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Sales of contraband tobacco are skyrocketing and now account for one in three cigarette purchases across the country, according to a new study by the tobacco industry.
Police are seizing more and more contraband smokes each year. But industry leaders say the seizures are merely drops in the bucket and want governments and police to target large-scale manufacturing plants on aboriginal reserves.
"The seizure of illegal tobacco products from the small-time distributors is really addressing the tail end of the problem," Benj Kemball, president of Imperial Tobacco, said Tuesday from the company's Montreal headquarters.
"It's important that you get to both the illegal manufacturing operations as well as the criminal networks that are taking these products off reserves and distributing them across Canada."
The study, funded by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Council and conducted by independent market research firm GfK Research Dynamics, surveyed 2,046 adult smokers in May and June. . . .
The RCMP say the study, obtained this week by The Canadian Press, is not industry hype - it matches what they're seeing on the street.
"In our area, we're way over the amount we seized last year," Sgt. Michael Harvey said from the RCMP detachment in Cornwall, Ont., near the heart of the contraband trade. . . .
Police say another challenge is convincing law-abiding citizens to stop buying contraband cigarettes, which can sell for less than a quarter of the price of legal smokes.
"These products are being trafficked by criminal networks who also deal in alcohol, drugs and firearms," Kemball said.
"It's not just an economic problem ... it's a social problem that really does threaten the fabric of society in terms of widespread criminal acts."
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The most comprehensive global snapshot ever taken of lung cancer diagnoses and related death rates among patients who have never smoked has found that, contrary to prior indications, lung cancer risk is not on the rise.
The analysis also revealed that the lung cancer death rate among those who have never smoked is higher among men than women.
Both findings stem from an enormous collaborative international effort that draws on information from 13 large studies and 22 cancer registries, and represents upwards of 2 million men and women living in 10 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
"The great majority of lung cancers are caused by smoking," stressed study author Dr. Michael Thun, head of epidemiological research at the American Cancer Society. . . .
Thun and his colleagues collectively published their observations in the September issue of PloS Medicine.
Their conclusions are based on incident and mortality rates for lung cancer among more than 630,000 and 1.8 million men and women (respectively) who had never smoked, and who had participated in one of 13 different large studies (each involving a minimum of 20,000 participants) conducted in North America, Europe or Asia.
A huge new study conducted in Europe, North America and Asia, based on 2.4 million nonsmokers who had lung cancer, provides new information about just who is at risk.
Male nonsmokers are more likely than female nonsmokers to die of the disease, the study found, and the overall risk to nonsmokers is not increasing.
“Concerns have been raised that the risk was higher in women and that the risk was increasing, but this study counters those two misperceptions,” said Dr. Michael J. Thun, the lead author of the study and the head of epidemiologic research for the American Cancer Society. The study is being published online in PLoS Medicine.
他常常搭乘豪华私人飞机往返于世界各地的豪宅之间，却每天坐地铁上班；他曾经是个老烟枪，现在却花巨资大力禁烟。他一半是商人，一半是政客，他就是迈克尔•布隆伯格，纽约市的CEO。
据路透社报道，美国研究人员上周说，加利福尼亚州的大规模禁烟运动实施头15年来已经使该州在医疗保健方面节省了860亿美元。
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.
Efforts to cut smoking rates among Canadians have stalled and the Canadian Cancer Society is blaming huge sales of cheap contraband cigarettes in this country.
Federal and provincial governments need to take action, including insisting that American authorities shut down illegal cigarette production operations on the U.S. side of the Akwesasne reserve near Cornwall, Ont., the organization said Monday.
Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the cancer society, said the RCMP has identified the American side of Akwesasne as the most important source of illegal cigarettes sold in Canada.
"So it's essential that (Minister of Public Safety) Stockwell Day persuade his U.S. counterpart, the secretary of homeland security, to shut down the illegal operations on the U.S. side of Akwesasne," Cunningham said in an interview.
Pfizer is teaming up with a firefighters' union for a smoking cessation campaign aimed at making the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) "the first smoke-free union."
