Poor Smokers Quit Smoking Because of Tobacco Taxes, Jakarta News

Although the cost of living in the capital is becoming unbearable for many Jakartans, when it comes to buy Esse cigarettes some have no qualms about shelling out as much as half of their incomes for the “luxury”.

Meet Romli, a liang teh (Chinese health tea) seller who earns between Rp 25,000 (US$2.80) and Rp 50,000 a day and spends some Rp 20,000 daily on two packs of cigarettes.

The 23-year-old man from Slipi, West Jakarta, said obligations to his wife and 4-year-old son were not enough to make him quit smoking and put that money to his family.

“My wife scolds me when she finds me smoking, especially when I do it when my son is around, but so far it hasn’t stopped me,” he said.

However, Romli said that, although he would not quit smoking any time soon, he always saved enough money for his son’s needs.

“I always make sure that my son’s needs are fulfilled,” he said.

In South Jakarta, another smoker, Sukiman, said that despite earning only Rp 650,000 per month as caretaker of a low-rent apartment in Kebayoran, he could not pass a day without spending Rp 10,000 for cigarettes.

“I started smoking when I was a little boy, younger than 10 years old,” Sukiman told The Jakarta Post.

Beside him were two packs of cigarettes: One nearly empty and the other still sealed.

“Back then, it was only one cigarette a day. Then it became two and then four and six and so on. Nowadays, I smoke between one and one and a half packs a day.” One pack of his favorite cigarettes costs between Rp 9,500 and Rp 10,000.

His children are grown and generate their own income now, Sukiman said.

Health Ministry data shows that, in 2010, smoking among Indonesian adults increased to 34.7 percent, up from 31.5 percent in 2001. Of that 34.7 percent, 28.2 percent smoked every day.

The data also shows that 66 percent of males and 4 percent of females over 15 are active smokers.

Tobacco industry players have targeted cigarette sales of Rp 188 trillion this year, a 6 percent increase from Rp 177 trillion last year when an estimated 250 billion cigarettes were produced. At least 10 million Indonesians are directly involved in the country’s cigarette industry.

The Jakarta administration is currently considering revoking the government-sponsored healthcare insurance for poor people who smoke habitually.

Sukiman, like many other impoverished smokers, said that he often tried to quit smoking.

“When I am working on something and my mind is occupied, I often forget my urge to smoke,” he said.

Irfan, a motorcycle taxi driver in Slipi agreed, but added, “The moment I take a break from doing whatever I’m doing, the moment I sit down and my mind begins to wander, that is when I feel the urge to smoke again.”

People such as Irfan and Sukiman said they often felt helpless to resist their smoking urges.

“It has changed from merely a hobby to some sort of a craving,” said Amsar, 45, an unofficial security guard at a residential area in Grogol Utara subdistrict, South Jakarta.

As an unofficial security guard, he does not have a fixed source of income. Most of the time, he depends on the generosity of local residents to give him money for his services.

“Let’s just say that I have enough money to buy my meals, my cups of coffee and lots of cigarettes. I can’t stop doing it now,” he said, taking a long drag on his cigarette.

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Posted in: buy Esse cigarettes,cigarette,quit smoking

U.S. Judge blocks Graphic Cigarette Warnings

A federal judge blocked a U.S. rule requiring tobacco companies to display graphic images on cigarette packs, such as a man exhaling discount Marengo cigarette smoke through a hole in his throat.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided on Monday with tobacco companies and granted a temporary injunction, saying they would likely prevail in their lawsuit challenging the requirement as unconstitutional because it compels speech in violation of the First Amendment.

The Food and Drug Administration in June released nine new warnings to go into effect in September of 2012, the first change in U.S. cigarette warning labels in 25 years. Cigarette packs already carry text warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General.

The new warnings must cover the top half of the front and back of cigarette packs and 20 percent of printed advertisements and must contain color graphics depicting the health consequences of smoking, including diseased lungs, dead bodies and rotting teeth.

Congress instructed FDA to impose the new labels as part of 2009 legislation making the agency responsible for regulating tobacco products.

“The sheer size and display requirements for the graphic images are anything but narrowly tailored,” Leon wrote in a 29-page opinion.

Just because Congress ordered the size and placement of the new warnings before charging the FDA with carrying out the mandate, “doing so does not enable this requirement to somehow automatically pass constitutional muster,” he said.

The content of the images would also not likely survive constitutional muster because the FDA did not attempt to narrowly tailor those either, the judge said.

The tobacco lawsuit is the latest effort by corporations to assert a right to free speech, a high-profile legal battle that could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Reynolds American Inc’s R.J. Reynolds unit, Lorillard Inc, Liggett Group LLC and Commonwealth Brands Inc, owned by Britain’s Imperial Tobacco Group Plc, sued the FDA in August.

They argued the new graphic warnings force them to “engage in anti-smoking advocacy” on the government’s behalf, breaching their right to free speech.

The Obama administration’s options include appealing Leon’s ruling or the FDA could try to rewrite the rules.

FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Yao said the agency did not comment on proposed, pending or ongoing litigation. Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the department was aware of the decision and was reviewing it.

The White House expressed disappointment in the ruling.

“Tobacco companies shouldn’t be standing in the way of common sense measures that will help prevent children from smoking. We are confident big tobacco’s attempt to stop these warnings from going forward will ultimately fail,” White House spokesman Nick Papas said.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, accounting for one in every five deaths every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 21 percent of U.S. adults smoke cigarettes, a number little changed since 2004.

Worldwide, tobacco kills nearly 6 million people every year, including more than 600,000 nonsmokers, according to the World Health Organization, which has repeatedly called for graphic images to appear on tobacco packs, saying the pictorial warnings actually work.

The tobacco industry had asked Leon to block the FDA’s new requirements, pending a final decision on their constitutionality. They argued they needed a quick ruling because they would have to start in November or December and spend millions of dollars to comply with the requirements.

Justice Department attorneys had argued that the money was a small fraction of the companies’ net sales, so they would not suffer irreparable harm without the temporary injunction.

Government attorneys said the labels conveyed the dangers of smoking more effectively than words alone, and were needed to stop more people from smoking, especially teenagers.

Judge Leon said the images provoked an emotional response rather than just providing factual and noncontroversial information, crossing the line into using company advertising for government advocacy.

Floyd Abrams, a prominent First Amendment lawyer representing Lorillard, called Leon’s ruling a “vindication for the well-established First Amendment principle that the government may not compel speech in the commercial area.”

He said the case was in its early stages and there was a “good chance” it will eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Dow Jones tobacco index, whose components include Altria, Lorillard and Reynolds American, was just 0.05 percent higher in afternoon trading amid mixed trading for broader U.S. stock indexes as investors kept a worried eye on European debt problems.

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Posted in: tobacco companies,tobacco products

Russia considers total ban on hookah

Russia’s hookahs lovers may soon be deprived of their beloved habit, as the country’s parliament is considering a bill on banning the smoky hobby in public places.

Hookah ban is considered in Russia.

