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Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Grand old dame turns 103
Monday, January 24th, 2005
Bill Redekop
RAPID CITY -- Once upon a time, a King's or Queen's Hotel dotted the countryside at train stops across Manitoba.
Not anymore. The Queen's Hotel in Rapid City, which turns 103 years old this year, is the last one standing. Owners Jim and Lianne Christie were recently presented with a Manitoba Historical Society Centennial Business Award.
"The idea to name a hotel a King's or Queen's was not unusual at all," says Tom Mitchell, University of Brandon archivist. "It was really just a reflection of the fact that in the late 19th century, most people settling here had strong identification as British Imperialists."
Those hotels have vanished one by one. The Queen's Hotel in Dominion City went bankrupt two years ago, and reopened last fall as Stan's Place. Boissevain had a Queen's Hotel, but it burned down ages ago.
Winnipeg still has a King's Motor Hotel on Higgins Avenue, and a Windsor Hotel, now a blues bar. There are also some Royal Hotels, like one in Flin Flon, and both Flin Flon and Brandon have a Victoria Inn. But naming a hotel after monarchy is clearly a thing of the past.
The Queen's in Rapid City, just north of Brandon and 230 kilometres west of Winnipeg, was named for Queen Victoria. It originally opened in 1881. Passengers used to board the Rapid Stagecoach here to transport them to Brandon. It's not known what "Rapid" meant back then in terms of speed, but the trip to Brandon takes about half an hour by motor vehicle today.
The train track came through in 1886. What's the difference between a hotel and a motel? The early hotels were all placed around train stops. The word "motel" was coined from "motorized vehicle" and "hotel," meaning one could drive to the accommodations by car, said Jim Baker, executive director of the Manitoba Hotel Association.
The current Queen's opened in 1902. Someone actually tried to change the hotel's name once, but patrons wouldn't have it.
It's a grand old dame. It's got five white pillars in front, and a white picket palisade off the second floor. The inside has held up well, and the restaurant still posts its daily specials in chalk on a piece of blackboard.
Since 1902, the Queen's has had at least 20 owners, including the local government, which took it over when the Queen's went bankrupt during Prohibition (1918-23).
Jim and Lianne Christie bought it in 1999. They are currently dealing with another government imposition: the ban on smoking.
"I think it's too soon to tell what impact it will have but we've had a bad fall season," said Jim. Bars across Manitoba claim business has dropped 30 per cent since the provincial smoking ban in October, but the downturn in agriculture "with BSE, and poor crops, and late crops" is also a factor, Jim said.
Lianne Christie is more upset about the ban.
"The government says smoking's bad. So VLTs are good?" she said. "You can play the slots, and you can have a lap dancer, but you can't have a cigarette?"
As for the issue of workplace safety, tell that to the people breathing the air at the smelter in Flin Flon, said Jim. "I spent 22 years working for Manitoba Highways smelling fumes from road salts, oils, and hot asphalt. I'm sure that wasn't too healthy."
The Christies say they'll survive regardless of whether a court challenge by some bar owners against the smoking ban is successful.
Owning a rural bar is tough. Nobody gets rich from it. Banks don't even give mortgages for rural hotels, so sellers issue the mortgage themselves.
The Queen's is the focal point of Rapid City, population just over 400. (The town got its name from the Little Saskatchewan River that runs through here. The word Saskatchewan was considered too long, so its aboriginal meaning, "rapid river," was adopted by founding fathers, according to Penny Ham's Place Names of Manitoba.)
The Queen's has a beverage room that seats 50, a coffee shop, and five rooms that go for $20 or $25 a night, depending if you have a room with a bath. Provincial law requires a rural beverage room to keep at least three rooms to let.
"It doesn't matter what you do," said Lianne. "It either starts or ends at the hotel, from weddings to funerals."
www.winnipegfreepress.com
North has best and worst in anti-tobacco list
CBC News Web Posted Jan 24 2005 09:01 AM CST
WHITEHORSE - The Yukon is coming in last in its class in a national review of anti-smoking legislation.
The Provincial Tobacco Control Councils of Canada says the Yukon is the worst jurisdiction in Canada when it comes to anti-smoking measures.
The Yukon didn't earn a passing grade in any category.
The report graded provinces and territories on things like smoking bans, pharmacy sales and rules for retail cigarette displays.
The national report card rated Nunavut as the top jurisdiction in the country overall for tobacco control.
"We received a "C" in our tobacco taxation which just means we're kind of in the middle of all the provinces and territories on how much tax we charge per carton of cigarettes," says Erin Levy, Nunavut's Tobacco Reduction specialist.
"But in every other section of the report card, we got a pass and we were the only province or territory to get a pass in every section."
The Northwest Territories has the highest tax rate in the country for a carton of cigarettes and got an A+ in that category.
Most of its workplaces are smoke-free, but the N.W.T. failed in the other three categories– public areas smoking, display ads, and pharmacy sales.
Not taken seriously
Despite rating the worst in the country, Yukon department of Health spokesperson Pat Living says the territorial government isn't losing sleep over the issue.
"We didn't take it too seriously," she says.
Living says the group isn't handing out marks for anti-smoking ad campaigns or programs to help people quit.
Otherwise, she believes the Yukon would have earned better grades.
"The Yukon government has put its focus on cessation programs and awareness programs rather than legislation," she explains.
Living notes the Yukon received a failing grade for smoking legislation even though both Whitehorse and Dawson City have municipal bans in place.
http://north.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/smoke-yukon-24012005.html
Store owner bracing for another cigarette ban -NB
CBC News WebPosted Jan 24 2005 08:42 AM AST
MONCTON — A convenience store owner in Moncton has a message for the Lord government – check with retailers before placing a ban on cigarette displays.
Roy Shakibaei says the government has a habit of making decisions without talking to the people affected.
"Business should be consulted about all this," he says. "But as usual, businesses aren't consulted about anything. They know everything, they're all lawyers, they know all the laws and they do whatever they want."
NDP Leader Elizabeth Weir is pushing for a ban on tobacco displays and the Lord government says it will consider the idea.
Weir says young people are more likely to take up the habit if they see a wall of cigarette packages every time they go to the corner store.
But Shakibaei disagrees.
He says the only thing the displays do is inform the customer which brands of cigarettes are available.
"By having cigarettes up here, it's not going to help the teenager start or stop, But the fact of the matter is that when the people come, they can see what kind of cigarette is there and they can tell faster what kind of cigarette they want."
One of the customers at Shakibaei's store says the displays aren't much use to her.
In fact, Emily Landry says she'd rather not see hundreds of cigarette packages every time she goes to the store.
She supports the ban.
"I'm totally for it because I'm a smoker and I'm addicted and I want to stop."
In the past year, New Brunswick has gone from being one of Canada's smokier provinces to one that's earned the praise of the lung association and other health advocates.
A new law went into effect last summer which bans smoking in almost all public places, including school grounds, office buildings, restaurants and bars.
Business people have complained that the ban has driven away some of their best customers, but Health Minister Elvy Robichaud says he has no regrets about imposing it.
http://nb.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/nb-20050124.html
Help for older smokers
I am a smoker and when I was growing up everyone and their dog smoked. As children we had the advertisements all around us, in every magazine we read and every show we watched on TV, which weren't many, so we really got into the ads. They even sang songs about smoking cigarettes.
Now with all this non-smoking stuff going on everywhere we the older generation are stuck trying to quit a habit we have had for so long, at our own expense.
The way I look at it is anyone who grew up during the time that smoking was so heavily advertised, while no one warned about the harm of it, should be compensated in our efforts to try to quit. We should have free access to medications, whether it be the patch or pills. When you have a drinking problem or drug problem you get free treatment; why not for us smokers?
Julie Cowie
Winnipeg
Not such an unreasonable request.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
Smoking bylaw falls well short -AB
Parklander Editorial Monday January 24, 2005
Hinton Parklander — Come April 1 we can all take a deep long breath. Well, sort of, because the depth of your breath may actually depend on your age.
Hinton town council has passed a smoking bylaw amendment that will prevent smoking in restaurants during the hours children are served.
The amendment in no way states what hours children may be present, or even that children must be served. It is entirely within the right of restaurant owners to now exclude children from their eatery.
The final version of the amendment was compiled with the help of local restaurant owners, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission and the BLAST committee made up of area high school students.
It’s a kick in the teeth to those students, who worked hard on this amendment, to now face the possibility of not being allowed into the restaurants.
Council must be commended on implementing the amendment, which came about as the result of a non-binding plebiscite in the last municipal election.
But when can the rest of the town experience the same level of protection?
Premier Ralph Klein seems dead set against a province-wide smoking ban, which should fall under his jurisdiction.
Without provincial leadership, the responsibility falls to municipal councils. They have the power and ability to implement laws to ensure their populous and workforce are not harmed.
Even though workplace safety shouldn’t be the responsibility of our town councillors, the duty is theirs by default.
Like all the other responsibilities that have been downloaded to the municipal level, they must face the challenge head on and think about the health of everyone involved.
-B.F.
http://www.hintonparklander.com/story.php?id=139188
April Fool’s Day no joke for Hinton smokers -AB
By Bradley Fehr Monday January 24, 2005
Hinton Parklander — The air in many restaurants may soon be a little fresher when a partial smoking ban takes effect on April 1.
The ban is targeted at restaurants during the hours in which minors may be present. The bylaw doesn’t include which hours the minors may be present and leaves that decision in the hands of the individual business owners.
If the owner wanted to, they could just not allow minors into their establishment and only maintain the current smoking bylaw, which states that 50 per cent of the dining facility must be set aside for non-smokers.
Nowhere in the regulations does it state that the two sections must be significantly separated, although they must be well-marked and distinct.
The no-smoking signs must be conspicuous.
Another possible avenue for restaurant owners is that they could limit the hours minors are allowed in the restaurant and allow 50 per cent of the seating area to smoke during those hours.
“We have an amended smoking bylaw to take care of the interests of children,” said Mayor Glenn Taylor.
He said the new bylaw is a direct result of a non-binding plebiscite held during the last municipal election in which the major of voters, 61.4 per cent, agreed that children need to be protected from second-hand smoke in restaurants.
The mayor said he is disappointed Alberta Premier Ralph Klein does not see workplace safety as a provincial responsibility.
“I believe smoking in the workplace is the issue and it is under the jurisdiction of the province,” he said. “We’re not in the role of protecting workers rights. There is only so much we can do.”
He added that the town has to be careful which responsibilities they take on. Klein recently stated that a province-wide smoking ban won’t happen and it is up to individual business owners to decide if smoking should be allowed. He said this despite the fact that Health Minister Iris Evans was floating the idea of a province-wide workplace smoking ban.
Taylor agreed with the premier on one point.
“The business owner can decide what sort of clientele they attract,” Taylor said.
The bylaw also includes provisions for bars and lounges to establish non-smoking areas, but doesn’t require they do so or what size they need to be. Proscribed penalties for breaking these regulations include $100 fines for first and second offences. Larger fines and even jail time can be issued by judges for summary convictions.
http://www.hintonparklander.com/story.php?id=139185
Evans hopes to have no-smoking draft in 1 month -AB
CBC News Last Updated Jan 24 2005 03:02 PM MST
EDMONTON – Health Minister Iris Evans says she hopes to have no-smoking legislation ready by the end of February.
It would first be seen by a standing policy committee made up of Conservative MLAs.
Evans, who first floated the idea of a province-wide workplace smoking ban 10 days ago, said calls to her Sherwood Park constituency office have been running six to one in favour of some sort of tobacco-reduction initiative.
She couldn't say whether that meant six to one support for a total ban.
"I think it's been very interesting feedback," Evans said. "There's been good points presented."
Evans said she is also hearing from her fellow MLAs "with different views of how we could advance that."
Friday, Premier Ralph Klein backed off his declaration that there won't be a province-wide smoking ban while he's in charge, saying he's now open to having a debate on the issue.
He said Albertans will have a chance to make their positions known.
After Evans suggested looking at a province-wide smoking ban, Klein was quick to reject the idea, calling it "useless" and counter-productive.
Klein did say he favoured banning smoking in any place frequented by children.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and PEI have all put province-wide workplace smoking bans in place.
http://calgary.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/ca-smoking-evans20050124.html
Sask. health regions work to implement weeks old provincewide smoking ban -SK
Canadian Press January 24, 2005
REGINA (CP) -- It is taking time for most of Saskatchewan's health authorities to begin enforcement of new provincewide no-smoking rules.
While one health region in Saskatchewan has already begun to ticket bar owners and patrons under a weeks-old smoking ban, many others are just getting up to speed on the new law.
In the southeast corner of the province, inspectors for the Sun Country Health Region have handed out several tickets to a bar owner in Weyburn though Premier Lorne Calvert had given businesses until March 1 to comply with the ban.
Nine other health regions contacted Monday have yet to issue a single ticket for the Jan. 1 ban, which calls for all enclosed public places to be entirely smoke-free.
In December, the government announced a 60-day grace period where public health officers would focus on educating businesses and individuals about the ban, rather than ticketing. But last week, Health Minister John Nilson said any establishment or patron in flagrant non-compliance of the law would be fined.
However, most regions aren't quite at that stage; many have only partially completed the initial education process.
Officials from a number of health regions say a shortage of inspectors coupled with large areas to service have kept most regions from reaching all businesses quickly.
In some regions, as few as 10 per cent of businesses have had a personal visit from an inspector.
"We're still in (our) infancy," said Ron Belak from the Heartland Health Region in west central Saskatchewan. "We've got about 46,000 square miles (119,000 square kilometres) to cover. It's a big district for just two people."
Inspectors in most regions say there has been more resistance from establishments that serve alcohol than those that serve food.
Rural areas have so far been more resistant than urban areas, such as Moose Jaw and Saskatoon, that already had municipal bans in place, say officials.
Grant Paulson from the Sun Country Health Region says despite some non-compliance, most businesses in his district appear to be embracing the ban.
"We've been doing compliance checks throughout our region and we have visited, on at least one occasion, just about every place, particularly restaurants," he said.
The response to the ban has been mostly positive in the northern half of the province, according to James Irvine, medical health officer for the three northern health areas.
He said since the north has the highest percentage of smokers, the health concerns have spearheaded compliance.
"I think we've seen so much the effect of tobacco and health issues and we've had a lot of discussion over the last few years about the negative impact of tobacco," he said, adding "some communities have moved into the direction of smoke-free even before the ban."
http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/news/story.html?id=9502c405-51f7-4949-a4b3-930cbf29e5c9
Smoking May Protect Against Parkinson's
Fri Jan 21, 2005 09:26 PM GMT
By Will Boggs, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A study in Swedish twins confirms that smoking is associated with a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease.
"The association in part is explained by genetic influences," Dr. Nancy L. Pedersen from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, told Reuters Health. "Hence, further attempts to study risk factors in general for Parkinson's disease should entertain the possibility that there are complex interactions between genetic mechanisms and putative risk factors."
Pedersen and her colleagues investigated the previously reported link between smoking and a reduced risk for Parkinson's by analyzing data from the Swedish Twin Registry.
The authors found that both current smokers and past smokers were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease than people who had never smoked.
The association was stronger in men than in women and the risk of Parkinson's decreased as the number of cigarettes smoked per week increased, the authors note in the Annals of Neurology.
As to the reason for the association, the researchers note that cigarette smoke may contains chemicals that protect nerve cells from damage.
Further analysis showed that neither alcohol nor coffee was associated with Parkinson's disease risk.
"We have not planned any further studies directly, although we may be exploring whether there is a genetic interaction between smoking and certain genes," Pedersen said.
SOURCE: Annals of Neurology, January 2005.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7397850
Robust DNA Repair May Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Fri Jan 21, 2005 07:15 PM GMT
By Anthony J. Brown, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The innate capacity to repair damaged DNA seems to affect a woman's chance of developing breast cancer. Deficient DNA repair appears to triple the risk of breast cancer, researchers have found.
"A lot of studies have looked at the link between DNA repair capacity and lung cancer risk, but few studies have evaluated the association with breast cancer risk," Dr. Regina M. Santella, from Columbia University in New York, told Reuters Health.
Santella's group used various lab techniques to compare the DNA repair capacity of cells obtained from 158 women with breast cancer and from their sisters who didn't have cancer.
The average percentage of damaged DNA that could be repaired was significantly lower in the breast cancer patients than in their unaffected siblings, the investigators report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Moreover, as DNA repair capacity diminished, the risk of breast cancer rose, with about a 3-fold difference between those with the highest capacity versus those with the lowest.
Santella said these findings could have implications for breast cancer screening. "The ultimate goal is to understand an individual's risk for cancer development so that you can better target screening and prevention efforts."
She noted that the assay used in the present study looked at just one of many DNA repair mechanisms. "At this point, we're interested in conducting a study using an assay that measures a different DNA repair pathway. Looking at the status of several different pathways may give a better estimate of breast cancer risk."
In a related editorial, Dr. Marianne Berwick, from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and Dr. Paolo Vineis, from Imperial College in London, point out that measuring DNA repair capacity is complicated at present. Once simple and rapid assays are available, it may be possible to develop "interventions to reduce cancer incidence and mortality."
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, January 19, 2005.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=AVIFIL2LUCW32CRBAEKSFFA?type=healthNews&storyID=7397025
Vioxx, Celebrex Were Overprescribed, Study Says
Fri Jan 21, 2005 11:42 PM GMT
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The two popular painkillers Vioxx and Celebrex, heavily marketed as "super-aspirin," were prescribed for millions of patients who did not need them or should not have taken them, researchers said on Friday.
Merck & Co. Inc's Vioxx was recalled in September because a study linked the drug to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, while Pfizer's Celebrex is under a cloud after data showing a similar heightened risk.
The study by doctors at Stanford University and the University of Chicago found the two COX-2 inhibitors were taken by millions of people who were not at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, the main reason patients were told to switch from aspirin and other lower-cost painkillers.
COX-2 inhibitors cost 10 to 15 times as much as the drugs they replaced, the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine said.
"We found a rapid, nationwide shift away from older, inexpensive drugs with better established safety and efficacy to newer, costly drugs with no real history," said study author G. Caleb Alexander, a medical ethicist at the University of Chicago.
Within a year of being introduced in 1999, Vioxx and Celebrex were being heavily promoted as "super-aspirin" and bringing in billions of dollars in revenue annually, the study said. Merck spent $161 million in 2000 on direct-to-consumer marketing of Vioxx, it said.
Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the study concluded that 73 percent of patients considered at low or very low risk of gastrointestinal problems should not have been considered for the newer drugs. Gastrointestinal bleeding usually affects only at-risk patients who must take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, for long periods, it said.
By 2002, 17.6 million patients at low risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, or 66 percent of those patients, were taking one of the two COX-2 inhibitors, the study said.
The drugs were also taken by millions of people who should not have been, including 16 million people suffering from congestive heart failure, or liver or kidney dysfunction. These patients might also have been hurt by NSAIDs, it said.
"The findings demonstrate the challenge of limiting innovative therapies to the settings in which they are initially targeted and maximally cost-effective," Alexander wrote.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is convening a panel next month to examine the COX-2 inhibitors, including Pfizer's new entry Bextra, which has also been found to raise the risk of heart attack in people who have had heart bypass surgery.
Spokesmen for Pfizer and Merck could not immediately comment.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NN4FZA0BM4P1CCRBAELCFFA?type=healthNews&storyID=7398548
Qld councils won't enforce new smoking bans
Saturday, January 22, 2005
The Local Government Association says it is not surprised councils want no part in enforcing Queensland's new smoking laws.
Councils can volunteer to police the smoking bans on patrolled beaches, near children's playgrounds and outside buildings.
But a number of them have this week revealed they have refused.
The association's Tony Good says he expects most of Queensland's 125 councils will decline any enforcement role.
"The majority of the anecdotal feedback we're getting from members would suggest that the majority probably, at this stage, won't be opting in to the enforcement program," he said.
"It is understandable given the amount of resources that is required to administer any form of enforcement."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200501/s1286819.htm
Tobacco exec gives ground in US trial testimony
By Peter Kaplan
WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - A tobacco company lawyer was forced on Wednesday to retract some earlier testimony in the government's $280 billion racketeering suit -- that Philip Morris had not debated the possible dangers of smoking before 1997.
Philip Morris USA General Counsel Denise Keane conceded it would be "preposterous" to say -- as she did in a 2002 interview in the case -- that until 1997 Philip Morris had been mute on whether smoking was a proven cause of disease.
"These statements do not convey what I intended to convey at that time," Keane told U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler.
The concession came after Justice Department lawyer Andrew Goldfarb pointed out that the Altria Group (MO.N: Quote, Profile, Research) unit had spent decades disputing any proven link between cigarettes and disease.
Philip Morris revised its stance in a 1997 statement to Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch that promised to refrain from debating the issue further and to defer to public health authorities, who had long concluded smoking caused lung cancer, heart disease and other maladies.
In October 2000, the company went further and agreed on its Web site that smoking causes lung cancer and other diseases.
In her 2002 testimony, Keane said the company had made a decision to break out of "isolation" with the Hatch statement.
Keane told the court on Wednesday that her statements in 2002 arose from a misunderstanding between her and Goldfarb during the deposition.
"I take responsibility for any miscommunication between you and I," Keane said, testifying in the fourth month of the tobacco trial.
Filed in 1999, the government suit targets Altria; Loews' 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 Plc (BATS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.
The Justice Department wants the industry to give up $280 billion in past profits and is seeking tougher rules on marketing, advertising and warnings on tobacco products.
Tobacco companies deny they conspired to promote smoking and say the government has no grounds to pursue them after they drastically changed marketing practices as part of the 1998 settlement with state attorneys general.
Goldfarb said that even though the company acknowledged the dangers of smoking in 2000, it still did not do enough to publicize its change of heart.
Keane disagreed and said Philip Morris had worked hard to draw consumers' attention to its new stance, directing them to the company's Web site through a variety of means, including retail brochures, notices on cigarette packs, television and newspaper ads.
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DZ4WOFP5V55X4CRBAEKSFEY?type=topNews&storyID=7373738
Despite dangers, miners still getting caught smoking underground - KY
PIKEVILLE, Ky. The surgeon general's warning that smoking can be hazardous to your health takes on a whole new meaning inside a coal mine -- where the flick of a cigarette lighter could trigger a deadly methane gas explosion.
Despite the danger, coal companies have recently been finding miners smoking underground, which is illegal.
Most coal companies have taken a hard line against smoking _ frisking miners, even searching lunch boxes in government-ordered pat downs.
The U-S Mine Safety and Health Administration has found cigarette lighters or matches to be the cause of several deadly methane explosions in coal mines. One killed eight miners in Norton, Virginia in 1992.
Miners caught smoking face jail time and fines of up to 25-hundred dollars in Virginia, which strengthened its law after the Norton disaster. Coal miners convicted of smoking underground can get one-to-five years in prison.
Jeff Gillenwater with Richmond-based Massey Energy calls smoking underground "definitely a big no-no." Massey is the largest producer of central Appalachian coal.
He says smoking anywhere on Massey coal property results in immediate dismissal.
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=2843561
Senate committee passes smoking ban
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A bill to ban smoking in Utah bars survived its first committee hearing.
Touted as a workplace environment issue, the bill passed 4-1 Friday in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee after a lengthy debate on a proposed substitute bill to only make fine-dining clubs smoke-free. The substitute bill did not pass.
Still, supporters of the approved legislation said other hurdles lie ahead.
''This is not a slam dunk by any stretch,'' said lobbyist Dave Spatafore, who is pushing the ban, along with restaurant owner Tom Guinney. ''It's much easier to kill a bill than pass one.''
Utah law now allows bars to choose whether to ban smoking, and some clubs tout themselves as smoke-free. Most of the state's 245 private clubs, though, allow smoking.
