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Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Nfld. budget invests in health care -NL
Dene Moore Canadian Press March 21, 2005
ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. -- Buoyed by record-high oil prices and a federal windfall, Newfoundland's Conservative government had a little something for everyone in its second budget Monday.
In a dramatic departure from its first year in office, when the government slashed spending and called for the elimination of thousands of public sector jobs, the province announced small investments across the board.
The government will increase overall spending by four per cent to $4.24 billion in 2005-2006.
The annual deficit is projected at $492 million - almost half the amount projected in last year's budget.
There are no new taxes, but the tobacco tax will go up by one cent per cigarette.
"Overall, I think it balances our fiscal responsibility with a social conscience,'' Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan told reporters prior to tabling his budget in the legislature.
The province will receive a guaranteed $2 billion over the next eight years in a new offshore accord with and oil revenues are at record highs.
The federal government has increased equalization payments to the provinces and Newfoundland will receive an extra $30 million this year in federal health transfers.
"Our situation is improved and it's improved considerably, but we still have a long ways to go,'' he said. "We're still cognizant of the bottom line but we can't put everything on hold.''
The province was in position to balance its budget on a cash basis this year, but it chose instead to pay off some debts.
Sullivan said he now hopes to have a cash surplus of $143 million by 2006-2007.
Roger Grimes, leader of the Liberal Opposition, said the government is low-balling its revenue projections.
There is already a surplus but the Conservatives want to keep expectations low, he said.
"It's way over the line in terms of driving down expectations and trying to make people believe that we don't have money when we do have it,'' Grimes said.
The budget estimated oil revenues at $38US per barrel. Oil is currently trading at $56US per barrel.
Jack Harris, leader of the provincial NDP, said the government had no excuse for a bad-news budget. But labour leader Reg Anstey said that's what it delivered.
"It's a budget that scatters nickels and dimes all over the place but plays games with the estimates and the revenues,'' said Anstey, head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour.
There were no promises to make pay equity payments or reinvest in the public sector, he said.
The federal government will remain the largest single source of provincial income in 2005-2006, providing 37 per cent of revenues.
The Tories sounded the fiscal alarm when they took office in October 2003.
Last year, the government announced the elimination of 4,000 government jobs over four years. They say there will now be fewer jobs eliminated, but won't say how many.
"We made some tough but necessary choices and we have been fortunate to benefit from increased revenues in key areas,'' Williams said in a statement.
There is still much to be done, he said.
Among $180 million in increased spending, the province promised $20 million in one-time funding for regional health authorities so they can meet budgets that were slashed last year.
The Conservatives will spend $23.2 million to reduce patient wait times and purchase medical equipment and $7 million to expand the provincial drug program.
The business community agreed with Sullivan's approach.
"We never did say to them put everything on the deficit,'' said Marilyn Thompson, president of the St. John's Board of Trade. "What we did ask them to do is, if you're going to spend, spend strategically.''
They seem to have done that, she added.
http://www.canada.com/maritimes/news/story.html?id=986e1f06-8ce3-47d1-aa14-710d30db82c2
Tobacco farmers in limbo
Many want to exit industry, but face huge operating loans
Daniel Pearce - SIMCOE REFORMER
Monday March 21, 2005
DELHI - Ontario’s tobacco growers are heading into another season of uncertainty, frustration, and potentially fateful meetings with bankers.
Every spring, they must borrow heavily to cover wages and bills until the crop is sold in the fall and the loan can be paid back.
As the industry continues to spiral downward, the question is how close are farmers to the breaking point? At which point do they give up? At which point can they no longer put seedlings into the ground?
“When the bank tells them they can’t,” Burford-area grower Brian Poreba said while standing on the floor of the auction exchange here. “I haven’t been in yet (to see his banker).”
Poreba said he’s probably just breaking even but has to continue growing to generate money to pay off debts. He’d like to exit the industry, which has shrunk by about one-half in the past 20 years, but is waiting for a buyout program to take shape.
So far, from what he’s heard, the payoff won’t be enough for him to take.
“I have no choice (but to continue growing),” he said. “I just don’t know how much longer I can do this.”
Farmers are struggling against small crop sizes and stagnating prices for their products. They are being overtaken by cheaper imported tobacco and face regulations in Canada that they say prevent them from lowering their prices.
Their final demise may come if and when banks refuse them operating loans.
The whole industry is in danger of collapse if the annual crop size falls below 100 million pounds, the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board has repeatedly warned.
This year, 87 million pounds was contracted with the cigarette companies. Talks for this year’s crop are just beginning and it is uncertain if the 100 million pound mark will be reached again.
“Things are serious,” said Ken Tota, chair of Tobacco Farmers in Crisis, a newly-formed lobby group for growers.
The problem, said Brian Edwards, the group’s president, is that plummeting values for farms have left growers with no equity to borrow against.
“We’re well past the breaking point now,” said Edwards, who added that he knows farmers who have been refused loans this year.
Because a buyout program has been delayed and doesn’t look profitable enough, farmers are trapped and must continue growing, he said. “There’s no escape.”
Edwards himself saw the writing on the wall and sold his Vanessa-area farm about a year ago. He describes himself as “financially secure” and fortunate.
Even in the past year, the value of farms has dropped considerably, he noted.
However, there continues to be demand to buy tobacco quota, the legal right to grow a percentage of the province’s annual crop, said Dan Van Londersele, a Delhi real estate broker and former grower.
“Some producers who are financially secure enough feel there will always be a tobacco market,” Van Londersele said. “But this is not a majority of growers.”
Deals are not being made because the prices on offer are too low and growers are waiting to see how a buyout program will work, he said.
Edwards said about 35 per cent of the province’s 775 growers need to leave the industry to keep it viable and right now there’s not enough money committed from the government to retire that many.
“It’s not even close,” he said.
Ottawa is talking about conducting a reverse auction. Under that scenario, farmers would submit sealed tenders committing themselves without knowing the final price they’d get, Edwards said.
Van Londersele said he thinks it’s time to revive the Committee of Concerned Tobacco Area Municipalities, a group of 26 municipalities that successfully lobbied the federal government 20 years ago to lower cigarette taxes.
“They’d get the same message sent before: that tobacco is a lifeline in this community and the economic spinoff across the province is quite significant,” said Van Londersele, who chaired the committee.
http://simcoereformer.ca/story.php?id=149912
N.B. bar owners say smoking ban hurts -NB
Chris Morris Canadian Press March 23, 2005
FREDERICTON -- New Brunswick bar owners say the province's smoking ban is killing their businesses.
Kim Hunter, president of the New Brunswick Licensees' Association, said Wednesday bar owners are looking to the province's Conservative government to find ways to keep their industry healthy.
Hunter said sales in bars and restaurants plummeted by 24 per cent in the first two months of the province's comprehensive ban on smoking in public places, which took effect last October.
She said many small bars soon will be out of business.
"People are hanging on by their toenails,'' Hunter said.
"The bar business in this province is in crisis.''
Hunter said more and more people are staying home to enjoy a drink and a smoke rather than going out.
She said sales to licensees from October to December of 2004 dropped by 7.02 per cent while consumer purchases at provincial liquor stores increased by 7.3 per cent in the same three-month period.
Hunter said that at the same time sales are being battered by the smoking ban, bars and restaurants are also having trouble coping with skyrocketing prices for everything from electricity to insurance.
"We're getting hit time and time again.''
Premier Bernard Lord's government brought in the province-wide ban on smoking as a health measure.
There have been more than a hundred incidents of non-compliance with the new law. However, so far only one Moncton bar owner has been convicted and fined for allowing smoking.
Hunter said her industry will approach the government for help, but she would not say what the bar owners have in mind.
She said operators themselves have to find new ways to make their businesses profitable.
"We realize smoking bans are the way of the future and, as an industry, we have to work harder and come up with new revenue streams to ride out this new market reality of no smoking in public places.'
http://www.canada.com/search/story.html?id=20964f31-ae08-4dba-aac0-6a500d87b4f2
Charities concerned over anti-smoking law -AB
canada.com Wednesday, March 23, 2005
EDMONTON -- Alberta charities fear that a move toward provincial legislation to curb smoking in public places will jeopardize funding they get from bingos.
The Charity Defence Fund represents groups and organizations that rely on bingo money.
It says a private member's bill on smoking, currently being debated in the legislature, could drive away players who light up during games.
Fund spokeswoman Sabine Brasok says officials estimate that could take about 30 million dollars out of charities' pockets, province-wide.
Brasok says other provinces that have banned smoking in all indoor public places have noted a 30-per-cent drop in bingo attendance.
Her group would like to see separate smoking rooms and ventilation systems.
Premier Ralph Klein has said that the smoking bill, if passed, would have extensive amendments and would exempt places like bingo halls.
http://www.canada.com/search/story.html?id=34688f6e-126d-49e6-8ce8-26d80c28f646
Restaurants urge fair smoking ban -QC
'There must be a level playing field'. Eateries prepared to support restrictions if they apply to bars that serve food, too
ANN CARROLL The Gazette Thursday, March 24, 2005
Quebec restaurant owners say they would support a government ban on smoking in dining rooms as long as the same rules apply to bars that serve meals.
"We believe there must be a level playing field," said Hans Brouillette, spokesperson for the Association des restaurateurs du Quebec.
The lobby group, which represents 5,500 restaurants, yesterday made public its position on possible changes to Quebec's tobacco legislation.
The province is expected to adopt stricter rules on smoking and tobacco sales this year, following a review of its 1998 tobacco law.
"We know a smoking ban is inevitable, we just don't know when or how," Brouillette said, noting that tougher tobacco rules are also to go into effect next year in Ontario.
Following the success of the annual smoke-free restaurant day in January, restaurant owners say a smoking ban could work, under certain conditions:
Make the ban effective May 2006 to give heavy smokers advance warning, and to coincide with better weather and the new Ontario legislation;
Compensate restaurant owners who have already invested in enclosed smoking areas and better ventilation systems;
Permit smoking on open-air terraces (similar to outdoor festival sites), and in restaurant bars that do not serve food.
"There must be the same rules for everybody," Brouillette said. "That's the only way a smoking ban won't have a huge negative impact on our sales."
But bar owners say they should be exempt from smoking restrictions, whether or not they serve food.
If that lures customers away from restaurants, so be it, says Renaud Poulin, president of the Corporation des proprietaires de bars, brasseries et tavernes.
"We can only serve people 18 and over," he noted. "Restaurants have family clientele, and we don't have that advantage."
Asking bar-goers to butt out could drive smokers to drink at home and cost bar owners a hefty percentage of their business, the corporation noted during public consultations in January on changes to the provincial tobacco legislation.
Health Minister Philippe Couillard is waiting for a report from the consultation committee before recommending changes to the law, a department spokesperson said yesterday.
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/montreal/story.html?id=9314f53a-fcf1-4245-8e50-47ed652231e2
Kenora doctor's smoking ban going to court -ON
Ontario government to defend order
By Helen Fallding Monday, March 28th, 2005
THE Ontario government is going to court to defend a controversial Kenora doctor's right to ban smoking in Northwestern Ontario workplaces as a health hazard.
Regional medical officer of health Dr. Pete Sarsfield created an uproar when he ordered businesses in the region to stop employees and patrons from smoking Jan. 1, 2003.
Municipalities across Canada and provinces, including Manitoba, are now banning smoking, but Sarsfield was the first doctor to attempt to take the issue out of the hands of politicians.
When Northwestern Ontario restaurants and hotels that defied the ban were ordered by Sarsfield to comply, they appealed to Ontario's Health Services Appeal and Review Board.
The board did not question that second-hand smoke is dangerous to health, but ruled in early 2004 that Sarsfield did not have the authority to impose a ban.
Sarsfield chose not to appeal the ruling, which had created so much hostility in the region that business owners were vowing to ignore any health orders from his office.
But Ontario's attorney general is calling for a judicial review of a decision the Liberal government believes could undermine the ability of medical officers of health across the province to do their jobs.
Just because a provincial law could deal with a health hazard doesn't mean medical officers are barred from doing so, government lawyer Sara Blake argues in a recent submission to Ontario's Superior Court of Justice.
The case will be heard in Toronto Sept. 26.
"Should a local medical officer of health be prevented from dealing with a local health hazard caused by tainted meat just because the problem could also be dealt with under the Meat Inspection Act?" Blake writes in the submission. "Should a local medical officer of health be prevented from dealing with a contaminated public water supply just because that problem could also be addressed under the Ontario Water Resources Act?"
Sarsfield is thrilled with the judicial review and supports the attorney general's arguments.
He said the government cannot afford to weaken the power of medical officers to protect the public in the wake of the Walkerton contaminated drinking water disaster and in the era of new infectious diseases like SARS.
