On September 29, the Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario) issued a press release announcing that the province had filed a lawsuit against a group of tobacco companies seeking damages “for past and ongoing health care costs linked to tobacco-related illness”.
The 50 billion dollar lawsuit was launched under the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, passed earlier this year. The legislation was approved unanimously by Queen's Park, meaning all parties are on record as supporting the lawsuit. Six other provinces have indicated their intention to initiate similar legal actions, although only two have actually filed .
According to the press release, Ontario is seeking $50 billion in damages, representing health care costs borne by Ontario taxpayers since 1955. It claims that tobacco-related health care costs are now estimated at more than $1.6 billion per year in the province.
The lawsuit is a transparent attempt to emulate a similar government cash grab in the US where over 40 states collectively sued the tobacco companies over similar issues. The result of that action was an out of court settlement called the MSA (Master Settlement Agreement). The tobacco companies agreed to pay roughly 250 billion dollars over 30 years from future earnings based on annual sales. The annual payments were apportioned among participating states.
The MSA cost the tobacco companies nothing, of course, since the deal allowed them to increase tobacco prices and pass the costs on to the consumer. Although it was hailed as a major victory against tobacco companies, it was, in fact, an agreement to indirectly tax tobacco consumers. The tobacco companies simply collected the tax and passed it on to the individual states.
Canada's smokers should not expect any better treatment from their governments. They will not force the tobacco companies into bankruptcy; not with billions of dollars in tax revenue at stake. So that means tobacco consumers will wind up footing the bill, just as they did in the US.
But, perhaps the most troubling aspect of the lawsuit is the blatant hypocrisy of the government action.
Both the provincial and federal governments profit handsomely from the tax revenue generated by the sale of tobacco products. When this rather well-known fact was pointed out to Ontario's Attorney General, Chris Bentley, he responded: "Even if we related the two, the amount paid out in health-care costs far exceeds the amount any government has collected for taxes."
Mr. Bentley has his facts wrong.
According to figures provided by the anti-smoker group, Physicians for a Smoke Free Canada, the total cost of medical treatment for smokers nationwide was $4.36 billion in 2006. That’s a hefty chunk of money.
But, for the 2005/2006 fiscal year, revenue collected by federal and provincial governments was $7.09 billion from taxes on tobacco products, not including sales taxes. Health care for smokers cost the “taxpayer” nothing.
But, smokers are taxpayers too. And, ignored is the the fact that smokers, in addition to the punitive tobacco taxes extorted by their government, make the same contributions to health care costs as any other Canadian.
And, just for the record, while the anti-smoker cartel and their puppets in government moan about the billion dollars plus in profit posted by the tobacco companies, government is making those profits look like chump change. In 2003, Canada's three largest tobacco companies made an estimated 1.53 billion dollars in profit. Combined government tax revenue was 7.05 billion dollars for the same year; over four and a half times the profit earned by the three tobacco companies combined.
The government's greed is mind boggling.
First, they extort tens of billions from smokers in tobacco taxes which they spend like drunken sailors on everything but health care. Then they demand that tobacco companies pay them billions more in compensation for health care costs; money that can only come from the same smokers who have already been forced to pay usurious levels of tobacco taxes for decades.
For decades, the tobacco companies have been vilified for putting profit before public health. But, government has been even more guilty of exploiting tobacco addiction for financial gain than the tobacco companies.
And, there's one more incontrovertible fact. If government was really convinced that smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke causes tens of thousands of deaths annually, they could have stopped it at anytime over the past half century. They could have passed a law.
They chose not to do so. Instead, they took the cash.
According to a meta-analysis conducted by Dr. David Meyers and his team at Kansas University Medical Center, smoking bans have an immediate impact on heart attacks, reducing admissions to hospital by as much as 26%. In addition, Meyers claims a nationwide smoking ban could prevent as many as 154,000 heart attacks annually.
Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Public Health disagrees with the conclusions of Meyers' study. In fact, he suggests that both the meta-analysis and the individual studies used to compile it are badly flawed junk science. Siegel is an anti-smoking advocate who strongly supports smoking bans. But, even he notes: “Nevertheless, I believe they should be supported based on valid scientific conclusions, not on junk science conclusions such as those in this article.”
As a smoker, and admittedly prone to bias in my interpretation of these “scientific studies”, I believe most of what is passed off as science by the anti-smoker crowd these days is junk; propaganda, pure and simple.
For example, one troublesome aspect of Meyers' study is the use of heart attack admissions as a gauge of the beneficial aspects of smoking bans. According to study authors, heart attacks were used as a measuring stick because, unlike cancer, they don’t take years to develop.
