A tobacco ban ordinance is expected to top agendas of Brandon aldermen at their April 5 meeting.

If the smoke-free ordinance gets the nod, Brandon will be the first Rankin County city and 33rd in Mississippi to bar smoking in public places.

“It’s a bad habit,” Ward 5 Alderwoman Yvonne Bianchi said. “If our ordinance helps anyone, it’s worth it.”

The health benefits of smoke-free areas has propelled this legislation, Mayor Tim Coulter said.

“Basically, we’re planning to ban all smoking in retail, restaurant and grocery businesses,” Coulter said. “Smoking areas may be set aside for the employees if they’re at least 20 feet from the building. Also, these areas must be in the rear of the building away from the front entrances where customers and patrons pass.”

Coulter said many citizens have come forward requesting a ban of smoking in public places. Aldermen plan to discuss the ordinance in this week’s work session, Coulter said. It likely will be on the April 5 agenda.

Tawni Lovorn, of Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Rankin, Scott and Simpson counties, said her group has done presentations to a handful of municipalities in those three counties.

“This is a great example of city leadership taking on a controversial issue in order to protect the health of the citizens and visitors of Brandon,” Lovorn said.

“Brandon would be the first of all the cities this coalition serves to go smoke-free, and we feel that it will help other cities do so, as well.”

Such an ordinance prevents numerous health risks, Lovorn said.

“Tobacco use remains the single-largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States,” she said. “Each year in Mississippi, smoking accounts for an estimated 5,250 premature deaths, including 550 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of second-hand smoke. Sixty-nine thousand Mississippi kids now under 18 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.”

Rankin County approved a measure last year barring smoking and tobacco use in county buildings and county-owned vehicles.

Although it raised some eyebrows at first, Board of Supervisors President Greg Wilcox said the measure was important.

“Nonsmokers don’t have a say-so unless we make some rules and regulations,” Wilcox said. “We make sure people don’t get second-hand smoke in public facilities.”

Two cities in neighboring Madison County – Ridgeland and Flora – have adopted smoking bans, and Madison has a voluntary ban since its restaurants opted to go smoke-free on their own. Jackson and Clinton also have smoke-free ordinances.

“I really believe that the smoking ban in Ridgeland will have a very positive effect on our citizens,” Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said.

BOSTON, – General Electric Co (GE.N) is known for exporting American products like washing machines and jet engines, and the biggest U.S. conglomerate is getting ready to ship out another American trend — the outdoor smoking ban.

The world’s largest maker of jet engines this week told employees that it plans to ban smoking on all GE property — both indoors and out — worldwide starting in March 2011.

The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company already prohibits indoor smoking at about 80 percent of its 2,000 facilities globally. The new policy aims to extend that ban to apply to all GE property, meaning an assembly-line worker could not have a cigarette while walking from the factory gate to the door.

“We’ve made a commitment to making our employees healthier and it’s a little bit of walking the talk,” said GE spokeswoman Sue Bishop. “It’s due to the overwhelming evidence of the ill-effects of smoking.”

Smoking — a leading cause of cancer — has become increasingly unpopular in the United States in recent decades, with many businesses and municipalities banning smoking indoors. Some U.S. universities, hospitals and parks have banned smoking outdoors.

Last year the U.S., which is wrestling with ways to control the rising cost of health care, more than doubled the national tax on cigarettes to $1 per pack. That pressured the U.S. sales of Altria Group Inc (MO.N), which makes Marlboro cigarettes, and Reynolds American Inc (RAI.N), which makes Camel.

The American Cancer Society estimates that smoking costs the U.S. economy $196 billion a year in medical costs and productivity losses due to smoking-related deaths.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s inability to quit smoking made headlines in the United States after his first official physical exam last week.

SMOKING RATES HIGHER ABROAD

While smoking has been on the decline in the United States for half a century, about half of GE’s 304,000 employees work outside its home country, where smoking rates can be higher.

Almost one in five Americans — 19.8 percent of the population — smokes, according to data from the World Health Organization.

But smoking is far more common in some emerging markets that GE regards as key to its future growth. For instance, in China, about 31.4 percent of the population — and 57.4 percent of men — smoke; in India 57 percent of men and 10.8 percent of women smoke.

Smoking is also more common in Western Europe, with 23.2 percent of Germans and 25 percent of the French smoking.

