Tobacco laws unconstitutional, Que. court hears
Canadian Press
MONTREAL— A federal law that bans tobacco sponsorship, restricts advertising and requires large warnings on cigarette packs is unconstitutional, lawyers for Canada's three largest tobacco companies argued Monday.
Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp. began five days of hearings on an appeal of a Quebec Superior Court decision upholding the 1997 federal Tobacco Act.
The companies argued the law which prohibits lifestyle advertising effectively constitutes a total ban on advertising, something the Supreme Court of Canada ruled was unconstitutional in 1995.
The industry isn't asking for "unlimited freedom of advertising of tobacco products,'' lawyer Simon Potter said outside the courtroom.
"But there should be a small window, there should be some possibility for Canadians to receive advertising about products that they have a right to buy,'' said Potter, who's representing Imperial Tobacco.
The companies said a 2002 Quebec Superior Court ruling upholding the federal law failed to address several key constitutional issues and contained numerous factual errors.
The federal government, the Canadian Cancer Society and anti-tobacco advocates said they'll argue the law is constitutionally valid.
"The law permits informative advertising and brand preference, and that's the question that the court will have to answer,'' said government lawyer Claude Joyal.
Rob Cunningham, lawyer for the cancer society, said while the restrictions on advertising and promotion infringe on freedom of expression, they're justified as a reasonable limit under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
"We believe that these laws are essential to protect public health in Canada, to reduce smoking among adults and among children,'' said Cunningham.
"And it's working.''
The youth smoking rate at 18 per cent is the lowest ever recorded. Smoking among adults has decreased to 21 per cent, compared with 30 per cent before these laws were enforced, he said.
Global efforts since Canada's law was enacted shows it's not out of step with the rest of the world, added Cunningham.
"There are many countries that have laws stronger than Canada and even more will join that category.''
Since May 2003, 168 countries have signed a World Health Organization agreement that once enacted would set international standards on tobacco price, tax increases, advertising, sponsorship, labelling and second-hand smoke.
The European Union, Thailand, Japan, Mexico and Australia are among 36 countries that have ratified the framework agreement that includes requirements for picture-based package warning.
Canada has not ratified the agreement that takes effect once 40 countries have ratified it. However, Canada requires that warnings such as pictures of diseased lungs occupy half the space on cigarette packages.
Australia requires 60 per cent of the package to contain warnings. Belgium's ratio is 56 per cent.
The Quebec Court of Appeal can only review evidence and pleadings introduced to the lower court prior to its ruling in 2002.
Despite the changes since then, Canada remains the most highly regulated countries in the world on tobacco advertising, said Christina Dona, an Imperial Canada spokeswoman.
"We still don't feel that the World Health Organization is talking about infringing rights, they're just calling for restrictions on advertising that we fully agree with,'' she said.
"We're just looking for a law that will allow us in some way to communicate with adult consumers in a way that is deemed appropriate.'
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1101765563257_11/?hub=Canada
Manitoba bar owners want province's help with economic fallout of smoking ban
Steve Lambert Monday, November 29, 2004
WINNIPEG (CP) -- Manitoba bar owners want more help to deal with the economic fallout of the province's new smoking ban, but the government said Monday it has already done what it can.
"I think we've done lots," Industry Minister Jim Rondeau said.
"We've put what we can right now on the table. And what we want to do is listen to see how the businesses can adapt."
The anti-smoking law took effect Oct. 1 and bans puffing in all enclosed public places expect for native reserves and areas under federal jurisdiction. Bar owners say they have lost business since the law came in.
The Manitoba Hotel Association, which represents hundreds of bars across the province, has been pushing for changes that could allow its members to take in more money.
One idea is to allow beverage rooms, which are currently not permitted to allow minors, to open for family-friendly community events off-hours.
Another proposal would see cold beer stores located in hotels no longer barred from selling non-beer products.
"For example, the vodka coolers, we aren't able to sell them," said association president Jim Baker. "They're only available at the government stores, so we would like to have them too."
But Rondeau said the government has already taken several steps such as allowing bars to operate video lottery terminals on Sundays. The government has also allowed bars to offer more types of gaming -- all in an attempt to attract customers.
The government is seeing its own revenues shrink because of the smoking ban. Revenues at its two casinos in Winnipeg dropped by about 20 per cent in the months after the city enacted a municipal smoking bylaw last year.
Still, Rondeau is predicting a turnaround for both provincial and business coffers.
"All jurisdictions that have gone non-smoking, have within a very short period of time exceeded previous (sales).
"If you look at the stats in California, if you look at the stats in other places that have gone non-smoking, over the years the retail has increased."
About 45 rural bar owners have banded together to try to overturn the smoking ban. They have raised tens of thousands of dollars for court battles.
"(The government) is grossly interfering with people's businesses," said spokesman Gary Desrosiers.
"We're also looking at the inequality under the law between us and the native reserves. We have properties that are literally two or three miles from big bingo halls and gambling houses . . . where the customers can still go and smoke. And that's where they're going."
A handful of charges have already been laid under the smoking law. One restaurant owner was due in court Tuesday in Selkirk, north of Winnipeg, while the case of a Treherne hotelier has been postponed to Dec. 13.
