Tobacco.org

Philip Morris Leads 16.6 Billion Euros of Bond Sales in Europe  

Philip Morris International Inc., the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company, and utility E.ON AG led 16.6 billion euros ($24.5 billion) of European corporate bond sales this week, the most in two months.

Sales jumped from 6.8 billion euros last week and from 6.5 billion euros the week before, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. New York-based Philip Morris raised a total of 1.75 billion euros in its first sale in the common European currency, prompted by concern credit conditions may deteriorate.

``We wanted to be ahead of the game and issue a smaller- sized transaction at current market spreads,'' Marco Kuepfer, vice-president and treasurer of Philip Morris, said in an interview.

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Should Smoking Around Children Be Illegal? 

Forty-seven percent of more than 7,000 Internet users say smoking in a home or car around children should be illegal, according to an online poll hosted on AOL Health from Aug. 5-22.

They report these other findings as well:

Forty-four percent think smokers should pay more for health insurance and that all billboards and magazine ads promoting smoking should be banned.

Forty-one percent want smoking banned in all public places.

The responders were less adamant about taxes and movies.

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WHO: Stop smoking to fight cancer  

GENEVA : The head of the World Health Organization says anti-smoking campaigns are the world's best weapon in the fight against cancer.

WHO chief Margaret Chan says ``tobacco control'' efforts such as advertising bans, higher cigarette taxes and help for people wanting to quit would reduce cancer cases. . . .

She spoke Wednesday at the start of an international meeting of 2,500 cancer experts in Geneva.

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Cigarette on Sofa Might Have Caused Fatal Fire  

A 78-year-old Potomac woman described as effervescent and affectionate died yesterday after she became trapped in a house fire that also critically injured her son, Montgomery County fire officials said.

Fire officials identified the woman as Marilyn Ehrlich and said she was found in an upstairs bathroom area of the two-story house. Her son Ethan Ehrlich, 48, who also lived there, was found downstairs. He was listed in critical condition yesterday at a hospital, officials said.

Investigators think the fire was probably caused by smoking material, possibly a cigarette, left on a small sofa in a first-floor living room

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EDITORIAL: Making the connection 

Wednesday, Peter Dawe, the executive director of the Canadian Cancer Society in this province, talked about how the number of smokers here has stayed constant - at around 20 per cent of the population - regardless of the information available on the hazards of smoking. . . .

He pointed out that during the period that smoking levels in this province have stayed at a static point, the province has done little to move forward with any sort of integrated antismoking effort. . . .

So, why hasn't the province pulled the cigarette displays? It's the kind of apple-pie decision that should brook little criticism. Out of sight is at least out of mind - unless, of course, you're a Texas parent wondering if your child's teacher is packing a little heat.

Or a government still quietly addicted to $108 million a year in tobacco taxes.

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EDITORIAL: Smoking fight not over 

Health Canada reported this week that the percentage of Albertans smoking in 2007, 21 per cent, is still two per cent higher than the national average.

Even more troubling is the fact that smoking among young Albertans aged 15 to 19 jumped five per cent between 2006 and 2007, to 20 per cent.

A big part of the problem, according to a report authored by the Alberta Cancer Board, is that cigarettes are so darn affordable to teens here. . . .

All Albertans bear the long-run health costs associated with smoking and second-hand smoke. Increasing cigarette taxes by $2 a pack would generate an estimated $160 million in additional revenue for the province.

That money could easily finance a world-class tobacco reduction effort. If the provincial government is serious about meeting its own 2011 target of reducing smoking levels to 12 per cent, it is a step worth taking. There's a long way to go.

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EDITORIAL: Concerted effort needed 

The federal government has to move to stop the flow of cigarettes from across the United States border. Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society, is calling on Ottawa to insist American authorities shut down illegal cigarette production operations on the U.S. side of the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, Ont. . . .

Much has been done to reduce smoking rates and initiatives such as removing the so-called power walls have helped people butt out. However, until law enforcement agencies are given the tools necessary to crack down on contraband tobacco, we will never achieve a smoke-free society.

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• MIR: In D.C., the Hazards of Hookah 

When I was at a D.C. restaurant recently, I saw eight students walk in, sporting middle-school mascots on their shirts. They looked no older than 14. They ordered two hookahs and smoked for about an hour. No one bothered them. No one questioned them. It seemed as though no one even cared that what seemed like 14-year-olds were smoking. No one, that is, except me.

