Soon, instead of focusing on grim health warnings and gruesome advertisements for cigarettes, the advertising world will now put the spotlight on smoker’s hip pockets.
A move that coincides with the Cancer Institute NSW’s new research that 20% of smokers would give up smoking on a $3/- increase in cigarette prices, with an additional 29% admitting they would reduce the number of cigarettes they smoked.
A heavy smoker buying a packet of cigarettes for an average price of $13.50, expects to see almost $5000 going up in smoke every year.
As well, over the festive season, new radio advertisements honing in on this cost will be launched by the NSW Government, with Minister Assisting on Health, Barbara Perry, informing, the new ads will show better ways for spending hard-earned money than frittering it away on cigarettes.
‘This new campaign appeals to smokers' hip-pockets, as well as their health, describing Christmas presents and holidays that their money could be better spent on,’ she said.
‘People who smoke 10 or more cigarettes each day are told they are burning through more than $1500 a year, which could instead go towards creating a really special Christmas.’
According to Cancer Institute’s research, half the smokers are happy to welcome a cigarette price hike, if only it will help them give up smoking, including deterring young people from lighting up.
The survey of 800-smokers and 800 non-smokers found 66% of smokers up from 2005’s 59%, were keen to quit within the next six months.
Researchers were surprised to find the smokers themselves supported a hike in the price of cigarettes.
Nov 30, 2009
Nov 26, 2009
Penalty for selling cigarettes to underage decoy reduced
A tiny Chinatown store accused of selling cigarettes to an underage decoy had a tobacco license suspension reduced after it claimed that the decoy’s ID was damaged and difficult to read.
Sam & Son Market, which opens on Powell Street at 5 a.m. to sell newspapers, cigarettes, lottery tickets and snacks, was initially suspended by the San Francisco Department of Public Health from selling tobacco for 25 days because it sold cigarettes to an underage police decoy on May 2.
But the San Francisco Board of Appeals reduced that suspension to 20 days after the business owner said his wife, who he described through a translator as illiterate and suffering vision problems, checked the decoy’s ID but sold the cigarettes anyway.
The ID was crumpled and the laminate was bubbled, perhaps because it had been left in clothes when they were sent to a dry cleaner, the business owner said through his translating son, William Chan.
The Department of Public Health was unable to produce a copy of the decoy’s ID, leading the Board of Appeals to vote 4-1 to reduce the suspension to 20 days.
Board members also expressed sympathy during the hearing for Sam & Son Market because it’s a small business.
Sam & Son Market, which opens on Powell Street at 5 a.m. to sell newspapers, cigarettes, lottery tickets and snacks, was initially suspended by the San Francisco Department of Public Health from selling tobacco for 25 days because it sold cigarettes to an underage police decoy on May 2.
But the San Francisco Board of Appeals reduced that suspension to 20 days after the business owner said his wife, who he described through a translator as illiterate and suffering vision problems, checked the decoy’s ID but sold the cigarettes anyway.
The ID was crumpled and the laminate was bubbled, perhaps because it had been left in clothes when they were sent to a dry cleaner, the business owner said through his translating son, William Chan.
The Department of Public Health was unable to produce a copy of the decoy’s ID, leading the Board of Appeals to vote 4-1 to reduce the suspension to 20 days.
Board members also expressed sympathy during the hearing for Sam & Son Market because it’s a small business.
Nov 23, 2009
As national smoking rates rise, NY's drops
While national rates for cigarette smoking have risen slightly, New York has shown a decrease in smokers, which experts attribute to the state's high cigarette tax and aggressive anti-smoking laws and programs.
Nationally, about 20.6 percent of adults were smokers in 2008, up from 19.8 percent in 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
Even so, the trend over the last decade is still downward: Since 1998, the proportion of adult smokers has declined overall by 3.5 percentage points.
In New York, the rate of adult smokers dropped from 18.3 percent in 2007 to 16.8 percent in 2008, the lowest ever measured in the state, said Claire Pospisil, a spokeswoman from the state Health Department.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the country, according to the CDC. But, as states struggle with budgets, many are cutting back on their smoking prevention programs, yet few have raised cigarette taxes as high as New York's, the nation's third highest.
