End of Canada's Tobacco Production Welcomed

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Mar 28, 2008 03/31/2008

The demise of Ontario tobacco farming is good news because it eliminates a shield used by cigarette manufacturers to stall government action, according to anti-tobacco activists quoted by John Miner of Sun Media. Every time the industry was threatened it trotted out tobacco farmers to fight back, Garfield Mahood, executive director of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association, said during a presentation to The London Free Press editorial board. "Tobacco farmers were used for years as pawns," he added. Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst and lawyer for the Canadian Cancer Society, said Ontario farmers weren't competitive compared to farmers in developing countries because of higher labor costs and the cold Canadian climate. If it hadn't been for the cigarette manufacturers propping up Ontario farmers by buying tobacco at above world prices, the industry would have disappeared long ago, Cunningham said. Enditem