The bill faces staunch opposition from the hospitality industry.
Bob Brown, owner of the downtown Salt Lake bar Cheers To You, said those entering bars know they're going somewhere people smoke. He added that almost all his bar employees smoke and didn't want a ban.
''It should be a matter of choice - period,'' Brown said. ''Twelve percent of Utahns smoke. They need a place to go.''
Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, was the lone dissenting vote. He said he worried that the bill was too broad.
''I do not feel, as a conservative, that government should reach into a private club where workers know full well what they're getting into,'' he said.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/apdata/wire_detail.php?wire_num=181832
Good site for sayings
http://www.ofspirit.com/quotations.htm
Minnesota asthma meeting. They are getting funding from pharmacies,
http://www.mnasthma.org/mnasthma/wcrac/WCRACMinutes10022004.pdf
Pubs group to ban smoking -UK
Guy Dresser, This is Money, 25 January 2005
PUBS operator JD Wetherspoon looks set to become the first chain to ban smoking completely in all its outlets at least two years ahead of a Government-imposed restriction.
The company said today that 60 of its pubs will be non-smoking by May this year, some 10% of the total. The remainder will be smoke free by May 2006, two years before the Government ban comes into effect.
Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon admitted that there was a risk customers could go elsewhere if they wanted to have a cigarette with their pint, but described it as a 'calculated risk'. Wetherspoon has had non-smoking areas in all its 650 pubs for the past 12 years.
'Will we lose business? We don't think so. I wouldn't say it's a major risk. Nowadays there are far more non-smokers than smokers and even occasional smokers tell us they'd prefer to be in a less smoky environment.
'The Government's own ban is chaotic and there are too many ways around it. They've said the smoking ban will apply but you can be exempted if you don't serve food. Now there's a debate about what type of food is or is not covered. We would rather be clear and upfront about it. We're telling our customers where we are with regards to smoking.' Shares in the company fell 9¾p - nearly 4% - to 250¼p in early trading.
The Government has said that smoking will still be permitted in pubs that sell only packaged food such as nuts and crisps rather than freshly made items and prepared meals. The get-out clause for pub operators has been described as 'unworkable' by anti-smoking campaigners.
The British Medical Association last year expressed disappointment that the Government had not opted for a total ban on smoking in enclosed places.
Wetherspoon's announcement puts the group at the forefront of a major change in the licensed trade. The company has frequently set itself apart from its competition. Last week finance director Jim Clarke told This is Money that the company would not be joining any 24 hour opening bandwagon, describing all-day opening as something for which there was insufficient demand.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/business/articles/timid397375?source=
Wetherspoons makes all pubs smoke free -uk
ALAN JONES AND JANE BRADLEY
PUB giant Wetherspoons announced today it was to make all its outlets across the UK smoke free.
The company, which owns 650 pubs, said that smoke bans would be in place in 60 establishments from May this year.
The move comes ahead of the Scottish Executive’s anti-smoking legislation which will make it an offence to light up in public areas including pubs, supermarkets, universities and private clubs from the spring of 2006. Similar legislation for the rest of the UK is expected a year later.
The move by Wetherspoons was welcomed today by unions and health campaigners who urged other pub chains to follow suit. But the announcement saw the company’s share price tumble by 3.9 per cent to 250 pence.
JD Wetherspoon has seven pubs in Edinburgh and the Lothians, including two in the city centre, one in Leith and another two at Edinburgh Airport.
And two of the pubs - Edinburgh’s The Playfair in the Omni Centre, and Wetherspoons on Almondvale Road, Livingston, are set to bring in the smoking ban in only a few weeks.
"Ten per cent of our pubs are bringing in the ban early and these two pubs in Edinburgh and the Lothians will be among them," said a spokesman for Wetherspoons.
Announcing the move, company chairman Tim Martin said: "An increasing percentage of the population are giving up smoking and a significant number of people are staying away from pubs and restaurants because they are too smoky.
"We have pioneered non-smoking areas but we now feel it is the right time to go one step further.
"We believe the Wetherspoon approach of a complete ban after a period of notice is the right one."
Dame Helena Shovelton, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: "We welcome the announcement.
"There are eight million people in the UK living with a lung condition, and for many of them, going into a smoky pub environment runs a real risk of triggering a lung attack, which can result in hospitalisation."
And Campaign group Ash (Action on Smoking and Health) welcomed the announcement as a "significant development" and urged other pub chains and companies to follow suit.
Spokesman Ian Willmore said: "This is great news for Wetherspoons’ staff as well as the general public. Wetherspoons are acting in advance of the rest of the industry."
The Government is planning to bring forward legislation banning smoking in all workplaces and most pubs but those which do not sell prepared food will not be covered. The TUC also welcomed the announcement and called on other companies to follow suit.
General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "One of Britain’s biggest pub chains is acting to save its staff from the dangers of second-hand smoke. The bogus arguments that banning smoking is a threat to the pub, club and restaurant business must now fall flat on its face."
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=88832005
Company Fires Employees for Smoking Test
AP Monday, January 24, 2005 5:48 p.m. ET
LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Four employees of a health care company have been fired for refusing to take a test to determine whether they smoke cigarettes.
Weyco Inc., a health benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich., adopted a policy Jan. 1 that allows employees to be fired if they smoke, even if the smoking happens after business hours or at home.
Company founder Howard Weyers has said the anti-smoking rule was designed to shield the firm from high health care costs. "I don't want to pay for the results of smoking," he said.
The rule led one employee to quit before the policy was adopted. Four others were fired when they balked at the smoking test.
Chief Financial Officer Gary Climes estimated that 18 to 20 of the company's 200 employers were smokers when the policy was announced in 2003. Of those, as many as 14 quit smoking before the policy went into effect. The company offered them help to kick the habit.
"That is absolutely a victory," Climes said.
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=980089&tw=wn_wire_story
Reynolds chairman testifies in RICO trial
The Associated Press Modified: Jan 25, 2005 1:05 AM
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The executive chairman of Reynolds American Inc. testified in federal court that its main operating division, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., does not market cigarettes to children.
Andrew Schindler was questioned Monday by Sharon Eubanks, a Department of Justice attorney in the government's $280 billion racketeering trial against the major tobacco companies.
The government charges that the industry's past and present actions violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, or RICO.
The government is asking the court to compel the companies to return the "ill-gotten gains" they are accused of making over the years - $280 billion.
The tobacco companies deny any wrongdoing and argue that they will go bankrupt if they are forced to pay the money.
Reynolds Tobacco merged with Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. last year to form Reynolds American.
One of the key parts of the government's case is its allegation that the tobacco companies intentionally marketed cigarettes to people under the legal smoking age.
Eubanks questioned Schindler about Reynolds Tobacco's Camel "Exotic Blend" flavored cigarettes, which public-health groups and some politicians have criticized, alleging that the cigarettes are aimed at children.
That claim "is absolutely not true," Schindler testified.
The company has been making different Camel "Exotic Blends" for several years, and each is available for a limited time, he said.
Eubanks highlighted a request from Michigan officials for the company to stop marketing Camel "Winter Mocha Mint" and "Warm Winter Toffee" because of allegations that the cigarettes are aimed at enticing children and nonsmokers to smoke.
The letter was dated Jan. 5, 2005, and addressed to Schindler, who testified he couldn't remember seeing the letter but said, "I may have."
http://newsobserver.com/news/ncwire_news/story/2053084p-8438616c.html
Smoking ban, heated bus stops discussed at first Student Government meeting -ne
Crystal R. Reid January 25, 2005
Although the smoking ban issue may not be resolved this semester, Student Government voted to make a statement against the ban in their recent meeting last Thursday.
Student senators agreed that despite the ban not being an issue this semester, they needed this statement as a precursor to any future smoking ban considerations. The student senate felt that such a statement generally represents the students' attitudes about the potential ban.
Students feeling the winter bite while waiting at the shuttle bus stop could be in for some relief in the next couple of years. Discussion started regarding the possibility of funding a way to heat the frigid bus stops in the winter, although there has been no research regarding cost and maintenance.
"This is something that could benefit far more students," Senator Justin Ptacnik said.
Speaker Steve Massara continuously advocated that the senators get out and talk to the students that they represent so the senate can help support them.
"We made a commitment when we were elected to represent the students," Massara said. "Write this down: meet with your students."
This meeting was newly elected President/Regent Elizabeth Kraemer and Vice President Lamarr Womble's first meeting in office. Kraemer's energy and passion bubbled through as she made her first presentation to the senate.
"Feel free to come into my office," she said. "Please contact me, E-mail me or call me."
Womble had the difficult task of correctly moving to appoint, moving to vote, and announcing the necessary appointments. His first time at the podium was a bumpy one, but he soared through it with humble smiles and apologies.
"This is fresh for me, so bear with me," he said, before he began to introduce the new senate appointments.
New appointments are as follows:
Alex Skillman - Student Court Justice
Evan Lee - Graduate Senator
Mujahid Washinton and Jane Splittberger - Students At Large/SABC
There are still several positions to be filled, including Student Court, Traffic Appeals, and six openings on Student Elections Commission.
http://www.unogateway.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/25/41f5676dcc572
*feed back available
Primary might not be needed -KS
As filing deadline looms, choices few in city, school races
By Chad Lawhorn, Journal-World
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Additional candidates for the Lawrence City Commission and Lawrence school board have until noon today to come forward or the city will be without a primary election for the first time in more than 25 years.
In the school board race, at least one more candidate must file or voters won't have a choice at all in that election.
The school board will have three open seats, but as of Monday afternoon only three candidates -- Craig Grant, John Mitchell and incumbent Linda Robinson -- had filed.
"I wish more people were willing, but I think people realize it is a pretty big job to undertake," said Austin Turney, a school board member who after two four-year terms is not seeking re-election. "There is no pay for the position, and you have to raise $5,000 to $6,000 to have a successful campaign."
City commissioners are paid $9,000 per year.
In that race, five candidates have filed for the three at-large positions up for election. That's enough to ensure voters will have a choice at the polls, but unless at least two more candidates file by today's deadline there won't be a primary election.
That's a rarity for Lawrence city government. The last time voters didn't have to whittle the field of City Commission candidates was in 1979. Many political observers are baffled by the small number of candidates thus far.
"I'm a little surprised by it," said City Commissioner David Dunfield, who after six years on the commission will not seek re-election. "Usually we have one or two special-interest candidates, and that hasn't happened yet. I would have expected somebody to make a special-issue campaign out of the smoking ban."
City Commission candidates who had filed by Monday were incumbents Sue Hack and David Schauner, along with downtown barber and former Mayor Mike Amyx, school district administrator Tom Bracciano and attorney Jim Carpenter.
The school board race also must have a total of seven or more candidates to force a primary election. The last time the school board election didn't produce a primary was in 1999.
Should a primary election be necessary, it would be March 1. The general election will be April 5.
Today's filing deadline also applies to city and school district candidates in Baldwin, Eudora and Lecompton. Many of those races don't have enough candidates to fill the number of seats up for election.
The Baldwin City Council has three seats open but only two candidates filed. The Eudora City Council has attracted only one candidate for two seats. The Eudora school board has three seats but only two candidates. In Lecompton, the City Council has two seats but only one candidate.
If enough candidates don't step forward in those races, winners could be determined by write-in votes during the general election, according to officials at the Douglas County Clerk's Office.
Candidates seeking to file for any position other than the Lawrence City Commission can do so at the county clerk's office, which is on the ground floor of the courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets. Lawrence City Commission candidates must file at the city clerk's office at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.
http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/194263
Posted at 2:37 pm by looped_ca
Monday, January 24, 2005
Puffing paradox
By RICK BELL -- Calgary Sun Thu, January 20, 2005
Yesterday. Weedless Wednesday. When smokers across the country are encouraged to butt out for at least 24 hours.
Ralph marks the occasion exhaling his strongest emission against any additional encroachment on the convenience of smokers to pursue the most direct route to the cancer ward on our dime.
Ralph's World will eventually stand alone in the nation.
Ralph will resolutely refuse to nix nicotine in public places provincewide, even though his health head honcho wants just such a ban on butts and the premier professes he wants to promote health and save medicare moolah at all costs.
This day, of all days, the smoking premier perceives no problem in his ponderings. In fact, Ralph goes further. He now thinks the public bans in other provinces and even in some Alberta municipalities are utterly and absolutely useless.
"A ban where people my age are involved doesn't do a damn thing. It won't do anything for me, that's for sure. If you have a smoking ban that won't make me quit. I don't know if it's done that much good."
Yes, almost every other individual who has ever looked at the issue agrees snuffing out smoking in public places does reduce the number of existing nicotine addicts as well as curtail converts to the craving, a prescription for better bodies and a better bottom line.
But Ralph has other info. His recent trip down east. Ah...
"I was in Ontario," he begins, as you realize you're in for a classic Ralph rumination.
"I didn't see a healthier person from Ontario than I did in Quebec. In Quebec, I was absolutely amazed to go to a restaurant and see people light up all over the place. You can do your own research."
Actually, Ralph fails to mention even Quebec sees a problem and is butting out in public this year. Or maybe he knows, but he's on a roll and he won't let anything get in his way.
He suggests better than a ban would be putting up signs on every highway saying: If You Smoke, You're Stupid.
Or having newspapers run free ads with the same message. Huh.
You wonder whether any smoke is getting in his eyes.
Ralph is clearly queasy on the issue of second-hand smoke.
He says this is "an unfortunate situation" and "perhaps we'll have a discussion on how we deal with second-hand smoke."
Perhaps. But bars and casinos have to stay open and people who work in those places can work elsewhere.
"You have to weigh the interests of business against the business of health," he says. Guess who wins, guess who wins? Starts with a B.
Ralph just figures folks will finally stop somehow "through evolution and public education."
"Don't concentrate on people like me and soon to be you, Rick. We fully believe the place to start is with young people," insists the premier, believing a ban on smoking where kids are present is sufficient, not realizing kids become adults.
"The problem is to get people to stop smoking ... er ..." Ralph quickly spots his slip. "I'm sorry, is to get people not to start."
The premier lives the contradiction of those who still suck on the coffin nails, knowing it's bad, but still persevering through the ever-present phlegm, not willing to rankle the ranks of those others who puff for pleasure.
Yesterday, Ralph says he'll stick to four smokes.
"I started when everyone thought it was sexy and I'm regretting it today. I'm feeling it, you feel it. I'm not dying or anything, but you wake up and you've got a raspy throat and you cough and you hack and you have a cigarette and you say: Geez, why am I doing this? You want to do it because you're addicted. Smoking is dumb.
"Don't ever start, please." Despite the plea ...
"Although it's Weedless Wednesday and we're supposed to not smoke tobacco, I didn't have any weed I can tell you that, but I did have one cigarette. That was after I ran my three miles. Never before," he chuckles, knowing he's got three more smokes before sleep."
Ralph then adds. "We shouldn't make light of it."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Calgary/Rick_Bell/2005/01/20/904011.html
Burning question! -AB
JERRY WARD, LEGISLATURE BUREAU Fri, January 21, 2005
Alberta's new Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong said yesterday - his first official day on the job - he is supportive of a provincewide smoking ban in workplaces. "I hate to jump on people the way they live their lives - I'd hate to have to regulate that," Kwong, a former smoker, said yesterday.
"But if you asked me if I was in favour or not in favour, I think I'd be in favour of a ban."
Kwong, 75, made the remarks at his first official news conference after being sworn in at Government House as Her Majesty the Queen's representative in Alberta.
Premier Ralph Klein, who followed Kwong to the mic, appeared to soften his hardline stance against a provincewide ban of smoking in the workplace, saying he may be amenable to prohibiting smoking where children are present.
"I would entertain a discussion in caucus on this issue - I'm not going to bring it up, but if someone else wants to bring it up ... " Klein said.
"I don't want to be interventionist to the point where we disrupt and hurt businesses ... and I would be fully supportive of a ban on all establishments, public and otherwise, that accommodate children.
"Let's not be so overboard on this issue."
Klein, a smoker, said he will not ban someone from lighting up in places like taverns, casinos and bingo halls. "I'm not a dinosaur on it, but I'm not an interventionist as well. How do you implement those clean air regulations and at the same time not close down businesses?"
Cancer-stricken Steven O'Hearn, 42, of Cochrane - who started smoking at age 12 - was at the legislature yesterday calling on Klein to immediately legislate a smoking ban in workplaces.
However, he admitted the root of the problem is the federal government, which permits the sale of tobacco in Canada even though countless studies show the harm it can do to human health.
"The tobacco companies over the years have been given permission to put toxins in the tobacco to make it addictive," O'Hearn said. "There's over 4,000 ingredients in a cigarette that make it so highly addictive, which is regulated by the federal government.
"If they're going to be doing that and continue to do that then they should tell their tobacco companies to get out of the business because you're killing Canadians."
Liberal health critic Laurie Blakeman feels tobacco is not illegal because of the revenues it generates. "There's a lot of money involved in it. I think that's always a big factor."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/News/2005/01/21/905481-sun.html
Smoking 'raid' irks hotelier -SK
Police escort health inspectors to Weyburn bar
Veronica Rhodes January 21, 2005
Saskatchewan News Network; with files from The StarPhoenix; Regina Leader-Post
REGINA -- A team of health inspectors with a police escort pounced on a Weyburn bar Wednesday night, blowing a whistle and writing up tickets for the business, the bar owner and a patron.
"This is like the gestapo, a raid. How ridiculous is this getting?" said Rob Joyal, owner of the Royal Hotel in Weyburn.
Grant Paulson, senior public health inspector with the Sun Country Regional Health Authority, said four health inspectors entered the bar with two police officers and used a whistle to get the attention of the patrons and the staff.
Two inspectors returned to the bar Thursday at lunchtime to hand out four more tickets to smoking patrons. All the fines were for not complying with the Tobacco Control Amendment Act, which came into effect Jan. 1 and calls for all enclosed public places to be entirely smoke-free.
Joyal received six tickets worth $540 each. He was fined for providing ashtrays, failing to post required "no smoking" signs and failing to ask patrons to stop smoking or holding lighted tobacco.
"Three of them are under my personal name, then three of them, exact duplicates, are under my company name," said Joyal.
Paulson could say little about the ticketing because it is an on-going investigation, but said under the act, both the proprietor and the business can be fined. He defended the manner inspectors used in handing out fines Wednesday night.
"We have a protocol to follow and it's a legal process. We just wanted to make sure we were following our protocol and doing things properly," said Paulson.
Weyburn police Chief Rod Horsman confirmed uniformed officers accompanied inspectors at their request, but couldn't say how many officers were involved.
Joyal said there were three police officers and five health inspectors, with two of them coming into the bar undercover before the rest arrived 30 minutes later.
"Judging by the tickets and judging by the duplicated tickets, obviously the word from the top is, 'let's hit them, let's hit them hard, let's shut them up and put this to sleep.' I'll tell you right now, that's not going to be the case," said Joyal.
In December, the government announced a 60-day grace period, where public health officers would focus on educating businesses and individuals about the ban, rather than ticketing. But earlier this week, Health Minister John Nilson said any establishment or patron in flagrant non-compliance of the law would be fined.
Since the smoking ban came into effect, Joyal has made customers aware that he disagrees with the ban and will continue to allow patrons to smoke in the bar. Joyal contends no level playing field exists if First Nations-run casinos can allow smoking while he can't have a ventilated smoking room.
SMOKERS, NON-SMOKERS UNITE
"I'm calling on smokers, non-smokers, anyone who believes in equal rights, to make some noise over this, to back me up on this. Phone your MLAs. This issue has gone beyond smoking, it's more about equality now," said Joyal.
Meanwhile, the owner of the Vanscoy Motor Hotel hadn't yet been ticketed under the act on Wednesday evening. However, Barry Gumulcak said he expected the public health inspectors to charge him any day now.
"I'm waiting for them," said Gumulcak. "They told me they were coming back this week."
He says there are no ashtrays, just "fancy coasters," in his bar and he never serves customers who are smoking.
"If somebody is smoking in here, I walk over and tell them that they can't smoke in here. That's what they tell me that I gotta do. If they continue to smoke, I can't give them any service until they extinguish their cigarettes. So, they extinguish their cigarettes and they ask me for a beer and they get a beer and then they light up again. That's what I gotta do."
Even Gumulcak's non-smoking customers aren't happy with the provincial law, he says.
On Jan. 14, the last time the public health inspectors visited his bar, about half a dozen non-smoking old-time hockey players "were tying into them" about the law, Gumulcak said.
Tom Mullin, executive vice-president of the Hotels Association of Saskatchewan, said he is still hoping the province will consider amending the law to allow ventilated smoking rooms. The association has sent a letter to Nilson, Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline and Deputy Premier Clay Serby asking to meet with government.
"We haven't strayed from our point that the ventilated rooms will work. All we want is the option to do that," said Mullin.
Paulson said ticketing will happen whenever the offence occurs and inspectors may be putting in longer hours until the region has full compliance with the ban.
"We are very committed to this. It is really one of the most effective pieces of legislation that we will come across in our lifetime, as in our careers. I can't think of any other piece of legislation that could have a wider, more beneficial effect to the population," said Paulson.
For now, Joyal is keeping ashtrays out on the tables and will keep letting patrons smoke. He said he will fight the tickets in a Weyburn courtroom on Feb. 21.
http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/news/story.html?id=57efcc8a-b108-4d38-8b90-40ad7efa7a7a
Socialist utopia
Re: No place for tobacco (Murray Gibson Letter of the Day, Jan. 20).
Sure, get the government to stick its nose into yet another business. Maybe government should just run all businesses in this country, so that profits can soar and everyone can be treated the same. Oh, that was tried, but didn't seem to work -- in the former U.S.S.R.
R. Berg
Winnipeg
But the dream lives on.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
Not just politics
As columnist Frank Landry indicates (Reserve smoke ban not in cards, Jan. 19), politics is one reason why Manitoba will not extend a smoking ban to native casinos.
The other reason is that natives continue to get treated as second-class citizens. When the rest of us, for lack of a better term, decried the smoking ban in public places the government simply pointed out that smoking was harmful and second-hand smoke adversely affects the health of non-smokers. Argument ended. Apparently second-hand smoke either does not adversely affect natives due to some undiscovered super gene making them impervious or the government views them as second-class citizens not worthy of protection.
The only other option is that perhaps there was never a sound reason, other than political correctness, to effect a smoking ban anywhere. So, what is it then?
Barry Banek
Winnipeg
Perhaps a bit of all three.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
We need ban on whining
Meddling minority simply can't resist the urge to make noise
By Michael Platt -- Calgary Sun Sun, January 23, 2005
Being a member of the silent majority wouldn't be so bad if the outspoken minority didn't keep making so much damn noise.
Democracy is swell, usually -- but there's a definite downside, and when it comes to government and griping lobby groups, the old adage about the squeaky wheel getting the grease couldn't be more accurate.
Cigarettes and noisy bars are the latest target, and though few people see either as a pressing problem (that's if they think about smoking and nightclubs at all) the meddling few are demanding new laws against both.
Perhaps they don't have jobs, children or friends, but it seems there are people out there with little to do except pester politicians for instant action on their personal pet peeves. The problem is, the politicians often listen.
Take cigarettes, for example.
Only three months after a civic election, where anti-smoking groups failed to make cigarettes an issue, there is renewed pressure for an outright ban on butts. Some politicians, including provincial Health Minister Iris Evans, are suggesting 2008 is too far away.
That's the year when Calgary, as voted by city council, will become smoke-free, and for most Calgarians, 2008 is just dandy -- otherwise, the issue would have been ripe for referendum in the last election.
The anti-smoking groups couldn't get enough people interested to make such a ballot question possible, yet they've never stopped trying to pretend they speak for the majority -- and Iris Evans is playing into their hands.
