ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW. =20
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531
=20
[VIEW HTML VERSION
http://www.globalink.org/nbuk]
=20
ASH Daily News
=20
16 December 2004
=20
HEADLINES
=20
Hospitals need to adhere to smoke-free targets
Shops prepare for point of sale advertising restrictions
Whisky to replace tobacco as Formula One sponsor=20
Poisoning risk from smuggled cigarettes
=20
FULL TEXT


Hospitals need to adhere to smoke-free targets

The government, the NHS and health bodies will need to work hard to =
ensure all NHS hospitals are smoke free by 2006, according to research =
presented at last week's British Thoracic Society's winter meeting. =
Researchers surveying 103 managers of trusts in England and 97 =
clinicians found that although most hospitals had no-smoking policies, =
they were generally considered to be ineffective.
=20
Earlier this year the Health Development Agency published a press =
release stating that "Smoke free hospitals would help smokers in their =
battle to give up on No Smoking day, of the 12 million UK smokers, over =
9 million say they want completely smoke free hospitals to help them =
reduce their own consumption of tobacco."
=20
"Not only would it help smokers in their quest to give up but it could =
also prevent harm caused by passive smoking. The NHS has a vital role =
to play in leading the ban on smoking in public, yet only a handful of =
hospitals have adopted a completely smoke free policy. This, despite =
clear evidence on the effectiveness of public smoking bans".
=20
Source: BMA News, 11 December 2004=20
Article link: http://www.hda.nhs.uk/html/about/press/12032004.html=20


Shops prepare for point of sale advertising restrictions

New in store restrictions on tobacco advertising come into effect on 21 =
December and Newsagents around the country are in preparation. A =
selection of their responses to the ban appears in the trade magazine =
Retail Newsagent:

"I have no qualms about sales. So far they have stayed steady. We have =
a very long way to go before we are as strict as America." Ronald =
Ramsey, Port Glasgow.

"We've got a temporary Lambert & Butler header; which they will change. =
It's a nanny state gone mad...the real problem is with imports. People =
can go abroad legally and buy cheap cigarettes from places like Belgium =
before you even start talking about smuggling." Terry Porter, Swansea.

"We're with Imperial, which wrote to us explaining what needed to be =
done, then came and changed the Gantry...I don't think it will have an =
effect on sales. If people want to smoke, they will smoke." Sue Abbott, =
Darlington.

"I would normally have additional advertising in the form of window and =
door posters, but over the past two or three months I've stopped doing =
this. I always have more demand than space for advertising, so I am not =
short of point of sale from the papers and manufacturers to fill in the =
gaps." Richard Cowell, Chichester.

Source: Retail Newsagent, December 2004=20
Article link: =
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/Tobacco/=
TobaccoGeneralInformation/TobaccoGeneralArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=3D400151=
2&chk=3DaGoAto =20


Whisky to replace tobacco as Formula One sponsor

The world's-biggest selling Scotch whisky brand, Johnnie Walker, is =
poised to take over from German cigarette brand West as "title sponsor" =
of the McLaren Mercedes Formula One from next season.=20

According to a company insider, Johnnie Walker parent Diageo has secured =
a =A336 million sponsorship deal with Woking-based McLaren Racing, after =
months of talks with parties including Bristol-based Imperial Tobacco, =
the owners of the West brand.=20
Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo, an F1 fan, is described by the =
source as "the clear dealmaker in all of this."
=20
The new arrangement is expected to see McLaren drivers Kimi Raikkonen =
and Juan Pablo Montoya race in Formula One cars emblazoned in Johnnie =
Walker colours from as early as March 2005.=20

The deal is understood to take effect from no later than July 31 2005 - =
which is when an Imperial Tobacco spokesman said West's own sponsorship =
of McLaren officially ends.=20

However, sources said it is more likely that the deal will start from =
March 6, when the 2005 Grand Prix season kicks off, with the Australian =
race in Melbourne.=20

A spokesman for Imperial would not confirm which brand will replace West =
on McLaren Mercedes's cars. But said: "We renegotiated the contract to =
comply with UK and EU legislation".=20

In its recent operating and financial review Imperial Tobacco reported =
exceptional costs of =A3129m. The report said these included "costs =
relating to the agreed renegotiation of the Formula One contract due to =
legislative constraints, effective during the second half of 2005."=20

Imperial Tobacco is said to believe that, by making an early exit from =
F1, it can help prevent a further regulatory tightening around tobacco.=20

Most forms of tobacco advertising and sponsorship have already been =
banned by the UK government. But cigarette companies were, =
controversially, granted a reprieve by the Blair government to continue =
sponsoring motorsport until 2006. However there is no current ban on =
spirits brands sponsoring F1.=20

The insider reveals that some Diageo marketeers are not happy about the =
deal. Their reservations surround what are called "behind-the-scenes =
negotiations with Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco".=20

The insider claims Walsh, Diageo marketing director Rob Malcolm and =
Johnnie Walker brand group head Stephen Morley - all confirmed F1 fans - =
pushed ahead with the sponsorship in the face of "internal division over =
the ethics of a spirits company sponsoring F1 motor sport [over drink =
driving concerns] and the amount of budget the association will =
require."=20

