| US: Court Voids $145 Billion Judgment in Tobacco Case by Jeremy W. Peters, The New York Times July 6th, 2006 The Florida Supreme Court upheld today a decision that threw out a $145 billion judgment against the nation's largest tobacco companies. |
| AUSTRALIA: Government Invests in Philip Morris NEWS.com.au June 26th, 2006 The government of New South Wales has made a large investment in the Altria Group, which owns Philip Morris. Critics say the government can't preach health and invest in tobacco simultaneously. |
| WORLD: WHO charges major tobacco firms for misleading public Vietnam News Service June 1st, 2006 The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday accused the tobacco industry of continuing to use misleading labeling such as light, clean, fresh, cool or mild in order to lure millions of people, many of them children, to take up the deadly habit of smoking. |
| AUSTRALIA: Judge Reopens Investigation of BAT by Elizabeth Sexton, The Age May 31st, 2006 A Sydney judge has reopened the legal assault on the tobacco industry with a preliminary finding that British American Tobacco's controversial document retention policy was intended to conceal the destruction of legally potent records. |
| US: Why Big Tobacco Loves Globalization by Andrew Leonard, Salon.com May 24th, 2006 Tobacco consumption in the developed world is flat or declining, but it is booming worldwide, boosted by the removal of tariffs and other restrictions on trade that have been an integral part of globalization. But, tobacco, as its critics like to point out, is not like most other products – it's "the only legal consumer product that kills half of its regular users." So, naturally, governments are wont to regulate it. |
| US: State sues tobacco company that 'cheated' Florida out of $17 million
by Missy Stoddard, South Florida Sun-Sentinel May 17th, 2006 One of the country's largest tobacco companies has cheated the state of Florida out of $17 million, according to Attorney General Charlie Crist, and on Wednesday the state filed a lawsuit seeking to get what it's owed. |
| GERMANY: EU to take Germany to court over tobacco ads Reuters April 12th, 2006 Germany could face legal action for failing to implement a ban on advertising tobacco, a European Commissioner was quoted on Wednesday as saying. |
| UK: Tobacco firms beat ban with 'smoking shelters' by Glen Owen and Sarah Hills, The Mail (UK) April 9th, 2006 Tobacco companies are planning to evade next year's smoking ban by giving thousands of pounds to pubs to spend on their outside spaces - so customers can continue to enjoy a cigarette with their drink. |
| US: For Tobacco, Stealth Marketing Is the Norm by Julie Bosman, New York Times March 10th, 2006 Tobacco companies, which are able to vastly outspend antitobacco groups, may still be winning the marketing wars. While tobacco companies have abandoned most conventional advertising, they are using other means to get their point across. Antismoking groups, on the other hand, are now struggling to find the money to maintain even a small-scale campaign. |
| US: Tobacco Firms' Suit Rejected Reuters February 22nd, 2006 The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a free-speech challenge by two tobacco companies over California's anti-smoking ads. |
| US: Exposed: the secret corporate funding behind health research by George Monbiot, The Guardian February 7th, 2006 Three weeks ago, while looking for something else, I came across one of the most extraordinary documents I have ever read. It relates to an organisation called Arise (Associates for Research into the Science of Enjoyment). Though largely forgotten today, in the 1990s it was one of the world's most influential public-health groups. |
| AUSTRALIA: Big tobacco's filter ploy to beat bans by Clara Pirani, The Australian January 28th, 2006 British American Tobacco encouraged hotels to install ventilation air filtration systems, despite knowing they were ineffective at removing tobacco smoke. |
| GERMANY: Tobacco giant sponsors work on DNA repair Nature.com January 25th, 2006 |
| US: Marlboro Smokers' Group Names Philip Morris in Suit
by Melanie Warner, The New York Times January 20th, 2006 A group of long-term Marlboro smokers filed an unusual lawsuit yesterday against Philip Morris USA, seeking to require the company to pay for medical tests to detect early-stage lung cancer. |
| LATIN AMERICA: Big Tobacco Fights Back by Diego Cevallos, Inter Press Service January 12th, 2006 According to the non-governmental Corporate Accountability International, based in the northeastern U.S. city of Boston, the tobacco industry is interfering in public health policy in several Latin American countries, and is attempting to block the regulations implemented in compliance with the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). |
| WORLD: Tobacco Companies Keep Profiting Despite Regulation by Thomas Mulier and Chris Burritt, Bloomberg News January 2nd, 2006 Shares of the three biggest companies - Altria Group, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco - are surging to record levels. |
| US: California Supreme Court overturns $14.8 million tobacco fine by David Kravets, Associated Press December 22nd, 2005 The California Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a $14.8 million fine the state imposed on R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for illegally doling out free cigarettes at a beerfest, a biker rally and other public events. |
| CANADA: Bank of Canada Governor Dodge Testifies at JTI Tobacco Hearing Bloomberg December 20th, 2005 JTI-Macdonald Corp., a unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., and other defendants are accused of exporting cigarettes to the U.S. in the 1990s knowing they would be smuggled back into Canada for sale on the black market. |
| CHINA: Brand-name fix looms for tobacco firms in SAR first by Mimi Lau, The Standard (Hong Kong) December 20th, 2005 Hong Kong may become the first jurisdiction in the world to force tobacco manufacturers to change the names of their brands, a government official has told legislators. |
| UGANDA: Ban Tobacco Adverts, Says Health Ministry by Carol Natukunda, New Vision December 19th, 2005 The health ministry of Uganda is exploring a ban on adverts and sponsorship by the tobacco industry. |