The ban’s supporters say smoking hookahs is a hundred times more harmful than cheap cigarettes. They also point out that the habit can spread tuberculosis and syphilis.

The Russian government is also working on a radical anti-tobacco draft which will completely eliminatetobacco shops and prohibit smoking in building entrances, coffee shops, restaurants and nightclubs.

The Health Ministry has also suggested annual price increases on tobacco. According to Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin, the increase in excise tax on alcohol and tobacco will bring in an additional 8 billion rubles in 2012 and 59 billion rubles in 2013.

The goal of the new anti-tobacco legislation is to decrease tobacco consumption in Russia by 10-15 per cent. Today, 60.2 per cent of males and 21.7 per cent of females smoke in Russia, making up 40 per cent of the country’s population. An estimated 400,000 Russians die each year of smoking-related illnesses.

Thus far, efforts to introduce a general smoking ban have faced an uphill struggle. Recent draft legislation would see a ban in cafes and nightclubs no earlier than 2015.

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Posted in: cheap cigarettes,tobacco

Cowboys & Aliens Fails to Shoot Straight on Smoking with Its Youngest Movie Goers

Universal Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back with Major Smoking Scenes in Youth-Rated Blockbuster, Opening Today
Washington, D.C. – Cowboys & Aliens, released today, will be reaching young theater audiences around the country with images of smoking that could motivate many of them to light up for the first time. Previous research has already confirmed a link between smoking images in movies and youth smoking initiation.

Universal Studios, spotlighted just two weeks ago in a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report as one of three movie companies that pared smoking in movies rated for youth by 96 percent, released the PG-13 blockbuster today, which features a cowboy hero, portrayed by Daniel Craig, who is seen smoking in key scenes.

“Just weeks ago, we applauded Universal for responding to this problem so responsibly by nearly eliminating tobacco from their G, PG and PG-13 movies,” said David Dobbins, Chief Operating Officer of Legacy®, the national public health foundation devoted to youth smoking prevention and adult smoking cessation. “This reversal confirms that without a uniform policy, young people will continue to see images of smoking that can inevitably cause them to smoke. It underscores how critical it is for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to take a much-needed leadership role and adopt a comprehensive policy on smoking by which all studios must abide.”

In a July 15, 2011 CDC report, findings revealed that Universal, Disney and Warner Bros., had reduced tobacco incidents per youth-rated movie by 96 percent on average between 2005 and 2010. The data found that three other major studios — Fox, Sony and Paramount — had performed remarkably less well (42%).

In order to reduce youth exposure to tobacco imagery and level the playing field for all movie companies, public health groups like Legacy recommended that future movies with smoking be R-rated. The CDC’s report earlier this month underscored that point, saying, “Consistent with the effects of anti-tobacco use policies adopted by the three motion picture companies, expanding the R-rating to include movies with smoking could further reduce exposures of young persons to onscreen tobacco incidents, making smoking initiation less likely.”

So far in 2011, major Hollywood studios have released at least 15 youth-rated movies with tobacco imagery, all but two with PG-13 ratings: Fox: Monte Carlo, Water for Elephants; Sony: Country Strong, The Green Hornet, Jumping the Broom, Priest, Midnight in Paris; Paramount: Rango (PG); Justin Bieber (G); Universal: Cowboys & Aliens, Hanna, Larry Crowne; Warner Bros.: Sucker Punch, Unknown, The Rite.

Cowboys & Aliens, distributed by Universal (Comcast), was produced by DreamWorks with Reliance (India), Relativity and Imagine Entertainment. It was shot in New Mexico on a reported $100 million budget, with public subsidies.

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Posted in: cheapest cogarettes online,Monte Carlo,smoking,tobacco imagery

30 fascinating facts, cessation, advertisements, statistics and laws about smoking

Cigarette smoking facts help us to look at things in a glimpse. Links are available time and again in the following facts that lead to more detailed reading within or outside this site.

You will be surprised to know that millions of people who smoke today hardly know a fraction of the smoking facts presented here.

Many get into the habit and addiction blindly without ever giving consideration to the catastrophe that awaits them. The facts that follows also sample the frequently quoted 30 fascinating cigarettes moking facts.
Follow the link to read some other interesting facts about smoking

Cigarette smoking facts: China

Smoking girl

• Nearly 70% of men smoke and only 3% of women. The statistics for women smokers have however began climbing in China.
• For every three cigarettes smoked on earth, one is in China.
• Smoking will wipe out one third of all male under 30 smokers in China
• Statistics show that 3000 people die every day in China due to smoking. Roughly the same number of teens who start smoking in the United states every day.
• In 2009 China increased tobacco tax by 6 to 11 % to raise more revenue as well as to curb smoking.
• China is the world’s heaviest smoker with China National Tobacco Company (CNTC) being the largest tobacco company in the world.
• China’s tobacco industry accounts for 8% of national revenue. 2008 revenue was 430 billion yuan (about US$63 billion).

Tobacco leaves

• At one point in the 90s 65% of smokers were teachers and 68% physicians.
• A study in one district, Minhang, found smokers spend 60% of their personal income on smoking and 17% of household income.
• An equivalent of the entire US population smokes in China i.e 350 million people.
• A survey in China established that 60% of adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer and 96% were ignorant to the fact that it can cause heart disease.

General cigarette smoking facts: Health

• A British research established that 99% of women did not know the association between smoking and cervical cancer.

Immune system

• Smoking is the biggest single preventable reason for disease and early death.
• Smoking related illness costs the US taxpayer up to $150 billion annually.
• There are 599 additives in cigarettes and 4000 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals in tobacco smoke.
• For each cigarette you smoke, you take away five minutes of your life, on average the length of time it takes to finish the cigarette.
• There is an association between cigarette smoking and diabetes.
• On average smokers puff on light and menthol cigarettes such asmalboro light cigarettes harder than regular cigarettes resulting in the same harmful levels of tar and nicotine to be consumed.
• There is approximately a 20% sugar component in cigarettes. Millions of diabetic smokers are unaware of this fact.
• A smoker’s immune system works harder than normal and is always active. Generally smokers quickly and effectively fight off viralinversion on this strength.

General cigarette smoking facts: Advertisements

Cigarette Camel ad

• Philip Morris a US tobacco multinational in 1996 spent 43 billion on tobacco advertising.
• Peer-reviewed studies strongly point to teenage tobacco useinfluenced by cigarette advertising.

Tiparrilo M cigarettes ads

• Cigarette advertising attempts to link smoking with sexual attractiveness, athletic prowess, adulthood, adventure, fulfillment and success.

Lucky Strike cigarette ads

• Half of those surveyed in the UK thought that smoking “can’t really be all that dangerous, or the Government wouldn’t let cigarettes be advertised”

Marlboro cigarettes ad

• In Russia foreign tobacco businesses are top advertisers taking up 40% of all TV and radio advertising.
• Smoking laws, have played a very significant role in restricting cigarette advertising.

