ASH, 102 Clifton Street, LONDON, EC2A 4HW.
Tel 020 7739 5902 Fax 020 7613 0531

ASH Daily News

30 October 2003

HEADLINES

BAT merger - what the papers said
Smoking ban for city
Restaurants' response to smokefree zones
Smokeless tobacco
Ex-smoker up for award


FULL TEXT

BAT filters out litigation threat with merger - what the papers said

The markets lit up at the news that the US arm of British American Tobacco, Brown & Williamson, is to merge with the US tobacco giant RJ Reynolds. The Chicago Tribune reported that the deal was one of several mergers that sent stocks up. Monday, the paper said, was "the busiest day for mergers in nearly four years and made October the best month for mergers in more than two years".

"The deal's primary goal is to give RJR and BAT an edge in the increasingly competitive US tobacco market, which is dominated on one side by the Philip Morris behemoth... and on the other by a passel of new, independent brands - so called Small Tobacco," said the Daily Deal, a US business paper.

Full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/editor/story/0,12900,1073680,00.html
Source: The Guardian, 30 October 2003



Smoking ban for city

Health bosses hope to ban smoking across Plymouth within five years.

Smoking could be banned in all restaurants, bars, shops, offices and entertainment venues according to Plymouth Primary Care Trust's public health director Debra Lapthorne.

A new policy being developed by Ms Lapthorne and the Smoking Advice Service aims to put a stop to smoking in all workplaces, which they say will include all indoor public places in the city.

In the first annual report by the director of public health, which was presented to bosses at the Primary Care Trust last week, Ms Lapthorne said treating illnesses and diseases caused by smoking is estimated to cost the NHS in Plymouth £8 million, and causes more than 560 deaths per year.

Each year in Plymouth, more than 70 admissions to hospital of under five-year-olds are due to their parents smoking.

Bosses at the PCT, which funds all NHS services in the city, have backed the move.

Full article linked from:
http://www.tobacco.org/news/141769.html
Source: Evening Herald News, 29 October 2003



Restaurants' response to smokefree zones

As a guide to smoke-free restaurants in North East Lincolnshire hits the streets, establishments in the Grimsby area had a mixed response at the possibility of a tobacco-less future.

The guide, compiled by the Humberside Alliance on Tobacco, a consortium of local authorities and NHS Primary Care Trusts, was launched earlier this month. It has been distributed to libraries and doctors' surgeries - and is seen by many as the first step towards banning smoking in public places in the area.

Pizza Hut, in Victoria Street, Grimsby, turned smoke-free two years ago. The nationwide chain later followed and was the first UK restaurant group to adopt a no-smoking policy last August.

Manager Corri Johnstone said the response to the ban from customers was positive: "All our customers, including smokers, overwhelmingly prefer a non-smoking environment and we find it helps to create an excellent family experience."

A spokeswoman for the entire chain said such experiences were not untypical.

Full article linked from:
http://www.tobacco.org/news/141832.html
Source: Grimsby Telegraph, 28 October 2003



Smokeless tobacco

Sarah Howden writing for the Edinburgh Evening News reports on the possible rise of smokeless tobacco as an alternative to cigarettes. She says that with more and more countries banning smoking in public places, high-profile lawsuits putting billion-dollar dents in their profits and the now unmissable health warnings which must adorn cigarette packets, tobacco companies have been facing an uphill battle in recent years.

And while few non-smokers will be shedding any tears over the industry's struggles, tobacco giants have been donning their thinking caps to devise ingenious ways of reaching their market.

Although it hardly enjoys the most glamorous of images, the answer they have come up with is snuff. Tobacco giant the US Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC) is busy trying to attract young professionals to its newly packaged product.

Already, smoking in restaurants, bars, hotels and other public places is banned in various countries including parts of the US and Australia, and is set to be outlawed in Ireland from January 1.

And it looks as though it is only a matter of time before those who fail to kick the increasingly taboo habit in the UK will be forced to smoke in the privacy of their own home. Indeed, the smell, taste and health implications associated with passive smoking are slowly sending smokers into social exile. So as public smoking bans get tougher worldwide, an alternative form of tobacco is the obvious answer. And tobacco companies seem confident that they will be successful in seducing smokers with smokeless snuff rebranded as a glamorous, more healthy alternative to the cigarette.

Full article:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=1194472003
Source: Edinburgh Evening News, 29 October 2003



Ex-smoker up for award

A council boss who beat a 31-year cigarette addiction is in line for a top award. Douglas Munro, 50, of Anniesland, Glasgow, will head to London on November 26 for the Quitter of the Year Awards 2003.

Mr Munro, who works with Glasgow City Council's development and regeneration services, is one of eight ex-smokers from across the UK in line for the award run by the charity Quit, which helps people stop smoking.

He said: "I don't really care if I win the award because as far as I'm concerned I have won already by beating my nicotine addiction. I gave up in March last year and although I have what I call my 'cigarette moments' after meals or a coffee, I have never smoked since."

Mr Munro will be accompanied to the ceremony by his wife Enid, who gave up her cigarette habit shortly after her husband quit.

Full article linked from:
http://www.tobacco.org/news/141777.html
Source: Evening Times Online, 29 October 2003


----------------------------------
Unsubscribe:

Public subscribers: http://www.ash.org.uk/?unsubscribe
Globalink members: http://member.globalink.org/nbuk
----------------------------------