With a $2.75 per pack tax levied by the state, along with taxes by other jurisdictions, a pack of cigarettes in the state costs from $7 to $10. Nassau and Suffolk counties have asked to put their own taxes on cigarettes but have been turned down by the state. New York City adds $1.50 a pack.
"New York is a role model," said Matthew Myers, president of the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "While the rest of the country is stagnant, New York is a demonstration that its comprehensive effort is working."
The decline in New York means there are about 300,000 fewer smokers, said Pat Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at the North Shore-LIJ Health System. "Some people look at [smoking] as a dead issue, that we shouldn't have to worry about it anymore, but in fact it's not completely gone away," Folan said. The center, supported by a $600,000-a-year state grant, is one of 19 such regional centers statewide.
The CDC's survey found the highest prevalence of smoking among the least educated: A 27.5 percent rate for people with less than a high school diploma and 41.3 percent for those with a General Educational Development certificate. Only 5.7 percent of people with a graduate degree smoke, according to the survey.Myers predicted that smoking statistics from 2009 will show a sharp decline because of the April federal increase in a cigarette tax from 39 cents to $1.01. He said preliminary data from the first three-quarters of the year show a drop in smoking of about 9 percent.
"The lesson of the impact of the federal tax as well as New York's is that by increasing the tobacco tax and funding comprehensive programs, we can dramatically reduce the number who die from tobacco use," Myers said.
Nationally, about 20.6 percent of adults were smokers in 2008, up from 19.8 percent in 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
Even so, the trend over the last decade is still downward: Since 1998, the proportion of adult smokers has declined overall by 3.5 percentage points.
In New York, the rate of adult smokers dropped from 18.3 percent in 2007 to 16.8 percent in 2008, the lowest ever measured in the state, said Claire Pospisil, a spokeswoman from the state Health Department.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the country, according to the CDC. But, as states struggle with budgets, many are cutting back on their smoking prevention programs, yet few have raised cigarette taxes as high as New York's, the nation's third highest.
With a $2.75 per pack tax levied by the state, along with taxes by other jurisdictions, a pack of cigarettes in the state costs from $7 to $10. Nassau and Suffolk counties have asked to put their own taxes on cigarettes but have been turned down by the state. New York City adds $1.50 a pack.
"New York is a role model," said Matthew Myers, president of the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "While the rest of the country is stagnant, New York is a demonstration that its comprehensive effort is working."
The decline in New York means there are about 300,000 fewer smokers, said Pat Folan, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at the North Shore-LIJ Health System. "Some people look at [smoking] as a dead issue, that we shouldn't have to worry about it anymore, but in fact it's not completely gone away," Folan said. The center, supported by a $600,000-a-year state grant, is one of 19 such regional centers statewide.
The CDC's survey found the highest prevalence of smoking among the least educated: A 27.5 percent rate for people with less than a high school diploma and 41.3 percent for those with a General Educational Development certificate. Only 5.7 percent of people with a graduate degree smoke, according to the survey.Myers predicted that smoking statistics from 2009 will show a sharp decline because of the April federal increase in a cigarette tax from 39 cents to $1.01. He said preliminary data from the first three-quarters of the year show a drop in smoking of about 9 percent.
"The lesson of the impact of the federal tax as well as New York's is that by increasing the tobacco tax and funding comprehensive programs, we can dramatically reduce the number who die from tobacco use," Myers said.
Nov 18, 2009
Latest cigarettes seizures worth €4.8m
THE LATEST seizures by Customs of some 12 million cigarettes in two hauls have a combined retail value of €4.8 million.
The consignments came through Dublin Port in recent days. On Monday, between five million and six million cigarettes were seized by Customs officers near Dundalk, Co Louth.
The Regal brand cigarettes were hidden in a container which arrived into Dublin Port from Barcelona last week. The tobacco was labelled on the manifest as "hair extensions" and was hidden in 25 pallets with empty boxes.