Thankfully, Premier Ralph Klein has seen beyond the squeaks of the minority, and he is leaving the issue up to municipalities, which have already set a date.
Klein occasionally misjudges the will of the people, but on this, he's bang on.
The premier also disagrees with anti-smoking advocates who claim a province-wide smoking ban would cause more people to quit, and again, Klein is right -- the high price of smokes, both financially and socially, means most of those who still indulge are addicts.
They won't quit, no matter how many "no-smoking" signs appear.
The smokers who would quit simply because of inconvenience already butted out years ago.
The shame is, rabble-rousers and easily-influenced politicians waste their time trying to slay the dragon, when it's the dragon's breath that annoys most people.
Smokers puffing away in bars don't bother anyone, except the odd waitress who whines about the second-hand fumes but fails to switch careers, because the tips aren't as good.
What does bother many people are smokers who crowd doorways outside non-smoking buildings, forcing others to run a gauntlet of stench to get inside.
Equally infuriating are the cigarette fiends who flick their smoldering garbage from car windows, or grind them out on sidewalks.
Why aren't the anti-smokers and politicians taking aim at these nicotine-stained misanthropes, who really do bother Calgarians?
Where are the bylaw officers who should be handing out huge fines to people who smoke near a doorway?
When you only pretend to speak for the majority, as most lobby groups do, you often miss the real issues.
The same situation, where a few complaints are driving the wheels of democracy, now has the City of Calgary considering a crackdown on noisy bars.
In the past decade, inner-city Calgary has gone from lame to lively, with restaurants and nightclubs popping up all through the downtown area.
Instead of a downtown where the tumbleweeds blow in at 6 p.m., Calgary's core is hopping with people. As a result, it's occasionally noisy.
A crackdown on the cacophony, as suggested by the irritated few who want both a trendy downtown address and the silence of the suburbs, could ruin things for the majority -- yet the bureaucrats are heeding their squeaks.
Instead of handing the complainers a copy of the Calgary Sun Homes section with "Cranston" or "Rocky Ridge" circled, the city is actually considering a crackdown on noisy nightclubs.
It's a shame we can't get them to pass a bylaw to silence the meddling few -- it'd be nice to get a little peace and quiet for a change.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Calgary/Michael_Platt/2005/01/23/907273.html
Give me back the way things used to be -AB
By Ian Robinson -- Calgary Sun Sun, January 23, 2005
I just had myself a birthday. Not one of the real bad ones with a zero after the first digit, but if I had a car with as much mileage as I do, I'd be thinking about trading it in.
My wife asked me what I wanted. Bad thing to ask a guy sitting there in an age-inspired funk.
I told her I want Dean Martin, John Lennon, Warren Zevon and Frank Sinatra back.
I want to be able to turn my seven-year-old son loose on the Internet to do research on cougars without having to sit next to him, terrified. Because every time he types the word cougar into a search engine, he keeps coming up with links that will take him to pornographic websites featuring naked 40-year-old women performing natural acts in unnatural poses with supernatural flexibility.
I think it's their flexibility that most offends me. These days I consider myself lucky to still be able to touch my toes.
I want to trade Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio for John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart because I miss going to movies where the male roles were played by ... well, guys.
I want to be able to turn on the radio and hear new music that sounds pretty and hopeful again. You know, like the Beach Boys, Beatles, ABBA, Simon and Garfunkel.
I'm tired of bands consisting of jaded 20-year-olds whining about life at top volume when they live in the richest and most successful culture in human history. Longest life expectancy, great wealth, the kind of creature comforts that kings a century ago could only aspire to, and these spoiled brats are whining about everything from existential angst to the re-election of George W. Bush. Even when they're happy, they sound miserable. Shut up and, while you're at it, learn a fourth chord, OK?
I want the health nazis to work themselves into such a frenzy that their blood pressure skyrockets and they just keel over dead.
I was there when this loony health craze started. Most everybody quit smoking and started eating low-fat food because the "experts" told us to. Now we're in an epidemic of obesity, the rate of heart disease has gone through the roof and every second person you meet is on Prozac or Effexor or something like them because they're suffering from clinical depression. A juicy steak and a pack of smokes would probably cheer everybody up.
It probably won't extend our lives, but at least what we have would be worth living. And a note to physicians about the new generation of anti-depressants. They have what you guys call "sexual side-effects." You have unhappy people, so you're giving them drugs that take away one of the few truly reliable sources of human happiness. Good thinking, geniuses.
I want people living in hot countries with lots of oil, but an average standard of living on a par with that of the average Canadian goat, to quit blowing themselves up in the name of their god. No matter what name you apply to Him, God doesn't want you to blow up other people. He probably doesn't mind if you blow yourself up ... just quit taking other people with you.
I saw a Muslim scholar on TV once, who said he thought there was a translation error in the Koran. That martyrs didn't get a few dozen virgins; they got a few dozen pomegranates. That image gives me great comfort when I picture Mohammed Atta appearing before Allah. Allah says: "Here's your fruit basket, moron. Now go to Hell."
I want university grads with a B.A. in English to have spent some time with the Dead White Men, guys like Shakespeare and Milton and Marlowe and Chaucer. You shouldn't be able to earn a degree reading nothing but what academics call "marginalized voices."
There's a reason they're marginalized voices: They suck.
I want to be able to turn my son loose on a weekend morning to play the way my parents did with me, and not worry if I don't know where he is every second because we seem to be growing pedophiles at a greater and greater rate.
How did we come to the point where a parent's biggest worry is somebody committing a crime so heinous not even God thought to put it in the Ten Commandments?
What do I want?
I want things to be the way they used to be.
My wife nodded sagely, the way she does when she tunes out one of my mega-rants.
And for my birthday I got some shirts.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Calgary/Ian_Robinson/2005/01/23/907274.html
Calgary Letters to the editor -AB
Jan23. 2005
This whole smoking issue just boggles my mind. Studies show second-hand smoke kills and 3,000 people die each year in Canada from smoking-related lung cancer.
Approximately 23% of Canadians smoke. Why is everyone worried about 23% having the freedom to subject their lethal habit on the other 77%? Is this not the tail wagging the dog? Do non-smokers not have rights?
Maybe if the 77% stayed away from all establishments that allowed smoking, the business owner, as well as our governments might actually realize where their sales are coming from. I am a highly allergic non-smoker and smoke makes it impossible for me to breathe or talk. I don't need to be in a room full of smoke. Being next to a smoker at the table will have the same effect.
What about my rights?
I would love to be able to go for a drink with my husband, but we can't, due to smoke. Our passion is dancing, but there are precious few venues that have dancing without the smoking. Is your cigarette worth more than my ability to breathe and speak clearly? I can't believe Ralph Klein wants to make Albertans the healthiest people in Canada, but doesn't have the fortitude to deal with the one issue that uses the largest portion of our health-care dollars, and causes the most premature deaths in Albertans.
It is time to take our collective heads out of the sand and protect Albertans' health.
Joyce Kiryk-Clutterbuck
(Smokers will fight it all the way.)
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I own a bar that allows smoking. I quit smoking myself eight years ago after sucking them back for 20 years.
I would love to have my bar smoke-free. Problem is, I wouldn't be able to pay the rent, utilities, taxes or my 15 employees. And I don't have or want any of those life-sucking VLT machines to subsidize my expenses. These "flavour of the day" politicians feeling the need to make decisions for adults shouldn't stop at clearing smoke from all public places. I hear trains, planes and automobiles are a little risky as well. Ban them!
And what about booze? Rumour has it that drinking too much, too often, causes way more health and social problems than cigarettes. Better ban booze! What needs to be banned is "flavour of the day" politicians feeling the need to make decisions for adults.
Better we have ones who recognize most adults, when supplied with all the information regarding their own health, are capable of making their own decisions.
I also wonder why these same politicians aren't going directly to the source. As long as it's legal to make and sell cigarettes, isn't it logical that people will buy them and most likely smoke them. Logic -- maybe that's what's missing in this issue.
Jerry Charlton
(It's an emotionally explosive topic.)
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I was beside a lady and her small baby at an intersection when I noticed a woman had her child in the front seat and was smoking a cigarette. I am a smoker but I also have a seven-month-old daughter. Not once have I smoked around her. We as parents need to make the right decisions for our children who can't. If my parents hadn't smoked around us as much as they did, we probably wouldn't have picked up the habit. I implore parents to do some research about the effects of cigarette smoke on tiny developing lungs and brains, then see how cool they feel having a smoke in the car with their kids.
Racheal Magdy-Clark
(Change the "c" in cool to an "f.")
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Gord Miszaniec asks: "Where is my right to breathe clean air?" (Letters, Jan. 19). He forgets to mention the air in a tavern or pub belongs to the owner, not him.
Thomas Laprade
(We were under the impression the air belongs to all.)
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Kevin Sweets (Letters, Jan. 18) isn't looking as the big picture. As crass as it sounds, there is more at stake here than whether or not public smokers are giving him cancer. If this ban is passed it could have a serious effect on the economy of this city. The nightlife in this city is huge, and a ban like this could have a devastating effect on their business. Why? In general, people who smoke, smoke more when they drink and often even those who are not "smokers" will have a puff or two. People will stay at home and drink. Besides, it's cheaper to drink at home and I don't have to worry about someone telling me I am not welcome!
Veronica Tremblay
(The statistics are mixed.)
http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/editorial.html#letters
More casinos to allow smoking -SK
BN Friday, January 21, 2005
REGINA -- Native-run casinos in Prince Albert and North Battleford have now decided to allow smoking in their establishments.
The move follows a federal decision this week not to interfere in a bylaw on the White Bear First Nation in southeastern Saskatchewan.
That bylaw exempts the reserve's Bear Claw casino from the province's new smoking ban.
The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says a fourth native-run casino in the province -- the Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton -- is staying smoke-free because the local band agreed to harmonize its laws with Yorkton's.
Federation Chief Alphonse Bird says bands have every right to control their own land.
Bird says he has little sympathy for people who complain that having two sets of laws in the province is not fair.
He says there's still some room for compromise but that would require serious negotiations with the province.
http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/news/story.html?id=88075377-e364-49d7-a3e5-a4d10a245dad
More Indian-run casinos allowing smoking
CBC News Last Updated Jan 21 2005 01:26 PM CST
REGINA – Two more Indian bands have decided to allow smoking in their casinos – in urban areas where non-reserve bars and restaurants operate under a smoking ban.
Earlier this week, Ottawa said it wouldn't stand in the way of the White Bear First Nation's smoking bylaw that allows people to light up at the Bear Claw casino near Carlyle.
Now, the Peter Ballantyne band in Prince Albert and the Mosquito First Nation near North Battleford have passed resolutions allowing people to smoke at their casinos in those cities.
According to Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Chief Alphonse Bird, people can now light up at three of the province's four Indian-run casinos, but the fourth, the Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton, is staying smoke-free. That's because the Sakimay Band agreed to harmonize its laws with those of the city.
The city casinos are part of urban reserves.
Province starts ticketing
Having two sets of smoking rules has developed into a major headache for the Saskatchewan government, which is promoting a smoke-free province.
Under the ban that went into effect Jan. 1, smoking is prohibited in all bars, restaurants and other enclosed public places.
Health Department inspectors gave out a series of $500 tickets at a Weyburn bar on Wednesday, the first such tickets to be issued. Some bar owners are saying it's unfair that they have to stick to the smoking ban, but Indian casinos don't.
But Bird said bands have every right to control their own land, adding he has little sympathy for those who complain that two sets of laws in one province is not fair.
"Those white folks can come and live on our reserves for a couple of months and see how it is, how difficult it is, the situations we have to deal with," Bird said.
"We know the circumstances that smoking does to our people. We probably have the highest rate of smoking. But we also have the highest rate of poverty in the country."
Federal Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott could still veto the bylaws allowing smoking on the Prince Albert and North Battleford casinos, but that's considered unlikely – he has already said he will respect Indian jurisdiction in the matter.
Meanwhile, Bird said there's still some room for compromise but that would require "serious" negotiations with the province.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/casinos050122.html
More aboriginal-run casinos allowing smoking -SK
CBC NewsLast Updated Sat, 22 Jan 2005 17:32:20 EST
REGINA - Two more aboriginal bands in Saskatchewan have decided to allow smoking in their casinos – in urban areas where non-reserve bars and restaurants operate under a smoking ban.
Earlier this week, Ottawa said it wouldn't stand in the way of the White Bear First Nation's smoking bylaw that allows people to light up at the Bear Claw casino near Carlyle.
Now, the Peter Ballantyne band in Prince Albert and the Mosquito First Nation near North Battleford have passed resolutions allowing people to smoke at their casinos in those cities.
According to Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Chief Alphonse Bird, people can now light up at three of the province's four aboriginal-run casinos, but the fourth, the Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton, is staying smoke-free. That's because the Sakimay Band agreed to harmonize its laws with those of the city.
The city casinos are part of urban reserves.
Having two sets of smoking rules has developed into a major headache for the Saskatchewan government, which is promoting a smoke-free province.
Under the ban that went into effect Jan. 1, smoking is prohibited in all bars, restaurants and other enclosed public places.
Health Department inspectors gave out a series of $500 tickets at a Weyburn bar on Wednesday, the first such tickets to be issued. Some bar owners are saying it's unfair that they have to stick to the smoking ban, but aboriginal casinos don't.
But Bird said bands have every right to control their own land, adding he has little sympathy for those who complain that two sets of laws in one province is not fair.
"Those white folks can come and live on our reserves for a couple of months and see how it is, how difficult it is, the situations we have to deal with," Bird said.
"We know the circumstances that smoking does to our people. We probably have the highest rate of smoking. But we also have the highest rate of poverty in the country."
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/01/22/sask-casinos050122.html
Klein says smoking ban will be debated -AB
CBC News Last Updated Jan 21 2005 02:40 PM MST
EDMONTON – Premier Ralph Klein has backed off his declaration that there won't be a provincewide smoking ban while he's in charge, saying he's now open to having a debate on the issue.
"We will have a debate in the policy committees and I will make sure that those are open, and then in the legislature," Klein said Friday. "I'll put it on the agenda and let the people decide.
"If you want to write me a letter – any hospital jurisdiction, any municipal councillor, anyone – I will place it on the agenda and we'll have a public debate on this issue."
After Health Minister Iris Evans suggested looking at a provincewide smoking ban, Klein was quick to reject the idea, calling it "useless" and counter-productive.
The number of people criticizing Klein's no-ban stance has increased over the past week, ranging from municipalities to health officials to at least one dying smoker.
Even new Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong, who wants to make fitness and amateur sports part of his mandate, says he would be in favour of a ban.
Many argued that his position contravened his promise to make Alberta a healthier province and ease the burden on the health-care system.
Klein, who believes the decision whether to ban smoking in workplaces should be left up to municipalities, says options include the status quo, a partial ban or a complete ban.
"There's an upside and a downside to this whole issue," Klein said. "The upside is that we need to do what we can to discourage young people in particular from smoking. That's the essence.
"And the downside is that we interfere with business."
Klein has said he favours banning smoking in any place frequented by children.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and PEI have all put provincewide workplace smoking bans in place.
http://calgary.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/ca-smoking-debate20051221.html
Forced-treatment bill questioned
CBC News Last Updated Jan 21 2005 03:08 PM MST
CALGARY – A private member's bill that wants to give parents the power to force drug-addicted teens into treatment could backfire, doctors and legal experts say.
Dr. Robin Reesal, a psychiatrist who works with teenagers, says he understands why parents are desperate to try anything to help their children. But forcing teens to do something against their will often doesn't work, he says.
"One of the issues with using force to treatments is you are taking away from the autonomy of an adolescent and at this stage of their life, they're really trying to separate from their parents and develop their own identity," Reesal said.
Kathleen Mahoney, a law professor at the University of Calgary specializing in human rights, says a law that allows treatment to be imposed on people goes against the principles of a democratic society.
"We don't live in the kind of totalitarian society where people can be forced, even if it's for their own good," Mahoney said. "We believe in liberty and people make bad choices for themselves. It's not against the law to be an alcoholic or it's not against the law to be a drug addict."
Conservative MLA Mary Ann Jablonski plans to introduce the bill next session and says it should pass concerns about it contravening human rights legislation because it's similar to a law that protects children involved in prostitution which withstood challenges.
Jablonski says Bill 202 is needed, because parents aren't otherwise able to get help for youths who won't admit they have a problem. She says parents often hope their child will get arrested, so that something can be mandated.
The bill, if passed, would have parents with proof their child has a drug problem apply to a provincial authority to get them into treatment.
http://calgary.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/ca-drug-treatment20050121.html
RE: PROVINCEWIDE smoking ban. I think that the general public does not realize the amount of tax money generated from the sale of tobacco products. Where are those lost tax dollars going to come from when the entire country goes smoke-free and the majority of the Canadian population quits? Guess what? It will come from average taxpayers.
Richard Clarke
(The majority doesn't smoke.)
http://canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/Letters/
Forget tobacco growers — focus on the victims -ON
Jan. 23, 2005. 01:00 AM
Tobacco growers' folly Editorial, Jan. 20.
The idea that tobacco farmers deserve government assistance is just too farcical for words — and not just because they produce a dangerous product.
The U.S. Surgeon General's report statistically linking tobacco and lung cancer was published over 40 years ago. I doubt that any other industry on this planet has had a longer advance warning of its own demise.
So now, after all the damage they caused to people's lives and all the money they cost our health-care system, we're expected to sympathize.
Sympathize instead with their victims.
Stephen H. Langevin, Toronto
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1106435409137&call_pageid=970599119419
Guards claim convicts blowing smoke -
By BILL KAUFMANN, Calgary Sun Fri, January 21, 2005
Federal inmates threatening an uprising over a proposed cigarette ban in their cells are scare-mongering, said the head of the corrections officers' union. Documents accessed by Sun Media show prisoners have vowed "a possible disturbance or uprising" when the tobacco prohibition is implemented.
The inmates are probably bluffing, but guards are ready to deal with any trouble that does arise, said Sylvain Martel of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO).
"The provinces have banned smoking in their jails and there was no such (trouble)," said Martel.
"They may say they'll do this and that but we have the tools to handle it ... the bottom line is who's the boss inside?"
It's imperative federal prisons go smoke-free, considering other civil servants have long enjoyed such an environment, said Martel.
"The service should not be blackmailed," he said.
Union prairie region president Kevin Grabowsky said he takes prisoner threats seriously, but also said a total smoking ban must be implemented.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/CalgarySun/News/2005/01/21/905662-sun.html
Angels Spread Smoking Message
Darren McEwen
Saturday, January 22, 2005
‘Operation Black Angel’ is underway here in the city. It's a campaign to bring home the message about smoking.
The initiative includes little three-foot angels bearing the number 130. The anti-smoking group, Expose, says 130 Canadians die everyday from smoking-related illnesses.
Geoff Matthews asked "Can anyone come up with one good reason why we continue to sell cigarettes in this country." I presume he knows the answer, but would like to hear it from readers, so I will oblige.
It's called freedom, which we as Canadians can exercise to do whatever we want, providing it does not compromise the ability of others to do the same, or involve fraudulent or otherwise illegal activities.
Our war veterans fought to protect our freedoms, so that we can make our own choices, without being oppressed by government forces dictating what we can choose to do in our day to day lives.
There are many other legal products and activities that are harmful to our health, but we do not want bureaucrats imposing their unsolicited "help" on us by legislating availability of choices.
This smacks of current political attitudes that governments should control our lives and culture through legislation. Instead of imposing our choices on others, we should respect our freedom of choice.
G.Millar
Nepean
(As Geoff pointed out, most of those unhealthy products have their
upsides, whereas tobacco does not)
ottawa sun
Farmers block 401 lanes during protest -ON
Canadian Press Friday, January 21, 2005
TORONTO -- About 600 Ontario farmers braved frigid temperatures Friday to clog a stretch of Canada's busiest highway with more than 200 vehicles, including almost a hundred tractors, to draw attention to what they call a looming farm crisis in the province.
Organizers said slowing traffic for about 20 kilometres from London to Ingersoll was the only way to draw Premier Dalton McGuinty's attention to the plight of Ontario farmers.
They say they are frustrated by a lack of government funding, record low prices for grain and oilseeds, and new greenbelt legislation that's threatening to take land away from rural communities without compensation.
McGuinty has ''declared war'' on tobacco farmers and is bankrupting others with proposed legislation, organizer Randy Hillier said from the protest as the mercury dipped below _20 C.
''The list of injustices that McGuinty is putting out is longer than this convoy,'' Hillier said.
Tobacco farmer Dwayne Van Beesan said producers have been pushed to the limit.
''We've never gone to jail, we don't do nothing wrong,'' he said. ''But if that's what we have to do to get through to McGuinty and the federal government, that's what we have to do, and here we are.''
Traffic on the busy highway, which police say carries 3,600 vehicles an hour, was blocked in one direction at a time after the protest began at 8 a.m. Provincial police said the protest was peaceful with no reports of injuries or collisions, and farmers left a lane open for emergency vehicles. The demonstration ended early in the afternoon.
Agriculture Minister Steve Peters acknowledged the challenges facing the industry, but suggested a protest wasn't the best way to attract attention.
''There is a lot of frustration out there,'' Peters admitted before a cabinet meeting in Toronto. ''We need to sit down as political leaders and as farm leaders, and we need to work together.''
''Those provincial issues, we're prepared to work with farmers, as we have and we will continue to in the future.''
Peters noted that some of the farmers' complaints don't fall under the powers of the provincial government. Some are international market issues, others are trade issues, and other problems such as the mad cow crisis must be addressed by the federal government.
Ontario has put forward $125 million for the cattle industry, $92 million for the grains and oilseeds industry, and other support to help implement nutrient management regulations, Peters said.
The province held its first agriculture summit last year to hear first-hand how the farming community is suffering, and information gathered from that will form the basis of government initiatives, he added.
But for some farmers, it's still not enough.
''We're starting a revolution,'' said farmer Zowie Kunschner. ''There's discontent in this country and it's not isolated to agriculture.''
''It's very personally, seriously important to me, and I'm going to stand out here freezing my butt off supporting my farmers and trying to get the word out there.''
Not all farming groups supported the protest.
Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett had said he was opposed to the demonstration because he believed it would alienate the public and erode support for farmers.
But Hillier warned that other demonstrations will follow, including a protest planned for next week near Prescott in eastern Ontario.
''This is just the start,'' Hillier said. ''And if McGuinty still wants to keep his head down in that hole, well, we'll be over in Prescott and we'll be doing the same thing.''
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/toronto/story.html?id=569c1c41-c526-479b-83df-969dbc269551
Tobacco targeted in break ins
By Record Staff
Friday January 21, 2005
Fort Saskatchewan Record — Thieves targeted tobacco twice when raiding a Bruderheim gas station, the second break in a month for the store.
RCMP were alerted to Bruderheim Esso during the early morning hours of Jan. 17 to investigate a break and enter after a paper delivery man noticed a smashed window and cigarettes on the floor.
Police say the suspects broke the storefront window and raided it of approximately 40 packs of cigarettes, a zippo lighter display, chewing tobacco, and watches.
This is the second time in less than a month that the place as been broken into, said police.
The first incident was reported on Dec. 27, when suspects set off the alarms in side the Esso after they barged through the front door. Once inside, they went straight for the shelves of cigarettes, stealing cartons of smokes, and pouches and tubs of tobacco. Tobacco thieves netted more than $1,800 of the product.
http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/story.php?id=138718
Smoking hot topic again
By Special Correspondent - The Chronicle-Journal January 21, 2005
By Glena Clearwater
NIPIGON residents should pay attention to what township council is up to over the next week as councillors prepare to consider a motion to defer implementation of the no-smoking bylaw.
