Philip Morris takes Uruguay to international court because of tobacco-ban policy

According to the claim, Uruguay’s policies on tobacco control are damaging the company’s performance in the small the South American country.
Former Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez, an oncologist, banned smoking in public buildings four years ago. Tobacco advertising is also banned and cigarettes' packets must carry large health warnings.
The rules, which also prevent the sale of products branded as “light,” put Uruguay at the vanguard of global anti-smoking laws.
Also at the vanguard of its business is Philip Morris. It is the first time that a tobacco company demands a State on an international forum.
At a press conference in the beginning of May, the Uruguayan Government reaffirmed the right to defend the public health of its citizens. This is the line the defence will follow according to the US lawyer Paul Reichler, who will assume the defence of the country in the litigation.
According to Reichler, the defence questions the agreement of protection of investments that the tobacco company says the country has violated based on an article that authorizes the government not to allow economic activities “that damage the public health”.
“The treaty establishes that by sovereignty Uruguay has the right to prohibit unhealthy activities (...). With its anti tobacco laws the country does not attack the investments of Philip Morris, it only imposes limits to an activity that is to promote and to commercialize harmful products ”, emphasized Reichler.

British American Tobacco - collaborative effort sees more responsible growing

Tobacco leaf farming in Lombok, Indonesia, was not only contributing to deforestation but also to declining water supply on the island.

But a landmark restoration project is being developed which will benefit the whole rural community, thanks to a partnership between British American Tobacco (BAT), the Earthwatch Institute, Fauna & Flora International and the Tropical Biology Association.

This is one example of how the four-member British American Tobacco biodiversity partnership is working with stakeholders and communities across the world to study ecosystems and sustainability risks.

In 2007, the partnership developed a tool to identify, assess and address risks posed by BAT's leaf-growing operations.

Called Broa (Biodiversity Risk and Opportunity Assessment), the tool encourages BAT staff to work with local experts to look carefully at supply chain operations from a much wider perspective than a simple day-to-day business viewpoint.

Following trials in Indonesia and Uganda in 2008, it was decided to make Broa mandatory across BAT's global leaf-growing locations and by 2010 all 19 had completed assessments and agreed actions plans.

As far as the tobacco giant is aware, it is the only international company to have assessed biodiversity risks across all operations and so built a strategy to tackle key issues worldwide.

And those issues are wide-ranging – both business-specific in terms of the supply chain, and more generic in terms of agriculture and sustainability.

Tobacco is often grown alongside other crops and it soon became apparent that Broa would reveal just how dependent tobacco growing is on other systems – such as water supply.

Specific issues included reduced irrigation flow resulting from deforestation, reduced water quality, lower ground water tables, unsustainably-sourced fuel wood and problems of over-farming.

BAT describes Broa's aims as "open-ended", with an agenda for change and better engagement with a range of stakeholders, both global and local.

At a local level, working with stakeholders and conservation experts enables the company to carry out rigorous assessments. Equally, it helps build confidence among communities and encourages partnerships to work together on solutions.

In some cases, Broa is raising awareness of wider sustainability issues and stimulating projects that go far beyond the supply chain concerns of BAT.

Examples include a "green corridor" project in the Araucaria forest of southern Brazil; sustainable forest management and freshwater protection in Uganda; and research on returning eucalyptus plantations to native forests in Sri Lanka and Chile.

Another important outcome has been the raised awareness and understanding within BAT, involving Earthwatch employee fellowships and online training for managers.

The biodiversity partnership is working on a second version of Broa in 2011, having gained valuable feedback from external reviewers such as the World Wildlife Fund.

It has participated in the natural value initiative and was recognised in the Economics of ecosystems and biodiversity study in 2010. The next stage is to share Broa with all BAT tobacco suppliers and other agriculture-based businesses facing similar challenges.

Tobacco Intervention Program Trains Youth to Help Young People Stop Smoking

Guam - In an effort to reduce tobacco use disparities among Chamorro and other Micronesian youth, twenty-eight youth successfully completed the Brief Tobacco Intervention (BTI) Skills Certification Training held on April 30 and May 14.
The training was funded through a community partnership initiative between the UOG Cancer Research Center U54 Pilot Program 1 (Community Outreach), Youth for Youth LIVE! GUAM Organization, the University of Guam Chuukese Student Organization, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Prevention and Training Branch, the Department of Public Health and Social Services Tobacco Control program, and Health Partners, LLC. The co-Principal Investigators for U54 Pilot Program 1 are Drs. Neal Palafox (University of Hawai'i Cancer Center) and Annette M. David (UOG).

