A Beijing smoker has brought a tobacco company and one of its
sales agent to court, accusing them for producing or selling
cigarettes which turned his teeth uglily yellow, the Beijing
News reports on Tuesday.
Liu Shengjiang, a 35-year-old law professor in Capital
University of Economics and Business, started smoking 15 years ago
and now smokes on average two packs of cigarette per day. Liu said
smoking has affected his health and tainted his teeth.
Liu said he was addicted to "Nanjing" brand cigarette produced
by Nanjing Cigarette Factory in east China's Jiangsu Province. He accused the factory for
"failing to give a clear indication of the harm of smoking".
"The producer only said 'smoking is harmful' on its package, but
we consumers don't know what harm it will cause to us," Liu
said.
"If there were more specific warnings, a lot of potential
consumers will stay away from smoking," he added.
Liu demanded a written apology and 350 yuan (US$45s) for
compensation from the factory and Guohua Department Store, where he
bought a pack of cigarette.
But an attorney representing the defendant said it could not be
proved "Nanjing" cigarette has directly resulted in Liu's teeth
problems, saying drinking tea or soda water can also make teeth
yellow.
"The packages as well as the warning on them are in line with
the national packaging standards," the attorney said.
Liu refuted by presenting the picture of a pack of "Zhonghua"
brand cigarette produced in China but sold in Australia, saying the
package of Chinese cigarette should be the same in both domestic
and foreign markets with clear warnings.
Liu said the students and teachers in his university had
prepared more than 10 legal cases to bring against the tobacco
companies, urging them to adopt new packages to warn people against
smoking.
(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2007)