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ASH Daily News

23 October 2003

HEADLINES

BAT fined for refusing to release files
Row over 'barmy' PR deal
Don't hide but heed the warnings!
9 held as smuggling ring is smashed
Medical student smoking falls

FULL TEXT

BAT fined for refusing to release files


British American Tobacco (BAT) is paying a $25,000-a-day fine for
refusing to turn over documents that the Department of Justice says may
reveal attempts by the British tobacco manufacturer to hide the health
dangers of tobacco.

The case stems from BAT's refusal to comply with last week's order by
the U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., to turn over documents in
possession of its Australian subsidiary. The government also says that
the company may have planned to destroy the papers. As a result of its
refusal, the court on Friday imposed a fine of $25,000 a day for
contempt of court. A company spokeswoman said BAT has paid the fine for
each day this week.

The dispute arose from a lawsuit filed against BAT by an Australian
smoker in October 2001, who has since died of lung cancer. The trial
turned up evidence suggesting that BAT may have had a policy of
destroying documents that would show the company had tried to hide its
knowledge of the health risks of cigarettes. As part of a fraud and
racketeering lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the Department of
Justice demanded that BAT turn over the sensitive documents.

The company argues that the court order is "fundamentally flawed and
erroneous" because it violates attorney-client privilege, said
spokeswoman Ann Tradigo. BAT plans to file an appeal in the coming days
to lift the sanctions. A Justice Department spokesman declined to
comment.

London-based BAT is the world's second-largest publicly traded tobacco
company by volume, after Philip Morris. BAT is the third-largest
cigarette manufacturer in the U.S. by volume, where its Brown &
Williamson earlier produces such brands as Lucky Strike, Kool and Pall
Mall.

The BAT subsidiary that is the defendant in the Department of Justice
case and which has paid the fine is British American Tobacco
(Investments) Ltd.

Source: Wall Street Journal Europe, 23 October 2003



Row over 'barmy' PR deal

Burson-Marsteller, the public relations agency used by the oil, GM,
tobacco and chemical industries, is to represent the government's
pollution watchdog, in a move that environmentalists yesterday described
as "barmy".

The Environment Agency said it chose the company on an initial one-year
contract.

The company has in the past defended the tobacco giant Philip Morris,
all the major GM and oil companies, British Nuclear Fuels, McDonald's,
ICI and Dow chemicals. It also represented the regime of Nicolae
Ceausescu, the Argentinian junta, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

Hannah Griffiths, from Friends of the Earth, said: "Is the Environment
Agency more interested in holding polluting companies to account, or in
corporate spin-doctoring?"

The company's first task for the Environment Agency will concern flood
defence, but its role may become broader. "If they required defending or
help in managing their profile, I think we'd be asked to get involved,"
the firm's managing director, Mark Rollinson, said. "It's been a goal of
ours to win a public service contract."

Source: The Guardian, 23 October 2003



Don't hide but heed the warnings!

Anti-smoking campaigners have condemned the sale of customised cases
designed to cover up stark health warnings on cigarette packets.

Packraps are PVC sleeves which slide over the out-side of the boxes,
enabling people to indulge their love of nicotine, while allowing them
to ignore messages spelling out the dangers of smoking.

The new accessory has caused outrage at the Liverpool-based Roy Castle
Lung Cancer Foundation.

Charity founder Ray Donnelly said: "All these products do is help people
stay in denial about the very serious harm they can cause themselves by
smoking cigarettes." A spokesperson for anti-smoking campaign group Ash
said: "It's a sign that these warnings are working.

"The warnings are really stark, and make people feel uncomfortable.
That's why the people who make these products think there is a market.
The real message is that smoking kills half of long-term smokers, half
of whom are in their middle age."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "These warning were
introduced for a reason, and we don't believe they should be covered up"

Full article linked from:
http://www.tobacco.org/news/141170.html
Source: Cheshire Chronicle, 22 October 2003



9 held as smuggling ring is smashed

Nine people were questioned today as part of a bid to smash a
counterfeit cigarette smuggling operation from the Far East into the UK.

Customs and police officers arrested the men and women during searches
in England and Northern Ireland.

The raids came after more than 23 million illegal cigarettes believed to
be manufactured in China were seized earlier this year.

Tom Bishop, a Customs and Excise Senior Investigating Officer, said: Our
operation has been a tremendous success.

Full article:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2077613
Source: PA News, 21 October 2003



Medical student smoking falls

Nursing students are more likely to smoke cigarettes and to be nicotine
dependent than medical students, says a study published in Chest (2003;
124: 1415 - 20). A survey of more than 500 students in Philadelphia,
USA, showed that four times as many nursing students smoked cigarettes
as medical students, and twice as many students were former smokers. The
rate of smoking among medical students had fallen in the past decade,
and those who did smoke were less nicotine dependent than their nursing
counterparts.

Source: The Lancet, 18 October 2003


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