November 18th, 2009.

Faced with strong opposition to the draconian measures contained in the Tobacco Control Bill, Government yesterday relaxed some of the prohibitions and rolled back some of the harsher penalties.

Health Minister Jerry Narace in winding up in debate in the Senate yesterday said he was backing down with regret and that it bothered him to have to concede on some of the points.

He said the domestic worker was being put at risk as the children in the homes, in conceding that home could not be defined as a workplace, except where it is used for the purpose of ’manufacture, distribution and trade’ of tobacco products.

He said the amendments came in the interest of getting the legislation passed.

Government also removed the ban on sale of single cigarettes which would be affected small vendors and the low income smoker.

It also slashed the penalties-for a number of offences-prohibition on sales by minors, on public displays of tobacco products and on the sales of tobacco products in certain places.

The penalty for these offences, on summary conviction, was reduced from a fine of $100,000 to $50,000 for the first offence; from $200,000 to $100,000 for the second offence and $300,000 to $100,000 and imprisonment for nine months for the third offence.

Upon conviction on indictment (in the High Court), the fine has been reduced from $500,000 and $200,000 and imprisonment of one year.

However, Government proceeded with the legislation and its basic offences despite the complaints of Independent Senators.

Attorney General John Jeremie in defending the legislation, said there were ’very powerful interests at work’ in the tobacco industry.

Referring to this lobby as the ’tobacco complex’, he said years before the Tobacco Amendment bill came to Parliament, there were interest groups preparing to oppose it.

’This complex is as powerful as the complex which drives the war machines in certain parts of the world,’ he said, adding that he was not saying this lightly.

Jeremie, who taught at the University of the West Indies, said one of his students ended up in a tobacco company.

’And her primary purpose-and this was a directive given to her by her superiors-was to monitor and track what was going on in terms of domestic legislative activity ... and she wanted to know what was going on in terms of anti-tobacco legislation,’ he said, adding that she knew he was Attorney General.

Independent Senator Gail Merhair noted that while the consent age for sex was 16, the age for smoking was 18.

’Is Government saying it is okay to have consensual sex, but not to smoke?’ she asked.

Merhair, who noted that her office is situated next to a Montessori school and behind the El Socorro taxi stand, wanted to know how the clause which forbids smoking within 15 metres of a school would be enforced.

Noting that many times persons waiting for a taxi smoked right in front of her driveway, she asked whether she would be liable as defined in Clause 12 (3) which states that the manager or owner or lessess of the place where the contravention takes place who ’authorised or acquiesced in the act’, was personally liable. She also stated that she was against imprisonment as a penalty.

Her colleague Basharat Ali, noting the ban on self-service displays and on public displays, said whereas condoms were at one time the ’under the counter item’, this would now be tobacco products.

He said Government should not deprive old people in homes of the right to smoke ’in the last years’.

’Are you trying to save their lives?’ he asked.

He added that the same relaxation of any ban should apply to Death Row prisoners as is done in other jurisdictions.

Members of the Senate were up to press time still in committee stage trying to have the bill passed.


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