Sarsfield's original smoking ban did not have the backing of the former Conservative government or Ontario's former chief medical officer of health, but the government has since changed hands and a new chief medical officer has been appointed.
The new Ontario government has announced a provincewide smoking ban in public places and workplaces to kick in May 2006.
Sarsfield said bans are especially difficult to enforce in rural areas with high rates of smoking. In Northwestern Ontario, life expectancy is almost five years lower than the Canadian average, which Sarsfield attributes in part to smoking.
Rural Manitoba bars continue to fight Manitoba's provincewide smoking ban, which came into effect in October.
Sarsfield said bars, tobacco farmers and corner stores that sell cigarettes should just accept the inevitable decline in smoking and find another way to make money that doesn't harm people.
"There's no safe way to use tobacco."
www.winnepegfreepress.com
Partial smoking ban takes effect this week -AB
By Bradley Fehr bfehr@bowesnet.com Monday March 28, 2005
Hinton Parklander — By April 1, restaurateurs must choose between allowing minors or smokers into their businesses.
That is when a new smoking bylaw comes into effect, which states that smoking in restaurants is prohibited when minors are present.
Eateries have three compliance options. They could ban smoking and allow minors into the restaurant, ban minors and allow smoking in the restaurant or set hours that minors are permitted and allow smoking during the hours they are prohibited.
In addition, the bylaw allows for smoking in areas completely sealed off from the remainder of the restaurant.
Gus’ Pizza is one restaurant that is going completely non-smoking. Proprietor Gus Tsougrianis said he doesn’t have much choice because many of his patrons are families. He has even gone one step further and quit smoking himself.
The local Royal Canadian Legion has taken the opposite approach and minors, like cadets, will no longer be permitted in the downstairs lounge.
“They don’t leave us any choice,” said Laverne Kellie, branch manager, adding many legion members smoke and they must cater to their membership.
“I just don’t think it’s fair that the town should dictate how we run our business.”
The restaurant and hall upstairs will remain non-smoking and the cadets will still be able to access their downstairs office because of a glass partition.
Cedar Creek restaurant is taking an approach somewhere between the other two options. The restaurant will allow minors into the establishment until 5 p.m. and then dedicate the seating to adults and smokers after that.
“We feel we’re being pressured into this,” said co-owner, Brian Tomkins. “We don’t want to exclude anyone.”
He said about half of their clientele work in the oil and gas industry and many smoke.
“We’d have to watch half of our clientele walk out the door,” he said, adding those customers will just go somewhere else that allows smoking.
Cedar Creek will post signs at the door and on a bulletin board out front to inform the public of their decision.
Some restaurants, such as Boston Pizza and Ranchers, have a completely separate smoking lounge. These restaurants will not have to change anything, but will have to continue to ensure minors don’t enter those rooms.
Rachelle Andre, coach of Building Leadership for Action in Schools Today (BLAST), a group which approached town council last year about the possible implementation of a bylaw.
She said the bylaw amendment that is about to take effect is a step in the right direction.
“It’s a really good start. There’s a better choice than before,” she said.
High school student and BLAST captain, Angela Volk, is pleased with the approach taken by some restaurants.
“It’s great that some restaurants are setting an example for the other restaurants that have chosen toxic air rather than children,” she said.
The owner of Queen’s Bakery, Peter Bundscherer, has run his business smoke free for the last decade and said his business has survived.
He said he initially lost some customers when he made the change, but soon made up for it with increased business from families.
In addition, he said non-smokers spend less time in his establishment and the higher turnover is beneficial to his bottom line. Bundscherer believes the whole province will eventually be smoke-free.
“Smoking is out. It’s just a matter of time,” he said.
http://www.hintonparklander.com/story.php?id=151383
Petition to exempt Legion from smoke-free bylaw -ON
Woman says members being discriminated against
By Michael Jiggins Times-Journal Staff Monday March 28, 2005
It was a photo in the Times-Journal that pushed Brenda Langille over the edge.
The picture that so infuriated Langille showed a St. Thomas Bingo Country patron enjoying a cigarette while playing, thanks to the hall’s exemption from the city’s new smoke-free bylaw.
At the same time, she saw 80-year-old Lord Elgin Branch 41, Royal Canadian Legion, members huddling together against the cold outside for a smoke because the Legion’s exemption bid was shot down.
“My 70-year-old father had to go outside to have a smoke on his birthday,” fumed Langille, a 52-year-old who’s been a Legion member for 25 years and a smoker for 37.
Instead of stewing quietly, Langille decided to do something about it.
Two weeks later, she has more than 500 names on a petition calling on city council to give the Legion an exemption.
“The issue is the discrimination of giving an exemption to one place and not any other. The Legion does just as much good for the community as they say the bingo does,” the Jackson Street resident told the Times-Journal on Sunday.
St. Thomas council’s controversial smoke-free bylaw to regulate smoking in public and work places came into effect March 1.
After rejecting a bid by Bingo Country for an exemption last summer, council flip-flopped just weeks before the implementation date.
Langille said she could live with a smoke-free bylaw that had no exemptions.
“I’d go for that. (But) if you’re going to go non-smoking, go all the way. No exemptions.”
Anything else, she contended is discrimination against smokers.
She brushed aside a suggestion the smoke-free environment is better for Legion members’ health, noting aside from one or two people, no one used a smoke-free room prior to the bylaw’s implementation.
Langille has collected 302 signatures herself, a third of whom she said are non-smokers.
Legion president Bill Adams is among those who have signed.
Langille even has a sign expressing her outrage on the front of the scooter she uses to get around town.
Her petitions can also be found at several bars, variety stores and other locations in the city.
Possessed with an admitted stubborn streak, Langille’s petition is her first dabble in political activism.
But she appears to be getting a taste for it.
“I want to do a rally,” she smiles. “If I could get enough people together, I’d get some signs and do a rally at city hall. Just like they did in the ’60s and ’70s. … What are they going to do, arrest us?”
Langille hopes to collect 1,000 signatures, at which point she plans to make a delegation to council and ask for Legion to be exempted.
As for what success she’ll ultimately find, she shrugs, “I don’t know. But you wouldn’t get anywhere if you didn’t try.”
http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/story.php?id=151177
Ontario says its grain and oilseed farmers deserve big share of federal aid -ON
GREG BONNELL March 29, 2005 - 18:48
TORONTO (CP) - Ontario's grain and oilseed producers deserve one-quarter of the federal relief funds earmarked for their beleaguered industry nationwide, provincial Agriculture Minister Steve Peters said Tuesday.
"They announced $480 million for the grains and oilseeds sector, but it wasn't broken down by province," Peters said. "I think quite honestly that Ontario farmers deserve ... their full share of that $480 million. That's why I'm calling on (Ottawa) for the $120 (million)."
The federal government announced the income relief for grain and oilseed farmers as part of a larger, $1-billion package for the agriculture industry. Provincial breakdowns were not provided as federal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell travelled to Guelph, Ont., to deliver the news.
Just hours later at the provincial legislature, the Ontario government announced it would put $79 million toward relief for grain and oilseed producers.
That's on top of $88 million delivered earlier this month after a number of rallies at the legislature, during which protesters bemoaned 25-year lows in commodity prices.
Those investments keep with the traditional 60-40 federal-provincial split for such aid, Peters said.
The province then called on Ottawa to round out its funding commitment, while the feds challenged the provinces to add to their farm income relief pot.
The fact the two levels of government failed to co-ordinate their efforts Tuesday, or make clear how much money grain and oilseed farmers in Ontario can expect, was a sore point for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
"I'm a little disturbed there wasn't the conversations taking place back and forth between two levels of government," said federation president Ron Bonnett. "I will be talking to both ministers about that."
The crisis in agriculture demands that governments work together, he said.
"As we move ahead, we've got to have a solution that works nationally and provincially."
If Ottawa dedicates $120 million alongside Ontario's commitments, the province's grain and oilseed producers stand to receive $286 million in aid.
"I think it's good news in the fact that it's going to flow some money quickly," said Bonnett, who added more will have to be done to address the difficulties farmers face this year.
That sentiment was echoed by the Ontario Grain and Oilseed Group.
"We're committed to working with (the province) further on addressing our $300-million shortfall for the '05 crop," chair Peter Tuinema said in a release.
The Ontario government also put $50 million into a transition fund for tobacco farmers looking to get out of the business.
"We recognize though as we move forward with our smoke-free Ontario initiative that there is a need to provide assistance," Peters said.
"There is an obligation on us in helping to ensure there is an orderly and smooth transition."
Some 750 growers in Ontario provide 95 per cent of Canada's tobacco, he said.
While numerous alternative crops are being considered, replacing tobacco with medicinal marijuana is not one of them.
"Growing medical marijuana is not something we would be advocating in this province," Peters said.
Opposition critics called that stance wrong-headed.
"The federal government is in the process of decriminalizing marijuana; the demand has never been greater," said NDP house leader Peter Kormos.
"Why are we letting biker gangs grow it in grow operations with illegal hydro hookups when we could be letting former tobacco farmers earn a living doing it in a controlled, regulated way?"
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/news/shownews.jsp?content=n032955A
also http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/03/29/975993-cp.html
Booze, cigarettes targeted in robbery NS
CBC News Last Updated Mar 29 2005 01:27 PM AST
HALIFAX – Police are investigating a crash and grab at a grocery store in Porter's Lake, on the Eastern Shore.
Thieves broke into the Superstore on Highway 7 around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday by smashing a window with rocks, RCMP say.
The bandits grabbed some liquor before driving a stolen van through the window of the tobacco shop next door. Then they took off with several bags of cigarettes.
As they started to speed away in a second stolen van, a couple of store employees confronted them.
"They attempted to stop the vehicle and threw a rack at the vehicle and broke a window," said RCMP Const. Kim Murphy.
The thieves abandoned the van a short distance away. But two suspects were later picked up in nearby Gaetz Brook.
Murphy says using a big vehicle as a break-and-enter tool is not common in her territory, but it's an old trick that's been used in other areas.
There were two incidents earlier this month where thieves used vans as battering rams. The first was at a jewelry store in Dartmouth's Penhorn Mall. Two days later, it was the smoke shop at a Sobeys in Fall River.
http://novascotia.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ns-smash-porters20050329
Tobacco farmers won't grow marijuana -ON
Broadcast News March 29, 2005
TORONTO -- Ontario's tobacco farmers won't be sowing their fields with marijuana seed anytime soon.
Agriculture Minister Steve Peters says the government is looking at alternative crops to replace tobacco.
But he says that won't include medical marijuana.
He says that's an issue for the federal government to tackle.
Ottawa allows for the use of medical marijuana and is working toward decriminalizing pot.
While Ontario's anti-smoking campaign is taking a toll on tobacco farmers, Peters says fruits and vegetables are among the alternative crops being looking at.
He says industrial hemp -- the kind you can't smoke -- could also replace tobacco down the road.
Hemp can be harvested to produce paper, clothing fibre and certain oils
http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=900481d8-f69c-4e88-9417-0a9f782fb59f
Posted at 1:27 pm by looped_ca
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
From: tmc_6882@yahoo.com
To:"looped" <looped_ca@yahoo.ca>
Subject:Re: Drew Barrymore Caught Smoking Cigarettes Backstage @ "The KROQ Weenie Roast" Concert
Date:Mon, 28 Mar 2005 22:27:01 -0800
looped wrote:
> Yes your point in life would be to find a reason to hate anyone who smokes! Well I believe in free choice, and oblivious to you, she has some.
>
I as an American citizen have a right to my opinion as much as you or Drew Barrymore does. So if I have a problem with her (especially a person who already has a much documented history with drugs) smoking cigarettes in her movies or in front of cameras out in public, then I'm going to express them.
You know, Drew Barrymore's grandmother Dolores Costello, who if you look closely carries a fairly strong resemblance to her granddaughter (and apparently, also spoke with a lisp like her granddaughter), died from emphysema. The point is, considering her family's fairly close connection with smoking related illnesses, I absolutely don't see the logic of her insisting on smoking (for which he has apparently been doing since the age of 9) so much.
I have tried to email back a response, and it is a non existent account. So here I am responding in this forum. I do this to show the rhetoric, and how easily it's manipulated in some people's minds.
My response:
1) she can easily afford to get health treatment later in life. It's not going to cost any one elase.
2) emphysema isn't caused by smoking, so your point is? it doesn't affect your life, why worry. Every person takes risks in life. We can die from getting out of bed.
3) shouldn't the more manageable and larger dangers be put under control, since it's a greater danger!
4) Margo Kidder has managed her psychotic episodes using Vitamin B. There was an accepted theory that emphysema is caused by lack of vitemins as well. May be this mismanagement of vitamins is the reason for the genetic link?
