NGO concerned over tobacco scenes in films

Five months after the Union ministry of health and family welfare notified the rules for cigarettes and other tobacco products (Prohibition of advertisement and Regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution), the Voluntary Health Association of Assam (VHAA) on Thursday demanded proper implementation of the prohibitory order for the sake of Gen X.

The VHAA, an NGO that is continuously pressing the state government to make the state a tobacco-free zone, rued that the authorities concerned are running a scroll with anti-tobacco health warnings at the bottom of the screen during smoking scenes. "The young generation watches movies very closely and if they see a film star smoking, they too will want to smoke. We are concerned about the non-implementation of the prohibitory orders in Assam," said Ruchira Neog, executive secretary of the association. "We are deeply concerned and disappointed to learn that the Union ministry of information & broadcasting has issued directives to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to defer the implementation of the rules on the grounds of practical difficulties, overlooking public health benefits.

This stand of the ministry is unfortunate, especially when there can be no difficulty in implementing the rules," she noted. India is the world's largest producer of movies where more than 1,000 movies a year are released in several languages. Neog stated that movies have a deep influence on kids and teens. Studies in developed countries have already established that exposure to smoking in Hollywood movies leads to increased risk of smoking among adolescents.

A recent study, 'Tobacco use in Bollywood movies, tobacco promotional activities and their association with tobacco use among Indian adolescents', conducted among 4,000 students from 12 schools across New Delhi revealed that the odds of using tobacco once or more in a lifetime among students who were highly exposed to tobacco-use scenes in Bollywood films were more than twice as compared to those with low exposure.

The rules prohibit display and placement of brand names and logos of tobacco products in old as well as new films and TV programmes. Display of brands either through close-ups of products, packages or product placements amounts to 'advertising' a particular brand and this is a violation of Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003.

Channel 7 breaches licence with tobacco ad

Channel Seven in Adelaide has been found to be in breach of its licence conditions by advertising tobacco. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found the channel breached its licence conditions by broadcasting a tobacco advertisement in July 2010. It says the advertisement was contained in a Channel Seven News report about the importation of budget cigarettes for sale by a major supermarket.

The ACMA investigation found the segment contravened the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 because it gave publicity to the purchase or use of tobacco products and was not covered by any of the allowable exceptions under that legislation. Channel Seven Adelaide has began proceedings in the Federal Court seeking a judicial review of the ACMA finding. It argues in its submission to the ACMA that the segment did not promote or encourage smoking and any references to cigarette names or images were brief.

Colchester supports illegal tobacco crackdown

A CRACKDOWN on illegal tobacco is being supported in Colchester. More than 500 people have pledged to help combat the problem with more than 8,000 across the east of England. Campaigners, including councillors and NHS and trading standards staff have been out on the streets talking to the people of Colchester about the campaign since its launch last month. The cheapest cigarettes online cigarettesonline.noahblog.com

Campaigner Graham Seward, the NHS public health specialist for tobacco control in north Essex, said: ‘The campaign has received a fantastic response from the people of Colchester so far and this is just the start. “With the number of local organisations now involved and more and more people, businesses and retailers pledging their support every day, we hope the drive to keep illegal tobacco out of Colchester will continue to grow.”

One shareholder's lonely pro-smoking battle

This time of year, shareholders bombard corporations with suggestions about executive pay, governance and other arcana. But once in a while, an idea comes along that truly stands out. This year's prize may go to Daniel Morrison, who asked Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, to resurrect TV and radio ads for its cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

His logic? It's the only way that potential customers will find out about new products, or be lured to switch brands. He also asked Altria to examine how it could advertise online, on smartphones, by text message and on satellite radio. In a letter to Altria's board, Morrison wrote that "hundreds of millions" of Americans have never heard slogans like "Come to where the flavor is" or "You get a lot to like with a Marlboro: filter, flavor, pack or box."

"This proposal is not about selling more cigarettes," he wrote. "This is about freedom." Morrison described himself as a retired city employee who owns about $9,500 worth of stock in Altria, which held its annual meeting Thursday in Richmond, Va. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which catalogued his letter along with other shareholder proposals, isn't allowed to release details about Morrison, including contact information. Altria asked the government for permission to exclude Morrison's proposal from its shareholder ballot. For one thing, the company points out, Morrison didn't send a written notice that he intends to hold his shares through the meeting, as the SEC requires, or even proof that he is a shareholder. More important, his proposal would require breaking the law: Tobacco companies have been banned from advertising cigarettes on TV for more than four decades.

They're also forbidden from any marketing that could be construed as youth-oriented, and the government is considering more restrictions on advertising tobacco products via new media and technology, such as the Internet, email and smartphones. The SEC almost certainly would have granted Altria's request, but as it turns out, it never had to. The day after Altria sent the SEC and Morrison a letter with its objections, the company's legal department received a brief email. "To whom it may concern," it said. "Please withdraw my proposal dated 11-29-11....Thank you, Daniel Morrison." An Altria spokesman declined to comment beyond the company's filings.

Fullerton is first Cal State to ban all tobacco use

Starting in summer 2013, anxious Cal State Fullerton students wanting to puff a post-final exam cigarette will have to leave campus to do it. This week, the university's interim president signed an order banning use of all forms of tobacco(http://www.freetobacco.info/) on campus, the first school in the California State University system to do so. The ban will take effect in August next year, allowing the university an educational campaign about the prohibition and get students accustomed to it. The way the new rule is written, smokers puffing in their cars with the windows up would be violating the rule if they were in a campus parking lot or street.



