Tobacco.org

American Cancer Society Says Cigarette Tax Boost Would Cause Thousands to Quit Smoking  

Smokers can no longer light up in Utah's bars and private clubs, and soon, they might be hit with a cigarette tax increase. Governor Jon Huntsman has argued that it should be raised to $3 a pack. But yesterday, we spoke with a representative from Phillip Morris, who told us that cigarette tax increases in other states have been unsuccessful and they hurt small businesses that sell cigarettes. Today, we sit down with Michael Siler, Director of Government Relations for the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network in Utah. He tells KCPW's Jeff Robinson why the tax increase is a good idea, for smokers and for the economy.

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• Up in cigarette prices to keep smokers at bay 

In an effort to keep youth away from smoking, the UAE's national tobacco control team will propose prohibitive pricing for cigarettes.

The price of cigarettes could more than quadruple under a proposal from the National Tobacco Control Team in the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper has reported.

Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, the head of the Ministry of Health's Tobacco Control Team, said she has prepared a plan to raise the price of cigarettes between $5.4 and $13.6 a packet.

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Puffing Your Way to Early Death 

Smoking is equally harmful to the health of youngsters and adults, say health experts.

But for youngsters smoking tobacco, it may mean health complications and early death, say experts, while commenting on the increasing trend of tobacco use among youngsters in the UAE. . . .

"Smoking kills", says Dr Suresh Menon, Specialist Physician at Jebel Ali Hospital. "Smoking tobacco introduces chemicals to your lungs and blood stream and also causes fatty deposits to build up in your blood vessels," he says.

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Children at risk from passive smoking in cars 

The latest debate is not the harmful effects of smoking, but ironically, whether smoking in cars is legitimate or not.

For those who consider it legitimate, cars are a private and not a public place, while for those who argue otherwise, the action exposes children to passive smoke.

Accord to recent reports, UAE tobacco laws have been delayed and are unlikely to be passed this year, which is two years after the initial intended deadline.

Although cars are considered by most as a private place, the draft law also addresses protection of minors against second-hand smoke.

In a recent Gulf News poll, 58 per cent of respondents said that smoking should be banned in cars, . . .

City Talk took to the streets and asked residents if smoking in cars should be banned in order to protect children from second hand smoke and if smoking should also be banned in all places where children may be, such as parks.

"If there are children in the car then smoking should not be allowed inside,"

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Official sees more delays for anti-tobacco laws 

Dubai: UAE tobacco laws are unlikely to be passed this year, two years after the initial intended deadline.

The Ministry of Health at first expected the country to have its first comprehensive tobacco-control laws by the end of 2006, in keeping with the UAE's commitment to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Federal National Council debates on the proposed legislation were slated for November 11 this year, but got delayed due to the summer holidays and Ramadan. Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, head of the National Tobacco Control Committee, told Gulf News the debate has now been delayed till further notice. "In November, they promised to discuss the law, but it did not happen because other issues came in the middle of (November) - the financial crisis," she said.

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Charges in truckie theft plot 

TWO truckies accused of planning to hijack a rig carrying $1.9 million worth of cigarettes and kidnap the driver have been released on bail.

Steve Fabriczy, 53, of Rowville and Morad Zeitoune, 44, of Narre Warren North, were arrested by detectives after a month-long investigation.

Police yesterday found $60,000 worth of cigarettes during a raid at an outer suburban home.

The men were arrested as they unloaded a truck on Wednesday at Narre Warren North.

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Betel, tobacco vendors to be deported from UAE  

People in the UAE caught selling betel leaves, 'Pan Masala' or chewing tobacco will be deported immediately.

Not only this, residents in this city in Emirates have been told they can earn rewards upto Dirhams 5,000 by informing the civic authorities about such an activity, a local newspaper has reported.

Launching a campaign against spitting and littering, Hussain Nasser Lootah, the assistant director general of Dubai Municipality (DM) announced that manufacturing and selling of such products was banned in the Emirate, Khaleej Times reported.

"From now on, we are not going to give the guilty a first, second or third warning. They will be deported immediately. Shops found selling these products will be closed down without any delay," Lootah quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The civic body has also raised the reward for those informing about such cases from Dirhams 2,000 to Dirhams 5,000.

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UAE Urged to Adopt Proactive Approach to Curb Tobacco Use 

The policymakers and health authorities in the UAE should adopt a proactive approach in implementing a comprehensive anti-tobacco policy to curb the use of tobacco products, according to a leading international expert in oral medicine.

Speaking at a symposium on 
‘Tobacco and Oral Cancer’ as part of the one-day International Medical Sciences Academy Conference organised by the RAK College of Dental Sciences in collaboration with International Medical Sciences Academy and the UAE Association for Dental Education and Research on Sunday, Prof. Saman Warnakulasuriya, Head of the Department of Oral Medicine, King’s College, London, said it is unfortunate that the UAE was among the countries with high prevalence of tobacco use.

“The steps taken so far by the country in controlling tobacco use, including banning smoking in public places, are welcome and in the right direction. But the country needs to have a comprehensive anti-tobacco strategy which should include provision to ban advertisements of tobacco products and increase taxation on tobacco products,” he said while presenting a paper on the ‘Global Tobacco Burden’.

