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ASH Daily News

Friday 24 November 2000


Headlines

BAT to take Carter case to US Supreme Court
Drug use up, smoking down among teenagers
Siemens offers no-smoking bonus
Austria Tabak profit rise
Smoking and mental illness


Full Text

BAT to take Carter case to US Supreme Court

Brown & Williamson, BAT's US subsidiary, has announced that it will contest
the ruling by the Florida Supreme Court which reinstated damages of $750,000
to Grady Carter who sued the tobacco company for damages after he was
diagnosed with lung cancer. BAT won an appeal against the original ruling,
arguing that Carter had left it too long before suing, and that such actions
were barred under a 1969 federal statute. The Florida Supreme Court
reversed that appeal earlier this week. BAT shares were hit by the ruling,
slumping 45p to 480p. However, they rallied to 492p after the news that BAT
planned to fight on with the case.

Source: Daily Express, Financial Times, Times, 24/11/00


Drug use up, smoking down among teenagers

The latest survey of smoking, alcohol and drug use among teenagers in
England has shown a slight rise in illegal drug use, up from 10% in 1998 to
11% in 1999 but a fall in smoking rates. Nearly two thirds of 15 year olds
said they had been offered drugs in the past year. However, the good news
is that smoking rates have fallen again from the 1996 peak of 13% to 9% in
1999. The survey was conducted among more than 9,000 secondary
schoolchildren aged 11-15 in 340 schools in England.

The Guardian, 24/11/00


Siemens offers no-smoking bonus

Siemens, the German technology and engineering group, is offering no-smoking
bonuses to workers who stop smoking. The company said it would pay staff an
extra DM250 ($107) per month for two years if they successfully kick the
habit.

Financial Times, 24/11/00



Austria Tabak profit rise

Austria Tabak has recorded a 24% increase in nine-month operating profit of
2.08 bn Austrian schillings (151.2m Euro), from the 1.67bn sch. a year
earlier. Sales of cigarettes registered a year-to-year increase of 13% to
22.13bn units.

Wall Street Journal, 24/11/00


Smoking and mental illness

The Wall Street Journal Europe reports on the study published in JAMA which
found that people with a diagnosable mental illness were twice as likely to
be smokers as other persons. The study adds to the debate about the links
between mental disorders and smoking. One of the authors suggest that
mental illness might lead to smoking by making people more vulnerable to
advertising or to nicotine addiction. However other studies suggest that
those who smoke are more likely to have mental disorders. The JAMA study
also notes that internal documents from the tobacco industry suggest "the
industry has identified psychologically vulnerable persons as part of their
tobacco market". JAMA: 2000 284; 20: 2606-10

Wall St. Journal Europe, 24/11/00


Karl Brookes
Action on Smoking and Health
102 Clifton Street
London
EC2A 4HW
Tel: 00 44 20 7739 5902
Fax: 00 44 20 7613 0531
http://www.ash.org.uk