| USA: Oil Firms Fund 'Tobacco Terrorism' by John Creed, Anchorage Daily News November 7th, 2001 We interrupt our regularly scheduled sense of decency for the following heart-breaking news bulletin: A huge tobacco company is spreading disease across our state with help from Williams Alaska Petroleum and Tesoro Alaska. |
| USA: Negotiator In Global Tobacco Talks Quits by Marc Kaufman, Washington Post August 2nd, 2001 The top U.S. official working on an international treaty to reduce cigarette smoking worldwide has resigned at a time when the United States is embroiled in contentious negotiations with more than 150 countries on how to counter the rising global use of tobacco. |
| Korea: Seoul Backs Down on Proposed Cigarette Tariff by Renee Kim, Bloomberg News June 14th, 2001 South Korea backed down from plans to impose an immediate 40 percent tax on imported cigarettes, opting to introduce the tariff in 10 percent increments over four years, starting in July, to avoid potential trade conflicts. |
| USA: Jury Orders Philip Morris to Pay Record $3 Billion by Jessica Wohl and Brad Dorfman, Reuters June 7th, 2001 Shares in Philip Morris Cos. Inc. and other tobacco companies slipped on Thursday after a jury ordered the cigarette giant to pay a record $3 billion in damages to a smoker, but investors remained calm amid expectations the verdict will be overturned or reduced. |
| World: U.S. Under Fire Over Tobacco Treaty by Frances Williams, Financial Times May 7th, 2001 Negotiations on an international tobacco control treaty failed to make progress last week as anti-smoking groups accused Washington of siding with the tobacco industry in trying to water down the draft. |
| Switzerland: Activists Demand Tougher Tobacco Treaty by Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service May 2nd, 2001 Flaws plague the draft of an international anti-smoking treaty being discussed this week in talks sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO), charge civil society groups, particularly because proposed bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship have been watered down. |
| USA: Big Tobacco Busted Again by James Cruickshank and Fran Abrams, The Independent (U.K.) March 25th, 2001 Two of the world's biggest tobacco manufacturers knowingly sold cigarettes worth billions of pounds to Latin American drug barons and to a smuggling ring based in Britain, according to documents seen by the Independent on Sunday. |
| USA: Bush Cabinet Ties to Tobacco Lobby by Marc Kaufman, Washington Post January 21st, 2001 Thompson, Ashcroft and Norton are among a number of figures in the Bush administration who have been relatively helpful to the tobacco industry and who could take positions that would signal a marked change in the federal government's approach to cigarette makers. |
| World: WHO Denounces Interference by Tobacco Industry by Gustavo Capdevila, Inter Press Service January 16th, 2001 The tobacco industry exerted pressure in Switzerland throughout recent decades to prevent the approval of stricter measures against smoking, says a study sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO). |
| USA: Ten Worst Corporations of 2000 by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, Focus on the Corporation January 3rd, 2001 Here is the annual Top 10 Worst Corporations of 2000 list compiled by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman. This year, rushing to the head of the pack of irresponsible biotech companies was the French corporation Aventis, the maker of Cry9C corn, sold under the name StarLink. |
| USA: Europeans Sue Big Tobacco by Suzanne Daley, New York Times November 7th, 2000 The European Commission said today that it had filed a civil lawsuit in the United States against the Philip Morris Company and the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company seeking damages for what it called their involvement with organized crime in smuggling cigarettes into Europe. |
| Africa: WHO Enlists Politicians in Anti-Tobacco War by Judith Achieng, Inter Press Service October 25th, 2000 The World Health Organisation (WHO), is targeting African policy-makers, to counter the intensified marketing campaigns by tobacco multinationals in the continent. |
| World: WHO Starts Talks On Tobacco Treaty UN Wire October 18th, 2000 Government representatives began discussions Monday in Geneva on a proposed anti-tobacco treaty for preventing smoking-related deaths, which are predicted to reach 10 million annually by 2030. |
| USA: Anti-Tobacco Activists Add Video to Arsenal Before Framework Talks by Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service September 27th, 2000 Anti-tobacco activists have added a new weapon to their arsenal in advance of next month's negotiations in Geneva for a global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). |
| World: Cigarette Firms Tried to Foil WHO, Say Investigators by Gordon Fairclough, Wall Street Journal August 1st, 2000 World Health Organization investigators say Philip Morris Co. and other multinational cigarette makers worked for years to discredit the agency and thwart its efforts to curb smoking around the globe. |
| USA: A Civics Lesson for Big Tobacco by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, Focus on the Corporation July 18th, 2000 The $145 billion punitive damage award against the tobacco industry in the Engle case in Florida should be celebrated as evidence of a civil justice system that works, proof of the value of juries and a major public health achievement. |
| USA: High Court Rules FDA Lacks Power Over Tobacco by James Vicini, Reuters March 21st, 2000 A closely divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lacks the power to regulate tobacco products, handing President Clinton a stinging setback in the effort to curb youth smoking. |
| USA: Big Tobacco Off the Ropes? by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, Focus on the Corporation February 23rd, 2000 Whether Big Tobacco succeeds will depend in significant part on whether tobacco control groups and their many new allies of various stripes refuse to succumb to Big Tobacco's combined intimidation and charm offensive. |
| India: A Doctor Takes on Big Tobacco by Frederick Noronha, Third World Features May 1st, 1999 India (and South East Asia) are a huge market for tobacco. Cigarette companies are also targetting youth between 15-25. Two countries where tobacco sales are expected to zoom up are India and Indonesia. |
| USA: Cigarette Companies Target Ethnic Groups to Expand Markets, Activists Complain by Annie Nakao, San Francisco Examiner May 18th, 1997 Asian community leaders -- mindful of ''World No Tobacco Day'' on May 31 -- say their battle to reduce high smoking rates among Asian Americans is making inroads but can't succeed as long as cigarette advertisers keep targeting their neighborhoods. |