BBC forced to axe Casualty storyline due to Welsh anti-smoking laws

The BBC was forced to axe a storyline in Casualty about the dangers of smoking because of Wales's stringent anti-smoking laws.
BBC1's long-running hospital drama was planning a storyline in which a smoker inadvertently caused a fire in a hotel.
But Welsh law bans smoking in enclosed public places and in the workplace, which includes – unlike England – actors lighting up on set.

Mexico’s Tobacco Growers Used as Lobbyists

On October, in chaotic Mexico City, a small army of protestors, sporting placards and shouting into bullhorns, worsened the usual traffic snarl around San Lazaro, the nation’s congressional office complex. Television news accounts showed screaming-mad tobacco farmers, some of whom had boarded buses and traveled 500 miles to warn federal legislators that new taxes on Winston cigarettes would put them out of business.
Inside, lawmakers were in a tug-of-war over a landmark excise tax law that eventually added about 50 cents to a pack of cigarettes and—anti-tobacco activists hoped—would make tobacco less attractive to consumers.
It was not the first time these farmers had traveled far to protest in Mexico. Like tobacco growers around the world, Mexican campesinos—farmers and farmworkers—for years have been deployed to send a message to the public and politicians: Jobs are at stake in the effort by public health advocates to eliminate tobacco ads and limit smoking.
As the global fight over smokers moves from the United States and other countries where tobacco consumption is on the decline, Big Tobacco has drawn a line around developing nations that account for an increasingly important share of their revenues.

This week our government committed itself to the removal, albeit slowly, of cigarette displays in shops. But plain packaging on cigarettes has been delayed for further consultation.

The Unite union is unimpressed. It represents 6,000 people in tobacco production and distribution, and put out a statement: “Switching to plain packaging will make it easier to sell illicit and unregulated products, especially to young people.” This, the union added, “may increase long-term health problems”.

Keep Cigarettes Prices Lower

In our world, everyone wishes to indulge in pleasurable activities, but only few have the luxury to give high class pleasure in the form royal cigs. Purchasing cheap cigarettes and good for nothing smoking accessories will not help smokers to derive true smoking pleasure. At the same time, indulgence in luxurious smoking accessories is not possible when the prices are always high.

People Worldwide Consume Tobacco Products

A new Lancet research reveals that there are more smokers worldwide than previously thought and that the global tobacco burden may have been underestimated. In the light of these revelations, does India need tighten its anti-tobacco campaign?
The new study showed that over half the world's population consumes discount cigarettes. That's approximately 852 million people worldwide according to the new estimates. 661 million worldwide smoke and 247 million are smokeless tobacco users, 206 million in India alone. China has maximum consumers at an estimated 301 million. India comes next, with 275 million tobacco users.
President, PHFI, Dr Srinath Reddy declared, “The new study shows that given the fact that tobacco is going to be centuries number one killer and is still biggest publicly threats, not only do we need strong laws, they need to be effectively implemented and India is an important area in which tobacco control needs to be strict even more.”
Dr Nevin Wilson, The Union sad, “One in 10 deaths globally is because of tobacco use and the imperative policy makers to invest in tobacco control.”