Robert Jenkinson, owner Creekside Hideaway, was in Portage la Prairie court Monday to face 13 charges of violating the anti-smoking law. He was the first business owner charged under the new law.
Saskatchewan hotel owners are also worried about what will happen when that province's anti-smoking law takes effect Jan. 1
The Hotels Association of Saskatchewan met with three provincial cabinet ministers Monday to talk about the provincewide ban.
But Health Minister John Nilson said the government is not considering the association's idea of designated smoking rooms.
"The law is clear that it doesn't have a provision that would allow for designated smoking rooms," Nilson said.
http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=e8078353-2b76-40ec-a248-f759198a1d44
High Doses of Beta Carotene Pose Lingering Threats
By Kathleen Doheny HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDayNews) -- Twenty years ago, high doses of beta carotene were thought to have cancer-preventing power, and two large clinical trials were launched to determine if it might reduce lung cancer among cigarette smokers.
But the disease-fighting properties of beta carotene, a carotenoid which the body converts into vitamin A, fell far short, the studies found. One trial was even halted before its scheduled end because of the adverse effects of high doses of beta carotene supplement: it appeared to raise the risk of lung cancer, as well as death from heart disease and other causes.
Now, it appears that some of the adverse effects of high beta carotene doses can persist for women in particular, according to a study in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
For the new study, researchers followed up with the participants in one of the trials -- the Beta-Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) for six years after it ended in 1996.
They found the increased risk of death from heart disease disappeared quickly after the participants -- all smokers or former smokers or persons with a history of asbestos exposure -- stopped taking the supplements. However, the incidence of lung cancer and deaths from all causes decreased but didn't disappear. And former smokers and women had higher risk of lung cancer than did others in the study.
"CARET stopped a year and a half early," said Mark D. Thornquist, a biostatistician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, and a co-author of the new study. "Those who got the beta carotene [supplementation] had a higher incidence of lung cancer and overall mortality."
During the CARET study, the participants who took the supplement had a 28 percent greater incidence of lung cancer and 17 percent more deaths from all causes compared with those who didn't take the beta carotene. In the study, the beta carotene dose given was 30 milligrams a day, combined with 25,000 international units of retinyl palmitate, also thought to be a cancer fighter.
Thornquist and his colleagues followed the CARET trial participants to find out if the adverse effects of beta carotene went away as soon as people stopped taking the supplement.
The participants were contacted annually to update information on lung cancer and other health data, he said.
During this follow-up phase, women who took beta carotene were 1.3 times likelier to develop lung cancer than women who were on a placebo. They were also 1.4 times likelier to die of heart disease and 1.3 times likelier to die from all other causes.
"For men, the results of the vitamin went away within a year or so," Thornquist said. "In women, the effect appeared to be persistent."
Exactly why isn't known, he said, adding, "Men and women may have different abilities to repair DNA damage."
Hormonal differences may mean men and women metabolize beta carotene differently, he said. "Beta carotene tends to be stored in body fat, and women tend to have more body fat," he noted.
The results of the new study aren't surprising, said Anna Duffield-Lillico, an assistant attending epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, who co-authored an editorial accompanying the study. The fact that the risk of lung cancer and death was still elevated after use of the supplement was stopped "provides confirmation of the adverse effects of beta carotene supplements on lung cancer incidence in smokers."
High levels of beta carotene and exposure to cigarette smoke have proven a dangerous combination in animal studies, she said, leading to the rapid development of precancerous lesions.
The best advice, Duffield-Lillico and Thornquist agreed, is to avoid high doses of beta carotene. The CARET study's 30 milligrams a day is "about 10 times what you would get from a typical daily vitamin supplement," Thornquist said.
"We have no evidence that [the amount of beta carotene in] a typical multivitamin would be harmful," Thornquist added.
Beta carotene is found naturally in carrots, spinach and other dark-green leafy vegetables, broccoli and winter squash.
More information
To learn more about beta carotene, visit the National Library of Medicine
http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/11/30/hscout522623.html
Farmers await word on tobacco payments -KY
Companies say buyout ends deal
By Marcus Green The Courier-Journal
Tobacco farmers are awaiting an announcement from the U.S. Agriculture Department that could help decide whether they will get one last payment from the 1998 settlement between states and cigarette makers.
At stake in the decision, which could come today, is $128 million for Kentucky growers. The payments from the Master Settlement Agreement are to end once the tobacco buyout takes effect.
Shelbyville, Ky., farmer Paul Hornback expects his 2004 check to exceed $30,000 — money he plans to plow into his 90-acre tobacco operation. He said other farmers are counting on the money as well.
"I think it's very significant because growers have already budgeted for that money coming in," Hornback said.
But the tobacco companies have challenged the payments in a North Carolina court, claiming that the congressional buyout became effective this year and therefore nullifies their remaining 2004 payments. They also are asking for a refund of millions of dollars already made to the trust fund established for the payments, called Phase II.
QUICK TAKE
Last we knew
A North Carolina judge said he expects to rule Dec. 20 on whether tobacco companies must make another payment to tobacco farmers as part of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement called Phase II.
The latest
Growers could know today whether U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman has notified cigarette makers that they must make their first payment under the tobacco buyout, a possible indicator as to when Phase II ends and the buyout begins.