The campaign features a website advising firefighters on the risks of smoking and how to quit and featuring video messages from Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler and IAFF general president Harold Schaitberger. Additional resources are coming soon, including a DVD with stories from firefighters about quitting.
VIDEO: Message from IAFF General President Schaitberger Creating a Smoke-Free Union
VIDEO: Message from Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler A Mission to Help People Quit Smoking
Quick Facts:
Smoking causes $167 billion dollars in health-related economic losses every year in the United States.
Fires caused by smoking cost approximately $27 billion annually around the world.
A smoker pays about $17,500 more in lifetime medical costs than a non-smoker. 1
In a very large study of smokers in the US, the average years of potential life lost from smoking for male smokers was 13 years, and for female smokers was 14 years, with heavy smokers losing more years of life. 2
The International Association of Fire Fighters has announced the launch of a new initiative to help fire fighters, family members and friends to quit smoking cigarettes.
"Our goal is to help make the IAFF the first smoke-free union," IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said in his address to delegates at the IAFF 49th Convention.
The IAFF is collaborating with pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. to promote smoking cessation.
Our goal is to help make the IAFF the first smoke-free union.International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger, who has announced the launch of a new initiative, in collaboration with Pfizer, to help fire fighters, family members and friends to quit smoking cigarettes.
据美国《纽约时报》报道，本周三，美国国会众议院以压倒性多数批准了一项法案，第一次给予美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)以管理烟草产品的权力。
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced it has concluded a long-running file after two of Canada's largest tobacco companies entered guilty pleas this morning in response to indictable offences under Section 240(1)(a) of the Excise Act.
The guilty pleas, from Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited (ITCL) and Rothmans Benson & Hedges (RBH), are the culmination of more than eight years of investigative work by RCMP Customs and Excise sections in Ontario and Québec. As part of agreed statements of fact, the two companies admitted to "aiding persons to sell and be in possession of tobacco manufactured in Canada that was not packed and was not stamped in conformity with the Excise Act and its amendments and Ministerial regulations." . . .
The material time of the charges involved illegal activity between the years of 1989-1994. Then, the contraband tobacco market in Canada involved product being produced in Canada, and shipped to locations in the US near the Canada/US border. From there, it was distributed to smugglers or black market distributors who brought it back into Canada for further illegal distribution.
As part of agreed statements of fact, the two companies admitted to 'aiding persons to sell and be in possession of tobacco manufactured in Canada that was not packed and was not stamped in conformity with the Excise Act and its amendments and Ministerial regulations.'RCMP, on the guilty pleas of Imperial Tobacco Canada and Rothmans Benson & Hedges.
Imperial Tobacco Canada and Rothmans Inc., Canada's two largest tobacco manufacturers, have pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the smuggling of cigarettes in the 1980s and 1990s and agreed to pay fines and penalties totalling more than $1.1 billion in an unprecedented settlement of criminal and civil cases.
The amount represents the "largest criminal fines and civil settlements in Canadian history," federal Revenue Minister Gordon O'Connor said at a news conference in Lévis yesterday. The settlement ensures the companies do not benefit financially from the smuggling, he added.
"I believe we are sending some strong and clear messages. Firstly, that such activity will not be tolerated. And secondly, that no company is above the law."
The settlements "close a significant chapter in contraband tobacco history," RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike Cabana said. . . .
In addition to the fines, Imperial and Rothmans will each pay $50 million to establish a new government Contraband Tobacco Enforcement Strategy. The payments are due by Dec. 15.
To settle civil liability, Imperial is to pay the federal government and the provinces a percentage of its annual net sales revenue over the next 15 years, to a maximum of $350 million. Rothmans is to pay $200 million over the next 10 years, at a rate of $20 million per year. The first payment is to be made on Dec. 31, 2009. . . .
Just as the tobacco companies lied for years about the deadly health effects of smoking, Damphousse noted, they also lied originally about their involvement in smuggling.
"They have made lying a regular corporate practice," he said.
Cheap contraband cigarettes helped increased smoking rates among young people, damaging the health of thousands of Canadians, Damphousse added.
