http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/country/canada.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/11/05/Women-smokers-unaware-of-smoking-impact/UPI-66921257402393/ http://tobacco.org/news/292217.html Most women smokers know smoking can lead to cancer, heart disease and premature death but they are unaware of other health effects, a Canadian survey indicates. The survey, conducted by Angus Reid on behalf of nicotine replacement therapy brands Nicoderm and Nicoette, reveals the majority of Canadian women who smoke are not necessarily aware of the host of other effects smoking can have on their immediate and longer-term health. Eighty-three percent of female smokers say lung cancer was most strongly attributed to smoking, 62 percent say premature aging of skin, 61 percent say dental problems such as yellowing of teeth or tooth loss and 60 percent say heart disease. Fewer than two in 10 female smokers surveyed were aware of the link between lighting up and increased risks of developing health issues such as infertility, early onset of menopause, menstrual irregularities, osteoporosis, baldness, premature grey hair, weight gain, hearing loss and incontinence. UPI Canada Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2161690 http://tobacco.org/news/292167.html Russell Chandler has smoked for more than 50 years, but he is willing to curb his habit to be more neighbourly. He is one of approximately 90 tenants of the South Chatham Village Apartments who will have to adapt to a smoking ban coming effect at the apartment complex, Jan 1, 2010. "There's no hard feelings that they're doing that," Chandler said. Martin Vanderzwan, chairman of the apartment's board of directors, said the smoking ban has been motivated by reducing the risk of fire and reducing the known health effects of secondhand smoke. He said most of the residents responded to a survey on implementing the ban. "It was almost unanimous that we should have a nonsmoking policy," Vanderzwan said. There are 67 units in the building, including seven or eight units occupied by smokers, he said. Chatham Daily News eshreve@chathamdailynews.ca (ELLWOOD SHREVE, THE DAILY NEWS ) Canada Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aT4Dj_JwhBUE http://tobacco.org/news/292117.html A deadline for lawsuits seeking to recoup smokers’ health-care costs from a Japan Tobacco Inc. unit that had been sought by British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick was rejected by a judge for coming prematurely. The Canadian provinces want their claims for treating people with smoking-related illnesses included among those of creditors for Japan Tobacco’s insolvent JTI-MacDonald unit. The provinces said they feared nothing would remain if JTI settled a federal lawsuit that seeks to recover lost taxes from cigarette smuggling in the 1990s. Ontario Superior Court Judge Peter Cumming called the request premature in an Oct. 30 ruling. The provinces may challenge the company’s plan to exit bankruptcy when it is submitted, the judge said. “There is no plan of arrangement being put forth or even seen at this point on the distant horizon,” Cumming wrote. Bloomberg News jschneider5@bloomberg.net (Joe Schneider) Canada Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2009/03/c5304.html http://tobacco.org/news/292113.html Across Canada, provinces are taking steps to hold the tobacco industry accountable for decades of destructive behaviour through health care cost-recovery lawsuits. Eight provinces have already passed legislation permitting legal action, and of those British Columbia, New Brunswick and Ontario have filed suits with Quebec indicating it is also prepared to join them. While compensation for health costs incurred by governments and taxpayers is a factor behind these suits, delegates at the 6th Annual National Conference on Tobacco or Health are learning that this is about much more than just money. "It is about far more than dollars and cents," said Michael Perley, executive director, Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco. According to Perley and other public health advocates, there are four pillars to cost-recovery lawsuits, including: Justice: holding the tobacco industry accountable for decades of unethical and destructive behaviour; Truth: revealing tobacco industry documents previously sealed and bringing light to countless lies and deceptive tactics; Health: admitting the true risks of tobacco products and changing industry behaviour; Compensation: recovering costs previously borne by government and taxpayers. Canada Newswire Canada Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2009/03/c5209.html http://tobacco.org/news/292112.html At the 6th Conference on Tobacco or Health being held in Montreal this week, numerous stakeholders are urging government authorities to declare a moratorium on new tobacco products to counter the innovative product launch and marketing strategies of cigarette manufacturers. Several public health and tobacco control experts point out that tobacco companies are constantly developing new marketing strategies to circumvent the laws and regulations currently in force in Canada. These strategies include the introduction of new products such as 'activated carbon filter cigarettes' and flavoured cigarillos, which are alone responsible for increasing smoking rates in young people in Quebec. Canada Newswire Canada Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.portagedailygraphic.