"If you're on campus, you're on campus," said John Bedell, a sociology professor. Bedell also heads the university's Academic Senate, a 48-member body comprised of faculty, staff and students. Earlier this year, the Senate voted unanimously to back the ban. "We can hardly get unanimity that it's Friday," Bedell said. "To pass this is huge." The professor said he's received e-mails from people who not only support the ban, but wish it went into effect much sooner. Punishments for violating the new rule have yet to be determined. The sweeping ban didn't come about overnight. Bedell said the proposal has been mulled over for a couple of years.

Sakae Nishida, who will transfer to Fullerton as a business major in the fall, said she understands many people's aversion to smoke. "I avoid places where people are smoking," she said. But, she added, she believes the campus should have designated areas for smokers. "People who smoke cigarettes have rights in open air," Nishida said. The school's previous policy prohibited smoking inside buildings and within 20 feet of their entrances, but allowed smoking in open-air areas unless otherwise posted. Walking around campus, it's not difficult to find discarded butts, which seem to be more numerous in campus planters than in the ashtrays located around the quad.

"The campus is filthy with cigarette butts," Bedell said. Another reason, Bedell said, was universal disdain for the 20-foot rule. Often smokers congregate in front of some buildings' ventilation intakes. To some faculty on say, the fifth floor, "It would smell like they were smoking in their offices," Bedell said. "Besides, shouldn't the university be about health?"

Tobacco prices 'falling, use growing'

In a startling revelation, a report says tobacco prices have been falling steadily since 2003 in Bangladesh due to 'faulty' taxation, encouraging new users. It says the real prices have, indeed, fallen as the different taxes were levied on different price slabs and were never based on inflation. Increasing real incomes have made the tobacco products affordable, the report notes and suggests specific cigarette tax of Tk 34 per 10 cigarettes, Tk 4.95 per pack of 25 bidis and ending existing price slabs. Read tobacco news and interesting articles about cigarettes.

 "It would encourage nearly 7 million cigarette and 3.4 million bidi smokers to quit and keep 10.5 million youths away from taking up the habit," Prof Abul Barkat, the lead author of 'The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Taxation in Bangladesh' said while revealing the report. Prof Barkat said, "If the government adopts the policy, it will earn Tk 15 billion more in tax revenue from cigarettes and Tk 7.2 billion from bidis." Thousands of lives would be saved in Bangladesh where more than 150 people are estimated to be dying every day due to tobacco-related illness. He said the most effective way to reduce tobacco use is to raise the price of tobacco through tax increase and ensuring that the tax increases are reflected in prices. "There is an inverse relationship between tobacco product prices and consumption.

Falling cigarette and bidi prices lead to increases in smoking while rising prices will reduce smoking. "A 10 percent increase in average cigarette prices in Bangladesh will lead to an over 5 percent reduction in cigarette consumption, while a 10 percent increase in average bidi prices will reduce their consumption by almost 7 percent," Prof Barkat maintained. Also the Chairman of state-owned Janata Bank, he warned that rising incomes could lead to significantly more smoking in Bangladesh 'unless steps are taken to reverse this trend'. The finds o the Bloomberg Philanthropies-funded study came out on Thursday, weeks before the 2012-13 fiscal budgets which will be presented in Parliament on June 7.

 As tobacco industries fight every year to block tobacco tax increase to keep their sales intact, anti-tobacco activists and civil society members this year raised their voice against the move. The government hiked cigarettes prices in different slabs and supplementary duties imposed on cigarettes vary from 36 percent to 60 in four tiers. It is only 20 percent in bidis. The different price tiers, anti-tobacco activists say, rather helped people to switch from costlier to cheaper ones. Prof Barkat said in the last decade, taxes were not adjusted to inflation, and worse, not to income. "That's why consumption soared," he said, adding bidi consumption has outpaced population growth. "Cigarette use rose by 40 percent between 1997 and 2010, from 50.9 billion to almost 71.4 billion cigarettes in Bangladesh. Between 1997 and 2010, bidi use rose by 80 percent, from 43 billion to over 81 billion bidis."

 As tobacco industries argue they pay Tk 73 billion in revenues, Prof Barkat said his conservative estimates found the economic costs of tobacco use was Tk 147.70 billion including healthcare and lost productivity costs. "Employment in tobacco cultivation and manufacturing constitutes only 0.5 percent of total labour force." Fearing a loss of revenue, the Ministry of Finance recently shot down plans for a tougher tobacco control law. Speaking at the report launching, Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque hoped they would be able to pass the law after budget session, overcoming all 'hurdles'. The minister said the economic aspects of tobacco use would give 'new insights' into the fight against tobacco industries. Bangladesh ranks 20th among the tobacco-producing nations and the prices of tobacco here are said to be the cheapest in the world.

Tobacco marketing 'harms young'

Eight in 10 people questioned in Scotland think tobacco marketing is harmful to children, according to a new survey. The poll revealed 86% of those surveyed also believe children should not be exposed to any cigarette advertising. Cancer Research UK said it released the results as the UK Government consults on whether to put all tobacco in packs of uniform size, shape and design, with large health warnings on the front and back. It found 70% thought the colourful branding and striking logos make cigarettes more appealing to children. The charity is now urging people to sign their The Answer is Plain campaign, which is calling for all branding to be removed.

Vicky Crichton, public affairs manager for Scotland, said: "This survey shows people across the country clearly support action to get rid of one of the last ways the tobacco industry can market its products. So we're asking them to sign our petition and help end the 'packet racket'. "Many parents know their children are very attached to certain brands and cleverly-designed packaging plays a significant role in maintaining that attraction.

But when we are talking about tobacco, then it's time to change the law. "We have a unique opportunity to protect children from the marketing of this deadly product. "This is not about 'the nanny state'. This is about us as a society saying that it is wrong for tobacco - a product that kills half of all its long-term users - to be marketed to children as though it were a bag of sweets."

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