Dear Editor,

Today is World No Tobacco Day, and I write this letter with the hope that my concerns will be taken seriously and that the authorities will find time to do something special this year.

For months now, I have watched with interest the debate over tobacco control in anticipation of new legislation promised by the Government to ban and severely restrict tobacco advertising, promotion, distribution and marketing of all cigarette products. My research suggests that, under Article 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the legislation when enacted would also provide safeguards to the public’s health and protect our surroundings from secondary smoke.

Although this remains an issue of concern, it is not the focus of this letter today. The primary focus of this letter is the FCTC legislation which, in spite of the many promises from various administrations, has not yet been debated in the Parliament. Other legislations have been debated and passed, but were never in the prolonged gestation as the anti-tobacco legislation.

The Government of Jamaica, being one of the earliest signatories to the FCTC, should have already passed legislation to ban smoking in public spaces, prohibit the marketing of all cigarette products, and discourage the growing of tobacco. The stark reality is that the start of the necessary work remains out of sight.

Lest I am misunderstood, this letter is not calling for the legislation to punish anyone. In fact, the social corporate strategy of Carreras Limited, the largest tobacco marketing company here, deserves credit for the many things it has done to change people’s lives. In 2006, for example, the company changed its focus to education and training of young Jamaicans. It has been offering scholarships to enable students to pursue courses at universities as well as community and teachers’ colleges across Jamaica. Carreras alone provides more than $11billion per year in tax revenue to the Government.

Surely, any draconian-style legislation could impact the company’s ability to market its products and this could ultimately extend to the country’s tax revenue. So, while it would be good to pass the legislation to show that we are in compliance with the convention, the same legislation would cause the Government to lose tax revenue because it would have an impact on sales.

This, however, should not stall Government’s approach to the new legislation to safeguard the citizens who are themselves taxpayers.

Stacey Ann Campbell

Campbellshan98@hotmail.com