Thanks Linda Posted at 7:35 pm by looped_ca
Friday, March 25, 2005
Press Survey: Cigarette Tax Vote Would Be Close In Senate
03/24/05
Half of Mississippi's 52 senators say they would vote for a 50 cents-a-pack cigarette tax increase if given the chance.
That's according to a survey conducted Thursday by the Capitol press corps.
The survey of all senators shows 26 would vote for the increase and 20 would vote against it. Four said they were undecided and two senators would not answer.
Lieutenant Governor Amy Tuck has said for months that there is no sentiment for tax increases in the Senate.
Passing any tax increase would take a three-fifths majority. That's 32 votes if all 52 senators are present.
Some lawmakers interpret the press survey numbers to say it's possible to reach the three-fifths threshold. That counts the 26 who say they would vote for an increase, plus most of those who either wouldn't answer or said they were undecided.
Some of the senators who said they'd vote not also said they could change their minds.
The survey of the 52 senators was conducted by reporters from The Associated Press and five newspapers: The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, The Commercial Dispatch of Columbus, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal of Tupelo and The Sun Herald of Gulfport-Biloxi.
http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=3123321
Group Seeking to Overturn Smoking Ban -AZ
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) -- A group of Prescott businessmen are once again leading an effort to overturn a 2003 ballot initiative that banned smoking in nearly all public places, including restaurants.
The 2003 initiative allowed a two-year delay for the restrictions to take effect in local bars.
The latest effort aims to change the law before the bar restrictions would go into effect.
The opposition group called the Prescott Free Business Association, aims to get the issue on the September 13th city primary ballot.
The city clerk says the group has until May 13th to collect the required 16-hundred-28 signatures and file the petitions needed to force a new vote.
http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=3082963&nav=23KuXXRJ
Institute for Cancer Prevention research or IFCP where now?
Philip Morris to buy indonesian tobacco company
$5 billion offered for No. 3 producer
By Christopher Wang Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Philip Morris International has offered $5 billion for Indonesia's third-largest cigarette producer, a move that would fatten its share of that country's fast-growing tobacco market as health concerns squeeze smoking elsewhere in the world.
Philip Morris, a unit of Altria Group and maker of best-selling Marlboro cigarettes, said late Sunday that it has arranged to buy a 40 percent stake in PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna from its principal shareholders for $2 billion.
It will make a tender offer for the remaining stock at $1.13 a share -- a 20 percent premium to Sampoerna's closing price of 95 cents last Thursday.
The deal values the Indonesian company at $5 billion. Philip Morris would assume about $160 million in debt, the company said in a statement.
The bid by the Richmond, Va., company highlights efforts to expand its presence overseas as government bans and increased awareness of the health risks from smoking have curbed tobacco use in mature markets -- the United States and Europe.
"The market in the United States is not growing at the same rate it used to be. There are beginning to be smoking bans in Western Europe too," said Argus Research's Erin Smith. "Some of the less-developed countries don't have that threat."
Last year, Philip Morris' domestic tobacco sales rose 3 percent to $17.5 billion while international sales billowed 18 percent to $39.5 billion.
An estimated 60 percent of males smoke in Indonesia -- the fifth-largest tobacco market behind China, the United States, Russia and Japan -- and growing numbers of women are smoking, according to some analysts.
A buyout of Sampoerna would position Philip Morris as Indonesia's second-largest cigarette maker with more than a fifth of the market and increase its global market share by close to 1 percentage point, Altria Chief Executive Louis C. Camilleri said on a conference call with analysts yesterday.
The deal also would give Philip Morris a way into Indonesia's market for "kreteks" -- cigarettes with a blend of tobacco and cloves that dominate the industry there. Kreteks account for 92 percent of the country's cigarette market, which is estimated at 210 billion cigarettes a year.
More than 80 percent of Indonesia's kretek market is controlled by No. 1 PT Gudang Garam, Sampoerna and PT Djarum, Lehman Bros. analyst Michael Branca said.
About 700 smaller manufacturers account for a 17 percent share, he wrote in a research note.
Also yesterday, Philip Morris USA was awarded $173 million in damages from Swiss cigarette retailer Otamedia in a trademark-infringement suit.
Philip Morris said the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Otamedia to pay the fine for selling Philip Morris USA-brand cigarettes in the United States.
Otamedia operated the Internet site yesmoke.com, which sells cigarettes around the world and avoids many of the import tariffs and taxes imposed on domestic retailers.
Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050315/BUSINESS/503150351/1003
Disparities in health care are pervasive in America
Healthcare News Published: Tuesday, 15-Mar-2005
Disparities in health care are pervasive in America. These disparities adversely impact the cardiovascular health of Americans, especially African Americans, Hispanics, poor and uneducated people, according to a report in a special disparities themed issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Health disparities refer to differences in health indicators of population groups whether defined by race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status or geography.
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed national health surveys to assess the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and overall quality of life of U.S. adults age 18 and older and found a wide range of differences. They said the disparities data may help develop new public policies and programs to close the gaps.
"In general, the population subgroups most significantly and adversely affected were African Americans, Hispanics/Mexican Americans, people with low socioeconomic status, and residents of the southeastern United States and the Appalachians," said George Mensah M.D., acting director of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the CDC.
People with less than a high school education also tended to have more cardiovascular disease and related risk factors, regardless of race or ethnicity.
"These disparities appear to play a key role in the observed differences in the overall life expectancy and quality of life of the population subgroups," he said.
Health care disparities should matter to all Americans, Mensah said. "To paraphrase what Dr. Martin Luther King said about justice, 'poor quality health care anywhere, is a threat to quality care for all Americans everywhere.' As a heart specialist, I am aware of the power of prevention and the remarkable advances we've made in the treatment and care of heart disease and stroke. I am always saddened to admit that many ethnic minorities, persons with low income, those with less than a high school education, women and millions of Americans without health insurance do not get the quality health care we are capable of delivering."
In the study, men and blacks had more premature death due to cardiovascular disease, compared with women and whites, as measured by years of potential life lost before age 75.
In 2001, overall U.S. life expectancy was 77.2 years. Life expectancy was higher in women than men by 5.4 years and higher in whites than blacks by 5.5 years. Men lost 1708.3 years of potential life per 100,000 persons due to "diseases of the heart" compared to women, who lost 765.4 years. Blacks lost 2,248.9 years of potential life per 100,000 persons compared to whites, who lost 1,115 years.
Particularly surprising, Mensah said, were findings about obesity.
"Educational attainment reduced the prevalence of obesity, especially in men," he said. "In contrast, African-American women had a high prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity regardless of educational status. These data suggest the need for increased emphasis on understanding the determinants of obesity in African-American women and investing in policies and programs to decrease obesity."
Eliminating health disparities is the overarching goal of the Healthy People 2010 national public health agenda, Mensah said. In this study, CDC researchers examined the most recently available population-based data on disparities in cardiovascular disease and its related risk factors.
Researchers reviewed the results from three major studies:
- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a random telephone survey conducted by state health departments and the CDC;
- the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2002; and
- the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a continuing nationwide sample survey of the civilian non-institutionalized population collected through household interviews.
The BRFSS and NHANES survey results were designed to represent the entire U.S. population.
Also among their findings:
- Hispanics were least likely to have health insurance, least likely to receive flu or pneumonia vaccinations, and had the highest prevalence of poor or fair health.
- Data from the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) showed the median prevalence of obesity was 39.2 percent for American Indian men and 37.5 percent in women, compared with only 2.9 percent in Asian/Pacific Islander men and 3.6 percent in women.
- According to NHANES data, black women have the highest prevalence of obesity at more than 47 percent regardless of education level.
- Data from REACH also showed that cigarette smoking was common in American Indian communities with a median of 42.2 percent for men and 36.7 percent for women. According to BRFSS, black men without a high school diploma have the next highest smoking prevalence at 41.8 percent.
- Blacks had the highest prevalence of hypertension, the highest self-reported prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and the highest rate of hospitalizations for stroke.
- People with less than a high school education were more likely to smoke and to report that they had been diagnosed with diabetes.
- People with higher education were more likely to have health insurance.
- Ischemic heart disease and stroke were inversely related to education, income and poverty status.
- Among Medicare enrollees, congestive heart failure hospitalization was higher in blacks, Hispanics and American Indians/Alaska Natives than among whites.
- Residents of the southeastern United States had the highest rates of hospitalizations for congestive heart failure and stroke, and the highest age-adjusted death rate for stroke and heart disease.
- Cholesterol levels were highest among white men, Mexican American men and white women regardless of education levels.
- Hospitalization rates were higher in men for total heart disease and acute heart attacks but higher in women for congestive heart failure and stroke.
- Women consume more fruits and vegetables than men; and daily intake of five or more servings of fruits and/or vegetables was low in all groups and lowest in black and white men with less than a high school education.
This study did not examine the reasons for these disparities, or present information on access to care, disease management or indicators of the delivery of quality cardiac care.
Researchers noted that despite several national calls to action for aggressive prevention and control of cardiovascular risk factors, little progress has been made in reducing physical inactivity, poor nutrition and prevalence of hypertension.
"Most importantly," Mensah said, "although some significant improvements – such as reductions in gender disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) – have been noted, disparities in CVD mortality based on race/ethnicity have remained largely unchanged, and disparities in the morbidity of major CVD appear to be increasing."
Co-authors of the study are Ali H. Mokdad, Ph.D.; Earl S. Ford, M.D., MPH; Kurt J. Greenlund, Ph.D.; and Janet B. Croft, Ph.D.
http://www.americanheart.org/
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=8428
Tobacco industry pays scientists to challenge secondhand smoke's link to infant death risk
07 Mar 2005
The link between secondhand smoke and sudden infant death has been discredited in the last few years in scientific articles paid for and influenced by cigarette manufacturers, according to a new study of once-secret industry documents.
The key article, commissioned by Philip Morris and published in a respected pediatric epidemiology journal in 2001, discounts the significance of research showing a link between exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The article has been cited in at least 19 other scientific papers, misleading physicians, their patients and researchers about the risk of secondhand smoke exposure.
"Undermining people's understanding of the link between secondhand smoke and SIDS places infants everywhere at increased risk," according to Stanton Glantz, PhD, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF and senior author of the new study analyzing the tobacco company documents.
Analysis of the Philip Morris documents shows that the company sought and paid an author to write an article for publication in a scientific journal, guided his writing and suggested changes in his conclusions in order to call into question the published studies showing links between secondhand cigarette smoke and SIDS.
The new report was prepared by researchers at UCSF and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and appears in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The article Philip Morris commissioned was part of the company's overall scientific strategic plan for addressing secondhand smoke (SHS) and childhood health issues, the documents show. One document summarized the "impact assessment" for this project as follows: "Should provide the necessary scientific background for a policy on the acceptability of smoking around children."
The key article acknowledges that smoking during pregnancy can endanger the fetus, but casts doubt on the published scientific finding that secondhand smoke increases the risk of sudden infant death -- a finding highlighted in 1992 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and reinforced by the California Environmental Protection Agency in 1997.
The tobacco company carried out this disinformation campaign even after the landmark 1998 settlement between all of the major U.S. tobacco manufacturers and 46 states. In the settlement, the tobacco firms agreed to pay the states $206 billion over the first 25 years and continuing amounts after that, and agreed to stop creating controversy about the evidence linking smoking and disease.
The tobacco industry's disinformation campaign regarding secondhand smoke and maternal and child health can be counteracted, the UCSF and CDC researchers write in their analysis.
"Secondhand smoke must be recognized as an established, controllable risk factor for SIDS, like prone sleep positioning," they conclude. "Clinicians and public health officials should intensify their efforts to promote reducing infant exposure to secondhand smoke as an effective strategy for reducing SIDS."
The documents show that the tobacco industry hired scientists on at least two different occasions to prepare articles challenging the SHS/SIDS connection. The first one failed to attract an influential journal. But then Philip Morris retained a consultant to write a comprehensive review of all known risk factors for SIDS. Philip Morris was to provide the literature review, and the hired scientist was to write the paper. The company's documents show that Philip Morris budgeted $50,000 to $100,000 for this project.
The company's papers reveal a concerted effort by Philip Morris to influence the paper's content and conclusions. When the author completed his first draft, he sent it to the company for review. The original conclusion stated that secondhand smoke increased the risk of SIDS. But a Philip Morris scientific affairs executive questioned this conclusion. The author accommodated many of Philip Morris' suggested changes, and when he submitted his final draft to them, he had removed his original conclusion about the effect of secondhand smoke on infants. Instead, he wrote that "the majority of the effects of smoking can be explained by prenatal smoking by the mother," and that postnatal (infant) secondhand smoke effects were "less well established" than prenatal smoking.
As published, the article mentions the financial support of Philip Morris, but does not acknowledge that the article was initiated, reviewed and influenced by the tobacco company. Not only does the limited acknowledgement mask the extent of the tobacco company's influence on the conclusion, but totally hidden from view is the fact that the article was essentially conceived by the tobacco company in the first place, UCSF's Glantz points out.
"This study of Philip Morris activity since the tobacco industry signed the Master Settlement Agreement in 1998 shows that the industry continues to use its 50-year old strategies to sow confusion about the real dangers of secondhand smoke and to distort the entire scientific process," says Glantz.
The tobacco industry documents were made available as part of the Master Settlement Agreement, in which among other things, tobacco companies pledged to cease their efforts to discredit research on smoking and health. To this end, the current Philip Morris web site includes this statement:
"Public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke from cigarettes causes disease, including lung cancer and heart disease, in non-smoking adults, as well as causes conditions in children such as asthma, respiratory infections, cough, wheeze, otitis media (middle ear infection) and sudden infant death syndrome. In addition, public health officials have concluded that secondhand smoke can exacerbate adult asthma and cause eye, throat and nasal irritation."
"The new study shows clearly that Philip Morris continues to orchestrate a behind-the scenes effort to undermine the credibility of the health warnings their web site acknowledges," Glantz says.
In their paper, he and his co-authors call into question the practice of accepting tobacco industry funds to support research.
"The tobacco industry's long and consistent history of manipulating the content and presentation of scientific results raises questions about publishing work funded by the tobacco industry," they write.
First author on the study is Elisa K. Tong, MD, a postdoctoral fellow in the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine. Co-author is Lucinda England, MD, a medical epidemiologist in the Division of Reproductive Health at the CDC.
The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=20839
SMFM: Smoking linked to higher risk of open neural tube defects
Heavy smokers had more than twice the risk of non-smokers; risk appears to be dose-dependent
By Patricia Nicholson
RENO, NEV. – Smoking during early pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of open neural tube defects (NTDs) by a University of Alberta study presented here at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine meeting.
Previous studies had identified smoking as a risk factor for folate deficiency, said study author Dr. Kirsten Gustafson, of U of A's department of obstetrics and gynecology in Edmonton. Despite equivalent folic acid intake, smokers have lower levels of serum folate in their blood.
To investigate whether smoking had an impact on open neural tube defects, Dr. Gustafson and co-author Dr. Sujata Chandra studied pregnancies diagnosed with an open NTD between 1992 and 2002 at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the referral site for all high-risk pregnancies in northern Alberta. All singleton pregnancies with open NTDs, including deliveries, fetal deaths and terminated pregnancies, were considered.
Of the 191 diagnosed cases of open NTDs, 99 met the study criteria. Exclusion criteria included anticonvulsant use, multiple fetal anomalies, chromosomal abnormality or a previous child with an open neural tube defect. A control group was matched for age, month of conception and postal code, which served as a rough socioeconomic indicator.
Dose relationship
The findings indicate that, compared with non-smokers, women who smoked during pregnancy had a higher risk of open neural tube defects (odds ratio 2.2, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.25 to 3.93). Women who smoked less than half a pack per day had a lower risk than heavy smokers (odds ratio 0.58 compared with heavy smokers, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.42 to 0.82).
The NTD risk associated with smoking appears to be dose-dependent. These research results indicate that women who smoke may require higher doses of folic acid to help prevent NTDs.
Nearly two-thirds of the pregnancies diagnosed with NTD were terminated. Dr. Gustafson said this study is the first to control for terminations, folic acid supplementation and other variables such as age and body mass index.
"It adds to the power of our study," she said.
Posted on Tue, Mar. 15, 2005
http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp;jsessionid=DBCIDHIIFKNA?content=20050314_195538_4176
Sarcoidosis risk associated with environment
Pesticide exposure linked to greater likelihood of granulomatous conditions
By Heather Ennis January 25, 2005
DENVER – A new study has identified several factors that may be associated with a mystery disease with no known cause and a puzzling epidemiology.
Researchers found that people with sarcoidosis, a systemic granulomatous condition that can affect nearly every organ system, were more likely to be involved in agricultural work, have occupational exposure to pesticides and report mouldy or mildewy environments more than those without the disease.
Though normally a mild condition, sarcoidosis can result in lasting tissue damage. It is characterized by an inappropriate immune response leading to numerous granulomas throughout various organs—including the lungs, skin, lymph nodes and eyes. When needed, treatment is usually a several-month course of prednisone. There are scant data on the prevalence of sarcoidosis, but some U.S. reports have estimated the incidence at approximately 11/100,000 people among white Americans and 35/100,000 among black Americans. It is more common in Canada and Northern Europe.
Odds ratios
Researchers recruited 706 patients at 10 sites in the U.S. with newly diagnosed sarcoidosis and an equal number of matched controls without the disease. Occupational and other exposures were determined using an interview and questionnaire, and the results suggest a positive association between sarcoidosis and agricultural work (OR=1.46), insecticides at work (OR=1.52) and the presence of mould or mildew in the workplace (OR=1.61).
"It says that in the research, we need to look more diligently at the exposures and the risk of disease in agricultural settings. It suggests we should continue to look harder for microbes that might be causing sarcoidosis," said Dr. Lee Newman, a pulmonologist at the National Jewish Medical and Research Centre in Denver and primary author of the study. "It does not prove that either agriculture or pesticides or a particular microbe in a mouldy environment causes sarcoidosis, but the followup research should focus on those areas."
The links can be added to a growing list of occupational factors previously associated with sarcoidosis, including employment in health care, firefighting, military and lumber industries. Though various other potential triggers have been suggested, the cause of sarcoidosis remains obscure.
The strongest association in the study, which was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, was found between sarcoidosis and cigarette smoking. Smokers were significantly less likely to have the disease than non-smokers (OR=0.62), indicating smoking may confer protection from sarcoidosis.
"Tobacco smoke does tend to inhibit or quiet down certain immune system cells so they're not as good at triggering an immune reaction," said Dr. Newman, who noted this isn't the first time the tobacco link has appeared in sarcoidosis research. "The studies don't prove that smoking is protective, but the association is there and certainly looks like it's protective."
The nature of sarcoidosis as a single disease has also been questioned. While American blacks often suffer a more severe form of the disease, it is most common in Scandinavian countries, where patients usually suffer fewer and less acute symptoms.
"It may be that when we talk about sarcoidosis, we really should be talking about different subsets of disease," said Dr. Newman.
Canadian prevalence
There are no good data on the prevalence of the disease in Canada, but the pattern is closer to that of Scandinavia than the U.S., according to a Canadian doctor who treats sarcoidosis.
"Canada has one of the higher incidences," said Dr. Rob McFadden, a respirologist at St. Joseph's Health Care in London, Ont., who follows approximately 30 sarcoidosis patients at any given time. "The most benign form we tend to get in Canada is very common in Scandinavia. It's a different disease in American blacks."
Though the most recently identified associations add to a growing body of sarcoidosis research, both doctors urged physicians not to overinterpret the results. No causative factors have been found, they said.
"Probably, it's reasonable to take a good occupational and exposure history," said Dr. McFadden. "But you wouldn't want to overreact to that because you'll convince some poor guy who's just unlucky and got the disease that it was due to some place he worked. There's not enough evidence to prove that."
http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp?content=20050123_130706_980
American Lung Association Links Socio-Economic Factors to Environmental Health Hazards
i-Newswire, 2005-03-18 - The Hispanic community is disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards such as air pollution, according to a new study by the American Lung Association. The report, Lung Disease Data in Culturally Diverse Communities, provides a definitive link between air pollution and lung disease prevalence in communities of color.
“In many instances, Hispanic communities are disproportionately affected by environmental exposures, which can lead to a host of lung diseases. This publication calls on legislators and community leaders to fight for stricter air pollution standards, said Donald Woods, Vice President of Cultural Diversity for the American Lung Association. “The American Lung Association is committed to educating these communities about lung disease and achieving our mission to eliminate lung disease and promote lung health.”
Lung Disease Data in Culturally Diverse Communities shows that Hispanics and African Americans together suffer disproportionately from asthma, compared to Whites, and provides important information about clean air and the long-term effects of exposure to tobacco smoke and air pollution. The report calls attention to the health disparities and other socioeconomic factors that may account for the high prevalence rates within diverse communities.
According to the report, lung disease affects people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities, but some groups have higher rates than others. The study shows that Hispanics are more than twice as likely as either African Americans or Whites to live near high traffic areas such as freeways and other areas with heavy diesel truck traffic. These areas have higher levels of air pollution and increase the risk of lung disease and premature death. Studies have shown that Puerto Ricans may have higher asthma prevalence rates and higher death rates than other Hispanic subgroups and non-Hispanic Whites.
Click here for the Lung Disease Data in Culturally Diverse Communities: 2005 report
About the American Lung Association
For 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the lead organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. Lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined.
The American Lung Association funds vital research on the causes of and treatments for lung disease. With the generous support of the public, the American Lung Association is “Improving life, one breath at a time.”
For more information about the American Lung Association or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNG-USA ( 1-800-586-4872 ) or log on to http://www.lungusa.org.
American Lung Association
If you have questions regarding information in these press release contact the company listed below. Please do not contact us as we are unable to assist you with your inquiry. We disclaim any content contained in this press release.
http://i-newswire.com/pr10770.html
Industry plays down passive smoke -UK
Tobacco chiefs have clashed with Scottish politicians over the threat passive smoking poses to health.
Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 March, 2005, 20:04 GMT
The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association (TMA) played down claims that second-hand smoke causes disease while talking to Holyrood's health committee.
But MSP Mike Rumbles said research had concluded there was a link between passive smoke and cancer.
The exchange on Tuesday came as the pub and tobacco industries try to urge parliament to abandon its smoking ban.
The director of trade and industry affairs at the TMA, Christopher Ogden, conceded to the committee that second-hand smoke can be "annoying and irritating to non-smokers".
But he said reports of its links to death and disease had been overblown by the anti-smoking lobby.
He said: "What we do object to is the distortion of science to further an anti-tobacco agenda.
"It's one thing to tell smokers they're harming themselves but quite another to say that by smoking they are harming others.
"The whole issue of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is being driven by a strident, determined anti-smoking lobby whose ultimate objective is a tobacco-free world.
"Our view is that the scientific evidence does not prove causation between ETS and death or disease."
Conclusive evidence
Mr Ogden said even a former editor of the British Medical Journal admitted the risks of passive smoking had not been definitively answered.
However, Mr Rumbles, the Liberal Democrats' health spokesman, said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had concluded second-hand smoke was carcinogenic to humans.
The representative of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) at the same meeting said it found claims of hundreds of deaths a year of non-smoking bar workers from passive smoke to be "incredible".
Asked by Mr Rumbles whether he accepted second-hand smoke was carcinogenic, the body's chief executive, Paul Waterson, would not be drawn on the issue.
He said: "We don't know of any bar workers at all that are dying through this. We think these claims are grossly exaggerated."
The SLTA is opposing the smoking ban, claming it will lead to the loss of an initial 2,300 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector once it is introduced.
The organisation also claimed the move would increase alcohol abuse by encouraging people wanting to smoke and drink to do it at home, outwith the controlled environment of a pub.
Later, the chairman of the British Hospitality Association's Scottish committee, Paddy Crerar, appealed to MSPs to exempt hotel bedrooms from the legislation.
He argued that hotels with guests from heavy-smoking countries on continental Europe could be badly hit if the ban covered their rooms.
Another witness, George Ross, representing Royal British Legion clubs, asked for politicians not to rush the ban as it could push some smaller clubs out of business.
He asked the committee: "Give us time. We are trying to modernise but I feel that bringing in this complete ban all at once is provocative against my members."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4352211.stm
Study Examines Racial Differences Among Children To Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure
SourceCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
CINCINNATI -- A new study may help explain why African American children suffer disproportionately from tobacco-related illness.
The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that African American children with asthma have significantly higher levels of cotinine -- a substance produced when the body breaks down nicotine -- even though these children's parents report lower exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, commonly known as second-hand smoke.
"There are at least two possible reasons why African Americans have higher levels of cotinine," says Stephen E. Wilson, MD, a scientist at the Cincinnati Children's Center for Environmental Health and the study's lead author. "Numerous studies have demonstrated significant racial differences in the metabolism of tobacco-related products. But differences in additives to cigarettes commonly smoked by African Americans, such as menthol, could also explain the observed racial differences."
The study will be published in the March issue of Environmental Health Perspectives and is currently available online at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/
The study is based on data from the Cincinnati Asthma Prevention study, an ongoing study of the Cincinnati Children's Center for Environmental Health. Dr. Wilson and his colleagues measured cotinine in the blood and hair of 222 children with asthma. Cotinine is considered the best marker of environmental tobacco smoke exposure. The investigators also assessed exposure to environmental tobacco smoke using a validated survey.
