[imagsource: here]

The Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association (FITA), having tried without success to negotiate the terms of the tobacco ban with government, is now taking them to court.

They seek to overturn section 27 of the regulations published in the Government Gazette on April 29, 2020, wherein the ban was extended past alert level 5.

In a document being circulated today, and obtained by 2oceansvibe, the reasons for the extended tobacco ban have been outlined in full, giving us some much-needed insight into the rationale, or lack thereof, behind the extension.

The court papers were filed today on behalf of the State, in the court case against FITA.

The overarching reason stated for the decision to “temporarily ban tobacco products” was to “protect human life and health and to reduce the potential strain on the healthcare system”.

It’s further emphasised that COVID-19 is a new disease, and therefore scientific knowledge is still evolving to accommodate it. This from the court papers:

However from the studies that have been done so far, the evidence is that the use of tobacco products increases not only the risk of transmission of COVID-19, but also the risk of contracting a more severe form of the disease.

…In a situation of evolving scientific knowledge, and with infection numbers rising, a responsible government has to take a cautious approach. Level four is characterised by moderate to high virus spread, with moderate to low healthcare system readiness.

Right, moving on to the specifics.

The document makes reference to the World Health Organisation’s recommendations, which we’ve covered at length, so let’s move on to the “scientific evidence” and data that Dlamini-Zuma keeps alluding to in her speeches and statements.

First, the document states that smokers were unable to obtain cigarettes during alert level 5:

A study conducted at the University of Cape Town found that 90% of respondents had bought cigarettes during the lockdown, which differs greatly from the stats quoted above.

Extensive articles have also been written about the illicit trade of cigarettes and the rise of the black market since the tobacco ban was instituted.

While this is acknowledged, the Command Council seems either oblivious to the reality of the situation, or there is an ulterior purpose for ignoring it:

This gives the impression that government is aware of the inflated prices of cigarettes on the black market and is using it to advance an anti-smoking agenda.

The document goes on to state arguments that we’re familiar with. Smokers, should they be admitted to hospital with COVID-19, are more likely to need intensive care and are likely to experience the symptoms of the disease more acutely.

That said, fewer smokers have contracted the disease than non-smokers, something which is currently the subject of a number of studies that have focussed on cases in France, China, and the US.

The document also cites a number of health risks that smoking poses in general, like the effect of nicotine on pregnant women and babies.

In this sense, it reads more like a long term plan to combat smoking than an immediate response to a health crisis.

Which brings us to the now infamous argument that smoking encourages dangerous behaviour:

Recent research has uncovered that the sharing of cigarettes, especially in poorer areas, has been on the rise, not because of any underlying puff-pass culture, but because the government has made cigarettes almost unaffordable.

I’d also like to take a moment to point out that evidence from other countries (like the US) suggests that allowing religious gatherings to resume is a far more effective way of spreading the virus than a single cigarette.

It should be noted this document only applies to alert level 4, although it seems unlikely that the reasons changed when the decision was made to extend the ban to alert level 3.

Meanwhile, FITA has confirmed on Twitter that they are finalising their court papers, which will be served to President Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma no later than May 29, 2020.

In this regard we attach hereto the draft court order which was made an order of court on 12 May 2020. pic.twitter.com/DQ7Fhicxl2

— FITA (@fita_sa) May 27, 2020

It looks like game on for the tobacco industry.

They’ll be coming at this all guns blazing.

For a timeline on when we can expect to see this one play out in court, head here.