Why it's news
Many Kentucky growers stand to gain about $128 million in 2004 Phase II payments and many already have budgeted the money.
For more info
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Cigarette makers are responsible for funding the buyout, which President Bush signed into law as part of a sweeping corporate tax bill in October. The buyout will give growers $10.1 billion over the next decade to quit raising leaf, switch to new crops or exit the business.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman must give the tobacco companies at least 30 days' notice before the first buyout assessment is due. If Veneman has notified the companies by today that their first assessment must be paid by Dec. 31, that likely would bolster their case that the buyout becomes effective this year.
Attorney General Greg Stumbo's office believes that if the assessment notice isn't issued by today, the court will rule that the companies need to make their fourth-quarter Phase II payments and are not entitled to a refund for previous payments.
"We're really hopeful, of course, that that assessment is not issued until some later time," said Pierce Whites, Kentucky's deputy attorney general.
If the companies are "successful in arguing that this goes into effect in 2004, they're going to seek a refund of their first three quarters' payments — and that's going to be an additional $320 million."
The growers' trust allows the companies to reduce their payments if a change in the law leads to new taxes or assessments by the government. The companies say the buyout triggered that provision and gives them an immediate right to begin lowering payments.
It's possible that so-called Phase I payments — money from cigarette makers used to fund Kentucky's agricultural diversification efforts — could be shifted to cover the lost Phase II money if the companies' challenge succeeds.
Kentucky law requires Phase I money to be used to supplement Phase II funds should they fall below $114 million a year. But Kara Keeton, spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Agricultural Policy, said legislators could amend the law in an effort to avoid depleting Phase I funds.
"The legislature has the ability during the (upcoming legislative) session to go back in and change the language if they so choose," Keeton said. "Otherwise, there is a potential that the Phase I money would have to be used to cover the Phase II payments for 2004."
Further straining the situation for Kentucky farmers is a freeze on Phase II payments while the North Carolina court considers the companies' request for a refund. The tobacco companies must inform the court on Thursday whether Veneman issues the first buyout assessment by today.
Judge Ben Tennille has set a hearing for Dec. 20, when he is expected to rule whether the buyout signed into law Oct. 22 became effective this year. Keeton said the governor's office expects the companies to appeal any ruling in favor of the tobacco states, possibly delaying the payments to farmers even more.
The governor's office, which oversees Kentucky's share of the tobacco-settlement money, believes Congress meant for the end of the Phase II payments to coincide with the start of the buyout.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and nine other senators told Veneman in a letter last week that it was not the intent of Congress for the buyout to disrupt the 2004 Phase II payments. The letter maintained that passage of the buyout does not let the companies off the hook.
The Kentucky Farm Bureau also has petitioned the North Carolina court to keep the payments in place.
"To eliminate or diminish that cash flow at this point would be seriously disruptive in Kentucky's many tobacco-dependent communities," wrote Sam Moore, the farm bureau president, in a letter to the court.
Indiana farmers also would be impacted.
"We're dependent on it quite a bit to make some of our year-end payments," said Kim Imel, a Madison, Ind., grower. "... It's going to be sort of tough. None of us were expecting to lose some of our settlement money because of the buyout."
http://www.courier-journal.com/business/news2004/12/01/D1-tobacco01-7109.html
Study: Teens smoking fewer cigarettes, more marijuana -OR
PENDLETON, Ore. - Teenagers in Eastern Oregon are smoking fewer cigarettes but using slightly more marijuana than their peers statewide, according to a new study.
The annual Oregon Healthy Teens Survey is a voluntary, anonymous survey given to 11th-graders throughout Oregon to help school districts identify health and safety habits.
Students are asked questions about tobacco, alcohol and drug use, their mental health, sexual activity and how safe they feel in their communities and schools.
The survey results were from students in Pendleton and Hermiston. Milton-Freewater and Morrow County also participated in the survey but have not yet received results.
Across the state, more than 10,000 11th-graders from 203 schools participated in the survey for the 2003-2004 school year. Eighth-graders also participated at some schools.
Overall, Hermiston High School students reported using drugs, alcohol and tobacco at about the same frequency as their peers across the state.
"The good news is we're about at the state average," said Principal Sean Gallagher. "The bad news is we're not farther below."
Although cigarette use was 5.3 percent below the state average of 16.8 percent, Hermiston juniors reported drinking 1.2 percent more than the state average of 45.1 percent.
Likewise, 2 percent more of Hermiston students reported using marijuana during the previous 30 days than the statewide average of 19.6 percent.
At Pendleton High School, almost 30 percent of 11th-graders reported using marijuana or hashish within the last 30 days, compared to 27.5 percent in last year's survey.
"I think for our community and our school, marijuana use is on our radar as a problem," said Roger Stueckle, director of elementary education for the school district.
But Pendleton officials saw improvement in most areas, particularly for harassment.
"We have really had our major focus on harassment and bullying," Stueckle said. "We hope that will continue to go down."
Under 10 percent of the 164 Pendleton High School students surveyed reported being harassed about their weight, clothes, acne or other physical characteristics, down nearly 4 percent from last year.
At Hermiston High School, students were slightly more prone to feel sexually harassed or intimidated based on sexual orientation compared to teens across the state, but less so based on race or physical characteristics, like acne, clothes and weight.
As younger students have been raised to be more comfortable with their sexuality, many gay students are not hiding their preferences as in the past, Gallagher said, which might be a reflection of the higher number of students reporting harassment.
"People are being forced to deal with it," he said. Alcohol use was Gallagher's main concern, noting that about 46 percent of students said they drank in the past month.
There were 83 boys and 65 girls among the 148 Hermiston students surveyed. The school has about 1,300 students.
http://www.katu.com/health/story.asp?ID=73051
Survey Shows Teens' Attempted-Suicide Rate Is Soaring -CA
San Diego Average is 10.9 Percent
POSTED: 2:20 pm PST November 30, 2004
UPDATED: 2:33 pm PST November 30, 2004
About one in 10 San Diego high school students attempted suicide last year, a rate that is higher than the national average and up from the previous year, according to a survey of 1,800 students.
Read the Reporthttp://www2.sdcounty.ca.gov/hhsa/ServiceDetails.asp?ServiceID=583
The annual survey reports on youth and families for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
It found the number of reported suicide attempts among ninth- through 12th-graders was 10.9 percent, compared with 10.5 percent the previous year. The county ranked above the national average of 8.5 percent.
The question posed to students on the survey was, "Are you reporting an attempted suicide in the last year?" In the last year there has not been a single reported suicide among San Diego Unified School District students, according to school officials.
The report also found that pregnancy among girls 15 to 17 years old has declined.
Hispanic girls accounted for nearly 42 percent of all teens who got pregnant, significantly more than any other ethnic group.
Cigarette smoking and alcohol use among high school students decreased slightly to an average of about 11 percent. The number of youths who reported smoking marijuana stayed about the same at 13 percent, but has dropped nearly 4 percentage points among 11th-graders since 1999.
About 16.5 percent of children in the county live in poverty, compared with 19 percent statewide. The number of children whose families receive temporary cash assistance for housing, food and other needs from the state's welfare-to-work program is also below the state average.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/3959591/detail.html
Report: 1 In 10 San Diego Teens Attempt Suicide -CA
County Ranks Above National Average
POSTED: 9:33 am PST November 30, 2004
UPDATED: 1:59 pm PST November 30, 2004
SAN DIEGO -- A survey of 1,800 high school students in the San Diego Unified School District shows that about one in 10 of them attempted suicide last year, which is higher than the national average.
The number of reported suicide attempts among the district's 9th- through 12-graders was 10.9 percent, compared with 10.5 percent the previous year, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The county ranked above the national average of 8.5 percent of students who acknowledged that they had attempted suicide, the newspaper reported.
The data are part of an annual report on youth and families in San Diego County. The Board of Supervisors will receive the report Tuesday and authorize it for public release, the Union-Tribune reported.
Developed in 1997 at the suggestion of Supervisors Dianne Jacob and Greg Cox, the report monitors health, economic security, educational achievement, access to services and safety for children in the county.
This year's report gives the county good marks overall. Teen pregnancy among girls 15 to 17 years has declined. But Hispanic girls made up nearly 42 percent of all teen who got pregnant, significantly more than any other ethnic group.
Cigarette smoking and alcohol use among high school students decreased slightly to an average of about 11 percent, the Union-Tribune reported. The number of students who reported smoking marijuana stayed about the same at 13 percent.
The rate of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect decreased from 15 percent per 1,000 children in 2002 to 13 percent in 2003, the newspaper reported. About 16.5 percent of the county's children live in poverty, compared with 19 percent nationwide.
More Information:
- County Suicide Hotline: (800) 479-3339
- Annual San Diego County Child & Family Health & Well Being Report Card
http://www.10news.com/news/3958467/detail.html
American Public Health Association Applauds 40 Nations That Have Ratified the International Tobacco Control Treaty, Urges U.S. Administration to Make Ratification a Top Priority
11/30/2004 4:47:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Sabrina Jones of the American Public Health Association
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 /U.S. Newswire/ - The following statement on the international tobacco control treaty was released today by Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, executive director of the American Public Health Association:
"With Peru's ratification today of the international tobacco control treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will become international law early next year. The American Public Health Association commends the 40 nations that have ratified the treaty, which cements a historic step in containing the global epidemic of tobacco use that kills more than 4 million people a year. In effect, this treaty gives countries the power to restrict tobacco advertising, combat cigarette smuggling and require health warning labels -- crucial measures in reducing the health threats of tobacco.
"Yet, the United States is noticeably absent from this important international action, which has even been ratified by countries that have major tobacco industries. While the United States has signed the treaty, the administration has yet to send the agreement to the U.S. Senate for ratification, rendering the signing meaningless. As it stands, this nation is not committed to the treaty's goals of reducing global tobacco use.
"We cannot afford to move slowly on this issue. In the United States alone, tobacco use is the leading cause of death, killing more than 400,000 people each year and costing our nation a massive $75 billion in health care costs. Tobacco products are virtually unregulated and, every day, hundreds of children become smokers.
"The American Public Health Association urgently calls on the administration and Senate to follow the lead of other countries and work together to ratify the treaty and work for its full implementation to protect the health of all citizens from the scourge of tobacco."
