By SEAN DOUGLAS Wednesday, October 21 2009

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Helen Drayton...

INDEPENDENT Senator Helen Drayton yesterday warned that “sin taxes” placed on tobacco could lead to the smuggling of contraband cigarettes becoming a key source of funding for criminal gangs, locally.

She gave her warning during debate on the Tobacco Control Bill 2009 in the Senate, saying she wanted children protected from tobacco, but had some other constitutional concerns. Noting that gangs in Canada had discovered contraband tobacco as a new source of revenue, she warned, “You are putting a weapon in the hands of criminal gangs.”

Drayton wondered why the Government was hiking the taxes on tobacco as a supposed deterrent to use, but at the same time anticipating increased revenues from this. She also observed that as the Government raises the price of tobacco, they are bringing its price closer to that of illicit drugs which might be substituted for the former.

Drayton said price-hikes are not a deterrent to an addict. What was a better strategy, she said, was counselling, education and rehabilitation programmes, although saying the Government has been poor at the latter.

She also feared such a Bill violated on citizens’ right to privacy in their homes. “I have problems with officers entering a home for what remains legal substance.”

Saying other bills like the recent Proceeds of Crime Act violate personal rights, she wondered if section 4 and 5 of the Constitution are still relevant. “We want tobacco control but not an invasion of privacy,” she said.

Drayton said that rather than a wholesale introduction of draconian legislation, other countries had gradually implemented it in a programme that included counselling and outreach programmes.

She urged a new amendment which would allow the bill to control tobacco smoking in private homes which are used as a private daycare or for tutoring.

Drayton opposed the bill’s clause to let police and customs officers to search a home without a warrant.

Health Minister Jerry Narace, earlier piloting the bill, said each year tobacco kills more people than AIDS, TB and malaria, combined. “In Trinidad and Tobago, smoking is an epidemic. In 2002, the cigarette habit was directly responsible for 30 percent of all male and 15 percent of all female medical deaths. These diseases were fully preventable,” he said. Saying most users had tried their first cigarette at age 14 to 16 years old, he said 29.8 percent of men and 5.1 percent of women in Trinidad smoke . “The lowest percentage was recorded in Tobago, 18.9 percent male and 2.2 percent female...Overall, most current smokers were found in the 35 to 44 age group, and most quitters were in the 65-plus age group.”

Narace said cigarette sales had been rising despite intermittent tax increases.

He noted some poor households use 10 percent of their total expenditure on tobacco, at the expense of food, education and healthcare. Narace said smoking burdens the health system, financially. He noted its effects on youngsters, saying a US study found that youngsters aged 12 to 17 years old who smoke are 14 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 100 times more likely to smoke marijuana and 32 times more likely to use cocaine, than their non-smoking peers.

Opposition Senator Dr Adesh Nanan said five clauses might be unconstitutional, as he warned against letting the bill later be struck down by the law-courts. He thought that some of the bill’s fines and penalties were excessive, given thefact that tobacco is not actually an illegal substance.