EDITORIAL - This drag must end

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We have the bucks, the guns, the lawyers and the judges too!

That line is from a mob movie. Well, not those exact words of course, but that’s how the mafia operates. Covers all bases.  Don’t leave things to chance.  But there are mobs and mobs, high profile corporate entities included.  
They are not that crass.  They don’t carry pistols and don’t chew on the end of a cigar, but all things considered, they follow the same principles.  Cover all bases.  Don’t leave things to chance.
We have editorially pointed out before this that the tobacco industry would not leave any stone unturned to turn back moves to make mandatory pictorial warnings of the adverse impact of smoking.  They are turning stones.




We are referring to two Fundamental Rights Petitions. One by the Ceylon Tobacco Company and the other by Trade Association of Cigarette Distributors.  The thrust of the petition is a whine.  Both ‘aggrieved’ parties are pleading ‘great difficulty if the gazette issued by the Minister of Health on May 27, 2014 where mandatory pictorial health warnings of size 60% will come into effect on July 1. The two petitions will be taken up shortly.  The distributors point to massive loss of revenue since they would not be allowed to sell stocks already in possession and which do not carry the warning.  
A third grader would know that there are dozens of ways to get around this ‘problem’, especially in a country where cigarettes are sold by the pack as well as sticks.
Moreover, if this is ‘grievance’ that has to be alleviated, then there is grievance on the other side too, merchandise being sold to unwitting consumers who would upon consumption and addiction (tobacco products are not additive-free!) have a high risk of being struck down by cancer and other diseases. Even if one were to purchase the loss of profit fairytale spun by the distributors on behalf of their masters, the distributors, upon suffering loss, would still be healthy. They would be alive.  Not so the consumer.































There has been enough dragging on this ‘cigarette’, if you will. There are bucks flying in all directions, that’s clear.  No shots are being fired, but that’s hardly a drawback for the tobacco industry.  Clearly, the tobacco industry has shown it has what it takes to outgun the Ministry of Health and the consumer.  It’s up to the courts now.
Let us not be presumptuous to play counsel for the consumer and judge.  Let us instead draw the attention of our readers to something pertinent.  This happened last Friday. A court in Thailand has given the go-ahead to a new regulation requiring packs of cigarettes to be 85 per cent covered with graphic health warnings.
Currently, warnings illustrating the dangers of smoking must cover 55 percent of each pack of cigarettes sold in Thailand. Last year, the Health Ministry issued a regulation increasing the level of coverage to 85 percent. Tobacco giant Philip Morris and more than 1,400 Thai retailers sued and a court temporarily suspended the order.  On Friday, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the regulation could take effect.
Bucks, ‘guns’, lawyers and such have sway.  They can be stopped, though.  Integrity, courage and unwavering commitment to ensuring justice might have had something to do with it.  That’s something to think about.