Jump to full article: Canadian Press, 2000-11-30
Intro: Imperial Tobacco
Canada is trying to shift the blame to the federal government and smokers for
its failure to warn that mild cigarettes aren't necessarily safer, a court was
told Tuesday.
"If you are going to sell a product that causes disease . . . before someone
lies in a hospital bed sick you have got to give them all the information,"
lawyer Doug Lennox said in his closing statement. Joseph Battaglia claims the
Matinee Extra Milds he smoked for six years packed a far higher tar and nicotine
punch than stated on the package. . .
But Imperial, which holds 70 per cent of the national market, says that the tar
and nicotine levels posted on the packages were standard measures that complied
with government rules and that the firm never tried to deceive anyone. . .
"This is not a commission of inquiry" into the tobacco industry but about one
man blaming a brand for his inability to quit, Barnes said.
"He's the victim of his own choices," Barnes told Justice Pamela Thomson, in his
closing argument.
Jump to full article » |