The load was followed for seven days before a driver with the container was stopped at a checkpoint at the M1 Dundalk south turn-off on Monday night. An Irishman detained at the scene was later released and is said to be helping Customs with its investigations.
Dublin Port Customs official Ciarán Moulton said inquiries were ongoing. "But based on the fact that the container was heading towards the Border and the brand is more common in Northern Ireland and the UK, we believe it was destined for the UK market."
Some six million contraband Souvenir brand cigarettes arrived into Dublin Port on a ship from Vietnam on Saturday.
They were hidden behind a load of timber furniture.The seizure involved surveillance and investigation work by gardaí and Customs officers. Several people were questioned in relation to the haul.
It brings to almost €10 million the value of tobacco seizures in the past seven days. A €5 million shipment arrived at Dublin Port from Holyhead, and was seized by Customs officers near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan last week.
The consignments came through Dublin Port in recent days. On Monday, between five million and six million cigarettes were seized by Customs officers near Dundalk, Co Louth.
The Regal brand cigarettes were hidden in a container which arrived into Dublin Port from Barcelona last week. The tobacco was labelled on the manifest as "hair extensions" and was hidden in 25 pallets with empty boxes.
The load was followed for seven days before a driver with the container was stopped at a checkpoint at the M1 Dundalk south turn-off on Monday night. An Irishman detained at the scene was later released and is said to be helping Customs with its investigations.
Dublin Port Customs official Ciarán Moulton said inquiries were ongoing. "But based on the fact that the container was heading towards the Border and the brand is more common in Northern Ireland and the UK, we believe it was destined for the UK market."
Some six million contraband Souvenir brand cigarettes arrived into Dublin Port on a ship from Vietnam on Saturday.
They were hidden behind a load of timber furniture.The seizure involved surveillance and investigation work by gardaí and Customs officers. Several people were questioned in relation to the haul.
It brings to almost €10 million the value of tobacco seizures in the past seven days. A €5 million shipment arrived at Dublin Port from Holyhead, and was seized by Customs officers near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan last week.
Nov 16, 2009
Burglars crash car into store to steal cigarettes
Burglars crashed a vehicle into Midland Market and stole cartons of cigarettes early Saturday on Midland Road, a sheriff’s deputy reported.
Owner David A. Boyce reviewed store surveillance video showing someone in a mid-sized regular cab pickup truck crashed through the door and front windows of the market, Deputy Joseph McCool reported.
An unknown amount of cigarettes were stolen.Deputy Matt Clagg and McCool cleared the store.
“I observed multiple cartons of cigarettes lying on the floor and paint transfer from the vehicle on the door frame,” McCool stated, adding the doors were pushed in.
Deputies also found bloodstains inside the store.
Detective Chris Owens is investigating. People who have information about the burglary or suspects may call Owens at 904-3045.
In an unrelated case, Deputy Gene Thorpe reported thieves stole a 500-gallon propane tank and about 200 gallons of propane from William B. Williams of J.D. Todd Road.
Loss was estimated at $1,560.
Owner David A. Boyce reviewed store surveillance video showing someone in a mid-sized regular cab pickup truck crashed through the door and front windows of the market, Deputy Joseph McCool reported.
An unknown amount of cigarettes were stolen.Deputy Matt Clagg and McCool cleared the store.
“I observed multiple cartons of cigarettes lying on the floor and paint transfer from the vehicle on the door frame,” McCool stated, adding the doors were pushed in.
Deputies also found bloodstains inside the store.
Detective Chris Owens is investigating. People who have information about the burglary or suspects may call Owens at 904-3045.
In an unrelated case, Deputy Gene Thorpe reported thieves stole a 500-gallon propane tank and about 200 gallons of propane from William B. Williams of J.D. Todd Road.
Loss was estimated at $1,560.
Man assaulted on Lucky St., stabbed over cigarettes
A man was stabbed Sunday when he refused to give his cigarettes away.
