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ASH Daily News

24 November 2004

HEADLINES

London School of Hygiene levels smuggling charge at BAT
Worldwide smoking deaths claim 5 million lives
Smokers "hooked by defective gene"
Ireland: Inmate seeks early release from smoky cell

FULL TEXT

London School of Hygiene levels smuggling charge at BAT

Charges of smuggling have been levelled at British American Tobacco
(BAT) by researchers at the London School of Hygiene (LSHTM), who have
studied the company's own internal documents.

BAT is accused of condoning and profiting from smuggling of its brands
into Asian countries such as China, Cambodia and Thailand in the 1990s
when the region had restrictions on foreign imports.

The research team, which is publishing its findings on BAT's activities
today, also allege BAT conducted questionable lobbying techniques to
manipulate governments in the region away from cigarette advertising
controls and health warnings.

BAT has always rejected allegations about its supposed link with
smuggling. A three year Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) into
alleged criminal conduct was dropped in March when it was concluded that
there was no evidence to back the claims

Yet the LSHTM, after careful scrutiny of BAT's internal documents
asserts that contraband trade in Asia was considered crucial at a time
when the region was closed to foreign companies.

Jeff Collins, co-author of the LSHTP research papers said he was
"astonished" by the DTI's decision to abandon the case against BAT.
"Asia is the key to BAT's future prospects and its own internal
documents highlight how important illicit trade was to the company.
There is evidence here that makes the failure of the DTI to take any
action incredible", he said.

Source: Independent, Times, November 24 2004
Times article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,172-1372151,00.html


Worldwide smoking deaths claim 5 million lives

Researchers have calculated that smoking claimed the lives of almost 5
million people worldwide in 2000.
Harvard University and the University of Queensland say over half the
deaths were in smokers aged 30 to 69. The research, in the journal
Tobacco Control, found premature death rates were evenly divided between
the developed and developing world.
But men were more than three times as likely as women to die an early
death as a direct result of smoking.
Three out of four smoking deaths in developed countries and more than
eight out of 10 in developing countries were in men.
The principal cause of smoking related death was cardiovascular disease,
which killed over 1 million people in the developed world and 670,000 in
the developing one.
Lung cancer, the next biggest smoking killer in the developed world, was
responsible for over 500,000 premature deaths.
Chronic obstructive airways disease (COPD), a collective term for
inflammatory lung disease, such as bronchitis, killed more people in the
developing world, accounting for 650,000 deaths.
In Eastern Europe and North America, smoking caused almost one in four
deaths among people aged between 30 and 69.
In developing countries overall, 62% of deaths directly attributable to
smoking were in people aged between 30 and 69, compared with around half
in industrialised countries.
Researchers warn that the smoking-related death toll is likely to
continue.
Amanda Sandford, of Ash, said the research showed starkly the
"devastating impact" of smoking on communities around the world.
She said: "The extent of lung cancer, heart disease and chronic
respiratory disease in millions of people is a direct consequence of the
ruthless marketing of a deadly drug by the multi-national tobacco
companies.
"We must not forget that behind these bald statistics are real people:
mothers, fathers, friends and other loved-ones who have suffered
needlessly and who may have lost up to 30 years of life because of their
addiction.
"If we are to stem this dreadful tide of mortality in the future,
governments must implement the global tobacco control treaty without
delay."
Source: BBC Online, Sun, Daily Express, 24 November 2004
Journal source: Tobacco Control 2004; 13: 388-95

Smokers "hooked by defective gene"

Scientists believe they have identified a gene that makes people more
prone to cigarette addiction.

Those with the gene defect may smoke less than others but they become
addicted more easily and experience more difficulty in quitting. The
results are published in the journal Tobacco Control.

The gene, called CYO2A6, is involved in the metabolism of nicotine in
the liver. Dr Jennifer O'Loughlin, of the department of epidemiology at
McGill University, Montreal, said that the time it takes the body to
deactivate nicotine varies in different people.

Her team analysed the smoking patterns of 1,200 teenagers and found 228
who smoked but who were not addicted. They were studied for two years,
during which time 67 became nicotine addicts.

Source: Daily Telegraph, Daily Star, 24 November 2004
Link to Tobacco Control:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/tc/december/422_tc7070.pdf
Journal source: Tobacco Control 2004; 13: 422-8


Ireland: Inmate seeks early release from smoky cell

A prisoner is seeking early release on the grounds that he should not be
incarcerated in an institution where smoking is permitted. The Inmate
has now begun legal action against the Government.

Prisons are one of the few locations exempted from the smoking ban under
regulations introduced by the former Health Minister, Mr Martin, in
November 2002.

Hotel bedrooms, psychiatric hospitals, hospices, hostels for the
homeless and the Central Mental Hospital are among those exempt from the
ban under the regulations.

Source: Irish Times, 22 November 2004

November 2004

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Harold Wilson
ASH
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http://www.ash.org.uk
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