CANADA PLANS OFFENSIVE ON TOBACCO USE.Byline: David Crary Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The government launched a broad anti-smoking offensive Thursday that would raise cigarette taxes sharply, ban most types of tobacco ads and restrict tobacco company sponsorships of cultural and sports events. Under the legislation, which will go to Parliament next week, all outdoor advertising for tobacco would be banned, as would radio and TV ads. Only ads in publications aimed primarily at adults would be allowed. Tobacco companies still would be allowed to sponsor cultural and sporting events, thanks in part to vigorous lobbying by arts groups that feared disaster for a variety of film and music festivals. But manufacturers no longer could use their logos to promote the events, except on a limited space at the bottom edge of banners displayed at the actual venue. Effective today, cigarette taxes will rise by $1.04 a carton in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick New Brunswick, province, Canada New Brunswick, province (2001 pop. 729,498), 28,345 sq mi (73,433 sq km), including 519 sq mi (1,345 sq km) of water surface, E Canada. and Nova Scotia Nova Scotia (nō`və skō`shə) [Lat.,=new Scotland], province (2001 pop. 908,007), 21,425 sq mi (55,491 sq km), E Canada. Geography . Ontario and Quebec are the two most populous provinces, with more than half of Canada's population. A federal tax hike of about 52 cents a carton is being matched by the four provinces. The result will be a roughly 7 percent increase; a carton now costs between $14 and $15. The government is not raising taxes in the other six provinces because they didn't cut their taxes in 1994 along with the others in a federally backed move to combat smuggling smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been adopted as an instrument of national policy, as by Great Britain of low-price cigarettes from the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Officials say smuggling has subsided. The advertising restrictions were drafted by Health Minister David Dingwall David Charles Dingwall, PC , B.Comm , LL.B (born June 29 1952) is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and civil servant. A lawyer by training, Dingwall was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1980 Canadian federal election as the Liberal Member of Parliament in response to a Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down a total ban on tobacco ads. ``You can't stop companies from advertising their products,'' Dingwall said. ``You can put restrictions on them.'' Many of the measures in Dingwall's package are aimed at reducing smoking by young people. Tobacco company logos would not be allowed on youth-oriented merchandise, cigarette vending machines vending machine, coin-operated, automatic device for selling goods. Many vending machines are capable of making change, and some of the more sophisticated ones accept paper money or credit cards. would be banned, and cigarette stores would be required to demand photo identification to reduce illegal purchases by people under 18. ``Our priority in developing the strategy has been young people,'' Dingwall said at a news conference. ``They are the most tragic casualties of tobacco use and addiction.'' Dingwall said about 7 million of Canada's 30 million people smoke. Smoking is blamed for about 40,000 deaths nationwide each year. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion