UICC GLOBALink Presents...
The Tobacco Reference Guide
by David Moyer, MD.


Chapter 27 International

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International: India and Bangladesh

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In Sri Lanka, smoking rates are high for males but very low in females. The national

tobacco monopoly, Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC), is a subsidiary of British

American Tobacco (BAT), and markets Bristol, the "popular" brand, and John Player

Gold Leaf, the "premium" brand. The company has been aggressively marketing their

Benson and Hedges brand in discos with free samples, and publishes "Golden Tone

News", a weekly pop music supplement. CTC sponsors many popular sporting

events, and by report has hired young women to drive around in "Gold Leaf" cars to

give out free cigarette samples and promotional items in places such as school

campuses and shopping malls. As in India, chewed betel and tobacco is widely used

by both men and women.

Reported by Garrett Mehl, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, December 1997

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In 1993, BAT's subsidiary, the Ceylon Tobacco Company, organized a news

conference to dispute the alleged health effects of smoking. A report of the session in

The Island newspaper was headlined "Anti-smoking campaign comes under heavy

fire" and "Consultants rule out lung cancer, heart disease." Here are excerpts from the

article: An international team of consultants hosted by Ceylon Tobacco Company last

week insisted that smoking could not be linked to lung cancer and heart disease. They

accused the mass media of being biased against smoking... Dr. Sharon Boyse, head

of the Smoking Issues Department of the British American Tobacco Corporation in

the United Kingdom, Said there is "absolutely" no laboratory proof that smoking is

directly related to lung cancer or heart disease. Lung cancer, she Pointed out, could

be caused by various other factors also - keeping pet birds and ethnic factors for

instance.... The issue of passive smoking was dealt with by Philip Witorsch of the

George Washington University Medical Center. According to him, passive smoking or

inhaling what he calls "Environmental Tobacco Smoke" is not hazardous to one's

health...

Quote from Smoke and Mirrors, p. 215

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Monday, July 24, 2000 Page 64 of 116

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Copyright (©) 2000 - David Moyer - published on UICC GLOBALink