GE is not alone in banning smoking at its outdoor facilities in the United States. Drugmaker Abbott Laboratories Inc (ABT.N) prohibits employees and visitors from lighting up at any of its campuses in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Some U.S. companies have taken anti-tobacco measures even further. In 2005, lawn care products maker Scott’s Miracle-Gro Co (SMG.N) said it would no longer hire people in the United States who smoked and banned its employees from smoking on or off the job in the U.S. states where it can do so legally.

The company today estimates that less than 10 percent of its 8,000 employees use tobacco products, down from more than 25 percent before the policy, said Jim King, a senior vice president at the Marysville, Ohio-based company.

The Cleveland Clinic, a major Midwestern hospital, in 2007 said it would no longer hire smokers.

GE’s ban — which also applies to chewing tobacco and other so-called smokeless products — will be subject to local laws and labor agreements, and does not apply to employees’ behavior off GE property, Bishop said.

To give its salaried U.S. employees a further incentive to quit smoking, GE this year adopted a two-tier insurance program that requires smokers to pay an additional $625 per year in insurance premiums.
Policy takes effect March 1, 2011
By Scott Malone

The complete ban on smoking in public areas, due to come into force on June 1 2010, could be postponed until the start of 2011, Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov told private national broadcaster Darik radio on February 22 2010.

The decision, announced by MPs from the ruling GERB party, who came forward with amendments to the public health bill just days earlier, was meant to help Bulgaria’s restaurant and hotel business recover from the economic crisis, Dyankov said.

“I hope that this delay in enforcing a complete ban on smoking in public places will be just temporary because the trend, not just in Europe but in other places, is for banning smoking in public areas,” said Dyankov who has always expressed hostility towards smoking.

He said that postponing the ban was not a step backwards for the ruling majority in Parliament. “If the situation was normal and the economy was doing well, then we might have not taken this decision. Personally, I think that MPs have taken the right decision for the moment,” he said.

Dyankov said that Bulgaria could be out of the crisis by the end of 2010.

The full public smoking ban was approved by the previous government in May 2009. It is supposed to ban smoking everywhere in Bulgaria, incorporating all restaurants, pubs, clubs, cafes and bars.

On February 18 2010, however, GERB MPs said they were ready with amendments aimed at qualifying the full ban on smoking because it could undermine Bulgaria’s tourism and restaurant industry.

The news triggered negative reactions from NGOs and civil organisations but was supported by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov.

The amendments will be more flexible to enable restaurant and bar owners to comply with the ban.

The amendments stipulate that owners of bars and restaurants with an area of up to 100 sq m would be able to determine for themselves whether their premises should be non-smoking areas or not. Owners of facilities with an area of more than 100 sq m, however, will have to provide sections for non-smokers that have no direct link to the smokers’ areas.

The Seneca Nation of Indians is publicly lobbying against a proposed federal regulation that it fears would severely damage Indian-operated cigarette sales and manufacturing operations.

Billboards along the I-190 in downtown Buffalo make pleas to Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand to vote against the federal Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act bill that the Seneca Nation and other Indian tribes feel will all but shut down mail-order cigarette sales. If enacted, the bill could see more than 1,000 people locally lose their jobs, the Senecas say.

Many feel the bill is being championed by major cigarette manufacturers as an attempt to shut down or severely limited Indian-operated cigarette businesses.

“We applaud the goal of halting rogue tobacco smuggling, but it’s wrong to wipe out legitimate jobs in the process,” said Barry Snyder, Seneca Nation president. “Tobacco trade is a key component of the Seneca Nation economy.”

Snyder said if the PACT legislation is approved, the Seneca Nation could lose as much as 65 percent of its import/export revenue from cigarette and tobacco sales. Proceeds from those sales help fund health and education programs for the Seneca Nation.

Snyder noted the Seneca Nation uses state-of-the-art stamping and enforcement measures that ensure compliance with a rigorous set of internal regulations. Among the regulations are: retailer authorization, minimum pricing standards and a ban on sales to minors.

The Seneca Nation also works closely with Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Enforcement on all matters related to cigarette sales.

Besides the billboards, the Seneca Nation’s Foreign Relations Committee has been working with lobbyists on rallying defeat for the PACT act.

“The PACT Act is being portrayed as a tool to fight cigarette smuggling,” Snyder said. “In reality, it will kill legitimate, treaty-sanctioned Native American commerce, causing significant economic harm.”

