ASH Daily News for 23 July 2008

Smokers face street ban in Birmingham, UK

Smokers could soon be banned from lighting up in the streets of Birmingham city centre, under new plans unveiled today. Councillors want Government approval to allow trials of no-smoking zones in the city. The ban on smoking in public buildings will be extended on to the streets within the zones, and run in the same way that alcohol restricted areas are operated in many neighbourhoods. The controversial move is planned by the city’s public protection committee and could ultimately lead to Birmingham becoming the country’s first smoke-free city.

But today the city’s pubs and restaurants warned they would oppose the move coming so soon after the ban on smoking in public buildings. Manager of Broad Street Mike Olley said: “Pubs and clubs are still recoiling from the ban and the down turn in trade. Anyone would agree the environment in pubs is better now, but it is a bit soon to be talking of such things. If they want to ban tobacco they should do just that, instead of trying to do it by the back door.”

The Government ban on smoking in public buildings, which was introduced last summer, has been widely hailed as a success. Public protection committee member Coun Chaman Lal (Lab, Soho), is behind the call for a ban on on-street smoking. He believes the move could help the city achieve its target of reducing adult smoking rates to less than 21 per cent by 2010 by preventing teenagers from trying a crafty cigarette in parks and on street corners, where many of them first develop the habit. The rate is already down to 22 per cent and health bosses are considering ways to help more people kick the habit.

Coun Lal said: “A year ago many did not believe the smoking ban would work, but the figures show the vast majority of people support it and it is now unacceptable to smoke inside. This would just be the next stage in the progression. As far as I am concerned, if people want to smoke let them do it in their own backyards, not in the street.” He added that it could also have a positive impact on anti-social behaviour in some areas and called on the Government to allow a trial.

Source: BirminghamMail.net, 22 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/yWmre 

MEP calls for EU-wide ban on sale of tobacco

While the European Commission continues to try and drive its plan to raise tobacco taxes throughout the 27-nation bloc, Irish MEP Avril Doyle has called for legislation to make it illegal to sell cigarettes and cigars within the European Union by 2025. Doyle is the leader of the Irish faction within the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) which recently organised a conference aimed at developing ways of complying with the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Article 5.3. This obliges all countries that have signed up to outlaw lobbying by tobacco companies on any public health policies.

Effectively this means that politicians will cease to talk to tobacco companies or their lobbyists on public health issues of any kind. Meanwhile, the European Commission is continuing with its plan to try and harmonise tobacco taxes across Europe in an effort to discourage smuggling. This is seen as 'mission impossible' by many because of the excise tax disparities between member states and the fact that all of them would have to agree to it - as would the European Parliament.

Any plan to harmonize taxes across the 27-nation bloc would hit eastern European smokers hardest where taxes are much lower than in countries such as Britain. But the EU claims that higher prices would reduce cigarette use by a tenth over the next five years. Regulators say they want tax to amount to 63% of the retail price of all cigarettes across the European Union by 2014 instead of the current average of 57%. This would mean that tax on the sale of 1,000 cigarettes would have to rise to at least E.90 ($144). That would see cigarette prices in some eastern European member states increase by nearly half, although there would be no changes to prices in Britain, France, Germany and Ireland where tobacco taxes are already high.

Source: trend-news.com, 22 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/m57AR

Russia: US tobacco manufacturers perpetrating 'nicotine genocide'

Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's combative chief public officer, said he had instructed state lawyers to explore the possibility of criminal prosecution of tobacco companies in the "service of US state capital". He accused them of causing a health crisis among young Russians by peddling cheap tobacco with high tar levels. The Soviet-style rhetoric of Mr Onishchenko's tirade and his reputation as a Kremlin attack dog will alarm foreign investors in Russia, who are likely to interpret his comments as the beginning of another state-sanctioned assault on the private sector.

Mr Onishchenko mounted a highly effective broadside against Georgian wine and mineral water in 2006, claiming that they failed to meet health and safety standards. Russia subsequently banned both products, denying Georgia access to the chief market for its two principal exports. Most observers believe that the primary motivation for the ban was a desire by Russia to punish Georgia for sweeping a pro-western government to power during its Rose Revolution of 2003.