The Rock Hill man was assaulted on Lucky Street around 1:20 a.m. after two men asked him for a cigarette, according to a Rock Hill police report.
The victim told police he was walking down the street when he was approached by two unknown men wearing dark clothing, the report states. One of the suspects asked for a cigarette, and the victim told police he replied, “You sell drugs, go get buy your own cigarettes,” the report states.
Then one of the men pushed him down and the other cut the man in the chest with a knife, the report states. Afterward, they ran away.
The victim was taken to Piedmont Medical Center for treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
The report does not have a description of the suspects.
The Rock Hill man was assaulted on Lucky Street around 1:20 a.m. after two men asked him for a cigarette, according to a Rock Hill police report.
The victim told police he was walking down the street when he was approached by two unknown men wearing dark clothing, the report states. One of the suspects asked for a cigarette, and the victim told police he replied, “You sell drugs, go get buy your own cigarettes,” the report states.
Then one of the men pushed him down and the other cut the man in the chest with a knife, the report states. Afterward, they ran away.
The victim was taken to Piedmont Medical Center for treatment for non-life threatening injuries.
The report does not have a description of the suspects.
Nov 13, 2009
Africa Faces Surge In Tobacco-Related Deaths
Africans face a surge in cancer deaths amid growing rates of tobacco use and a lack of laws that protect people from second-hand smoke, according to a joint report released Wednesday by the Global Smokefree Partnership and the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The continent, which accounts for 14 percent of the world’s population, has just four percent of the world’s smokers today. But African nations are set to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, with more than half the continent expected to double its tobacco use within 12 years if current trends continue, the report found.
This comes at a time when nearly 90 percent of Africans have no meaningful protection from secondhand smoke.
"If we don't act now on tobacco control in Africa, millions of lives will be lost because tobacco is now becoming an issue in Africa," Tom Glynn of the Global Smokefree Partnership told the AFP news agency.
The report, entitled “Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smokefree Air”, also offers some hope.
Many African nations are fighting against the tobacco industry's aggressive efforts to stop public health interventions by putting smoke-free laws into place.
"For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic," said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
"Recent data suggests that, with current trends, more than half of the region of Africa will double its tobacco consumption within 12 years. Smoke-free public places are one example of a low-cost and extremely effective intervention that must be implemented now to protect health."
Kenya and Niger have enacted national smoke-free policies within the last year, and South Africa, which has been smoke-free since March 2007, continues to play a vital role in the region, demonstrating that smoke-free laws can work in Africa.
In a first for the region, Mauritius recently passed a law that is close to meeting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) standards, ranking among the strongest anti-smoking measures in the world.
However, implementation remains a challenge in many places, such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Uganda, the report found.
Barriers include identifying resources for implementation, and tobacco industry opposition to smoke-free laws. In Abuja, Nigeria, for example, 55 percent of students are unaware that secondhand smoke is harmful to health, and smoke-free laws protect just 1 percent of the population.
The report exposes the tobacco industry's efforts to prevent legislation through convincing African governments that tobacco is important to their economies, and that raising taxes on cigarettes and adopting smoke-free laws will result in revenue and job losses.
In Kenya, the tobacco industry has legally challenged a strong smoke-free law passed by the Parliament. And in Zambia, British American Tobacco has helped to water down proposals for a smoke-free law.
But evidence in recent years indicates that such alleged revenue losses do not occur. For instance, the smoke-free law in Mauritius is not expected to impact tourist revenues, which account for more than 25% of the nation’s GDP, the report found.
In South Africa, value added tax returns showed that smoke-free laws had no meaningful impact on restaurant revenues, and indeed may have had a positive effect.
In addition to tough anti-smoking laws, economic interventions, such as imposing high taxes on cigarettes, have substantial potential to effectively and efficiently decrease tobacco consumption rates in Africa. Doubling the price of cigarettes by increasing the tax can lower consumption by 60 percent, the report found.
This holds true among many African nations. In South Africa, for example, tobacco consumption has decreased by one-third since 1993, when aggressive increases in cigarettes taxes began to take effect.
