Tobacco orphans urge ban by 2020

Charlotte Dean died during cancer treatment at the age of 35, leaving five young children. Photo / Supplied

The Deans describe themselves as a family "orphaned by the tobacco industry" after losing their mother at a young age.

Charlotte Dean was 35 when she died from a heart attack in 1987 while being treated for cancer. She left five children, aged from 5 to 13.

All now adults, they still have their father, Grant Dean - who gave up smoking last year - but the loss of their mother took a heavy toll.

"We consider ourselves orphaned by the tobacco industry, by the lethal product they produce and sell here in Aotearoa New Zealand," the family say in their submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the tobacco industry.

The public hearings for the inquiry, conducted by the Maori affairs select committee, start on Monday in Rotorua.

"We didn't have a family unit at home any more," said Gevana Dean, of Hastings, who is now 34 and was 12 when her mother died. "We've had mental health issues."

Charlotte Dean took up smoking in her early teens and Gevana recalls her smoking Pall Mall Menthol cigarettes. She was sick for several years before her death and became increasingly incapacitated towards the end.

"She went to Palmerston North Hospital and she didn't come back. The day my mum left to go to Palmy I never said goodbye. I rushed out the door late for road patrol and I expected that she would be home again. We all livewith a lot of regret and wish she was here."

Gevana said she and her siblings do not smoke now, but some had been "social smokers".

She said some of her 60-year-old father's 18 grandchildren gave him a hard time about smoking before he quit. "They'd say, 'Papa, you're going to die'."

Like many who have made submissions to the inquiry, the Deans want the controls on tobacco gradually tightened, with the goal of eliminating it by 2020.

However, the submission of New Zealand's leading tobacco company, British American Tobacco, does not envisage a future without the weed.

But it does want to "work together" with the Government and health agencies on tobacco control, an approach rejected by most public health experts, who can find no legitimate role for the industry.

British American says it does not promote tobacco use among Maori.

"BAT NZ manufactures a legal product which we make available to retailers for sale to people aged 18 and over who choose to smoke."

The company suggests creating new laws like a minimum retail price to constrain access, especially by youth; bigger fines for retailers who sell tobacco to people under 18; making the use of photo ID cards mandatory for proof of age; and a requirement that retailers notify the Ministry of Health that they sell tobacco.

Shane Bradbrook, director of Maori smokefree group Te Reo Marama, has urged the committee to press BAT for internal documents on its marketing strategies.

THE INQUIRY

* Starts on Monday, in Rotorua.
* Conducted by Parliament's Maori affairs committee.
* Seen as a turning point in tobacco control.
* Initiated by Maori Party.
* Maori Party MP Hone Harawira wants tobacco banned.

Inquiry will:

* Probe industry on past promotion of tobacco to Maori.
* Weigh impact of tobacco on Maori.
* Recommend new control measures.