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ASH Daily News

Wednesday, 15 December 1999

Headlines

'Key tobacco witness gagged'
'MPs told get tough'
Profile of ‘Art of Simple Living’
‘Smokers want to quit’
MP criticises sale of chewing tobacco sweets
Pressure on Jordan Formula 1 team after £45m delivery
'Smoking ban for health workers'

Full Text

'Key tobacco witness gagged'

‘In an astonishing turn of events the House of Commons’s inquiry into
the conduct of the tobacco industry was adjourned last week because of
concerns that a key witness had been gagged by tobacco companies.’

Martyn Day, a senior partner in the solicitors Leigh, Day and Co, was
due to give evidence to the Health Select Committee about an attempted
prosecution of British tobacco companies by 52 lung cancer victims.

It was then found Mr Day had been forced to sign a legal agreement
stating he could not make reference to evidence the case had revealed.
The Chair of the Committee, said in his experience this was
“unprecedented” and adjourned the hearing to ensure Mr Day could give,
“full and unconstrained evidence” to the inquiry.

Source: Environmental Health News, 3 December 1999

‘Smokers want to quit’

The Independent reports that, ‘At least 70 percent of smokers want to
give up, the Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, said launching England’s
biggest tobacco education campaign.’

Source: The Independent, 15 December 1999

Profile of ‘Art of Simple Living’

Alex Kuczynski suggests that the, ‘Art of Simple Living’ at first
glance, ‘looks like most feel-good women’s magazines…But the careful
reader will notice a difference between Simple Living and, say another
Hearst product such as Mirabella: Half of the advertising is for
cigarettes – Carlton, Misty Lights, Kool and Capri.

The article further notes, ‘And there is the tiny paragraph below the
table of contents that notes the corporation, apart from Hearst
Magazines, behind this women’s magazine: Brown & Williamson Tobacco
Corp.’

The article continues, ‘As tobacco companies face increasingly severe
restrictions on how they advertise, they have found other ways to tout
their products, and now they are drawing the major publishers of
consumer magazines into their marketing fold.

Source: International Herald Tribune, 15 December 1999

MP criticises sale of chewing tobacco sweets

The Environmental Health News reports that, ‘The sale of addictive
chewing tobacco sweets in Britain is being criticised by Labour MP
Claire Ward, with backing from the British Dental Health Foundation
and WHO.’

Source: Environmental Health News, 3 December 1999

'MPs told get tough'

The Publican reports that, ‘MPs were asked last week to take a tough
stance against tobacco bootleggers – and cigarette companies. Campaign
group Action on Smoking and Health told a House of Commons meeting
that criminal gangs were responsible for the vast majority of
bootlegging.’

Source: The Publican, 13 December 1999

Pressure on Jordan Formula 1 team after £45m delivery

Eddie Jordan forecast the possibility of stealing a world title from
Ferrari or McClaren next season as he celebrated a £45 million
sponsorship deal with the leading German company, Deutsche Post.

After Bensons and Hedges withdrew their sponsorship in response to the
EU advertising directive, Irvine added, “This is the first time we
have had our entire commercial and technical programme secure before
Christmas and mapped out for the future.”

Source: The Express, 15 December, 1999

'Smoking ban for health workers'

‘Staff at Norwich Health Authority are to banned from smoking at
work – even when they are driving their cars or travelling on buses
and trains on company business’, reports the Evening Standard. Debbie
Bartlett of Norwich Health Authority said, “We can’t go to other
organisations encouraging a no-smoking policy when we don’t.”

Source: Evening Standard City Prices, 14 December 1999

Karl Brookes
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