But, why measure only admissions to hospital?
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) website claims: “Of the people who die from heart attacks, about half die within an hour of the first symptoms and before they reach the hospital.”
If Meyers and his team counted only admissions, then they didn't account for the true incidence of heart attacks since roughly half would be DOA (Dead On Arrival). There would be no need to admit them for treatment. Was this a simple oversight; or a deliberate attempt to mislead? Was the possibility accounted for in some other way in the study?
Again, why measure only admissions?
The same NHLBI website claims: “Each year, about 1.1 million people in the United States have heart attacks, and almost half of them die. CAD (Coronary Artery Disease), which often results in a heart attack, is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States.”
The Womens Health Foundation sets the number of heart attacks at 1.5 million each year with 500,000 deaths.
But, if one-third to one-half of those experiencing a heart attack will die, why not simply count the number of deaths from heart attack? Wouldn't this give a far more meaningful statistic than admissions? After all, if smoking bans can prevent as many as 154,000 heart attacks annually, as claimed by Meyers, wouldn't that mean that one-third to one-half that number of heart attack deaths would also be prevented?
Is it really plausible that smoking bans could reduce the number of heart attack deaths by 50 to 75 thousand annually? Wouldn't that eliminate all deaths currently attributed to secondhand smoke?
Smokers, according to the anti-smoker cult, will die from heart attacks as a result of their smoking. Logic dictates that they will die whether they smoke in public or private, since it is the habit that allegedly kills and not the location where the habit is practiced.. So, is it logical to expect a decline in heart attack incidence among smokers without a corresponding decrease in smoking prevalence?
And, if a decrease in heart attack admissions can't be linked directly to either smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, how can it be attributed to smoking bans?
According to study authors: "Heart attacks are caused in large part by blood clots. With 20 minutes or so of tobacco smoke exposure, people’s blood becomes hypercoagulable and sticky and clots easily, and bam, you have a heart attack."
That's right folks. Twenty minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke and non-smokers start dropping like flies. Can't you remember the bodies being removed en masse from bars, restaurants and the local legion hall before the smoking bans? Aren't non-smokers keeling over from the effects of exposure to SHS in those jurisdictions where bans have not yet been implemented?
Dr. Siegel points out that brief secondhand smoke exposure is likely to trigger a heart attack only in people with severe existing coronary artery disease, saying: “The same hypercoagulability and endothelial dysfunction is also caused by eating high-fat foods and even by mental stress. It doesn't follow that you are going to prevent this person from having a heart attack merely by asking them to avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.”
David Meyers says the research should put to rest the debate about the health benefits of smoking bans. “The argument — that this is bad science — has now been put definitively to rest.”
And, therein lies the problem.
If (when) this story is picked up by the national media, it is not likely to include a rebuttal from Dr. Siegel (or anyone else for that matter). In fact, media coverage is unlikely to contain any dissenting opinion on the study. The public will be left with the perception that it has been scientifically proven that smoking bans reduce the incidence of heart attacks. Dr. Siegel, and others who contest the findings of Meyers' study, will be branded denialists; their voices silenced.
The perception rather than the reality will become entrenched in the public mind. Which, I suspect, is exactly what was intended by the authors of the study. For it appears that this study is not simply bad science, but a propaganda effort deliberately designed to mislead the public. The anti-smoker cult wants desperately to justify the growing number of smoking bans around the world.
Concludes Dr. Siegel: “The rest of the story is that anti-tobacco researchers and groups are making ridiculous, highly exaggerated, and scientifically unsupported claims in order to try to justify smoking bans.”
Just one more question before I sign off. If researchers are willing to use this kind of dishonesty and deception to convince the public of the hazards of smoking and SHS exposure, just why in hell should anyone believe anything the public health community has to say on the subject?
The bullshit and bafflegab is coming thick and fast.
According to supporters, the electronic cigarette (aka the personal vapourizer) is a modern marvel; an innovative invention that allows smokers to engage their vice while avoiding the health concerns associated with tobacco. And, there are many in the public health community who agree with that assessment.
Dr. Michael Siegel, of Boston University School of Public Health, has written a number of articles on his blog, Tobacco Analysis, chastising anti-smoker groups for their efforts to suppress (read ban) use of the e-cig. He believes that the e-cig does help smokers kick the habit. And, Siegel stands ready to support almost anything that will get smokers off that wicked weed (tobacco, not that other wicked weed). Whether they want to or not.
The anti-smoker fanatics, on the other hand, have launched a full-scale assault on what they claim is a deadly new device designed to, among other things, ensnare children and turn them into nicotine addicted misfits.