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Posted in: cigarette advertising,cigarette smoking,Cigarette smoking facts,cigarettes moking facts,General cigarette smoking facts: Health,people who smoke,women smokers

The Gateway Cigarettes

Aaron Candlers says he likes to smoke Karelia cigarettes when he is stressed. If the Atlanta construction worker has a tough day on the job, he lights up. If he has a beef with the family, Candlers is puffing away.

And if his late model Ford Explorer breaks down on the Atlanta freeway, as it did recently, Candlers will be headed to the corner store to re-up on the nicotine sticks.

“It just died on me,” Candler says between long drags off a cigarette. “So I was like real stressed and I think I smoked half a pack of cigarettes waiting on the tow truck.”

Like about 19 million other Americans, Candlers smokes menthol cigarettes – for now. The Food and Drug Administration is currently considering whether to ban menthol from cigarettes. Candlers, a stocky man with a beard and a wide smile, says that would be a bad decision.

“They gonna have a war on their hands,” Candlers says of the FDA. “I know a lot of folks that smoke menthols, and it would be wrong just to ban one type of cigarette.”

But the U.S. government has already banned other types of cigarettes. Flavored beedies, cloves, cigarettes with spices, peppermint and vanilla have all been banned in an effort to discourage teenagers from picking up the habit. Basically, anything that makes tobacco easier to taste or inhale has been targeted by the FDA and Congress.

The FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee is recommending menthol be banned. The committee issued a report earlier this year finding that menthol cigarettes are overwhelmingly smoked by the poor, the young and African-Americans.

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Posted in: Kiss cigarettes,menthol cigarettes,pack of cigarettes,types of cigarettes

Tobacco Taxes to Inflation, Tañada

Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo ‘Erin’ R. Tañada III cautioned against the passage of an “incomplete measure” on tobacco and Classic cigarettes tax reform that would only lift price classification freeze because such taxes also need to be indexed to inflation.

Indexing to inflation tobacco taxes simply means that when prices of common commodities, such as food, go up, then so will taxes on tobacco products increase.

Tañada explained that without indexation, sin taxes will eventually be eroded by inflation while tobacco products would be made affordable, thereby defeating the very purpose of taxing cigarettes to discourage smoking.

“The need to reform the current sin tax law and to simplify the administration of tobacco taxes is urgent, but we also need to ensure that the reforms are comprehensive,” Tañada said.

“The removal of the price classification freeze is definitely a big step toward correcting the flaws in the sin tax law — and this has cost the government billions worth of revenues in the past years. But tobacco taxes should also be indexed to inflation so that collections can keep pace with the rise of cigarette prices,” he pointed out.

He explained that lifting the price classification freeze only corrects a flaw in the current sin tax law, which assigned 2011 as the last year for raising tobacco taxes and classifying cigarettes for tax purposes based on their 1996 prices.

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Posted in: Classic cigarettes,tobacco products,tobacco taxes

Village of Albion Opts for Tobacco-Free Policy

The village of Albion has announced the first tobacco free park and recreation policy in Orleans County. With the adoption of the policy on June 28 and the delivery of the signs by Virginia Cigarette Smoke Free NOW, residents will enjoy cleaner air and reduced litter while visiting any one of the five village parks, said Kevin Keenan, coordinator for the Smoke Free NOW program.

Village trustees voted to pass the policy after John Grillo, chairman of the recreation committee, and other committee members unanimously recommended the initiative to the board at their bi-monthly meeting.
Fred Miller, village trustee for the parks, praised the board’s decision.

“Quitting smoking is the smartest thing I ever did,” said Miller, who kicked the habit in 1990. “I hope the adoption of the tobacco free parks initiative will inspire others to quit.”

The tobacco free parks and playgrounds initiative is part of a campaign sponsored by the tobacco control prevention program of New York State. Smoke Free NOW continues to assist other municipalities throughout Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties to adopt similar policies.

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Posted in: tobacco free park,Virginia Cigarette

Online Smoking Cessation Effective

A Seattle research center is recruiting adult U.S. Winston cigarettes smokers for a study of online smoking cessation programs, researchers say. Study director Jonathan Bricker, a clinical psychologist who specializes in smoking-cessation research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, says that online smoking-cessation programs are improving but could use some improvements.

“Quit-smoking Web sites reach millions of adults 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, these Web sites have low success rates,” Bricker, of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Hutchinson Center’s Public Health Sciences Division, says in a statement.

“Our team has revamped our Web site to improve the experience for people in the study, which will help us find ways to boost the success rates of quit-smoking Web sites.”

Study participants will learn new tools for dealing more effectively with dealing with the urge to smoke and receive step-by-step quit guides and create personalized plans for staying smoke-free.

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two online cigarettes smoking-cessation programs. The success rates of participants will then be compared.

“Our goal is to try to find what works and what doesn’t and what to include in these programs and how to improve them so they can become more effective,” Bricker says.

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Posted in: cigarette smokers,cigarettes online,smoke-free,Winston

West Virginia Cigarettes Priced Lowest

A list from a “discussion” website gauged the price of a pack of cigarettes in each state Thursday, and West Virginia’s pack was the cheapest.
A pack of Marlboro Reds, including tax, could run from $4.74 per pack all the way to $11.90 across the United States, and the rock-bottom price can be found in West Virginia.
TheAwl.com, a “discussion” website, published a list Thursday its writer compiled by calling a gas station in each state’s most populous city, then asking the clerk for the price of a pack of Marlboro Reds with tax.
Several debates at the Legislature each year discuss raising the tax West Virginia puts on a pack of cigarettes. The most recent hike was 17 cents in 2003, which one local health official said isn’t enough to dissuade most smokers.
“What they have found is that when they raise it by $1, a tremendous amount of benefit occurs, because people quit,” said Kanawha County Health Officer Rahul Gupta, MD. “In fact, those who can’t afford it tend to quit more, and those are the same folks who don’t have insurance.
The most expensive pack of cigarettes was $11.90 in New York. Ohio fell in the middle of the list at $6.22, Pennsylvania’s pack cost $6.80 and a pack in Virginia costs $5.55.

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Posted in: Marlboro Reds,price of a pack of cigarettes,smokers

Altria Loses Tender for End of U.S. Tobacco Sales

Tobacco companies including Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA unit lost a bid to dismiss the federal government’s 1999 racketeering case. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington ruled today that her authority over the case wasn’t ended by a 2009 law that empowered the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration to monitor the industry and establish restrictions on the sale Karelia, promotion and distribution of tobacco products.

The defendants, which also include Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Lorillard Inc.’s Lorillard Tobacco, argued that the FDA’s new role meant court oversight of the industry is no longer needed.

Kessler said the cigarette makers continue to challenge the law that created the FDA’s regulation of the industry and if they prevail, “it will be all the more necessary for them to be restrained by this court from any future violations” of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

In 2006, Kessler found that the companies violated the law by conspiring to hide the dangers of cigarettes. She ordered the companies to stop marketing cigarettes as “light” and “low- tar” and to make statements about the health effects of smoking in newspapers and magazines and on cigarette packages.

British American Tobacco Plc, Europe’s largest cigarette maker, was dropped from the lawsuit in March after Kessler said a 2010 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a securities case restricts the U.S. from finding liability in “what is essentially foreign activity.”

Government ‘Pleased’

“At first blush, we’re pleased,” Charles Miller, a Justice Department spokesman, said of the ruling.

“We continue to believe that the FDA is the appropriate agency to regulate tobacco products and are considering our appellate options,” said Steven Callahan, a spokesman for Altria.

Greg Perry, a spokesman for Lorillard, declined to comment immediately. Representatives at Reynolds American’s public relations department didn’t immediately reply to a phone message seeking comment.

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Posted in: largest cigarette maker,Reynolds American Inc,tobacco companies

New Tobacco Store Sell Low-Priced Cigarettes

Owner Mike Lewis brought low-priced Bond cigarettes to Longview in April, opening Smoke for Less at 1429 15th Ave. Customers pay to rent a RYO Filling Station to make 200 cigarettes in a carton, which Lewis said allows him to avoid paying hefty manufacturing taxes.

It takes about eight minutes for customers to pour the tobacco into the machines, load the tubes then wait for the machine to stuff the finished cigarettes with tobacco.

A carton at Smoke For Less costs about $30, varying with the tobacco blend. The cigarettes are cleaner than most store-bought brands, which often contain other chemicals, and cost about half as much, Lewis said.

The RYO machine, which cost $33,000, is in the back of the store. Up front, customers can sit in a reception area around a big-screen TV. On the walls, Lewis has hung a half dozen framed pictures of classic smokers. Humphrety Bogart into the camera and takes a drag in one picture, and Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra in their Rat Pack years laugh with cigarettes in hand in another.

Lewis, a custom home builder by trade, said he came to run the cigarette store almost by accident. His original plan was to help bankroll someone else’s plan to open the store, he said. But when his partner backed out, Lewis said he decided to move forward on his own, though he has no retail experience.

“I find myself enjoying the interactions with people. I like joking with people and giving them a bad time,” said Lewis, 56, a Vancouver resident.

Lewis hired Vickie Hernandez to run the store three days a week. Smoke for Less also sells cigarette holders, lighters and other tobacco-related products.

The RYO (Roll Your Own) filling stations are a nationwide franchise, with more than 1,000 in 35 states, according to the Ohio-based company. Because of high local and state taxes, the cost to roll a cigarette averages about one-third less than the traditional pre-manufactured smokes, according to RYO’s website.

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Posted in: cigarettes,classic smokers,low-priced Bond cigarettes,tobacco-related products

British American Tobacco – collaborative effort sees more responsible growing

A landmark rural community project builds on work to identify and address the risks posed by British American Tobacco’s leaf-growing operations and to look at improvements beyond day-to-day business.

Tobacco leaf farming in Lombok, Indonesia, was not only contributing to deforestation but also to declining water supply on the island.
But a landmark restoration project is being developed which will benefit the whole rural community, thanks to a partnership between British American Tobacco (BAT), the Earthwatch Institute, Fauna & Flora International and the Tropical Biology Association.
This is one example of how the four-member British American Tobacco biodiversity partnership is working with stakeholders and communities across the world to study ecosystems and sustainability risks.
In 2007, the partnership developed a tool to identify, assess and address risks posed by BAT’s leaf-growing operations.
Called Broa (Biodiversity Risk and Opportunity Assessment), the tool encourages BAT staff to work with local experts to look carefully at supply chain operations from a much wider perspective than a simple day-to-day business viewpoint.
Following trials in Indonesia and Uganda in 2008, it was decided to make Broa mandatory across BAT’s global leaf-growing locations and by 2010 all 19 had completed assessments and agreed actions plans.
As far as the tobacco giant is aware, it is the only international company to have assessed biodiversity risks across all operations and so built a strategy to tackle key issues worldwide.
And those issues are wide-ranging – both business-specific in terms of the supply chain, and more generic in terms of agriculture and sustainability.
Tobacco is often grown alongside other crops and it soon became apparent that Broa would reveal just how dependent tobacco growing is on other systems – such as water supply.
Specific issues included reduced irrigation flow resulting from deforestation, reduced water quality, lower ground water tables, unsustainably-sourced fuel wood and problems of over-farming.
BAT describes Broa’s aims as “open-ended”, with an agenda for change and better engagement with a range of stakeholders, both global and local.
At a local level, working with stakeholders and conservation experts enables the company to carry out rigorous assessments. Equally, it helps build confidence among communities and encourages partnerships to work together on solutions.
In some cases, Broa is raising awareness of wider sustainability issues and stimulating projects that go far beyond the supply chain concerns of BAT.
Examples include a “green corridor” project in the Araucaria forest of southern Brazil; sustainable forest management and freshwater protection in Uganda; and research on returning eucalyptus plantations to native forests in Sri Lanka and Chile.
Another important outcome has been the raised awareness and understanding within BAT, involving Earthwatch employee fellowships and online training for managers.
The biodiversity partnership is working on a second version of Broa in 2011, having gained valuable feedback from external reviewers such as the World Wildlife Fund.
It has participated in the natural value initiative and was recognised in the Economics of ecosystems and biodiversity study in 2010. The next stage is to share Broa with all BAT tobacco suppliers and other agriculture-based businesses facing similar challenges.

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Posted in: British American Tobacco,tobacco giant,tobacco growing

Michigan’s smoking ban: one year later

Just over a year ago, Michigan followed in the footsteps of 37 states when it ditched the smoggy bar atmosphere for a smoke-free environment. Since then, restaurant and bar owners and patrons have had mixed reviews on the ban and its effects on business and lifestyle.

Michigan’s Smoke-Free Air Law, which was officially put into effect May 1, 2010, left the state up in arms about the implications that a smoking ban would have economically on those affected, from tobacco companies to casinos to small-business owners.

Those in support of the ban predicted it would reduce smoking anywhere from 5 to 20 percent. Michigan has already experienced a loss, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury’s estimates. Revenue from taxes fell 6.2 percent in the second half of the year. In the first eight months of the ban, the estimates showed that the state collected $35 million, or 4 percent, less in cigarette taxes than in the previous year.

Another correlation was found when comparing liquor sales in bars from 2009 to those after the smoking ban. Just four months after the ban, liquor sales fell 3.1 percent from the previous year.

Aside from sales, bars and restaurants that were once venues for smokers have lost customer traffic because of the smoking ban.

Tom Moore, manager of Lefty’s Lounge, located at 5440 Cass Ave. on Wayne State’s campus, said the smoking ban has affected his business in a similar way.

“We lost a lot of neighborhood regulars who don’t come in as much — if at all. They just stay home and drink,” Moore said. “It hasn’t affected our bottom line, but good customers and good people who used to come in here and who made it a better place don’t come in here anymore.”

Moore also said the continual movement of smokers from inside the bar to the outside has caused some unexpected problems.

