Tobacco.org

• Arguments begin in 'light' cigarette appeal 

If an attempt at certifying a class-action lawsuit over light tobacco products goes up in smoke at the Supreme Court of Appeal, it will not only hurt smokers and ex-smokers, but could affect all consumers.

An appeal court panel of justices - Margaret Cameron, Gail Welsh and Charles White - began hearing the case Wednesday and it continues today.

Lawyer Ches Crosbie is challenging a decision by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador which said the class action couldn't be certified because consumers didn't buy their "light" and "mild" tobacco products directly from Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.

Crosbie is accusing the company - which has the largest tobacco sales in this province - of violating provincial trade practices legislation.

Rob Cunningham, an Ottawa lawyer for the Canadian Cancer Society who is observing the case, said if the certification doesn't go ahead, it will set a precedent for many consumer products, which are not commonly bought from their manufacturer.

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• 'Light' cigarette case going back to court 

The application for certification was filed by Ches Crosbie on behalf of Victor Todd Sparkes - the class action's representative plaintiff - against Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., Imperial Tobacco Company Ltd. and the Attorney General of Canada.

Sparkes' lawyers claimed the tobacco companies descriptions of "light" and "mild" as well as other descriptive terms were part of a deliberate misinformation campaign by the tobacco manufacturer to mislead and deceive the public into thinking the use of such products would have less harmful effects than smoking "regular" cigarettes.

But Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Justice James Adams said in 2008 the plaintiff failed to establish a cause of action under the federal Trade Practices Act. Adams denied the certification on the basis consumer Victor Sparkes did not buy the cigarettes directly from Imperial Tobacco. But the matter is being heard again by the Court of Appeal Wednesday and Thursday.

Crosbie argues people can't buy cigarettes directly from the supplier.

Lewis originally joined the class action because it sounded like his life story.

"We were blindsided. We were misled and taken advantage of. ... At the end of the day, I wanted to quit. I thought the switch to light cigarettes was going to help me take that edge off from smoking regular cigarettes," Lewis said.

"So they had me. I couldn't win."

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• Nipped in butt: Tobacco sales up despite ban  

Ramadoss, the former Union minister of health and family welfare, tried to help Indians kick the butt through stringent controls on tobacco sales and advertisements. But strangely, after the ban on public smoking in October last year and the much-touted pictorial warnings on cigarette packs from May 31 this year, Indians seem to be smoking more!

Most of the major tobacco companies posted continuous sales growth during the past two quarters, April-June and July-September 2009. The largest domestic tobacco company, ITC, with cigarette brands such as India Kings, Classic, Gold Flake, Navy Cut, Bristol, Scissors, Capstan and Flake, registered sales growth of over 20% in the tobacco business in both the quarters ending June and September this year.

During the first quarter of FY10, in terms of sales, the tobacco business grew by 23%, whereas, during the second quarter of FY10, the cigarette business went up by 21% to Rs 2199.69 cr compared to a year ago.

One of the major reasons for the continued growth in cigarette consumption is that the pictorial warnings on tobacco products are ineffective, according to a recent study by Mumbai-based health research organisation Healis.

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• Industry dodges ad bans by pushing smokes online 

The tobacco industry is using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote its products and persuade people to become smokers, a study revealed yesterday.

"The ban on advertising does not mean the tobacco industry has stopped advertising its products," said Becky Freeman of Australia's University of Sydney, who conducted the study.

She presented her findings in Bangkok at a threeday regional training workshop held by Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).

Freeman said most tobacco companies were interested in viral marketing (using preexisting social networks to increase brand recognition) to persuade or influence audiences to pass products on to others.

A million people had visited video clips on YouTube reviewing cigarettes, she said, and thousands more had become fans of the products on Facebook. "The Internet has made it easier to engage consumers by allowing them to contribute directly to marketing campaigns and brand development," she said.

The use of social networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, podcasts and RSS would be one of the main topics up for discussion at Tabinfo Asia 2009 . . .

Another marketing device was the use of product and pack designs - such as colourful and glowinthe dark packs - to entice specific groups.

"For example, we found cigarette packs designed like lipsticks or wallets - a new way to lure more and more women to become smokers," she said. . . .

A group of 650 people, including teenagers, led by Action on Smoking and its alliances, will today demonstrate against the Tabinfo Asia 2009 at Impact Arena.

"This is a nightmare for our people," SEATCA's director Bungon Ritthiphakdee said

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• Cigarette Packaging Influences Teens to Buy and Try  

Even before adolescents try smoking, they have preconceived ideas about what smoking is like. They often glean these images from the appeal of a cigarette pack. Colors, images, logos and font sizes all play a part in increasing teens’ susceptibility to future tobacco use.

“We found that when branding is progressively removed from a cigarette pack, adolescents not only perceive the packs to be less attractive, they associate the brand with people who have less favorable attributes. They also assume the cigarettes have a more negative taste,” said study co-author Melanie Wakefield, Ph.D.

