Times Advocate, 1999-11-03, Page 2626
Exeter Times -Advocate
Wednesday,November 3, 1999
Community
BC sues their tobacco partners
On October 18 the
C.B.C. T.V. National
magazine had a special
report on the deceit and
fraud perpetrated by the
tobacco industry. "The
industry knew in 1963
that their cigarettes
caused disease such as
heart, cancer and
emphysema and
neglected to tell we,
their customers, of
the risks. They
knowingly sold a
defective product
with little or no
concern for our
health and well
being". I started LESSER
smoking after grad- COUNSELLOR
uating university in
1963 when I
entered the business
world. The whole office
staff gathered around
during their coffee
breaks to drag on a few
puffs. I thought it was
kind of cool to light up,
draw the smoke up my
nose and blow a couple
of smoke rings. Sure I
knew that my smoking
was a dirty habit
smelling up my clothes
and filling my ash tray
with my discarded butts.
There wasn't a lot I
could do, 1 was hooked
on a pack d fay with
more on the weekends.
In 1967 I stopped smok-
ing when I learned that a
good friend of mine was
coughing blood. I quit
cold turkey and have
never touched a smoke
since. I swear that 1
never knew the
price tag of 37
cents included
possible disease
and an early
death. Let's face
it, I was simply
ignorant of the
consequences of
my dragging on
my favourite
cigarette. There
was a conspira-
cy to hide the
information and keep the
confidential reports out
of the public eye. The
cigarette companies
knew as far back as
1958 that there was a
high correlation between
smoking and lung can-
cer. The industry pro-
duced filters to assuage
the smokers into think-
ing that they were pro-
tected from the toxins.
Heck, the movie stars
and athletes were role
models for us all to fol-
low when they fit up.
LEONARD
Favourite beasts
There was the famous
cowboy on his horse who
depicted the
Marlborough man, hand-
some, rugged with ciga-
rette in his mouth selling
his macho life style. The
industry on both sides of
the border introduced
enticing brand names
such as Lucky Strike,
Virginia Slims Players,
Gaylord, Du Maurier and
my brand Rothmans to
give us the real taste.
Cigarettes became a sta-
tus symbol, a way of fit-
ting in and belonging. In
1980 the industry spent
$30 million dollars mar-
keting their "cigs" to
their target group,
twelve year old kids and
teens.
In 1999 thousands of
our children are hooked
on smoking. The stats
show that a.whopping
50% of age 15-19 aged
youth smoke cigarettes
on a daily basis. The kids
tell me that if you start
smoking prior to high
school then you will con-
tinue the habit. Sadly
only five percent of our
citizens are able to quit
and stay off the weed.
What do we do about
the evils perpetrated by
Precious Blood School Gr. I student Sarah Hagerty, left, and Gr. 2 students Avalon
Kerslake and Ashley Denomme dressed up on Friday as a mouse, rabbit and the
Beast from the Beauty and the Beast along with educational assistant Karen
Vandenhengel.The entire school dressed up to celebrate Halloween.
(photo/Craig Bradford)
the tobacco companies?
The American state leg-
islatures are suing and
collecting huge settle-
ments in the billions of
dollars to compensate
for the costs of providing
health care for their citi-
zens who died from
smoking. The province of
British Columbia is
launching a legal action
against the cigarette
industry to recover the
costs the province has
incurred for medical
expenses. I have always
wondered where all the
reveune goes for 20 ciga-
rettes. Four dollars
seems extravagant for a
little paper, tobacco and
a cardboard box.
Well, after many phone
ealls I finally got the
breakdown. In good old
Ontario we pay 53%
excise tax, $1.25 to the
feds and 1.101to Mike
Harris. fa British
Columbia the price of a
pack is $7.00 with a
whopping 65% blown
away in taxes. The
province's cut is $2.75
and Ottawa takes in
$1.7 5 . Seems a bit
strange that the province
is suing their partners,
the tobacco industry, for
providing smoking addic-
tion to their citizens. B.C.
collected $500 million
last year from tbir
share of the hidden taxes
on cigarettes. The
province has control
over the distribution and
has an obligation to
oversee the quality of the
product. Seems a bit of a
seam, possibly the words
fraud,. Hypocreaceae and
deceit are concealed
from the public. It's sort
of like the madame of a
house of ill repute shut -
Wig her eyes to the reali-
ty of the origin of the
revenue. earned by her
girls and then suing
them- for their efforts. No
matter how you cut it,
the money is tainted with
the smell of the smoke.
from cancer. How can:
you litigate against your
business partners and
not admit culpability as-
being part and parcel of
the needless deaths that.
plague our society?
Surely people will see
through the clouds of
smoke and mirrors and
make our corporations
and governments
accountable. I guess we
can all rest the blame
with others but if things
are going to change we
have to take charge of
our own problems.
Young children have to
be taught by their par-
ents and our schools that
smoking is addictive and
should be shunned as a
plague on our society.
"Most men look at
things as they are and
ask why. I dream of
things that never were
and ask Why Not?"
4 _1
attling for the puck
Lucan's Brian Hogervorst, left, chases down Exeter's
Ryan Brintnell duringrecent Atom Shamrock league
play at .Lucan Community Memorial Cenp-e.The game
ended in a 2-2 tie, with Exeter tying the game late in
the third period. (photo/Scott Non)
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