“People think it’s OK to take a beer outside of the bar and smoke on the sidewalk,” Moore said. “And people walk out on their tabs saying they’re going to go smoke a cigarette, but in actuality, they’re going outside to run out on their tab. It’s something we fight a lot of.”

But what about the non-smokers who regularly eat and drink at the bars and restaurants? According to 36-year-old Dean Rovinelli, a non-smoker and a frequent customer at Lefty’s Lounge, it’s not the lack of smoke that bothers him; it’s the lack of freedom of choice.

“I prefer to be somewhere where there’s no smoke, but I also think those people (who smoke) have the right to smoke if they want to and they should have a place to do it,” Rovinelli said. “It doesn’t really affect me at all, but it affects them and I don’t think that’s right.”

For Rovinelli, who has friends who smoke, going out to bars with his friends hasn’t been much of a problem either.

“The guys that I go out with most, most of them don’t smoke, but the ones who do, I’ve never heard them complain,” Rovinelli said. “They just go outside and smoke.”

At Lefty’s, Moore said the smoke-free law has mixed reviews depending on the time of day and season that people stop in.

“The lunchtime crowd is university professors – a professional crowd. They love it. Ninety-nine percent of them don’t smoke,” Moore said. “My nighttime customers are students and neighborhood people who get off work, and there are a lot of smokers at night; they can’t stand it. Especially in the winter.”

Despite the negative repercussions of the restrictions, there is good news to come from the ban, according to Michigan Department of Community Health research.

According to the MDCH, the amount of secondhand smoke exposure to the waitresses’ and bartenders’ systems has decreased. The MDCH’s study was conducted four-to-six weeks before the ban was put into effect and conducted again six-to-ten weeks following the authorization.

The magnitude of secondhand smoke exposure in employees dropped from an average of 35.92 nanograms per milliliter in the time before the law to zero nanograms per milliliter following the law.

On the whole, Michigan has been good about abiding by the new law. Although there was a high compliance rate in Michigan with the ban, recent figures have risen to the surface. The MDCH reported that the law was violated at least 1,500 times within the last year, and two establishments were ordered to shut down until they met the standardized regulations.

It’s hard to tell if the ban has been well-received because of the different opinions. Smokers and non-smokers, along with bartenders and restaurant owners, are having trouble agreeing on the fairness of the law. But with the law having achieved its goal of cleaner environments for socializing patrons, the state remains steady in enforcing the smoking ban.

“I think people are kind of getting used to it because they have to,” Rovinelli said. “They’re forced to. But I still don’t think it’s right.”

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Posted in: cigarette taxes,smoking ban,tobacco companies

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Posted in: Buy Cheap Parliament Cigarettes Online,Buy parliament cigarettes now,Philip Morris

Menthol Cigarettes Taste Too Good to Be Legal

The report (PDF), issued in late March, concluded that “removal of menthol Kiss cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States” but cautioned that “a black market for menthol cheap cigarettes online could be created, criminal activity could ensue, and different methods might be used to supply such a black market.”
Boston University public health professor Michael Siegel criticizes the advisory committee for kicking the issue back to the FDA without “a clear and strongly stated recommendation that the FDA ban menthol cigarettes to protect the public’s health.”
Neal Benowitz and Jonathan Samet, two members of the committee, defend their work as responsive to their legislative mandate, which was to consider the impact of menthol cigarettes on smoking-related disease. They concluded that mentholation does not seem to make cigarettes more dangerous but that it encourages people (especially African Americans and teenagers, who disproportionately favor menthol brands) to start and continue smoking by making the smoke tastier and less irritating. The same argument, of course, could be made about any feature designed to make cigarettes more appealing.
Siegel argues that forcing Newport and Kool consumers to smoke harsher, fouler-tasting cigarettes would encourage them to quit. “There are 19.2 million menthol-cigarette smokers in the United States,” he writes, “and if even a fraction of them quit smoking in response to a menthol ban, it would have a profound effect on public health.” He adds that the absence of menthol brands would cut down on smoking initiation.
“Approximately half of people who are just starting to smoke usually smoke a menthol brand,” he says, “and if even a fraction of those people were to be deterred from initiating smoking, this, too, would have a profound public health benefit.” Siegel does not really address the black market issue, except to say that Lorillard, which makes Newports (the No. 1 menthol brand), pushed the same argument, which also was adopted by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids when it argued against a menthol ban as part of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. He suggests the anti-smoking group’s main motive was appeasing Philip Morris, which makes several menthol brands and would not have backed a bill that banned them.
For both practical and moral reasons, I don’t agree that banning menthol cigarettes is a good idea, any more than banning cigarettes in general would be. But Siegel is on target when he notes the absurdity of banning rarely used cigarette flavors that supposedly appealed to children, as the tobacco control act did, while allowing the one flavor that is actually popular to stay on the market:
It is difficult to understand the rationale for a policy that bans every other type of cigarette flavoring — including chocolate, strawberry, banana, pineapple, cherry, and kiwi — yet exempts the one flavoring that is actually used extensively by tobacco companies to recruit and maintain smokers….Ironically, it is because removing menthol would actually improve the public’s health by reducing the consumption of cigarettes that we are not going to see such an action from the federal government.
There is no political risk in banning chocolate and strawberry cigarettes, since no companies are currently selling such products and they play no role in smoking initiation. Menthol, however, is a major contributor to smoking initiation and continued addiction, and for this reason, it will continue to enjoy the protection of a federal government that seems afraid to alienate any corporation, whether it’s part of Big Pharma, Big Insurance, or Big Tobacco.
It does seem to be the case that Philip Morris, the market leader and the one big company that backed the tobacco control law, saw it as a way to rig the rules in its favor. More on the controversy over cigarette flavoritism, including the question of whether it is racist, here and here.

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Posted in: cheap cigarettes online,Kiss cigarettes,tobacco control

More Evidence Secondhand Smoke Bad for Kids’ Mental Health

Children and adolescents in the United States exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) are at risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and conduct disorder, new research suggests.
In a national survey study of more than 2000 nonsmokers between the ages of 8 and 15 years, investigators found that serum cotinine levels, signifying SHS exposure, were positively associated with symptoms of all these disorders — and were especially correlated for boys.

“Our results have important public health implications,” write Frank C. Bandiera, MPH, from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, Florida, and colleagues.

“Given the critical developmental period of childhood and adolescence, the effects of policy to reduce or ban smoking in public places and in the home may help prevent or reduce the progression of illness in at-risk individuals and alleviate the heavy burden…attributable not only to tobacco use but also to mental disorders,” they write.

Although the findings are in line with previous research showing a link between mental health outcomes and SHS exposure, the investigators note that this study did not “establish the biological or psychological mechanisms of association.”

Still, the investigators note that this new research does provide “critical and much-needed data.”

The study is published in the April issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

High Rate of Exposure

According to the researchers, 66% of all children between the ages of 3 and 11 years have been exposed to SHS.

“Because many mental disorders have an onset in youth at a time when SHS exposure is high, it is critical to consider how SHS may be affecting the mental health of children and adolescents so that appropriate preventive measures can be implemented,” they write.

