Cuba's smoking ban comes into law

[struggle4progress]

By Stephen Gibbs
BBC News, Havana

Cuba - the home of the fine cigar - has brought in tough new regulations on tobacco smoking in public places.

It is now banned in most work places, cigarette machines are being removed and it will be illegal to sell tobacco products close to schools.

Almost half of all Cuban adults smoke, and tobacco and cigar exports are vital to the country's economy.

The inspiration for the ban is said to have come from President Fidel Castro, who has given up smoking cigars. <snip>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4241897.stm

[babylonsister]

1. The epitomy of a powerful man: Fidel Castro. For better

or worse, he's been around forever, and I'm not a spring chicken.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Cuba Limits Smoking in Longevity Drive

Cuba Limits Smoking in Longevity Drive: New Law to Ban Lighting Up in Several Public Places, But Cuban Smokers Are Skeptical
By MARC FRANK

Feb. 5, 2005 -- Cuban President Fidel Castro is trying to junk his Caribbean island's image as a place where you can smoke fabulous cigars and black tobacco cigarettes anywhere, banning smoking in most enclosed public spaces as of Monday.

The move is part of a new crusade by Castro, 78, to raise his nation's life expectancy from the current 75 to 76 years, to 80 years by 2010.

Cuba's public health system stresses prevention — from the 13 free vaccines children receive, to the family doctor offices and clinics in every neighborhood. But longevity has not increased for over a decade, and Castro has been told smoking is a major reason.

Skepticism

Many Cubans are skeptical even the "maximum leader" can make the new law stick.

Cuban nurse Yuleisis Fonseca says Castro will need an army of "extraterrestrials" to enforce the ban, and that the doctors where she works are the first to smoke and will be the last to stop.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Health/story?id=473817&page=1

[Judi Lynn]

3. Adding another Cuba article: Cuban Hepatitis B Vaccine

Monday February 7, 2005
Government hospitals to get Cuban Hepatitis B vaccines

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will import the vaccine for Hepatitis B from Cuba, which will be made available in government hospitals on March 1.

Cuban Ambassador to Malaysia Pedro Monzon Barata said children should be given the priority to get the vaccine.

“We have had the vaccine for 10 years in Cuba but it needed to go through clinical trials before it was registered in Malaysia,” he said at the soft-launch of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Cuba and Malaysia here on Saturday.
(snip/...)

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/2/7/nation/10104240&sec=nation

[Judi Lynn]

4. LTTE from Cuban-American on removing Cuban embargo

Posted on Mon, Feb. 07, 2005


Time to lift Cuba embargo

In the Feb. 2 Other Views column, New moves could end investment slump, Phil Peters writes about China's investment in the nickel and oil sectors in Cuba. Despite our current trade deficit, we are allowing the Chinese to dominate the market as we continue to implement a failed policy toward Cuba. Free trade with Cuba could generate $50 billion and 900,000 jobs for the United States, according to an economic study by Tim Lynch, director of Florida State University's Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis.

If the paltry agricultural trade that we currently have were to disappear, it would have a tremendous impact on the U.S. farmer. Cuba is the second-largest importer of U.S. rice and the third-largest importer of U.S. poultry. We need more, not less, trade.

It's time for accountability. With trade and travel, we can bring prosperity; with prosperity, change; with change, respect; and with respect, friendship -- and most of all, family reunification.

The Bush administration redefined the Cuban family. We now must become fortunetellers in determining when loved ones will die to be at their bedsides. We are allowed to visit only once every three years. What happened to engagement and family values?
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/10835365.htm
(Free registration is required)

[emad]

5. Cuba Bans Smoking in Enclosed Public Spots

Guardian
HAVANA (AP) - Cuba banned smoking in public places on Monday, as the government of the country known for its famous cigars acknowledged the health risk of tobacco.

Smoking will be banned in restaurants, except in designated smoking areas, and cigarette machines also will be removed. The law will also suspend sales of cigarettes to children under age 16 and at stores less than 100 yards from schools.

According to government statistics, four of every 10 Cubans smoke, and 30 percent of the 15,000 deaths from preventable cancers each year can be linked to smoking.

News of the ban was first announced last month, when it was published in Cuba's National Gazette by the Commerce Ministry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4783740,00.html
GOOD try, no cigar....

[Crunchy Frog]

6. Oh, the repression, the repression.

I guess this means it's time to inva...er, liberate Cuba. This is the final straw. We can't continue to allow the Cuban people to live under this kind of oppression anymore.

I'm sure the streets will be lined with grateful Cubans showering our troops with cigars if we do it.:P