Jump to full article: Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal, 2009-10-08
Author: James R. Carroll
Intro: Canada has given final approval to an anti-smoking law that Kentucky burley growers and lawmakers worry may spell an end to the market for the tobacco leaf north of the border.
The Canadian Senate passed the legislation Tuesday, and it received “royal assent” — final approval — on Thursday.
“This bill is a very important advance for public health in Canada,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.
The bill, known as “The Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act,” bans flavored tobacco products in Canada.
Burley is one of three kinds of tobacco mixed together with additives for blended tobacco. Some Kentucky lawmakers, led by Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District, have written to American and Canadian officials that the bill’s ban on many of the additives used in blended tobacco effectively outlaws burley.
With 85 percent of U.S. burley exported, the implications of the Canadian action and possible similar actions by other nations are enormous, the Kentuckians warned.
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