Published in the Financial Post, January 31, 2003, p. FP-15
A recent issue of Tobacco Control featured an article on "Comprehensive Tobacco Control Policies and the Smoking Behaviour of Canadian Adults." One of the bibliographical references was supposed to contain crucial data on tobacco control expenditures in Canada: "Cunningham R. Evaluation of Federal and Provincial Legislation to Control Tobacco, 1994. Ottawa: Canadian Cancer Society, 1995."
The problem is that the Cunningham paper does not exist, or at least cannot be found. Moreover, repeated attempts to obtain a copy from the author have been unsuccessful.
The Canadian Cancer Society denied that it is the publisher. President Julie White wrote: "Rob Cunningham currently works for us in the area of tobacco control ... This paper has nothing to do with us, and because it is copyrighted by Rob, we do not have any control or influence over its distribution."
I decided to contact the authors of the Tobacco Control article. The journal gives an incorrect e-mail address for the lead author, Dr. Thomas Stephens of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit. I e-mailed co-author Dr. Linda Pederson of the American Centers for Disease Control. "I have forwarded your e-mail to Dr. Stephens," she replied. "I am certain that he will respond to you. I don't have the article that you refer to, but I am sure that Dr. Stephens does." Dr. Stephens never wrote, and Dr. Pederson has not replied to my follow-up messages.
I then wrote to the editor of Tobacco Control, Professor Simon Chapman, an Australian anti-smoking activist. He replied: "Dear Prof Lemieux, My mail is that you are an industry stooge and spend your time doing whatever you can to undermine tobacco control. I imagine that in these circumstances, Mr. Cunningham feels you are not worth the price of a postage stamp."
I finally filed an access to information request with Health Canada, which must have a copy of the Cunningham research, if it exists. Mr. Hank Schriel, director of the Access to Information and Privacy Division at Health Canada, replied: "We do not have a copy of anything like that in our reference collection," and "we do not have a copy of this paper (and no, we did not provide [Mr. Cunningham] with any information for the paper either)."
There is something rotten in the state of Tobacco Kontrol.