The Basic Tobacco Intervention (BTI) Skills Training Certification Program provides the skills necessary for those trained to conduct brief tobacco interventions with individuals dependent on tobacco and assist them to quit their tobacco use. The trainees have learned the skills to assess an individual’s readiness to quit using tobacco, and provide appropriate materials and referrals to aid that individual. The BTI Program was adapted from the Arizona Department of Health Services, Tobacco Education and Prevention Program, and has been extensively tested and implemented across the state of Arizona and adapted for use on Guam.

This training was conducted as part of the National Cancer Institute funded, U54 minority institute partnership cancer research grant between the University Of Guam Cancer Research Center and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, entitled, "Community Outreach to Reduce Tobacco Use Disparities Among Pacific Islander Youth on Guam."

According to the 2008 Guam Substance Abuse Epidemiological Profile, tobacco consumption among youth and adults remains high on Guam. Statistics show that 1of 3 adults and 3 of 4 youth currently smoke on Guam. Youth have reported smoking as early as middle school. Adult smoking rates on Guam (27%) are significantly higher than in the United States (18%). Chewing tobacco with betel nut continues to be a growing concern. Recent data supports the need for youth tobacco cessation services on Guam. The BTI training addresses this need by building capacity of trained youth providers on Guam. Trained youth are able to provide peer-to-peer brief tobacco cessation intervention at their schools and within their social settings.

Tobacco Reduction Coalition spotlighting toll of smoking

World No Tobacco Day was created by the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1987 and is celebrated annually on May 31. The goal of World No Tobacco Day is to draw global attention to the world-wide tobacco epidemic and how collaborative solutions are making a difference to save lives.

To promote World No Tobacco Day, the Midland County Tobacco Reduction Coalition is encouraging area physicians and dentists to connect their tobacco-using patients with either state or local resources to get help to stop their habit.

According to Susan Dusseau, coordinator of the Midland County Tobacco Reduction Coalition, "We want to spotlight the human and financial toll that tobacco takes on our community, and emphasize that state and local resources such as the Michigan Tobacco Quitline and Midland-based tobacco treatment coaches are having a positive impact on peoples' lives."

In 2009, 14,440 Michigan residents died from tobacco use and secondhand smoke, $3.4 billion was spent on health care costs, of which $1.1 billion was spent on Medicaid patients, and $3.95 billion was spent on lost productivity costs due to tobacco use.
According to the WHO, there are six proven measures that work to counter the tobacco epidemic. These include: 1) monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies, 2) protecting people from secondhand smoke, 3) offering help to quit tobacco use, 4) warning about the dangers of tobacco, 5) enforcing bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, and 6) raising taxes on tobacco.

Surveys compiled in 2007 show that 21 percent of Midland County adults still smoke cigarettes. Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in Michigan. The federal Healthy People 2020 goal is to reduce the adult smoking rate to 12 percent.
Dusseau added, "In Michigan, we've already taken many of the steps recommended by the WHO, but these efforts must be sustained to be effective over the long term. Right now our elected leaders are considering cutting critical funding for tobacco prevention programming. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has studied which strategies work to reduce tobacco use, and cutting programs now will have the negative effect of costing taxpayers more in health care and other costs in the months ahead."

Cigarette Butts Harmful To Fish, Study Says

Cigarette butts that end up as litter in rivers, lakes, ponds, and other waterways are harmful to fish, according to a new study from researchers at San Diego State University.

The team of researchers looked at the affect cigarette butts had on both freshwater fish and saltwater fish. In order to determine what the most harmful aspect of a cigarette was, they divided the cigarettes into three categories: smoked cigarettes with a filter and tobacco residue, smoked filters with no tobacco, and unsmoked cigarette filters without tobacco. They soaked the cigarette butts in water, with both the freshwater fish and saltwater fish, for 24 hours.

They found that the contaminated water from all three of the cigarette butts were harmful, with the most dangerous being the smoked cigarettes with a filter and traces of tobacco residue, which killed 50 percent of the fish who were placed in the water with them.

“Leachates (contaminated water) from smoked cigarette butts with remnant tobacco were significantly more toxic to fish than the smoked filters alone but even unsmoked filters exhibited a small level of toxicity,” Richard Gersberg, a researcher who worked on the study and a professor of environmental health at the university, told the Metro U.K. “This study represents the first to show leachate from cigarette butts is acutely toxic to representative marine and freshwater fish species.”

The researchers published their findings in the Tobacco Control journal.

Cigarette butts unsightly, could pose risk

According to Alberta Environment, more than seven per cent of garbage collected throughout the province is tobacco related. This can vary from cigarette cartons and wrappers, to cigarette butts disposed of after smoking.