In a recent study reported by Medscape Medical News, investigators from the United Kingdom found that a higher level of salivary cotinine was significantly associated with hyperactivity and conduct disorder in adolescents participating in the Scottish Health Survey. That study, which was published online first December 6 in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, is also published in the journal’s current print issue.

For this study, investigators evaluated data on 2901 nonsmoking US adolescents (51% male; 61.9% non-Hispanic white; 14.8% non-Hispanic black; 12.2% Mexican American; 11.1 other races/ethnicities) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2001 and 2004.

Symptoms of MDD, GAD, panic disorder, ADHD, and conduct disorder were assessed during 12 months using the National Institute of Mental Health’s Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version IV.

Results showed that the participants had a mean of 4.93 MDD symptoms, 3.94 ADHD symptoms, 2.86 GAD symptoms, 1.34 conduct disorder symptoms, and 0.29 panic disorder symptoms.

When looking at associations among all participants, investigators found that serum cotinine levels were significantly correlated with symptoms of MDD, GAD, ADHD, and conduct disorder — but not with panic disorder.

“After adjusting for all covariates, serum cotinine level was most strongly associated with ADHD symptoms,” report the researchers. Although not quite as strong, the association remained significant for symptoms of MDD, conduct disorder, and GAD after adjustment.

Although there was a significant association in males between cotinine level and MDD, GAD, ADHD, and conduct disorder symptoms, the association for females was only significant with symptoms of GAD.

Finally, a significant association between SHS and MDD, GAD, and ADHD was found for white participants, but only with conduct disorder for the Mexican American group. There were no statistically significant associations with any of the disorders in black participants.

Need to Butt Out

The investigators note that only 26 states currently ban smoking in all public places.

“Efforts to ban smoking in places where children and adolescents are present, including all child care settings and schools, should continue, as well as increased efforts to develop interventions targeted directly at parents and designed to prevent SHS exposure in the homes of children and adolescents,” they write.

“To date, there has been little parallel research; thus, the findings of this new study cannot be placed into a larger body of literature to gauge consistency,” writes Jonathan M. Samet, MD, from the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Keck School of Medicine, Institute for Global Health, at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, in an accompanying editorial.

“Consequently, the provocative findings of Bandiera and colleagues need replication and an expanded foundation of mechanistic understanding. Further research on exposure to SHS might also provide insights into neurodevelopmental effects of inhaled pollutants, a topic of rising interest,” adds Dr. Samet.

He notes that longitudinal data are needed “to bolster arguments for potential causality, to separately assess maternal smoking during pregnancy and SHS exposure after pregnancy, and to characterize the relationship between exposure at various ages and risk.”

With that said, Dr. Samet writes that there is now sufficient evidence of an association with poor health outcomes to “mandate reduction” of SHS exposure in public places.

However, because these bans do not cover homes, clinicians “should motivate parents to protect their children, beginning with prenatal care and continuing during childhood,” he opines.

“Pediatricians and other healthcare providers can help eliminate exposure of infants and children to SHS, even while the evidence on mental health continues to evolve,” concludes Dr. Samet.

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Posted in: ban smoking,cheapest cigarettes online,secondhand smoke,tobacco use

Money Never Sleeps

I recently attended a presentation by British American Tobacco (BAT), the second largest listed company on the JSE by market money tobaccocapitalisation (R551bn) after BHP Billiton. I can honestly say it was the best presentation I have attended in at least the past decade and came close to the seminal presentation given by then-SAB CEO Meyer Kahn (now chairman of SABMiller) in Braamfontein in the late 1990s.

What made this presentation so special, apart from the superb delivery of Head of Investor Relations Ralph Edmondson, was the fact that it was a global update on BAT’s activities, rather than just a bog standard results presentation. Edmondson kept the large audience on the edge of their seats and answered all questions with aplomb.
Although BAT is not a constituent of the JSE ALL-Share Index due to the fact that it is classified as an inward listing, it is an extremely widely held stock in South Africa. It is estimated that the South African share register contain 55 000 shareholders. And it’s not surprising that most shareholders like this stock as it has been a great dividend payer on the back of gradually improving earnings.

What is perhaps surprising for the uninitiated is that a tobacco company should be experiencing growing earnings while demand for its products is declining globally. Even more surprising has been its consistent out-performance of the FTSE-100 index (the Footsie) over the past five years. In the decade since 2000, total return to shareholders has averaged in excess of 20% per annum.

To understand why this is happening, it is necessary to “get under the skin” of what drives tobacco companies in this day and age. Firstly, some people think that tobacco is recession-proof. It’s not but it is recession resistant. What this means, effectively, is that cigarette smokers will do everything in their power to keep on smoking their favourite brands unless and until economic necessity forces them to either quit altogether or to switch to cheaper, sometimes smuggled brands. Smokers are exceptionally brand conscious and exceptionally brand loyal, so to keep a competitive edge, tobacco companies must maintain a diversified and balanced brand portfolio. In other words, they have to maintain a balance between premium, mid and low priced segments. Interestingly, BAT’s so-called “global drive brands”-Lucky Strike, Dunhill, Kent and Pall Mall-have maintained their strong growth trajectories despite the recession.

And while smoking in the developed world carries a certain amount of stigma, that is not necessarily the same in many developing countries. Hence tobacco companies generally mitigate their risk by having a wide geographical diversity. BAT’s top five markets are Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and Australia-all commodity based economies with reasonably stable currencies. Collectively, they account for 40% of profits.

Take the Asia-Pacific region for example. Last year, volume grew by 2%, revenue rose by 15% and profit was up by 16%. And this, of course, doesn’t include China, the world’s biggest tobacco market, where the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) enjoys a near-monopoly situation. But the rest of the Asia-pacific region is seen as a growth area by all of the major tobacco companies and hence they all put in a lot of marketing effort in this area.

At the other end of the spectrum, western Europe saw an 8% volume decline, a 12% drop in revenue but, thanks to significant margin improvements, a 6% rise in profits. Eastern Europe didn’t fare so well though, with a 3% volume decline and a 12% fall in profits. Smuggling of illicit cigarettes was a big factor here, especially in Romania. Africa and the middle east was the star performer; on a 2% volume decline, revenue rose by 11% and profit soared by 19%.

BAT’s basic business model is fairly straightforward. Typically, the group would expect to see 1 to 1.5% growth in volumes, which would translate into revenue growth of about 3 to % which in turn should result in profit growth of 6 to 7%. But even where things don’t go totally to plan, as they have in recent years with declining volumes, there is ample latitude to compensate. For example, in 2010, organic volume growth (before the impact of any acquisitions) was -3%. But, thanks to excise increases, revenue grew by 3%. “We like modest excise increases which can be anticipated by the consumer”, said Edmondson. This is a very important point and one which is not necessarily fully understood by the market. Someone in the audience asked why consumers didn’t baulk at excise increases to which Edmondson replied “what choice do they have?”. He’s right of course. The only real choices they have, as stated earlier, are to quit altogether (which many smokers invariably do, and regularly) or switch to cheaper or smuggled brands. Anyway, that 3% revenue growth translated into 6% profit growth and 15% earnings growth. Admittedly, the weak British pound played a big (approximately 5%) part in this, as BAT’s profits are measured in Sterling but nevertheless it’s not a bad performance in a year when volumes went backwards and demonstrates the resilience of tobacco companies.