Pamekasan:Cigarette entrepreneurs have refused ratification of the Tobacco Control bill. They said that the bill could kill small cigarette factories and cause the dismissal of workers.
“Currently, with 35 percent duty, many factories are closing. A 65 percent duty will make it worse,” said Secretary of Handmade Cigarette Entrepreneurs Association in Pamekasan, East Java, Heru Budi Paryitno, yesterday.

Nowadays, 150 handmade cigarette factories in Pamekasan employ thousands of workers, most of them female.
If the bill is ratified, the number of those unemployed will increase.

“I consider that this is a made to order bill, created in the name of health,” said Heru.

In the Tobacco Control draft bill, factories are not allowed to promote and advertise their products in the media and have to pay a 65 percent duty. “This amount could only be paid by big factories,” he said.

Limitation on tobacco production could also harm farmers, because tobacco revenuse are greater than other commodities such as rice, corn and ground nuts.
“In Madura, tobacco harvests are considered money harvests,” he said.

Tobacco production in Pamekasan has so far amounted to 20,000 tons in 2009, from 32,000 hectares of land with duty dividends of Rp18 billion per year.

Mohammad Iksan, the owner of cigarette factory Mitra Lima, Malang , said that the bill will cause thousands of people to become unemployed and harm the regional government.

The Malang municipal government, for example, receive Rp17.6 billion. This is a 400 percent increase compared to the 2008 revenue which amounted to Rp4 billion.

The Head of Legal and Organization Bureau of the Health Department Budi Sampurna said that although it is too late for the government to ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), it will control tobacco with this bill.“Even though it (the FCTC) is still not ratified, we still have the Tobacco Control bill which is already included in the national legislation program,” said Budi in Bandung yesterday.
The Tobacco Control bill adopts important articles in FCTC.

The Deputy Head of Commission IX of the House of Representatives Irgan Chairul Mahfiz said that they await the decision of the Legislative Bureau (Baleg) concerning the Tobacco Control bill ratification. “We already proposed to Baleg that we wait for 2010,” Irgan told Tempo

Irgan assured that the bill would not hurt tobacco farmers. “We will invite tobacco farmers and others related to this business to come to the House of Representatives to discuss the bill,” he said.

Lansing — Michigan will become the 38th state to ban smoking in public places on May 1, following passage Thursday of the prohibition by the House and Senate and a vow from Gov. Jennifer Granholm to sign the bill.

The long-awaited smoking ban makes exceptions for the gaming floors at the three Detroit casinos, cigar bars, specialty tobacco shops, home offices and motor vehicles, including commercial trucks. The legislation won overwhelming passage in both chambers after more than a year of haggling over whether there should be exemptions.

Smoking will be banned in workplaces and food service establishments, including bars, restaurants, food courts at shopping malls, cafeterias and private clubs.

Violators face fines of $100 for a first offense and $500 for subsequent ones.

“We’re finally dealing with the secondhand smoke issue that has plagued this state for many years,” said Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, who has been pushing a smoking ban for most of a decade.

Granholm called the move a “terrific gift to Michigan.” But not everyone was happy — especially bar owners and the 20.4 percent of residents who light up in Michigan. Nationwide, 18.4 percent do.

“It’s stupid. It violates smokers’ rights,” said Drew Dobt, as he smoked a cigar in downtown Detroit. “That’s why you go (out) — to smoke and drink.”

An amendment calling for a total ban was rejected in the Senate because the House has opposed that version.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, called the measure a “blatant overreach by government into the private business environment.” And Lance Binoniemi, president of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, said it will cost thousands of jobs.

“Michigan taxpayers will be outraged when they hear our elected officials passed a smoking ban that they have acknowledged will cripple our hospitality industry,” Binoniemi said, noting that about a third of the state’s bars and restaurants — about 6,000 — have already voluntarily gone smoke-free.

Ban expected to save money

The state also could lose about $27.5 million in tobacco tax revenue from smokers who quit because of the ban, but will save money on medical costs, according to a House Fiscal Agency analysis.

Over time, the ban will reduce smoking by 5 percent to 20 percent; and the state will save $6.4 million for every percentage point in Medicaid costs that are reduced as a result of the dropoff in smoking, according to the analysis.

Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, a physician, said cutting smoking is “probably the biggest thing we can do to become a healthier state.” Polls show 70 percent of residents support the ban, said Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks.

“When it comes down to it, it’s just something that makes sense for Michigan,” said Susan Schechter, directory of advocacy for the American Lung Association Michigan chapter. “It’s long overdue.”

Loophole battle emerged

The ban faced opposition from the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, Detroit bar and restaurant owners and some lawmakers who object to an exemption allowing smoking in the three Detroit casinos.

Proponents of the loophole argued the casinos needed to compete with tribal facilities, where the law wouldn’t apply.

Jamaine Dickens, a spokesman for MGM Grand Casino in Detroit, said the exemption prevented 2,100 layoffs at the city’s casinos.

Although restaurant owners objected, the ban could help business because nonsmokers will go out more often, said Jelinek, who shepherded the bill through the Senate.

John Colbert, an owner of Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, agreed. He said he often gets calls from those who ask if the landmark jazz club is smoke-free.

“Health is an issue,” Colbert said. “People who don’t come now, will probably come.”

Others seemed resigned to the ban.

“We fought for so many years, I guess we have lost the fight and need to deal with it and move on,” said Toby Brown of Pinz Bowling Center in South Lyon, who worries the law will drive folks away from night-time league bowling. “We knew it was going to happen sooner or later.”
December 11. 2009, BY Mark Hornbeck and Christine Macdonald
Detnews

The bill, sponsored by Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora, the senator representing Lagos East Constituency, sought to regulate and control the manufacture, sales, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products in the country. While the bill had no provision for forcefully closing down tobacco factories, it attempted to control tobacco consumption so as to reduce the deaths, ill-health, social, economic, and environmental costs associated with tobacco use.

It also sought to domesticate the World Health Organisation – initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which has already been ratified by 167 countries.

The FCTC is an internationally co-ordinated response to combat the tobacco epidemic. It tackles tobacco industry marketing campaigns executed in different countries and cigarette smuggling, often co-ordinated in many countries by the tobacco industries.

Mr. Oluwafemi said tobacco companies and their agents finally debunked their initial tales of massive job losses, up to 500, 000, if the country implements effective tobacco control laws during the public hearing.

“In fact, the British American Tobacco Company of Nigeria, which controls over 82 percent of the Nigerian cigarette market, disclosed that it has only 850 staff. The Association of Tobacco Wholesalers and Association of Tobacco Retailers put their combined strength at about 4, 000,” Mr. Oluwafemi said.

Great expectations

According to Mr. Oluwafemi, the NTCB 2009 will not suffer implementation problems that previous public health bills have suffered.

“We’d learnt our lessons from those bills that there were no clear provisions about who is going to enforce what? And in cases where they overlap, who does what? When you look at this bill clearly, it has everything well defined,” he said.

On October 20, the Osun State House of Assembly passed the Osun State Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Bill, 2009, making her the first and only state to pass the bill yet.

Mr. Oluwafemi said though Osun State had made more progress than the national bill, the enthusiasm shown during the public hearing by members of the public and the parliamentarians would enhance the speedy passage of the bill.

“We don’t have any doubt that the people in the senate, from their submissions during the preliminary and second hearing of this bill, will give Nigerians a strong public health bill,” the environmentalist said.

By Ben Ezeamalu
October 23, 2009 234next

A tobacco control bill proposed by the government to ban smoking in public places and set restrictions on its use was sent to committee for further review today.

All 55 MPs who participated voted in favour of sending the bill to the social affairs committee.

Presenting the bill at a previous sitting, Health Minister Aminath Jameel said the dangers and health risks of tobacco were well established and the habit led to extreme suffering.

“When I looked at the statistics of our country, I see cancer, one of the most painful of diseases. In 2004, 40 people passed away. In 2008, the number of people who died from different types of cancer increased to 79,” she said.

The number of people who died of heart diseases increased from 192 people in 2004 to 403 in 2008, she added.

The bill states its purpose is to keep children away from tobacco use, provide information to smokers to make responsible decisions and stop advertisement and promotion of cigarettes.

The second clause of the bill states that everyone has the right to protection from passive smoking.

If passed, smoking will be banned in workplaces, public places such as parks, cinemas and conference halls, public transport, teashops, restaurants, cafes, education institutes and hospitals.

Further, selling cigarettes to minors will be an offence and cigarettes will only be sold in packs.

