Tobacco and Public Health - TCSC Indonesia

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF LEGISLATION TO CONTROL THE TOBACCO EPIDEMIC
8. promotion of viable economic alternatives to tobacco production, trade, and
taxation
9. establishment of a national focal point to stimulate, support, and coordinate all
tobacco control activities (World Health Organization 1997).
In the wake of these initiatives by WHO and actions by other international and
regional agencies, more Member States of WHO acted in the decade of the 1980s to
adopt legislation restricting advertising, requiring health warnings, curbing smoking in
public places and workplaces, and increasing public education on the risks of tobacco.
Moreover, instead of categorical laws limited to one or another aspect of tobacco
control, an increasing number of countries continued to adopt comprehensive laws
dealing with various aspects of tobacco control, notably Iceland (1984), Ireland (1986),
and Canada (1988) (Roemer 1993). By the end of the 1980s or early in the 1990s,
Australia, New Zealand, France, Sweden, and Thailand had enacted comprehensive
legislation (World Health Organization 1997). Here we give accounts of the experiences
of four countries—Canada, Thailand, Poland, and South Africa—in achieving
comprehensive tobacco control legislation. 1
The experience of Canada 2
The experience of Canada in achieving effective, comprehensive tobacco control
legislation is particularly significant because it shows the necessity for continued and
persistent political will in the face of strong industry opposition. As early as 1969,
a committee of the Canadian House of Commons called for comprehensive tobacco
control measures—a complete ban on advertising, strong health warnings, setting
maximum levels of tar and nicotine contents. But legislation was not passed until 1988.
The tobacco companies immediately challenged the legislation in the courts, contending
that the advertising ban was an unconstitutional restriction of freedom of
expression protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Quebec
trial court invalidated the legislation on the grounds urged by the industry. On appeal,
the Quebec Court of Appeal reversed the lower court’s decision and upheld the legislation.
In September 1995, however, the Supreme Court of Canada, by a vote of 5 to 4, struck
down the ban on advertising, indicating that it would uphold a partial ban on lifestyle
1 These accounts are based on case studies appended to a report submitted to the World Health
Organization entitled Strengthening Enactment, Enforcement, and Evaluation of Tobacco Control
Legislation by Ruth Roemer and Barbara Berman, April 2002. The contents of this report are incorporated
in the excellent book by D. Douglas Blanke, Tobacco Control Legislation, An Introductory
Guide: Tools for Advancing Tobacco Control in the 21st Century (2003).
2 Based on Rob Cunningham, Smoke and Mirrors: The Canadian Tobacco War.Ottawa: International
Development Research Centre, 1996.