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PHOTOS: Largest Ever Federal Tobacco Tax Hits Cigarette Smokers 

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RAI reports solid full-year results 

At a Glance

-- Full-year 2008 reported EPS up 3.2 percent at $4.57; adjusted EPS up 5.0 percent at $4.80

-- 2008 4Q reported EPS down 11.9 percent at $0.89; adjusted EPS up 10.4 percent at $1.27

-- 4Q reported EPS includes non-cash trademark impairment charges of $145 million and an investment impairment of $33 million

-- 2008 highlights:

-- R.J. Reynolds, Conwood increase adjusted operating margins

-- Camel, Grizzly expand successful new styles

-- R.J. Reynolds' growth brands continue share gains

-- Conwood delivers double-digit volume growth

-- RAI sharpens focus on innovation

-- RAI credit raised to investment grade

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• Editorial: Adding harm reduction to tobacco control 

“There is no good reason why a switch from tobacco products to less harmful nicotine delivery systems should not be encouraged.” So stated a 1991 Lancet Editorial, yet 16 years later cigarettes continue to dominate the nicotine-delivery system market, despite their clear health risks. . . .

Britton, Edwards, and the other members of the RCP's Tobacco Advisory Group advocate a courageous approach to nicotine addiction. Greater availability of medicinal nicotine, and perhaps even of low-toxicity smokeless products, along with increasing restrictions on smoked tobacco, is likely to reduce tobacco-related mortality and morbidity. Given the known hazards of smoked tobacco, and the numbers of people who smoke, innovative thinking is needed. We support tobacco harm reduction alongside rigorously applied tobacco control policies.

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PASCUAL: Who lobbied at BIR to slash cigarette tax? 

NILAKAD?: As they say, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Yes, even if it’s just cigarette smoke.

At the Bureau of Internal Revenue, whose personnel are being whipped to collect more taxes, insiders are grousing over the alleged influence peddling of the lawyer-father of a big finance official to lower the taxes on a cigarette manufacturer.

The pressure applied, sources said, has resulted in the reversal by the Department of Finance of a final BIR ruling that slapped an excise tax of P26 per pack of Pall Mall cigarettes made and sold in the Philippines.

It was reportedly Finance Undersecretary Gaudencio Mendoza . . .

President Gloria Arroyo may want to know why the government has given up P93 million a year in excise taxes on a “sin” item at a time when it is reducing the budget deficit through improved tax collection.

She might also want to know who gained from the government’s loss.

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EDITORIAL: Allegheny's indoor smoking ban thrown out, and little zeal exists for a statewide solution 

Although Gov. Ed Rendell has proposed a statewide public smoking ban as part of his overall health-care package, there has been no zeal among legislators to move in that direction. . . .

And when it comes to powerful influences and well-heeled lobbies, consider just who has been footing the legal bill for the two restaurants that so far have successfully fought off the Allegheny County ban, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.

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Trade ministry calls for scrapping cigarette import quota  

The Belarusian Ministry of Trade has suggested abolishing an import quota on cigarettes on January 1, 2008.

The ministry has already drawn up a draft directive providing for the measure and submitted it to the Council of Ministers, the ministry's official told BelaPAN.

The measure is part of agreements between Belarus and Russia on removing barriers in mutual trade.

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• US judge will not let BAT out of racketeering case 

U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said that, whether British American Tobacco could be held liable as part of the largest civil racketeering case in U.S. history is a question that should be aired during the trial of the case scheduled to start in September. . . .

Kessler was not persuaded by British American Tobacco's argument for dismissal. The company contended that charges against it should be dismissed before trial because it had only a tiny share of the U.S. market and because there is no evidence it participated in any industry conspiracy.

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CART set to line up Team Canada 

Heading into its last year before tobacco legislation forces the exit of one-half of its partnership, Player's-Forsythe is working on an all-Canadian CART dream team featuring drivers Alex Tagliani, Patrick Carpentier and Paul Tracy. . .

But though negotiations are in progress, a deal is not yet done -- contrary to published reports. . .

Player's has been trying to make a splash in its last year before tobacco legislation forces it to abandon public sponsorship. Long a champion of Canadian drivers, the tobacco company seems to want one final run at racing dominance.

The negotiations with Carpentier are a major turnaround from earlier in the year.

