[Intl-tobacco] Canada: Pictures on packs work: study / Cigarette companies, government set to do battle in court over warnings and ad restrictions]

[Robert Weissman]

Pictures on packs work: study / Cigarette companies, government set
to do battle in court over warnings and ad restrictions

by WILLIAM MARSDEN / Montreal Gazette
Source: Montreal Gazette (ca), 2002-01-10

On the eve of Monday's
crucial court battle over tobacco advertising, the Canadian Cancer
Society has published a study claiming graphic pictures of
tobacco-diseased body parts on cigarette packages are effective in
discouraging smoking.

"It's clear that the warnings work and one result will be improved
health for many Canadians," said Ken Kyle, director (public issues)
of the Canadian Cancer Society.

The study is the first one to examine the effect on smokers of the
16 photographs and graphics that the federal government has required
tobacco companies to print on the outside of cigarette packages on a
rotating cycle since 2000.

Increased Desire to Quit

Included in the photographs are disturbing pictures of a brain with
a blood clot, a cancerous lung tumor, a damaged heart and a diseased
mouth. Other photographs try to depict the dangers smoking poses to
unborn babies and family members. Inside the packages are tips on
quitting and detailed health information.

Ottawa's Tobacco Products Information Regulations require tobacco
companies to place the photographs on the top 50 per cent of the
front and back of cigarette packages.

According to the study, 44 per cent of smokers said the new warnings
increased their desire to quit, said Rob Cunningham, senior policy
analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society.

"These warnings are being noticed and they are having an impact on
smokers' attitudes and behaviors and this is very encouraging," he
said.

Canada's three major tobacco companies - Imperial Tobacco Ltd.,
Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdonald Corp. - think
otherwise. They say the warning has had no effect on the incidence
of smoking, which began dropping long before the new restrictions.

The companies jointly sued the federal government and the Canadian
Cancer Society in 1997, claiming the requirement to print the
photographs and accompanying warnings violates their constitutional
right to freedom of expression.

But the lawsuit does not stop there. The tobacco companies want the
courts to overturn all restrictions on advertising and the total ban
on sponsorship promotions. They say these restrictions basically
constitute a total ban on tobacco advertising, which is
unconstitutional.

They also want the court to quash requirements to regularly report
to the federal government sales figures, marketing strategies and
campaigns, and the toxic content of cigarettes and tobacco smoke, as
well as any additives put in tobacco.

Lawyer Simon Potter, who represents Imperial Tobacco in the suit,
said the companies "do not understand why the government feels it
needs to expropriate fully one half of the package."

long fight expected

He added that current advertising restrictions render the package
the last remaining vehicle for tobacco advertising and the
50-per-cent photo warning simply takes up too much space.

The case goes to court on Monday before Quebec Superior Court Judge
AndrČ Denis. The battle is expected to last well into next fall.

So far, discovery hearings have revealed a slew of documents about
the inner marketing strategies of tobacco companies, particularly
regarding teenagers and young adults.

A judge, however, has sealed these documents. But they may be
entered into the court record after the case begins, at which point
they will become public.

Of the 42 witnesses scheduled to testify, the tobacco companies are
calling just six. They include two psychologists: Adrien Wilkinson,
who claims expertise in teenage tobacco and drug use, and Roderick
Power, a retired professor of psychology at Macquarrie University,
Australia, a self-declared expert on the effects of tobacco
warnings. Both have experience testifying for the tobacco
industry.

Also on the tobacco side is Albert J. Liston, a former assistant
deputy minister at Health and Welfare Canada. He recently testified
for Imperial Tobacco in a small claims case in Toronto involving Joe
Battaglia, who claimed nicotine warnings on tobacco packages were
not sufficient. The judge didn't disagree but ruled against him
because he could not prove damages.

Warnings Being Watched

The tobacco industry's track record at fighting packaging
restrictions has so far been good. It successfully defeated the 1988
Tobacco Products Control Act's imposition of plain packaging, which
was invalidated by the Supreme Court in 1995.

But the federal government was undeterred. It turned defeat into
victory by passing a new law with even tighter controls that
required the photo health warnings.

Now Canada's photo warnings are being closely watched by other
countries.

-Brazil has passed a law imposing graphic warnings as of Jan. 31,
2002.

-The World Health Organization is studying the possibility of
picture-based warnings as a worldwide requirement through an
international treaty.

-Britain announced this week it is considering following the
Canadian example.

-And two U.S. congressmen, Republican James Hansen and Democrat
Marty Meehan, yesterday announced their intention to introduce a
bill requiring the same photo warnings on U.S. cigarette packages.

So as the Canadian example gathers followers around the world, the
federal government finds itself digging in, building its legal
defences against a determined attack by three of the biggest
multinationals in the world.

Tobacco company officials did not return phone calls for this
article.