duMaurier SNUS - Comments Regarding Smokeless Tobacco from Dave Hancock, Minister of Health & Wellness, Province of Alberta, Canada..

October 29, 2007 - duMaurier SNUS - Comments Regarding Smokeless Tobacco from Dave Hancock, Minister of Health & Wellness, Province of Alberta, Canada.. (a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of British American Tobacco(BAT)is now test marketing in about 230 retail outlets in Edmonton, SNUS under the brand name du Maurier. See related News Briefs: October 4, 2007, October 4, 2007, September 12, 2007 and May 8, 2007. The minister points out that the provincial government supports the Alberta Spit Tobacco Education Program, which is a youth smokeless tobacco prevention program. Goals of the program include raising the profile of smokeless tobacco use as a health issue, increasing awareness about the harms associated with use, removing the positive association of smokeless tobacco use with sport, and increasing the capacity of oral health professionals and the community to address spit tobacco use.He continues - the sale of snus is outside the regulatory jurisdiction of the provincial government and rests with the federal government. However, Bill 45, the Smoke-free Places (Tobacco Reduction) Amendment Act will, if passed, prohibit the display, advertising, and promotion of tobacco products in retail outlets, and will prohibit tobacco sales in pharmacies, health care facilities, and public post-secondary campuses. A study from the University of Georgia, School of Journalism found that smokeless tobacco advertising is on the increase. Dean Krugman, the lead author, is concerned about the test marketing of Marlboro and Camel branded smokeless products, which he said will have an instant appeal to youth. (Hancock - partial comments, correspondence TobaccoWatch.org)