Media release
for immediate publication 18 September 2006
Tobacco bill is fair and enforceable.
The law may be regarded as medicine to treat society’s ills. It is an antibiotic against dangerous agents, like tobacco companies, that cause harm. However, like the extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB bug, the cigarette makers are an extremely law resistant (XLR) industry. Every effort to regulate tobacco has been met with greater efforts by the industry to evade regulation. So, laws to control this deadly industry need to be revised regularly.
The newtobacco bill is fair, reasonable and workable. Its purpose is to ensure that young people don't start smoking, to protect nonsmokers from pollution by tobacco smoke and to help smokers quit. It brings South African law into line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization.
The government’s efforts to reduce smoking are working. Fewer people are smoking and less tobacco is being consumed. About 80% of South African adults do not smoke. Cigarette sales have dropped by 33% in the past decade. Moreover, most smokers and non-smokers support the law and because it has widespread acceptance the tobacco laws have been easy to implement.
However, because the industry has tried to undermine the law, tighter regulation is needed. The new tobacco bill tabled in Parliament deals with two important issues: smoking in public places and the deadly chemicals that can be put into cigarettes.
Smoke-free Public Places:
The law on smoking in public places is fair. It allows equal access to facilities and services for everyone, smokers and non-smokers alike. The restriction applies to the cigarette not the smoker.
The public have embraced this law and are happy with it. By demanding their right to clean unpolluted air, it is they and not the police who have made many places smoke-free. The majority of workplaces now have a smoking policy, and many are completely smoke-free.
However, the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) continues to receive complaints about businesses who think they are above the law. Some restaurants and corporations flout the law because the current fine of R200 is so small it has no deterrent value. Smoking near the entrances of public buildings, at sports stadia and in crèches continues to be problematic. The bill strengthens the existing laws by dealing with these matters.
A weakness in the bill is that it does not ban smoking in a car when children are present. The NCAS calls upon Parliament to rectify this anomaly and protect children.
Reducing the toxic chemicals in cigarettes
The cigarette is more than just tobacco wrapped in paper. It is a highly engineered product. Up to 600 chemicals may be added to it during manufacture, including apple juice, chocolate, vitamin C and chalk. Over 4500 chemicals are released when cigarettes are smoked, including arsenic, cyanide, ammonia, and radioactive plutonium-210.
Additives are used for many purposes. It increases nicotine absorption so increasing the ‘nicotine kick’. It makes cigarettes more palatable by disguising the harsh taste of tobacco. The companies deliberately design cigarettes to maximize its addictiveness, make it easier for kids to start and to undermine cessation.
The safety of many of the added chemicals when burned has not been established. Yet, the government has no authority to regulate what may be added to tobacco products.
The bill requires the disclosure of additives and ingredients used in cigarette manufacturing, controls the emissions from tobacco products; and authorises the testing of tobacco products.
Currently, the marketing of nicotine in its safest form (as a medication to treat nicotine dependence) is strictly regulated under the Medicines Act, but there is little control of nicotine in its deadliest form (cigarettes), The existing policy is irrational and the tobacco bill reintroduces some sanity into policy making.
ends / . . . . . .