Stopping tobacco production not solution to increasing cancer cases The government told the National Assembly that it is going to continue supporting tobacco farming despite the increase of cancer cases caused by cigarette smoking since that is not the solution to the problem. The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives, Dr Mathayo David Mathayo said that one of the factors for not stopping the production is that 85% of all tobacco produced in the country is exported, thus only the remaining 15 is consumed in the county. “Tobacco farming and production employs 1.3 pe ... Jump to full article >>

Tobacco and obesity are overtaking hunger and infectious disease as leading causes of death and illness across the developing world, an Australian expert has warned. As globalisation had lifted millions of people out of poverty, Dr Paul Kowal said free trade agreements had allowed the rapid movement of processed food and tobacco products into the world’s poorest nations. Many developing countries now faced new and mounting health threats from the expanding availability of fast food, soft drinks and cigarettes, he said. “To increase development in a country, they are forced to open ... Jump to full article >>

A ban on flavoured tobacco products will come into effect as early as July, as the proposed private member’s bill received royal assent Thursday in the Senate. A ban on flavoured tobacco products will come into effect as early as July, as the proposed private member’s bill received royal assent Thursday in the Senate. The Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act will mean an immediate ban on advertising flavoured tobacco products in newspapers and magazines. Known as cigarillos, blunt wraps and flavoured cigarettes, they will come off store shelves as of July 5, 2010; ... Jump to full article >>

Chileans are still the heaviest smokers in the region despite a strict anti-tobacco law. SANTIAGO, Chile — When a strict anti-tobacco law came into effect three years ago, Maria Eugenia Avila scoffed. She had no intention of quitting the two packs a day she was delightfully smoking. She just stopped going to malls. “I flee from places where I can’t smoke and I cover the horrible warnings on the packs. I love smoking and I suffer with this law and all its prohibitions. But no law is going to make me quit,” the 47-year-old kindergarten teacher said, while puffing away on a habit that co ... Jump to full article >>

Health Minister Nicola Roxon says her department is investigating reports big tobacco companies are using social networking sites like Facebook to hook young people onto cigarettes. University of Sydney PHD student Becky Freeman told a conference in Darwin the tobacco industry is abusing the internet because the web does not have the same advertising controls as print and television. Ms Roxon says it looks like tobacco companies are trying to get around Australia’s strict regulations. “I don’t think it’s good form for tobacco companies to be out trying to hook young pe ... Jump to full article >>

Tobacco companies are increasingly going online to promote their wares as governments ban or regulate their ability to advertise, an Australian researcher has warned. Sydney Medical School’s Becky Freeman has uncovered what she describes as the “alarming sophistication” of online marketing by the tobacco industry. More than 150 nations, including Australia, have introduced restrictions on tobacco advertising across traditional media such as television, radio and print, yet Ms Freeman says online media was unregulated. “When the Australian ban on tobacco advertising and ... Jump to full article >>

TOBACCO companies are using legal loopholes to market products on social networking sites including Facebook and MySpace targetting young smokers. Advertising restrictions on cigarette giants are forcing companies to become savvier in the way they reach consumers. Fan clubs and unofficial product pages endorsing Marlboro, Benson and Hedges and Lucky Strike are now appearing on social networks, and have the ability to redirect users to the product’s website, The Daily Telegraph reports. Cancer Council Australia has called on the Federal Government to intervene and ensure the sites are pul ... Jump to full article >>

Munger, Tolles & Olson was on the wrong side of a federal ruling this week that gave San Francisco the green light to ban the sale of cigarettes in drug stores and major retail stores that also house pharmacies, according to The Recorder, an Am Law Daily sibling publication. Tobacco companies led by Philip Morris filed suit to block the law, arguing that it would infringe on their First Amendment rights. As we wrote in October, the Munger team–longtime counsel to Philip Morris–argued that the ban on sales is, in effect, a ban on advertising, since it would make little sense for ... Jump to full article >>