Here in Drayton Valley, as in many towns and cities, sidewalks and parking lots are often littered with these esthetically displeasing items. But the habit of some smokers to toss their cigarettes on the ground is not just an issue when it comes to maintaining the beauty of a town; it also goes against fire safety, community by-laws and the environment.

Once the snow has melted and the warm weather arrives grassy areas around town become dry and highly flammable. It is during these times that fire services remind people that they need to be careful when having fires on their property. Although this is important to remember it is not the only way uncontrolled fires can be ignited.

"The concern we have, especially at this time of year, is the fact that cigarette butts can smoulder up to three hours after they've been discarded," warns Tom Thomson, Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services Fire Chief. "That's enough time, especially in the very dry conditions — we call it fine fuel — that it can start a grass fire."

Due to the fact that throughout the years several fires have been linked to discarded cigarettes many people are trying to help prevent these cases from happening again. One of these people is community by-law officer Gord Chammen, who is always on the lookout for people who toss their butts onto the grass. Although there are no laws pertaining to cigarette butts specifically, they do fall under littering by-laws and if warranted Chammen will give a ticket.

Not only concerned about fires, Chammen is also dedicated to preserving the beauty of Drayton Valley. In order to do this he holds businesses, landlords and residents responsible for ensuring that their property or business is clean and free of discarded cigarettes. If he believes one area is getting to be an eyesore he will approach those who are responsible for the property and ask them to clean it.

"Under the nuisance, bylaw you have to keep your property clean," he says. "Whether it's your own personal property or a business property, it must be clean and free of debris and cigarettes are included in that."

Depending on the area of town, some places will get a greater build up of cigarette butts than others; these areas tend to be around restaurants and bars, as people have to go outside to smoke.

Designed to absorb toxins out of the smoke people are inhaling, filters make up the majority of the butt and hold chemicals such as tar. When these filters become wet the chemicals are released into the environment in which they are sitting which is then carried into our ground water and rivers. Although they do effect our environment, especially in cases where animals are mistaking them for food, several sources with Albert Environment stated that such affects are not significant, especially in the big picture of environmental pollutants.

"You will get some small amounts of leaching that will get into the water where there are large amount of cigarette butts," says David Mussel, planning and partnership co-ordinator with Alberta Environment. "But it's a tiny fraction of everything that's there so I would never say, that there's a chemical or organic water quality issues caused by cigarette butts and that it's significant compared to anything else out there affecting our water."

Government should scrap cigarette tax proposal, commenters say

Alabama -- Readers are divided on State Rep. Patricia Todd's proposal to raise the state tax on cigarettes by $1 in hopes of raising extra money for Medicaid and the Children First Trust Fund as well as influencing smokers to quit the habit.

Alabama's state tax on cigarettes now is 42.5 cents per pack, which on July 1 was the fifth-lowest among the 50 states, the report says.

The median state tax on July 1 was $1.29 per pack. Todd's proposed tax increase would push the state cigarette tax in Alabama to $1.425 per pack, which on July 1 would have been the 23rd-highest state cigarette tax.

Some readers are encouraged by Todd's proposal so long as it weens young people away from smoking, but others feel that the state government should focus on protecting individual liberties instead of of controlling them.

I'll just buy my cigarettes out of state when I buy my lottery tickets. - deegee80

I DO NOT SMOKE AND I HATE SMOKE BUT....I want the government to stay out of our lives. All these dems want to is control people by tax. - AUpowerof Dixieland

I got an idea we can tax every breath that we take and the government can charge us .10 cents a breath and if we inhale deeply then can add a usage tax of an extra .10 then they can start charging us a tax on pollution for all of the carbon dioxide that we expel with every breath. - CRASH67

Just another case of a Democrat wanting to rob Peter to pay Paul, only in this case they're trying to justify it by taxing smokers, which make up quite a bit of their own constituency more than likely. This should be shot down immediately. If they start jacking up taxes on cigarettes because they are unhealthy, what's going to stop them from doing the same with fast food, television, groceries deemed unhealthy, and so on? While I understand that secondhand smoke may be a health risk and certainly offensive to some, it is their right do so and should not be unfairly taxed because they enjoy a certain item or activity. - Bama Fanatic

Smokers are a tax on society at large....if you can't afford it, don't do it. I always get a kick out of people who claim they can't buy their kids clothes, school lunches, or health insurance...meanwhile, they smoke like chimneys. If this tax gets them to finally pay their fair share, I say great (most states have done it, just like most states have a lottery....but nooooo, not in Alabama.....smoking is good, lotteries are bad). - Hunter