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 < Back Carr Grandstands on Drugs, Weak on the Biggest Drug March 3rd 2003 - "Carr is spending a fortune on prosecuting and incarcerating users of illicit drugs, but has ignored the biggest drug, tobacco", said NSW Democrat Leader, Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans. "Bob Carr's neglect of the tobacco issue is costing NSW many lives and hugely increasing health costs. Tobacco is still the number one drug problem, costing $7 billion a year with 6,000 deaths and 54,000 hospitalisations in NSW annually, yet his tobacco prevention budget is a paltry $3.3 million. "Mr Carr has also refused to stand up to the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) in getting smoke-free indoor air. "The working party on this has been dithering along as the AHA demands weak policies like a 1.5 metre non-smoking area near to the bar and Carr agrees to not to enforce smoke-free air. Pubs and Clubs remain full of smoke, causing cancer and heart disease in passive smokers, making it harder for smokers to quit, and encouraging youth at discos to become habituated smokers. "It is now 51 years since smoking has been shown to cause lung cancer and it is simply unacceptable that smoking indoors continues. Smoking is 61% of the total cost of drug abuse. What about some action, Bob? "The Democrats are committed to smoke-free indoor air, and would fund Quit programmes to the level of $15 per head of population per year, which is the level at which they are likely to be most cost-effective," concluded Dr Chesterfield-Evans. |
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updated:
August 14, 2003
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