Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.06.2011, Blaðsíða 8

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8
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 8 — 2011
News | Smokin'
You know, even the smokers in our office ("smokers are jokers!") think
kids' access to cigarettes should be as limited as possible. Do you think
this proposal is 'a great idea'? Why/why not? letters@grapevine.is
Up In The Air
Imagine if cigarettes were sold ex-
clusively at pharmacies as a pre-
scription drug. If Alþingi approves
a proposal for a ten-year plan on
tobacco control, Iceland could be-
come the first country to take this
anti-tobacco measure.
Spearheading the proposal is Progres-
sive Party MP Siv Friðleifsdóttir, the
former Minister of Welfare who suc-
cessfully worked to ban smoking in res-
taurants and bars three years ago. “It
was very controversial when that step
was taken in 2007”, Siv recalls, “but to-
day people think it’s simply natural that
employees are not be subject to sec-
ond-hand smoke at their workplace”.
Now she is working with MPs from
every political party to protect young
adults, two of whom become addicted
to tobacco every day, according to the
proposal. Furthermore, half of the 700+
young adults who become addicted to
tobacco every year will die from a to-
bacco-related disease. This is 30 times
the number of traffic accident deaths.
“I want to emphasise that the pro-
posal’s objective is to protect kids
and young adults”, Siv says. “It’s not a
proposal against smokers—not at all—
those who smoke can continue to do
so, but they will have to go to pharma-
cies instead of general stores to buy
their tobacco. There are greater inter-
ests at stake”.
As many begin smoking before
they are considered capable of mak-
ing an informed decision, the idea is to
decrease access to and visibility of to-
bacco products to reduce the number
of new smokers and tobacco-related
deaths. Furthermore, it will benefit the
economy, which according to the pro-
posal takes a 27 billion ISK hit every
year due to smoking.
THE PROPOSED ANTI-TOBACCO
MEASURES
While Iceland was considered progres-
sive on the tobacco front in 2007, Siv
says little has been done since then,
and many countries have taken far more
revolutionary steps in the meantime. If
the proposal is approved, not only will
tobacco products be sold exclusively at
pharmacies as a prescription drug, but
Iceland will also adopt a number of an-
ti-tobacco measures that have already
been taken by other countries.
For instance, New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, who is a smoker
himself, banned smoking in public
parks, plazas, and beaches last month.
The proposal would have Iceland fol-
low suit and go even further by ban-
ning smoking on public sidewalks. This
would mean fines for the hordes of
smokers huddled up just outside bars
on weekend nights.
Similar to California legislation, the
proposal would also ban smoking in
cars when children under the age of
18 are present. Additionally, smoking in
the presence of pregnant women and
children would be banned altogether.
In addition to limiting tobacco con-
sumption, the proposal also focuses on
reducing visibility of tobacco products.
As Australia is slated to do in 2012, the
proposal would like all tobacco prod-
ucts to be packaged in nondescript
brown paper with a health-warning la-
bel.
Citing study results showing that
smoking in films normalises the be-
haviour, the proposal would ban state
subsidies to films wherein smoking is
depicted. This part of the proposal has
been heavily criticised by filmmakers
who view the measure as censorship of
the arts. “It would be more intelligent to
spew smoke than this nonsense”, film
director Friðrik Þór Friðriksson (‘Angels
of the Universe’, ‘Children of Nature’)
told Fréttablaðið. “’Angels of the Uni-
verse’ would not have been the same
if smoking had not been allowed in
the film”. Whether or not banning state
subsidies to films amounts to censor-
ship will likely be debated in parliament
when the time comes to approve the
proposal.
In terms of changing economic in-
centives to smoke, the proposal would
like the price of tobacco to increase by
10% every year, which according to the
World Health Organisation (WHO) will
result in a 4–8% decrease in consump-
tion. However, when cigarettes are fi-
nally sold exclusively at pharmacies,
the price will be lowered to near cost
value.
Lastly, the proposal would like to
increase anti-tobacco education. Given
that most young people start smoking
between 16–20 years old, special em-
phasis will be on educating this group.
This will include working with schools
and launching traditional and social
media initiatives.
While Siv says that people have crit-
icised the proposal, suggesting that it
simply focus on education, she believes
that education alone is not enough.
SHOULD SMOKERS FLEE THE
COUNTRY NOW?
By no means will cigarettes disappear
from stores tomorrow, nor will authori-
ties begin fining hordes of smokers
huddled outside of bars next weekend.
Not only will these proposed measures
be implemented gradually over a ten-
year period, but also the proposal itself
has a few hoops to jump through before
anything happens at all.
When parliament reconvenes in Oc-
tober, Siv will reintroduce the proposal,
which will then be open for discus-
sion. If it is approved, likely with some
changes, it will then be sent to parlia-
ment’s standing Health Committee. The
Committee will then send it to a long
list of consultants and make changes
based on feedback. Finally, parliament
will send it to the Ministry of Welfare,
which will then work on implementing
it.
Nonetheless, Siv is optimistic that
they will take many of the proposed
measures. “It’s just a question of time”.
Though some of the ideas perhaps
seem radical, she notes that banning
smoking in airplanes, movie theatres,
restaurants and bars were also radical
ideas of the time.
Should smokers decide to flee the
country in any case, they should avoid
Finland, which has made it an official
policy to eliminate smoking altogether.

No more smoking in Smokey Bay?
ANNA ANDERSEN
ALíSA KALYANOVA
The Breakdown:
Societal Costs of Smoking
in billions
The proposal states that smokers
cost the economy roughly 30 billion
ISK per year. Here’s a breakdown of
that cost based on 2007 calculations
that were presented at an Icelandic
Physician’s Association conference
in 2009.
Direct Costs:
Direct Health Costs:
Time spent at hospital 5.750
Ambulance transportation 46
Medication 1.637
Nurse visits 46
Time spent at nursing home 2.020
Future health care savings 750

Other Direct Costs:
Property loss due to fire 47
Tobacco control 74

Indirect Costs:
Productivity Loss Due To:
Premature deaths 5.707
Disability 1.828
Second-hand smoke 647
Sick days 1.801
Smoking breaks 6.424

Intangible Costs:
Suffering and distress 9.392

State Revenue From Tobacco
Sales:
Taxes 350
Total markup 3.739
VAT (value added tax) 1.555

Net Societal Costs:
29.024 billion ISK
The largest single cost, 9.392 bil-
lion ISK, comes from ‘suffering and
distress’. Though we’re not sure how
this was calculated, some smokers
in the office think it should at least
be counterbalanced by the ‘hap-
piness and joy’ that also allegedly
results from smoking. What do you
think?
“Should smokers decide to f lee the country in any
case, they should avoid Finland, which has made it
an official policy to eliminate smoking altogether”