I asked my medical and public health school friends what they thought about what I saw. They all agreed and were "sure" that hookah smoking was not unhealthy or unsafe. Boy, were they wrong -- although their opinions are apparently the norm.

According to the American Lung Association, hookah smoking is thriving because of a false belief that it is safe when, in fact, it carries many of the same risks as smoking cigarettes. . . .

Shouldn't there be a minimum age for hookah smoking, as there is for cigarettes? Why is hookah smoking exempted from D.C. smoke-free laws? How is this fad going to affect future morbidity and mortality rates? I'm not sure I want to know.

The most important task at this point is to raise awareness. The city should broaden its anti-smoking campaigns to include hookah smoking. After all, this hot fad may be on its way to becoming a deadly epidemic. It's just that few people know enough about the dangers of hookah to stop the hype and drop the pipe.

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Soon, grim images to scare smokers 

Grim images of diseased lungs will appear on cigarette, bidi and gutka packets from December 1.

Packs of all tobacco products will have to carry pictorial warnings — covering 40 per cent of the surface area — with the message: ‘Tobacco kills/Smoking kills’.

The revised packaging and labelling rules for tobacco products were published in the Gazette of India on Friday and will include all smoking and non-smoking forms of tobacco, confirmed Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

“Pictorial warnings will not only remind the tobacco user of the dangers but also those around him/her. Children, for example, can become a very strong pressure group to encourage their parents to give up tobacco use,” said Ramadoss.

The warnings got the go-ahead from a Group of Ministers (GoM), including Pranab Mukherjee, P.R. Dasmunsi, Oscar Fernandes, Kamal Nath, Jaipal Reddy and Ramadoss.

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• Higher duties on cigarettes a blow to tobacco companies 

THE Government has proposed that excise duty on cigarettes be increased by three sen per stick to 18 sen. With this, the duty for a 20-stick pack is now higher by 60 sen.

The excise increase of three sen per stick also brings the total excise hike to 380% over the last five years.

British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT) managing director Jack Bowles said: "We are disappointed that there is such a high excise increase.

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Relief For Drinkers, Disappointment For Smokers 

However, a different view came from British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT), which said Budget 2009s high excise of three sen per stick brings the total excise increase to 380 percent over the last five years.

In this situation, based on similar high increases in previous years, illegal operators stand to gain at the expense of the governments public health agenda and legal manufacturers, the company said.

"We are disappointed that there is such a high excise increase. Our position has always been that we are not opposed to any increase in taxation but we were hoping that the Government will seriously consider the impact that high tax will have on the illicit tobacco trade problem that we are currently facing," said BAT managing director Jack Bowles.

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Feds commit $20 million to fight contraband tobacco smuggling  

The federal government announced Friday it will be investing $20 million over the next four years to combat contraband tobacco.

Although there was little in the way of specifics, the government said the new investment will be focused on two key areas -- strengthening tobacco control and curbing the availability of illegal tobacco.

Local MP Guy Lauzon welcomed the announcement and expressed optimism that it will help to further curb the flow of contraband tobacco. Given that the Cornwall area has long been a smuggling hot spot, Lauzon said it's likely some of the funding will be visible in this region.

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• Government of Canada invests $20 million in anti-tobacco activities 

The Honourable Gordon O'Connor, Minister of National Revenue today announced a $20 million investment over the next four years to combat contraband tobacco and its damaging effects on the health of Canadians.

"Today the Government of Canada is announcing an investment of $20 million to combat contraband tobacco and to reduce the amount of tobacco that Canadians consume," said Minister O'Connor. "Contraband tobacco negatively affects all Canadians and our Government is determined to fight the problem."

This important investment will help in two key areas: strengthening tobacco control; and advancing initiatives aimed at reducing the availability of illegal tobacco products and the consumption of tobacco in Canada.

Taxing tobacco products at a high level is an important element

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LETTER: Endorsing MUI smoking ban 

Good to see someone at least thinking about taking the lead on this major social and health issue. But where is the government's leadership? Why isn't the health minister taking the lead? Or, better still, the President?

The health and social impacts of tobacco is an issue for all Indonesians and should not be left solely to a religious group to take the lead.

The economic and social costs of smoking will always far exceed the economic benefits from tobacco. . . .

Wake up Indonesia. Tobacco is a deadly drug and is killing your citizens -- your fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and your children.

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Agony and Ecstasy: Is smoking contributing to my premature ejaculation?