Surprisingly, the investigators found that African American children with asthma had higher levels of cotinine in the blood (1.41 ng/ml vs. 0.97 ng/ml) and hair (0.25 ng/mg vs. 0.07 ng/mg) compared to white children. This pattern held true even after taking into account tobacco smoke exposure, size of home and other sociodemographic characteristics, according to Dr. Wilson.
"These differences in cotinine could provide clues to the racial differences in tobacco-associate morbidity and mortality," says Dr. Wilson. "If African American children are more susceptible to tobacco-induced toxicity, we should target policy initiatives to reduce exposure among this population."
Editor's Note: The original news release can be found here
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050309144253.htm
Smoke shop robbery turn deadly
Policeman opens fire, kills suspectSam Lewin 3/17/2005
A tribal police officer shot and killed a fellow tribal member that was trying to rob an Indian smoke shop in Reno, Nevada.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said an officer with the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony Tribal Police Department shot the suspect twice at the Colony Smoke Shop II. The spokesman said the shooting happened as the officer was trying to apprehend the suspect.
The man that was killed has been identified as 26-year-old Kyle Melendez. Melendez, who was armed, allegedly tried to flee the shop when authorities approached, and he later turned on the officer, prompting the shooting.
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony spokesman Don Vetter told the Native American Times that Melendez was an enrolled member of the tribe and has a large family in the area. He also said the incident was something that was “out of character” for Melendez.
An employee at the smoke shop who said her name was Lawanda said that the store’s management had no comment on the shooting.
The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony operates five smoke shops. The shooting happened across the street from the tribe’s senior center.
This is not the first time an Indian smoke shop has been targeted by violent robbers. Last month an Arkansas City man was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for the November 2003 armed robbery of the Otoe Missouri’s Chilocco Smoke Shop in Kay County, Oklahoma. Cody Wayne Griesel, 24, and his accomplice, David Dean Ambroz each pointed a gun at two female employees of the business and two customers and ordered them to get down on the floor while they rifled the cash register, officials said. Ambroz had earlier been sentenced to more than six years in prison for his role in the robbery.
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=6169
Posted at 2:39 pm by looped_ca
Proposed smoking ban adds Atlantic City casinos -NJ
* added fraternity, clubs etc.
By Rosa Cirianni ASSOCIATED PRESS March 15/05
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2005/mar/15/518451748.html
UPDATE 1-US government witness to urge tobacco execs' ouster
(Adds comment from Philip Morris lawyer)
By Peter Kaplan Mon Mar 14, 2005 05:50 PM ET
WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - A government witness scheduled to testify in the racketeering case against cigarette makers will recommend that the courts oust senior tobacco industry management, according to court documents.
Harvard business school professor Max Bazerman will testify on behalf of the government that "structural changes" are needed to prevent the industry from future wrongdoing, the Justice Department said in a pleading filed with the court on Friday.
Those changes include "the removal of senior management and changes in oversight and reporting arrangements," the government said.
Bazerman was at the top of a list of witnesses the government listed in the pleading. They will testify later in the case about what remedies should be imposed if the judge concludes that the industry violated civil racketeering laws.
The government's case, which has been in trial since September, is based on accusations that the industry conspired for decades to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking.
But last month the case was dealt a serious blow when a federal appeals court ruled that the government cannot use civil racketeering laws to force the industry to repay $280 billion in past industry profits.
Last month's 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stripped the government of its strongest potential penalty in the racketeering case. The government had been seeking $280 billion in past profits from the industry.
The appeals court said that under the law, the government can only seek remedies that are "forward-looking."
Bazerman and some other witnesses listed by the government on Friday were aimed at bolstering the government's case for nonmonetary remedies.
However, tobacco industry lawyer David Bernick said on Monday there was no legal basis for seeking to force out industry executives. He said government lawyers had never raised the idea before, and were "inventing something on the fly in order to gain leverage in the case."
Bernick represents Brown & Williamson, which was a unit of British American Tobacco Plc (BATS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) before being acquired by R.J. Reynolds in 2004.
Philip Morris lawyer Dan Webb said the government was "trying to put on more remedies because they lost disgorgement."
"The government's just made up a new remedy because they're scrambling," Webb said.
Targeted in the government's lawsuit, filed in 1999, are Altria Group Inc. (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and its Philip Morris unit; Loews Corp.'s (LTR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group (CG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) ; Vector Group Ltd.'s (VGR.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.'s (RAI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit; and British American Tobacco unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.
The tobacco companies deny they illegally conspired to promote smoking and say the government has no grounds to pursue them after they drastically overhauled marketing practices as part of a 1998 settlement with state attorneys general.
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh37226_2005-03-14_22-50-15_n14490680_newsml
Researcher admits fraud in grant data
Ex-Vermont scientist won nearly $3m from US
By Carey Goldberg and Scott Allen, Globe Staff March 18, 2005
In the worst case of scientific fakery to come to light in two decades, a top obesity researcher who long worked at the University of Vermont admitted yesterday that he fabricated data in 17 applications for federal grants to make his work seem more promising, helping him win nearly $3 million in government funding.
Eric T. Poehlman, a leading specialist on metabolic changes during aging, acknowledged that he altered and made up research results from 1992 to 2002, including findings published in medical journals that overstated the effect of menopause on women's health.
Under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Poehlman, 49, will be barred for life from receiving federal funding, pay back $180,000, and plead guilty to a criminal charge of fraud that could bring jail time. He agreed to ask scientific journals to retract and correct 10 articles they published by him.
''Dr. Poehlman fraudulently diverted millions of dollars," said David V. Kirby, the US attorney for Vermont. ''This in turn siphoned millions of dollars from the pool of resources available for valid scientific research proposals. As this prosecution proves, such conduct will not be tolerated."
The fraud charge carries up to five years in prison, but lawyers involved in the case said Poehlman would ask for leniency and would probably get a lesser sentence or possibly no prison time at all.
Poehlman's misconduct was detected and exposed by a former University of Vermont lab technician, Walter F. DeNino, who once viewed Poehlman as his mentor.
Poehlman was a star among obesity researchers. For years at the Universities of Vermont and Maryland and, since 2001, at the Université de Montréal, he won millions in grant dollars, copious prizes, and accolades from the students he mentored.
Over two decades in which he published more than 200 journal articles, he built a reputation as a leading authority on the metabolic changes that come with aging, particularly during menopause. He also studied the genetics of obesity and the impact of exercise, often following human subjects over time to document how their physiology changed.
Now that stellar career has unraveled. Poehlman resigned from the Université de Montréal in January. He did not respond to requests left at his Montreal home and with his attorney to be interviewed.
Some colleagues speculated that Poehlman buckled to an exaggerated perception of the pressure to publish papers and win grants to keep his laboratory going. Or perhaps he was so sure he knew the right answers that he cut corners to get to them, they said.
DeNino, the lab technician, said in an interview that he does not know what Poehlman was thinking, but the benefits were clear: The fabricated data made his grant proposals more appealing and his papers more publishable, helping Poehlman become one of the better-funded researchers at the University of Vermont.
Poehlman's work was not so groundbreaking that the fabrication will require rethinking any major doctrines on obesity or aging, several colleagues said. But scientists must now wonder which parts of Poehlman's work they can rely on, according to Susan Roberts, a metabolism specialist at Tufts University, who said news of the fabrication left her saddened and disbelieving. ''Some of his work was pretty influential," particularly on the physical decline that comes with aging, she said.
''I have a book chapter I'm revising right now which, the last time around, had a lot of references to him," she said in an e-mail. ''We are going to pull them all to be on the safe side, hoping that in the future we can put back in those that prove to be OK."
Poehlman's is the most serious case of research fraud since a mid-1980s investigation led to an admission from University of Pittsburgh psychologist Stephen Breuning that he had falsified data on the use of stimulants in children, said Chris Pascal, director of the federal Office of Research Integrity, which investigates research fraud. Breuning was sentenced to 60 days in prison.
Serious research fraud is exceedingly rare, Pascal said, although cases serious enough to warrant barring a researcher from receiving federal funds for a while come up several times a year.
In fall 1997, Poehlman hired DeNino, then a University of Vermont senior, to work part time while he tried to make the US Olympic triathlon team. Poehlman also mentored him, inviting him to coauthor papers and analyze data for him.
''I thought of Dr. Poehlman as someone who would be instrumental in my future," said DeNino, who planned to eventually go on to medical school.
DeNino said he did not notice anything amiss until October 2000, when Poehlman asked DeNino to analyze some preliminary results from a project called the Vermont Longitudinal Study of Aging. DeNino said Poehlman reacted strangely when he turned in his analysis of test results on about 150 women after menopause.
Contrary to Poehlman's expectation that the women's health would broadly decline, some women actually saw improvements in their cholesterol levels and blood pressure.
Poehlman took a computer disk of the data home for the weekend, ostensibly to look for clerical errors and statistical anomalies, and when he gave it back to DeNino for reanalysis, the data painted a much darker picture of post-menopausal health, DeNino said.
At first, DeNino assumed he had made the mistake. But when he compared the original data against the revised data from Poehlman, he could see that, in women who seemed to be getting healthier over time, Poehlman had reversed the order of test results, making it appear that cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings had gotten worse, not better. ''He was trying to exaggerate the age-related deterioration of menopause," DeNino said.
DeNino presented his concerns to Poehlman, who responded in two separate memos that the changes were just an effort to correct clerical mistakes and other problems. DeNino was not persuaded and reported Poehlman to university officials. ''I could not escape the fact that a powerful, respected scientist was obviously struggling to explain his actions by layering lie upon lie," said DeNino.
DeNino says that at least four University of Vermont researchers told him privately that they had concerns as well about some of Poehlman's work. However, no one else had spoken up to university authorities. ''I was in a unique position to act," DeNino said. ''I did not rely on Dr. Poehlman for funding, a post doc [research position], or a salary."
The University of Vermont took DeNino's accusations seriously, he said, but he quickly realized the difficulty of being a whistle-blower against someone as powerful as Poehlman. Other colleagues in Poehlman's lab doubted DeNino's claims, while Poehlman's attorney threatened to sue him if he spoke against Poehlman outside of the investigation.
Poehlman managed to keep DeNino's allegations against him quiet for several years. In 2001, as the University of Vermont was investigating DeNino's accusations, he resigned his tenured professorship and took a step up in the academic world. He accepted an endowed chair -- a high honor usually reserved for very senior professors -- at the Université de Montréal, which apparently knew nothing of the charges.
In recent days, some colleagues and friends who were aware of the federal investigation defended Poehlman.
One, David B. Allison, an obesity researcher and professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said that based on the facts of the case from the initial university investigation, he believes that Poehlman ''committed no act of scientific misconduct."
''I believe he's innocent, and I believe that he is being broken financially to the point where he's ready to give up the fight because he has no more money to fight with, and that's the way the game works," he said.
The University of Vermont investigation concluded that Poehlman had fabricated most of the data used in a six-year study of changes in 35 women after menopause, which was published in The Annals of Internal Medicine in 1995. In 2003, the journal retracted the paper.
It also found that Poehlman had used fraudulent data in applying for one federal grant, and that triggered a broader investigation by the US attorney's office in Burlington, Vt., and the Office of Research Integrity, which resulted in yesterday's agreement.
Poehlman is expected to be arraigned and plead guilty to fraud within weeks. Federal prosecutors have promised to take no position on his request for a more lenient sentence because he has recently cooperated with authorities.
Under the federal whistle-blower protection statute, DeNino will receive $21,600 before taxes and his legal fees will be paid, but he scoffs at the notion that he pursued the case for money. He only formally applied for the reward in 2004 when he retained attorney Philip Michael to protect him in the final stages of the federal investigation.
DeNino, now 28 and a post-graduate student at Columbia University in New York City, said he considers his long fight ''an accomplishment for the process that is in place to ensure that truth in science is preserved."
''Funding should be appropriated to those who deserve it," he said.
http://www.boston.com/
Stu Bykofsky | Lemmings!
 POLITICIANS STAMPEDE TOWARD BAD BAN
THE LEMMINGS are racing toward the cliff.
Stampeded by a notion that "everybody's doing it," misleading science, "clever" polling and a zealous desire to "save" less than 1 percent of the workforce, City Council is poised to enact a ham-handed, unnecessary, draconian ban on smoking in public places that extends even to private clubs.
Before you dive over the cliff, Dear Council, divorce yourself from the ripe rhetoric. Ask more questions.
You've heard about cities - even whole countries! - banning smoking.
If you buy the "they do it, so we should do it" argument, understand the first European government to ban smoking was... the Third Reich. Yes, the real Nazis were the first Nicotine Nazis.
