HEADLINES

• Scotland: Teenager offers Plain Truth on tobacco
• Guernsey: Playgrounds could soon become smoke-free
• Ireland: Call to tackle cigarette smuggling
• Tobacco companies contest New York anti-smoking signs
• USA: Tobacco era in NASCAR ends as new FDA rules take effect
• India: Activists criticise move to exempt tobacco from entry tax

• Scotland: Teenager offers Plain Truth on tobacco

  A teenage tobacco information campaigner has put her group – and Glasgow – on the European map.

  Nicola McFadyen, 15, represented W-WEST (which stands for Why Waste Everything Smoking Tobacco?) at a World No Tobacco Day event at the European Parliament in Brussels on Monday.

  W-WEST, which is funded by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, is run by 13 to 18-year-old smokers and non-smokers. It was set up to give young people the facts about smoking, rather than to push an anti-smoking message, and it is already having a significant impact across Scotland and beyond.

  Nicola spoke alongside some of the biggest names in the European tobacco control industry, plus MEPs and leading public figures such as Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, about the group’s Plain Truth Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of how tobacco companies try to attract young people.

  “I was so nervous – there were about 150 people, and I had to give a presentation and answer questions,” she said. “But they seemed to really like what I said.”

  Fiona Dunlop, of NHSGCC’s Smokefree Services, said: “Nicola did extremely well. She spoke confidently and answered questions in a room full of some of the most influential figures in European tobacco control – really top people. What she said had a huge impact.”

  Nicola joined W-WEST five months ago, after a period of work experience at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

  “I have never smoked, but I feel really strongly about getting the right information out about smoking so that people can make up their own minds,” she explained. “I think our campaign is important, because tobacco companies do use packaging and branding to pull young people in.”

  The Plain Truth campaign was launched in Buchanan Street on Monday, when group members dressed up as wolves and sheep to get the point across.

  Michael Caine, 17, explained: “We think that dressing cigarettes up in tobacco packaging is like dressing up a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s really important that young people know what they’re smoking and aren’t just blinded by branding.”

  Michael, who is from Cessnock, joined W-WEST to “show not all teens are anti-social”.

  Before being thrust into the European spotlight, W-WEST was already making a huge impact at home. Hits on its website (www.w-west.org.uk) have come from all over the world, and the group has teamed up with Dr Crawford Moodie and colleagues from The Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling to develop a survey which will explore young peoples’ attitudes to cigarette packaging.

  Dr Moodie said: “During the Youth and Tobacco Conference in Edinburgh in March, I met up with the W-West group, who told us they planned to carry out a survey concerned with cigarette packaging and young people, which is one of the centre’s areas of interest.

  “We decided to work together and look forward to finding out just how much tobacco packaging really affects the decisions that young people make and the possible benefits that plain packaging may have.”

  Anyone under the age of 18, living in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, can sign up to W-WEST at www.w-west.org.uk. The website also has access to a wide range of smoking information.

  Once registered, recruits will receive regular updates about the latest smoking information and W-WEST’s activities.

  Source: Evening Times - 03 June 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/9cSosM

• Guernsey: Playgrounds could soon become smoke-free

  If GASP get their way, Guernsey playgrounds could soon become smoke free.
  
  The Guernsey Adolescent Smokefree Project has put signs up at Saumarez Park asking people not to smoke near children.
  
  It's not a legally enforceable ban but they're hoping parents will take heed. They say smoking where children congregate sets a very bad example. Alun Williams from the Guernsey Adolescent Smokefree Project said:
  
  "We know that young people are very much encouraged to smoke because they see adults or peers doing so. And so if we can look at restricting it here not through legislation but purely through parents being responsible and not smoking then that's going to help our aim which is to reduce the numbers of young people who do smoke."
  
  What do you think? Is the idea of making outdoor play areas smoke free zones a good one? Is it practical? Can it be enforced? Or is it a step too far? Perhaps you'd even like to see a wider smoking ban? Let us know what you think by posting your comments below.

  [a video is available by clicking on the link below]

  Source: Channel Online - 03 June 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/ahtOtT

• Ireland: Call to tackle cigarette smuggling

  A dedicated Garda taskforce is needed to tackle the black market trade in smuggled cigarettes, shopkeepers have claimed.

  Lobby group Retailers Against Smuggling said a specialist unit was needed to hit street sellers and back up the work of Customs to cut down on contraband trafficking.

  Revenue figures showed 218.5 million cigarettes worth 92 million euro were seized by authorities last year.

  Benny Gilsenan, the group's spokesman, said: "We are an island nation that has an understaffed Customs services, meaning that the contraband and counterfeit cigarettes are always going to get through, so gardai have to have a greater emphasis on a nationwide clampdown.

  "A specially designated taskforce is the only logical step to successfully win the war against the criminal."

  Retailers also complained they are receiving two reports a week of leaflets offering cheap tobacco being put through doors and on windscreens of Mass-goers' cars around the country.