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2158782 http://tobacco.org/news/292108.html Portage la Prairie RCMP seized some contraband cigarettes on Monday. At about 1:30 a.m., a Portage RCMP member was patrolling the Trans-Canada Highway near Angle Road in Portage when a 1996 Ford Windstar van from British Columbia was observed traveling westbound. RCMP noted the vehicle was missing the rear bumper and a tie-down strap was hanging out the back of the van. The vehicle was stopped for the equipment violation when police were able to observe a large quantity of cigarettes in the rear of the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was arrested under the Federal Excise Act and the vehicle was searched, resulting in the seizure of 12 cases of contraband cigarettes, each containing 50 cartons of cigarettes totaling 120,000 cigarettes. The value of the contraband cigarettes is estimated at $24,000. Portage la Prairie Daily Graphic Canada Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/11/03/mb-contraband-cigarettes-manitoba.html http://tobacco.org/news/292105.html An Ontario man is facing charges in Manitoba after he was found to be transporting contraband cigarettes. The man was arrested Monday afternoon when he was stopped by a police officer for an equipment violation on his van, RCMP said. The officer was patrolling the Trans-Canada Highway near Angle Road in Portage la Prairie at around 1:30 p.m. when he noticed the van was missing the rear bumper and a tie down strap was hanging out the back. When he approached the van, the officer noticed a large quantity of cigarettes in the rear of the vehicle, RCMP said. The driver, a 31-year-old man from Ontario who currently lives in British Columbia, was arrested under the Federal Excise Act, and the vehicle was searched. CBC News Canada Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gb2Y2bkShzIhpKdkl4Puh0M998-gD9BLLRV01 http://tobacco.org/news/291894.html Tobacco advocates are seething over a new Canadian law they claim will snuff out sales of cigarettes packed with U.S. burley, and they are fighting back to protect their export sales. They are asking U.S. trade officials to take their complaints to the World Trade Organization, hoping to pressure the Canadians into protecting burley from the tobacco crackdown. They also want to head off the spread of similar laws to other foreign markets that are crucial consumers of American leaf. Export markets are "absolutely critical" to the tobacco industry, and a spread of similar laws to other countries "could have an absolutely devastating economic impact" on the sector, said Erica Peterson, executive vice president of the North Carolina Agribusiness Council. The Canadian law won final approval this month. It is meant to curtail youth smoking in part by banning the sale of tobacco scented with fruit and candy flavors. U.S. tobacco supporters complain that the law overreached to cover American burley, which is laced with flavors to smooth its harsh taste. AP Canada Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.montrealgazette.com/Smokes%20trade%20might%20finance%20terror%20RCMP/2152809/story.html http://tobacco.org/news/291853.html The black market cross-country tobacco trade has created an underground economy Canadian authorities fear could be used to finance overseas terrorism, internal RCMP intelligence documents obtained by Canwest News Service show. The materials also indicate RCMP intelligence predicted the expansion of the underground tobacco trade shortly after the federal government shelved plans in the early 1990s to invade several Mohawk reserves. The government chose instead to lower tobacco taxes to undercut the financial incentive for smuggling. The underground tobacco trade now spans the country, with authorities finding Mohawk-made cigarettes from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, according to an RCMP intelligence analysis from 2008. Montreal Gazette Canada Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Contraband cigarettes menace kids/2153751/story.html http://tobacco.org/news/291839.html The unchecked proliferation of contraband cigarettes in Canada is undermining government efforts to curb smoking, especially