Tobacco

UC Follows (and Questions) the Tobacco Money

by Anne Landman — October 13, 2006 - 1:34pm

The University of California system is debating whether UC schools should continue to accept research funding from tobacco companies. Proponents of the funding invoke the slippery-slope argument, saying if UC refuses tobacco funds, then pharmaceutical companies might be next. Others argue that eliminating tobacco funding would infringe on academics’ freedom of speech.

Main Source: 
UCLA Today, October 10, 2006

Profs Smell Smoke in Food Marketing to Kids

by Jonathan Rosenblum — September 8, 2006 - 8:02am

Governments should learn a lesson from tobacco marketeers and restrict junk food advertising aimed at children, says a prominent obesity specialist. Boyd Swinburn, professor of population health at Deakin University in Australia, was one of several members of a global task force on obesity who called for international standards on advertising food products to children.

Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, September 6, 2006

Reynolds Tobacco Fills Front Groups' Coffers

by Bob Burton — July 31, 2006 - 3:50am

Reynolds American, the parent company of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, is spending approximately $40 million in an attempt to defeat anti-smoking ballot initiatives to be voted on in November. Part of the tobacco industry campaign involves having front groups promoting alternative measures to those proposed by tobacco control groups.

Main Source: 
The Detroit News, July 28, 2006

BAT Dodges Document Shredding Case

by Bob Burton — July 7, 2006 - 2:00am

British American Tobacco (BAT) reached an out of court settlement in a case that threatened to explore the company's "document retention policy," under which sensitive documents were shredded.

Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, July 6 2006

It Depends on Your Definition of Indisputable

by Judith Siers-Poisson — June 28, 2006 - 9:22pm

from www.TobaccoFree.org

On June 27, 2006, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona M.D. released a definitive report on second-hand – or “involuntary” – smoking.

Main Source: 
The New York Times, June 26, 2006

Big Tobacco's Covert Witness Program

by Bob Burton — June 13, 2006 - 5:55pm

In a February 1989 speech to the Executive Committee of the now-defunct Tobacco Institute, the group's Senior Vice President, Charles Powers, sought to save the industry's covert "Scientific Witness" program from impending budget cuts.

Main Source: 
Anne Landman's Collection, June 11, 2006

Big Tobacco Attack Ads Blow Smoke in California

by Diane Farsetta — June 2, 2006 - 2:29pm

It's not surprising that big tobacco is funding attack ads around the primary election for California's State Board of Equalization, which regulates state cigarette sales and oversees $40 billion in tax collections.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2006

Shredding Policy Haunts British American Tobacco

by Bob Burton — May 31, 2006 - 4:47am

British American Tobacco (BAT) has suffered a major legal setback after a Sydney judge found that the company's "document retention policy," under which sensitive documents were shredded, had been developed "in furtherance of the commission of a fraud." In a case before the New South Wales Dust Diseases Tribunal, Justice Jim Curtis heard uncontested evidence from former BAT solicitor Fred Gulson that the policy was designed so that the company could shred potentially damaging documents.

Main Source: 
Sydney Morning Herald, May 30, 2006

Big Tobacco Lobbyists Seek To Axe Texas Taxes

by Diane Farsetta — May 15, 2006 - 11:14am

"Big Tobacco's toughest fight in years is being waged by a band of highly paid, talented and experienced former legislators, political appointees and close friends of the most powerful people in Texas.

Main Source: 
The Dallas Morning News, May 12, 2006
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