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ASH Daily News

26 October 2004

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HEADLINES

Voters back regulation of traditional vices
Smoking out our views
Website to lift lid on inside story at BAT
Results of smoking ban research
Reynolds American reaps merger benefits

FULL TEXT

Voters back regulation of traditional vices

The public see government action over gambling smoking and drinking as proper regulation rather than as “nanny state” meddling, according to the results of this months Guardian / ICM poll.

The survey shows that more than 60% of voters believe that the government should “regulate for the benefit of others” where and when adults smoke and drink and where casinos are allowed to open.

Only 35% say they oppose government interference.

The October ICM survey also shows strong support for the government's plans to relax the drinking laws so that pubs can stagger their closing times with 57% backing liberalisation and only 37% expressing disapproval.

At the same time two-thirds of the public want to see smoking bans in all enclosed public places, including pubs, restaurants and offices.

The results of the ICM poll suggest that voters reject claims that the Labour government is acting as some kind of "state nanny" when it tries to regulate the nation's smoking, drinking and gambling habits, with 61% regarding such regulation as necessary "for the benefit of others".

Full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1336076,00.html
Source: The Guardian (early edidtion), 26 October 2004



Smoking out our views
Guardian editorial:

We regulate, you restrict and they interfere. The political declension is straightforward but, as this government has found to its cost, any attempt to change social behaviour in Britain carries with it implications that vary according to viewpoint.

Full text:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1335818,00.html
Source: The Guardian, 26 October 2004



Website to lift lid on inside story at BAT

A website launched today will allow members of the public to examine the internal workings of British American Tobacco down to the smallest detail.

The site's organisers say it includes evidence of BAT's efforts to thwart anti-smoking initiatives, and has documents relating to international smuggling.

The information is being published to coincide with the release of BAT's third quarter results.

The site - a joint project between the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; the University of California, San Francisco; and the Mayo Clinic, a US medical not-for-profit group - will give access to more than 1m pages of internal memos, research and reports relating to the activities of BAT from the early 1940s to 1995.

Derek Yach, professor of public health at Yale University, said the archive was important because it had already shown how health policy had been influenced by tobacco groups through lobbying.

"It gives us important lessons on how we can work with companies because of the many tactics they use to delay or thwart policy," he said.

Levels of disclosure could influence the behaviour of other large businesses, he added. "The corporations will realise that they have to be cleaner because it could be them next."

Deborah Arnott, director of Action on Smoking and Health, described the project as "crucial", because the public could lose its access to the archive in 2009.

She said: "It's very clear that once there is no legal requirement for the archive it will be closed down."

BAT said it remained unconcerned about the site as the records had been available to the public for many years at Guildford.

The online archive can be accessed at http://www.bat.library.ucsf.edu

Full article:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0c8bb7b4-26eb-11d9-9157-00000e2511c8.html
The slow struggle to clear the smokescreen:
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/16e316ce-26ed-11d9-9157-00000e2511c8.html
Source: The Financial Times, 26 October 2004



Results of smoking ban research

The results of a 12-month consultation on banning smoking in public places in Poole are being revealed on Tuesday.

The consultation was funded by the Borough of Poole and organised by Bournemouth University.

The council wants to gauge whether there is popular support for a total ban on smoking in bars and restaurants as has happened in places like Ireland.

Last week, Liverpool became the first city in the UK to ban smoking in public places after a decision by the council.

The council will have to petition Parliament by 27 November so that a smoke-free law for Liverpool can be considered in the next legislative session.

Poole council says no decision has yet been made but recommendations made in the consultation will be considered.

Source: BBC Online, 26 October 2004



Reynolds American reaps merger benefits

Reynolds American Inc., reporting earnings for the first time since the merger of R.J. Reynolds and the U.S. operations of Brown & Williamson Tobacco, Monday posted third-quarter net profit of $339 million, or $2.66 a share.

The results compared with a loss of $3.5 billion, or $41.31 a share, in the same period last year.

The third-quarter's earnings include a pretax benefit of $7 million for an adjustment to previously recorded restructuring charges, and $60 million in one-time merger-related costs. The results also include a benefit of $141 million resulting from the favorable resolution of certain tax matters from previous years. The results from the year-earlier quarter include pretax restructuring charges of $310 million, and goodwill and trademark-impairment charges of $3.59 billion as well as a pretax benefit from a change in R.J. Reynolds's returned-goods policy and a tax benefit.

Revenue in the third quarter rose 35% to $1.87 billion from $1.38 billion a year earlier

Source: Wall Street Journal Europe, 26 October 2004


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