150,000 new cigarette addicts a year, 8 million deaths.

The costs incurred by Big Tobacco are paid by the people, the governments, and the world ecology. It’s time to make Big Tobacco pay! [Democracy for America Advocacy Fund](#) {NAME}, As the first treaty negotiated under the World Health Organization (WHO), the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been ratified by nations representing over 90% of the world’s population -- but sadly, not the United States. Nevertheless, the FCTC is the primary means by which the international community can hold Big Tobacco responsible for its destructive policies -- in the United States and elsewhere. And Big Tobacco’s policies are destructive, to say the least. Governments all over the world have to pay billions of dollars to address the impacts of Big Tobacco’s success in addicting nearly 150,000 new young people each year, generation after generation. The biggest costs are paid by Black communities, people of color, and young people in the Global South who pay for the harms caused by Global North corporations in the interest of making themselves rich. [Join us in urging the FCTC to take on Big Tobacco for the costs they incur year after year. Sign the petition and make Big Tobacco pay!]( [Add Your Name]( Tobacco kills 8 million people every year throughout the world, and the young people who are addicted today will become the sick and dying of tomorrow. The international cost is severe: $1.85 trillion per year, including healthcare and loss of productivity -- representing 1.8% of the world’s annual gross domestic product (GDP). 40% of these costs are borne by the Southern Hemisphere, which produces less than 20% of the world’s GDP. Tobacco also creates toxic waste. Cigarette butts are not biodegradable -- they contain toxic chemicals that threaten the world’s aquasystem, and with 4.5 trillion cigarette butts tossed every year, they are the most frequently littered item on the planet. Every year, 80 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent are emitted in global tobacco production, and 600 million trees are cut down to make cigarettes. Big Tobacco is hard on economies and ecologies! Yet at the same time tobacco is costing people and governments so much, Big Tobacco is raking in the big bucks for themselves. The global tobacco market was over $850 billion in 2022, with the top 6 companies bringing in profits of over $55 billion. We must hold Big Tobacco responsible. [Sign the petition and urge the FCTC to use its global reach to pressure the tobacco companies throughout the world community.]( It’s time to make Big Tobacco pay! - Amanda Amanda Ford, Director Democracy for America Advocacy Fund [Power This Campaign]( Democracy for America Advocacy Fund is a 501c4 organization. Contributions to the Democracy for America Advocacy Fund are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. Our mailing address is: PO Box 8521, Essex Junction VT 05451  Sent via [ActionNetwork.org](. To update your email address, change your name or address, or to stop receiving emails from Democracy for America Advocacy Fund, please [click here](.