The gold standard bylaw — a prohibition on smoking in all public and work places — kicked in on Jan. 2. It stays in effect unless council decides to make a change. Those in favour of the bylaw are mounting a campaign to get supporters out to the next council meeting, set for Tuesday, 7 p.m., at the community centre.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=25409
Legion fuming over Liberal plan to ban smoking in private clubs -ON
By Craig Campbell News Staff
Ted McMeekin, the local Member of Provincial Parliament, doesn't expect Royal Canadian Legions ñ including Dundas' Branch 36 ñ to get a break under proposed smoking legislation.
Expected to take effect in spring 2006, a provincial ban would cover private clubs and eliminate designated smoking rooms in bars and restaurants, places even Hamilton's tough smoking bylaw would have allowed until 2008. Despite pleas from the local legion branch and the Ontario command, the MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale doesn't support special rules for the private club.
"It's a public health issue for everybody," Mr. McMeekin said. "I'm particularly concerned about the impact (of smoking) on older people. The average age of a veteran is 83. They are incredible resources."
He argues it's in the best interests of veterans, all legion members and staff, to ban smoking within their clubs.
But that's not something Branch 36 president Mike Alkerton agrees with. In a letter to the MPP dated Nov. 20, 2004, Mr. Alkerton points out that Royal Canadian Legions are private clubs and not open to the general public.
"The legislation proposed by your government would be contrary to the rights and freedoms and freedom of choice that so many Canadians gave their lives for and in most cases six years of their youth," Mr. Alkerton wrote.
"It will also eliminate or reduce revenues to the provincial government."
According to the letter, the Dundas Legion branch paid $30,614.14 in sales tax and over $10,000 in provincial fees for Nevada or scratch and win tickets last year.
Reached at his Flamborough office on Jan. 3, after a Christmas vacation, Mr. McMeekin said he had not yet read Mr. Alkerton's letter. But he did not agree with the Legion president's statements.
"The argument that we fought for the right to poison the air people breathe doesn't make sense to me," Mr. McMeekin said. "How many members of the Legion are veterans anyway, if you want to use that argument? We want to protect public health."
He said people across the province are tired of a "patch-work quilt" of smoking bylaws, regulations and limitations that allow things in some municipalities, which aren't permitted in neighbouring towns or cities. Mr. Alkerton's letter lists several ways a smoking ban would damage the Legion. He states the change limits a pleasure enjoyed by many veterans, betraying the rights they fought to defend, and limits money raised by the annual Poppy Campaign ñ which helps veterans, their families and the local community, cutting down on costs to provincial and Federal governments.
"Last year, we donated over $30,000 to various youth and seniors groups in the Dundas area," Mr. Alkerton wrote. "We need the revenu Posted at 8:53 pm by looped_ca
Victim tag won't wash
IAN GILLESPIE, Free Press News Columnist 2005-01-19
I won't be sending any sympathy cards to local tobacco farmers. I won't be begging politicians to shovel piles of cash toward these suffering souls.
And I won't be driving out to offer support during Friday's Highway 401 blockade.
Maybe I'm heartless. Maybe my sympathy has evaporated under the deluge of misleading messages from the cancer-stick industry.
Or maybe I'm just tired of hearing that popular song -- "Help me, I'm a victim" -- ring out again and again.
That refrain was recently delivered by Fred Neukamm, chairperson of the Ontario Flue-cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board.
Neukamm spoke Monday at a local tongue-wag hosted by the Commons standing committee on finance and economic affairs.
Neukamm said tobacco farmers are "now a community in crisis" and warned that unless the province ponies up $50 million (on top of $67 million from the feds) to buy out beleaguered tobacco farmers, some small Southwestern Ontario communities could fold because there's "nothing to replace that economic activity."
Neukamm's plea isn't new. For years, tobacco lobbyists have toiled to paint tobacco farmers as innocent victims of the government's dastardly anti-smoking campaign.
But are they really?
According to recent figures from Statistics Canada, three types of farms boast the highest operating margins -- dairy farms, livestock combination and tobacco farms.
"(Tobacco farmers) have been riding the gravy train for years," says Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.
"They are among the wealthiest farmers in Canada," he says.
Cunningham also pooh-poohs Neukamm's doomsday claim that entire communities will fold in the face of fewer tobacco farms.
In his book Smoke and Mirrors: The Canadian Tobacco War, he rejects the economic argument.
Cunningham argues that "as less money is spent on tobacco, more money will be spent on other items, thereby increasing jobs in other sectors and offsetting any job loss in the tobacco sector."
He also cites a study by University of British Columbia professor Robert Allen, which reported that if all full-time jobs in tobacco growing and manufacturing disappeared overnight, the unemployment rate would rise less than 0.01 per cent.
Tobacco industry lobbyists frequently blame the government for their woes. Again, Cunningham begs to differ.
"Tobacco farmers in Canada are highly inefficient on a world scale," he says. "They're high-cost producers because of our cold weather and because of our higher cost of labour. Historically, the tobacco industry in Canada has kept the inefficient Canadian farmers in business by paying premium prices much higher than world prices.
"The biggest problem faced by the growers is not the decline in smoking in Canada," he says. "It's the combination of the high Canadian dollar, the extremely high cost of production of tobacco in Canada and the refusal of Imperial Tobacco to continue to pay above world prices for Canadian tobacco."
Cunningham doesn't oppose using government money to pay tobacco farmers to get out of the business. But he's suspicious of such schemes.
"(An exit buyout) is not all that they want and that's not all they've been given," he says. "You could design a program that appears to be helping farmers exit (the industry), but is really a disguised subsidy to continuing farmers. And that's inappropriate."
Cunningham says it's unjustifiable for the federal government to slash funding for its anti-smoking programs on the one hand and then subsidize tobacco farmers on the other.
"It's very interesting that for decades tobacco farmers have objected to government regulation," Cunningham says. "But at the same time, they're demanding government action to keep them in business."
The federal government started paying tobacco farmers to help get them out of the tobacco-growing business in the late 1980s. The writing has been on the wall for a long time. How long does it take to read the message? How long will the bail-outs last?
Still, I bet the government coughs up the cash. Because these days, everyone purports to be a victim -- even some who, despite years of warnings, have chosen their fate.
It seems the rest of us, though, have no choice but to pay and pay and pay.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/London/Ian_Gillespie/2005/01/19/902852.html
Reserve smoke ban not in cards
By FRANK LANDRY -- Winnipeg Sun Wed, January 19, 2005
There's one reason and only one reason why the NDP government refuses to extend its "province-wide" smoking ban to First Nations -- politics.
Premier Gary Doer doesn't want to anger Manitoba's aboriginal population, a group that tends to vote NDP, at least provincially.
Ruffling feathers wouldn't be good for business, and the premier knows it.
And that's why pleas this week from the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA) for the NDP to clamp down on smoking on First Nations will fall on deaf ears.
Murray Gibson, MANTRA's executive director, is asking the province to make smoke-free facilities a requirement of getting a gambling licence. Either that, or rework the Non-Smokers Health Protection Act to include First Nations.
"I think they need to work with First Nations to create that dialogue and encourage them to voluntarily do this," Gibson told The Sun following a news conference Monday, where his group issued its third annual Manitoba tobacco control report card. "Failing that, they need to relook at the legislation."
Manitoba isn't the first province to have a province-wide smoking ban. Bans are also in place in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. Ontario and Quebec have also announced plans to move forward with butt bans.
Whether these bans were necessary is an argument for another day. Within 10 years most restaurants and bars would likely have gone smoke-free anyway. It's just a sign of the times.
But I digress. The bans are already in place.
What's different in Manitoba is that the province makes an exception for First Nations, which it argues it does not have jurisdiction over. MANTRA says other provinces don't do this.
Interestingly, the feds also maintain they don't have the authority to impose smoking bans on First Nations. This apparent grey area will eventually be worked out before the courts, as most jurisdictional battles are.
What the province does have the power to do immediately is force First Nations to make their gambling halls smoke-free as a requirement of getting and keeping gaming licences. That could include casinos or VLT lounges.
But the province doesn't seem interested in the idea.
"At this time we're not choosing to make any amendments to our legislation," Health Living Minister Theresa Oswald said. "And certainly the purview of gambling licences doesn't fall within my department so I don't feel like I can speak to that with absolute detail and authority."
In other words, the NDP isn't biting. In the meantime, First Nations continue to operate under a different set of rules.
The Long Plain First Nation near Portage la Prairie intends to allow puffing in its new VLT lounge and conference centre. Brokenhead First Nation also plans to allow smoking in their new casino near Grand Beach.
The rest of Manitoba can't do this. The law prohibits smoking in any enclosed public or workplace.
"They don't want to upset aboriginal people who are running casinos," Tory Leader Stuart Murray said, speculating on the NDP's reason for ignoring repeated calls from his party and now MANTRA to make aboriginal gambling halls smoke-free.
"The way we look at it, it doesn't matter who you are. All Manitobans -- whether they work in aboriginal casinos or restaurants or whatever -- they should be protected from second-hand smoke."
And that's what this all boils down to -- protecting workers from second-hand smoke. Groups like MANTRA are not political in nature nor do they represent rural restaurant owners, many of whom are still miffed First Nations can permit puffing but they can't.
MANTRA has no reason to push for a smoking ban on First Nations other than to protect the health of people who work in and frequent aboriginal businesses.
It's too bad they're being ignored.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Winnipeg/Frank_Landry/2005/01/19/902847.html
Supreme court OKs 'cigarette curtain' law
CBC News Last Updated Jan 19 2005 01:23 PM CST
OTTAWA – A Saskatchewan law banning tobacco displays has been reinstated by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Three years ago, Saskatchewan passed a law that said cigarettes could not be on display to people under 18.
Stores and restaurants had to put their tobacco products in cabinets and behind curtains.
Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal struck down the law after tobacco companies appealed. With the law overturned, many business opened the curtains.
But in a hearing this morning, Canada's highest court approved Saskatchewan's ban on tobacco displays.
The judges heard from the tobacco company Rothmans Benson and Hedges, the group that fought to keep cigarette displays in full view of the public.
After quizzing the company and taking a 15-minute recess, the judges came back and said the display ban is back in force. They'll give their reasons at a later date.
"It's disappointing," said John McDonald, a spokesman for Rothmans Benson and Hedges.
Anti-tobacco groups were hailing the decision.
"Oh we are absolutely elated. What a great victory on Weedless Wednesday," said Donna Pasiechnik, tobacco control co-ordinator with the Cancer Society's Saskatchewan division.
Saskatchewan Health Minister John Nilson said the ruling means tobacco will go back out of sight in the province.
"We're pleased that the Supreme Court of Canada understood the comments and concerns that we had in this particular case," he said.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/cigarettes050119.html
Letters- Smoking laws are starting to save lives ON
Re: 'Target Industrial Pollution', letter, Dec. 28.
Jan. 19, 2005
Steve Hartwell's (SmokersRightsCanada.org) letter is breathtaking in its duplicity.
While he is right that industrial pollution is a problem, that hardly means that we should ignore all other problems.
Indeed, the last provincial election saw all three parties promise to phase out coal-fired generators.
Such a move will save hundreds of lives each year.
However, anyone who has ever set foot in a pub or bar in Ontario will tell you that the air quality in those spaces is far worse than anything you're likely to encounter outdoors.
And there are any number of analyses that will list dozens of poisons found in the smoke curling from the tip of a cigarette.
Yet, Hartwell's letter tells us that these poisons that permeate our hair, skin and clothing have no effect on us.
Who could have so little regard for the health of others that they would knowingly expose them to toxins?
Yet that is what Smokers Rights Canada is asking us to support - their right, amongst others, to make exposure to hazardous substances a condition of employment for entertainment and hospitality industry workers.
Fortunately, most smokers are more considerate and better informed.
They accept the fact that smoke kills. They avoid smoking near main entrances to buildings and while standing in lines.
And they avoid smoking indoors at home when they have children and other non-smoking family members.
Tobacco is one addiction that the government is trying to deal with in a rational fashion.
Unlike other addictive drugs, tobacco is legal.
The government is using the tax revenue from its sale to run treatment and harm reduction programs and public education campaigns to curb its use.
It has also slowly implemented laws and bylaws restricting its use to areas where the public will not be harmed. These measures are already saving thousands of lives annually.
Gary Dale
http://www.insidetoronto.ca/to/opinion/letter/story/2495912p-2892233c.html
Tax hikes won’t make us butt out, smokers say -ON
Latest increase adds 13 cents to a pack of 20 and 16 cents to a pack of 25
By Carol Mulligan/The Sudbury Star
Local News - Wednesday, January 19, 2005 @ 11:00
It will take more than a -31 C windchill and a $1.25-a-carton tax hike in the price of a carton of cigarettes to get Mona Quenneville to butt out.
Huddled against the building where she works downtown during a smoke break Tuesday, Quenneville shook her head when she learned the provincial government’s third tax increase on tobacco products was to go into effect at midnight.
Quenneville admitted the increase — which will add 13 cents to a pack of 20 cigarettes and 16 cents to a pack of 25 — doesn’t begin to provide enough incentive to quit.
If federal and provincial governments were serious about helping people kick the habit, they’d do something to reduce the price of smoking cessation aids such as nicotine patches and gums to make it easier for people to quit, said Quenneville.
Or, better still, they should just outlaw the sale of cigarettes so people can’t get their hands on them, she said.
Colleague Jeff Houle agreed that a slight increase in the cost of smokes won’t do much to convince him to quit. He accused the provincial government of trying to “have its cake and eat it, too” by increasing tobacco taxes and benefiting from them.
Dave Groulx, a public health nurse with the Sudbury and District Health Unit, said even a slight increase in the price of tobacco products may help youngsters quit smoking. Research shows they are the group most likely to quit when tobacco costs rise.
Vicki Kuula-Ross, a public health nurse with the health unit’s tobacco cessation team, said she would like to see Ontario raise its tobacco taxes even further, to the national average.
The current national average is about $30 per carton in provincial tobacco taxes, and this increase boosts Ontario to $23.45, said Diane Flanagan, a spokeswoman for Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara.
Sorbara said in an interview that his government is committed to being at the national average of tobacco taxes in the course of the Liberals' mandate, and that it’s a step closer with this initiative.
The tax increase will mean $52 million more for the province’s coffers, but that money was included in last year’s budget, said Flanagan. Since the Liberals were elected in October 2003, they’ve raised provincial tobacco taxes by $6.25.
This won’t be the last tax increase Ontario smokers see either, with the government aiming to reach the national average by the end of 2007.
The province’s tobacco tax hike came just in time for Weedless Wednesday today.
http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=94397&catname=Local+News
Pain in the butts -ON
ANOTHER TAX HIKE ON CIGARETTES KICKS IN TODAY
By ALAN FINDLAY, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU Wed, January 19, 2005
FREEZING your butt off at smoke-break just got a little more expensive. Yesterday the provincial government announced its third tobacco tax hike in 14 months, adding an extra $1.25 to the price of every carton. That's 13 cents more for a pack of 20 ciggies.
Since the Liberals formed the government, the tax on a carton has risen by $6.25.
The current $23.45 in provincial taxes per carton will continue to rise, possibly once again in this spring's provincial budget, until Ontario's tax hit is as much as the national average of more than $30.
HOPING TO DETER YOUTHS
Quoted in a government news release, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said the price hikes will help deter young people from smoking.
"Smoking is the No. 1 preventable cause of premature death and illness in Ontario, and it costs an estimated $1.7 billion a year in health care spending to treat diseases directly caused by tobacco," Sorbara said.
Michael Perley, director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, called the increase modest but another step in the right direction.
"I don't know if it will have much of an impact on consumption, but what iLt will do is help generate additional revenue to help offset (health) costs," said Perley.
Nancy Daigneault, president of the smokers' rights group mychoice.ca, said smokers are tired of governments clawing huge taxes from them and then labelling them a drain on health care.
ELECTION PROMISE
She said Ontario smokers are paying $2.5 billion in product taxes a year -- far more than what Health Minister George Smitherman maintains smoking-related illness is costing the system.
During the 2003 election, the Liberals promised to increase tobacco taxes by $10 a carton in order to reach the national average.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2005/01/19/903240-sun.html
Colts join city's no-smoking campaign
Jan 19, 2005
Members of the Barrie Colts launched National Non-Smoking Week at Barrie City Hall Monday, by taking their best shot against power walls - the large enticing displays of cigarettes in corner stores and gas stations.
"Power walls are one of the last bastions for aggressive marketing of tobacco products to children and youth and that's no longer acceptable," said Leslie Gordon, manager of the tobacco program for the Simcoe County District Health Unit. "Power walls target kids, undermine the efforts of those who are trying to quit and create an aura of social acceptability, creating the impression that cigarettes are more popular than they actually are."
The "Out of sight, out of mind" campaign aims to educate people that, despite a ban on most tobacco products advertising since 2003, power walls continue to feature prominently in retail outlets, many close to schools. The height and placement of these displays have been carefully calculated to have maximum impact on the purchaser.
About 60 per cent of tobacco purchases are impulse buys and prominent displays, like power walls, encourage impulse buys, said Gordon. Given that approximately one-fifth of smokers in Canada are non-daily smokers and that locally in Simcoe County the majority of adult smokers say they are thinking about trying to quit smoking within six months, power walls are a significant marketing tool to keep people smoking, she said.
"Tobacco companies pay out $77 million every year to keep power walls front and centre because they work," said Gordon. "All it takes is one purchase to turn an ex-smoker back into a smoker, and power walls are an extremely effective temptation."
A ban on tobacco advertising and promotion will help reduce tobacco use and protect children from exposure to tobacco promotion, said Gordon.
http://www.simcoe.com/sc/barrie/story/2497925p-2894388c.html
Ontario Boosts Cigarette Tax to Add C$52 Mln in Annual Revenue -ON
Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ontario boosted cigarette taxes 5.6 percent, adding C$52 million ($43 million) to provincial revenue annually, and said the higher prices will help cut tobacco consumption among young people.
The price of a carton of 200 cigarettes rose C$1.25, or 16 cents for a pack of 25, at midnight. The average price of a pack of cigarettes in the province is now about C$9.
The increase comes as Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara tries to reduce the provincial budget deficit, estimated at C$2.1 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31. The minister has said he plans to raise cigarette taxes to the national average of about C$30 a carton.
The most recent increase, the third in 14 months, brings Ontario taxes on a carton of cigarettes to C$23.45. A carton costs about C$70, including federal taxes.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=aN8uvx2GgGo0&refer=canada
Letters to the editor - Calgary Sun - Jan 19/05
Apparently Ralph Klein can't please anyone. I, too, would love to see people free of the dangers of smoking, both smokers and non-smokers. An all-out smoking ban like the one proposed is not enforceable. Where are all the "civil libertarian types?" Is this not a case of smokers' charter rights being violated? Ralph is right in saying a ban is wrong and won't work. It doesn't address the real problem, which is a poison with debilitating addictive effects permitted by the federal government. If we ban everything bad for us what next? Cheesecake? Butter knives?
Keith Spielman
(No one is talking about a total ban on smoking.)
Has Paul Jackson ever heard of second-hand smoke? ("Butt-brained idea," Jan. 18.) This is the difference between cigarettes and fast food or VLTs. No one has ever shoved a Big Mac down my throat or put my money in a VLT. Is it not hypocritical of Ralph Klein to posture himself as saviour of health care while ignoring the leading preventable cause of death in Alberta? Jackson talks of freedom being chipped away but never mentions the rights of the 80% of Albertans who don't smoke. Where is my freedom to breathe clean air? Iris Evans has better insight into democracy than Jackson.
Gord Miszaniec
(Non-smokers are free to choose where they go.)
RE: "CREDIBILITY question," Jan. 16. This article says that Liberal health critic Laurie Blakeman said she had hoped Ralph Klein would introduce a smoking ban after a number of smokers in the Tory caucus either retired or were defeated in the November provincial election. Is she saying that if there were no smokers in cabinet that we would all be forced to not smoke? That sounds like a dictatorship, not democracy.
Robert Hogg
(The government sets the rules.)
RALPH KLEIN is nuts if he doesn't entertain the idea of implementing a smoking ban in all public places in Alberta. What part of "smoking and second-hand smoke kills" does this dinosaur not understand?
Robert Stock
(Ralph's not in favour of a ban.)
http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/editorial.html#letters
No place for tobacco
Pharmacies are health-care centres and pharmacists are members of your health-care team. The Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Allliance (MANTRA) believes it is wrong for in-store or stand-alone pharmacies to sell and advertise tobacco products for the following reasons:
1. Tobacco is about addiction, disease and death not health and life.
2. By selling this product pharmacies lend a false sense of credibility to it.
3. It is an inherent conflict of interest to sell both the cause of the disease and the remedy.
4. Tobacco money buys silence. The tobacco industry spent $77million in 2002 and $88 million in 2003 in Canada to buy the right to promote their products in retail outlets (including pharmacies).
5. It is contrary to the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Association.
If pharmacies won't or can't act, maybe the government should pass legislation just like they have in every province east of Manitoba.
Murray Gibson
Executive Director
MANTRA
(Then they'll have nothing to hide.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
They puff in comfort at post office and CBC Federal workers exempt from city's smoking ban -MB
By Rick Lawler Thursday, January 20th, 2005
WHILE most Winnipeggers who smoke have to shiver outside while enjoying their cigarette, some federal employees can smoke in heated comfort right where they buy their lunch.
Canada Post Corp. employees working at the Graham Avenue main post office have a designated smoking room beside their publicly accessed cafeteria.
Federal jurisdictions in Manitoba are exempt from municipal and provincial smoking restrictions but are required to restrict smoking in the workplace, according to the website of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, a federal agency.
"We follow Health Canada options for banning and or restricting smoking in the workplace," Canada Post spokesman Brian Garagan said. The post office smoking room has a ventilation system that vents directly outside. It has a swipe-card access and is not open to the public.
Designating a smoking room "was a local decision in consideration of the needs of our union members" who smoke, Garagan said.
"That is a concern, to continue to encourage smoking in the workplace," said Murray Gibson, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA).
MANTRA is a non-profit group that works with other health organizations to help Manitobans quit smoking.
"We are asking federal organizations to respect the legislation (of the city and province)," Gibson said.
"Health Canada supports our efforts, but some organizations like Canada Post and the CBC choose not to."
Some casual diners in the post office cafeteria seemed unconcerned about the nearby smoking room. Married couple Kevin and Karen Dyck meet there twice a week for lunch. They are both non-smokers.
"I like the rule that there is no smoking in public. They (Canada Post employees) need a swipe card to get in (the smoking room), so it's not a public space," Kevin Dyck said.
"I don't smell the smoke; it's not an issue to me," said Karen Dyck.
Gibson doesn't agree that the ventilated room doesn't create a hazard to diners in the cafeteria.
"In spite of the best efforts of filtration or ventilators, it doesn't protect bystanders from the hazards of second-hand smoke," he said.
"It's time the feds acted" to ban smoking in the workplace completely, he said.
www.winnipegfreepress.com
Cars bad for health, Ontario MDs warn -ON
Thursday, January 20th, 2005
TORONTO -- Dependence on cars is so harmful to people's health it is tearing at the social fabric of the province, the Ontario College of Family Physicians warned yesterday.
A daily commute raises one's blood pressure and pollutes the air, while keeping people from their families, friends and leisure pursuits, said Janet Kasperski, chief executive officer of the professional development group for doctors, at a Toronto press conference that was ostensibly about suburban sprawl and its deleterious effects on a healthy lifestyle.
But the real bugaboo was the car, and the dependence of suburbanites on it, even for such mundane tasks as going for a carton of milk.
A report released yesterday by the college cites four dangers of uncontrolled urban growth, and only the fourth -- a lack of suburban green space appropriate for daily exercise -- had nothing to do with cars.