  Ireland had Europe's largest ever illegal cigarettes haul last October. The operation, codenamed Samhna, involved the seizure of 120.3 million cigarettes from a ship in Greenore port, Dundalk. The group said the Exchequer last year lost 556 million euro in unpaid excise levies.

  Mr Gilsenan said: "There is now a huge onus on the gardai to have more of a presence in counteracting this issue on a nationwide level. Every week of the year we are getting reports of illegal selling on streets, in markets and going from door to door.

  "At present there is an ad hoc approach from gardai with regard to illegal selling of cigarettes and that attitude is crippling the Irish retailer."

  Source: Yahoo!/Press Association - 03 June 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/axBmUc

• Tobacco companies contest New York anti-smoking signs

  New York City anti-smoking signs depicting a decaying tooth, diseased lungs and a damaged brain violate cigarette vendors' free speech and should be removed, tobacco companies and retailers said in a lawsuit.

  Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco Company, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., plus two major retail trade groups and two convenience stores, alleged in the Manhattan federal court lawsuit that the signs violate the sellers' rights by imposing the signs on them.

  "The government may not force private parties to carry messages beyond purely uncontroversial factual statements that are designed to prevent consumer deception," said the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday and made available to reporters on Thursday.

  The three different signs, developed by the city's Health Department and required as of last December, graphically depict the harmful effects smoking can have on the body. They bear messages such as "smoking causes tooth decay" and list the number of a city helpline for assistance on how to quit.

  "The signs ... do not describe the risks of smoking in purely factual terms. Instead, the signs force tobacco manufacturers and retailers to communicate vivid images at the point of sale," the suit said.

  New York cigarette sellers face a $2,000 fine if they fail to display at least one warning sign at the cash register or next to the cigarettes. No other U.S. city has adopted similar measures, city Health Department officials said.

  City agencies, however, said the anti-smoking campaign was necessary and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has made a smoke-free New York one of his major priorities, having banned smoking in bars and restaurants.

  "We are confident that the health code provisions being challenged will withstand legal scrutiny," said New York City Law Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Thomas.

  "By trying to suppress this educational campaign, the tobacco industry is signaling its desire to keep kids in the dark," a statement by the city's Health Department said.

  The lawsuit also alleged federal anti-smoking rules prevent local governments from interfering with cigarette advertising.

  Source: Reuters - 03 June 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/dlZIHK

• USA: Tobacco era in NASCAR ends as new FDA rules take effect

  Once an economic engine whose marketing dollars blazed a trail for much of the sport's expansion, the era of tobacco sponsorship in NASCAR will be extinguished quietly this month.
  New rules enforced by the Food and Drug Administration will prevent cigarette and smokeless tobacco sponsorships in sporting events as of June 22. R.J. Reynolds pumped hundreds of millions into NASCAR's premier series during a 31-year run as title sponsor with its Winston brand, but tobacco sponsorship shrunk after RJR's 2003 departure.

  Two teams backed by smokeless tobacco will be affected: the Longhorn-sponsored truck of Kevin Harvick Inc. and the Nationwide Series car of Baker-Curb Racing backed by Red Man. Harvick says his truck will run the rest of the season (and has found second-half sponsorship).

  The future is less certain for Baker-Curb's No. 27 Ford, which is eighth in points (with Greg Biffle starting 10 of its 12 races) and has two more races with Red Man. Team co-owner Gary Baker says the company considered staying with the team by using the same paint scheme without its logos but worried it would bring government scrutiny.

  Baker says the team is in a mad scramble for funding. "It's a Herculean task," he says. "I've been in the business side of racing since the 1970s, and it's never been this brutal. That's not an indictment of NASCAR; it's still the best return on investment when properly done."

  Source: USA Today - 01 June 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/ctbhRo

• India: Activists criticise move to exempt tobacco from entry tax

  Activists working for anti-tobacco awareness Thursday criticised the Bihar government's decision not to levy entry tax on tobacco.

  In Bihar, tobacco and bidi (leaf rolled cigarettes) leaves are brought mostly from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

  A day after Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi Wednesday issued a notification to exempt tobacco from entry tax, Pranay Lal, an activist, said that the state government's decision will only promote use of tobacco in Bihar.

  Dhananjay Singh, another activist, said the move will not benefit millions of bidi workers in the state but 'benefit businessmen in the bidi industry'.

  Lal told IANS over telephone that in order to get a special package in the form of grants and aids from the central government, the Bihar government should reduce the overall budget deficit. Increasing tax on tobacco products can be a useful tool in achieving that, he said.

  'The condition of bidi workers cannot be an excuse to leave tobacco products out of the VAT ambit as we all know that tobacco is the largest cause of deaths in India,' Lal said.

  Modi, also the finance minister, justified the government's decision saying that the move would incur an annual loss of Rs.1.28 crore to the state exchequer but would benefit more than 3.5 million bidi workers.

  Modi said that due to the high cost of production, the bidi industry has virtually collapsed in Bihar and shifted to West Bengal. It has rendered thousands of bidi workers jobless.

  Source: Sify Finance - 03 June 2010
  Link: http://bit.ly/9Li4B2