It is estimated that in 2010 smoking will claim the lives of 6 million people worldwide, 72 percent of which live in low- and middle-income nations.
If current trends continue, tobacco will kill 7 million people a year by 2020 and more than 8 million people annually by 2030.
Some 1 billion people in 45 nations are now protected from the health hazards of secondhand tobacco smoke at work and in public areas. Despite this progress, more than 85 percent of the world's people are without such protection.
The continent, which accounts for 14 percent of the world’s population, has just four percent of the world’s smokers today. But African nations are set to undergo the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among developing countries, with more than half the continent expected to double its tobacco use within 12 years if current trends continue, the report found.
This comes at a time when nearly 90 percent of Africans have no meaningful protection from secondhand smoke.
"If we don't act now on tobacco control in Africa, millions of lives will be lost because tobacco is now becoming an issue in Africa," Tom Glynn of the Global Smokefree Partnership told the AFP news agency.
The report, entitled “Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry, Winning Smokefree Air”, also offers some hope.
Many African nations are fighting against the tobacco industry's aggressive efforts to stop public health interventions by putting smoke-free laws into place.
"For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic," said Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society.
"Recent data suggests that, with current trends, more than half of the region of Africa will double its tobacco consumption within 12 years. Smoke-free public places are one example of a low-cost and extremely effective intervention that must be implemented now to protect health."
Kenya and Niger have enacted national smoke-free policies within the last year, and South Africa, which has been smoke-free since March 2007, continues to play a vital role in the region, demonstrating that smoke-free laws can work in Africa.
In a first for the region, Mauritius recently passed a law that is close to meeting the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) standards, ranking among the strongest anti-smoking measures in the world.
However, implementation remains a challenge in many places, such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Uganda, the report found.
Barriers include identifying resources for implementation, and tobacco industry opposition to smoke-free laws. In Abuja, Nigeria, for example, 55 percent of students are unaware that secondhand smoke is harmful to health, and smoke-free laws protect just 1 percent of the population.
The report exposes the tobacco industry's efforts to prevent legislation through convincing African governments that tobacco is important to their economies, and that raising taxes on cigarettes and adopting smoke-free laws will result in revenue and job losses.
In Kenya, the tobacco industry has legally challenged a strong smoke-free law passed by the Parliament. And in Zambia, British American Tobacco has helped to water down proposals for a smoke-free law.
But evidence in recent years indicates that such alleged revenue losses do not occur. For instance, the smoke-free law in Mauritius is not expected to impact tourist revenues, which account for more than 25% of the nation’s GDP, the report found.
In South Africa, value added tax returns showed that smoke-free laws had no meaningful impact on restaurant revenues, and indeed may have had a positive effect.
In addition to tough anti-smoking laws, economic interventions, such as imposing high taxes on cigarettes, have substantial potential to effectively and efficiently decrease tobacco consumption rates in Africa. Doubling the price of cigarettes by increasing the tax can lower consumption by 60 percent, the report found.
This holds true among many African nations. In South Africa, for example, tobacco consumption has decreased by one-third since 1993, when aggressive increases in cigarettes taxes began to take effect.
It is estimated that in 2010 smoking will claim the lives of 6 million people worldwide, 72 percent of which live in low- and middle-income nations.
If current trends continue, tobacco will kill 7 million people a year by 2020 and more than 8 million people annually by 2030.
Some 1 billion people in 45 nations are now protected from the health hazards of secondhand tobacco smoke at work and in public areas. Despite this progress, more than 85 percent of the world's people are without such protection.
Nov 10, 2009
Georgia's Psychiatric Hospitals Going Smoke-Free
Georgia's mental health facilities next year will go completely tobacco free. WABE's Jim Burress has more.
State officials say Georgia's seven psychiatric hospitals are just like other healthcare facilities--and as such, should adopt by policy rules that further healthful living:
"If we went and got our gallbladder out, we wouldn't expect to be sitting in recuperation smoking."