Edmondson also demonstrated some of the innovations that have kept BAT ahead of their competitors in recent times. For example, its “Reloc” pack, which keeps cigarettes fresher after the pack has been opened, helped Dunhill to go from a tiny 2% market share in the Gulf states to almost 11% in a remarkably short period of time.
In Japan, menthol cigarettes are popular and BAT capitalised on this with its capsule technology. Basically this means that the cigarette contains a small menthol capsule in the filter tip which, when squeezed, releases a burst of menthol. It was introduced successfully in the Kent, Kool and Lucky Strike brands.

BAT sees potential for improving its operating profit margin from an already impressive 33.5% to 35% by next year. It believes that its cost base is too high and that this is the main reason its operating profit margin is well below that of its competitors. If recent history is anything to go by, it should be successful in this endeavour. Between 2003 and 2007, it achieved annualised cost savings of GBP1bn. By concentrating on shared services and smarter operating platforms, BAT reckons that 35% margin can be met by next financial year.

Whatever one’s views on the morality or otherwise of smoking, it is hard to deny that tobacco companies are great investments. They all generate huge cash flows, as there is only minimal capital expenditure required in their businesses. Balance sheets are usually in excellent shape and share buybacks and generous dividends are the order of the day.

One of the few negatives affecting tobacco companies is the incidence of smuggling of illicit products. In jurisdictions where this is acute, tobacco companies sometimes work together with governments to limit the impact. Excise duty derived from tobacco is a meaningful part of any government’s coffers so it makes sense for them to combat the illicit trade, which pays no taxes.

BAT recently demonstrated great innovation by flighting a series of radio advertisements suggesting that , by smoking smuggled cigarettes, smokers were indirectly and inadvertently helping to support many other nefarious activities such as gun-running and murder.

Even in environments where their activities are hamstrung by government legislation, such as advertising bans for example, tobacco companies still manage to get their products to those consumers who crave them. For as long as the craving persists, tobacco companies will thrive.

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Posted in: British American Tobacco (BAT),cigarette smokers,tobacco companies

Ukraine cigarettes remain among the cheapest in the world

In March 2009, parliament discussed proposals to increase tobacco excise tax from Hr 1 to Hr 2 per pack of 20 cigarettes.
Representatives of transnational tobacco companies were very critical about the proposals and alleged that Ukrainians would not smoke less, but would just switch to cheaper smuggled cigarettes while government revenues would decline.
Since that time, the excise tax rate was increased even more and, at present, the average excise tax is more than Hr 3 per pack. The figures show what eventually has happened.
In 2007, when the tax rate was just Hr 0.5 per pack, the government collected Hr 2.5 billion from excise tobacco taxes. Then the rate was raised several times and the revenues increased to Hr 3.5 billion in 2008, to Hr 9 billion in 2009, and to Hr 13 billion in 2010, more than five-fold in three years.
In neighboring Russia, tax rates were also raised in those years, but not so fast as in Ukraine, and the revenues also increased, but only twice: from 50 billion rubles in 2007 to 108 billion rubles in 2010.
Tobacco consumption trends are even more indicative. In the mid-2000s, daily smoking prevalence in Russia and Ukraine was very similar – about 35 percent. In 2009, the Global Adult Tobacco Survey was conducted in both countries and daily smoking prevalence was 33.8 percent in Russia and 25.5 percent in Ukraine.

Ukrainians smoke less, a main reason why cigarette production in Ukraine decreased from 129 billion in 2007 to 102 billion in 2010.
It is worth mentioning that, in 2001, only 70 billion cigarettes were produced in Ukraine and the sharp production increase was mainly pushed by the huge smuggling of Ukrainian cigarettes to the neighboring countries where cigarette prices were higher.
British member of parliament Charles Tannock stated that, out of 80 billion cigarettes illegally smuggled into the European Union in 2008, 30 billion came from Ukraine. The World Customs Organization issued a report on customs and tobacco with data on large (more than 100,000 cigarettes each) seizures.
The country of cigarette departure was identified for 2,688 such seizures, and in 1,020 cases it was Ukraine. However, in 2008, there were 573 seizures of Ukrainian cigarettes and only 447 in 2009, while seizures of Russian cigarettes increased from 48 to 84.
So while Ukraine keeps the position as a world leader in cigarette smuggling, smuggling became less profitable after the tobacco tax increases and it is on the decline. This is the second reason why cigarette production in Ukraine decreased in recent years.
The tobacco industry tries to create the impression that cigarette smuggling into Ukraine is more important than smuggling out of Ukraine. Indeed, currently prices of cheap cigarette brands are higher in Ukraine than in Moldova and Russia (while Marlboro cigarettes is still more expensive in Moscow compared to Kyiv).
To measure consumption of smuggled cigarettes in Ukraine during the Global Adult Tobacco Survey, smokers were asked to show the pack.
Only 1.5 percent of them smoked Moldavian or Russian cigarettes. It means that, in 2009, about 1 billion smuggled cigarettes were consumed in Ukraine, while more than 30 billion cigarettes were produced in Ukraine just to be smuggled out of it.
The recent tobacco taxation policy was really a success in Ukraine. Tax rates increased by six times and this caused a five-fold increase in revenues. Cigarette production declined by 21 percent due to the decrease of both tobacco consumption and smuggling out of the country.
However, currently the average price of Ukrainian cigarettes is just Hr 8 per pack, while in Poland it is 9 zlotys – three times higher.
In 2011, Russia increased the tobacco tax rate much higher than Ukraine. Since April 2011, cigarette tax rates in Moldova will be raised by 50 percent. These are all reasons that justify continuing with a successful policy and increasing tobacco taxes in Ukraine again.

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Posted in: cheapest cigarettes online,cigarette production in Ukraine,Marlboro cigarettes,tobacco,tobacco companies

What is holding Up Passage of the Tobacco Control Bill?

The number of tobacco users in Ghana increases by the day, despite the health implications associated with it. Compared to the western countries, where most people smoke tobacco due to the excessive cold weather, smokers in Ghana have other reasons for smoking – either for pleasure or to get rid of an excessive nasty smell – which they later get addicted to.

The number of tobacco smokers in Ghana, definitely, cannot be compared to smokers in the west, however, the adverse effects of smoking, unfortunately, does not affect users only, but people who find themselves present during the moment of smokers’ activity.

This, in the long run, increases drastically, the number of people in danger of tobacco-related diseases.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), passive or non-smokers are at a greater risk of getting lung cancer, coronary heart diseases, and even cardiac death.