How about jurisdictions that reject or amend bans? In the past month alone, the Virginia Senate defeated a restaurant smoking ban 26-14; a ban was defeated in North Dakota's House of Representatives 47-45; the Montana House of Representatives exempted bars and casinos from state smoking ban rules by 58-42; Indiana voted to scale back a smoking ban to simply require family restaurants to offer nonsmoking sections. There are many more.
The Great Satan is "second-hand smoke," also called "passive smoking," and "environmental tobacco smoke." It's got more aliases than a Mafia hitman.
Dear Council, most smokers DON'T die from smoking. A third die "prematurely" from "smoking-related" causes, estimates Andy Hyland, a research scientist with the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, who testified before you. That's "smoking-related," not smoking-caused, and half of those deaths occur in people over 70. That doesn't sound all that premature.
The chance of a nonsmoker dying of "second-hand smoke" is infinitesimal. I do not say it can't happen; I do say it is not a raging monster of death and disease. Tobacco is but one of many factors affecting health, which is why some countries have higher smoking rates yet lower cancer rates than do we. Would that be true if tobacco were the only villain and if second-hand smoke were as deadly as some claim?
Did EPA tilt stats?
The landmark EPA report that first linked second-hand smoke to cancer has been attacked as bad science by one side, defended by the other. I believe, based on my reading, the EPA tilted the stats toward a desired outcome. Am I sure? No. Are you sure they didn't? (The flawless EPA currently is accused of publishing incorrect auto mileage figures.)
As we age, we are more likely to die of cancer or heart disease - even if not exposed to smoke. But if you smoked - ever, no matter how little - by God, the Nicotine Nazis will insist that's what killed you.
In a recent letter to the Daily News, American Cancer Society Regional Vice President Patrick Delaney wrote that a "large majority (76 percent) of Philadelphians favor prohibiting smoking in workplaces, including bars and restaurants."
Those polled were asked which of two statements they most agreed with.
1. As long as smoking is a legal activity, people should be allowed to smoke inside public places such as offices and restaurants even if it means others may be exposed to second-hand smoke.
2. Even though smoking is a legal activity, people should NOT be allowed to smoke inside public places such as offices and restaurants if it means others may be exposed to the effects of second-hand smoke.
Delaney mentioned bars, which the poll question did not. An innocent mistake?
The poll was rigged by including "second-hand smoke," which many Americans have been led to believe is deadly as a cobra. Dear Council, would the results would have been the same if the question had been worded:
Being as smoking is legal and keeps your taxes low because of the staggering tax load on cigarettes, should it be permitted in public as long as smoke is kept away from nonsmokers?
Carcinogens in salad
Yes, second-hand smoke contains carcinogens and carcinogens "can" kill - even carcinogens in your health salad.
Testifying before you, Dear Council, Michael McFadden, author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains," held up a glass of water and said it contained arsenic, a carcinogen found in tobacco smoke. "The same amount of arsenic... would be inhaled by a typical 'passive smoker' while sitting in a room with a smoker smoking 165,000 cigarettes," he told me.
Lots of things are carcinogenic, but it's the amount that counts, and most of the toxins in cigarettes are quite low. (McFadden recommends www.smokersclubinc.com for a wealth of info.)
Tobacco smoke contains 4,000 "chemicals," the American Heart Association says, but admits only "40 are capable of causing cancer." Just capable, not does. Why mention the other 3,960 "chemicals?" Scare tactic?
Dear Council, reducing unwanted smoke is a good goal that can be achieved by insulating smokers from nonsmokers with top-of-the-line air-filtration systems or even by closed smoking rooms (which were created in some Ireland pubs after the ban).
You don't have to dive over the cliff.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/living/11139380.htm
Court makes room for smokers
By BRIAN CALLAWAY Bucks County Courier Times
Doylestown - Smokers will soon find themselves banished from the area outside the main entrance to Bucks County's courthouse.
People have long congregated for cigarette breaks near the building's Court Street doors, but since the county started subjecting visitors to metal detectors and X-ray machines last month, that area sees lines of people waiting to get inside.
"They didn't want people out there standing in a plume of smoke while they waited," said Stacey Martin, county public information director.
The county also worried that people who take multiple smoke breaks could be more burdensome on the security checkpoint, she said.
"They take up resources to have to be searched however many times a day they smoke," she said.
To accommodate smokers, the county is setting up an outdoor patio area off the building's second floor. While some people already smoke there, the county won't force smokers to use it until they add things like a tarp to keep people dry in case of rain.
Officials said that work should take two or three months to complete, but they didn't know how much it would cost yet.
Handicapped people will be the only ones exempt from the new smoking restrictions, since the newly designated smokers' area is only accessible by stairs.
The move in Bucks is coming as some companies and governments have made headlines for cracking down on employees who smoke.
Montgomery County, for instance, is considering a proposal to stop hiring people who smoke in an effort to help cut back its healthcare costs.
Bucks officials, though, said they haven't considered any similar steps
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-03172005-464308.html
3/16/2005 10:17:00 AM
To: City and Assignment Desks
Contact: Katherine Gajewski of the Breathe Free Philadelphia Alliance, 215-988-0458, Web: http://www.breathefreephiladelphia.org
PHILADELPHIA, March 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -— Representatives from each of Philadelphia's five Medical Schools, including Drexel, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Temple University and University of Pennsylvania, will join Councilman Michael Nutter at a press conference to show their unified support for smoke-free Philadelphia workplaces today, Wednesday, March 16, at 3 p.m. outside Room 404 in City Hall. The medical students, members of the American Medical Association, and the American Medical Student Association will then visit the Offices of Council President Anna Verna; Councilman Frank DiCicco; Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell; Councilman Darrel Clarke; and Councilman James Kenney to demonstrate their support of the smoke-free law.
"This important public health measure will not only protect Philadelphians by allowing everyone to breathe smoke-free air, but it will also help attract young professionals to stay in Philadelphia after completing their schooling," said Karen Siren, MPH, a second year medical student at Temple University.
All five medical schools' student governments have expressed strong support of the smoke-free law, and have adopted resolutions that outline their support. The students have received overwhelming support from their Faculty and Deans in their effort to see all of Philadelphia's workplaces become smoke-free.
"We all know how bad smoking is for you," said Siren. "We're just starting to understand the broad range of health hazards from secondhand smoke. Recent studies have linked secondhand smoke exposure to both breast cancer and heart attacks. This new evidence makes it even clearer that the time is now to take this simple measure to protect the health of all Philadelphians from the dangers of secondhand smoke. As medical students and healthcare professionals, we have made it our prerogative to live in a city that puts the health of its citizens first. We have met with our Dean, Dr. John Daly, and, as a physician, he supports this measure wholeheartedly and is working with us to let City Council know how important this is. My colleagues at Jefferson, Penn, Drexel and PCOM have done the same and met similar success."
"Philadelphia's medical schools produce one of every five doctors in the country, and hospitals are the city's largest employer," said Jonathan Pak, president of Temple's Chapter of the American Medical Student Association. "It is essential that Philadelphia is also known as a leader for its commitment to public health."
Student leaders from the each of the schools student governments, the American Medical Association and the American Medical Student Association will attend the press conference. The medical students will encourage the City Council to consider the trend of young professionals who earn their professional degrees in this city, but opt for more health conscious and progressive communities that have embraced smoke-free laws, such as Boston, New York City, and California. When faced with the choice of where to begin their careers and raise their families, young professionals want to be able to consider Philadelphia as an option.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=44418
Posted at 2:29 pm by looped_ca
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Alberta smoking ban debate officially underway -AB
EDMONTON (CP) - The debate Premier Ralph Klein promised would take place over smoking in Alberta opened Monday with his predicted signs of a split between rural and urban members of the legislature.
Bill 201, proposed by rookie Conservative backbencher Dave Rodney of Calgary, calls for a provincewide ban on smoking in public places and workplaces.
Rodney told the house it's aimed at protecting Albertans from second-hand smoke, which kills 350 non-smokers each year from smoke-related cancers and 3,500 from smoke-related heart disease.
He said his statistics came from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.
Eighty per cent of Albertans don't smoke, he noted, and 84 of the province's 353 municipalities have already passed some form of non-smoking bylaw.
The bill received second reading, or approval in principle, on Monday but will likely be watered down under pressure from rural constituencies, where the heart of Tory support lies.
Klein said about two-thirds of the Conservative members support the kind of amendments he has recommended, which would exempt bars, casinos and bingo halls from the ban. He suggested enforcement would be next to impossible in what he likes to call the old-time beer parlours.
''Do you set up a special police force - you know, smoke cops - to tell the 80-year-old guy in the Youngstown bar that he has to put out his cigarette?''
Health Minister Iris Evans supports a smoking ban, but the split in caucus is one reason why the legislation is proceeding as a private member's bill.
She diplomatically urged her colleagues to give it ''careful consideration.''
''We must be vigilant because Alberta has fallen behind other Canadian jurisdictions regarding tobacco legislation,'' Evans said. ''With the exception of Alberta, every province has adopted or is developing some form of comprehensive tobacco control legislation.''
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/Z05_alberta0315.lasso
Tobacco firms assigned blame for teen smoking -ON
By Brian CleeveWednesday March 16, 2005
Actor Brad Pitt and tobacco companies are among the villains for a local anti-smoking group.
Pitt was vilified for smoking in a movie and tobacco companies were criticized for targetting young people.
CAUTION (Chatham-Kent Against Uncaring Tobacco Industries of North America), a group of Chatham-Kent high school students, criticized advertising of cigarettes at the Teen Tobacco Summit at the Chatham Cultural Centre last Wednesday.
One of the organizers says one point of the summit was to expose the “lies” told by tobacco companies.
“We want to show students that tobacco companies are interested in profits, not the health of young people,” said Marc Cibulka, a Grade 12 student at Ursuline College.
Cibulka also said: “Movies sometimes show people smoking and it seems glamorous,”
Matt Boire, another Grade 12 student at UCC and an organizer, expanded on how tobacco interests get their tentacles into the movie business.
“The tobacco companies pay directors to insert scenes in which people are smoking,” Boire said in an interview.
The 1994 movie Forest Gump is one example of a film in which people smoked, Boire said.
Craig Washburn, a Grade 8 student from Tilbury Area Public School, said he thought the summit was worthwhile because it provided information to students.
Part of the presentation to the 600 students included a video of a 41-year-old woman dying of cancer who pleads with students not to follow her lead.
The woman, who had lost her hair through cancer treatment, began smoking at about Grade 7 as a means of achieving popularity, although she was a model and an athlete.
A video suggested that “smoking is not sexy.”
It indicated that by 2030, 10 million people will die each year from smoking.
It pointed out that one cigarette can lead to a “lifelong addiction.” Another statistic was that 800,000 children under 12 years of age are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Jay Irvine and Cameron Tulloch from the Hamilton Crew for Action Against Tobacco, told the students that tobacco companies need people 14 to 21 if they are to survive.
Michelle Bogaert, health educator for Chatham-Kent Public Health, says the summit was a benefit because it was “youth led.”
“They educate their peers about the tobacco companies and the facts about smoking.”
Bogaert worked as an adult supervisor for CAUTION.
Information from the summit will complement school curriculum for business studies, Canadian and world studies, guidance and career education, health and physical education, social sciences and humanities.
A fact sheet presented by CAUTION indicates that 19 per cent of people 15 to 19 years old in Ontario are smokers, according to the Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey 2002.
A survey by CAUTION in 2004 showed that 14 per cent of people aged 14 to 16 in Chatham-Kent are smokers.
CAUTION has also organized a poster contest and has produced a video.
http://www.chathamthisweek.com/story.php?id=149027
Provinces can limit tobacco displays, Supreme Court says
CBC News Last Updated Fri, 18 Mar 2005 21:12:52 EST
Federal law doesn't give retailers the right to display the products and Saskatchewan was within its right to ban them.
Supreme Court of Canada says retailers can easily comply with both laws in one of two ways, Major said, by refusing to admit anyone under the age of 18 years of age, or by not displaying tobacco products.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/03/18/supremecourt-tobacco050318.html
virtue of the doctrine of federal legislative paramountcy
Supreme Court Judgment Document
Intro:
It is plain that dual compliance is possible in this case. A retailer can easily comply with both s. 30 of the Tobacco Act and s. 6 of The Tobacco Control Act in one of two ways: by admitting no one under 18 years of age on to the premises or by not displaying tobacco or tobacco-related products. [25] Section 6 of The Tobacco Control Act does not frustrate the legislative purpose underlying s. 30 of the Tobacco Act. Both the general purpose of the Tobacco Act (to address a national public health problem) and the specific purpose of s. 30 (to circumscribe the Tobacco Act's general prohibition on promotion of tobacco products set out in s. 19) remain fulfilled. Indeed, s. 6 of The Tobacco Control Act appears to further at least two of the stated purposes of the Tobacco Act, namely, "to protect young persons and others from inducements to use tobacco products" (s. 4(b)) and "to protect the health of young persons by restricting access to tobacco products" . . .