Wakefield is director of the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer of the Cancer Council Victoria. The study appears online in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

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• Judge rejects challenge to tobacco marketing regs 

A federal judge ruled Thursday that tobacco companies hoping to block new restrictions on their marketing have little chance of succeeding.

The companies had asked U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley Jr. to issue a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit they filed in August claiming new tobacco regulations violate their right to free speech.

The companies, including two of the industry's three largest, are challenging provisions of a law that gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration new authority over tobacco. In a 29-page decision, McKinley outlined the arguments in the lawsuit and found that blocking the provisions was not warranted. . . .

The companies say the law, which takes full effect over three years, prohibits them from using "color lettering, trademarks, logos or any other imagery in most advertisements, including virtually all point-of-sale and direct-mail advertisements." Their complaint also says the law prohibits tobacco companies from "making truthful statements about their products in scientific, public policy and political debates."

The tobacco makers say new mandated warnings for cigarettes would relegate their branding to the bottom half of cigarette packaging and make it "difficult, if not impossible, to see."

In its response to the lawsuit, the FDA said the new marketing rules do not restrict free speech and serve a greater public health interest.

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• Switch to lights goes up in smoke  

SMOKERS who switch to low-tar cigarettes have half the chance of successfully quitting the habit.

A study of the smoking history of almost 31,000 US adults found that the odds of smokers managing to leave the habit behind them were 46 per cent lower if they had previously tried to switch to a "lighter" cigarette for any reason.

About 38 per cent of the sample, or 12,000 people, had switched in this way and 43 per cent of those said their reasons had included a wish to quit smoking altogether.

The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, said although low-tar cigarettes made up about 84 per cent of the US market, the amount of harmful chemicals they delivered into the lungs was comparable to that from regular strength cigarettes. . . .

Simon Chapman, a professor of public health at the University of Sydney and a senior editor with the journal, said the popular belief that "mild" or "light" cigarettes were less harmful than other variants was "a complete myth".

"Smokers adjust the way in which they smoke the cigarette, in order to give them the dose of nicotine that their brain says they want," Professor Chapman said. "The tobacco industry would not put any product on the market that actually contributed towards a cessation of smoking."

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• State high court ponders award in cigarette lawsuit  

A multimillion-dollar award from Philip Morris to the estate of a Salem woman will hinge on a narrow legal point argued Monday in the Oregon Supreme Court.

At stake is a 2002 jury award of $150 million in punitive damages against the cigarette maker, later reduced by the trial judge to $100 million, and then reversed in 2006 by the Oregon Court of Appeals.

On a 5-4 vote, the appeals court upheld a verdict of fraud and negligence against Philip Morris, and an award of $169,000 in compensatory damages to the family of Michelle Schwarz, who died of lung cancer in 1999 at age 53.

Schwarz's family argued in Multnomah County Circuit Court that Philip Morris had fraudulently marketed its low-tar Merit brand, which Schwarz switched to in 1976, as safer than regular cigarettes.

But the appeals court ruled the jury should not have considered the harm to individuals outside Oregon in deciding the amount of punitive damages.

The appeals court ordered new proceedings in circuit court to determine only those damages, but the case was appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court.

A lawyer representing the Schwarz family, Maureen Leonard of Portland, said Monday that "more reprehensible conduct (by Philip Morris) justifies higher punitive damages."

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• Pictoral warnings on cigarette packs watered down 

Pictorial warnings on cigarette packets recently introduced by the government are about to be phased out, reports say. It is its a clear attempt to safe guard the interest of the people involved in the tobacco industry and to keep the governmen'ts crucial vote bank intact.

Initially, there were some gruesome pictures that depicted the worse possible effects of tobacco on the human body. These pictures were first notified by the Health Ministry in July 2006 as pictorial warnings for cigarette and gutka packets. But these pictures were shot down by the Group of Ministers (GoM) as 'objectionable'.

Former Union Labour Minister, Oscar Fernandes said, "If we're talking about making the pictures harsher, we may as well shut down the industry. There are several districts in West Bengal where poor bidi workers earn their livelihood from this."

In a meeting of the GoM chaired by Pranab Mukherjee in July 2007, it was decided that the picture of the dead body be replaced with a 'suitable' one.

The minutes of the meeting available with CNN-IBN show that in the GoM, Pranab Mukharjee said, "A number of representations have been received from the bidi industry that employs a large number of workers from the weaker sections of society. The basic issues raised by the bidi industry relate to the size, colour and obnoxious nature of the pictorial warnings. Keeping this is view, the pictorial warnings may be modified."

The GOM also asked the Health Ministry to consult the Ministry of Law and remove the 'skull and cross bone' as a warning sign.

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• Taste the Rainbow: Cigarette Makers' Colorful Answer to FDA Packaging Regs  

"As marketing restrictions become stronger the pack becomes the best marketing tool," Hammond says. "When the words come off the pack, the industry relies on colors to a greater extent then they used to."

For example, Pall Mall recently removed descriptors like "full flavor" and "light," relying entirely on the color of the pack and the names of colors to identify each flavor.