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LETTER: SHATENSTEIN: Case dismissed 

LETTER: SHATENSTEIN: Quit it 

On Tuesday, Ontario Small Claims Court found Imperial Tobacco not liable for Mr. Joseph Battaglia's addiction to smoking, nor for his heart condition. In a celebratory press release, Imperial claims the verdict confirms "there is nothing about our products which prevented Mr. Battaglia from quitting smoking, as indeed he has done numerous times in the past." If it's so easy to quit, why does it take numerous tries? [This graph only]

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Cigarette packaging misleading, judge says 

A Toronto smoker is responsible for his habit, a judge ruled Tuesday in rejecting his lawsuit against cigarette giant Imperial Tobacco, but agreed that the packaging on so-called "light" cigarettes is misleading.

And that, industry watchdogs say, could force cigarette companies to be more accountable for their labelling.

Justice Pamela Thomson agreed with Joe Battaglia, 59, that figures indicating the toxin levels on packages were misleading because they are calculated by a machine, not by a human smoker, but she said Mr. Battaglia was responsible for his smoking.

"The plaintiff is the only one who has control over how he smokes," Judge Thomson said in her decision. "The only thing he could have done was quit."

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Court douses smoke lawsuit 

A former cigarette salesman lost his legal battle against Imperial Tobacco yesterday when a judge decided there was no proof that his heart trouble was caused by smoking.

Joseph Battaglia, 59, launched his suit against the Canadian tobacco giant in 1997, suing them for $6,000 in small claims court.

Yesterday, Justice Pamela Thompson dismissed Battaglia's claim, saying "his heart disease stabilized in 1999 when he started taking his medication.

"In 1999, his condition should have deteriorated. It didn't," she said.

But she had tough words for the tobacco company and its use of content figures on the side of cigarette packages.

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Canadian "average Joe" loses battle with Big Tobacco 

Joe Battaglia, a 59-year-old Toronto man who worked for 12 years as a salesman for Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., a unit of British American Tobacco (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BATS.L), was suing his former employer for negligent misrepresentation and failure to warn the public of the health hazards of its ``light'' Matinee brand.

After repeated attempts to stop smoking, he was diagnosed with a heart disease.

Judge Pamela Thompson said his ``chances to live another 10 years were not high''.

She agreed with Battaglia that figures indicating the levels of tar and nicotine on cigarette packages were misleading because they are calculated by a machine that doesn't reproduce actual smoking behavior, but she said Battaglia was the only one responsible for his continuing to smoke.

``Only he could decide to get rid of his dependency,'' she said in court.

Battaglia said he respected the judgment and would not appeal it. ``It's too bad. I thought I could make a difference,'' he told reporters.

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Toronto man loses fight against cigarette giant Imperial Tobacco 

An Ontario smoker's fight against Canada's largest tobacco company ended Tuesday after a small-claims court judge ruled in favour of the cigarette giant.

Joe Battaglia, 59, had alleged that the Matinee Extra Mild cigarettes he smoked for six years were secretly designed to deliver more nicotine and toxins than the packages indicated.

Battaglia sued Imperial Tobacco for $6,000, the maximum allowed in small claims court, but lost his case Tuesday. It was the first case brought to trial against a tobacco company in Ontario.

"It's over," an obviously disappointed Battaglia said outside court.

"I really thought I was going to make a difference."

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• Smoker loses court fight against cigarette giant 

Joe Battaglia has lost his small-claims court case against Imperial Tobacco. An Ontario smoker who got heart disease despite switching to ''mild'' cigarettes was unsuccessful Tuesday in claiming damages from Canada's largest tobacco company.

A small-claims court judge ruled 59-year-old Joe Battaglia had only himself to blame for his smoking habit, and failed to find Imperial Tobacco responsible.

''The plaintiff is the only one who has control over how he smokes,'' Justice Pamela Thomson said in her decision. ''The only thing he could have done was quit.''

Battaglia had alleged that the Matinee Extra Mild cigarettes he smoked for six years, after smoking ''stronger'' brands for decades, were secretly designed to deliver more nicotine and toxins than the packages indicated. . .

In her decision, Thomson said that while the levels printed on packages are misleading, only a smoker can control how much nicotine and tar is inhaled.

She said Imperial Tobacco didn't have a duty to warn Battaglia the package levels weren't a reflection of what he was inhaling.

''Knowing that these numbers are non-human doesn't help the plaintiff make a better choice,'' Thomson said.

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The plaintiff is the only one who has control over how he smokes. . . The only thing he could have done was quit.
Canadian small claims court Justice Pamela Thomson said in her decision exonerating Imperial Tobacco in the Battaglia case. <I>Smoker loses court fight against cigarette giant</I>