Robert Pattinson has been exposed as a smoker and now he’s reportedly worried his mum will find out.
A photo has appeared in the States of the young Twilight heartthrob smoking a fag – despite Rob apparently doing his best to conceal his bad habit.

A source told The Sun: “Robert tried to make sure his security shielded him from lurking photographers. But a snap has appeared in America.

“Rob’s since admitted he’s scared about his mum finding out.”

Let’s hope Mama Pattz doesn’t read mtv.co.uk…

In other Pattinson news he’s said critics of New Moon annoyed him.

Speaking to Parade the actor said: “I didn’t like the way New Moon was treated by the critics. I think it was reviewed in the context of just being a big franchise movie.

“When something is so hyped, inevitably, there is a backlash against it. I think Chris Weitz is an amazing director. I really enjoyed the film. So the naysayers kind of annoyed me.”

The World Health Organizations says smoking is considered a high risk factor in six of the eight leading causes of death worldwide. Medical experts have long preached about how smokers can quit. Now a growing number of employers in the United States are refusing to hire them. Some smokers are wondering what kind of discrimination is next.

More and more Americans who smoke are beginning to feel unliked and unwanted. Federal laws prevent them from smoking in public buildings. They are not allowed to smoke within a certain distance of those buildings.
Since the federal law was passed a decade ago, many state and local communities have followed suit.

Now a growing number of companies and hospitals will not hire smokers, or worse, will fire them if they are caught lighting up.

Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee is now giving check-ups to prospective employees. A urine test that detects nicotine means no job is offered.

Nurse Kristi Edmondson thinks her smoking habit is nobody’s business but her own. “Memorial should not dictate to us what we do in our own time, off the time clock,” she stated.

The head of the hospital’s parent company, Memorial Health Care Systems, is James Hobson. He defends the decision. “It’s relevant to creating that healthy lifestyle,” he said. “And again it’s relevant to the entire community.”

A growing number of large American companies are finding that health care costs for smokers are higher than for non-smokers.

A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that medical care and the loss of worker productivity averages about $3,000 annually for each smoker.

As a result, some companies now require smokers to pay a larger share of their health insurance than non-smokers.

While 29 of the 50 U.S. states have laws that protect the rights of smokers, 21 others do not. Weyco an insurance benefits administrator in (the state of) Michigan, began imposing random smoking tests in 2005 on its own employees.

The President of the National Workrights Institute is Lewis Maltby. “Most people think they have a right to freedom of speech. They don’t know that their freedom of speech disappears where their boss is concerned,” Maltby said.

The World Health Organization says at least five million tobacco users die every year from lung cancer, heart disease and other smoking-related causes. The WHO says if current trends continue, tobacco-related deaths will climb to at least eight million a year by 2030.
By Melinda Smith, Washington
18 February 2010

The tobacco auction season opened in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Tuesday, two months earlier than had been customary, with 800 bales or some 80,000 kilograms of leaf going under the hammer on two auction floors.

Chief Executive Andrew Matibiri of the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board told VOA that the flue-cured tobacco was selling at a healthy average of US$4 per kilogram compared to the selling price of US$3 a kilo last year.

Matibiri said: “The 2010 flue-cured tobacco auction sales started today and contract sales are expected to start this Wednesday.”

He said auction sales would be conducted twice a week and contract sales were expected to depend on tobacco supplies.

Matibiri said it is expected that 77 million kilograms of tobacco will be sold this year with 45 percent or close to 40 million kilograms selling through the auction system, and the rest being disposed of under contracts.

He said the early-than-usual auction season opening was intended to help leaf farmers to repay loans ahead of time and prepare for the next season.

“Farmers are expected to unlock the value of their tobacco instead of keeping it for two months in their barns,” said Matibiri, adding that “now they can sell it as they cure it.”

Agricultural expert Renson Gasela said while the season was off to an early start, this year’s projected crop of 70 million kilograms would fall well short of the 237 million kilograms sold one decade ago in 2000. That was the year land reform began, driving hundreds of white growers off their property.

He said it would take time for the current occupiers of farms to increase the production of tobacco to significant levels.

Tobacco production posted a 16 percent increase between 2008 and 2009 from 48.8 million kilograms to 56.6 million kilos.

Harare press reports said somewhat more than 22,000 growers have registered to sell their tobacco this season compared with 28,000 in 2009.

LONDON, – European shares edged higher on Tuesday, led by banks though investors remained wary of the debt problems in Greece and other peripheral euro zone economies.

The FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of leading European shares closed 0.2 percent higher at 980.96 points in choppy trade, after rising 0.7 percent on Monday to snap a three-day losing run.

The index has fallen 6.2 percent so far this year but is still up 52 percent from a low hit in early March 2009.

Banks .SX7P were the among the top gainers in Europe, though they pared some gains towards the end of the session. Traders said comments by Fitch Ratings that Britain was among the most vulnerable of triple-A sovereigns took some of the wind out of UK banks.

HSBC (HSBA.L), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Barclays (BARC.L) advanced 0.3 to 2.8 percent. Swiss bank UBS (UBSN.VX) fell 5.4 percent after reporting clients withdrew far more money than forecast.

European banks have lost 11 percent this year after being hurt by concerns over the euro zone debt and U.S. President Barack Obama’s plans to limit banks’ ability to take risk.

Earlier, European stocks rose on expectations about a rescue for Greece after news that European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was leaving a meeting of central bankers in Australia early to attend a European Union leaders’ summit in Brussels this Thursday.

ECB, however, said Trichet was changing his plans and return to Europe purely because of logistics.

Greek bank shares .FTATBNK, after falling for four straight sessions, surged 8.6 percent, with Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) up 14.9 percent and EFG Eurobank (EFGr.AT) up 10.9 percent.

“This is a little bit overblown … you know it’s going to be bailout eventually. Is it the EU? Is it the IMF? It doesn’t matter. They are not going to default,” said Robert Quinn, European strategist at Standard & Poor’s equity research.

“What we are waiting on is a political solution, not an economic solution … They have a different time scale.”

A senior German ruling coalition source said after the European market close that euro zone countries have decided in principle to help debt-stricken Greece.[ID:nLDE6182EG]

Across Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE put on 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX .GDAXI added 0.2 percent and France’s CAC 40 .FCHI rose 0.2 percent.

MINERS UP, DEFENSIVES DOWN

Miners were in demand, with Anglo American (AAL.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) up 1.5 to 3.7 percent.

Defensive shares, such as drugmakers, utilities, tobacco firms and telecoms, were also weaker, with investors favouring beaten-down banks. Unilever (ULVR.L), E.ON (EONGn.DE), Novartis (NOVN.VX) and Imperial Tobacco (IMT.L) eased 0.2 to 1.6 percent.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN.L), however, was up 1.3 percent after U.S. approval for expanded use of Crestor strengthened its position in the highly competitive cholesterol drug market.

Among other individual movers, Swatch Group (UHR.VX) soared 4.8 percent after it posting forecast-beating full-year profit and maintained a positive outlook for 2010, easing worries a flagging economic recovery may hit demand.

Wind turbine maker Vestas (VWS.CO) surged 7.8 percent on news of a planned roadshow for bond investors and a Canadian order, traders said.

On the downside, Unibal-Rodamco (UNBP.PA) shed 6 percent after the Franco-Dutch property group issued disappointing 2010 guidance with its annual profits.

By Dominic Lau, Reuters
9 Feb. 2010

The increase in spending is despite what appears to be a move away from expensive cigars and cigarillos during the financial crisis.

Tobacco products worth €22.8 billion retail were sold in Germany in 2009, a total sum of 1.4 percent more than in the previous year, the new Destatis figures showed.

Yet the number of taxed cigarettes dropped by 1.6 percent to €1.4 billion. The financial crisis seems to have hit the luxury tobacco market in Germany particularly hard, with the taxed sales of cigars and cigarillos down by 24.6 percent.

Meanwhile the sale of fine-cut tobacco suitable for making roll-up cigarettes rose by 11.7 percent, the figures showed.

Sales of pipe tobacco were down by 57.2 percent, but this initially startling figure seems to have been largely generated by a change in the tax rules which put so-called pseudo pipe tobacco into the same category as fine-cut, as it is not suitable for pipe use.

ABU DHABI // The price of a packet of 20 cigarettes should double to about Dh14, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has proposed, to help get people to ditch the habit.

The price increase is just one of a raft of anti-smoking restrictions being considered as part of a new law that will ban smoking in some public and private locations, outlaw tobacco advertising and require more detailed warnings on cigarette packets.

Some details of the legislation were announced this week, but officials were unable to clarify when the changes would take effect.

Dr Wedad al Maidour, the head of the MoH tobacco control team, said: “We would like to increase the cost, but this is not possible through increases in the import tax,” she said.

“We can, however, raise the cost through increases in different taxes.

“In the first stage we would aim to double the price of a packet of cigarettes. We would also increase the price regularly, maybe every five years.”

She said studies in other countries have shown price increases help deter smoking, especially among teenagers and the money could be used to treat people who suffer from smoking-related illnesses.

Currently, tobacco products have warnings in Arabic and English reminding people that smoking is the main cause of cancer and lung, heart and artery disease.

These will be replaced by more graphic warnings, which are expected to cover half the area of the packet and may include images designed to discourage smoking.

The new law, which will forbid smoking on public transport or in enclosed public spaces, will be enforced by police and municipal inspectors. Cafes and restaurants located in residential areas will be given two years to relocate or implement the ban.

It will also be illegal to sell cigarettes to people under 18, or to smoke in a car in which there is a child under 12.

People who break the law will face fines of up to Dh1 million (US$272,000) and jail sentences of more than two years.

Doctors welcomed the ban. “I think this is a hugely positive step, particularly the idea to ban smoking in cars with children,” said Dr Jon Craig, from the American Hospital in Dubai.

“It is absolutely criminal that people do that with their own children in their cars.

Dr Amira Elsayed, a consultant family physician at the Mushrif Clinic in Abu Dhabi, said: “I think this can only help improve the health of people in the UAE. Second-hand smoking is a serious threat to people’s health.”
BY Charlie Hamilton
January 13. 2010 11

Dubai The UAE will make smoking more expensive as it plans to increase the price of tobacco and tobacco products, a senior health official said yesterday.

Dr Wedad Al Maidour, head of the tobacco control team, said it is coordinating with the ministry of finance to make the habit costlier for smokers. A pack of cigarettes on average currently costs Dh7 across the emirates.

She said it will be difficult to impose an additional levy on tobacco, but that the team hopes to make it more expensive for smokers at the check-out counters of shops. Studies have shown that whenever there is an increase in cigarette price there is a drop in smoking among teenagers.

Packaging messages

Another deterrent to smoking is that half of cigarette packets will be covered with graphic images to send home the message that smoking kills. Currently the packs only carry a warning that smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and heart diseases.

Dr Al Maidour said countries such as Canada, Australia and Thailand have imposed a law that cigarette packs should have graphic images. She said Uruguay has made it mandatory that 80 per cent of the pack should be taken up by the images.

“In the UAE we plan for 50 per cent of the pack to carry the graphics,” she said, but noted they will not be pictures of decaying lungs. “[One] will show a snake and [one] a child with a face mask,’ she said (the snake is designed to show that smoking is deadly).

Senior Ministry of Health officials yesterday warned that a significant section of the adult population in the country are smokers and hoped that the new law will also cut down the rate of people affected by passive smoking. Detailing the new anti-tobacco law which went into effect last week, Dr Salem Al Dermaki, acting director-general of the Ministry of Health, said relevant departments will work in tandem to implement the laws, noting that legal experts are working on drafting the bylaws.

The director-general said the law which prohibits smoking in a car with a child is unique to the UAE.

He said coffee shops and shisha shops will be given a grace period of two years to move out of residential areas. “It will be taken on a case-to-case basis,” he said, as the ministry will check how a shisha shop is affecting people nearby.

He said that for those who do not take the message to stop smoking seriously there will be strong deterrents in place. “Smoke if you wish but you cannot harm others,” he said, adding that the laws will protect the most vulnerable in the society, the children. “This Federal law supports all local authorities,” he said. He also said the ministry will clamp down hard on advertisements that encourage smoking.

Five million die every year worldwide due to smoking

By 2030, the figure will go up to 8 million

Nearly a quarter of the deaths are due to passive smoking

By Mahmood Saberi
© Gulf News 2010

Experts at the University of Bath, working together with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, have recently established that the current, economy-oriented approach of European Union policies was heavily influenced by tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco. The end-result was a set of instruments for assessing a policy’s impact that lay more emphasis on corporate gains than on public health, a new research published in the latest issue of the open-access scientific journal PLoS Medicine reveals.

When the EU proposes the implementation of a new set of policies, all the documents need to pass what is called am “impact assessment” (IA) analysis. The goal of this investigation is to determine what the potential economic, social and environmental consequences of the future laws might be. The researchers managed to prove in their journal entry that the IA tools used by the European Union were heavily influenced by companies such as BAT, alongside other chemical, oil and food corporations. As a direct result, many policy sets that have passed have a direct negative impact on public health, but they also benefit corporate interests and promote their gains.

This type of actions contributed directly to the development of the business-oriented IA system that is currently in effect in the EU. The research team says that, in order to ensure that this type of policies is no longer adopted, the general public needs to take a more active interest in the matter. It adds that more transparency on the part of EU authorities is also needed, and that people should take the time to understand the IA mechanisms in greater detail. Additionally, the group reveals, people across the Union should also be aware of the massive policy-influencing powers that major corporations such as BAT have.

These conclusions were drawn after the team, led by expert Dr. Katherine Smith, analyzed more than 700 internal BAT documents, as well as conducted interviews with a number of lobbyists and policymakers in the EU. A large number of officials were found to be unaware of the massive influence that BAT exerted on the decision process. This was most often the case because the corporation supported a policy network that was influencing a policy lobby group. Other major companies were also involved in the scheme. Additionally, BAT also used think tanks and consultancy companies (third parties) to indirectly influence the EU policy orientation.

By Tudor Vieru
12th of January 2010

The private consumption tax hike implemented by the government on tobacco has been reflected in cigarette prices.

Philip Morris and British American Tobacco significantly increased the prices of the cigarettes they produce.

Philip Morris SA, the international tobacco company’s joint venture with Sabancı Holding in Turkey, announced Monday it is raising the price of its tobacco products by at least 15 percent effective immediately.

“With the Cabinet’s decree published in the Official Gazette on Dec. 31, 2009, the tax rate on tobacco has been increased by more than 30 percent. This situation, which has a direct impact on our production cost, forced us to modify the cost of our products. Therefore, the retail price of our products produced in the İzmir Torbalı facilities has been increased by at least 15 percent starting Jan. 4, 2010,” the company said in a statement. The price hike brings the price of Marlboros to 7 Turkish Liras from 5 liras. The price of Parliament Reserves climbed to 7.50 liras from 6.50 liras.

British American Tobacco Turkey also increased the price of its products. As of Monday, a pack of Samsuns has a price tag of 4.20 liras, while Kents costs 7.00 liras. Japan Tobacco, the third leading company in the sector, is also expected to increase the price of its products.

Afew years ago, Adinkerke was a forgotten, dilapidated village of red-brick houses, just inside the Belgian border with France. In the past four years, however, it has been transformed into a glittering mini-Las Vegas: a village full of garish signs reading “Smokey River”, “Eurobaccy”, “Tobacco Alley”, “Smugglers’ Corner”, and “Coronation Street Tobacco Shop”.

The village stands less than a mile from the long ribbon of dunes and beaches, stretching north of Dunkirk, from which the British Army was evacuated 69 years ago. The opening this month of yet another tobacco shop in the village – a garish cigarette supermarket called Real Tobacco XL – has ignited a new Battle of Dunkirk: a potentially noxious legal row between France and Belgium over the rights of EU citizens to dodge national anti-smoking policies by crossing European borders to buy cheap fags.

The owners of Real Tobacco XL, and four other emporiums along the Franco-Belgian border, flooded northern France earlier this month with advertising flyers for their new shop. They sent a loudspeaker car, towing an advertising trailer, through the streets of Dunkirk promoting the fact that cigarettes were at least €1 a packet cheaper 10 miles away in Adinkerke. The French tobacconists’ association pounced. They had been able to do nothing, under EU law, about the cheap cigarette shops in Belgium. But they could bring a legal action against the Belgian firm for breaking an 18-year-old law which bans all forms of tobacco advertising in France.

“For three or four years, we have had to watch them [the Belgians] opening more shops selling cheap cigarettes, and we could do nothing,” said Patrick Falewee, president of the Dunkirk area tobacco trade association. “Over there they have no system of tobacco licensing, anyone can start a tobacco shop. You just buy an abandoned house in a border village and you start selling cigarettes. Now, at last, we can fight back. They have broken the French law against advertising tobacco and we are going to make sure that they are punished for it. We are going to pursue this case to the end.”

This is much more than a local quarrel. At one time, France took a relaxed view of smoking, partly because tobacco was a lucrative state monopoly. In the past decade, however, successive French governments have adopted a more health-conscious approach and have imposed a series of steep tax increases on tobacco. The 6 per cent tax increase earlier this month has increased the price of a packet of 20 Marlboros – the most popular brand in France – to €5.60 (£5.10). This is about £1 a packet cheaper than in Britain. It is about €1 (90p) a packet more than in Belgium and at least €2 a packet more than in other EU nations, such as Spain, Italy and Luxembourg.

Earlier this year, the British American Tobacco company estimated that more than one in five of all cigarettes smoked in France was bought abroad. Much the same problem exists in Germany, which has very cheap tobacco neighbours in Poland and the Czech Republic. There is a growing trade in smuggled cigarettes in Europe and an equally illegal growth of sales over the internet. But many French and German smokers have discovered the pleasures of perfectly legal, or almost legal, cigarette tourism.

“They come to the shops in Belgium, not just from Dunkirk and Lille but from as far south as Paris and Rouen,” Mr Falewee said. “Legally under EU law they are allowed only five cartons of 200 cigarettes each per car. Of course, they often buy far, far more than that. The Belgian shops do nothing to limit their purchases.”

Over the border in Adinkerke, the Real Tobacco XL supermarket is doing a brisk trade. The shop is at least 50 yards long and 25 yards wide – about quarter of the size of a football pitch – and also sells chocolate and a small selection of drinks. But cigarettes and rolling tobacco are its stock-in-trade. If you don’t mind rolling your own, you can buy a large drum of Louxor tobacco – enough to make 1,200 cigarettes – for €48.55.

Serge, the manager of the shop, declined to talk about the rights and wrongs of the legal case brought by the tobacconists’ association across the border. “The French are making a big hoo-ha about our shops here but the real price difference is not between France and Belgium but between here and Britain. Eighty per cent of our customers here are not French but British,” he said. Was he suggesting that the French were being a little hypocritical? That Calais had been making a living for years from the thirst of Britons for cheap, low-tax booze and the cross-Channel hunger for lower-tax tobacco? Yet, now that the cigarette tax pattern had started to favour Belgium, they were complaining.

Serge grinned and turned to serve another customer. “You are saying that, not me,” he said. Hélène Marcuzzo, 32, from Dunkirk, was loading up her car with cigarettes for herself and chocolate for her two children. “I can buy 200 cigarettes for €46 here, compared with nearly €60 in France,” she said. “I never buy cigarettes at home any more, except in an emergencies. I understand why the French shops are upset,” she went on, “but what about the poor French smoker? They keep putting the taxes up and up. What are we supposed to do?” Give up smoking, maybe? Ms Marcuzzo looked appalled. “Oh, no, no, no, no,” she said. “No, no, no, no.”

Mr Falewee of the Dunkirk tobacconists’ association has another solution to suggest. “It’s very simple,” he said. “We need a proper European health policy, which would harmonise all cigarette taxes in the European Union. As things stand, there is no point in trying to discourage people from killing themselves by raising taxes because they will just clear off somewhere else to buy their cigarettes.”

The European Commission has already tentatively suggested something similar. With taxes on 20 cigarettes currently ranging from the equivalent of 82p in Bulgaria to £4.62 a packet in Ireland, the EU would need a king-size harmonisation. This could be a first test for the ingenuity of the European Union’s answer to Hercule Poirot, the new Belgian President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.

Contraband cigarettes EU and beyond

*The dramatic differentials in cigarette prices, not merely among EU countries but also between the EU and some countries outside it, have provided money-making opportunities to many others besides the enterprising tobacconists of Dunkirk.

*Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has been steadily hiking tobacco duty to meet EU targets. As a result, cigarettes are frequently smuggled into Poland from bordering Ukraine, where tobacco is much cheaper.

*In the former Yugoslav republics, the yawning gap between local and EU cigarette prices has prompted the growth of a lucrative smuggling trade across the Adriatic. This, it is claimed, has hugely enriched some of the local post-Communist elites. Milo Djukanovic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, is fighting Italian accusations that he himself is involved in the trade.

*A study earlier this year estimated that 657bn black market cigarettes are sold across the world annually, costing governments nearly £25bn in lost revenue. And the charity Cancer Research estimates that if the smuggling of cheap tobacco into the UK was eliminated, in the long term 4,000 deaths a year could be prevented.

30 November 2009, Independent

On Nov. 19, many people will throw away their cigarettes in honor of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. Jason Halford, 29, of Joliet probably will not be one of them.

In the nine years since he started smoking, Halford has quit twice, but he blames job and money-related stresses for lighting back up. Even the rising cost of cigarettes isn’t enough to discourage him.

“I buy cheap brands and look for dollar-off specials,” Halford said.

While some people might think the high cost of keeping the habit would discourage its use, recent research suggests the opposite may be true.

Dr. Bruce Christiansen of the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (CTRI) discovered that half the adults in Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhoods smoke, despite paying $9 for a pack of cigarettes on a household income below $15,000.
Quit kit
“There’s an ugly truth about the good news of dropping smoking rates,” Christiansen said. “While smoking rates have dropped overall, we’ve left some populations behind.”

In response to his findings, Christiansen and his group are creating a tool kit for community organizations. Smokers who come to food pantries or shelters can receive a 13-minute intervention message about the best methods for quitting, including medication options and referral to the Wisconsin Tobacco Quitline. This provides free coaching and starter medication.

The Will County Health Department offers a more intense solution. For $20, people 18 and older can attend the American Lung Association’s seven-week Freedom From Smoking program. For the program’s duration, free nicotine patches or lozenges will be distributed up to six weeks to those interested in using them, although their use is not required.

“Those are only two options that are available,” said Michelle Marek, community health director. “Some people like throwing the patches on and not worrying about it, and others prefer to quit cold turkey. What works for one person doesn’t work for another.”
Support of peers
Although each hour-and-a-half session will address topics — quitting techniques, stress management, weight control, healthy diet and controlling smoking urges — possibly the program’s main benefit is its sense of “I’ve officially quit” and “We’re all in this together.”

“No one quits by himself,” Marek said. “A lot of these people have been smoking for a long time and get into their own routines. But the other people in the class are going through the same struggle and they get helpful tips from one another.”

Classes meet only once each week, except week four — “quit week” — when everyone stops smoking on the same day and meets 48 hours later for a follow-up session. Despite the low-cost fee to cover materials, Marek said the program attracts people with a wide range of ages and income.

Even as participants “kick the habit,” they are also learning strategies to replace smoking with a healthy lifestyle and possibly add years to their lives.

According to the health department’s Smoke-Free Joliet Coalition (www.smokefreejoliet.org), a 50-year study of more than 34,000 male doctors found that quitting by age 40 can add about nine years to a man’s life. Quit by age 50 and gain six.

For those who cannot attend the program, Marek suggests they call the free Illinois Tobacco Quitline at 866-QUIT-YES.

“They don’t have any replacement products, but they do help people over the phone,” Marek said.

The coalition’s medical experts suggest these additional methods to ease the transition to being smoke-free:

• Set a quit date then ask family and friends for support.

• Use nicotine-replacement therapy or prescription medicine to ease the withdrawal process, which peaks at one to three weeks after quitting.

• Avoid people and places that induce cigarette cravings.

• Ask your doctor for advice to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

November 4, 2009
By DENISE M. BARAN-UNLAND For Sun-Times Media

A decline in demand is not keeping R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. from raising the list price on its cigarette brands by 6 cents or 8 cents a pack for wholesale customers.

The price increase, announced yesterday, will take effect Monday.

David Howard, a spokesman for Reynolds, said that the company doesn’t comment on its pricing strategy, but the decision comes five days after Philip Morris USA announced a price increase of 6 cents a pack, which went into effect yesterday.

Reynolds is raising list prices less than a week after reporting that its cigarette-shipment volume fell 11 percent in the third quarter to 20.6 billion cigarettes. Reynolds said that the industry decline was 12.6 percent.

Howard said that the list price is increasing 6 cents a pack for its growth brands – Camel and Pall Mall – and also for Doral, GPC, Kool, Misty, Salem and Winston. All but GPC are considered as support brands.

The list price is being raised 8 cents a pack for its other brands, which include Capri, Eclipse, Lucky Strike, More and Vantage.

Charles Norton, the portfolio manager of the USA Mutuals Vice Fund, said that Reynolds is likely to be able to sustain the third price increase related to its cigarettes since September 2007.

In March, Reynolds raised the list price in the range of 41 cents to 78 cents a pack for wholesale customers, including 41 cents to 44 cents for most of its growth and support brands.

The increase was in response to Congress passing the 62-cent increase in the federal excise tax to pay for expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. That tax increase went into effect April 1.

In September 2007, Reynolds raised its cigarette prices by a range of 5 cents to 15 cents a pack, including 15 cents for Camel.

“Strong pricing power is one of the underpinnings of our positive view of tobacco, which is a much more important driver of earnings than volume,“ Norton said.

Reynolds said in its third-quarter report that it had a slight market-share drop in cigarettes to 28.2 percent. The market share for Camel, the lead Reynolds cigarette brand, dipped slightly to 7.7 percent. Pall Mall’s market share was at 5 percent, up 2.3 percentage points from a year ago.

A temporary price discount in the spring on Pall Mall attracted smokers wanting to spend less on cigarettes in the recession. Even after the discount ended in May and prices were raised to counter the excise-tax increases, Pall Mall maintained a higher market share.

The company began another discount promotion for Pall Mall on Oct. 5.

Reynolds also raised its full-year earnings projections last week to a range of $4.60 to $4.70 a share – from $4.40 to $4.60 – as a sign of confidence in its strategies.

By Richard Craver
October 29, 2009

Pub companies are getting ahead of the game by taking cigarette vending machines out of their pubs before they are outlawed by the government.

Welsh brewer and pubco Brains is one of the first to take action by removing machines from the 120 pubs in its managed estate.

Brains retail director Philip Lay said the decision to remove them was “purely commercial”.

“They were no longer generating a great deal of money really. We thought the space could be better utilised. They don’t represent good value for money – which is a bit contradictory to the message we promote,” he said.

It is understood Wetherspoons, while not phasing out the machines entirely, are allowing individual pub managers to remove them if they choose.

Last month The Publican reported that MPs passed an amendment to the Health Bill outlawing the machines.

The move still has to go through the House of Lords but it is not expected to face any objections.

Meanwhile Barnsley Primary Care Trust has urged pubs in the area to take action now “to save hundreds of young people from taking up smoking”.

But Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations president Dennis Griffiths, who runs the Miners Rest in Barnsley, said taking machines out and selling cigarettes from behind the bar could present a security risk.

He added: “I can’t see the sense in wanting to take the machines out and then selling them over the bar.”

“The sales for cigarettes in the machines are very, very low now. In most outlets they are minute – they are more expensive in supermarkets and shops.

“It’s just for people who run out of cigarettes in the pub. I’d be better off financially by taking it out. It’s done as a service and there’s no way I will sell out of the back of the bar.”

28 October, 2009 Thepublican

Ireland’s policy of setting a minimum price on tobacco products distorts competition, a legal advisor to Europe’s highest court has said.

In the case of Commission of the European Communities versus Ireland, the Advocate General said binding prices restricted manufacturers’ freedom to set prices, thereby posing a risk to free competition.

The opinion of the Advocate General is not a final judgement, although the court generally follows it 80 per cent of the time.

The European Commission took Ireland to Europe’s highest court in 2008 over its policy of setting a minimum price on tobacco products to protect public health.

Under an agreement with the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee, the Department of Health has a minimum price for 20 cigarettes of about €1.30. This was set using information on volume sales supplied by the tobacco companies for filtered and unfiltered cigarettes.

The Government says the agreement with the tobacco manufacturers was made for the primary purpose of preventing low-cost selling of tobacco products in Ireland.

By setting a minimum retail price for a packet of 20 cigarettes it undermines the ability of retailers to provide special cut- price offers on certain brands. Price control is also seen as a viable way to protect children from becoming addicted to cigarettes and to encourage existing smokers to quit, according to the Department of Health.

In his legal assessment of the arguments the Advocate General said “increases in excise duties are therefore a less intrusive measure than minimum prices, which are thus not necessary”.

A statement issued by cigarette company John Player & Sons today said “while we don’t oppose the Commission’s view that tobacco manufacturers should have the freedom to determine retail prices for their products, the fact remains that the real minimum price for 20 cigarettes in Ireland is the street price of €4 – €5 euro due to widespread illegal cigarette selling.

This greatly incentivises criminals by giving them huge margins while denying Government badly needed revenues. 1 in 4 cigarettes smoked in Ireland today is not even bought in an Irish shop”.

By PAMELA NEWENHAM, October 22, 2009

PLANS to set a minimum price for all alcohol sold in Scotland were thrown into fresh doubt last night after the European Court of Justice opposed a similar policy on tobacco. The court’s advocate-general ruled against proposals by Ireland, France and Austria to set a minimum price on cigarettes, saying it would break competition laws by benefiting manufacturers.
The drinks industry in Scotland last night claimed the ruling would apply to alcohol as well, and said that ministers should therefore drop their plans immediately.

But health secretary Nicola Sturgeon hit back, insisting the court’s ruling on tobacco was “irrelevant” and SNP ministers would press ahead regardless.

The row centres on Scottish Government proposals to set a minimum price on all alcoholic drinks, with 40p per unit widely expected. At that rate, a bottle of vodka – which contains 26 units and can cost less than £7 – would retail at a minimum of £10.40. Large bottles of cheap cider, which sell for less than £3, would more than double in price.

Ministers say the radical moves will reduce the social harm caused by alcohol, both in terms of crime and healthcare.

The announcement yesterday from the European Court’s advocate-general is regarded as a clear indication of the full panel’s final judgment.

The court repeated previous European Commission rulings that the best way to meet public health objectives was through taxation and excise duties, saying this would not interfere with the setting of prices.

The Scotch Whisky Association’s chief executive, Gavin Hewitt said: “Austria, Ireland and France have been told clearly today that minimum pricing is a breach of EU law. The Scottish Government must recognise the legal situation and drop this proposal, which would be hugely damaging to Scottish jobs.”

But Ms Sturgeon last night said: “It is entirely inappropriate and irrelevant to translate an opinion on tobacco to the totally different issue of minimum pricing of alcoholic products.”

Ms Sturgeon added: “The issue here is ending a situation where bottles of chemical cider are sold for £3, or bottles of industrial vodka for less than £7.

“These are the products favoured by problem drinkers and are exactly the ones that will be targeted by minimum pricing, not quality products sold at responsible prices.”

But one drinks industry source added: “Are they now really saying minimum pricing on cigarettes, which are proven to kill you, will be illegal under EU law, but that minimum pricing on alcohol won’t be?”

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives say they will oppose minimum pricing, but the legislation could still pass, as Labour has still to decide its position.

Scottish Tory deputy leader Murdo Fraser said: “This ruling is a complete hammer-blow for the SNP and their obsession with blanket minimum pricing.”

22 October 2009 Scotsman

JEDDAH: At a time when anti-smoking campaigners are calling for an increase in cigarette duty to discourage smokers, a source at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said there would be no increase in cigarette tariffs.

The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the GCC is committed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that this commitment does not allow GCC countries to increase cigarette duty by over 100 percent, which is already implemented. “In order to increase it, we have to be involved in negotiation with more than 120 member countries of the WTO,” he said.

He added that a meeting of GCC ministries of finance, custom and health is to be held next month to discuss the issue.

Newspapers in the Kingdom recently reported a SR1 increase on packets of cigarette, an increase of 20 percent. Asa’ad Jawhar, an analyst, said the slight increase would not stop smokers from buying cigarettes.

“The price is not high enough to discourage smokers from buying cigarettes. If we compare the prices of cigarettes in the Kingdom with European countries and the United States, we will find that our prices are 50 percent cheaper than the price in EU countries and the US. In Italy, for example, the price of a pack of cigarettes is the equivalent of SR23,” he said.

“There is no proper action being taken in the Kingdom to put an end to smoking,” he said, “most decisions on issues are not implemented. For example, the decision to ban smoking in public places has still not been implemented. The increase in the price of cigarettes has not been enough to stop minors from buying them. Moreover, the media has not played a role in increasing awareness about the dangers of smoking.” He added that smokers are ill and addicted to tobacco.

Suleiman Al-Sabbi, secretary general of the Anti-Smoking Society in Riyadh, said the increase is a result of the economic situation. He added that huge awareness campaigns have been undertaken to highlight the dangers of smoking, yet the implementation of rules banning smoking is very difficult. He further urged the authorities to increase cigarette duty by at least 50 percent.

“There are studies conducted in the UK and the US that said a 100 percent increase in the price of cigarettes will reduce the number of smokers by 30 percent. I know one person who stopped smoking because of the SR1 increase,” he added.

© Arab News 16 October 2009

Seeing cigarettes for sale increases the likelihood of a person smoking within a four hour period by more than 25 per cent, research has revealed today (9 Oct) at the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference in Darwin.

Researchers from Macquarie University, led by Associate Professor Suzan Burton, examined the factors that lead to smokers relapsing, with findings confirming beliefs that tobacco displays are a major barrier for smokers trying to kick the habit.

“Tobacco displays at point of purchase are a key reason that smokers attempting to quit are unsuccessful,” Professor Burton said. “Even if the person doesn’t actually buy a packet of cigarettes, they are still 25 per cent more likely to smoke within any four hour period if they see a tobacco display.

“Our research also suggests that people who are trying to quit are particularly likely to be influenced to smoke and to buy cigarettes after seeing them displayed within the first month of quitting.”

Associate Professor Burton said the research also revealed some interesting buying habits of smokers.

“It is well known that supermarkets are the most common place for people to buy cigarettes. However, people who are trying to quit smoking and lighter smokers are more likely than regular smokers to buy cigarettes while out in pubs and clubs. This is due to the fact that they can see the cigarettes for sale, see other people smoking and are usually drinking alcohol – factors that combine to create a very challenging situation for a recent quitter.”

Cancer Council Australia Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Olver, said point-of-sale displays of tobacco products were one of the last remaining forms of tobacco advertising and it was critical that they were removed.

“Currently the ACT, NSW, Tasmania and Victoria have all legislated to end tobacco displays in shops, with the legislation varying slightly from state to state,” Professor Olver said.

“Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland are all making moves toward implementing a ban, but South Australia is yet to show its support for the measure.”

“The evidence is clear – removing tobacco displays is a key priority for tobacco control.”

09 October 2009

PETALING JAYA: British American Tobacco Malaysia has revised its cigarette prices following the Government’s decision to increase excise on cigarettes by 1 sen per stick last week.

The following new cigarette prices take effect from today, October 5 2009, the company said in a statement:

Dunhill Fine Cut 20s range RM 10.00
Dunhill 20s range RM 9.30
Dunhill 14s range RM 6.90

Kent 20s range RM 9.30
Kent 14s range RM 6.90
Pall Mall Plain 20s RM 9.70
Pall Mall 20s range RM 7.80
Pall Mall 18s range RM 7.00
Pall Mall 14s range RM 5.80
Pall Mall 25s range RM 9.70
Benson & Hedges 20s RM 9.30
Benson & Hedges 14s RM 6.90

It’s getting harder and harder out there for a smoker.
Now, you can’t get a public job if you take a puff.

The Palm Beach Tax Collector’s Office announced Wednesday that it won’t consider anyone who regularly uses tobacco products for a job with the government agency. Now we’re not legal beagles around here, but that sounds a tad bit like blatant discrimination.

Just think, if such a policy was in place in Chicago, President Barack Obama would be on the unemployment line instead of campaigning for the Olympics.

Tax Collector Ann Gannon says it is a health insurance issue and she is trying to cut down on the costs associated with employing smokers.

“There’s not much to be said for smoking — it’s a major cause of respiratory and circulatory disease, it contributes to increased insurance costs for us and the Palm Beach County taxpayers, it’s unhealthy to be around, and expensive these days,” Gannon wrote in a statement released today.

So are discrimination lawsuits.

Along with filling out that pesky criminal background check form, job applicants will also have to sign an affidavit saying that they are nonsmokers. No word if a tobacco drug screening will also be done.

Copyright © Sep 30, 2009 Nbcmiami

The single worst factor contributing to a shorter life span is smoking — 11 fewer years of life on average.

The single factor most contributing to reduction of purchases of products is raising the price.

Despite the urgings of public health advocates, Louisiana this year failed to raise its low tax rates on tobacco products. Even in Mississippi, where Gov. Haley Barbour was a longtime lobbyist for tobacco companies, the tax was raised this year.

It’s past time to raise the tax and provide an at-the-register incentive for young people not to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Smoking is one of the key negative factors in children’s health that is cited in a recent report by researchers at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center. In a 2008 survey, one in five seniors in Louisiana high schools reported having smoked cigarettes in the previous 30-day period.

The long-term costs for the public are substantial in health-care outlays over time. But the cost to individuals in disease and death is more important.

In a capitalist society, the price “signal” remains important. And many states — almost all have higher taxes on tobacco products than Louisiana — have decided to raise tobacco taxes to deter youth smoking.

Louisiana’s cigarette tax is only 36 cents per pack.

Price is important, Pennington health researcher Peter Katzmarzyk said. “I am from Canada, and we have a very healthy tax on cigarette consumption,” he told the Press Club of Baton Rouge. “This has really turned the tide. Cigarette taxes are a very useful method of changing the health status of smokers.”

The Legislature rejected proposed tobacco tax increases in 2005 and again this year. In 2011, the next time a legislative session is to be devoted to fiscal issues, we hope this trend is changed.

Sure, the state needs additional tax revenue as the impact of a sharp downturn in tax receipts. But the major issue is deterrence of a deadly and insidious habit.

Copyright © Sep 16, 2009 2theadvocate

Just two months since a $1 tax was tacked onto cigarette packs in Florida on July 1, cigarette sales have plummeted and smokers are driving into neighboring states to avoid the extra expense, Florida Today reported.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, cigarette pack sales plunged by 28% from July 2008 to July 2009 or 76.8 million packs sold this year compared to 106.6 million packs a year ago. And, that was before the tax increase began wreaking havoc on sales.

The state’s convenience stores, where most cigarettes are sold, and where tobacco makes up 34% of non-gasoline sales, are already feeling the affects of the tax, Jim Smith, head of the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association told Florida Today.

Some owners are working longer hours behind the counter and cutting employee shifts to make ends meet, and layoffs are inevitable.

“Indeed, my members in the northern part of the state have seen reduced sales of 30%,” Smith said. “You are going to see layoffs, I think that’s going to come. Sooner or later, something’s got to give.”

C-store owners noted that they are unable to compete with big chain stores, such as Wal-Mart, which have more buying power and therefore are able to offer cheaper cigarettes.

Some also are cutting back on the number of cartons they buy, as consumers are opting for individual packs of cigarettes and filtered cigars, which cost around $1.20 per pack compared with about $6 for a pack of cigarettes.

Other smokers are just driving 15-minutes to Georgia to Huds III convenience store and Texaco station in tiny Beachton, where cartons of premium cigarettes are $8 to $12 cheaper and where weekly carton sales have skyrocketed from 150 to 800 since the beginning of July.

Meanwhile, health advocates point to studies, including a 1998 market analysis by Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., that show that for every 10% increase in price, overall smoking declines by 4% and tobacco use among kids drops 7%.

Before the July tax increase, Florida taxed cigarettes at 34 cents a pack, well below the national average of $1.19 and it was one of only six states that had not raised cigarette taxes in 10 years.

The new tax promises to bring in $900 million a year in new state revenue.

To make sure that Florida actually acquires that revenue, lawmakers for the first time ordered regulators to begin tracking down Internet tobacco sales. Department of Business and Professional Regulation press secretary Alexis Antonacci Lambert said administrators are hiring seven people to begin the hunt.

Copyright © September 08, 2009 Csdecisions

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Under a proposed health measure in Australia, a pack of cigarettes would increase to $20 ($16.75US) per pack, putting pricing in-line with Britain and Ireland, the Herald Sun reports.

Anti-smoking advocacy groups, whose concerns focus on consumer health, have applauded such a scenario.

“Increasing prices is one of the most effective measures that government can take to reduce tobacco consumption,” the Preventative Health Taskforce said.

Australia’s government has yet to support the proposal and is taking a cautious approach as it assesses the nation’s tax system.

“I don’t intend to tip my hand one way or the other,” said Australia’s Treasurer Wayne Swan. “These are all important matters that are being considered through the Henry Review.”

Opponents to the proposal include tobacco manufacturers, who urge the government to consider smokers who manage a budget and have made an informed choice to smoke.”

Other tobacco-related news in Australia:

* Health advocates are urging legal action against tobacco companies to recover smoking-related health-care costs.
* A ban on smoking in prisons has been proposed.
* Making smoking in films a classifiable element that restricts viewership has been proposed.

Pro-tobacco groups spent a record $1.25 million dollars lobbying in the first half of 2009, according to David Ahrens, UW Carbone Cancer Center researcher. Ahrens says this was the first time the “million dollar threshold” has been crossed. The money was used to fight the statewide public smoking ban and cigarette tax proposals, both of which became law, but he says pro-tobacco groups did score a victory.

“At the end of the session, the funding for the tobacco control programs was slashed by 55 percent,” says Ahrens.

These control programs help maintain the state’s free tobacco quit line, as well as tobacco prevention for youth and adults.

Drawing from Government Accountability Board records, Ahrens says pro-tobacco lobbyists outspent the total of opposing groups like Smoke Free Wisconsin and the American Cancer Society by 7-to-1.

Copyright © 2009 Wrn

Abdul Qadar of the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, which is funded by the tobacco industry, is correct in saying that there should be a focus on tackling tobacco smuggling, but he is confusing that problem with the issue of removing promotional displays of cigarettes. There is no evidence to link the two from countries that have already banned displays.
A display ban is about stopping advertising to young people, not stopping adult smokers buying tobacco or shops selling it. Every year in Scotland 15,000 young people take up smoking, and tobacco kills half of its long-term users.

Tobacco marketing has a disproportionate impact on young people. It is strongly correlated with an increased risk of smoking initiation, and young people, unlike adult smokers, tend to smoke the most visible and actively marketed brands of cigarettes. Tobacco companies have invested heavily in packaging and increasing their brands since advertising was banned.

Stopping the promotion of cigarettes to children is part of a package of measures aimed at preventing young people from starting to smoke. Alongside that are new sanctions including large fines of up to £20,000 for unregistered sellers, aimed at clamping down on illegal sales. All these measures will support Scotland’s health in future and should be welcomed.

Copyright © 2009 Scotsman

Berlin – A German Catholic bank that was revealed to have made indirect investments in companies producing weapons, tobacco and the contraceptive pill said Monday that it had disposed of the ‘ethically dubious’ shares in question.

Pax Bank, a Cologne-based church investment firm, was revealed by a report in the Spiegel news magazine on Saturday to have been involved in investments worth some 1.6 million euros (2.3 million dollars) in companies including defence giant BAE Systems, British American Tobacco and US pharmaceutical firm Wyeth.

‘We made the sale order first thing this morning,’ the bank’s director Winfried Hinzen told the German Press Agency dpa.

Pax, which had made the investments in conjunction with another church financial organization, Liga Bank, said that the day-to-day running of their investments had been under the control of Union Investment, an asset management firm.

The bank apologized for the ‘error.’

Clients of Pax are predominantly ecclesiastical institutions, or those with links to churches such as religious orders, hospitals and charities as well as theology students.


Copyright © 2009 Monstersandcritics

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq continue to chop along in negative territory. The Dow actually made its way into positive ground, but its stay there was short lived.

Early gains by tech stocks and financial stocks have been totally erased. They are now down 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively.

Consumer staples stocks are showing strength, though. The sector is up 0.1% and is the only one to trade in positive territory. Tobacco is underpinning the move as Reynolds American (RAI 40.99, +0.63), Altria (MO 17.18, +0.19), Lorillard (LO 69.52, +1.09), and Philip Morris (PM 43.90, +0.60) sport enviable gains.

A new European Union survey released today has revealed that consumer price levels in Ireland last year were found to be the second highest in Europe, with alcohol and tobacco prices here by far the most expensive in the 27-member bloc.