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The American Public Health Association, the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals, represents more than 50,000 members from over 50 public health occupations. More information is available at http://www.apha.org.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=40206
Tobacco Industry Pressure Vs. Non-Smokers' Rights CHILE
María Cecilia Espinosa
SANTIAGO, Nov 30 (IPS) - Cigarettes kill 14,000 people a year in Chile, which has one of the highest smoking rates in Latin America. But despite these facts, the country's anti-smoking legislation is weak, and attempts to bolster it have been hindered by pressure from large tobacco companies, according to lawmakers and consumer rights groups.
After signing the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the Ricardo Lagos government took over a year to submit a bill to Congress seeking its ratification.
The bill was finally presented on Nov. 15, but only after a group of lawmakers had threatened to charge the Chilean minister of health, Pedro García, with violating the country's constitution.
Consumers International's (CI) Santiago-based regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean is now conducting a petition campaign, collecting signatures to demand that Lagos fast-track the bill in question.
Ironically, its current classification as ”simply urgent” - as opposed to ”extremely urgent” - means that its adoption could actually be delayed indefinitely.
In the meantime, Chiletabacos, the Chilean subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT) that controls 98 percent of cigarette sales in Chile, is spearheading a campaign of its own, seeking to improve its image by sponsoring cultural and educational activities while attempting to convince the public that banning smoking in public places is synonymous with intolerance.
”For Chiletabacos, the word 'rights' only exists in reference to the rights of the country's four million smokers. It doesn't recognise the 'right' of non-smokers to have their health protected,” states a report from the CIPRESS Foundation, a Chilean non-governmental organisation.
According to CI, the tobacco industry as a whole has a global strategy aimed at capturing markets in the South to compensate for the markets it is losing in the industrialised countries of the North, due to anti-smoking legislation.
The tobacco transnationals have been highly successful in Latin America, where the number of smokers has increased by 68 percent, while 10 percent of smokers in the United States and Europe have kicked the habit, according to CI statistics.
The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) reported in May that 45 percent of men and 35 percent of women over the age of 12 in Chile and Argentina are smokers.
As a result, more than 70 percent of children and adolescents in these countries regularly breathe in second-hand cigarette smoke in their own homes, making them ”passive smokers”.
For CI and the Chilean Consumers Organisation (ODECU), this fact constitutes a violation of the country's constitution, which establishes the Chilean people's right ”to live in an environment free from pollution.”
The FCTC, signed by Chile in September 2003, has been ratified by 37 countries so far. This means that only three more ratifications are needed for the treaty to enter into force, at which point it will apply to all signatory countries, whether they have ratified it or not.
All of the countries of Latin America have signed the convention, with the exception of Colombia and the Dominican Republic, while only four have ratified it: Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.
Once the FCTC enters into effect, the Chilean government will have to comply with the convention's provisions by more strictly enforcing the rules adopted in 1995 regarding non-smoking areas, regulating cigarette advertising and sales to minors under 18 years of age, raising taxes on tobacco products, working harder to control smuggling, and more effectively publicising the harmful effects of tobacco, by printing warnings on cigarette packages, for example.
The convention will affect the way the tobacco industry operates internationally, through restrictions on cigarette advertising and the incorporation of controls on this form of advertising in national and international public health policies.
Adolescents who pick up the cigarette habit become tobacco consumers for 30 years or more, and it is specifically Chileans in this age group who are far more likely to smoke than their counterparts in other Latin American countries. According to health ministry statistics, 34 percent of teenage boys and 43 percent of teenage girls in Chile are smokers.
British American Tobacco ranks second worldwide in cigarette sales, with a 15 percent global market share. It boasts on its website of being ”the world's most international tobacco group,” with brands sold in 180 different countries.
Latin America and the Caribbean accounted for 18.9 percent of BAT's global sales in 2003, while Chiletabacos alone contributed 22 million dollars to the corporation's 1.42 billion dollars in profits that year.
Chiletabacos also pays more taxes to the Chilean state than any other private company, representing five percent of all taxation revenues. Taxes make up 60.4 percent of the sales price of cigarettes in Chile.
In August 1990, the Chilean government put forward draft legislation to prohibit tobacco company sponsorship of cultural, social or sports activities, sales of cigarettes to minors under 18 years of age, and sales of loose cigarettes, in addition to requiring printed warnings on the dangers of smoking covering at least 20 percent of the surface of cigarette packages.
But none of these initiatives was ever implemented, and the so-called Tobacco Law, passed in 1995, was limited to assigning the Ministry of Health the task of establishing ”a clear and precise warning on the specific health risks implied by tobacco consumption.”
In 1997, the Ministry of Education was instructed to develop curriculum content aimed at educating students on the benefits of non-smoking and the harm caused by cigarettes, with an emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.
Nevertheless, according to lawmaker Fulvio Rossi of the co-governing Socialist Party, ”in practice there is no legislation to control tobacco addiction, as is demonstrated by the exponential rise in cigarette smoking among schoolchildren and women.”
Existing legislation places no restrictions on advertising, does nothing to more effectively combat cigarette smuggling, and does not require significant warnings on the dangers of smoking on cigarette packages, he told IPS. In the meantime, the price of cigarettes remains highly affordable.
