HEADLINES

• Tobacco giant JTI quizzed over shipment to Syrian tycoon 'bankrolling Assad's terror'
• Half of all smokers hiding their habit from family or friends, says poll
• Plain packets the way to stop kids smoking, says Barron
• Council pension funds 'should invest ethically'
• Manchester: Shisha cafe owners fined for allowing customers to smoke
• Somerset: Calls to cut out cigarette packet glitz
• Scotland: Rutherglen and Cambuslang retailers perform poorly in tobacco purchasing scheme

• Tobacco giant JTI quizzed over shipment to Syrian tycoon 'bankrolling Assad's terror'

  Japan Tobacco International is under investigation after millions of its cigarettes were shipped to a firm linked to a billionaire accused of playing a key part in suppressing the popular uprising in Syria.

  Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which owns the Silk Cut, Mayfair and Benson & Hedges brands, faces questions over its relationship with a firm associated with Rami Makhlouf, who is subject to European Union and US sanctions.

  The development has revived concerns about the ability of "big tobacco" to police its distribution networks – third party agents who move its product around the world.

  Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH said, "In 2002 parliament's Public Accounts Committee launched a major investigation into the role of the tobacco industry in facilitating cigarette smuggling."

  "Following numerous hearings and the publication of a highly critical report by the committee, the industry claimed to have cleaned up its act. Yet nearly 10 years later we hear allegations senior executives of JTI/Gallaher allegedly stood by as its distributors engaged in widespread smuggling of its products in a dozen countries."

  Source: The Observer, 29 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/Al0cSj

• Half of all smokers hiding their habit from family or friends, says poll

  More than half of all smokers hide the true extent of their habit from partners, family or friends, according to a Co-operative Pharmacy poll.
  
  A study found that social stigma and the 2007 smoking ban have created an “army of secret smokers”. It means 57% of those lighting up are not telling the whole truth about their habit to loved ones.
  
  The poll also found that a third of the 2,000 people questioned lit up less often since the smoking ban came into force and four out of five smokers wanted to give up.

  Source: The Mirror, 30 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/xbNv8f

• Plain packets the way to stop kids smoking, says Barron

  Kevin Barron, Rother Valley MP and long standing anti-tobacco lobbyist says putting cigarettes in plain packaging will help cut the number of children picking up the habit.

  Mr Barron has backed a call from the British Heart Foundation and Action on Smoking and Health to ban attractive packaging.

  Source: Rotherham Advertiser, 27 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/y3ph4o

• Council pension funds 'should invest ethically'

  Local authorities have been urged to scrap investments in tobacco companies after an investigation by The Independent revealed that their pension funds have an estimated £2bn stake in tobacco firms.

  Critics say supporting tobacco companies is a conflict of interest given that local councils are taking over responsibility for public health next year.
  
  Martin Dockrell from ASH said: "Many councils have more money tied up in tobacco firms than they will be spending on protecting children and helping smokers to quit."

  Source: The Independent, 28 January 2012
  Link: http://ind.pn/ABiyHy

• Manchester: Shisha cafe owners fined for allowing customers to smoke

  Two cafe owners have been fined for allowing customers to smoke shisha pipes.

  Samir Merza, who runs Blue Mist, was fined £200 with £500 costs after admitting two counts of allowing smoking in a smoke free place.

  Manchester council wrote to the owners last summer warning them to stop all smoking inside the premises.

  Source: Manchester Evening News - 26 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/w1PKOw

• Somerset: Calls to cut out cigarette packet glitz

  The Director of Public Health in Bath and North East Somerset has backed a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of glamorous tobacco packaging to children.

  Dr Pamela Akerman is supporting attempts to standardise cigarette packaging to make it less appealing to young people.

  Visit www.plainpacksprotect.co.uk for more information.

  Source: This is Somerset - 26 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/zpzWJh

• Scotland: Rutherglen and Cambuslang retailers perform poorly in tobacco purchasing scheme

  Shop owners in Rutherglen and Cambuslang were the worst in South Lanarkshire for not asking for proof of age when teenagers buy tobacco.

  A study conducted by trading standards showed that 80 per cent of retailers in the two towns handed over cigarettes to an 18-year-old without asking for ID.

  Although the shops involved have not broken the law, trading standards officers said it was a worrying trend as all the shops are signed up to the ‘No ID, No Sale’ or Challenge 21/25 schemes.

  Source: Rutherglen Reformer - 25 January 2012
  Link: http://bit.ly/x3Ra6h