News Release

EVIDENCE OF LINKS BETWEEN TOBACCO, HOSPITALITY INDUSTRIES TO BLOCK SMOKE-FREE POLICIES IN ONTARIO NOW CLEAR: HEALTH AGENCIES

FINDINGS PARALLEL U.S. RESEARCH PUBLISHED TODAY

May 29, 2002

Through actions similar to those of their American counterparts, Canadian tobacco companies are supporting campaigns by the Hotel Association of Canada and the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association to promote ventilation as an alternative to smoke-free restrictions in hospitality sites, says a coalition of health charities.

The Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco's (OCAT) statement follows the publication today of research in Tobacco Control, a specialized journal of the British Medical Association, in which researchers describe donations and other support given by tobacco companies to the hospitality industry in the United States in order to prevent bars and restaurants from becoming smoke-free.

"It's also happening here in Ontario," said Michael Perley, OCAT Director. "Company documents and public statements show that the three Canadian tobacco companies fund a program through the Hotel Association of Canada called "Courtesy of Choice", designed to promote ventilation as an alternative to 100% smoke-free policies in hospitality establishments. The Hotel Association in turn has provided funding to the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association for promotion of results from a ventilation demonstration project at Scarborough's Black Dog pub," said Mr. Perley.

"The Black Dog initiative is frequently cited in communities across Ontario as a reason not to implement smoke-free by-laws," Perley continued. "Ventilation, however, is not a solution to second-hand smoke exposure. Continuing exposure clearly affects the long-term health of workers, who show significantly greater levels of cotinine, a key tobacco smoke by-product, than workers in smoke-free premises, according to research also published today in Tobacco Control. This is not the first time workers' health has been shown to be compromised by exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. This is the clearest evidence to date of the extent of the joint tobacco industry-hospitality campaign to block smoke-free policies in both the U.S. and Canada".

The documents published today in Tobacco Control are accessible at www.tobaccocontrol.com. Documents about the Canadian tobacco and hospitality industries are accessible at the website of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada at www.smoke-free.ca/documents/ventilation.htm.

For more:
Michael Perley,
(office) (416) 340-2992 or (cell) (416) 709-9075

Footnote:
In 1993, a Philip Morris analyst observed that:

'Financial impact of smoking bans will be tremendous. Three to five fewer cigarettes per day will reduce annual manufacturer profits a billion plus per year'.