Rossi, one of the legislators who threatened to charge the health minister with violating the constitution, also pointed out that rules regarding smoking and non-smoking areas in public establishments are not being enforced, ”although in practice,” he added, ”it has been shown that there are just as many carcinogens in non-smoking sections as in smoking sections.”
In its own defence, Chiletabacos points to the high taxes charged on the products it sells, which translate into a considerable contribution to the state coffers.
The company says it has a legitimate right to manufacture and market a legal product, as well as a constitutional right to be treated equally before the law, and to freely communicate with its clients through advertising.
Moreover, the company stresses, it provides direct employment to roughly 700 workers, in addition to thousands of jobs in the production chain for this product, while sponsoring countless philanthropic, educational and cultural programmes.
The directors and executives of Chiletabacos form part of the highest stratum of the country's industrial and financial elite.
However, according to the CIPRESS Foundation report, ”its main goals are to prevent tax increases, protect its advertising and publicity options, and stop any attempts to adopt regulations or legislation aimed at eliminating second-hand smoke in closed spaces.”
The support Chiletabacos gives to cultural, sports and philanthropic activities, as well as the considerable taxes it contributes to the state treasury, represent ”enormous pressure on the government to stall the ratification of the FCTC, as has been demonstrated up until now,” Yul Francisco Dorado, one of the organisers of the CI petition drive, told IPS.
Dorado pointed to a PAHO-sponsored study carried out by the schools of medicine and economics at the University of Chile, which revealed that the state spends 1.14 billion dollars annually on the treatment of smoking-related medical problems, such as lung cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory illnesses.
”The amount of money spent on treating tobacco-related illnesses far outweighs the tax contributions made by Chiletabacos,” he said.
The ratification of the FCTC will improve the quality of life, well-being and health of the Chilean people, Omar Pérez Santiago, the coordinator of ODECU, told IPS.
Above all, it will lead to ”a coherent policy towards tobacco addiction as an epidemic that kills a great many people in Chile and around the world.” By recognising the habit as a disease, he added, it will come to be viewed as such by society as a whole, which will lead to the creation of a healthier environment for everyone. (END/2004)
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=26486
Political correctness needs correcting
By John E. Frydenlund
An initial provision included in recent corporate tax legislation would have prohibited tobacco companies from communicating truthful information about the relative risks of tobacco products. Fortunately, that provision was removed by a House-Senate conference committee. Additionally, the politically-correct crowd that has been promoting this sort of policy suffered a setback in this year’s election, with more voters demonstrating that they are fed up with some of the nonsense being passed off as “science.”
This would be a good time for Congress to reexamine some of the politically-correct policies that have been foisted on the American public. Too often, policymakers cater to neo-prohibitionist constituencies with hidden agendas to outlaw products like alcohol and tobacco, or agree with radical health activists that want to control what people eat.
When the facts do not fit their agenda, such groups use fear-mongering and political pressure to stifle any scientific research that undermines their goals. They prefer to utilize “jeopardy-style” research, which provides an answer and then uses faulty science to “prove” the foregone conclusion and bolster their agendas.
For example, there is a growing body of evidence to demonstrate that organic foods may present a greater relative health risk from deadly bacteria, such as e-coli and salmonella. Some advocacy groups whitewash potential health risks from organic foods, while attempting to scare the public about non-existing dangers from genetically-modified foods, which they call “Franken-foods,” and ignore the potential these foods hold for enhancing public health and alleviating hunger and starvation around the world.
One of the neo-prohibitionists’ favorite tactics is to advocate higher excise taxes on alcohol -- a tactic they also employ with cigarettes and tobacco products. However, many of them are more willing to openly advocate outright prohibition of cigarettes and tobacco products, at least in public places.
As part of the politically-correct crowd’s anti-tobacco crusade, it is crucial that tobacco of any sort be demonized. Their commitment to the belief that all tobacco is evil, no matter the circumstances, is so strong that they refuse to accept that there is any potential to develop beneficial uses for the product, such as the use of smokeless tobacco as an alternative to cigarettes.
The result of this bias is that Americans, who are trying to quit smoking, are being denied potential health benefits that could come from utilizing “harm reduction” strategies. Such techniques might at least provide relative alternatives and present a better chance of success for those people than does the insistence on the “all or nothing” cold turkey approach preferred by the activists.
Federal government agencies responsible for informing the public of the effects of using smokeless tobacco have sided with the activists and conducted a concerted campaign of disinformation against the product. This is not only misleading the public about the true relative dangers of smokeless tobacco, but is counterproductive to agencies’ responsibility to promote the public health.
Scientific evidence exists to demonstrate that smokeless tobacco is a safer alternative to cigarette smoking and holds potential as a cessation technique for the millions of Americans that have been unable to quit smoking.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does not allow smokeless tobacco companies to make any claims regarding the relative health safety benefits that might result from switching from smoking cigarettes to using smokeless tobacco. Also, other agencies of the federal government, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), continue to disseminate information that distorts the truth about smokeless tobacco and misleads the public.