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UAE is Taking All Steps to Stub Out Smoking 

The benefits of smoke-free work place policies being implemented are to ensure that the UAE keeps up with the world's leading smoke-free countries, say experts. With at least 38,000 non-smokers dying each year in the United States as a result of second-hand smoke, smoke-free policies are clearly the most effective approach to prevent harm from passive smoke, even in the UAE, they opine.

Dr Ahmed El Hakim, Director, External Affairs & Policy, Pfizer Middle East, told Khaleej Times on Thursday that the government policies were a positive step. . . .

Dr Emad Aly, Regional Medical Director, Pfizer Middle East, said the sponsorship advertisements of tobacco products had also been completely banned. "The best initiative taken by the UAE authorities is to introduce smoking cessation clinics. Other countries in the region have similar programmes but they do not provide drug treatment as only psycho-therapy or counselling is used," said Dr Aly.

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200 per cent tobacco tax proposed 

Gulf states will study a proposal next week to raise the customs duties charged on tobacco imports to 200 per cent from 100pc, an executive at the UAE Federal Customs Authority said.

Prices for cigarettes in the Gulf are cheap relative to global standards, costing between four dirhams (400 fils) and seven dirhams (700 fils) per box.

The GCC customs union committee, which is set to meet in Riyadh on Sunday, will discuss whether to double the levy on cigarettes

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Ajman bans smoking in cyber cafes 

The Ajman Municipality has banned smoking in Internet cafes and ordered the cafe owners to remove the tinted glasses on the front doors and windows.

The ban came into effect on Wednesday.

The municipality has issued new regulations for the Net cafes in the emirate. According to them, the Net cafes should not allocate any special space for families. Besides, all kinds of services should be provided on the ground floor itself.

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Smokers say pictures may not make them quit 

"This is an amazing idea," Mr Mahdi said. "It makes people think before they act. It might not stop people from quitting completely, but at least it will make people rethink what they are about to do.

"The pictures will help instil fear into them and make them realise the severity of their actions."

The UAE, where an estimated 34 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women smoke, will introduce the anti-smoking imagery next year.

In 2001, Canada was the first country to introduce the graphic anti-smoking strategy, with shocking images covering 50 per cent of the main display space on cigarette packets.

The tactic drove smoking rates sharply down . . .

Such pictures are now carried on cigarette packets in 15 countries.

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• Cigarette packets to carry shock imagery  

Cigarette packets on sale in the UAE will carry photographs of damaged organs and dying cancer patients from early next year.

Tobacco manufacturers will have to print a photograph on the side of every packet of cigarettes to gain entry to the GCC market, it was decided this week. Such photographs are already in use in countries such as Canada and Australia and are believed to have a stronger impact than written warnings.

The decision comes as the Government begins to concentrate on tightening tobacco laws. Residents of the UAE spend about Dh400 million (US$109m) a year on tobacco, while smoking-related products accounted for an additional Dh4 billion between 2004 and 2006.

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53% dismiss 'shock tactics' plan on smoking  

Plans to introduce shocking photographs on cigarette packets on sale in the UAE have been dismissed as scare tactics by the majority of Arabian Business readers in an online poll.

Health chiefs in the region are putting pictures of diseased organs and dying cancer patients on all packets in a bid to deter people from smoking.

But the proposal has been criticised by 53 percent of people who took part in our poll who believe the photos won't have any impact on how many cigarettes people in the region smoke.

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• HELLYER: Must our tobacco farming heritage go up in smoke?  

The Ministerial Legislative Committee, whose task it is to review all new draft federal laws, recently approved the draft anti-smoking law - including a ban on smoking in public places, tightening up on tobacco imports, and forbiding the establishment of factories for tobacco products.

I have no disagreement with any of the above, even though I am, foolishly, still a smoker. . . .

To what extent, I wonder, have the draughtsmen of the law taken into account the fact that in November next year, Abu Dhabi will stage its own Formula One Grand Prix for the first time? Are the teams sponsored by tobacco companies to be told that they cannot participate? I doubt it. . . .

it is of relevance to the national heritage - and that is the proposal that the cultivation of tobacco in the UAE should be forbidden.

Most UAE residents, whether citizens or expatriates, including, perhaps, most or all of our legal draughtsmen, are probably unaware that there is a small-scale tobacco growing industry in the Emirates. You have to look hard to find it, but on small fields tucked away in the mountains, tobacco has been grown as a cash crop, probably for centuries, perhaps originally introduced from the Americas by the Portuguese. . . .

The latest Statistical Yearbook of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, suggests that the UAE's annual production of tobacco is 1,000 ton . . .

Is the traditional cultivation of tobacco here to be declared illegal simply because it hasn't really been taken into account? When the draft law was discussed by the Federal National Council, did FNC members from tobacco-growing Emirates simply fail to consider the interests of the small-scale farmers whom they are supposed to represent?

I am perfectly happy for the new law to ban commercial-scale tobacco cultivation - that is an industry the UAE doesn't need, and has never had. It would be a pity, though to consign this tiny part of the UAE's heritage to history in the pursuit of an anti-smoking agenda without evaluating the possible impact of a ban on the viability of traditional agricultural practices that are already difficult to sustain.

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