The other three were:
* Air pollution, which increases with more drivers on the road and is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cancer and reproductive damage.
* Fatal traffic accidents, two-thirds of which occur on highways, as opposed to urban roads.
* A host of mental health dangers, brought about by too much time in a car, and not enough time at leisure.
As Dr. Riina Bray, chair of the college's environmental health committee, put it, a daily commute from the suburbs can lead to "isolation depression, commuter stress, road rage."
The study argued the government's "greenbelt" proposal -- under which urban development would be halted on a vast swatch of land around Toronto -- ought to be extended to all Ontario urban centres.
"Once sprawl occurs, you can never go back," Bray said.
www.winnipegfreepress.com
Smoking ban enforcers raid Weyburn hotel -SK
CBC News Last Updated Jan 20 2005 03:03 PM CST
WEYBURN – In what is a first under Saskatchewan's new smoking law, a Weyburn hotel has received multiple tickets for smoking violations.
The Royal Hotel has been given six tickets, each for more than $500.
The tickets are for setting ashtrays on the tables, not having "no smoking" signs, and for allowing patrons to smoke.
Several customers have also been fined for lighting up in the hotel.
According to bar manager Denny Joyal, officials raided the hotel around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Five public health officers and three city police officers were involved, he said.
One of the public health officers blew a whistle, and started to read a statement, he said.
"It was a bit of overkill. I'm not sure why it was necessary," Joyal said.
"Perhaps they were anticipating some sort of trouble. Obviously nobody was going to give them a hard time."
Joyal said the hotel will not be paying the tickets. Instead, it will go to court over the matter sometime in February, he said.
He said the company wants the option to have a ventilated smoking room. It also believes the hotel should be on a level playing field with First Nations casinos, he said.
Under the provincial ban that went into effect Jan. 1, smoking is prohibited in all bars, restaurants and other enclosed public places.
However, the White Bear First Nation has passed its own bylaw that allows smoking at its on-reserve casino near Carlyle.
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=943
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/weyburn-smoking050120.html
Nilson responds to smoking ban setback -SK
CBC News Last Updated Jan 19 2005 04:22 PM CST
REGINA – Health Minister John Nilson says he hasn't given up on his dream to make Saskatchewan smoke free.
On Tuesday, the federal government chose not to overturn a bylaw which allows smoking on the White Bear First Nation near Carlyle.
That makes White Bear and its Bear Claw Casino the only place in Saskatchewan where patrons can legally smoke. The band's bylaw allows smoking in 40 per cent of the facility.
Off the reserve, the provincial smoking ban that came into effect on Jan. 1 is the law of the land.
The two sets of rules create an awkward situation for the provincial government.
Earlier this week, Nilson was telling the public that flagrant violation of the ban would mean fines as high as $500 for individuals and $5,000 for proprietors. He also said there could be tickets given out as early as this week.
On Wednesday, Nilson said he remains committed to the smoking ban, even if it will no longer be province-wide. He said he'll continue to hold discussions with First Nations leaders and the federal government in pursuit of a single non-smoking law.
"This is one of the most important public health laws and one of the laws that will have the greatest effect on the health of our Saskatchewan citizens," he said.
"But you have to work within the rules, you have to work within our Constitution, you have to work with all the people that are involved."
Hoteliers say it's not fair they have to obey a law that an Indian-run casino does not.
Nilson said he does not support a request from hotel owners to allow ventilated smoking rooms.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/smoking-ban050119.html
I DON'T think so much fuss should be made about smoking in this society. I think we should spend more time and money on a far more deadly disease, alcoholism. Why don't we have disgusting pictures of road carnage, flaccid penises, cirrhotic livers and shrivelled brains on alcohol bottles? Or how about the violence against family brought on by the consumption of alcohol, homelessness and the myriad of other ills?
Renate Van Dorsser
(Booze has its benefits.)
http://canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/Letters/
Used to be a great country
Fri, January 21, 2005Re: No place for tobacco (Murray Gibson Letter of the Day. Jan. 20).
The government regulates and legislates way too much already. The owners of pharmacies, or any other business for that matter, should have the right to sell anything they wish as long as it is not illegal; last time I checked tobacco is still legal. What concern is it of yours or anybody's how much the tobacco companies spent on advertising? They are a company and I am quite positive that companies advertise to sell their product.
Canada used to be considered a great country because of its rights and freedoms. Not any longer with the government and groups like yours interfering wherever they choose and much too often.
Enough already; if tobacco is about addiction, why don't you get a group going to ban VLTs and liquor? How much are these addictions costing the taxpayer? What about the government wanting to legalize marijuana? Better yet, I don't like vehicle exhaust fumes in the air that I breathe, so maybe the government should ban all vehicle use too, get with the program. If you don't smoke then don't let it be your concern!
M. Stevens
Winnipeg
(Voice in the wilderness.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
Kwong comes down on side of smoking ban -AB
Lieutenant-governor starts term by wading into contentious public debate
Larry Johnsrude and Bill Mah The Edmonton Journal Friday, January 21, 2005
EDMONTON - Newly appointed Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong waded into the contentious smoking debate Thursday, publicly disagreeing with Premier Ralph Klein's stand opposing a provincewide ban on smoking in public places and at work.
Less than an hour after officially taking over as ceremonial head of state, Kwong shunned royal protocol and made an unusual public pronouncement when he said he supports a provincewide ban on smoking.
"I hate to jump on people, the way they live their lives," the former Edmonton Eskimos football player told reporters after a ceremony installing him as Alberta's 16th lieutenant-governor.
"But if you asked me if I was in favour or not, I think I'd have to be in favour of a ban."
Representatives of the Queen are expected to avoid commenting on controversial public issues. Kwong had said he would likely be less outspoken than his predecessor, Lois Hole. But when asked for his opinions on a smoking ban, he said he felt it would deter young people from taking up the habit.
Earlier, the premier had rejected a provincewide ban as ineffective in getting people to quit or cut back.
But anti-smoking advocates say he is ignoring his own government's studies.
"One thing the research has been clear on is that when smoking bans are in effect, more people quit and those who don't quit end up smoking less," said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health.
And an official for the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, a provincial government agency, said research shows smoking bans are effective in getting smokers to kick the habit or cut down.
"The more you limit the places where people can smoke, the more quit attempts they will make," said Lloyd Carr, AADAC's senior manager for tobacco reduction. He would not comment on the apparent contradiction between AADAC's reports and Klein's comments.
"The premier said what he said, and I have nothing to add to that," said Carr.
Dr. Gerry Predy, medical health officer for Capital Health, said a provincewide ban is necessary to promote the health of non-smokers.
"In terms of preventing exposure to environmental (second-hand) tobacco smoke, particularly for people who are working in places like bars, I think it is important to have a smoking ban."
In the latest installment in a debate over banning smoking in public places, Klein said Wednesday a provincewide ban would be ineffective and bad for business. Asked to clarify his remarks, he said Thursday he believed children should be protected from second-hand smoke, but he wouldn't endorse a provincewide ban.
"Let's not be overboard on this issue," he said. "What we need to do is protect children from the influence of smoke and smoking. But at the same time, not be so disruptive to business as to harm business."
Research compiled by AADAC and other health groups, however, suggests banning smoking does encourage people to quit.
"Smokers who are employed in workplaces with smoking bans are likely to consume fewer cigarettes per day, are likely to be considering quitting and quit at a higher rate than do smokers employed in workplaces with no or weaker policies," says AADAC's Tobacco Basics Handbook, based on research from across North America and Europe.
Numerous Alberta municipalities have adopted bylaws prohibiting smoking in public places. Edmonton's ban on smoking in bars, casinos and bingo halls will take effect in July.
Health Minister Iris Evans has proposed a provincewide ban on smoking, but Klein rejected the idea. He said Wednesday that during a recent trip to Central Canada he didn't notice that people from Ontario, where there are widespread smoking bans, were any healthier than in Quebec, which has no smoking bans.
However, statistics show that 25 per cent of Quebecers over 15 years old smoke, the highest rate in Canada, compared to 20 per cent in Ontario. The rate for Alberta is also 20 per cent, the national average.
"There are more smokers in Quebec and there are more people who are unhealthy because of smoking in Quebec," said Hagen.
Ontario has banned smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants, in major cities including Toronto and Ottawa and is planning a provincewide ban in May 2006. Quebec is also considering a provincewide smoking ban, possibly as early as this fall.
Research also suggests fears by bar-owners about lost business may be unfounded. A study by the Ontario tobacco research unit at the University of Toronto found there was virtually no negative economic impact from Ottawa's smoking ban, which took effect in September 2001.
"Communities considering implementing smoke-free bylaws need not be concerned that bars and restaurants will be adversely affected," the study said.
The premier also said Wednesday people who don't want to work in a smoking environment should find another job.
Dan MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said that is unrealistic. His union pressed successfully for a ban on smoking in provincial jails after four guards brought Workers' Compensation Board claims arising from second-hand smoke.
"Correction workers were told for decades: If you don't like it, go work someplace else," said MacLennan. "But the province did the right thing there and I'm hoping they do the right thing now."
http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=c1ffd006-50f2-4917-873f-144fd3969b80
*posted comment
Editorial - Smokescreen -MB
Friday, January 21st, 2005
Manitoba retailers soon will be forced to hide cigarettes, like forbidden fruit, behind blinds or under the counter to prevent public display of tobacco products. A similar Saskatchewan law was upheld this week by the Supreme Court of Canada. The court found the provincial law did not conflict with the federal Tobacco Act, which permits the display of tobacco products in retail outlets.
There's no doubt that smoking carries health risks. The government's campaign to "de-normalize" cigarettes is aimed to help people to quit and to keep young people from picking up the habit. According to Statistics Canada last year, the number of smokers fell to 4.7 million in 2003 compared with 5.8 million nine years earlier. But teenagers, particularly girls, continued to take up the habit. This despite the many years of government anti-smoking campaigns and the increasing restrictions on tobacco advertising. The Manitoba government, like Saskatchewan, believes young people continue to get hooked because they can walk into corner stores and gas stations and see cigarettes for sale. This is theoretical and it beggars belief.
The reasons why teens, why young women take up smoking are not well known, despite all of the statistics gathered on Canadians' love affair with tobacco. Governments are quick to demonize tobacco, but it is unlikely cigarettes will be banned outright, given the hundreds of millions of dollars governments pull in each year in tobacco taxes. Manitoba expects to collect $203.7 million this year alone from its tobacco tax. It spends a tiny fraction of that on anti-smoking campaigns. Instead it will force retailers, many of them small operators, to give up lucrative advertising dollars they get from tobacco companies for displaying the product on a hope it will help cut smoking.
Manitoba should use more of the money it collects from tobacco levies to buy, with other governments, good national research on why young Canadians take up the habit and why teens who don't quit smoking. Then the anti-smoking campaigns and health information pamphlets can be targeted for greatest effect.
www.winnipegfreepress.com
Thou shalt not smoke Bibles -MB
By Kevin Rollason Friday, January 21st, 2005
THE Bible is the hottest read at Headingley jail these days.
Unfortunately, it's because the inmates are using the Good Book's pages to roll cigarettes.
Staff and clergy at Headingley Correctional Centre are trying to get prisoners to stop the practice after dozens of Bibles were defaced and destroyed by inmates who use the thin pages to roll and smoke homemade, uh, cell-made cigarettes.
Prison staff have begun to confiscate all the Bibles distributed to prisoners and are keeping track of who has them and who's defacing them.
In a letter and interview with the Free Press, Robert Mayo, a Headingley inmate, said he has been left with only his own personal Bibles he brought with him to the institution.
"They shouldn't be doing this because the Bible will show (inmates) another path instead of the one they're following now," Mayo said.
"I believe that's what society wants as well."
When contacted, Gideons' Ron Muir said he hadn't heard what the inmates were doing to the Bibles instead of reading them, but when he confirmed it was true he said he would be bringing more Bibles to Headingley.
"They've destroyed about 50 Bibles," Muir said.
"They're going to need more Bibles and I'll bring them more."
Muir said he had only heard of one other prison, in the United States, where inmates used pages from the Bible to roll smokes.
Headingley superintendent Cathy Sandney said even though the provincial institution is smoke-free, it's still hard to stop inmates from smoking.
"It's very difficult to catch them because they're very discreet," she said.
Prisoners are quite creative in an effort to light up. Sandney said inmates use a mixture of tea leaves from tea bags and Nicorette gum. The inmates boil the gum, mix it with tea leaves, dry it, and then put it in some form of rolling paper.
And Sandney vowed -- not necessarily on a Bible -- that there will be consequences to prisoners who rip out pages.
"They may have to pay for it," she said.
"We're just in the process of pulling them. Normally, there's a consequence when you destroy government property."
Mind you, these are inmates who have probably already violated other Bible commandments. Think, Thou shalt not steal.
If they've violated Thou shalt not kill, the inmate most likely wouldn't be at Headingley, which is for prisoners with sentences of less than two years of length, but at the federal Stony Mountain Institution.
At Stony, prisoners can buy and smoke cigarettes in fresh-air areas and in cells.
"Our inmates don't have to use Bibles because our inmates can smoke here -- that's the difference," said Stony spokeswoman Linda Garwood-Filbert, adding smoking is currently under a national review.
Murray Gibson, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, was shaking his head at the lengths inmates would go to satisfy their nicotine craving.
"This shows the addictive nature of smoking," Gibson said.
"A person has to want to quit before they quit. Many people just aren't there yet."
www.wiinipegfreepress.com
Holy rollers stopped
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER Fri, January 21, 2005
Used pages from Bibles to make their cigarettes
Holy smokes! Inmates at Headingley Correctional Centre have had their prison-issued Bibles confiscated because too many pages were being ripped from the books and used as rolling papers.
The jail is supposed to be smoke free.
"We're a little bit surprised (inmates) would go to such lengths to try and make a home-made cigarette," said Cathy Sandney, the jail's superintendent.
Sandney said Bibles used to be available for inmates in the living quarters of the prison -- including cell blocks, dorms and common areas. About two weeks ago the chaplains asked for the books to be removed after it was learned Bibles were being defaced and pages were going up in smoke, she said.
Inmates wanting a copy of the Good Book must now ask for it from chaplains, who assess whether the Scriptures will be read or burned, Sandney said.
Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said he finds burning Bibles offensive, but taking away the scriptures is not the answer.
Goertzen said Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh should have hired additional staff to crack down on prison puffers when Headingley and other provincial jails went smoke free in 2003.
"It's a foolish NDP government system where you can get crack pipes on the street for free if you're a cocaine addict but you can't have access to Bibles in prison anymore," Goertzen said.
SUPPORTS CRACKDOWN
Mackintosh declined to comment on the situation at Headingley, saying he was unfamiliar with what's been going on. A spokesman later said Mackintosh supports the crackdown.
The Winnipeg Sun first reported in December inmates in Manitoba's provincial jails were getting around a smoking ban by making "tobacco" from nicotine chewing-pieces and used tea leaves.
Rolling papers are fashioned from pages ripped out of Bibles, apparently because the paper is thin and burns well.
Sandney said guards have never caught an inmate puffing on a holy smoke, but defaced Bibles and a spike in tea bag sales is evidence it's happening. If an inmate is nabbed, they could be forced to pay for the book or even be charged for damaging government property, she said.
Goertzen said tougher sanctions are needed to discourage inmates from smoking.
Headingley inmate Robert Mayo said the jail's policy is an assault on his religious freedom.
Mayo, who is awaiting trail for a violent home invasion, said many prisoners are afraid to ask for copies because they will be ridiculed by other inmates. He's been lending out a personal copy.
"If you take away the written word of the Lord, where else is there to turn?" Mayo said.
Graham Stewart, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada -- a prisoners' rights group -- said it seems the provincial jail had no choice but to implement the Bible ban.
"We know chaplains have very few resources in prisons -- practically none," Stewart said. "If this was becoming a significant cost factor than they're doing what they have to do to preserve that resource."
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2005/01/21/905734-sun.html
Smoking 'gestapo' raids bar -SK
Health inspectors ticket Weyburn hotel
Veronica RhodesLeader-Post Friday, January 21, 2005
A team of health inspectors with a police escort pounced on a Weyburn bar Wednesday night, blowing a whistle and writing up tickets for the business, says the bar owner and a patron.
"This is like the Gestapo, a raid. How ridiculous is this getting?" said Rob Joyal, owner of the Royal Hotel in Weyburn.
Grant Paulson, senior public health inspector with the Sun Country Regional Health Authority, said four health inspectors entered the bar with two police officers and used a whistle to get the attention of the patrons and the staff.
Two inspectors returned to the bar Thursday at lunchtime to hand out four more tickets to smoking patrons.
All the fines were for not complying with the Tobacco Control Amendment Act, which came into effect Jan. 1 and calls for all enclosed public places to be entirely smoke-free.
Joyal received six tickets worth $540 each. He was fined for providing ashtrays, failing to post required "no smoking" signs and failing to ask patrons to stop smoking or holding lighted tobacco.
"Three of them are under my personal name then three of them, exact duplicates, are under my company name," said Joyal.
Paulson could say little about the ticketing because it is an on-going investigation, but said under the Act, both the proprietor and the business can be fined. He defended the manner inspectors used in handing out fines Wednesday night.
"We have a protocol to follow and it's a legal process. We just wanted to make sure we were following our protocol and doing things properly," said Paulson.
Weyburn Police Chief Rod Horsman confirmed uniformed officers accompanied inspectors at their request, but couldn't say how many officers were involved.
Joyal said there were three police officers and five health inspectors, with two of them coming into the bar undercover before the rest arrived 30 minutes later.
"Judging by the tickets and judging by the duplicated tickets, obviously the word from the top is, 'let's hit them, let's hit them hard, let's shut them up and put this to sleep'. I'll tell you right now, that's not going to be the case," said Joyal.
In December, the government announced a 60-day grace period, where public health officers would focus on educating businesses and individuals about the ban, rather than ticketing. But earlier this week, Health Minister John Nilson said any establishment or patron in flagrant non-compliance of the law would be fined.
Since the smoking ban came into effect, Joyal has made customers aware that he disagrees with the ban and will continue to allow patrons to smoke in the bar. Joyal contends no level playing field exists if First Nation-run casinos can allow smoking while he can't have a ventilated smoking room.
"I'm calling on smokers, non-smokers, anyone who believes in equal rights to make some noise over this, to back me up on this. Phone your MLAs. This issue has gone beyond smoking, it's more about equality now," said Joyal.
Tom Mullin, executive vice-president of the Hotels Association of Saskatchewan, said he is still hoping the province will consider rescinding the law to allow ventilated smoking rooms. The association has sent a letter to Nilson, Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline and Deputy Premier Clay Serby asking to meet with government.
"We haven't strayed from our point that the ventilated rooms will work. All we want is the option to do that," said Mullin.
Paulson said ticketing will happen whenever the offence occurs and inspectors may be putting in longer hours until the region has full compliance with the ban.
"We are very committed to this. It is really one of the most effective pieces of legislation that we will come across in our lifetime, as in our careers. I can't think of any other piece of legislation that could have a wider, more beneficial effect to the population," said Paulson.
For now, Joyal is keeping ashtrays out on the tables and will keep letting patrons smoke. He said he will fight the tickets in a Weyburn courtroom Feb. 21.
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/news/story.html?id=f014bfc4-4a92-4cd6-b9b1-aa7b41e45b69
To all you anti-smoking nazis, there are already a lot more places where I can't smoke than places I can, so if my smoking is still interfering with your carbon monoxide exhaust intake, then it's your own fault. Quit your whining and sniveling, get a life, and get off your holier than thou horse. You'll live
longer!
Robert McMechan
(High blood pressure is harmful to the health, too.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Klein's comments on the overall health of non-smoking vs. smoking jurisdictions just slays me. ("Puffing paradox," Rick Bell, Jan. 20.) Words describing his ignorance don't exist. Being a slave to tobacco clearly convolutes any form of lucid thought. Who cares about the health-care costs, ventilation systems, workplace health and safety, second-hand smoke fatalities or the worldwide movement limiting second-hand smoke. After all, Ralph and his friends are too old to change their habits. Klein decides that since he can't quit or control his addiction, others will suffer the consequences. There are no valid arguments supporting smoking in any public place including the age-old argument about declining business revenue. The fact is some but not all
businesses have a short-term drop in revenue, but not for long and in many
cases, business increases.
Wade Wayde
(Customers can vote with their wallets.)
calgarysun
http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/editorial.html#letters
Crusaders target inmates -MB
LettersSat, January 22, 2005
Smoking is the least of all dangers facing an inmate. He can be raped, wounded in a prison brawl, killed by another inmate; he can lose his wife, children and friends; even under the best of circumstances, his future is bleak.
And we want to turn this guy into a sweet, health-conscious New Ager? This is like telling a starving man to stay away from non-organically grown produce.
The anti-smoking lobby, mixing lofty ideals and authoritarian impulses, as most crusaders do, want inmates to take programs to help them break the habit. Why would a method that often fails when applied to well-adjusted citizens be successful in the tense environment of prison life?
Depriving inmates of cigarettes is an imposition of middle-class values on a population that is largely under-educated and thus, as statistics show, more likely to smoke.
Inmates are paying their dues and their cell is their home. How far can the state invade someone's privacy?
Thomas Laprade
Thunder Bay, Ont.
(Just watch 'em.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/Letters/
On smoking, premier is a dinosaur
By MINDELLE JACOBS -- For the Edmonton Sun Sat, January 22, 2005
You have to hand it to Ralph Klein. He may have taken an unconscionable position on the smoking-ban issue but at least he's honest about it.
The premier has weighed business considerations against the need to reduce tobacco consumption, and commerce won out.
"I don't want to be interventionist to the point where we disrupt and hurt businesses," Klein said this week when questioned by reporters on the subject of a provincewide smoking ban.
Klein defended his stance, saying he's not a "dinosaur" on the issue. Well, frankly, a premier who suggests that people who object to working in a smoking environment simply look for other jobs hasn't evolved very far.
He did concede, however, that he would support a smoking ban in places accessible to children. It's a step forward from his earlier position, when he appeared to flatly rule out any ban at all. And yesterday, he seemed even more malleable, saying the issue will be discussed by the Tory caucus.
Perhaps Klein felt pressured after new Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong spoke out in favour of an Alberta-wide workplace smoking ban in his first news conference.
Whatever the case, it's embarrassing when the premier spouts off on subjects with which he is clearly not familiar.
Smoking bans are "useless," he told reporters.
On the contrary, such bans mean smokers don't smoke as much, those who have quit aren't as tempted to light up and non-smokers aren't exposed to tobacco in public places.
Since Big Tobacco is doing all it can to entice people to smoke, it's the responsibility of the federal and provincial governments to retaliate by denormalizing tobacco.
Leaving it up to municipalities to decide whether to institute smoking bans is a cop-out.
More Canadians die from smoking annually (about 45,000) than from car accidents, suicide, murder, AIDS and drug abuse combined.
Dan MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, is right that a seat-belt law would have never seen the light of day in Alberta if it had been left up to local communities.
We expect decisive, responsible governance from our federal and provincial politicians on subjects of overriding importance - like tobacco reduction.
So let's get with the picture and bring in a provincewide smoking ban. The worry over lost jobs is largely a red herring. Most people don't smoke.
The ones who do can take their smelly habits outside.
And now that the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a Saskatchewan law banning the retail display of tobacco products in stores accessible to children, Alberta should follow suit with similar legislation.
This week's Supreme Court decision was a big loss for the tobacco industry. Since it's killing its current customers, it must constantly woo new ones.
Most smokers begin puffing in their teens, and you can't miss the massive displays of tobacco products in stores across the country.