That's Tom Wilson, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health. He says individual facilities' policies have to this point varied widely:
" in some cases, nearly smoke-free; in other cases, allowing designated smoking areas. And in some, even there would be places where you might be able to purchase cigarettes. So all of those things make for a good reason that we should have one statewide policy that applies to every hospital."
The tobacco-free policy takes effect January 5th. Wilson says hospitals will offer smoking cessation classes to the estimated 2,200 affected patients, and to employees, before that date.
State officials say Georgia's seven psychiatric hospitals are just like other healthcare facilities--and as such, should adopt by policy rules that further healthful living:
"If we went and got our gallbladder out, we wouldn't expect to be sitting in recuperation smoking."
That's Tom Wilson, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health. He says individual facilities' policies have to this point varied widely:
" in some cases, nearly smoke-free; in other cases, allowing designated smoking areas. And in some, even there would be places where you might be able to purchase cigarettes. So all of those things make for a good reason that we should have one statewide policy that applies to every hospital."
The tobacco-free policy takes effect January 5th. Wilson says hospitals will offer smoking cessation classes to the estimated 2,200 affected patients, and to employees, before that date.
Nov 6, 2009
Illegal cigarettes peddlers caught
In a swift operation lasting just half an hour, 15 men, aged between 25 and 38, were arrested were arrested on Tuesday October 27, in an operation conducted at Yew Tee Industrial Estate.
378 packets of contraband cigarettes found on them. Officers then combed through the vicinity and seized another 635 packets of contraband cigarettes. The total duty and GST evaded on the cigarettes was close to $8,500.
Further investigations revealed that 14 of the offenders were illegal immigrants and they were charged in Court on October 29 and 30, 2009.
Singapore Customs (SC) together with Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) began plans for the operation two weeks earlier.
Officers monitored the movements of the peddlers, observed how transactions took place with buyers and recorded the 'peak' times for illegal peddling activities.
On the night of the operation, officers kept close watch on a group of suspicious-looking foreigners who were carrying red plastic bags and lurking near the forested area at Yew Tee Industrial Estate.
At 10 p.m. officers moved in and ambushed the men who were suspected to be involved in the peddling of contraband cigarettes.
The peddlers started to flee in all directions in an attempt to escape. The officers chased after and eventually subdued them.
Since January 2009, 11 peddlers - all foreigners - had been arrested and 102 end-consumers fined in Yew Tee. More than 4,000 packets of contraband cigarettes had been seized in the area for the same period.
378 packets of contraband cigarettes found on them. Officers then combed through the vicinity and seized another 635 packets of contraband cigarettes. The total duty and GST evaded on the cigarettes was close to $8,500.
Further investigations revealed that 14 of the offenders were illegal immigrants and they were charged in Court on October 29 and 30, 2009.
Singapore Customs (SC) together with Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) began plans for the operation two weeks earlier.
Officers monitored the movements of the peddlers, observed how transactions took place with buyers and recorded the 'peak' times for illegal peddling activities.
On the night of the operation, officers kept close watch on a group of suspicious-looking foreigners who were carrying red plastic bags and lurking near the forested area at Yew Tee Industrial Estate.
At 10 p.m. officers moved in and ambushed the men who were suspected to be involved in the peddling of contraband cigarettes.
The peddlers started to flee in all directions in an attempt to escape. The officers chased after and eventually subdued them.
Since January 2009, 11 peddlers - all foreigners - had been arrested and 102 end-consumers fined in Yew Tee. More than 4,000 packets of contraband cigarettes had been seized in the area for the same period.
Nov 5, 2009
Japan Considers Higher Cigarette Taxes
TOKYO – Japan is looking into increasing cigarette taxes to fund a new government spending plan, the Wall Street Journal reports. Complicating that plan is partial state ownership of Japan Tobacco.
The world’s biggest tobacco company measured by sales, Japan Tobacco is half-owned by the state. A Japanese health minister put a cigarette tax hike on the table during a TV interview on Sunday.
