We need to show public support for plain packaging to counter the tobacco industry’s multi-million dollar lobbying campaign.  The Take Action site, a joint initiative of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, has an easy way to send an email to your MP to let them know that you support plain packaging.

Do what you can to send a letter by email to your MP, and also to broadly promote the Take Action site, which is found here:

http://takeaction.cancer.ca/#/take_action_steps.step1/Canada/campaign/123

The email will be sent to a person’s MP based on postal code, and will be copied to the Minister of Health, Conservative and NDP party leaders and health critics, and key Senators.

Please promote the site by:

• Sending an email yourself
• Asking your co-workers, friends, family to do so
• Emailing your networks, asking them to take action
• Promoting the website on social media
• Asking people at meetings to take a moment to do so using their mobile device (the short url that is easy to convey orally is takeaction.cancer.ca  – once there go to “Canada” for the national Take Action campaign)
• Engaging youth and students for their support
• Other means

On the Take Action site, sending a letter by email is easy. There is a letter already drafted – individuals can add their own comments if desired.

Thanks everyone for your support as we seek to counter the tobacco industry’s multi-million dollar lobbying campaign against plain packaging.  The Take Action site is a joint initiative of the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, received first reading on Thursday April 13. The bill will ban smoking of “cannabis” in places where smoking of tobacco is banned. The bill can be seen here:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/hoc/Bills/421/Government/C-45/C-45_1/C-45_1.PDF

Clauses 162 to 164 of the bill, on pages 97-98, will prohibit smoking of cannabis wherever smoking is banned pursuant to the federal Non-smokers’ Health Act. The Non-smokers’ Health Act applies to places under federal jurisdiction including about 10% of workers in Canada, including in federal government buildings and property, federal public service, RCMP, armed forces including armed forces bases, federal Crown Corporations (eg Canada Post), national parks and national heritage sites, communications (eg Bell Canada), broadcasting (TV, radio), transportation (including planes, trains, intercity buses, ferries, airports, train and bus stations, ports), fisheries, nuclear facilities, grain elevators, and other.

The bill will ban smoking of “cannabis” in places where smoking of tobacco is banned.  It would have been simpler, more effective and easier to enforce had the bill banned smoking of anything wherever smoking is banned.  Quebec, NB and NS and a series of municipalities including Vancouver and others have adopted this approach – banning smoking of anything wherever smoking is banned.

One of the problems with specifically banning smoking of “cannabis”, instead of banning smoking of anything, is that it raises an enforcement issue – it appears that there will need to be evidence and proof that what the person was smoking was actually cannabis.

Bill C-45 also fails to correct a deficiency regarding the Non-smokers’ Health Act.  The NsHA does not apply outdoors, not even to building entrance ways, or to a beach, picnic area or children’s playground in a national park, or to a sports field or children’s playground on an armed forces base.  Thus under the current wording of Bill C-45, it would be allowed for someone to smoke cannabis at the entrance way to most federal government buildings and federally regulated workplaces, as well as on Cavendish Beach in PEI (a national park), a family picnic area in a national park, and many other places under federal jurisdiction.  One example among others is Lebreton Flats in Ottawa, which is federal National Capital Commission property – city of Ottawa bylaws prohibiting smoking at municipal parks do not apply to federal property.  Thus under the current wording of Bill C-45, people could legally smoke marijuana (or tobacco) at the annual Bluesfest music event held at Lebreton Flats, resulting in second-hand smoke affecting other people.  This type of example would be similar to other examples across Canada.

Bill C-45 should be amended to give the government regulatory authority to prohibit smoking in specified outdoor areas, as well as in vehicles with kids.  Provincial laws banning smoking in vehicles with kids do not to apply federal government property or roadways – examples of this in the City of Ottawa include Colonel By Drive, the Queen Elizabeth Driveway, the Western Parkway.

More provinces and municipalities are banning smoking in specified outdoor areas.  The federal government should catch-up for areas within federal jurisdiction.  The NsHA, which was adopted in 1988 -89, is out of date.

Clause 189 of Bill C-45 on pages 107-109 has some coordinating provisions given that Bill S-5 will prohibit e-cigarette use in places where smoking is banned under the NsHA. Depending on which bill (Bill S-5 or Bill C-45) is first adopted, certain coordinating provisions apply.

– via [email protected]

Carly Weeks, writer for the Globe and Mail, reported on Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott’s presentation at the National Forum on the Future of Tobacco Control in Canada which took place in early 2017. Read the full article here.

The tobacco industry in Canada (as in other countries) has been arguing that plain packaging would increase counterfeit/contraband cigarettes.  These arguments are baseless.  Below are some notes in response.