Observers claim Diageo's decision to enter F1 sponsorship has been =
spurred by its desire to find ways around the ever tighter regulation of =
above-the-line advertising of alcohol. Currently Budweiser owned by =
Anheuser Busch is the only other drinks sponsor.=20

Sponsorship experts said the deal would bring Johnnie Walker a =
particularly high profile in emerging Asian markets, particularly China, =
a nation which held its first Grand Prix this year.=20

Diageo is also reported to have held talks with British American Tobacco =
about possibly taking over the sponsorship of its British American =
Racing Formula One team. The drinks giant may have been hedging its bets =
in talking to both players simultaneously.=20

A spokeswoman for Diageo said: "Is F1 an exciting proposition for =
Johnnie Walker? Yes it is. But it is only one of the activities we would =
consider."=20

She referred to Johnnie Walker's sponsorship of Asian golf tournaments =
and Smirnoff's existing sponsorship of Nascar stock car racing in the =
US. However, the spokeswoman added: "this is all a bit premature." She =
insisted that, were Johnnie Walker to be sponsoring an F1 team, any deal =
would not have been done with tobacco manufacturers.=20

She said "We would want to know that any association with tobacco =
companies had ended."=20

So the main thrust of Diageo's talks is more likely to have been direct =
with McLaren, led by chairman Ron Dennis. A spokeswoman for McLaren =
said: "This is not something we wish to comment on. We never reveal the =
details of contracts or commercial matters."=20
Source: Sunday Herald, 12 December 2004=20
Article link: http://www.sundayherald.com/46599=20
=20
=20
Poisoning risk from smuggled cigarettes
=20
Britain is awash with fake cigarettes which present a much greater =
health risk than normal ones, the government said yesterday.
=20
Announcing a campaign aimed at persuading smokers to shun cheap, =
smuggled cigarettes, The Treasury minister John Healey warned that in =
some parts of London, 100% of smuggled cigarettes on sale in the street =
or pubs were not the brand they claim to be.=20

The authorities are seizing 1m fake cigarettes daily, most of which =
originate in Asia or eastern Europe and which are made from tobacco =
grown using dangerous pesticides and fertilisers which in turn contain =
heavy metals such as the cancer-causing cadmium and arsenic.=20

These get absorbed by the plant and end up in smokers' lungs.=20

Mr Healey said: "So if you are tempted to buy cheap smuggled cigarettes =
in the street or in the pub, what you're doing is not only funding =
organised crime, it can also be even more dangerous for your health than =
genuine cigarettes."=20

Dr Ed Stephens, of the University of St Andrews, said counterfeit =
cigarettes contained between two and six times as much of these toxic =
substances as conventional cigarettes. "This is a worrying find for the =
health of those who are heavy and habitual smokers of counterfeits," he =
said.=20

Mr Healey said the findings, which also showed much higher tar and =
nicotine content in fake cigarettes, showed that smoking 20 counterfeit =
cigarettes was as bad for people as smoking 100 real ones.=20

The fake cigarettes were often manufactured in caverns in Asia using =
outdated machinery discarded years ago by western cigarette makers.=20
He said the government's crackdown on smuggling of genuine cigarettes by =
criminal gangs had led them to begin making their own.=20
"We have seized 9bn cigarettes over the past four years and destroyed =
259 smuggling gangs. That means =A33bn has been saved in revenue."=20

But he said that smuggled cigarettes, of which fake ones account for =
more than half, still accounted for 15% of the country's 58bn a year =
cigarette market - equivalent to 1,000 for every man, woman and child in =
the country.=20

That represents a loss to the government in excise duties of =A31.9bn a =
year.=20

But if the government had not clamped down on the problem since 2000, he =
said, smuggled cigarettes would now account for up to 40% of the market. =


The problem of faked cigarettes is at its most severe in London.=20

"In places like Whitechapel, Dalston and the Holloway Road, all the =
cigarettes we seize are fake and for London as a whole, the figure is =
85%," he said. But he added that two-thirds of Londoners who bought =
cheap cigarettes assumed them to be real.=20
The counterfeiters are copying all the major brands such as Lambert & =
Butler, Benson & Hedges, Embassy No1, Marlboro and Silk Cut.=20

"It is near impossible to tell from the outside packaging whether you =
are buying fakes or not, even if they have health warnings and a tax =
stamp."=20

He added that it was common for 5-6m fake cigarettes to be seized from a =
single container. "That's enough to keep a small town in fags for well =
over a week. The black market is big business."=20

Source: The Times, Daily Mirror, The Guardian, 16 December 2004
Article link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1374537,00.html =
=20
=20
In response to these claims of a risk to smokers' health, ASH director =
Deborah Arnott said "All cigarettes are dangerous, not just those =
produced and sold illegally."
=20
----------------------------------
Unsubscribe:=20
=20
Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe =20
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org =20
----------------------------------
=20
=20