The e-cigs are marketed to kids, according to anti-smoker cultists, by providing flavoured nicotine cartridges; strawberry, menthol, cherry, chocolate, etc. Dr. William Bailey, medical director of the UAB Lung Health Center, asks : “Who's going to want a chocolate cigarette but a kid?”
Geez, Doc, I don't know. A chocoholic smoker, maybe?
But, really, how many kids can afford fifty to a hundred bucks for a chocolate flavoured, make-believe cigarette? If it's the chocolate they're after, wouldn't it be much cheaper to spend a buck on a candy bar at the local corner store.
A recent FDA study, and I use that term very loosely, raised only two health concerns with e-cigs: they contained known carcinogens in the form of nitrosamines and one out of 19 cartridges tested contained di-ethylene glycol. The nitrosimamines were, in fact, present in only trace amounts, at levels similar to those found in nicotine replacement products; the gum, the patch and the nicotine inhaler.
And, as Dr. Siegel pointed out in one of his blog posts, “pharmaceutical grade propylene glycol is readily available and contains no appreciable amount of di-ethylene glycol, this problem is most likely not a widespread one.” In fact, it's likely a quality control issue confined to one brand of e-cig rather than a serious health concern inherent in the product itself.
Ellen Hahn, Director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy, claims in an article on the Public News Service, that “e-cigarettes could actually end up creating new customers for tobacco in a state where adult and youth smoking rates are at epidemic levels.”
We'll ignore the fact that despite decades of smoker-bashing, smoking bans, punitive taxation and discriminatory action of all kinds directed at smokers, Kentucky is still in the grip of a tobacco “epidemic.” And, we won't ask what Ms. Hahn and her colleagues have been doing with their time and money.
Ms. Hahn says “it would be a bad idea for Kentucky smokers, who are trying to quit their habit, to get hooked on alternatives to smoking.” Uh-huh. What she means is that it would be a bad idea for Kentucky smokers to get hooked on the wrong alternatives to smoking.
The nicotine patch, nicorettes and the inhaler are perfectly acceptable. But e-cigs are a no-no which must be fought tooth and nail, despite the fact it has been used by hundreds of thousands of smokers to cut back and/or quit. So why would the anti-smoker crowd want to deny smokers use of a device which helps them fulfill their mission?
They are claiming, after all, that they want to “help” smokers kick the habit; for their own good, of course. They are claiming that they want to protect non-smokers from the alleged hazards of secondhand smoke. They claim that they are protecting the public purse by reducing the alleged high health care costs posed by smoking real tobacco.
So, why are they trying so desperately to persuade the FDA to ban the electronic cigarette; a device with the potential to address all three of those concerns? Why are they trying to vilify the product in the eyes of the public; to dissuade it's use. Isn't that counter-productive?
Unless, of course, the whole charade was never about public health in the first place. Unless, the pretext of protecting public health was merely an excuse to conduct a moral crusade against smoking. Unless they're more concerned about protecting their funding sources in the pharmaceutical industry and from the government (through the legalized extortion known as tobacco taxation).
At any rate, since I've commented on the electronic cigarette several times on this blog, I figured it was about time I invested in one. There's one slight problem of course; getting them into Canada. Health Canada has decided to follow the FDA lead and is apparently stopping shipments into the country.
But, what the hell. I'll wind up with the material for a blog whether it gets through or not.
The anti-smoker cartel has been effectively setting public policy on tobacco control for many years. Governments appear to have abdicated responsibility in this regard, content to rubber-stamp whatever legislation the fanatics demand with little or no critical evaluation of the potential social or economic consequences.
The extent of anti-smoker influence on public policy became very clear with the passage of Bill C-32 in Canada's House of Commons earlier this year.
Staff at Health Canada were charged with drafting legislation to fulfill a campaign promise made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last September. He promised to ban “candy-flavoured” cigarillos allegedly being marketed to children. The legislation, Bill C-32, is called “The Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act”. The title itself makes the government's intention pretty clear.
Harper, at the time, flourished colourful packages of candy flavoured cigarillos to emphasize the need for such legislation; a seemingly graphic example of the Prime Minister's intention.
Policymakers at Health Canada, however, had a somewhat different interpretation of what was needed. And, thanks to language used in the bill, it went far beyond anything the government intended. Health Canada appears to have substituted their own more restrictive policy for the the one Harper had promised.
