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ASH Daily news for 30 June 2010

HEADLINES

  • Scotland: Judicial review of tobacco bans under way

    A tobacco giant has called on a judge to set aside Scottish parliament plans to ban the open display of cigarettes in shops.

    The call by Imperial Tobacco came at the start of a judicial review at the Court of Session of measures passed by the parliament in January.

    Imperial is also trying to stop a ban on vending machines selling cigarettes.

    The firm told the court the provisions were outside the legislative competency of Holyrood and were not law.

    Imperial argued the measures, contained in the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act, related to matters reserved to the Westminster parliament under consumer protection provisions.

    It also claimed the relevant sections modified a rule of Scottish criminal law which was "special to a reserved matter" and that it would alter freedom of trade provisions in the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England.

    Imperial's action is being contested by Scotland's senior law officer, the Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, who maintained the firm was not entitled to the orders it sought.

    Junior counsel for Imperial Tobacco, Brian Gill, told the court the company did not accept "the various assertions made and opinions expressed about smoking and health either by the Scottish government or members of the Scottish parliament" during the passage of the Bill, or by the Lord Advocate.

    Mr Gill said: "The effect of Section 1 (of the Act) is to criminalise the display of tobacco products or smoking-related products which is a currently lawful display. What is created is a wholly new offence in Scottish criminal law."

    He said it amounted to "a drastic outright ban".

    He also argued the provision over cigarette vending machines also created a criminal offence.

    "The Scottish Parliament has taken a deliberate legislative decision to create these new offences," he said.

    The Scottish government has announced the display ban would come into effect for larger retailers next year and for smaller shops in 2013.

    The Lord Advocate said the introduction of the bill was "part of a government programme to improve Scottish public health by reducing smoking".

    She said smoking was estimated to be responsible for 13,500 deaths each year and many more hospital admissions.

    Ms Angiolini maintained the sections of the legislation containing the bans did not relate to a reserved matter and were within the legislative competency of the Scottish parliament.

    The hearing continues. The judge, Lord Bracadale, is expected to give a decision at a later date.

    Source: BBC News, 29 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/bGFjqd

  • Police officer run over by lorry in cigarette smuggling sting

    A police officer is now said to be in a serious but stable condition after being hit by a lorry during an anti-smuggling operation in south Armagh.

    Police on both sides of the Irish border are searching for the driver of a lorry which struck two PSNI officers during a customs raid on Tuesday.

    The second officer's injuries are not thought to be life threatening.

    Seven million cigarettes were recovered. Two men have been arrested.

    The seriously injured policeman was airlifted from the scene by helicopter. He was taken to the Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

    The officer suffered very serious injuries to his upper body and has undergone emergency surgery.

    It is understood that over the weekend a cargo of smuggled cigarettes arrived from China in Dublin Port.

    It is believed it was then watched by customs officers in the Irish Republic as it was brought to Dundalk.

    Earlier on Tuesday, the container was taken across the border to warehouses near Meigh.

    It is understood a number of armed PSNI officers and revenue officials raided the warehouse as the cigarettes were being unloaded.

    The driver of one lorry drove through a roller door as he escaped and hit the two PSNI officers, who were outside.

    The lorry drove the short distance to the border at high speed.

    However, as the driver was turning the truck into a yard in the Irish Republic, he lost control.

    The lorry ended up on its side and a search is now underway on both sides of the border for the driver.

    PSNI Inspector David Beck condemned those responsible.

    "These officers were doing their utmost to prevent and tackle crime in the south Armagh area," he said.

    "But unfortunately those involved were prepared to risk the lives of these officers. Their actions are in sharp contrast to the actions of the officers."

    Sinn Fein MP for the area Conor Murphy said he condemned the incident and that his thoughts were with the injured officer.

    DUP MLA William Irwin said it was a "dastardly crime".

    "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the officers and their families," he added.

    Source: BBC News, 30 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/9oIYaV

  • Campaigners for full smoking ban in Germany flag up workers’ rights

    Supporters of a complete ban on smoking in Germany’s pubs and restaurants have started a new public relations offensive to convince politicians to enact a uniform national ban similar to the stringent smokefree laws in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

    The German Cancer Research Centre kicked off the campaign on 22 June by publishing a new report analysing the effects of non-uniform partial smoking bans enacted over the past three years by Germany’s 16 states.

    On the positive side, the report notes that partial bans have improved "air quality in public places" and have increased the proportion of Germans who would now support a total national smoking ban. Although in 2006 only 26% of Germany’s regular smokers supported a total ban in pubs and restaurants, some 41% are now in favour, raising combined support for a total ban among non-smokers and smokers to 74%.

    On the negative side, the current non-uniform laws allow separate smoking rooms in restaurants and larger pubs, as well as full smoking rights in one room pubs, meaning that many customers and employees are still being exposed to the health hazards and discomfort of tobacco smoke.

    Martina Pötschke-Langer, head of the research centre’s division of cancer prevention and the World Health Organization’s collaborating centre for tobacco control in Heidelberg, said, "Germany now needs to take the next step by enacting a national law banning smoking in all restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs."

    She added, "The public debate on smokefree legislation is starting again. Some 74.4% of our citizens want to have smokefree pubs and restaurants and also a national law. It is time for change, and I am optimistic it will happen."

    Despite her confidence, building enough political support for a national law will not be easy in Germany, where until 2007 unrestricted smoking was allowed in bars and most restaurants. In 2007 the federal government dropped plans for a federal law, declaring that laws must be made at the state level. States complied but allowed separate smoking rooms in pubs and restaurants. Laws were further weakened in July 2008 when Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled as discriminatory a ban on smoking in one room pubs while allowing larger pubs to have a separate smoking room.

    The Federation of German Consumer Organisations is lending its support for a total ban. Stefan Etgeton, head of its health and nutrition department, said, "Non-smoker protection is consumer protection, which the public wants."

    A key strategy for gaining enough political support for a total ban is that it will extend health protection to all restaurant and bar employees in Germany, which has a tradition of strong labour unions and worker protection laws.

    "Under current laws all the workers who must work in smoky workplaces are suffering from this health risk," Dr Pötschke-Langer said. "It is a case of inequality and it is a case of human rights."

    Source: BMJ, 28 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/d86ADp

  • New Zealand: Anti-smoking group wants ban on duty-free cigarettes

    Anti-smoking group ASH New Zealand is calling for the Government to ban the sale of duty-free cigarettes.

    ASH director Ben Youda told the broadcaster that duty-free tobacco often ends up on the blackmarket.

    Mr Youda said tour group leaders were getting members of their party to buy a carton of cigarettes each to beat the one-carton-per-person limit. "Then the tour leader will pay them, take all the packets and then go and sell them at a reduced price."

    Banning duty-free cigarettes is part of a World Health Organisation tobacco treaty which New Zealand signed up to seven years ago.

    Other clauses of the agreement included raising tobacco prices, banning smoking indoors and placing health warnings on cigarettes - all of which have been implemented.

    While a spokesperson for the Health Ministry said the department is looking into the issue, the Prime Minister told One News he had already ruled out a ban.

    "People are able to buy duty-free goods anywhere - on the plane, on the exit point of wherever they're leaving. Why would New Zealand sign up to that if airlines are going to continue to sell cigarettes on board?"

    Source: nzherald, 28 June 2010
    Link: http://bit.ly/aAUEWu