“Tobacco poses health problems. It may be necessary to raise [the tobacco tax] to the levels in Europe,” said Akira Nagatsuma, minister of health, labor and welfare. The government’s tax panel is already considering raising the tobacco tax as part of reforms for fiscal 2010, at the request of the health ministry.
Currently, a 10-yen-per-cigarette jump is under debate. Such an increase would be 10 times previous increases. The Japanese pay among the lowest amount of any developed nation for cigarettes.
Since the Japanese government has a stake in Japan Tobacco, which accounts for 65 percent of the market share, raising the cigarette tax can be tricky.
“We believe the current excise tax is already at a high level,” said a Japan Tobacco spokesman. “This is based on the fact that in the past, excise increases have shown that there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in revenue, because sales volumes have declined.”
The world’s biggest tobacco company measured by sales, Japan Tobacco is half-owned by the state. A Japanese health minister put a cigarette tax hike on the table during a TV interview on Sunday.
“Tobacco poses health problems. It may be necessary to raise [the tobacco tax] to the levels in Europe,” said Akira Nagatsuma, minister of health, labor and welfare. The government’s tax panel is already considering raising the tobacco tax as part of reforms for fiscal 2010, at the request of the health ministry.
Currently, a 10-yen-per-cigarette jump is under debate. Such an increase would be 10 times previous increases. The Japanese pay among the lowest amount of any developed nation for cigarettes.
Since the Japanese government has a stake in Japan Tobacco, which accounts for 65 percent of the market share, raising the cigarette tax can be tricky.
“We believe the current excise tax is already at a high level,” said a Japan Tobacco spokesman. “This is based on the fact that in the past, excise increases have shown that there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in revenue, because sales volumes have declined.”
Nov 2, 2009
Canadian tobacco firm destroyed evidence: researchers
OTTAWA — Researchers said Thursday they uncovered evidence that a Canadian tobacco company destroyed scientific data it had decades ago showing that cigarettes were addictive and caused cancer.
The three Canadian researchers published copies of 60 internal documents, shredded by Imperial Tobacco Canada in 1992 to avoid embarrassment or liability, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The copies were uncovered in the files of parent firm British American Tobacco subsidiary.
The documents detail evidence from scientific reviews prepared by British American Tobacco's researchers, as well as dozens of original research studies between 1967 and 1984, such as the examination of the biological activity and carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke.
They describe research on cigarette modifications and toxic emissions, including how consumers adapted their smoking behavior to these modifications, and depict a comprehensive research program on the pharmacology of nicotine and its central role in smoking behaviour.
Some studies found second-hand smoke on rats was dangerous. Other research cast doubt on the comparative benefits of low-tar cigarettes, as smokers simply compensated by inhaling more intensely.
All the while, Imperial Tobacco Canada executives had denied that smoking was addictive or a health hazard, even testifying such at a parliamentary committee hearing in 1987.
The records are now likely to be used in lawsuits by three Canadian provinces seeking billions of dollars from tobacco firms for smoking-related health care costs.
The three Canadian researchers published copies of 60 internal documents, shredded by Imperial Tobacco Canada in 1992 to avoid embarrassment or liability, in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The copies were uncovered in the files of parent firm British American Tobacco subsidiary.
The documents detail evidence from scientific reviews prepared by British American Tobacco's researchers, as well as dozens of original research studies between 1967 and 1984, such as the examination of the biological activity and carcinogenicity of tobacco smoke.
They describe research on cigarette modifications and toxic emissions, including how consumers adapted their smoking behavior to these modifications, and depict a comprehensive research program on the pharmacology of nicotine and its central role in smoking behaviour.
Some studies found second-hand smoke on rats was dangerous. Other research cast doubt on the comparative benefits of low-tar cigarettes, as smokers simply compensated by inhaling more intensely.
All the while, Imperial Tobacco Canada executives had denied that smoking was addictive or a health hazard, even testifying such at a parliamentary committee hearing in 1987.
The records are now likely to be used in lawsuits by three Canadian provinces seeking billions of dollars from tobacco firms for smoking-related health care costs.
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