Congress needs to investigate why the FTC, HHS, and the CDC continue to provide misleading and inaccurate information regarding the dangers of smokeless tobacco to the public and why they have failed to conduct the legally-required research to determine the relative dangers between smokeless tobacco and cigarettes. It is also necessary to determine how much federal money is being used to run smoking “quit-lines” that are supposed to help people quit smoking, while failing to acknowledge that smokeless tobacco is an effective cessation technique.
Frydenlund is the food and agriculture director at Citizens Against Government Waste, and the author of the recently released Through the Looking Glass report, “A New Health Threat: Federally-Funded Health Policy Based on Junk Science.”
http://www.thehill.com/daily_features/113004.aspx
Cancer-Enabling Enzyme Can Be Blocked Naturally: Danish Research Confirms Cancer Breakthrough Approach by Matthias Rath, M.D.
(PressMethod) - A discovery made by Dr. Matthias Rath on how nutrient synergy can halt the cascading series of events that lead to the metastasis of cancer has been recently confirmed by Research done at Copenhagen University and published in the International Journal of Cancer.
The Danish study found that the lack of the enzyme urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) can stop the spread of cancer, as shown in mice genetically modified to not have the enzyme. The absence of uPA prevents the ability of cancer cells to dissolve collagen and metastasize to other parts of the body, but today there are no pharmaceutical solutions to block uPA.
Dr. Matthias Rath's research shows that blocking this enzyme can be achieved naturally. In 1992, Dr. Rath published research suggesting the use of amino acid lysine as a natural inhibitor of plasmin and other enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases) involved in collagen digestion. Recently, Dr. Rath and his team of researchers at the Matthias Rath Research Institute in Cellular Medicine, Santa Clara, CA have identified a specific combination of nutrients that can inhibit the activity of collagen dissolving enzymes and stop the spread of cancer cells. Dr. Rath's research shows that Vitamin C, the amino acids L-lysine and L-proline, and a green tea extract known as Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) work together to synergistically block the spread of cancer cells through connective tissue. In addition, this specific nutrient synergy can reduce new blood vessel formation, which supplies blood to tumors (angiogenesis), inhibit cancer cell replication, and induce a natural "suicide" cycle in cancer cells (apoptosis).
"The most effective way to control cancer is by attacking cancer simultaneously at all four ways it threatens health: its spread, growth, lifespan and survival," says Dr. Rath.
Dr. Rath's research, published in scientific journals and presented at many scientific conferences, points the way to a new era in the natural control of cancer, which is both more effective and safer than pharmaceutical methods.
For more information on Dr. Rath's research, go to www.drrathresearch.org.
Contact:
Rich Greenwood
CONTACT INFORMATION
http:// http://www.pressmethod.com/gosite.aspx?Tak=http%3a%2f%2f
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http://www.pressmethod.com/releasestorage/5004730.htm
Study Examines Proteins' Relation to DNA Repair and Malignant Melanoma
01 Dec 2004
A reduced capacity to repair UV-induced DNA damage has been associated with an increased risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma, but the molecular mechanism of the association is not known. The INK4a/ARF locus, which contains two known tumor suppressors, is often mutated in melanomas and in the cells of patients with familial malignant melanoma, but it is not known if the locus is involved in DNA repair.
In a new study, Thomas M. Rünger, M.D., of the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues measured and compared DNA repair in cells from normal mice and cells from mice with one or both of the tumor suppressors mutated. The mutant cells had a lower capacity for DNA repair compared with the normal cells. The authors conclude that mutation of the INK4a/ARF locus may predispose people to melanoma because of a reduced ability to repair sun-induced DNA damage in addition to the loss of tumor suppressor function.
Contact: Thomas M. Rünger, Boston University School of Medicine, 617-638-5551, truenger@bu.edu
Note: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is published by Oxford University Press and is not affiliated with the National Cancer Institute. Attribution to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is requested in all news coverage. Visit the Journal online at http://jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.org.
Contact: Sarah Zielinski or Kate Travis
jncimedia@oupjournals.org
301-841-1287
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
Judge's outburst at QC over MSP's letter-Scotland
JOHN ROBERTSON
LAW CORRESPONDENT
A LETTER from a politician about a historic damages case led yesterday to a furious judge reporting a senior lawyer for possible disciplinary action.
Allan Wilson, MSP, wrote to Lord Nimmo Smith about the time he has taken to give a ruling on a widow’s claim for compensation from a tobacco firm for the death of her husband from lung cancer.
In an amazing and angry outburst at the woman’s QC, Colin McEachran, who had suggested that she contact her MSP, the judge said he found the situation "reprehensible".
Lord Nimmo Smith took it as implying that he was not properly performing his duties. He accused Mr McEachran of thinking he knew better than the judge how to do his job, and suggested the QC had brought himself and his professional body, the Faculty of Advocates, into disrepute.
Mr McEachran insisted that he had merely given advice to contact an MSP, not that there should be direct communication with the judge. On being told by Lord Nimmo Smith that the matter was to be referred to the Faculty of Advocates, Mr McEachran commented: "As your Lordship pleases."
Margaret McTear, 59, of Beith, Ayrshire, has continued a case originally raised in the Court of Session by her husband, Alfred, before his death in 1993 at the age of 48. It is against Imperial Tobacco, maker of the cigarettes which Mr McTear smoked.