"Such displays ... could be on countertops next to bubblegum or hockey cards, or could form a power wall behind the counter," noted the Canadian Cancer Society and three other intervenors in their written arguments in the court case.
In 2003, tobacco manufacturers in Canada paid stores $88 million to give cigaret Posted at 8:34 pm by looped_ca
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Things that they want us to believe
Butt-brained idea-AB
Smoking ban only first move for those who wish to control us
By Paul Jackson Calgary Sun Tue, January 18, 2005
We true conservatives find it somewhat exhilarating that Premier Ralph Klein has finally awoken from his slumbers and slapped down provincial Health Minister Iris Evans.
After sleepwalking through the past election -- and handing a stack of seats over to the Liberals -- and making a yawning speech last week in which he talked about a "third way" to reform the mess in health care -- without saying what that "third way" was -- I had again pondered whether our premier had become feeble-minded.
Then, suddenly, he seems to have a grasp of reality again.
Evans caused an uproar when she declared she intended to push for legislation this spring to ban smoking in every public place province-wide.
Since this has basically been achieved -- smoking in bars and restaurants in Calgary will be banned absolutely as of Jan. 1, 2008 -- and other cities have already either done this or have it on the books for dates in the near future, Evans' action seems pointless.
Now this is not a pro-smoking column.
Personally, the only time I smoke is at a regimental dinner when I have a fine cigar in one hand, a superb glass of port in the other, and await the coming of a sniff of snuff.
I tried smoking as a teenager -- didn't we all -- but thankfully, didn't get hooked.
When Sean Connery played a smooth James Bond, unlike his silly successors, I tried it again.
Once more, thankfully, I didn't get hooked.
But each person to their own poison.
To me, VLTs in bars are a menace.
I've never put $5 in them.
Yet, if as a conservative, you believe in an individual's right to choose, you have to allow them.
So, no, this is not a pro-smoking column, but it is a column against the tiresome meddling busybodies who would regiment every aspect of our lives: Thoughts, words and deeds.
I name two who one might regrettably say are now starting to only masquerade as true conservatives, the aforementioned Evans and Calgary Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart.
Both appear more to be CINOS (Conservatives in Name Only) who have been waylaid and duped by the Lib-Lefters.
Wake up, Iris and Diane -- and get back on the straight and narrow.
Why would Colley-Urquhart be a cheerleader for Evans when she had already won her battle on city council?
It simply doesn't make sense.
Klein, for the first time in a long time, did make sense.
He told Evans to back off.
Yet never forget this: The Lib-Left set is never satisfied.
This or that victory is never enough.
Lib-Lefters have to push on, and on, and on.
That's why the anti-smoking brigade, having already won this victory, is moving to get junk food banned, fast-food restaurants restricted, pushing a vegetarian agenda, and, in the animal rights movement, planning to forbid people to own pets. To them, owning pets is the enslavement of animals.
Just let them try and take my Shih-Tzu puppy "Muffin" away.
Now, I do not say either Evans or Colley-Urquhart belong to this bunch of fanatics, but they should be aware Lib-Lefters know how to manipulate and deal with the gullible.
By the way, Ralph, I suggest Evans may soon make you wish you had never defrocked ex-health minister -- and prominent CINO -- Gary Mar.
If Evans can go off on a tangent like this even before she has her new portfolio files in order, what will she do when she feels she has a real angle on the job?
A point Lib-Left zealots forget is a bar or a restaurant is not, in actuality, a public place.
The owner can allow you to enter, or forbid you to enter.
If you disobey his rules, he can kick you out on your rear end.
I know this because in my more raucous days, I was ejected from a bar or two myself.
When I see the Lib-Left set trying to engineer society, I always think of George Orwell's frightening novel, 1984, and wonder if, rather than seeing Winston Smith as the hero, they think Big Brother and the interrogator O'Brien are quite OK.
All who fear the regimentation of society should read 1984 -- or see one of the two movie versions of Orwell's harrowing novel of a society under absolute state control: The 1955 version with Michael Redgrave and Jan Sterling, or the "commemorative" 1984 version with John Hurt and Richard Burton.
Freedom must not slowly and insidiously be chipped away.
Either by the dictatorial types or the naive types.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Calgary/Paul_Jackson/2005/01/18/901594.html
Klein rules out province-wide smoking ban
Broadcast News January 14, 2005
MONTREAL - Premier Ralph Klein says Alberta will not have a province-wide ban on smoking.
Klein says municipalities should be free to set their own rules on smoking.
The premier's comments came during a news conference in Montreal today following an address to the city's Board of Trade.
He calls smokers -- quote -- "stupid," but says he doesn't believe it's his job to impose a smoking ban in his province.
He also says he'd prefer to see family restaurants where children dine with their parents to be smoke-free.
Earlier this week, Health Minister Iris Evans said she was going to revisit the debate that started a few years ago on a smoking ban.
The initiative was later shot down by the government caucus but Evans said she believed the caucus and premier were now more willing to take another look at regulating smoking.
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=5ac15fbe-1d76-43da-8244-f89cda4997eb
Pharmacy cig sales mixed message -MB
Tops anti-smoking group's report card
By FRANK LANDRY, LEGISLATURE REPORTER Tue, January 18, 2005
An anti-smoking group is urging the province to crack down on the sale of cigarettes in pharmacies. Dr. Mark Taylor, chairman of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA), said yesterday it sends the wrong message to allow pharmacies to sell tobacco products.
"Kids hear how dangerous tobacco is, then they go to the pharmacy to get medications to make them better and at the front of the pharmacy, in full view, are mountains of cigarettes," said Taylor, whose group yesterday released its third annual Manitoba tobacco control report card. "It's clearly a hypocritical message."
Taylor said all provinces east of Manitoba prohibit pharmacies from selling cigarettes, and we should do the same.
Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald would not commit to a ban but said she's in favour of anything that would discourage teens from trying tobacco in the first place.
"The whole issue of placement of cigarettes ... the whole issue of availability of cigarettes, all of those issues are things that I'm prepared to examine," Oswald said.
In its report card, MANTRA gave the provincial government passing marks for its Manitoba-wide smoking ban and legislation that will one day outlaw tobacco displays in retail stores where children are permitted.
FREE QUIT-SMOKING AIDS
MANTRA failed the province for continuing to allow the sale of smokes in pharmacies.
The anti-puffing group also urged the Doer government to give quit-smoking aids such as the nicotine patch free to low-income Manitobans and prohibit smoking in aboriginal casinos and gambling halls. Unlike smoke bans in other provinces, First Nations are exempt under Manitoba's Non-Smokers Health Protection Act.
Oswald said there are no plans to alter the way the smoking ban is written.
Despite his group's criticisms, Murray Gibson, MANTRA's executive director, said a national tobacco report card being released today will rank Manitoba second best only to Nunavut when it comes to cracking down on smokers.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/WinnipegSun/News/2005/01/18/901765-sun.html
Province best at butting out -MB
But, report criticizes natives exclusion from smoking laws
Tuesday, January 18th, 2005
By Mia Rabson
A coalition of Manitoba's anti-smoking activists says the province could -- and should -- have included First Nations when it banned smoking indoors in public last October.
The Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (MANTRA) kicked off national non-smoking week yesterday by releasing its annual report card on provincial tobacco control efforts.
MANTRA's report card said overall Manitoba is doing well in its efforts to reduce smoking.
In fact, a national report card to be released today will rank Manitoba first among the provinces for its efforts to curb smoking.
Overall MANTRA was pleased with the province's performance, particularly with the smoking ban, which prohibits smoking in all indoor public places, workplaces, and partially enclosed public patios.
But the group's chairman, Dr. Mark Taylor, said the failure to enforce the ban on First Nations is a black mark on the province's mostly good record.
When it introduced the smoking ban legislation, the provincial government indicated First Nations fell under federal jurisdiction and therefore could challenge the bill if it was enforced there.
But Taylor said all other provinces that have or are working on a provincewide ban included First Nations.
"It's very difficult for us to understand why Manitoba felt they did not have jurisdiction," Taylor said.
MANTRA executive director Murray Gibson said at the very least the province should refuse to grant a gaming license to First Nations casinos if the casino won't ban smoking.
"How can you license something that is an unhealthy workplace," Gibson said.
The exclusion of First Nations was a main criticism of the ban by the provincial Progressive Conservative party, the first party out of the blocks to call for a provincewide ban. Tory Leader Stuart Murray said yesterday he hopes the additional pressure may convince the NDP to expand the bill.
"I think everyone should be treated equally," Murray said.
But Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald stuck by the provincial line yesterday saying enforcing the bill on First Nations could spark a court challenge, and that wasn't something the province was willing to undergo.
"At this time we're not choosing to make any amendments to the legislation," she said.
MANTRA's report also calls for Manitoba to increase the amount of money it spends on smoking cessation programs. Gibson said Manitoba has one of the higher cigarette taxes but one of the lowest expenditures on anti-smoking programs in Canada.
Manitoba's 2004-05 budget for anti-smoking programs was equal to 58 cents per person. Gibson wants it to be at least $3 per person.
One provincial campaign, a television advertisement selected by 31,000 Grade 6 to Senior 4 students, will air in March. The graphic ad shows a teenage girl's skin rotting and tar oozing out of her mouth in an attempt to make smoking look as gross as possible.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg Free Press
Drug stores must butt out: anti-smoking group
By DIANA PEREIRA Globe and Mail Update
Western Canadian pharmacies still sell cigarettes, and an anti-smoking group in Manitoba wants that to change.
Manitoba should join eastern Canada and ban tobacco sales in pharmacies, said Murray Gibson, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance (Mantra).
According to the national report card on tobacco control, released Tuesday, most provinces still allow cigarette sales in pharmacies. Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan and the Yukon have no laws banning the practice.
In Prince Edward Island, which still allows the sale from pharmacies, a ban comes into effect on June 1.
The report was published by the National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health Program, managed by the Canadian Council for Tobacco Control.
The national report used five factors in its calculations: provincial/territorial tobacco-tax rates, percentage of smoke-free workplaces, percentage of smoke-free public places, bans on retail displays and bans on sales from pharmacies.
In the category of tax rates, the Northwest Territories ranked first, receiving a grade of A+ for its territorial tax rate of $42 per cartons of 200 cigarettes. The report states that several studies show that a 10-per-cent increase in price decreases smoking by about 4 per cent and will curb youth smoking as well. British Columbia received an A for its tax rate of $35.80.
In the category of keeping workplaces smoke free, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Yukon all failed. British Columbia, Newfoundland, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec achieved incomplete grades because they still have designated-smoking rooms in some workplaces.
When it comes to 100 per cent smoke-free public places, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Quebec and Yukon all failed. Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario and PEI received incomplete grades because of various designated-smoking rooms.
Most provinces and territories failed when it came to retail display bans, with the exception of Manitoba, Nunavut and Saskatchewan. PEI received an incomplete grade because the Supreme Court of Canada is deciding whether to move ahead on banning the ads.
The Manitoba association released its third provincial report card on tobacco control in the province on Monday.
An additional problem area identified by the Manitoba report is government support for programs and services that promote quitting smoking.
“We are encouraging the government to support cessation programs,” Mr. Gibson told globeandmail.com.
The Manitoba report also noted that 17 per cent of children in the province aged 17 and under are subjected to second-hand smoke in their homes on a regular basis.
According to Mr. Gibson, a 2004 report released by Environics Canada prepared for Health Canada that said 96 per cent of smokers surveyed said children should be protected from second-hand smoke. At the same time, 64 per cent of smokers said they smoke at home.
Mantra is planning on co-ordinating a committee to come up with recommendations to increase people's understanding of second-hand smoke.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050118.wsmoke0118/BNStory/National/
Gov't criticized for not enforcing smoking ban on reserves -MB
Broadcast News January 18, 2005
The Manitoba government is being criticised for not enforcing its provincewide smoking ban on reserves.
Dr. Mark Taylor, of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, says all other provinces that have or are working on provincewide bans included reserves.
When it introduced the legislation, the provincial government indicated First Nations fell under federal jurisdiction and therefore could challenge the bill if it was enforced on reserves.
Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald says enforcing the bill on reserves could cause a court challenge -- similar to one that is underway in New Brunswick -- and that's not something the province is willing to do.
The Manitoba government is being criticized for not enforcing its provincewide smoking ban on reserves.
Dr. Mark Taylor, of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, says all other provinces that have or are working on provincewide bans included reserves.
When it introduced the legislation, the provincial government indicated First Nations fell under federal jurisdiction and therefore could challenge the bill if it was enforced on reserves.
Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald says enforcing the bill on reserves could cause a court challenge -- similar to one that is underway in New Brunswick -- and that's not something the province is willing to do.
http://www.canada.com/fortstjohn/story.html?id=8e631e0f-c608-4ce1-a50b-eabade4d15dc
Gov't should give away nicotine patches: anti-tobacco group -MB
Broadcast News January 17, 2005
WINNIPEG -- The Manitoba government is being urged to hand out free nicotine patches to people who can't quit smoking.
A group called the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance gives the province high marks for increasing tobacco taxes and banning smoking in all indoor public places.
But the alliance says the government should be spending more of its tobacco tax money on helping smokers quit.
Spokesman Murray Gibson says free nicotine patches should be offered to people on low incomes or the mentally ill.
Gibson recommends patches should also be given to anyone employed by Manitoba Health because health-care workers set an example for everyone.
He says the province should pay the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba to offer counselling to people addicted to smoking.
The group also wants the province to enforce legislation prohibiting retail displays of tobacco products.
http://www.canada.com/fortstjohn/story.html?id=fcdadbe1-8b1a-4a1f-81dc-6779cff3a638
Evans to keep looking at smoking ban -AB
CBC News Last Updated Jan 17 2005 04:31 PM MST
EDMONTON – Health Minister Iris Evans says she will proceed carefully with her proposed province-wide smoking ban, after Premier Ralph Klein said he would never support it.
But she's getting backing from at least one cabinet colleague and the opposition.
Evans has raised the possibility of no smoking in workplaces across the province, which would essentially make restaurants and bars smoke-free.
Klein said he would never support such a ban, and that municipalities should be able to make that decision on their own.
Evans says the premier cautioned her to consult with all interested groups before moving ahead.
"I'll pay attention to that caution, where communities or neighbourhoods or individuals in communities share a different opinion, and many of those people have contacted me already, we'll see how we can look at some of the leadership in other jurisdictions and come up with the very best possible beginning of a better policy relative to smoking in public places in Alberta," she said.
Former Health minister Gary Mar, who tried to get a similar ban approved a few years ago, says Evans is doing the right thing. Mar, now minister of Community Development, says Klein has said he will respect the will of caucus, even if he doesn't agree with it.
"I think that everybody's entitled to their view and perspective, but if the Minister of Health and Wellness Iris Evans wants to bring it forward, I'll support her and I think there's many people that would support her, both within our government, but outside of government as well," Mar said.
NDP Leader Brian Mason says Klein is preventing Evans from doing her job.
"I think it would be very difficult for his Health minister to actually proceed with this approach now that he's undercut her," Mason said. "And that's really the problem, is that the premier seems to encourage his ministers to show some initiative and then when they do, he undermines them, cuts them off at the ankles and leaves them with egg on their face."
Mason said Klein's stance is contrary to his talk about creating a healthier Alberta that places fewer demands on its health-care system.
http://calgary.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/ca-evans-smoking20050117.html
Boutilier nixes provincewide smoking ban - AB
By JACQUIE MCFARLANE Today staff and The Canadian Press
Quitting smoking is the responsibility of individuals and should be handled by municipalities, said Wood Buffalo MLA Guy Boutilier, when asked about the government’s flip-flop on a province wide smoking ban last week.
He ruled out support for a provincewide ban.
“The ideal situation is as a New Year’s resolution is for people to consider giving up smoking and then what’s done by the municipality or the province doesn’t matter because everyone is working towards the goal of giving up smoking,” said Boutilier.
Putting a smoking ban in place, said Boutilier, falls under municipal jurisdiction, which is the best way to handle it.
“We’ve given municipalities that authority rather than going provincewide where one rule fits all,” said Boutilier.
Health Minister Iris Evans announced last week she was taking the first step in what she hoped will lead to a provincewide ban on smoking in the workplace. At the time Evans was optimistic, saying “I think the premier indicated he’s very willing to take another look at how we regulate smoking or restrict tobacco use in Alberta.’’
However, Ralph Klein, speaking in Montreal Friday, said his government is not looking to implement a blanket ban on butts in public places, instead leaving that decision up to individual municipalities.
Evans retreated from her stand after Klein’s remarks. It was the second time the premier has shut down a health minister’s attempt to restrict smoking provincewide.
Gary Mar broached the subject in 2001, suggesting higher cigarette taxes at that time.
Wood Buffalo Mayor Melissa Blake said dealing with an anti-smoking bylaw in the municipality was challenging when it was passed in 2000. Now she’d like to see the province take a leading role in making legislation that’s equal across Alberta.
“I think the province should take some initiative and make it a provincewide issue. It would take all of the uncertainty out of the jurisdictions that haven’t gone as far as we have,” said Blake.
Municipalities have been pushing the government for a provincewide ban, passing a resolution at their Alberta Urban Municipalities Association meetings in 2001 and 2003. Blake noted that most of the municipalities were in support of those resolutions.
Boutilier acknowledged that health was a provincial issue but wouldn’t commit to whether that made the government responsible for regulating smoking.
Sunday marked the first day of National Non-Smoking Week, Jan. 16-22. Health Canada is working with Wal-Mart stores to get out information about quitting smoking.
http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/daily/pages/news2.html
Butt out of city business: Rice -AB
Provincial legislation restricting smoking unwarranted: Alderman
By KEVIN CRUSH Herald-Tribune staff Januar
Premier Ralph Klein appears to have nixed any plans for a comprehensive provincial smoking ban for now, but the debate still burns on.
After a speech in Montreal, the premier insisted his government will not be imposing a provincewide smoking ban, preferring instead to leave it up to municipalities to decide for themselves what they want to do.
That comes the same week that Health Minister Iris Evans said she would seek some form of provincial smoking legislation and it is believed she will still be drafting legislation for a Tory policy committee.
Governments should not be butting into what should be a business decision, said Ald. Helen Rice.
"I believe that government has no business putting in place what I call oppressive legislation that inhibits businesses from operating in a manner that they feel most meets the needs of their customer," said Rice.
"Businesses, if they're going to stay in business, will meet the needs of their customers, and if they don't they won't have customers and will close, and they don't need government telling them that."
Grande Prairie's smoking bylaw allows smoking in any public place or workplace that doesn't allow entrance to minors. That allows some businesses to create walled-off smoking sections, to allow all smoking, or to be smoke-free. Since the bylaw came into place, Mayor Wayne Ayling said the city has received many requests from residents and non-residents to extend the bylaw to all public and workplaces. While he wants to see what Evans has in mind for legislation first, Ayling said provincial guidelines of any sort would be helpful.
"We welcome any initiative by the health minister to reduce the negative impact on second-hand smoke on people in the workplace or in other public places."
Ayling rejected arguments that a provincial smoking ban would hurt businesses.
"Every province or state that has imposed a jurisdiction-wide no smoking legislation has been able to show that the no-smoking legislation does not negatively impact business and does positively impact health."
The Alberta Urban Municipalities Association came out last week in support of a provincial smoking ban on the grounds that second-hand smoke is unhealthy in the working place. In 2001 and 2003, the association's members passed resolutions calling for provincial laws to prohibit or regulate smoking in the workplace.
Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Gordon Graydon hasn't made up his mind on whether he would support a smoking ban or not as he believes both sides have valid points.
"I'm kind of torn. I hear from constituents on certainly both sides of the issue," said Graydon.
"As the former chair of the South Peace Health Unit, I'm very conscious of the health costs of smoking, so with my health hat on I'm in favour of a provincewide ban. But generally I don't like the government to interfere in every single aspect of my life. You can have too much government."
The biggest problem in Alberta right now is the patchwork of municipal policies on smoking. Without any provincial guidelines, towns and cities have had to deal with smoking in their own way - if they deal with it at all. That can cause confusion from one place to the next.
"As a smoker, I guess you need to know what community you are in today and what are the rules today, which isn't good," said Graydon. "Uniformity across the province would solve that."
But Rice says uniformity can't exist from municipality to municipality on any matter.
"There's a patchwork of bylaws in terms of snow removal standards, and dog control bylaws. Each municipality has different ones of those things because they're different places," said Rice.
"It's absurd to think that everyone should have the same bylaws. I mean, people move from Edmonton to Grande Prairie fully recognizing there will be different rules and different ways."
Rice suggested a better option is for the province to force all municipalities to draft smoking legislation and then let them deal with the issue as they see fit, something Graydon said could be an option.
The Peace Country Health medical officer of health would welcome a provincial smoking ban.
"If we can get all workplaces - that's all office buildings, that's all restaurants, all bars, all schools, everywhere... We'll do whatever we can do as Peace Country Health to support the province in going in that direction, because it's been long overdue we think," said Dr. Albert de Villiers.
He said the province is lacking when compared to other provinces who have instituted smoking bans. Similar smoking bans are in effect in New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and are pending in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/Z03_00asmoking0117.lasso
Smoke from a distant fire
Mixed messages out of Edmonton on provincial smoking ban
The very contentious issue of smoking bans and how far they should reach is gearing up again, thanks to conflicting commentary out of the Klein government last week.
Pro-smoking-ban proponents were happy to hear Health Minister Iris Evans suggest that a province wide ban of smoking in the workplace was a very real possibility.
The announcement was met by optimism from the anti-smoking lobby; disappointment and disdain from the laissez faire and pro- smoking-choice camp.
However, Premier Klein seemed to pooh-pooh the whole notion with comments late last week, saying the government would not be implementing such a wide-reaching ban. His justification was that community dynamics are so different across the province, it was not right for Big Brother government to impose operational restrictions on municipalities, rather, if the municipalities chose to do so – fine.
Blue Tory Ralph Klein has found an unlikely local ally in Red Liberal Helen Rice – longtime city alderman and manager of the DownTown Association.
First, Rice is a longtime smoker – that’s no secret.
But her tack on the issue comes from a business perspective, arguably in support of businesses involved in her workings with the association.
Rice, like Klein, believes that businesses can make and/or break their own fortunes without the help of the provincial government.
With respect to the premier, one wonders how much of his decision on the issue is politically motivated and how much is simply buck passing.
While the message of government keeping its fingers out of the day to day operations of Alberta’s small businesses resonates with many in the province, the health issue surround smoking and its societal costs continues to bear pressure.
Many governments in Canada - provincially - have adopted restrictive smoking legislation – the latest being Saskatchewan.
And if a case study in socio-economic integration of policy and practice needs a model, Lloydminster is a good one as Saskatchewan businesses complain they are losing their business to the Alberta side where smoking is still allowed.
This game of political ping pong can continue ad nauseum.
What is required is the courage of leadership and a direct attempt to solicit the views of Albertans – including Grande Prairians – on how restrictive or widespread they want smoking bans to be.
Medical evidence speaks for itself on smoking and its effects. It’s a no-brainer.
What is at issue is freedom of choice and individual rights. Should society have the right to prevent a person from smoking themselves to an early grave? It seems to have made it clear second-hand smoke is unacceptable and now most places in Canada where minors can be do not allow smoking. But how far do we go?
Governments – both provincial and municipal – have a duty to find out what their constituents want and then have the courage to implement that wish and then damn the torpedoes.
It’s as simple as that.
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/1editorial1.lasso
Bylaw prediction comes true for local bar-SK
Just as predicted by management, business is suffering badly at one local bar ever since the smoking ban came into effect on January 1.
By Colin McGarrigle of the Journal
Tuesday January 11, 2005
Just as predicted by management, business is suffering badly at one local bar ever since the smoking ban came into effect on January 1.