There is no inconsistency between s. 6 of The Tobacco Control Act and s. 30 of the Tobacco Act that would render the former inoperative pursuant to the doctrine of federal legislative paramountcy. The appeal is allowed with costs to the appellant throughout.
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/rec/html/2005scc013.wpd.html
Benefiting from butts -AB
Edmonton Sun - Mar 20/05
Leave it to Premier Ralph Klein to tell the truth about the hypocrisy of governments and smoking.
Faced with a caucus revolt this week over rookie backbencher Dave Rodney's anti-smoking bill, a piece of legislation that the premier opposes, Klein vented some frustration about the topic last week.
"If you really want to do something, make smoking illegal," said the premier. "We can't do that, but the federal government can do that. You now, that is what I find so crazy about this whole debate is that you're dealing with a totally legal substance that can be sold virtually anywhere. A totally legal substance.
"The key to this, I guess, is make it illegal. But no one is going to do that. No government. Why? Of course, taxes. You know that. You don't need to ask me."
We've said the same thing in the past and come to the same conclusion, too. It's a nice idea, Ralph, but it'll never happen. At least not while governments can continue to find ways to milk every last dime from
smokers.
Still, we understand the premier's frustration on this topic, because candid talk on smoking is difficult to find amidst all the politically correct platitudes that dominate the discourse on this topic.
The debate in the legislature last week was all that and more. MLAs from all parties bemoaned the evils of cigarettes, the concerns of the health of children (if we had the proverbial nickel for every time an MLA mentioned protecting children in this debate ... ), the right to breathe clean air and on and on it went. MLAs quoted studies from the U.S. on how smoking bans don't impact bars or restaurants. They quoted from polls showing how many Albertans want a smoking ban. They cited death rates of smokers. It was all very predictable stuff.
But obviously only the premier was thinking about the hypocrisy over governments financially benefiting from a product that, if it were introduced today, would never be allowed on the market.
In fact, the only reference we could find in last week's legislature debate to tobacco taxes was a call to raise them even more!
The government need not bother, though, because its budget figures show that the amount of tobacco tax money collected by the province continues to rise. Alberta took in $618 million in 2002-03 and expects that the 2003-04 final number will be about $650 million.
The current budget predicted that Alberta would take in $660 million in tobacco tax in this fiscal year and tobacco tax revenue would rise to $700 million in 2006-07.
But last month's third-quarter budget update now estimates the government bringing in $720 million in tobacco tax this budget year due to "higher volume."
Higher volume? But aren't the number of smokers dropping? Health Minister Iris Evans told the legislature about the tobacco reduction strategy that was launched in 2002 to "denormalize" tobacco use. On the one hand, it seems to be working, as MLA Rodney said in the legislature that the smoking rate in Alberta has dropped from 25% in 2001 to 20% in 2003.
Yet Evans also told the legislature that "cigarette sales in Alberta are up 7.5% for the nine months ended December 2004 compared to the same nine months in the year prior."
So Alberta has fewer smokers, but increased cigarette sales and higher tobacco tax revenues? Go figure. Ask around in the government, and the answers for that weird statistical anomaly include smokers puffing more, population growth and the discount cigarette market.
Of all the MLAs who spoke on the anti-smoking bill last week, Ray Danyluk, PC MLA for Lac La Biche-St. Paul and a former smoker, was one of the rare MLAs who said something with which we completely agree: "Wouldn't it be better to encourage adults and children to quit smoking instead of telling businesses how to operate? By focusing our efforts on eliminating where people can smoke, all we're doing is changing the locations where parents will be subjecting their children to second-hand smoke."
Can't argue with that. Sure, it's not as radical as Klein urging the feds to ban tobacco entirely, but Danyluk's idea has a much better chance of succeeding.
And maybe it will finally result in Alberta collecting much less tobacco tax money.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/Editorial/
Party rooms snuffing out rural bars -MB
Smoking ban a financial 'disaster,' some hotels forced to close.
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1284
Keep smokes promise: Cancer Society -PE
Last Updated Mar 21 2005 06:53 AM AST
CBC News CHARLOTTETOWN – The government should make good on the promise it made two months ago to get rid of cigarette displays, says the Canadian Cancer Society.
In January, Health Minister Chester Gillan said he planned to bring forward legislation that would force retailers to keep cigarettes hidden. The announcement came shortly after a court ruling that upheld a Saskatchewan law barring the so-called "power wall" tobacco displays.
Gillan did not say when he might introduce such legislation.
Dawn Binns, director of health promotion and public issues with the Canadian Cancer Society on P.E.I., says she's urging Gillan to introduce the law in the upcoming session of the legislature.
Binns says power walls are one of the primary methods of advertising for tobacco companies. They make a particular impression on youth, she says, because they give the appearance that tobacco is used by many people.
She says the walls are also a cue for smokers and recent quitters to purchase a product.
http://pei.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=pe-smokes-20050321
Tobacco class-action loss, a victory of sorts -ON
By BEPPI CROSARIOL Monday, March 21, 2005 Page B13
Toronto lawyer Andreas Siebert is a surprisingly happy man for someone who recently lost a costly, nine-year court battle against Canada's Big Three tobacco multinationals.
That's because Mr. Siebert considers himself lucky to have avoided losing much more than just the case -- specifically, more than $1.2-million in court costs sought by the cigarette giants for the trouble he and his law firm caused them.
In a highly unusual case in Ontario's Superior Court watched closely by class-action litigators across the country, lawyers for the defendants -- Imperial Tobacco Ltd., Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp. -- earlier this month turned the tables on Mr. Siebert and his law firm, Sommers & Roth.
They asked a judge to hold the lawyers financially accountable for driving up legal fees with "errors," and "excessive" motions and cross-examinations.
Ultimately, Mr. Justice Warren Winkler dismissed the tobacco companies' request, saying that to punish lawyers as well as clients would have a "chilling effect" on important future litigation.
The case serves to highlight the rising tensions between not only plaintiffs and defendants in highly emotional product-liability lawsuits, but also between the legal teams on either side of the class-action war zone.
"The court recognized that where you have a bona fide claim being put forward by plaintiffs' counsel, [the lawyers] shouldn't be punished for having represented poor plaintiffs or persons with modest means," says Mr. Siebert, who helped launched the lawsuit that was dismissed late last year.
The original suit was launched in the mid-1990s on behalf of four sick smokers who claimed their illnesses were the result of tobacco company negligence. They sought class-action status for their suit, which would have enabled millions of other smokers to join in and collect any resulting damages.
However, after a protracted battle, Judge Winkler declined to certify the case because it was too broad and unworkable.
So, in a surprise move, lawyers representing the three tobacco companies sought to penalize their opponents with a bill for their considerable lawyers' fees.
Laws in most provinces, including Ontario, generally entitle the winning side in a civil suit to recoup a portion of their legal fees from the loser.
In class-action cases in particular, however, such costs tend to be awarded much less frequently and, depending on the province, only in specific circumstances.
In Ontario, for example, a successful defendant cannot collect costs for class proceedings that are deemed to raise novel points of law or that involve a strong public-interest component. It was mainly on those two scores that the tobacco companies failed.
As Judge Winkler wrote in his March 8 decision: "The use of tobacco products is considered to constitute a serious risk to the health of the public in this province and elsewhere in Canada. It logically follows that any proceeding that might have the effect of either curtailing the use of those products or visiting the health costs of their use on the defendants rather than the public at large clearly raises issues that go beyond the interests of the proposed class, and is of some specific societal significance to residents of Ontario and the rest of Canada."
Still, lawyers for the defence say the landmark decision will ultimately have the effect of making it nearly impossible to ever recoup costs in a class-action proceeding -- a harsh development that they say is at odds with the general loser-pays rule in Canada.
"This decision is going to make it very difficult for successful defendants to recover costs in class-action proceedings," says Lyndon Barnes, a senior partner with Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, who led the case on behalf of Imperial Tobacco. "In a system where the loser pays, yes, it's unfair."
And, he adds, denying costs to defendants in class actions would be particularly punishing to large corporations targeted by such suits because they are obliged to defend themselves with vigour due to the potentially catastrophic consequences of losing.
"The defendants have to take class-action proceedings extremely seriously because usually the magnitudes of the sums of money being sought are significant to the bottom line of the companies," Mr. Barnes says.
What made this case unusual, however, was that, instead of seeking costs only from the plaintiffs, the tobacco companies' also attempted to recoup costs from the plaintiffs' lawyers, whom they argued were the real agents -- in their words the "de facto plaintiffs" -- behind the case.
The novel argument underscored one of the more controversial aspects of class-action suits, many of which involve product-liability or malpractice claims. Typically, lawyers fighting such cases work on a so-called contingency-fee basis -- performing work at no upfront cost to the plaintiffs in the hope of scoring a substantial portion of any settlement or court award, typically in the range of 30 to 40 per cent.
Critics argue that such arrangements encourage a form of lawsuit lotto in which lawyers champion cases that have negligible merit on the assumption that large corporations with deep pockets prefer to settle out of court rather than entangle their executives in lengthy and distracting litigation.
But on this point, too, Judge Winkler disagreed. The defendants, he wrote, "allege at the same time that the plaintiffs' counsel were the de facto plaintiffs by their conduct. There is no evidence to support that assertion and I reject it."
Lawyers who specialize in advocating plaintiffs' class actions agree.
"That's a huge swipe at you as a plaintiffs' counsel," says Harvey Strosberg, a partner at Windsor, Ont.-based Sutts Strosberg LLP and one of the country's leading plaintiffs' lawyers specializing in class actions.
Mr. Strosberg says the strategy of trying to penalize lawyers for spearheading class actions in Canada is unheard of. "It's precedent setting in the sense that, in the context of a class action, it's the first time that I've seen this having been done."
David Church, a partner at litigation firm Church & Co. in Vancouver, says the Ontario decision affirms what he considers to be the vital and courageous role that lawyers play in furthering the public good by actively soliciting class-action cases on behalf of victims who don't have the money or knowledge to take up on their own.
"You cannot have these cases unless you have lawyers' involvement," he says. "And the lawyers often will find the plaintiff, the lawyers will often find the cause of the action and the lawyers will often pursue it. And it will be out of the lawyers pocketbook if the action isn't successful."
Some observers, however, argue that it's wrong to view the plaintiffs' counsel exclusively as "little guys" who are outgunned by comparatively rich corporations.
"This is not a loosely organized David-and-Goliath setting," says Prof. Lorne Sossin, associate dean of University of Toronto's law faculty and an expert in administrative law and civil litigation. "These are very capable, well-organized and well-financed counsel often in these large cases."
He says there's a popular "Hollywood notion" that all class-action suits are brought forth by destitute individuals who rack up monumental legal fees on credit. "I'm aware of very few cases where class-action litigation in Ontario has been advanced with personal credit cards getting maxed out."
The Ontario class-action case was also followed closely in British Columbia, which, like most provinces -- in contrast to Ontario -- denies defendants the recourse to seek legal costs except in rare circumstances, such as when a suit is brought forth out of malice or for an ulterior motive.
J.J. Camp, a partner with Camp Fiorante Matthews, a Vancouver firm specializing in plaintiffs' litigation, was appalled at the tobacco companies' tactics.
"It's exceedingly rare for costs to be visited on lawyers," he says. "That's Draconian to seek costs against counsel." He argues that the high cost to contingency-fee lawyers of bringing forward class-action cases provides enough disincentive against launching cases with little or no merit.
The Ontario tobacco case, he adds, affirms his opinion that the Ontario Class Proceedings Act should be amended so that no costs are awarded to any party.
"People do not bring frivolous class actions in B.C.," Mr. Camp says. "You've got to be a dumb lawyer to bring a bad case."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050321/PFPROF21/TPBusiness/General
Forty-one year smoker butts out to win Quit Smoking 2005 contest -ON
TORONTO, March 23 /CNW/ - Butting out 41 years after getting hooked on smoking has earned Ron Herd of Wingham Ontario a sparkling new Ford Mustang, the grand prize in the Ontario Quit Smoking 2005 contest.
Herd, 55, was among more than 19,000 adult daily smokers across Ontario who entered the contest and quit for the month of February and, he says, "for good."
"I just made up my mind I was going to do it this time," Herd said. "My son is getting married in September and I told him I'd win the car so he could use it on his wedding day. I'll never put another cigarette in my mouth."
Tanya Kulnies, chair of the provincial Quit Smoking Contest 2005 planning team said the contest has proven to be a fantastic incentive for smokers who are thinking about quitting.
