where we don’t belong,” said the Rev. Glynden Bode, a Methodist minister in Missouri City, Texas. “But I don’t think Jesus would say this is a wrong place for the church to be.”
About 22 percent of Americans smoke, according to federal estimates. Every day, nearly 3,900 youths try their first cigarette, and 1,500 become daily smokers.
Some religious groups already report success. In Indiana, the Hoosier Faith and Health Coalition helped block funding cuts in smoking cessation programs. In Columbus, Ohio, the Metropolitan Area Church Council helped persuade the City Council to ban smoking in public places. Protecting “the health of children and other individuals is a clear mandate for the church,” said Alvin Hadley, the metropolitan council’s director.
In New Jersey, a group called the Interfaith Partnership Campaign Against Tobacco is supporting a proposed smoking ban in most indoor public places. Pennsylvania Faith United Against Tobacco has circulated resolutions for a similar law.
“We would like to deliver a number of these to the legislature and say: `Look, there’s overwhelming support for this. It’s a moral issue,”‘ said Rev. Sandra Strauss, director of public policy for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.
The pressure on DeLay comes from Texas Faith United Against Tobacco, a coalition of Southern Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans and others. The group has sent proclamations to about 200 religious leaders, asking them to join the call for DeLay to support FDA oversight.
DeLay, who faces felony charges of money laundering in Texas, has stepped down from his leadership post. But religious leaders said they will keep pressuring him because he remains influential.
“We’re really disturbed that Mr. DeLay and others have opposed FDA regulation,” said Rev. Cynthia Abrams, an addictions and health care specialist at an agency within the United Methodist Church in Washington.
An Illinois group, the Faith-Based Coalition United Against Tobacco, said it will pressure U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to support FDA regulation
“Key religious leaders are concerned that he’s not supporting this legislation,” said Rev. Tracy Smith Malone, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Aurora. “We represent a large number of people who are not very happy.”
Although tobacco kills 400,000 annually, many lives would be spared if cigarettes were regulated as a drug, health experts say. Current proposals would give the FDA power to restrict tobacco marketing, bar candy-flavored cigarettes, prohibit unproven claims about products’ “reduced risks,” and require cigarette-makers to disclose more about products’ contents and health effects.
Last year, a bill containing a provision for FDA oversight passed the Senate 78-15. Maneuvers by DeLay killed similar legislation in the House. The idea has been reintroduced by Democratic and Republican sponsors, but the bills are stuck in Senate and House committees.
Ben Porritt, a DeLay spokesman, said the congressman maintains his opposition to FDA oversight and believes the focus should be on enforcing laws against smoking by minors.
