ASH Daily News for 16/02/1999

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224 0471
ASH Daily News
Tuesday 16th February 1999
Headlines:
Smokers misled on low-tar advantages.
NHS rebuffed over plan to sue.
French tobacco lawsuit planned.
Cigarette smugglers fined.
How to stop your children smoking, by Allen Carr.
 
Full Text:
Smokers misled on low-tar advantages.
The tobacco industry misleads smokers about the tar and nicotine that can be
inhaled from "light" cigarettes, new research says today. Some
cigarettes without filters, sold as "full flavour", have less than
half the nicotine content of brands sold as "ultra light" that were
fitted with filters, the study found. In addition, smokers can inhibit filters
that are the main device for reducing tar and nicotine inhalation by
unconsciously shutting off vent holes. Researchers from University College
London, St George’s Hospital Medical School, London, and Penn State
University, Pennsylvania carried out the study of 92 brands sold in Britain, the
United States and Canada. Twenty-nine of the 37 British brands tested had filter
vents. The researchers said that the tobacco companies’ advertisements for
low tar and nicotine cigarettes were based on tests conducted with smoking
machines, which do not replicate how people smoke. A study by the tobacco
industry found that 45 percent of people who smoked an ultra-light brand blocked
the vents to some degree with their lips, increasing the tar yield by 50
percent. One smoker in ten at least doubled the tar yield by blocking the vents
with their lips, the study said. Smokers also tended to compensate for lower
nicotine yields from light cigarettes by puffing more often.
The scientists said that the research was difficult because of the many
variables involved. But they say in the journal Tobacco Control that smokers can
and do satisfy their addiction to nicotine from even low-yield brands by closing
the filter vents. The researchers have called for tobacco companies to warn
smokers about these vents.
Source: The Times, The Mirror, Daily Star 16/02/99

NHS rebuffed over plan to sue.
Proposals for health service trusts to sue tobacco companies were knocked
back yesterday when the Government warned that any court action would be
illegal. The move came after it emerged that NHS managers were considering
trying to recover up to £10 billion from cigarette manufacturers for the
cost of treating ill smokers. But the Department of Health said such legal
action would not be allowed under Section (2) of the NHS Act 1977 unless new
legislation was passed – something the Government is not intending to do.
Bill O’Neill, ethics and science adviser to the British Medical
Association, said: "We believe the department’s stance on the legal
position needs to be challenged. The government is understandably reluctant to
take on the tobacco companies and perhaps does not want health service trusts to
be seen to be ‘spending public money’ on this legal
battle."
Source: Financial Times, The Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, The
Express 16/02/99

French tobacco lawsuit planned.
The local branch of a state health insurance programme in France said
yesterday it plans to file suit against cigarette manufacturers, claiming they
are responsible for hundreds of deaths. The lawsuit would be a first in France,
where smoking remains widely tolerated and socially acceptable. French tobacco
officials dismissed the action as "a local attempt to apply American
judicial concepts and procedure". The board of the Caisse Primaire
d’Assurance Maladie in Saint-Nazaire, near Nantes, did not specify which
manufacturers it would be suing in its claim for damages and interest.
Source: Financial Times, The Times 16/02/99

Cigarette smugglers fined.
A huge cigarette smuggling operation was foiled by Customs, when they
arrested 26 passengers on one flight, a court heard yesterday. Couriers received
free holidays in Tenerife for bringing back cases full of cigarettes. A pack of
200 cost £6 in the Canaries compared with £35 in the UK. Exeter
Crown Court heard how five couriers had 114,580 cigarettes in total, on which
they should have paid £13,000 duty. They were told to pay a total of
£6,300 in fines and costs and warned that organised cigarette smuggling
would normally lead to jail.
Source: Daily Star, Daily Telegraph, The Times 16/02/99

How to stop your children smoking, by Allen Carr.
More than 100,000 youngsters start smoking every year in the UK. In his
latest book, How To Stop Your Child Smoking, Allen Carr presents a simple
ten-point guide to help parents dissuade their child from smoking, and persuade
those who have already tried never to light up again. The book is divided into
the following headings: Understanding the nicotine trap; Look at the facts;
Understand your child’s point of view; Avoid complacency; The chain
effect; Communicate effectively; Avoid shock tactics; Breaking the habit;
Influence of other smokers and Killing the myth.
Source: Daily Mail 16/02/99

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