"The number of smokers entering the contest has risen every year and the number of smokers in the province has continued to drop. We don't think that's a coincidence. The vast majority of smokers will tell you they want to quit. The contest gives them a quit date and helps them build a support system to
succeed."
This year's contest was launched in December and encouraged smokers to begin planning for a February 1st quit date. Each smoker had to sign up a non-smoking buddy to support them through the tough times in the quitting process. A potential grand prize winner and regional winners were chosen by random draw and their smoke-free status verified by a urine test. Along with Herd, seven regional quitters have won surround sound home theatre systems. They include Paul Nagy of Orleans, Joe Pellegrino of Mississauga, Ann-Louise Neumeyer-Rauch of Scarborough, Marshall Marion of Penetanguishene, Cindy Lannigan of Sault Ste. Marie, Robin Matteis of Leamington, and Trevor Brown of Beamsville. The buddy of each winner receives $250 in cash.
"This contest is the only provincial initiative of its kind that encourages smokers to take the step from intention to action," said Kulnies. "It's so easy to take up the smoking habit and so tough to quit. We applaud everyone who has tried. If you haven't been successful yet, try again. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Talk to your doctor, pharmacist or health care provider about products and services that can help you succeed." Contest data shows that smokers entering the 2005 contest were almost equally split between men and women. On average, participants had been smoking about 18 cigarettes a day for about 20 years. Among previous contest participants, research shows 30 per cent of smokers who stayed smoke free for the quit month were still smoke free one year later.
The Quit Smoking 2005 Contest was funded in part by Health Canada, and supported by more than 60 local councils on smoking and health and public health units throughout Ontario with sponsorship provided by Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Division, the Industrial Accident Prevention Association, Ontario Smokers' Helpline, Ontario Dental Hygienists Association, Canadian Dental Hygienists Association, Ontario Dental Nurses and Assistants Association and the Association of Local Public Health Agencies.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/23/c7460.html
Lawyers fume over tobacco suit -ON
Cigarette makers lose bid to hold plaintiffs' legal team responsible for costs in class action
Sandra Rubin, Senior Business Writer Financial Post March 23, 2005
Three large tobacco companies have lost their bid to have the lawyers behind a failed anti-smoking class action personally held responsible for more than $1.2-million in costs along with their clients, a move many see as an attempt to chill Canada's emerging class-action bar.
While it's normal for the victor to go after the vanquished for costs, it is unprecedented for the victor to go after the vanquished's counsel in a class action.
Imperial Tobacco Ltd., Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp. said in their motion for costs that the small Toronto firm of Sommers & Roth should pay because it was the "real plaintiffs" in the class-action lawsuit, not the four ill Ontario smokers it was representing. They also said the personal-injury firm badly mismanaged the litigation, making it much more expensive.
The move has galvanized the plaintiffs' bar, shaking the normally symbiotic relationship between plaintiff and defence firms away from public view.
Defence counsel are often anxious to know which class actions are coming so they can position their firms to get on to what are very lucrative files. Plaintiffs' counsel will sometimes oblige as part of the private give-and-take in big litigation.
"I'm fuming that these guys brought this motion. We all feed off the same pot. They've breached an unspoken code," says one plaintiffs' counsel. "Defendants in these things play hardball and no one complains about good hard litigation. But this takes it to a new level, it's completely off-side. You don't go after the lawyers.
"This is going to affect how I deal with these guys in the future. You can't do something like this and expect people to be yucking it up with you over drinks after the case is over. You know the normal indulgences we all need from time to time in litigation? Zero. They can't expect that any more."
The litigator, who asked that his name not be used, says he suspects the tobacco companies went after Sommers & Roth because "it's a small firm, not that well-known and not known at all for class actions. But who's to say they won't go after me next time? I'm really furious."
He's not alone. The case has been the subject of private gossip and vigorous e-mail debate among a certain segment of the bar.
It didn't hurt that well-known names such as Earl Cherniak of Lerners, and Deborah Glendinning and Lyndon Barnes of Osler Hoskin & Harcourt were involved in the original lawsuit. But it was the application for costs that had everyone buzzing.
"No matter what happens, you can't start hitting the lawyers," says Alan Lenczner of Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin. "If he had awarded any amount of costs against Sommers & Roth, that would have sounded the death knell for class actions. I mean, who would take one on under the circumstances?"
Mr. Lenczner says he was involved in something disturbingly similar in a suit he has against Georgia-Pacific. The multinational asked for an order obliging him personally to post $206,817.16 in security for costs for his client, who is impecunious.
"Their reasoning was I should pay because if we win I stand to get my fees paid and maybe a premium, that I should put up the money because I stood to get a benefit from the litigation."
Ian Nordheimer of Ontario's Superior Court of Justice dismissed the motion on March 16, but Mr. Lenczner, one of Canada's most prominent litigators, says "the guns have turned a bit.
"The question is why, why are people doing this, what's the motivation?
"With my case, I believe it was designed to kill the action. They knew damned well I wasn't going to pay security for costs, they were hoping if I said no it would have been the end of it. In the tobacco case, they're saying surely the lawyer who carries this thing should pay for it. And if the court agreed, that would spell the end of class actions. Kill or chill. I guess that's it.
FIRST ANTI-SMOKING CASE
From the moment it was filed in 1995, David Caputo, Luna Roth, Lori Cawardine and David Gordon Hyduk, as Estate Trustee of Russell Walter Hyduk v. Imperial Tobacco Ltd., Rothmans Benson & Hedges, Inc., RJR-Macdonald Inc. seemed destined to make waves -- and not because of costs.
It was the first class-action lawsuit in Canada to go after Big Tobacco for the health damage caused by cigarettes. The suit was brought on behalf of all Ontarians, living and dead, whose health suffered because of smoking.
Anti-smoking suits in the United States have resulted in lifetime paydays for some plaintiffs and their lawyers. But Canada's first tobacco class-action didn't get off the ground.
After nearly a decade of sparring, Warren Winkler of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declined to certify it last year. He found the pleading was too broad and failed to meet four of the five elements in Ontario's Class Proceedings Act (CPA).
The tobacco companies moved to recover their expenses. They shocked many people by asking that Sommers & Roth be held "jointly and severally" liable with their clients.
They argued in court earlier this month that Sommers & Roth ran up costs by mismanaging the case. They said the scope of the class definition was changed multiple times, along with the causes of action. They complained of excessive cross-examinations, and that defective affidavits filed in support of the motion for certification meant the plaintiffs were constantly trying to introduce new evidence.
And they also pointed out that Sommers & Roth had chosen to bypass the Class Proceedings Fund, which would have indemnified the firm and its clients against costs had they lost, but taken 10% of any recovery had they won.
The tobacco companies argued because the firm had gambled on indemnity it didn't mean they should have to pay for defending an "amorphous" lawsuit that led to "a lot of wasted time and money."
Imperial Tobacco, which used a litigation team headed by Ms. Glendinning and Mr. Barnes, asked to be repaid $490,817.91. "They should bear the responsibility for their decisions," Ms. Glendinning says. JTI-Macdonald, represented by Mr. Cherniak and Susan Wortzman of Lerners, asked for $347,532.97. Rothmans Benson & Hedges, which used Steven Sofar and Marshall Reinhart at Gowlings, asked for $184,850. The tobacco companies also asked to be reimbursed the $255,655.22 they laid out for experts.
The tab was more than $1.2-million, which may be the largest cost award requested in Canada yet.
"When you think about it, it was the plaintiffs' choice to bring the action against all three parties, knowing there would be three sets of counsel, which would potentially triple the cost exposure," says Ms. Wortzman, who argued the cost motion with Ms. Glendinning.
"I don't think the quantum of the costs were unreasonable based on the record that was before the court, the 68 volumes of material, the endless motions and the delays over a nine-year period."
The other side fought back vigorously saying "there was ample blame to go around."
Litigator Kirk Baert of Koskie Minsky, who was brought in by Sommers & Roth to argue the certification motion, and Brian Brock, of Dutton Brock, who was representing Sommers & Roth for LAWPRO, claimed the high costs were due in part to the tobacco companies' lawyers loading up the motion record with evidence that went to the merits of the case, not just to certification.
They said if Caputo became expensive, it was in part because the tobacco companies were "overlawyering" it, and they accused the tobacco companies of using the prospect of a huge cost award to shut down future class actions.
"The message is if you bring proceedings against these defendants, as lawyers they will seek costs against you personally," Mr. Baert told Justice Winkler.
"This should really drive home the risks plaintiffs' lawyers assume," says Won Kim, a litigator at Roy Elliot Kim O'Connor, a Toronto boutique involved in several high-profile class actions. "Now it's not just carrying a case for eight or nine years and assuming the cost for experts, the stakes have been raised.
"I think this shows that class actions are clearly getting to people, but could you imagine the chill it would have put on the plaintiffs bar if any part of this were successful?
"We'd all be running for Manitoba."
REASONS FAULT BOTH SIDES
In his reasons on costs released March 8, Justice Winkler faulted both sides for running up expenses. But he said there was no basis for a cost award because Caputo met two of the three factors in the CPA that can be used to mitigate against costs.
Section 31.1 of the act says when weighing whether to award costs, "the court may consider whether the class proceeding was a test case, raised a novel point of law or involved a matter of public interest."
While he said Caputo was not a test case, which involves the resolution of a legal principle, he found as one of the earliest class actions it did raise novel points of law. And he held that since smoking is seen as a serious risk to the health of the public, there was a strong public-interest component.
The judge said with two of the three factors satisfied, he was not prepared to assign costs. While that made the question of whether the lawyers should have to pay costs moot, he addressed arguments that Sommers & Roth were the "real plaintiffs."
"The simple fact counsel may be more heavily involved in a class proceeding is neither surprising nor a valid reason to elevate them to the status of party to the proceeding for cost purposes," he wrote. "Access to justice and other laudable goals of the CPA will only be served as long as there are counsel willing to take risks to advance the cause of plaintiffs of modest means or modest claim.
"The fact counsel stand to be rewarded for successfully taking the risk does not make them a de facto party."
Mr. Baert says he believes the decision will resonate for some time. "This case is important. It's the first time anyone has gone after the lawyers. There hadn't been a lot of discussion in a lot of these cost decisions about what the purpose is of the provisions in the Class Proceedings Act, so I think this will be the leading case on costs for a long time. It's written by the senior judge in the area and a lot of people are talking about it. I'd expect it to be followed by other judges."
Ms. Glendinning says she is not persuaded Caputo ever wielded the big stick some other counsel seem to think. "Costs are a matter of discretion and are highly dependent on the facts of each case -- this was a very unique case, so was the way it was prosecuted.
"As for any so called 'chilling effect,' the highly fact-specific nature of the issues at play here would, in all likelihood, have significantly limited the scope for using a positive decision as a blunt instrument in deterring other cases."
Harvey Strosberg, who helped pioneer class actions in Canada, says he suspects there will be some cooling effect even though the bid to make the lawyers pay ultimately failed. "In my opinion, the application was an attempt to chill and discourage any further litigation against the tobacco companies but any time you do something like this, it's a shot across the bow at the whole plaintiffs' bar," says Mr. Strosberg of Sutts Strosberg in Windsor.
He says he is completely convinced it was the tobacco companies, not the law firms, who were behind the attempt to have the lawyers held personally liable. He says he doesn't believe corporate law firms would try to shut down class actions even if they could. "Not a chance. That would be like killing the golden goose. They wouldn't want to do that."
But Ms. Glendinning suggests it would be a big mistake for anyone to think this can't happen again.
"This may be the first time an order for costs of this magnitude and against unsuccessful plaintiffs' counsel has been requested in a class proceeding, but it likely will not be the last," she says. The rules and jurisprudence clearly provide for this relief in appropriate circumstances.
"We will just have to wait and see what those circumstances will be."
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=7094e799-3ee3-4d2e-b04e-b746bdc7c842
Steady economic growth for Ontario: RBC forecasts http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7361.html
Healthy growth expected for Manitoba's diversified economy, says RBC forecast http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7348.html
RBC forecasts healthy economic growth for Saskatchewan http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7349.html
British Columbia's economic growth on upturn: RBC forecasts http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7361.html
Alberta remains Canada's growth leader: RBC Economics http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7354.html
Prince Edward Island economic growth looks to capital spending to boost economy: RBC forecasts http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7332.html
RBC forecasts slower growth for Newfoundland and Labrador http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7315.html
Manufacturing and retail sectors boost New Brunswick's economic growth, says RBC http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7338.html
Nova Scotia continues modest economic growth, says RBC http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7340.html
RBC forecasts slower economic growth for Quebec http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7312.html
Invitation: Can we Stop the Cardiovascular Disease Time Bomb? http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2005/22/c7218.html
Posted at 9:23 am by looped_ca
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