GRAIN BANKS REPLACING SOME TOBACCO CROPS
True fact: In the U.S cigarettes are $4. In New Zealand a packet is $15.
Phillip Morris tobacco company types are supposedly upset today at news that Australia’s govt. has won the right to alter BigTobacco’s branding at the point of sale. Eg: plain packaging for all cigarettes sales is on the cards.
Lobbyists (political ones in government) see it as a win as guardians of health for the constituents they serve.
Tobacco companies are livid and say they will spend mega-millions fighting the ruling.
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What do I think?
1. I think that BigPharma are the new BigTobacco companies. So, this case’s precedents are very interesting.
2. Rather than BigTobacco wasting the money on a legal scrap with branding freedom, why not just accept the move will reduce smoking numbers. Instead, cut back on growing tobacco and start growing grains.
3. A Phillip Morris Grain Bank would be quite novel, as well as growing tobacco – if Phillip Morris must. That way, the company saves it’s money yet addresses growing concerns with global warming’s heating effects increase in the world. How this impacts food growing capability is something BigTobacco growers’ suppliers should now be diverting crops capability into.
Or rather than ‘allegedly’ kill people with product sales, BigTobacco with a grain bank could do the opposite, keep people alive. It would certainly shut all of the critics up, save money and give BigTobacco a chance to make better money elsewhere.
~Posted by Horiwoodblog, Aotearoa New Zealand, Polynesia Asia-Pacific. 16.8.12~