The language used by Health Canada apparently bans all flavoured cigarettes, including such well known American brands as Marlboro, Camel and Winston, as well as some European brands. But, the flavouring used in American cigarettes are not candy flavours meant to entice children; they're flavourings and sweeteners used to make the harsh taste of burley tobacco used in American blend more palatable for adult smokers.
The anti-smoker element at Health Canada acknowledge they were aware of the implications of the language. They argue that it's impossible to ban candy flavoured cigarillos, and not Marlboros. Said Paul Glover, assistant deputy minister of Health, "a product that is easier to smoke and less harsh is easier for youth to start." Uh-huh.
Says Health Canada spokesperson Christelle Legault: “The intent of Bill C-32 is to prohibit the use of flavorings, except menthol, and appealing additives in all cigarettes. We know that the addition of flavours and additives makes them more appealing to youth and this is exactly the kind of tobacco industry marketing tactic that we want to prevent in order to protect our vulnerable youth."
But, it was not the intent of parliament, at least not the publicly stated intent. Harper promised merely to prohibit candy flavoured tobacco products which might encourage young people to experiment with tobacco, not all cigarettes containing any flavouring or additives.
MP's, anxious to appear tough on smoking and perhaps score some cheap brownie points with constituents, passed the anti-smoker legislation with something less than due diligence. They either failed to read Bill C-32 or totally misunderstood its implications. Or, of course, they could have simply misled the public about the legislative intent.
The significance of the wording was not lost on US politicians or trade groups, however, especially those in the tobacco growing regions of the US. They pointed out, quickly and forcibly, that banning American blends of tobacco, but not Canadian varieties, violates NAFTA and sets the stage for a potential trade dispute with Canada's largest trading partner. Protests have been sent to Ottawa and some US politicians have demanded reciprocal action be taken by the US.
And, the chagrined Conservative caucus in Quebec took the unprecedented step of recanting their prior votes, threatening to withdraw support for the legislation unless it's amended. It seems a Rothman’s factory in Quebec City, which produces American brands for the export market, is threatened with closure and the loss of over 300 jobs because of the language ostensibly slipped into the legislation by Health Canada.
Officials at Health Canada claim there was “nothing covert” in their actions, they just wanted to make sure there were no loopholes in the legislation (except for menthol, of course) for those nasty old tobacco companies to squeeze through.
What they fail to acknowledge is that the legislation as written ignores the stated intent of the government. The publicly stated intention was to ban candy flavoured cigarillos which might entice young people to experiment.
Did the anti-smoker zealots at Health Canada attempt an end run around parliamentary authority? Or has the government been lying to the public about their intentions all along?
Luc Martial (of Casa Cubana, a Montreal-based importer of cigar products, including flavoured cigarillos) says the legislation is based “on a premise of fear, not fact – hate, not health.” He points to the lack of any real research on the subject.
Martial, formerly with the Non-Smokers' Rights Association and the Tobacco Control Programme at Health Canada, claims Health Canada conducted “no specific research on the use of flavours in tobacco products; the market for flavoured little cigars/cigarillos and the industry itself.”
In addition, says Martial, “The Government chose not to consult in an honest, meaningful, transparent and open manner with the thousands of legitimate private sector stakeholders whose businesses and jobs will be devastated by Bill C-32.”
He's right. They didn't. Of course, the anti-smoker crowd has never needed evidence to convince the government to pass anti-smoker legislation. And consulting with the business community regarding the economic consequences of anti-smoker laws has never been part of their standard operating procedure.
Bill C-32 was approved by the House of Commons, with little debate and no objection. It is now under scrutiny in the Senate. During Senate hearings, Senator Michel Rivard compared Bill C-32 to “crushing a fly with a bulldozer”. Senator Hugh Segal was prompted to ask witnesses to explain what Health Canada was up to.
The anti-smoker crowd, in turn, claims resistance to the bill comes only from the tobacco industry and politicians in Quebec who are concerned about the possibility of losing a few jobs. And, thanks to a strong lobby effort by the anti-smoker crowd, it appears the Senate will knuckle under and approve the bill.
But, the anti-smoker brigade, and their cheer-leading allies in the press, seem determined to avoid discussing the unethical conduct of those involved. Either the policy makers at Health Canada subverted the parliamentary process by including language that the government never intended; or, the government misled the Canadian public about the intention of the legislation.
A little incident in the grand scheme of things, to be sure. But, those adults who choose to use a legal product, and those who make their living from the legal sales of those products, are being buried under a mountain of bullshit and bafflegab.
On September 29, the Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario) issued a press release announcing that the province had filed a lawsuit against a group of tobacco companies seeking damages “for past and ongoing health care costs linked to tobacco-related illness”.