among youngsters. A study made public this month said contraband cigarettes are gaining rapidly in popularity, at the expense of regular taxed cigarettes, among high-school students. No wonder. The illicit ones are cheaper, and there's no pesky enforcement of age limits. . . . High taxes do not automatically lead to a jump in contraband tobacco use, according to Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. The western provinces had the highest provincial tobacco taxes in 2008, and the lowest percentage of contraband cigarettes. That's because Western Canada has less access than Ontario and Quebec do to sources of cheap contraband smokes. Quebec and Ontario tobacco taxes were far lower, but contraband took up a far bigger slice of the pie. The solution is the same as it has always been: enforcement. All that's missing is political will. Vancouver Sun Canada Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/10/29/quebec-contraband-tobacco.html http://tobacco.org/news/291838.html The Quebec government has tabled legislation to clamp down on illegal cigarette smuggling and sales that cost the province an estimated $300 million annually in lost tax revenue. Quebec Revenue Minister Robert Dutil says the proposed bill, tabled at the national assembly on Wednesday, includes 15 measures targeting producers, distributors and consumers. "Fines will increase" for illegal sales and distribution, from an average of $3,000 to $10,000, he told CBC News. "The work of police will be facilitated by the new law. We will have more teeth in our law, to permit us to stop smuggling." CBC News Canada Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091029/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_usa_canada_tobacco_1 http://tobacco.org/news/291821.html Philip Morris International joined with U.S. tobacco industry groups on Thursday to ask President Barack Obama's administration to challenge Canada's new law banning flavored cigarettes and small cigars. Their request comes even as the administration takes its own steps to ban candy, clove and other flavored cigarettes. "Canada's ban on blended cigarettes violates its WTO (World Trade Organization) obligations and could impose serious economic hardship on U.S. growers of burley tobacco," Roger Quarles, president of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association, said in a statement. "We are asking USTR (U.S. Trade Representative) to review our arguments and to take a strong stand for U.S. burley growers and American jobs," he said. Philip Morris, which markets its tobacco products in approximately 160 countries, joined the burley growers and several other tobacco associations in asking USTR to press Canada on the issue at a WTO meeting on "technical" trade barriers next week in Geneva. Reuters Canada USA Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Jail yard smoking appealed/2156368/story.html http://tobacco.org/news/291798.html The Correctional Service of Canada will appeal a ruling making it legal to smoke outdoors at federal penitentiaries. Montreal Gazette Canada Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Butting virtual reality have real life results/2154360/story.html http://tobacco.org/news/291794.html A recent study by the GRAP Occupational Psychology Clinic and University of Quebec in Gatineau found that smokers who destroyed cigarettes in a virtual-reality environment many times over a period of months reported having less of a tobacco addiction than those who were assigned another virtual-reality task. The theory behind the study, published in the current issue of the U.S.-based CyberPsychology and Behavior journal, is that the participants developed a "stronger drive" to quit smoking, because they subconsciously visualized themselves destroying their addiction. Ninety-one smokers who were enrolled in a 12-week anti-smoking program were randomly divided into two groups. Montreal Gazette Canada Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Quebec crack down contraband tobacco/2155867/story.html http://tobacco.org/news/291792.html The Quebec government on Wednesday unveiled a push to stop trade in illicit cigarettes, including stiffer fines and a moratorium on manufacturing permits. The bill, introduced by provincial Revenue Minister Robert Dutil also gives more power to police, notably municipal organizations, to arrest, fine or charge producers, distributors and consumers of illegal cigarettes. "This is probably the most important element," Dutil told reporters Wednesday. About 30 per cent of cigarettes smoked in Quebec are contraband and the Quebec government is losing about $300 million a year in taxes, Dutil said. He blamed organized crime for most of the illicit trade, but noted natives also are involved. Montreal Gazette Canada Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT