How do you feel about freedom of information laws? We usually think of them as a way for the little guy to force big government to be held accountable. But what if big tobacco is trying to use freedom of information to get data from university researchers? And it gets more interesting: the data is from confidential interviews with children.

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Part Three of The Current

Freedom of Information on Kids and Smoking

First up, we aired some thoughts from Londoners on why they started smoking as teenagers. And they are the the kinds of opinions the Institute for Social Marketing and the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling have collected for years.

Thousands of confidential interviews have been conducted with children between the ages of 11 and 16 about their attitudes on smoking and cigarette packaging. It's an impressive collection of data. And guess who would like to see it? Philip Morris, the tobacco company. It's filed a request with Scotland's Freedom of Information office. The company can make the request since part of the University's research is publicly funded.

Gerard Hastings is the Director of the Institute for Social Marketing and the Centre for Tobacco Control Research at the University of Stirling and we reached him in Stirling, Scotland.

Freedom of Information on Kids and Smoking

It's now up to the Scottish Freedom of Information office to determine whether Stirling University must cough up its smoking research to a tobacco company.

Kevin Dunion is the Scottish information commissioner and we reached him in St. Andrew's, Scotland.

Related Links:

• Philip Morris seeks to force university to hand over confidential health research into teenage smokers By Steve Connor - The Independent
• Tobacco firm demands university's research on children and smoking By Severen Carrell - The Guardian
  

Last Word - Motherhood

Monday on The Current, producer Kathleen Goldhar looks back to a time in Canada when single mothers weren't given much choice in determining the fate of their newborns. On Today's last word, she talks about how well-meaning social workers and doctors nevertheless caused heartache that's endured for half a century.

Other segments from today's show:

• Drilling for Arctic Oil
• Immigrant Hiring Incentives