Bans on Advertising in Various Countries

an฀anti-tobacco฀law฀was฀passed฀almost฀unanimously฀in฀August฀1995;฀this฀prohibits฀the฀sale฀ of฀tobacco฀products฀to฀young฀people฀18฀as฀well฀as฀in฀schools,฀hospitals฀and฀at฀sporting฀ events,฀makes฀cigarette฀vending฀machines฀illegal,฀bans฀smoking฀in฀public฀places,฀except฀in฀ special฀designed฀areas,฀and฀at฀the฀workplace,฀and฀contains฀a฀general฀prohibition฀on฀adver- tising฀for฀tobacco฀products฀in฀public฀buildings,฀in฀the฀media฀and฀at฀health,฀cultural฀and฀ sporting฀events฀ [69] .฀Anyone฀found฀smoking฀in฀a฀hospital฀or฀a฀school฀can฀be฀ined฀up฀to฀ 1,250฀ [70] .฀Since฀1998,฀health฀warnings฀have฀been฀required฀to฀be฀placed฀on฀cigarette฀pack- ets฀and฀must฀cover฀30฀of฀the฀total฀area฀on฀each฀side฀ [71] . In฀Great฀Britain,฀a฀ban฀on฀tobacco฀advertising฀in฀the฀press฀and฀on฀hoardings฀came฀into฀ force฀ in฀ December฀ 1999.฀ This฀ prohibition฀ also฀ includes฀ shops฀ and฀ newspaper฀ kiosks.฀ Additionally,฀ all฀ sponsoring฀ by฀ the฀ tobacco฀ industry฀ is฀ banned฀ from฀ July฀ 2003฀ [72] .฀ Smokers฀ who฀ are฀ caught฀ dropping฀ a฀ cigarette฀ in฀ the฀ street฀ in฀ the฀ London฀ borough฀ of฀ Westminster฀are฀subject฀to฀on-the-spot฀ines฀in฀an฀amount฀equivalent฀to฀40฀ [73] .฀Moreover,฀ several฀British฀insurance฀companies฀offer฀a฀special฀discount฀for฀non-smoking฀drivers฀who฀ can฀give฀a฀declaration฀that฀they฀have฀not฀smoked฀for฀at฀least฀1฀year฀ [74] .฀The฀thinking฀ behind฀this฀is฀that฀the฀eyes฀of฀drivers฀who฀smoke฀water฀more;฀the฀drivers฀therefore฀blink฀ more฀often,฀which฀reduces฀their฀attention฀to฀the฀road฀ [74] .฀They฀also฀suffer฀from฀chronic฀ CO฀intoxication,฀with฀all฀its฀consequences฀cf.฀ Chap.฀6 .฀In฀Italy,฀a฀government฀decree฀ came฀into฀force฀in฀January฀1996฀that฀prohibits฀smoking฀in฀all฀public฀buildings,฀meaning฀in฀ this฀case฀ministries,฀local฀government฀ofices,฀post฀ofices,฀railway฀stations,฀etc.฀ [75] . At฀its฀recent฀meeting฀in฀Seville,฀the฀International฀Automobile฀Federation฀FIA฀adopted฀ a฀general฀ban฀on฀tobacco฀advertising,฀including฀a฀prohibition฀on฀sponsoring,฀with฀effect฀ from฀the฀end฀of฀2006฀ [76] .฀This฀decision฀is฀remarkable฀insofar฀as฀an฀FIA฀resolution฀of฀this฀ kind฀was฀considered฀unthinkable฀as฀recently฀as฀only฀a฀year฀ago,฀but฀has฀now฀been฀taken฀in฀ consultation฀with฀the฀WHO. A฀resolution฀to฀ban฀tobacco฀advertising฀had฀been฀adopted฀at฀EU฀level,฀but฀the฀gov- ernments฀of฀Germany฀and฀Austria฀have฀launched฀–฀on฀the฀instigation฀of฀the฀tobacco฀ industry฀–฀legal฀action฀against฀this฀at฀the฀European฀Court฀of฀Justice฀in฀Luxembourg.฀In฀ the฀meantime,฀this฀EU฀directive฀had฀been฀declared฀void฀by฀the฀Irish฀Attorney฀General,฀ N.฀Fennelly,฀on฀grounds฀that฀“the฀EU฀has฀quite฀simply฀no฀jurisdiction฀to฀issue฀a฀ban฀on฀ tobacco฀advertising.”฀Advertising฀spending฀worth฀200฀million฀and฀sponsoring฀worth฀ 100฀million฀was฀dependent฀on฀this฀decision฀ [77] .฀However,฀tobacco฀advertising฀bans฀ spread฀to฀a฀large฀number฀of฀countries฀meanwhile.฀In฀this฀respect,฀these฀advertising฀bans฀ parallel฀the฀increasing฀number฀of฀public฀smoking฀bans฀see฀Sect.฀ 14.7 .

14.9 Tobacco Industry: Playing Down the Risks of Smoking and Passive Smoking

At฀the฀start฀of฀each฀year,฀many฀people฀adopt฀a฀resolution฀to฀lead฀a฀healthier฀life฀and฀stop฀ smoking,฀ and฀ at฀ exactly฀ the฀ same฀ time,฀ the฀ tobacco฀ industry฀ intensiies฀ its฀ advertising฀ [78,฀79] .฀According฀to฀unoficial฀igures,฀worldwide฀spending฀on฀cigarette฀advertising฀in฀ 1987฀amounted฀to฀nearly฀1฀billion฀EURO.฀In฀Germany,฀tobacco฀advertising฀has฀for฀some฀ years฀involved฀slogans฀such฀as฀“I฀just฀enjoy฀smoking,”฀“The฀best฀thing฀about฀temptation฀is฀ giving฀in฀to฀it”฀or฀“Every฀cigarette฀you฀don’t฀consciously฀enjoy฀is฀one฀too฀many”฀ [80] .฀One฀ message฀of฀the฀cigarette฀industry฀that฀is฀especially฀dangerous฀is฀that฀people฀should฀“smoke฀ in฀moderation.”฀How฀is฀an฀alcohol฀addict,฀for฀instance,฀supposed฀to฀drink฀in฀moderation?฀ The฀nicotine฀in฀cigarettes฀leads฀many฀people฀to฀increase฀their฀intake,฀with฀all฀the฀hazards฀ associated฀with฀the฀combustion฀products.฀In฀this฀context,฀attention฀is฀once฀again฀drawn฀to฀ the฀conidential฀position฀paper฀issued฀by฀the฀tobacco฀industry,฀which฀has฀been฀mentioned฀ before฀ [15] . In฀light฀of฀the฀various฀legal฀actions฀against฀the฀tobacco฀industry,฀Philip฀Morris฀has฀now฀ adopted฀a฀new฀policy.฀The฀Department฀of฀Justice฀wishes฀to฀claim฀compensation฀for฀the฀ costs฀incurred฀annually฀by฀Medicare฀for฀the฀treatment฀of฀smoking-related฀disease.฀“For฀ over฀45฀years,฀the฀cigarette฀irms฀have฀been฀conducting฀their฀business฀with฀no฀regard฀for฀ the฀truth,฀the฀law,฀or฀the฀health฀of฀the฀American฀population,”฀as฀Janet฀Reno,฀the฀former฀US฀ Attorney฀ General,฀ put฀ it฀ [81] .฀ For฀ this฀ reason,฀ Philip฀ Morris฀ is฀ now฀ using฀ the฀ slogan:฀ “Smoking฀can฀make฀you฀ill”฀ [82] .฀The฀company’s฀advertising฀also฀adopts฀a฀similar฀vein:฀ “Don’t฀smoke฀our฀cigarettes”฀is฀one฀advertising฀message฀that฀has฀even฀been฀shown฀on฀US฀ television฀ [83] .฀The฀director฀of฀BAT,฀Martin฀Broughton,฀stated฀in฀March฀2002฀to฀The฀Times฀ newspaper:฀“I฀think฀smoking฀does฀involve฀health฀risks.”฀He฀himself฀does฀not฀smoke,฀he฀ said,฀apart฀from฀an฀occasional฀after฀dinner฀cigar,฀because฀he฀is฀afraid฀of฀the฀risk฀of฀illness฀ through฀smoking.฀He฀has฀also฀advised฀his฀two฀children฀against฀smoking฀cigarettes฀ [84] . A฀highly฀typical฀example฀for฀the฀obfuscation฀of฀scientiically฀substantiated฀facts฀is฀the฀ activities฀of฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀concerning฀the฀harmfulness฀of฀environmental฀tobacco฀ smoke฀ETS฀ [85] .฀In฀this฀case,฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀has฀got฀together฀a฀network฀of฀scien- tists฀who฀claim฀that฀ETS฀has฀not฀been฀proved฀to฀cause฀damage฀to฀health.฀The฀tobacco฀ industry฀has฀set฀up฀ostensibly฀independent฀research฀institutes฀which฀concern฀themselves฀ with฀the฀ETS฀problem.฀Examples฀of฀such฀institutes฀are฀the฀“Project฀Viking,”฀the฀Tobacco฀ Action฀Committee฀TAC,฀the฀“Whitecoat,”฀the฀Centre฀for฀Indoor฀Air฀Research฀CIAR,฀ the฀Occupational฀Health฀and฀Safety฀Association฀OHSA฀etc.฀Between฀1965฀and฀1993฀ alone,฀these฀and฀various฀other฀bodies฀organised฀11฀symposia฀on฀ETS,฀of฀which฀six฀were฀ overtly฀funded฀by฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀ [86] .

14.10 Smoking and Non-smoking: Weighing the Benefits

One฀claim฀that฀smokers฀and฀sympathisers฀of฀the฀tobacco฀industry฀have฀been฀making฀for฀ decades฀is฀that฀smokers฀are฀the฀cheapest฀citizens฀because฀they฀die฀younger,฀tend฀to฀contract฀ illnesses฀that฀quickly฀lead฀to฀death,฀and฀therefore฀cost฀less฀in฀the฀way฀of฀pension฀payments.฀ This฀often฀used฀argument฀is฀untrue฀and฀needs฀refuting฀ [87] .฀As฀long฀ago฀as฀1999,฀the฀World฀ Bank฀showed฀that฀while฀the฀life฀of฀a฀smoker฀is฀shorter,฀it฀is฀also฀more฀expensive฀than฀that฀ of฀a฀non-smoker฀if฀the฀costs฀of฀health฀care฀and฀the฀loss฀of฀working฀days฀are฀also฀taken฀into฀ account฀ [88] . According฀to฀the฀calculations฀of฀a฀group฀working฀in฀Heidelberg,฀the฀costs฀for฀reproduc- tion฀and฀loss฀of฀resources฀caused฀by฀smoking฀are฀signiicantly฀higher฀than฀those฀caused฀by฀ alcohol,฀obesity฀and฀even฀road฀trafic฀Table฀ 14.3 ฀ [87] .฀On฀conservative฀estimates,฀the฀ costs฀ to฀ the฀ economy฀ caused฀ by฀ smokers฀ amount฀ to฀ 40฀ billion฀ 11.75฀ through฀ work฀