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c ecommktsuntribuhe health matters saturday ociizboo 5 message delivered at brother ajidre f by frjed simpson staff writer he singlehandedly took on the giants of the american tobacco compa nies survived corporate deceit lawsuits death threats political coverups and crooked lawyers and he came out a winner against all odds hes dr jeffery wigand the corporate whistle blower who rode to instant notoriety with his appearance on 60 minutes- the awardwinning television show which brought the powerful tobacco industry to its knees wigand was at markhams brother andre catholic high school last week where he captivated 900 grade 9 stu dents with his powerhouse attacks against the tobacco industry in a riveting speech- delivered while he strode up and down the aisles of the pack auditorium wigand told the stu dents that smokingrelated diseases kill 130000 people annually in the united states and 45000 in canada vby the year2010 you will be looking at total of 10 smokingrelated casualties said dr wigand smokingis a worldwide epidemic wigand is the former vicepresident and head of scientific research for the brown williamson tobacco company and subject of the oscarnominated movie the insider wigand detailed how he was first hired and then fired by the tobacco company and later faced a barrage of intimidating tactics at the height of the intimidation campaign he found a bullet in his home mailbox someone was obviously trying to deliver a chilling message to me my wife and family he said wigand punched out his points in rapidfire dramaticauytelling the stu dents that every cigarette you smoke takes 11 minutes out of you life there is no question that smoking leads to addiction that its the most pre dictable form of death in north america and the world smoking and related diseases cause more deaths than car accidents homi cides guns and wars combined he said he called on each student to become actively involved in the community in convincing young people that smoking is not a glamourous recreation but a deadly one cigarettes he said are more dan gerous than heroin or cocaine believe it or not in addition he noted nonsmokers exposed to secondary smoke are in as much danger as smokers themselves he pointed outthatthe 4000 to 8000 chemical compounds contained in cig arette tobacco are so deadly you cannot legally bury them inyour garbage dump because they are too toxic yet we allow these tobacco compa nies to glamourize smoking as a fun thing to do and especially encourage our children to take up this deadly habit this is an industry that preys upon children and lifetime of addiction which ends as a horrifying statistic he said the american tobacco industry spends 67 billion on advertising every year and spends 600 million alone on legal fees wigand said he flayed tihe industry for its legal obfuscationsjits clever use of the media intimidations duping and manipula- tion of politicians they know how to get to you by giv- ing to the arts you see their logo on the ski slopes and at jazz festivals wigand said his goal was to get his message through to one person every day i want the young people to get out- there and become social activists in terms of affecting change and making the future better not just for them but for their children and their childrens children if he said at the end of the day i have saved one life then its all worth it wigand received worldwide publici ty when he appeared on the 60 minutes cbs television show and revealed that the cigarette industry riot only knew that nicotine was addictive but also used additives to make it rhore addic tive including one known carcinogen the presidents of seven cigarette companies had denied under oath before congress it had used additives to make their product even more addic tive dr wigands subsequent testimony resulted in a 246 billion setderiient brought against the tobacco industry by the 50 states v his struggle for justice was portrayed in the film the insider a thriller direct- ed by michael mann and starring al pacino christopher plummer and russell crow as dr wigancl he has since founded a nonprofit foundation called smokefree kids and uses his knowledge of the tobacco industry toeducate children about how the industry uses the entertainment business and deceptive advertising to hook children on tobacco for life his visit to brother andre and st elizabeth in thornhill was arranged by st elizabeths religion teacher- tony muhitch and intended to kick off to the teacher advisor programs antismoking theme year ifs interesting to realize that an esti- mated 10million people will die by the year 2010 said muhitch we would use the word holocaust or genocide to describe that kind of statis- tic coming from any other single source the event was sponsored by the york region chinese anti- tobacco publics- education coalition which is funded by the ministry of health and longterm care under the ontario tobacco strategy harry keesters 8375 woodbine justs of 7 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