Tobacco.org

Farmers light into smoking ban 

Ontario's proposed smoking ban will put the province's tobacco farmers out of business and foster the spread of cheaper, foreign tobacco, a public hearing into the legislation heard Thursday.

"There's never been before a more pressing or health-related need . . . for government to actually help farmers protect the Canadian marketplace from foreign threat," said Luc Martial, a consultant with the Tobacco Farmers In Crisis, a non-profit organization that represents Canadian tobacco farmers.

The proposed Smoke-Free Ontario Act doesn't guarantee that Ontario farmers will supply the existing market for cigarettes, and encourages cigarette manufacturers to turn to less-controlled foreign tobacco, which Mr. Martial said already dominates the more than 16 billion cigarettes sold in the province each year.

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