Friday, September 2, 2011

Smokers up in flames over graphic anti-smoking commercials paid with tax dollars

Smokers up in flames over graphic anti-smoking commercials paid with tax dollars:

"They are using our money for speech against us," said Audrey Silk, founder of the Brooklyn-based group Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment.
The city Health Department spends nearly $8 million a year on anti-tobacco campaigns, and its ads have been used in dozens of other states and countries, including AlbaniaChinaIndiaPolandRussia and Australia.

 Audrey Silk never really says anything about smoking and freedom that I disagree with.

Indonesia Lost Bulk of WTO Discrimination Case on U.S. Clove-Cigarette Ban

Indonesia Lost Bulk of WTO Discrimination Case on U.S. Clove-Cigarette Ban - Bloomberg:

A U.S. ban on clove cigarettes that’s designed to prevent teenagers from starting to smoke is discriminatory, though Indonesia failed to prove that it is unnecessary, World Trade Organization judges said.
Indonesia argued that U.S. tobacco legislation, signed by PresidentBarack Obama in June 2009, breaks global trade rules because it outlaws cloves and not the mint used to make menthol cigarettes. Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of clove cigarettes, or kreteks, made by companies such as PT Gudang Garam, has exports valued at $500 million a year, a fifth of which go to the U.S.
Interesting reading.
Not sure what if anything happens next,because it isn't clear to me what such a half victory really means.