It was regrettable the RCMP did not charge any of the company executives, he said. . . .
Rothmans said the settlement opened the door to the sale of the company to Philip Morris International Inc. for $2 billion. The deal was contingent on the company settling its criminal and civil cases. . . .
If found guilty, JTI-Macdonald could face extensive forfeiture to the Crown equivalent to the amount of the fraud.
But getting money out of the tobacco firm could be difficult. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004 after Quebec assessed it for $1.36 billion in unpaid taxes dating from the early 1990s.
Two of Canada's big three tobacco companies will pay more than $1-billion in criminal and civil penalties for orchestrating the wholesale shipment to the United States of cigarettes that were smuggled back to this country and resold at bargain prices.
The admissions of guilt drew only lukewarm praise from anti-smoking activists. Imposed under the federal Excise Act, the fines and settlement costs total $1.15-billion and are the largest ever levied in Canada.
As part of an agreed statement of facts read out in a Toronto courtroom packed with lawyers and investigators, Rothmans Benson Hedges Inc. was fined $100-million.
Simultaneously in Montreal, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. agreed to pay a $200-million fine. . . .
In addition, the two companies will pay $815-million in civil damages to the federal government and to the Ontario and Quebec provincial governments.
The companies both admitted “aiding persons to sell and be in possession of tobacco manufactured in Canada that was not packed and was not stamped in conformity with the Excise Act.”
However, tobacco foes voiced dismay that the scheme's architects seemed to have evaded punishment.
“We've been involved in this issue for many years and this exposes once again to the public who we've been dealing with,” said François Damphousse, Quebec director of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association. “But when you look at the executives who were behind this fraud, they're getting off scot free, and I think that's despicable.” . . .
The accord included no admission of guilt and Philip Morris called the $1-billion penalty a “voluntary payment.”
Thursday's settlements, however, do acknowledge wrongdoing.
Still unresolved is the future of the third big tobacco firm, Mississauga-based JTI-Macdonald Corp., which is under bankruptcy protection and which, along with two of its executives, is facing trial on fraud charges. . . .
veteran anti-tobacco campaigner Garfield Mahood was unimpressed, saying he welcomed the fines but that “justice escapes us” because nobody went to jail.
“There's no winners in this because the industry has addicted a whole bunch of young people who then became lifetime annuities for these companies,” he said.
“Over time the companies will financially benefit. And literally thousands of people will die in the future as a result of this crime.”
There's no winners in this because the industry has addicted a whole bunch of young people who then became lifetime annuities for these companies.Canadian anti-tobacco campaigner Garfield Mahood, on the penalties Imperial Tobacco Canada and Rothmans Benson Hedges must pay for smuggling "wrongdoing."
Russian chief state public health officer and head of Rospotrebnadzor [Federal Service for Supervision in Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare] Gennadiy Onishchenko has described the actions of tobacco manufacturers in the Russian Federation as "nicotine genocide" of the Russian people and said that "a court of law should pass judgment on these actions".
"It appears that confrontation with the cynical Russian tobacco sinecure, which has lost all moral standards, rules and principles, which is in the service of foreign and above all US capital, and is headed by Ms N.Shkolkina (director-general of the Council for Tobacco Industry Development Issues - Interfax) has entered a new phase," Onishchenko said in an Interfax interview.
"The superprofits of US corporations are being paid for by catastrophic repercussions for the health of the young generation of Russians," the Rospotrebnadzor head said. . . .
"The boundless cynicism of these people is also confirmed by the fact that, while serving the interests of foreign capital, which cashes in on nicotine genocide of the Russian people, these so- called 'citizens', who are themselves flunkies of US capital, spread defamatory allegations, claiming that it is, on the contrary, the medics who are lobbying the interests of US capital."
"In view of this, the leadership of the federal service (Rospotrebnadzor - Interfax) have instructed legal services to explore the possibility of criminal prosecution of these gentlemen, and well as publicizing the unseemly actions of the above organization and its foreign masters," Onishchenko said.