In October last year, Lord Nimmo Smith began hearing evidence in the case. It is understood that it is the first time on this side of the Atlantic that an attempt to sue a tobacco giant has reached such an advanced stage.
The evidence and legal submissions on behalf of Mrs McTear and Imperial Tobacco ended in February this year, and Lord Nimmo Smith announced that he would issue a judgment in due course.
The parties were called to a hearing before the judge yesterday. He said that on 18 November - the day he began to preside over the Jodi Jones murder trial in the High Court - he received a letter from Mr Wilson, Labour MSP for Cunninghame North. The politician asked why there had been no decision in Mrs McTear’s case. A reply was sent, indicating that discussion with third parties was not possible.
Lord Nimmo Smith said there was a convention, aimed at maintaining judicial independence, that politicians did not intervene in current cases. He said the court could not allow itself to be, or appear to be, influenced by third parties.
He had no doubt that Mr Wilson had written in good faith, but he continued: "What I find reprehensible is that Mr Wilson should have become involved at all. This can only have been designed to put pressure on me to issue my decision sooner than I might otherwise do... I regard this as wholly improper. The clear implication is I have not been applying myself as diligently as I should to my judicial duties."
Lord Nimmo Smith said he had given up a week’s leave to work on the judgment, and already had a draft of more than 860 pages and 250,000 words. He had other judicial commitments, including the Jodi Jones case, and had indicated in July that he might not be able to produce the judgment until late in the year.
He asked Mr McEachran: "What on earth is this all about?"
Mr McEachran said the litigation had started almost 12 years ago and Mrs McTear was entitled to have her case determined "within a reasonable time".
He had learned that his client had become unhappy about the administration of justice, and he suggested that she write to her MSP.
"It was as broad as that. I did not suggest that any communication be made directly to your Lordship," said Mr McEachran.
Lord Nimmo Smith said Mr McEachran seemed to think he knew better than the judge how to do his job. What should he have done, that he had not done?
"I have no comment on that," said Mr McEachran.
The judge added: "I am not a magician. I cannot wave a magic wand and produce an opinion [judgment]."
He believed Mr McEachran was not being candid with him in "this entire shenanigan" and the matter would be reported to the Faculty of Advocates.
LORD NIMMO SMITH
Lord (William) Nimmo Smith, 62, was appointed to the bench in 1996, having served an "apprenticeship" as a temporary judge.
As a leading QC of his generation, he had appeared for The Scotsman and successfully fought attempts by the government to ban the newspaper from carrying extracts from the memoirs of a former intelligence officer, Anthony Cavendish.
He was appointed to investigate the so-called "magic circle" affair in 1992 and found no evidence to support claims that gay lawyers had conspired to pervert the course of justice. He also led an inquiry into allegations of nepotism in recruitment at Monklands district council.
Lord Nimmo Smith was chosen as one of the five judges who heard, and dismissed, an appeal by the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
He also rejected an attempt to challenge the Scottish Parliament’s legislation which banned fox-hunting with dogs.
In recent weeks, he has presided over the trial of Luke Mitchell, who is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Jodi Jones, in Midlothian.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1377442004
Chronic stress may accelerate cellular aging
CTV.ca News Staff
We all know that too much stress isn't healthy. Now, intriguing scientific evidence shows that chronic stress may accelerate aging in our immune cells.
Prof. Elissa Epel of University of California, San Francisco, may have found new evidence of how stress wears us down by making the immune cells in our bodies age prematurely.
Epel's team followed 58 mothers, 39 of whom were caring for a chronically ill child. Most of them reported higher stress levels than mothers with healthy children.
But when researchers looked at the DNA in their immune cells, they noticed a stunning finding. The telomeres, or biological clocks, in the cells of the chronically stressed women were much shorter, indicating they had aged prematurely.
"We were flabbergasted. It was something you couldn't have expected to find," Epel says.
"We found that in women with the highest stress, they were so short that the cells had aged 10 years more than in the other women. That's not a matter of normal aging but from stress."
The authors say "the exact mechanism that connect the mind and the cell are unknown.'' But they will now begin work to see if other types of cells are affected by stress.
The study is published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Karyl Jones-Whittey knows all about living with daily stress. She says that every day is difficult caring for her autistic son, Ian.
"It is exhausting. It is the feeling of being absolutely weighed down with the weight of the world," she says.
Now, Karyl has her own problems, suffering from high blood pressure and arthritis.
"It makes me wonder about how many of my medical conditions -- many of them have only cropped up since Ian was born -- how many are them are related to living under chronic stress?"
Dr. David Posen writes and lectures about the dangers of stress. He hopes the research will be an eye-opener that stress is more than an annoyance; it can be harmful to our health.
"We all have stress in our lives and learning how to handle it is a life skill. And it's neglected and now it's bubbling to the top, you can't put it off much longer," he says.
This new link between stress and cell aging may trigger a flood of new research on how to reverse stress, says Dr. Doug Saunders of the Ontario Psychological Association.
"To look at stress reduction techniques, like cognitive behaviour therapy, meditation, to see if this can impact biological markers like telomeres."
The research may also lead to new medications that protect these telomeres from stress. But for now, it's an intriguing finding that suggests just how toxic chronic stress may be.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1101775128220_42/?hub=Health