Waneta Goldstein, manager of Chances R Motor Hotel said that her bottom line has taken a drastic and sudden drop now that previously loyal customers are spending more time at home.
"Business is very noticeably down. In such a short time, that's very scary," said Goldstein.
"They (customers) pop in quick, have a beer and leave. They're not sitting for two, three, four beer, or for the evening any more," said Goldstein on the pattern she has seen since Jan. 1.
"If they smoke, they go outside. But most of the time they just guzzle a beer and leave," she added.
In December, Goldstein was forced to lay off two bar staff because of her prediction that her business would take a turn for the worst with the smoking ban.
She added that they are enforcing the smoking ban at Chances R even though many bars in the province have been allowing their customers to smoke since the government announced there would be a two-month transition period.
However, Health Minister John Nilson clarified his position last week on the transition period and stated that bars would be ticketed if they do not enforce the smoking ban.
"During this initial 60-day period, we want to give everyone the opportunity to comply. This period does not mean, however, that smoking in public places can continue until March 1, 2005," said Nilson.
"If, after information, education and verbal or written warning, establishments or individuals remain in flagrant non-compliance they may well face tickets or charges," Nilson added.
Goldstein said that even though there are no tickets being handed out, she fears that non-compliance over the two-month period could hurt her chances of renewing her liquor license.
"They won't ticket us or the patrons for the two months, but they will write us up and send it off to the Liquor Control Board.
"Then it could be held against you when your liquor license has to be renewed," said Goldstein on the chance she is not willing to take. http://www.melfortjournal.com/story.php?id=136983
Smoking ban stays at psych facilities -ON
MARY-JANE EGAN, Free Press City Hall Reporter 2005-01-18
A bid to allow smoking in psychiatric facilities gained sympathy but insufficient support at a city committee last night. Kathleen Gillard made an emotional pitch to the community and protection services committee to exempt psychiatric facilities from the no-smoking bylaw, arguing the ban discriminates against the mentally ill who can't deal with the stress of nicotine withdrawal while trying to cope with their illnesses.
Most mental illness patients smoke, Gillard said. And her sister, Janet, who suffers from schizophrenia, has escaped needed care at London psychiatric facilities when she's been allowed out of lockdown to smoke outside.
"Who is going to pay for the two police officers who are called when my sister goes AWOL? This is her home. Why shouldn't she be able to smoke in her home?" she said of her sister's stints at St. Joseph's Regional Health Care's former London Psychiatric Hospital.
When London's smoking ban went into effect in 2003, a one-year moratorium was placed on psychiatric facilities because nicotine withdrawal can affect patients' medical regimen.
Coun. Joni Baechler said although she understands Gillard's concerns, the bylaw is designed to protect workers from second-hand smoke.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/01/18/901716-sun.html
Ottawa allows smoking at White Bear casino -SK
CBC News Last Updated Jan 18 2005 01:56 PM CST
REGINA – There are now officially two sets of laws when it comes to where people can smoke in Saskatchewan.
On Tuesday, the federal government decided it wouldn't block a First Nations bylaw which allows smoking areas in the Bear Claw casino at White Bear First Nation near Carlyle.
It's a significant setback for the Saskatchewan government, which has been trying to impose a province-wide smoking ban in all enclosed public places, including bars, restaurants and casinos.
Maynard Sonntag, Saskatchewan's Minister of First Nations and Metis Relations said he is hopeful that he can still reach some kind of deal with aboriginal leaders.
Sonntag said the province is willing to be flexible on other rights for aboriginal people, if the two sides can reach an agreement on the smoking issue.
"The discussions I've been having is essentially to determine whether or not there is room for movement from the FSIN (Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations) and from the chief to determine whether or not they're interested in trying to advance the causes of inherent rights with the province," Sonntag said.
Sonntag would not be more specific about which rights the province is willing to negotiate on with aboriginal people. He said if he gave details, he might jeopardize the talks.
Last week, federal Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott said he'd need some time to think about whether or not to approve the White Bear smoking bylaw.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/casino050118.html
New calls to fast-track Calgary smoking bylaw -AB
CFCN.ca POSTED AT 5:21 PM Monday, January 17
Some Calgary aldermen say they will try to push city council to move up the public ban on smoking.
The ban is set to go in effect in all public places in 2008.
But anti-smoking activists say three years is too long to wait.
They pushing council to re-open the debate and speed up the implementation of the bylaw.
Ward 13 alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart agrees the ban should be brought in sooner.
"Now is the time," she says. "All of the research tells us that we have a responsibility to ensure the public health of the citizens of Calgary."
Colley-Urquhart says she will wait until after the Ward 10 by-election in February before bringing up the smoking bylaw again.
http://www.cfcn.ca/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/B/20050117/smokingbylaw?brand=generic&hub=&tf=CFCNPlus/generic/hubs/frontpage.html&cf=CFCNPlus/gene
ric/hubs/frontpage.cfg&slug=smokingbylaw&date=20050117&archive=CFCNPlus&ad_page_name=&nav=home&subnav=fullstory
Dr. Albert Schumacher, CMA President, speaks out on pivotal tobacco case before the Supreme Court of Canada
MEDIA ALERT - Attention Assignment Editors:
OTTAWA, Jan. 18 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is proud that during National Non-Smoking Week a critical tobacco court case will be heard by the Supreme Court. The case involves the tobacco industry's challenge of Saskatchewan's ban on tobacco displays in premises accessible by minors.
The Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Lung Association, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society have made a written submission to the Court in support of the ban. The case will be heard January 19 - Weedless Wednesday.
CMA President, Dr. Albert Schumacher will be available by phone to discuss the importance of the case.
For further information: Carole Lavigne, (613) 731-8610 or 1-800-663-7336 ext. 1266
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/18/c4178.html
Understanding tobacco -ON
By PETER SELBY
head of the Nicotine Dependence Clinic Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto
Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - Page A18
Toronto -- Re No Smoking Ban Planned In Alberta, Klein Says (Jan. 15): I was alarmed by Alberta Premier Ralph Klein's conclusion that smokers are stupid. It's disconcerting that there continues to be a serious lack of understanding of Canada's No. 1 public health problem.
Like other addictions, the drive to smoke can be too powerful for a person to resist. In fact, 50 to 60 per cent of smoking behaviour is genetically determined. The addiction to tobacco is a real disease, classified as such by the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association.
Just like any other chronic disease, tobacco dependence has biological, social and environmental determinants characterized by remission (stopping) and relapse (starting again). Many smokers relapse because their brains have been seriously affected by tobacco, and studies show that these abnormalities can persist for years after a smoker stops. We know that comprehensive strategies, including smoke-free environments, help smokers quit for good.
Mr. Klein should consider educating himself about how he could help Albertans by realizing that quitting smoking is a process and not an event.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050118/LETTERS18-6/TPNational/Canada
Ontario tobacco taxes rise by $1.25 a carton at midnight -ON
Canadian Press
Toronto — Smokers in Ontario will have to pay $1.25 more per carton as of midnight Tuesday as the provincial Liberal government raises tobacco taxes for the third time since coming to office.
“With this increase, Ontario comes one step closer to its plan to raise tobacco taxes to the national average,” Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said Tuesday.
The current national average is about $30 in provincial tobacco taxes. This increase boosts Ontario to $23.45, a spokeswoman for Mr. Sorbara said.
Since the Liberals were elected in October 2003, they have raised provincial tobacco taxes by $6.25, including this increase.
Mr. Sorbara said this move “is part of our comprehensive strategy to eliminate tobacco consumption, especially among young people.”
The higher tax means the cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes will rise by about 13 cents and a pack of 25 cigarettes will be up by about 16 cents.
Mr. Sorbara said this is part of the province's Smoke-Free Ontario campaign, which aims to reduce the number of smokers in the province and ties in with National Non-Smoking Week.
“Smoking is the No. 1 preventable cause of premature death and illness in Ontario, and it costs an estimated $1.7-billion a year in health-care spending to treat diseases directly caused by tobacco,” Mr. Sorbara said.
When the Liberals came into office they boosted provincial tobacco taxes by $2.50 a carton as part of other tax hikes, then raised them by $2.50 in last May's budget.
As part of its efforts to curtail smoking, the government has also introduced legislation to ban smoking in all workplaces and all public places, and aims to prevent young people from picking up the habit.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050118.wonta0118/BNStory/National
Promise of help for tobacco farmers unfulfilled, marketing board chairman says -ON
Fred Neukamm appears before the Ontario Legislature’s standing committee of finance and economic affairs
By Patrick Brennan Times-Journal Staff Tuesday January 18, 2005
LONDON, Ont. -- Fred Neukamm is a man running short on patience.
The chairman of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board appeared Monday before the Ontario Legislature’s standing committee of finance and economic affairs and pleaded the case for the government to live up to its promises.
“We need a fulfillment of the promise for immediate assistance,” Neukamm said. That promise was made by the Liberals as they campaigned in the provincial election.
“As of yet, we’ve not seen that promise fulfilled,” Neukamm said outside the room at the Four Points Sheraton where the committee heard him and a long list of groups appearing to make their point before the budget is handed down.
Neukamm said the tobacco growers are looking for assurances from the provincial government on whether they are prepared to sustain the tobacco industry as long there is consumption.
If the answer to that is issue is yes, Neukamm said long-term strategies are needed.
“Right now, we are in crisis management,” he said, referring to the tobacco board which represents 1,000 farm families, many of them in east Elgin, the Tillsonburg area, and Norfolk county.
If the government does not want to support sustainability, there is a need for more money to address growers’ needs, said Neukamm.
“We need immediate help right now because policies have driven the market down faster than any decline in consumption,” he said.
High taxes are only one issue, he said. That is having the net effect of forcing smokers to look for black market cigarettes.
Cigarette manufacturers, in turn, are looking to import cheap tobacco to keep their costs down and protect their share of the market, Neukamm said.
Overall, he said, compound problems are forcing about 100 growers out of business a year.
Neukamm said growers know the industry is in decline because of fewer smokers and need government help to manage a drop in consumption.
He said he took advantage of the opportunity to address the committee because of the issues are much broader than the provincial agriculture portfolio.
“Every opportunity we have to talk about this, we will take,” he said.
http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/story.php?id=137975
Scott will accept smoking bylaw for First Nations casino: report SK
Broadcast News January 18, 2005
REGINA -- A media report says the federal Indian Affairs minister will not intervene in a bylaw that allows smoking at a First Nations casino in southeastern Saskatchewan, despite a province-wide ban on smoking in public places.
The report on CBC says minister Andy Scott told his Saskatchewan counterpart of his decision last night.
The province outlawed smoking in all enclosed public places on Jan. 1, but aboriginal leaders argued that the law doesn't apply on their land.
The White Bear First Nation passed the bylaw last month that allows smoking in its Bear Claw casino and bingo halls on the reserve near Carlyle.
Under the Indian Act, if a band has a bylaw that conflicts with provincial legislation, the bylaw prevails unless the federal minister objects.
Saskatchewan's aboriginal affairs minister, Maynard Sonntag had asked Scott to quash the bylaw.
Sonntag says he'll continue pressing to get the same set of rules for all businesses in the province.
He also says he will continue to talk to First Nations officials in an effort to reach an agreement on the smoking issue.
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/news/story.html?id=c72f4e1b-04cf-44fa-8f82-1d805b4132f6
Supreme court to hear Sask tobacco law case -SK
Dan Dugas Canadian Press January 18, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) -- As Canadians mark Weedless Wednesday, the country's highest court will be the scene of a high-stakes tobacco showdown.
Supreme Court justices will hear arguments on a Saskatchewan law barring cigarette promotional displays in stores accessible by children.
The Saskatchewan law was struck down by a lower court as butting into federal jurisdiction -- a ruling that could eventually quash similar laws in other provinces -- and the provincial government is appealing.
The federal government, six provinces, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Society, the Canadian Medical Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada are intervenors.
On the other side of the argument is Rothmans, Benson and Hedges Inc.
The company will argue that Saskatchewan cannot enact legislation that goes further than the federal Tobacco Control Act, which already places severe restrictions on cigarette advertising.
Health groups say it's a pivotal case.
"Obviously, (the industry is) looking at any argument it can to strike down legislation that's having an impact on its sales and profits,'' said lawyer Rob Cunningham of the cancer society.
"Ultimately, what's driving the decision making at Rothmans, Benson and Hedges is its desire to maximize profits and sales.''
Health groups estimate the tobacco industry paid $90 million to retailers in Canada in 2003 for promotional displays as a marketing tool to boost sales.
They say young people should not be exposed to displays of addictive and potentially lethal tobacco products.
"Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable lung disease and the leading cause of preventable death in Canada,'' said Deirdre Freiheit, president of the Canadian Lung Association.
"Retail displays have been used by the tobacco industry to target and manipulate youth. We must protect Canadians, especially our children, from inducements to consume this deadly product.''
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled in 2003 that the ban on retail displays was in conflict with the federal Tobacco Act.
Manitoba and Nunavut have adopted legislation similar to that in Saskatchewan and Ontario introduced anti-tobacco legislation late last year that would, among other things, curb displays of cigarettes in stores.
Sally Brown of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada said it's critical to uphold the Saskatchewan legislation because of its affect on other provinces.
On Tuesday, Ontario hiked tobacco taxes by $1.25 a carton -- the third increase since the Liberals took office in 2003.
Finance Minister Greg Sorbara said the move "is part of our comprehensive strategy to eliminate tobacco consumption, especially among young people.''
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/news/story.html?id=4b8d7a94-ebe3-4b72-9dfa-577935ee7970
Posted at 4:40 pm by looped_ca
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
What was spread in the press
Butt out, Ralphie -AB
For Klein to lecture Albertans on health is bizarre
By Ezra Levant -- Calgary Sun Mon, January 17, 2005
Premier Ralph Klein had said he wanted to put up billboards saying "if you're stupid, smoke".
Did he mean that only stupid people smoke? Surely not. Because he smokes himself. And Klein isn't stupid. Many intelligent people smoke. Einstein was a chimney.
So maybe Klein meant that while stupid people smoke, some smart people, like himself, smoke too, for reasons that are stupid. Perhaps there are some stupid reasons to smoke. But how about the main reason people smoke? They like the taste, and the unique feeling that nicotine gives its users: Simultaneous relaxation and stimulation.
Liking that sensation isn't stupid, even though it may be unhealthy. The premier and his health minister, Iris Evans, are both overweight, too.
That's just as unhealthy as smoking -- but is it stupid? Would Klein and Evans put up billboards saying: "If you're stupid, eat dessert?" Everyone who smokes knows it may be unhealthy, just as anyone does who eats hollandaise sauce or cheesecake. But we don't call that stupid. We call that a personal choice, because enjoying life is a part of living. At least it still is, for now.
Perhaps by stupid, Klein and Evans mean that smoking costs the government money in health care.
Could be -- but smokers more than make up for it through high taxes and, frankly, by dying a few years earlier than the rest of us. Which means they take less pension money. It's a ghoulish calculation, but if cost to the taxpayer is a reason not to be "stupid," then dying the day one stops working is the new definition of "smart".
Smokers know smoking may not be healthy. They do it anyway, because it's a free country. For the government to tax, and condemn, and regulate, and ban, and eventually criminalize smoking is the government's way of saying that you no longer own your body -- they do.
Klein changed his mind on banning smoking province-wide late Friday and one has to wonder who or what got to him. Perhaps common sense. Maybe his hypocrisy, since obviously he and Evans can't govern their own appetites, yet wanted to govern yours.
But how about those other unhealthy appetites? Klein has admitted to a problem with alcohol. Evans, before she was elected to public office, had a habit that could only be described as bizarre -- her "occupation" was entering contests and draws. I don't know if that's a gambling addiction, but it's odd. Yet these two were ready to cast the first stone at tobacco sinners.
They failed, of course. People don't smoke because Klein and Evans, or the government, approve or disapprove. They didn't start because of Klein's bad example, and they won't stop because he's now holier than them.
It's another sign of Klein's drift. There are real problems out there -- a socialist health-care system, a renewed Kyoto threat, Ottawa disparaging our elected senators, an energy tax grab against Newfoundland that looks like a dry run for a swipe at Alberta. But instead of dealing with any of these real issues, Klein and his red Tories are focusing their laws and our tax dollars on being busybodies, nannies and nags.
Sorry. Free men wouldn't listen to such preaching even from a lean, fit abstainer. Coming from Klein and Evans, a mixture of curses and jeers is in order.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Calgary/Ezra_Levant/2005/01/16/900586.html
Attention News/Health/Environmental/Assignment Editors:
Media Advisory - Rising Health Risks Linked to Urban Sprawl: Family Doctors to Release Comprehensive Research Review
On Wednesday, join us for the results of a comprehensive review of research on the links between urban sprawl and public health
TORONTO, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - On Wednesday, January 19th, the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) will release an exhaustive review of research on the relationship between urban sprawl and public health. A group of distinguished family doctors authored the study in order to provide policy makers with the clearest research summary on the topic of urban sprawl and public health - critical for planning our communities - and to help educate Ontarians about the choices we make as a society.
The results of this review cover selected studies and describe the findings regarding major adverse health effects associated with urban sprawl.
Come to find out more about the study's findings, which include:
- Longer commuting distances mean increased traffic fatalities (one of our populations leading causes of death);
- Greater travel distances lead to increased air pollution, which is worsening in Ontario and contributing to rising incidences of respiratory and cardiovascular disease;
- Sprawl makes public transit less financially feasible;
- People in car-dependent neighbourhoods walk less, weigh more, have higher blood pressure, and more incidences of diabetes and cardiovascular disease; and,
- People in sprawling communities are more likely to suffer mental health problems.
Who: Jan Kasperski, RN, MHSc, CHE, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, OCFP; Riina Bray, BASc, MSc, MD, CCFP, Physician - Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Chair OCFP's Environmental Health Committee; Cathy Vakil, MD, CCFP, Lecturer - Queen's University, Member OCFP's Environmental Health Committee.
When: Wednesday, January 19, 2005- 11 a.m.
Where: Media Studio
Queen's Park, Main Legislature Building
Toronto, ON
For further information: Mike Van Soelen, Environics Communications, (416) 969-2717
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c3498.html
Attention Business Editors:
Consumers' Association Launches Class Action Lawsuit Against Beverage Industry, Retailers and Encorp Pacific
VANCOUVER, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - The Consumers' Association of Canada today announced that on behalf of all consumers in British Columbia it has filed a major class action lawsuit against the beverage industry, retailers and Encorp Pacific. The focus of the lawsuit is the illegal use of consumer deposits collected under BC's Beverage Container Stewardship Program Regulation.
Dozens of companies such as Coca-Cola Bottling, Save-On Foods, Wal-Mart and London Drugs are named in the lawsuit. Encorp Pacific is the beverage
container agency, the authorized steward approved by the BC Government under the regulation.
"The BC beverage container regulation is very clear," said Mr. Bruce Cran, President of the Consumers' Association of Canada, "deposits collected from consumers can only be used for one purpose - paying refunds to consumers when containers are returned. Since 1998 the industry has collected and used over $70 million in consumer deposits for purposes that are not authorized under the regulation."
For example, consumer deposits were used to pay damages awarded as a result of a lawsuit against the beverage container agency for improper conduct in the operation of its stewardship plan.
When the Beverage Container legislation was introduced the Government made clear that this legislation was based on an industry stewardship model reflecting the polluter pay principle. "At the time beverage containers were filling up landfills and costing municipalities millions of dollars each year to manage," said Mr. Cran.
"The purpose of the legislation was to have industry assume responsibility for its polluting product by putting into place a recycling system and paying the costs of this system," said Mr. Cran. "The consumers' role was to pay the deposit, incur the costs of returning the container and then obtain a refund when the container was returned. To date, consumers have carried out their responsibility to a high level and recycling is a major success in the province."
Not only did the beverage industry use consumer deposits for purposes not authorized by the regulation they also imposed an additional unauthorised recycling fee on top of the deposit. Since 1999 the beverage industry has collected about $60 million from its Container Recycling Fee without having any legislative authority for this levy. "Simply stated, it's an illegal fee," said Mr. Cran.
"The industry shifted all its polluter pay costs onto the backs of consumers and did so without any legislative authority," said Mr. Cran. "It's time the industry started paying its fair share of the costs for managing its product."
For further information: Contact Mr. Bruce Cran, Tel. (604) 418-8359
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c3388.html
Attention News/Health Editors:
Media Advisory - National Health Organizations Participating in Pivotal Tobacco Court Case This Week
Young People Should Not Be Exposed to Tobacco Promotion
OTTAWA, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - The Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Lung Association, Canadian Medical Association and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada will be contributing to the fight against tobacco on
Wednesday, January 19 through their participation in a pivotal tobacco court case being heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Supreme Court will be considering the validity of Saskatchewan legislation prohibiting tobacco displays and signage in premises accessible to minors. The four national health organizations have intervener status in the case. The groups have submitted their written argument to the Supreme Court in support of the Saskatchewan legislation. The health groups believe that young people should not be exposed to promotional displays of tobacco products as these products are addictive and lethal.
"The tobacco industry is fighting the Saskatchewan legislation to protect their sales and profits," says Rob Cunningham, lawyer for the Canadian Cancer Society. "The tobacco industry spends the largest portion of its marketing budget on point of purchase promotion of tobacco products. In 2002, the industry spent $77 million across Canada in payments to retailers."
In March 2002, Saskatchewan legislation came into force to ban tobacco displays in premises accessible by minors. In an effort to strike down this legislation, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges filed a constitutional challenge with the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench. In September 2002, this Court upheld the legislation, but a year later this decision was overturned on appeal. In October 2003, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that the ban on retail displays was in conflict with the federal Tobacco Act and, as a result, was inoperative. The Saskatchewan government appealed the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. Manitoba and Nunavut have adopted legislation similar to that in Saskatchewan. In addition, Ontario introduced anti-tobacco legislation in December that would, among other things, curb displays of cigarettes in stores.
"Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable lung disease and the leading cause of preventable death in Canada," says Deirdre Freiheit, President and CEO of the Canadian Lung Association. "Retail displays have been used by the tobacco industry to target and manipulate youth. We must protect Canadians, especially our children, from inducements to consume this deadly product."
"We know that the point of advertising is to increase consumption of products, and tobacco is no exception," says Sally Brown, CEO, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. "This is why it is so critical to uphold Saskatchewan's attempts to ban the retail promotion of tobacco. Thislegislation will make a difference and will keep our children from being exposed to promotions of a harmful product."
"Canada's doctors are involved because tobacco kills our patients," says Dr. Albert Schumacher, President, Canadian Medical Association. "Initiatives restricting the promotion of tobacco products to our kids are critical to ensure they are not seduced into this life-threatening addiction."
January 16 to 22 is National Non-Smoking Week; Wednesday, January 19 is Weedless Wednesday.
The hearing, which starts at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 19, will take place at:
The Supreme Court of Canada
301 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
The four national health groups are entitled to submit written argument (but not oral argument) to the Supreme Court. To view the written submission of the four health groups to the Supreme Court of Canada go to www.cancer.ca. Six provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) and the federal government have also intervened in support of the Saskatchewan legislation.
The Canadian Cancer Society is a national community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is to eradicate cancer and to enhance the quality of life of people living with cancer. When you want to know more about cancer, visit our website at www.cancer.ca or call our toll-free, bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.
The Lung Association is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lung health of Canadians through research, prevention and education. With a focus on the prevention and control of lung diseases such as asthma and COPD, The Lung Association also offers help in the area of smoking prevention, cessation and air quality. The Lung Association offers a toll-free line at 1-888-566-5864 (LUNG) and our website at www.lung.ca.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (www.heartandstroke.ca) is a leading funder of heart and stroke research in Canada. Our mission is to improve the health of Canadians by preventing and reducing disability and death from heart disease and stroke through research, health promotion and advocacy.
