A tiny illustration of what the tobacco industry is like

Click on this link.  It’s a tiny illustration of what the tobacco industry is like.  It ought to be placed on the health curriculum of every school.

Professor Stephen Leeder once wrote that public health is a “contest of raw political power” (S.R. Leeder, “Ethics in public health” Internal Medicine Journal 2004; 34:435-439).  Basically, it’s WAR!  He’s right.

(And if you ever doubted it, read this).

The document I’m referring to was written by the owner and manager of E. M. Bowman & Co, Flinders Island’s longest established general store.  It is a submission to a Parliamentary Committee of the Legislative Council of the Tasmanian Parliament, which is holding hearings into the Public Health Amendment (Tobacco-Free Generation) Bill 2014.

Tasmania’s smoking rate is second-only to the Northern Territory, with daily smoking prevalence of 20.6% in 2011-2012.  The Tobacco-Free Generation Bill proposes an endgame scenario for tobacco in the state.

The Bill proposes to amend Tasmania’s Public Health Act 1997 (Tas) by creating an offence for selling tobacco at retail, in Tasmania, to a member of the “tobacco-free generation” (s. 67J).  The Bill defines a “member of the tobacco-free generation” as a person born after 1 January 2000.  The Bill does not have the support of the Tasmanian government.

The Bill would not prohibit smoking by those born after 1 January 2000.  However, as time went on, the impact of the legislation would be that:

• adults who were older than the current year (eg older than 21 years during the year 2021) would, by virtue of being born before the year 2000, be able to continue to purchase tobacco during their lives;
• On the other hand, adults of the tobacco-free generation, who would be the same age, or younger than the current year (eg aged 21 in 2021) would never be entitled to purchase tobacco lawfully in Tasmania.

You can read all the submissions about the Bill here.  This post does not focus on the merits of the Bill.

In her submission, Ms Lois Ireland, owner and manager of E M Bowman and Co, writes how she was contacted by Imperial Tobaco, which attempted to co-opt her into lobbying the Legislative Council against the Bill.

Ms Ireland writes:

“I made a conscious decision to stop gaining a profit from sales of a product that I knew to be highly addictive and that was causing long term health issues with those who I knew personally as members of my community.  I knew they would go elsewhere to purchase their cigarettes but I did not wish to be further implicated in their poor health choices.  As a result I fully endorse any moves that make it more difficult for young people to take up/continue smoking, despite any effects such measures may have on businesses”.

Ms Ireland’s submission to the Parliamentary Committee illustrates two important lessons.

First, it is one, tiny, local example of a global phenomenon: the relentless efforts of tobacco companies to undermine, weaken and resist tobacco control laws and policies, and to identify proxy lobbyists to assist them in doing so.

Secondly, it illustrates a singular act of courage by a retailer whose revenues would have been reduced by the value of the tobacco she chose not to sell.  But she did it anyway.

If you ever visit Flinders Island, make a point of stopping in to E M Bowman & Co.