Over 600 studies undertaken by experts link passive smoking to ill health, and conclude that passive smoking, or the inhalation of tobacco smoke by non smokers, increases the risk of lung cancer, heart diseases, and respiratory disease.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates also show that 200,000 workers die as a result of exposure to passive smoking in the workplace.

According to WHO, at least one person dies every eight seconds due to tobacco-related diseases. About 13,400 people die each day, and 560 people die each hour globally.

By the year 2030, tobacco is expected to be the leading cause of death in the whole world. According to the World Health Organisation, smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease, as it is responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide, every year. Tobacco smoking is a known, or probable cause, of approximately 25 diseases.

The danger tobacco users are putting on non-tobacco users, makes it evident that the probability of the nation losing its labour force and future leaders in the future is high. On the other hand, if the government will think it through, and concentrate on passing the Tobacco Control Bill into a law, then the citizen’s fate of getting tobacco-related diseases would be minimised.

Provision of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) makes it mandatory for all signatory countries to formulate legislations that will protect the citizenry from the numerous health hazards associated with tobacco use. Ghana was the 39th country in the world to sign the convention, and the first country in West Africa sub-region to ratify it in 2004.

Despite this, all attempts since then to enact a law to regulate tobacco use in the country, has witnessed several challenges, causing many to doubt the government’s commitment to achieving the set the goals spelt out in the convention.

According to the First Vice Chairman of the Media Alliance in Tobacco Control (MATCO), Jorge Wilson Kingson, by signing on to the Framework Convention On Tobacco Control (FCTC), Ghana had committed itself to, among others, “adopt and implement effective legislative, executive, administration, and other measures, and cooperate, as appropriate, with other parties in developing appropriate policies for preventing and reducing tobacco consumption, nicotine addiction, and exposure to smoke.”

In doing so, the country would be achieving the overall objective of the convention, which is “to protect the present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environment, and economic consequences of tobacco consumption, and exposure to tobacco smoke.

Why the dalliance
Mr. Kingson noted that in the effort at meeting this demand, the National Tobacco Steering Committee (NTSC) started formulating a National Tobacco Bill in 2005 for the attention of the government.

It is almost six years now since the drafting of the bill was concluded, but, clearly, there is little indication that the bill is yet to get to Parliament for consideration.
He made it clear that a number of reasons had been deduced as the cause of the delay in the passage of the bill.
Among them, is the low level of awareness among stakeholders about tobacco control and FCTC issues, and the in adequate involvement of media, key law makers and public opinion to support the bill.

More importantly, is also the interference of the tobacco industry control policy issues in the country.

Then also, the issue of whether the bill should form part of the general public health bill or be made to stand alone. The public health bill is a consolidation of all existing legislations on the various issues concerning public health.

It includes existing legislation on mosquito control, quarantine, infectious diseases, vaccinations, and food and drugs law.
The rest in the public nuisance bill are the tobacco control bill, the patient’s charter, international health regulations, and ethics in health, among others, he added.

What is the
government doing?

The First Vice Chairman said the general consensus, as gathered from a cabinet source, is that it is okay to make the tobacco control bill a public health issue, thus the public health bill, when it finally comes to Parliament, will include the tobacco control bill. This, in effect, means Cabinet has given approval to the content of the Tobacco Bill.

He indicated that there were uncertainties as to when exactly the government intends to move beyond rhetoric and put its words into action, by forwarding the bill to parliament. The issue is more confusing, now that stakeholders are complaining of having lost track of the exact location of the bill.

Later last year, the out-gone Minister of Health, Dr. Benjamin Kumbuor, released a statement to the effect that the sector ministry has forwarded the draft document to Cabinet for attention.

A later communication said the bill was with the Attorney General’s Department for fine-tuning and final inputs. Recently, it was learnt that the bill has gotten to Parliament awaiting passage. Checks for the bill in Parliament have however proved futile.

This is what is creating panic among stakeholders in the industry, who fear inconsistencies in the bill at this particular period, could cause further delay in its passage, which may not be in the best interest of the country’s international image.

At a recent meeting in Accra to re-strategise on the way forward in the fight for the passage of a tobacco control bill for Ghana, members of civil society groups, including Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Coalition Of Non- Governmental Organisations In Tobacco Control (CNTC), Media Alliance in Tobacco Control (MATCO) and the Community Health Support Team (CHEST) among others, expressed deep worry about the latest developments regarding the Tobacco Control Bill,” he added.

According to him, the Ministry Of Health had issued a directive to compel all existing and prospective importers of tobacco products to have their products registered with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB).
The directive, which is in line with the FCTC, is accordingly being observed. To have ratified the FCTC, and gone ahead to prepare a draft bill for the consideration of Cabinet and Parliament, is also no mean achievement.
Mr. Kingson said until recently, health warnings on tobacco packages in Ghana covered only five percent of the packaging. The Food and Drugs Board, the agency currently responsible for regulating tobacco use in Ghana, has since come out with rotational messages covering 50% of the front and back panels of the principal display surface, and a Ministry of Health (MoH) warning at the point of sale covering its specifications.

Tobacco use in Ghana

“Despite the present taxes on tobacco products, cigarettes sold in Ghana are still cheap, affordable, and easily accessible. The government is being urged to further increase taxes on tobacco products to make them expensive, and raise the revenue to finance health-related ailments as a result of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke, in accordance with the FCTC.

Ghana’s population is expected to benefit massively and rapidly from the effective implementation of the tobacco directives, and the FCTC and Tobacco Control Bill when passed into law. Structures have been established within the public and private sectors for the implementation of the FCTC, and all legislation emanating from it.

“The FCTC Article 5.2b mandates the government to enact legislations to protect the citizens from the deadly products of the tobacco industry. While Ghana’s bill is pending, or basically missing, the government of Niger has effectively passed legislation on tobacco control.

There is currently a ban on public smoking in Abuja, Nigeria, and the Nigerian Tobacco Bill is at the second stage of reading in Parliament. The governments of Kenya and Mauritius, which have all signed the convention, have passed legislations on tobacco control,” the Vice Chairman noted.

Conclusion

“The swift passage of the Tobacco Control Bill into law will protect present and future generations from lungs, oral, and throat cancer, heart diseases, heart attack, infertility, miscarriage, drugs addiction and poverty.

But the picture is not entirely gloomy, as there has been some success chalked in the various national attempts at controlling tobacco use in the country.

The recently launched Civil Society Shadow Report on Ghana’s implementation of the framework convention on tobacco control highlights some of the successes achieved so far.

“The Shadow Report recommends that government swiftly pass the tobacco control bill into law, with strong provisions, and in full compliance with the FCTC.

“The government must pass the tobacco control bill into law with strong provisions on labeling the tobacco products, and to ensure the enforcement of the pictorial health warning covering 80% of the main surface of the tobacco pack. The FDB must comprehensively enforce the MoH’s tobacco control directives, by introducing pictorial health warnings on tobacco products,” he stressed.

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Posted in: smoke tobacco,tobacco control,tobacco use