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Response to Tobacco Industry Claims that Plain Packaging Would Increase Counterfeit/Contraband Cigarettes 

The tobacco industry and organizations funded by the tobacco industry claim that plain packaging would make it easier to counterfeit cigarettes and would increase contraband.  This argument is nonsense.  Here are some notes:

• Plain packaging will not cause counterfeiting or contraband.  The tobacco industry is engaging in misinformation, which is typical of the industry’s approach over decades.
• JTI-Macdonald cites a KPMG report “Illicit Tobacco in Australia: 2015 Full Year Report”, April 2016 as the source to support the counterfeit claim. However, the KPMG report, funded by the tobacco industry, states that the study conducted found no counterfeit Australian plain packages.  (The study did find that a tiny 0.2% of the Australian market was counterfeit, but these were of branded products not intended for Australia.)
• KPMG itself has objected to its study  being “misrepresented” by those suggesting that plain packaging could lead to an increase in contraband
• The industry’s KPMG study found that the overall level of all contraband (not just counterfeit) in 2015 of 2.4 million kg was the same as in 2010, prior to plain packaging
• In Canada, the tobacco industry claims that many measures will cause contraband.  For example, the industry made this claim for increasing the size of package health warnings from 50% to 75% in 2012, but this measure did not cause contraband. 
• Canada’s sophisticated tax-stamps with covert and overt features will remain on packages to deter counterfeiting.  Companies will still be able to have a unique alphanumeric indicator for each brand on the cigarette filter to distinguish each brand.
• The tobacco industry cannot be believed – the industry has had previous campaigns saying that smoking did not cause lung cancer, and that second hand smoke is not harmful.
• The tobacco industry has no credibility on the contraband issue, given that all three major companies in Canada have been convicted of contraband (in 2008, 2010), resulting in the largest fines in Canadian history, with fines and civil payments totaling $1.7 billion.

Additional detailed background

The industry’s claim that contraband in Australia increased by 21% following implementation of plain packaging is based on flawed KPMG studies funded by the tobacco industry.  The industry-funded KPMG study says that contraband was 12.2% in 2011 (prior to plain packaging), 11.5% in 2012 (plain packaging implemented late in year), to 14.5% in 2014 and 14.0% in 2015.  Comments on the KPMG studies are below.  

While the tobacco industry cites a report by KPMG paid for by the tobacco industry to support claims that contraband has increased, KPMG itself denies that the report indicates that plain packaging is responsible for an increase in contraband.  A May 2, 2014 letter from KPMG Partner Robin Cartwright to UK Public Health Minister Jane Ellison, released under the UK’s Freedom of Information Act, stated that:

“The report we released recently, Illicit Tobacco in Australia – 2013 Half Year Report, has been somewhat misrepresented by others, without our consent, to suggest it supports the contention that plain paper packaging could lead of itself to an increase in tobacco smuggling and duty avoidance.”

In its report, KPMG declares that the method of work on its study was determined by terms of reference provided by tobacco companies, and that no one should rely on the report.  Similar disclaimers, with some differences in wording, are also found in the other KPMG reports.

“KPMG LLP has agreed that the Report may be disclosed to any party on the basis set out herein. KPMG LLP wishes all parties to be aware that KPMG LLP’s work for the Addressees was performed to meet specific terms of reference agreed between the Addressees and KPMG LLP and that there were particular features determined for the purposes of the engagement. The report should not therefore be regarded as suitable to be used or relied on by any other person or for any other purpose. The Report is issued to all parties on the basis that it is for information only. Should any party choose to rely on the Report they do so at their own risk. KPMG LLP will accordingly accept no responsibility or liability in respect of the Report to any party other than the Addressees.”  (Source: KPMG LLP, “Illicit tobacco in Australia: 2013 half year report”.

http://www.bata.com.au/group/sites/BAT_7WYKG8.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9879X3?opendocument&SKN=1

The KPMG report for 2014 stated that a category of contraband, counterfeit cigarettes, has actually declined in Australia subsequent to the implementation of plain packaging: 

“Through to the end of 2014, there has been no evidence of counterfeit plain packaging cigarettes.   This represents a change from 2012 where approximately 45% of counterfeit cigarettes consumed appeared to have been designed for the local market.” (Source: KPMG LLP, “Illicit tobacco in Australia” full year report (for 2014), p.42.)

http://www.pmi.com/eng/media_center/media_kit/Documents/KPMG%20Report%20FY%202014%20-%20Illicit%20tobacco%20in%20Australia.pdf

The KPMG report for 2015 found no examples of counterfeit plain packaging and stated “Despite some media reports uncovering instances of counterfeit plain packaged cigarettes none of the counterfeit packs collected as part of the EPS were in plain packaging.” (p.44)

https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/04/australia-illict-tobacco-2015.pdf 

KPMG says that the absolute level of contraband (2.4 million kg) is the same as it was in 2010. The percentage is slightly higher in 2015 than it was in 2010 because overall tobacco use has gone down. And even the estimated percentage declined from 2014 to 2015 despite several major tobacco tax increases. (Source: KPMG “Illicit Tobacco in Australia: 2015 Full Year Report”, April 2016, p.6).

https://home.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2016/04/australia-illict-tobacco-2015.pdf

For a detailed response to the industry contraband claims in Australia, and for a detailed outline of the flawed nature of the KPMG report in terms of the overall estimate of illicit trade, see:

Cancer Council Victoria, “Questions and answers on plain packaging in Australia. Facts sheet no. 3:  What has happened to use of illicit tobacco since the introduction of legislation to standardise the packaging of tobacco products in Australia?” Updated May 2016.

https://www.cancervic.org.au/downloads/plainfacts/Facts_sheets/Facts_Sheet_no_3_Illicit_tobacco31May2016.pdf

– via [email protected]