"Of course, brands have always used colors," Hammond says. "The so called strengths of brands are aligned with the strengths of colors, and many smokers use colors as an indicator of risk. For example, red is perceived to be stronger than blue."

In other words, as the flavors get "lighter," so the do the colors. . . .

"Orange is a very interesting choice," Bansal-Travers says. "No other brand I can think of uses orange as a cigarette pack color, but orange is certainly the lightest that PM uses, creating a spectrum of color and trying to equate that with the spectrum of risk."

Primary design changes: Flavor descriptors, such as "Filter" and "Light," have been dropped, replaced with the names of colors.

Secondary design changes: The phrase "Famous American Cigarettes" has been moved to the bottom. While the logo and Latin phrases "Per aspera ad astra" ("Through hardships to the stars") and "In hoc signo vinces" ("By this sign you shall conquer") remain, the phrases "KING SIZE BOX" and "Wherever particular people congregate" have been removed from the front of the boxes.

For its Salem brand, manufacturer RJ Reynolds has changed the coloring of the packs and the descriptor terms.

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• National tobacco case to be heard in Bangor  

Attorneys from around the country descended Wednesday on the federal courthouse in Bangor for a conference on a class-action lawsuit against the makers of light cigarettes.

It is the first multidistrict litigation case ever assigned to U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Multidistrict litigation, or MDL, is the label the federal judiciary gives cases filed against the same party or parties in federal courts around the nation. Once cases have been combined, a three-judge panel assigns them to one federal judge.

At least 20 lawsuits from around the country have been combined in Bangor. The MDL has been assigned to U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, who has not handled one since his appointment to the federal bench in 2003. Moreover, the original Maine case that led to the 20-case MDL is once again in the hands of Woodcock, whom the U.S. Supreme Court reversed last year.

In a 5-4 a split won by the court’s liberals, the justices ruled in December that smokers may use state consumer protection laws to sue cigarette makers for the way they promote “light” and “low tar” brands. . . .

No hearings in the case will be held until January or February. Once Woodcock rules on whether the facts in a landmark case upheld earlier this year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., Circuit can be applied to the MDL case, his decision is expected to be appealed to the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. That decision also could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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• 'Jordan committed to implementation of tobacco control treaty' 

Jordan is committed to the implementation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC), Minister of Health Nayef Fayez said on Tuesday, noting that it was the second country in the region to endorse it.

The Ministry of Health has formed a committee to draw up a plan to implement articles 9 and 10 of the convention, which entered into force in 2005, he added.

"We are studying the possibility of enlarging the graphic warning printed on tobacco packets from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the pack's total size," Fayez said at a meeting of 20 FCTC state parties to discuss the implementation of articles 9 and 10 yesterday.

He added that the ministry is also studying printing other graphics related to the impact of smoking on health.

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• Graphic warnings soon to accompany cigarette packs  

Graphic images highlighting the dangers of smoking will soon be displayed on all tobacco products sold in Malta, director general of public health Ray Busuttil revealed on Tuesday.

A legal notice announcing the new regulations on tobacco packaging is expected to be issued by the end of this month, Dr Busuttil said at a press conference on EU anti-smoking campaign Help.

Health Promotion Department director Charmaine Gauci said that statistics showed that although the prevalence of smoking in Malta has been decreasing in recent years, the reverse was true among schoolchildren.

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• Le tabac en vente libre sur Internet ? [Tobacco counter on the Internet? ] 

GOOGLE TRANSLATION:

At the time of the fight against tobacco use is increasing (increase of 10% next tobacco endorsement under shock images on cigarette packs), a new provision could face a paradox. Thus, reveal Les Echos, under the transposition of a European directive on excise duties (indirect taxes) levied on tobacco and alcohol, cigarette sales should be possible on the Internet "by 1 April 2010 ".

The daily quoted the ministry's budget, that "the conditions of application of the Directive are far from being arbitrated. "But, adds the journalist, it does not seem possible to put the spirit in question. "The information Voices has led to an immediate denial from the ministry. "The sale of tobacco through the Internet is not permitted in France," says a press release stating that "it is not intended to authorize soon.

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• CSU research finds flavored cigarettes preferable 

Two CSU marketing professors released a two-year-long study last week that they say proves flavored cigarettes are more marketable to high school students in the Southeast and Central United States than traditional tobacco products.

Their findings come just weeks after a federal law passed the legislature banning flavored cigarettes.

The study, conducted by professors Kathleen Kelly and Ken Manning, was funded by a $100,000 grant from an organization that funds studies on American health care issues and took place over the last two years.

The research canvassed a group of 253 high school students with the average age of 16 and exposed them to three different brands and packaging of cherry flavored cigarettes, the flavor the students selected as most appealing.

According to the study, after viewing each pack, the subjects were asked to answer a series of questions about the stimuli.

Kelly's idea to conduct this research came from an article on flavored cigarettes she read in The Wall Street Journal that said the target consumer of the product weren't new smokers but current smokers.

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