Drinkers and smokers faced prices a staggering 84% higher than the EU average, according to the survey by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities.

Overall, Denmark was the most expensive across the EU 27, indexing at +41% above the EU average, followed by Ireland (+27% above EU average) and then Finland (+27%). Bulgaria was found to be the country with the lowest prices.

The figures are taken from a basket of goods including food, alcohol and tobacco, clothing, consumer electronics, personal transport equipment and hotels and dining out.

Food in Ireland was found to be the second most expensive in the EU (27% above the average), behind Denmark and just above Finland.

Copyright © 2009 Breakingnews

Psychiatric issues in patients using anti-smoking drugs has led the Food and Drug Administration to call for the agency’s strongest warning, a “Black Box” warning. Chantix, a smoking cessation drug made by Pfizer, Inc., and Zyban, a product of GlaxoSmithKline PLC, are to undergo additional testing and studies to more accurately rate the possibility of depression and suicidal thoughts occurring while taking the drugs for the purpose of quitting smoking.

Regardless of these possible side effects, however, the benefits may outweigh the risks. Smoking can lead to various cancers, stroke, heart attack, emphysema, and pulmonary disease. Smokers and their doctors should look at the health benefits of using a smoking cessation drug, taking into account previous psychiatric problems. Currently, Chantix has a warning against driving or operating heavy machinery, as well as a ban on use by air traffic controllers and airline pilots. These warning were the result of previous reports of injuries due to blackouts.

Copyright © 2009 Examiner

Some people only know Elizabethtown resident William Grimes as the Can Man. He earned the name by riding his bike around town picking up cans. But 69-year-old Grimes, also known as “Doll,” might have to hold off on making his rounds after a hit-and-run damaged his bike.

A collection jar sits on a counter at Danny’s Tobacco, 615 N. Main St. in Elizabethtown, asking customers to donate money to the Can Man.

Sherri Fow, co-owner and co-manager of Danny’s Tobacco, said the money can help Grimes get a new bike after the hit-and-run destroyed his other one.

A white Oldsmobile hit Grimes on July 4 on Main Street, according to a statement issued by Elizabethtown Police, who responded to the incident.

The Oldsmobile fled the scene, but Sgt. Danny Kelly noticed on Sunday a car matching a description of the car from the hit-and-run, according to the statement.

The car’s owner, 20-year-old Joshua S. Williams, of Louisville, admitted to driving the vehicle, police said. According to the statement, Williams said he panicked and fled.

A warrant will be sought for Williams for leaving the scene of an accident.

Grimes had minor injuries, but Fow said he refused to go to a hospital.

Grimes could not be reached for comment.

Fow said she felt bad when she heard the news of the hit-and-run.

“I couldn’t do what he does,” she said. “I don’t care how hot it is, he rides this whole neighborhood.”

She said Grimes saved up money he got from recycling cans to buy the bike he was riding during the hit-and-run.

Grimes comes into Danny’s Tobacco some mornings to get biscuits, Fow said.

She said she’s known Grimes for at least 15 years, and while he doesn’t say much, almost everyone in the neighborhood knows of the Can Man, and many of them save cans for him.

Even though the community may not know him well, that hasn’t stopped them from putting money in the Can Man donation jar.

Fow said one customer put $25 in the jar.

Other $5 and $10 bills were mixed among $1 bills and coins in the jar Friday.

Fow said she might deliver the money to Grimes herself, to make sure he gets it.

Marianne Hale can be

reached at (270) 505-1740.
Copyright © 2009 Thenewsenterprise

Zimbabwe’s annual tobacco auctions this year were notable for record prices and the second smallest crop in more than 50 years. Thousands of new small-scale tobacco farmers failed to grow tobacco this season because neither commercial banks nor the government had money to lend for inputs such as fertilizer.

Zimbabwe’s 2009 tobacco crop will earn about $160 million this selling season. The average price was about $3.60 a kilogram. Most tobacco will be exported to Europe with China now also an important buyer.

About 50 million kilograms was produced, more than 80 percent of that grown by the few remaining white farmers on the tiny portions of land left untouched by President Robert Mugabe’s ongoing seizures of white-owned land.

Until land invasions began in 2000, large-scale white tobacco growers and growing numbers of black farmers produced more than 220 million kilograms of tobacco each year. This was the bedrock of Zimbabwe’s economy and the country’s largest foreign currency earner.

Farm invasions cause uncertainty

This year, as farm seizures were stepped up by those loyal to President Robert Mugabe in the wake of the formation of the unity government, cash strapped banks refused loans to farmers. The banks said the current wave of farm invasions resulted in uncertainty about the farmers’ tenure on their land, and that the farms or potential harvests were therefore no surety for the lenders.

Consequently these farmers sold their crops to foreign buyers who fund their inputs, such as fertilizer. Andy Ferreira, outgoing president of the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association says it is a pity the economy is so difficult, because commercial farmers forced to forward sell their crops are getting about 20 percent less than prices on the auction floors in Harare – the largest in the world.

He said until land tenure was settled and banks felt secure to lend money to commercial farmers, this system would continue, to the detriment of Zimbabwe’s foreign earnings.

Nowadays, only small-scale farmers sell at the auction floors, and their numbers dropped to about 8,000 from 15,000; many who would normally be selling say they were unable to raise loans to buy inputs.

A small-scale producer in northern Zimbabwe, said his output was affected this season because he could not borrow enough money to buy inputs. Ideally, he would like to double his output.

“I am at Karoi, Hurungwe, I am an old farmer. Last year it was better than this year; and last year I [planted] one hectare [and] I produced more [kilograms] than this season. I haven’t any inputs,” he said.

Some small-scale farmers now growing tobacco were given white-owned land by President Robert Mugabe.

New farmers satisfied with prices

One new farmer said he had a fair season and wants to plant more, but says he needs a loan for his next crop. He says he grew one hectare of Virginia tobacco, sold it on auction and was paid well.

“Last year it was similar to this year,” he said. “For this year it is good quality tobacco. Prices for last year and this year [are] similar. Just because, this year according to my tobacco, it is selling well. The sales are really quite good. So far I have sold 700 kg for $3.69 [per kilogram] [and] I am going to plant more.”

Despite increased anti-smoking laws in many parts of the world, and declining numbers of smokers, Ferreira says Zimbabwe’s tobacco is still prized by top manufacturers of cigarettes.

Many commercial growers have already planted seedbeds for next year’s tobacco crop despite not knowing if they will still be there to reap the crop for the 2010 selling season.
Copyright © 2009 Voanews