In a rambling interview with the Interfax news agency, often used as a conduit for major Russian policy decisions, Mr Onishchenko railed against the "sinecure" that the global tobacco industry had established in Russia. "The super-profits of US corporations are being paid for by catastrophic repercussions for the health of the younger generation," he said. Philip Morris International, which manufactures the Marlboro brand, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International dominate the booming Russian market, although many of their products are made under license.

Russians are among the world's biggest puffers, with 60 percent of men and 30 percent of women classified as smokers by official figures. Mr Onishchenko also lashed out at Russian businessmen in the tobacco sector, describing them as "flunkies" of foreign and US capital "which cashes in on the nicotine genocide of the Russian people." He added, "They are pressing for medievally high levels of nicotine and tar in cigarettes to be set for Russia, enabling them to flog the worst-quality tobaccos to the Russian people at legally set levels."

Source: The Telegraph, 22 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/wc3Wy

USA: Bush bucking Congress on tobacco regulation

The Bush administration strongly opposes legislation to give federal health authorities the power to regulate tobacco products, a top official said in a letter to Congress obtained by the Associated Press on Tuesday. The letter is the strongest indication yet that the administration will try to block the broadly popular legislation, which is supported by majorities in both chambers, and lists both presidential contenders among its co-sponsors. Although a floor vote is expected in the House this summer, a protracted battle with the White House could doom chances for passing the bill this year.

"The administration would strongly oppose this legislation," Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt said in a July 21 letter to Rep. Joe L. Barton, Texas Republican. Mr. Barton is the senior Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which approved the bill on a lopsided 38-12 vote in April. At the time, 11 Republicans on the panel voted in favor of the legislation. The bill would give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products, to reduce the harm from smoking. Although the government would not be able to outlaw tobacco or ban nicotine, regulators could demand elimination of other hazardous ingredients in cigarettes. The bill represents a compromise between anti-tobacco activists and Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest tobacco company.

Mr. Leavitt said in the letter that giving a public health agency like the FDA jurisdiction over tobacco products would send the wrong message. "Unlike the medical products FDA regulates, tobacco products cannot be made safe, and there is no medically established public health benefit associated with tobacco," he wrote. "Adding tobacco to FDA's regulatory responsibilities could also leave the public with the misperception that tobacco products are safe, or at least safer, with the FDA regulating them."

Administration officials had voiced similar concerns before, but had stopped short of declaring outright opposition. Mr. Leavitt said in the letter that the White House agreed with his view. Tobacco-control advocates said none of the administration's arguments in the letter were new. "Congress has heard, considered and addressed every one of these criticisms, and key committees in both the House and Senate have voted overwhelmingly and on a bipartisan basis to support the legislation," said William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Sens. John McCain, Arizona Republican, and Barack Obama, Illinois Democrat, are among the Senate co-sponsors of the bill.

Source: The Washington Times, 23 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/q01dK 

Canada: Vancouver smoking ban billows to great outdoors

With hookah parlours under control, anti-smoking regulations in Vancouver are being taken to the great outdoors, where future bans could curtail smoking on beaches, in ticket lineups and at outdoor festivals. Such regulations would be a natural progression from existing rules that restrict smoking indoors and at some outdoor locations such as patios and bus shelters, Richard Taki, director of health protection with Vancouver Coastal Health, said yesterday. "The other areas to be looked at would be lineups for events, like buying concert tickets, or outdoor events where you have a large number of people," Mr. Taki said.

Vancouver's renowned beaches could also be subject to a smoking ban, he said, with family friendly beaches such as Stanley Park's Third Beach likely to be among the first to become smoke-free. Policy discussions are at an early stage and new regulations would not be in place before 2009, he added. Regulators might argue that smoking bans in certain places are in the public interest. But "if they simply ban it in all parks and beaches, then they would be going over the top," said Robert Holmes, president of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. Current regulations aim to restrict smoking in places where it is difficult for non-smokers to avoid smoke, but to go further and target smoking in large, outdoor areas is harder to justify, he said.

Regulators cite health risks of second-hand smoke, litter and pollution concerns as reasons for introducing the laws. If bans on beaches and other outdoor spaces were put in place, enforcement would likely be through signs and public pressure, Mr. Taki said. "Primarily it's going to be through signage - and like most of the other smoking bylaws, through peer pressure. People will give you that look that says, 'Hey, go smoke somewhere else.' "

Source: globeandmail.com, 23 July 2008
Link: http://tiny.cc/7ngOh