The Canadian Medical Association is the national voice of physicians in Canada. Representing 59,000 physicians across the country, the CMA's mission is to serve and unite the physicians of Canada and be the national advocate, in partnership with the people of Canada for the highest standards of health and health care.
For further information: Canadian Cancer Society, Rob Cunningham, (613) 565-2522, ext. 305; Canadian Lung Association, Mary-Pat Shaw, Director,
National Programs and Administration, (613) 569-6411, ext. 227; Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Heather Rourke, Communications, (613) 569-4361, ext. 318, hrourke@hsf.ca; Canadian Medical Association, Carole Lavigne, Manager, Media Relations, (613) 731-8610/1, 1-800-663-7336, ext. 1266
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c2668.html
Attention News/Health Editors:
Doctors and dentists team up against tobacco
HALIFAX, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - Health-care providers are continuing to line up against tobacco use. Nova Scotia's doctors and dentists, who see the effects of smoking on their patients every day, have joined forces to talk to their patients about the health impacts of tobacco.
"Talking about smoking is the first step on the road to quitting," said Dr. Maria Alexiadis, President of Doctors Nova Scotia. "We want to open the dialogue between us, the health-care providers, and our patients."
Opening that dialogue is easier with a new Why You Want to Quit Smoking information card produced jointly by the Nova Scotia Dental Association and Doctors Nova Scotia.
"Tobacco cessation is an important initiative for dentistry," said Dr. Heather Carr, a practicing dentist and Tobacco Cessation Representative for the dental association. "From periodontal disease to oral cancer, tobacco frequently causes significant damage in a person's mouth." Statistics show that smokers are between four to 15 times more likely to contract oral cancer.
Why You Want to Quit Smoking is being distributed to physician and dental offices across Nova Scotia during National Non-Smoking Week, Jan. 16 to 22. The information is also available on the Doctors Nova Scotia website,www.doctorsNS.com. This tool represents the latest in a series of cooperative
tobacco-cessation initiatives between the two organizations.
The information card is aimed at making smokers think about their own personal reasons to quit smoking to help them see how they could benefit from
quitting.
"Together, the membership of our two organizations reaches the majority of Nova Scotians at some point during the year," said Dr. Alexiadis, "and its important that we use that opportunity to help our patients who smoke realize how their habit is affecting their health."
Doctors Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Dental Association want to ensure all Nova Scotians know there is support for anyone who is thinking about quitting smoking. "Talking with a health-care provider about your reasons to quit," said Dr. Alexiadis, "is an excellent way to start."
FOR BROADCAST USE:
Doctors and dentists across Nova Scotia have teamed up against tobacco use.
Doctors Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Dental Association have jointly produced a new information card, Why you want to quit smoking. This tool is aimed at opening dialogue between patients and their health-care providers. The province's doctors and dentists want Nova Scotians to know there is
support for tobacco users who want to quit. Talking with a health-care provider is an excellent way to start.
Doctors Nova Scotia is the professional association that represents over 3,000 physicians, medical students and residents in the province of Nova Scotia. The association works in partnership with other health-care organizations to enhance the quality of medical care for Nova Scotians. This is achieved through health promotion, development of health-care policies, peer review, medical education and negotiations with government on behalf of physicians.
The Nova Scotia Dental Association is the professional membership organization representing this province's 460+ dentists. The Association is engaged in member advocacy, the advancement of the profession of dentistry and the promotion of the benefits of good oral health to all Nova Scotians. Dentistry's award-winning children's web site, www.healthyteeth.org, features tobacco cessation information aimed at the province's school children.
For further information: Karla Gimby, Health Promotions/Issues Coordinator, Doctors Nova Scotia, (902) 468-1866 ext. 239,
karla.gimby@doctorsns.com; Steve Jennex, APR, Communications Director, Nova
Scotia Dental Association, (902) 420-0088, nsda@hfx.eastlink.ca
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c2675.html
Attention News/Health Editors:
Canadian Cancer Society urges the BC Government to Support Smoke-free Legislation
VANCOUVER, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - The Canadian Cancer Society believes that the British Columbia government must make curbing tobacco a priority. Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in Canada. More than 47,000 Canadians, including 5,600 British Columbians, die each year from tobacco related illness, including lung cancer, throat and oral cancer, heart disease, stroke, and emphysema. Further, each year more than 500 British Columbians die from exposure to second-hand smoke. Cigarette smoking is responsible for 30% of all cancer deaths and more than 85% of lung cancers.
"Given these sobering statistics, it is startling that British Columbia's existing second-hand smoke regulation allows smoking in enclosed rooms in restaurants and bars," said Barbara Kaminsky, CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division. The regulation, which states that rooms must be separately ventilated and workers can not spend more than 20% of their shift in these rooms, is more cosmetic than real. There is little enforcement of the law and businesses are not held accountable. Research has shown that the designated smoking rooms do not protect workers and patrons to the dangerous effects of second-hand smoke. Something must be done about this. The Canadian Cancer Society, BC and Yukon Division, believes that the government of British Columbia must enact legislation that would restrict smoking in all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
In Canada, British Columbia was once a leader in tobacco control. Today, six provinces (Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland) and two territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut) have adopted or announced 100% smoke-free legislation. Several US States (California, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island) have already implemented smoking bans in restaurants and bars. Internationally, in 2004, Ireland, Norway, and New Zealand all implemented nation-wide smoke-free legislation. If Ireland, with its pub culture, can ban smoking in all bars, British Columbia can certainly do the same.
"Strong non-smoking legislation protects workers and patrons from the dangerous effects of second-hand smoke," said Kaminsky. "Further, non-smoking legislation helps smokers to quit or smoke less, thus reducing smoking rates. The Canadian Cancer Society would like you to take steps to tell government
that British Columbians want smoke-free public places."
The BC government's own Tobacco Control Strategy makes no commitment towards announcing or adopting province-wide smoke-free legislation. In November 2004, the Select Standing Committee on Health issued a report entitled, The Path to Health and Wellness: Making British Columbians Healthier
by 2010. While the report contained many good recommendations to government, it fell short of recommending a province-wide smoking ban.
The Canadian Cancer Society knows first hand the harm and devastation tobacco related disease can cause, and is committed to curbing the tobacco epidemic. National Non-Smoking Week is the perfect time for you to call on your government to protect the health of all BC workers. Let your voices be heard. This election year, ask your MLA his or her position on smoking bans in public places and workplaces. Ask candidates from other parties where they
stand on the issue. Together, we must let the government of British Columbia know that it needs to act now, to protect all BC workers from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, and to showcase a smoke-free BC at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. In 2004, 8,500 British Columbians were expected to die from cancer. Imagine if this number were reduced by 30%!
For further information: Heather Lochner, Communications Manager, Canadian Cancer Society, (604) 675-7340, hlochner@bc.cancer.ca
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c3344.html
Attention News/Health Editors:
Blood test could pave way for better use of promising cancer treatment, new Canadian Cancer Society research shows
Canadian anti-angiogenesis expert leads exciting new study
TORONTO, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - Canadian Cancer Society researcher Dr. Robert Kerbel has new evidence that a blood test could provide doctors with the first effective way to evaluate a promising experimental cancer therapy in patients. Dr. Kerbel's findings are published in the January 17, 2005 issue of Cancer
Cell.
"Anti-angiogenesis is an exciting treatment concept, but a major hurdle to its success in clinical development has been the lack of a valid tool to measure its effectiveness in patients," says Dr. Kerbel, a scientist at Sunnybrook & Women's Research Institute and the University of Toronto.
"Our research has found that a blood test that measures levels of certain cells circulating in the blood stream is a strikingly accurate way to monitor anti-angiogenic treatments. Moving forward, we now may have a better way to reliably determine optimal dosing for patients, which could be the key piece of the puzzle for bringing anti-angiogenic treatments into standard use."
Dr. Kerbel is recognized internationally for his pioneering work in the field of anti-angiogenic therapy. This treatment approach - currently being tested on patients in many clinical trials, including trials in Canada - works by interfering with tumour angiogenesis, the process whereby tumours form new blood vessels. By blocking a tumour's access to blood vessels, this treatment aims to starve the cancer of the oxygen and nutrients in its blood supply, slowing its growth and perhaps even causing it to wither away.
Canadian Cancer Society research spokesperson, Dr. Michael Wosnick, says, "This research is a true made-in-Canada success story. Anti-angiogenic therapy is a prime example of Canadian research helping lead the way towards more selective cancer treatments that target biological processes associated with tumour development and minimize side effects for patients.
"Anti-angiogenic treatments hold great promise for patients with cancers including prostate, colorectal, lung and breast cancer. With further research in this area, we may see an exciting improvement in the outlook for many of these patients worldwide," adds Dr. Wosnick, who is executive director of the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the research partner of the Canadian Cancer Society.
In this study, Dr. Kerbel and his research team - including lead author Yuval Shaked, a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Kerbel's lab - used a number of mice models to investigate properties of certain blood vessel cells circulating in the blood stream. Their findings show that the levels of these circulating cells correspond remarkably well with new blood vessel formation in tumours as well as blood vessel response to anti-angiogenic therapy.
More importantly, treatment with anti-angiogenic drugs caused a dose-dependant reduction in the circulating cells that precisely parallel the anti-tumour activity established in animal models of these drugs. The researchers suggest the blood test could therefore be a way to better determine the optimal dosage of anti-angiogenic therapies for patients.
One of Canada's foremost cancer researchers, Dr. Kerbel is highly regarded for discoveries that are helping to improve cancer therapies and the lives of cancer patients. He is this year's recipient of the Robert L. Noble Prize, the most prestigious research award sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society for outstanding achievements in cancer research. His research, and in particular his development of anti-angiogenic therapy, has been supported with funds from the Canadian Cancer Society throughout his career.
The Canadian Cancer Society is a national community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is to eradicate cancer and to enhance the quality of life of people living with cancer. When you want to know more about cancer, visit our website at www.cancer.ca or call our toll-free, bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.
For further information: contact: Carmen Kinniburgh, Communications, Canadian Cancer Society, (416) 934-5684; Fiona Taylor, Public Affairs, Sunnybrook & Women's Research Institute, (416) 480-4040
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c3345.html
Stores want in on booze action
By Chen Chekki - The Chronicle-Journal
January 17, 2005
A handful of grocery stores and convenience stores around Thunder Bay are generally mixed about the idea of being allowed to sell wine and beer in their stores.
Ontario is reviewing Ontario’s liquor laws that have not been changed in about 80 years and several top cabinet ministers in the Liberal government, according to a Toronto Star report, think that letting corner stores sell wine and beer is not such a bad idea.
And neither does the co-owner of Northwood Foods.
“Ontario is the only place in the world where you can’t get beer in a grocery store,” said Jim Morancy, co-owner of the grocery at 425 Edward St. N. “For some reason, Ontario has stricter controls.”
His enthusiasm is shared by Lynn Tapak, owner of Tapak’s Grocery at 601 McTavish St.
“I think it’s a really good idea,” she said.
Selling wine and beer could help offset any revenue losses from a provincial plan that could see countertop cigarette displays eliminated, she said.
A part-owner of Westfort Foods at 111 Frederica St. E. is also warm to the idea of selling wine and beer.
Rob Van Dyk said he would be interested in getting involved with wine and beer sales as long as there was proper staff training for handling it and to get age identification from customers buying it.
Others stores in the city, however, appear to be sitting on the fence.
Quality Market grocery stores had no comment and the owner of Renco Foods said he needed more information before he could decide whether it would be a good idea.
“If it’s done right, there would be no problem with it,” Naz Larizza said.
Roy Semeniuk, owner of Shop and Snack Confectionery at 2247 Isabella St., said he is opposed to the idea because he is worried about wine and beer serving as another temptation for would-be robbers and leading to a rise in the rate of break-ins.
“You don’t need them in the corner stores,” he said.
Victoria Park Variety owner Def Kargatzis said she isn’t sure if it would be the right or wrong thing to do.
“I don’t know how that would work out at a corner store,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Liberal MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North said it is important to note that nobody is making any official recommendations for corner stores to be allowed to sell wine and beer just yet.
Michael Gravelle said the four-person panel that will report back to Finance Minister Greg Sorbara in the spring may or may not recommend it. The privatization of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario has already been ruled out, Gravelle added.
If wine and beer is recommended to be sold in corner stores, however, Gravelle said he wouldn’t have any huge problems with it, as long as strict controls are put in place.
“I am one of those people who tends to think it’s not a bad idea,” he said. “We are a modern society.”
He said he wants strong regulations in place to keep young people from accessing wine and beer if it is allowed to be sold in a corner store.
Ontario’s New Democratic Leader Howard Hampton said the idea is another way for the McGuinty government to get some “quick money.”
Bill Mauro, Liberal MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, was unavailable for comment.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/story.shtml?id=25351
Editorial: Get serious on Kyoto -ON
Jan. 17, 2005. 01:00 AM
When Ottawa and the provinces finally got serious about getting Canadians to butt out, they augmented their television and newspaper ads telling us that smoking is bad for our health with regulatory and tax changes that were far more effective in getting people to quit.
Bans on smoking in public places, stiff penalties for retailers who sell tobacco to minors, and a big increase in cigarette taxes accomplished far more than gratuitous advice.
As a result, smoking across Canada is on the decline.
Now Ottawa wants us to curb another bad habit, our wasteful use of energy, which is contributing to climate change. Canada's obligations under the Kyoto agreement call for us to cut our emissions of greenhouse gases by 240 million tonnes over the next seven years.
But just as it did with smoking, the federal government started out taking the easy road. They did it by encouraging business and consumers alike to reduce their energy usage because it is the right thing to do.
Everyone has seen Rick Mercer on TV asking Canadians to take "the one-tonne challenge" — to take public transit, buy energy efficient appliances, turn down the thermostat, do the things we already know we ought to do, but don't.
Like smokers, we are all creatures of habit, and habits are hard to break.
And so, as with smoking, Ottawa has come to the realization that if it doesn't introduce carrots and sticks that push us to change our behaviour, we will continue to let our cars, appliances, homes, offices and factories just keep on smoking, as it were.
As part of the budget preparations currently underway, Ottawa is reportedly considering billions of dollars in new spending on inducements to encourage Canadians to reduce their emissions. Under discussion are a wide range of incentives to help consumers make the switch to energy-efficient appliances, hybrid cars, solar power and other environmentally friendly technologies as well as tax credits for businesses that reduce their energy use.
The degree to which such measures survive the finance minister's axe will provide the clearest signal yet as to how serious the government is about meeting its commitments under the Kyoto accord.
If Ottawa is serious, it should also consider big-picture initiatives that could pay substantial dividends, including major investments in big-city transit and in a national power grid to move clean renewable energy from Manitoba, Quebec and Labrador to areas of the country that currently rely on coal.
The Kyoto agreement comes into force on Feb. 16. With the clock starting to tick on that day, Ottawa must move beyond jawboning, and get on with a serious action plan.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=110574377123
8&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795
Saginaw native creates a less stinky cigarette
SAGINAW, Mich. Is there a way to make cigarettes less smelly and annoying?
Yes, says a Saginaw native at the helm of a small independent cigarette company.
John Czerewko is vice president of E Tobacco. The lifelong smoker was recruited about two years ago to bring his new cigarettes to market.
Because smokers' bodies are depleted of vitamin E by their habit, Russo invented and patented a tobacco blend and chemical process that allows smokers to absorb the nutrient as they puff.
Besides the benefits of vitamin E, Czerewko said, the additive in E Cigarettes produces several beneficial side effects. But he concedes smoking is still a dangerous habit.
He says noticeable effects include reductions in both lingering smoky odor and throat irritation.
The cigarettes, manufactured in South Boston, Virginia, are available at several locations throughout Michigan.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2819389
Senate Republicans Planning to Unveil Health Plan -KS
Senate Republican leaders are planning to unveil their health care plan. They have a news conference scheduled Tuesday morning in the Senate chamber at 9:30 a.m.
Details are not being released yet, but Majority Leader Derek Schmidt of Independence said the plan will address health care and prescription drug costs.
The effort is being led by Senator Jim Barnett. The Emporia physician is chairman of the Public Health Committee.
Governor Sebelius, a Democrat, outlined a proposed $50 million health package in November, designed to extend state or private health coverage to as many as 100,000 uninsured Kansans.
Her plan would be financed mainly by increasing the state cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack to $1.29.
http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/1356626.html
Damp and mould in homes causes asthma
Posted By: News-Medical in Medical Research News Published: Monday, 17-Jan-2005
Researchers at the University of Birmingham's Institute for Occupational and Environmental Medicine are citing damp and mould in homes as a cause of asthma. The study is published in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal and links the University of Birmingham with the University of Helsinki, Finland and the Diwan College, Taiwan.
The 6 year study followed 1,984 Finnish children aged 1 to 7 years to see if they developed asthma. Researchers recorded if a child's parents had asthma or allergies, and looked at the condition of their houses, noting histories of water damage, presence of moisture and visible moulds, and perceived mould odour in the home. A total of 138 children developed asthma, 7.2% of the study, with mould cited as a contributing factor independent of parents' medical histories.
Professor Jouni Jaakkola, Director of the University of Birmingham's Institute for Occupational and Environmental Medicine explains: "These finding strengthen evidence that exposure to moulds increases the risk of developing asthma in childhood. They also show the importance of heredity - children of parents with asthma have a two-fold risk of asthma compared with children of non-asthmatic parents".
He adds: "The results of this study are of interest in every country where housing stock is prone to damp, and add to previous studies linking asthma with chemicals and cigarette smoke. Simple ways to protect children against developing asthma include keeping damp and mould at bay, exposing children to fresh air, and never letting them breathe second hand cigarette smoke".
The University of Birmingham started to work in this area 70 years ago with the establishment of the Department of Industrial Hygiene and Medicine, and has changed emphasis along with changes in working life from the industrial revolution to today's mobile and dynamic workplace. As we are interested in the how the environment as a whole affects human health there is now more synergy between occupational and environmental health in research and teaching.
A recent study led by Prof Jouni Jaakkola identified jobs that put people at higher risk of developing adult asthma. Asthma risk was increased consistently in heavy industries such as chemical, rubber and plastic, and wood and paper. More nonindustrial employees such as waiters, laboratory technicians and dentists are also at risk. This study was the first to identify an increased risk of asthma among waiters and waitresses, likely to be explained by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.
National Asthma Campaign statistics state that over 5.1 million people in the UK have asthma -around 1 in 13 adults.
http://www.bham.ac.uk
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=7326
Konkona's cigarette creates a problem By Vickey Lalwani ©2005 Bollyvista.com 
Did you know that director Manu Rewal's 'Chai Pani Etc' met with stiff resistance from the unpredictable Censor Board?
The censors objected to a scene showing Konkona Sen Sharma smoking a cigarette. Thereafter, the film got stuck for seven months! The director was keen on entering the competition section of the International Film Festival in Goa. By then, the cut-off date for entering the film had elapsed. Strange, hot smooching and lovemaking scenes are allowed to go by but just one cigarette isn’t!!!
http://www.bollyvista.com/article/a/32/4026
*goa is the festival in India
LEARY LOVES GOLDEN GLOBES FREEBIES -CA
Comedian DENIS (corr) LEARY was delighted when he was nominated for a GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD because he loves stealing items from backstage at prizegivings.
The funnyman, who was nominated as a Best Actor in a TV Drama Series for his part in firefighter series RESCUE ME, admits he grabs all the freebies he's offered, and then some.
He said, "I'm thinking about grabbing some free stuff and stealing ashtrays.
"They give celebrities all this free stuff but, here's the thing, in the rooms where you go to get the free stuff there's stuff that's not free that you can stick in the bags; they'll never notice.
"Plus, you're a celebrity; they're not gonna stop you... I take everything that's not bolted down."
Leary also hinted before last night's (16JAN05) ceremony that he might steal someone else's award - if he doesn't get one.
He added, "In that room, when you go to sneak a smoke with those other guys... there's gotta be a table full of those things.
"My award is up early and if I lose I go out, smoke a cigarette, fling - I got a Golden Globe. Three years from now no one's gonna remember."
17/01/2005 04:49
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/leary%20l
oves%20golden%20globes%20freebies
* held Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills the great nonsmoking state.
Blood test could pave way for better use of promising cancer treatment, new Canadian Cancer Society research shows
Canadian anti-angiogenesis expert leads exciting new study
TORONTO, Jan. 17 /CNW/ - Canadian Cancer Society researcher Dr. Robert Kerbel has new evidence that a blood test could provide doctors with the first effective way to evaluate a promising experimental cancer therapy in patients. Dr. Kerbel's findings are published in the January 17, 2005 issue of Cancer
Cell.
"Anti-angiogenesis is an exciting treatment concept, but a major hurdle to its success in clinical development has been the lack of a valid tool to measure its effectiveness in patients," says Dr. Kerbel, a scientist at Sunnybrook & Women's Research Institute and the University of Toronto.
"Our research has found that a blood test that measures levels of certain cells circulating in the blood stream is a strikingly accurate way to monitor anti-angiogenic treatments. Moving forward, we now may have a better way to reliably determine optimal dosing for patients, which could be the key piece of the puzzle for bringing anti-angiogenic treatments into standard use."
Dr. Kerbel is recognized internationally for his pioneering work in the field of anti-angiogenic therapy. This treatment approach - currently being tested on patients in many clinical trials, including trials in Canada - works by interfering with tumour angiogenesis, the process whereby tumours form new blood vessels. By blocking a tumour's access to blood vessels, this treatment aims to starve the cancer of the oxygen and nutrients in its blood supply, slowing its growth and perhaps even causing it to wither away.
Canadian Cancer Society research spokesperson, Dr. Michael Wosnick, says, "This research is a true made-in-Canada success story. Anti-angiogenic therapy is a prime example of Canadian research helping lead the way towards more selective cancer treatments that target biological processes associated with tumour development and minimize side effects for patients.
"Anti-angiogenic treatments hold great promise for patients with cancers including prostate, colorectal, lung and breast cancer. With further research in this area, we may see an exciting improvement in the outlook for many of these patients worldwide," adds Dr. Wosnick, who is executive director of the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the research partner of the Canadian Cancer Society.
In this study, Dr. Kerbel and his research team - including lead author Yuval Shaked, a post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Kerbel's lab - used a number of mice models to investigate properties of certain blood vessel cells circulating in the blood stream. Their findings show that the levels of these circulating cells correspond remarkably well with new blood vessel formation in tumours as well as blood vessel response to anti-angiogenic therapy.
More importantly, treatment with anti-angiogenic drugs caused a dose-dependant reduction in the circulating cells that precisely parallel the anti-tumour activity established in animal models of these drugs. The researchers suggest the blood test could therefore be a way to better determine the optimal dosage of anti-angiogenic therapies for patients.
One of Canada's foremost cancer researchers, Dr. Kerbel is highly regarded for discoveries that are helping to improve cancer therapies and the lives of cancer patients. He is this year's recipient of the Robert L. Noble Prize, the most prestigious research award sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society for outstanding achievements in cancer research. His research, and in particular his development of anti-angiogenic therapy, has been supported with funds from the Canadian Cancer Society throughout his career.
The Canadian Cancer Society is a national community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is to eradicate cancer and to enhance the quality of life of people living with cancer. When you want to know more about cancer, visit our website at www.cancer.ca or call our toll-free, bilingual Cancer Information Service at 1 888 939-3333.
For further information: contact: Carmen Kinniburgh, Communications, Canadian Cancer Society, (416) 934-5684; Fiona Taylor, Public Affairs, Sunnybrook & Women's Research Institute, (416) 480-4040
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/17/c3345.html
Posted at 5:45 pm by looped_ca
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