It also places restrictions on the advertisement and promotion of cigarettes.

A one-year period following ratification will be given to draft regulations and enforce the laws.

The legislation also calls for the formation of a national council for tobacco control to be chaired by the health minister.

In 2004, Maldives acceded to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires certain regulations to be enforced.

Draconian

During the debate that spanned two sittings, although most MPs supported the legislation, some MPs said the provisions were “too harsh” and should not be implemented abruptly.

Several MPs said the bill read like it was intended to ban tobacco rather than control its use.

Ihavandhoo MP Ahmed Abdullah of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Funadhoo MP Abdul Raheem Abdullah of the opposition People’s Alliance argued that specifying fines to range between Rf500 (US$39) and Rf100,000 (US$7,800) was not sensible.

Some opposition MPs, such as Hanimadhoo MP Mohamed Mujthaz and Mulaku MP Abdullah Yamin, criticised the bill for being poorly researched and proposed just for the sake of it.

Kulhudhufushi South MP Mohamed Nasheed, an independent, noted that one-third of all deaths in the Maldives were due to illnesses caused by smoking.

If current trends continue, he added, the WHO estimated the number would rise to two-thirds by 2030.

Several MPs said cigarette-smoking was a gateway to drug use, noting the price of cigarettes in the Maldives was the lowest in the region.

Hithadhoo North MP Mohamed Aslam proposed doubling import duties for cigarettes.

Addressing MPs’ concerns, the health minister said editorial issues in the bill could be resolved at committee stage.

Many countries in the world enforce similar laws such as those proposed in the bill, she said, adding that it would be difficult to prevent children from taking up smoking.

By Ahmed Naish, 19 October 2009

Labour MPs will tomorrow rebel against a government anti-smoking initiative that they fear will drive many small shops out of business.

They will defy Labour whips by voting against a plan to outlaw the display in all stores of cigarettes, which would have to be kept out of customers’ sight.

Westminster sources say that about one in 10 government backbenchers are preparing to vote against the relevant clause in the health bill when it comes before the House of Commons for its third and final reading.

They have been swayed by representatives of small retailers arguing that the ban will threaten the future of convenience stores and newsagents by boosting sales of illicit tobacco and increasing supermarkets’ commercial dominance.

Some ministers are known to sympathise with the concerns being raised about the point-of-sale ban and fear that such a move, especially in a recession, could be unwise and unpopular. However, health ministers say it will prove a key weapon in their efforts to “de-normalise” tobacco, reduce the number of smokers and build on the success of the 2007 ban on smoking in public places.

Phil Woolas, the borders and immigration minister, recently indicated his concern about the ban at a fringe meeting of Labour’s annual party conference. He told a gathering staged by the Tobacco Retailers Alliance, which is funded by the cigarette makers’ trade body, the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association: “Although it might get me sacked, I don’t agree with the point-of-sale elements on the health bill. I think they won’t do what they are meant to do and will just damage small retailers and lead to more smuggling.”

The Tyne Bridge Labour MP, David Clelland, a key figure in the rebellion, believes that if the ban becomes law “what will happen is that many small corner shops will suffer by the cost of renovating their premises and the loss of trade for a legal product, just as many pubs and clubs have closed up and down the country as a result of the total ban on smoking inside their premises”.

But the Department of Health insists that the evidence from Iceland and most provinces of Canada, who already have such a ban, shows that a ban on displaying cigarettes in shops helps cut the number of people who smoke and makes it easier for smokers to quit. Ireland took the same action in July.

A health department spokeswoman said the move would protect children, and added: “Convenience stores are at the heart of our communities. We would not want to impose impractical or expensive regulations on them. Any regulations to keep tobacco out of sight in stores would not be imposed on small shopkeepers until 2013 to give them time to get ready.”

There is another flashpoint around the bill’s plan to curb youth smoking by restricting access to tobacco vending machines in pubs. It would compel bar staff to check the age of someone wanting to buy cigarettes before operating the machine with a remote control. But many landlords think the plan is unworkable, especially when staff are busy, and some MPs and health organisations such as the British Heart Foundation and Cancer Research UK are pressing for a ban. The Holyrood government has announced plans to do so in Scotland.

Ian McCartney, a former cabinet minister, has given his former colleagues a headache by tabling an amendment calling for total withdrawal, and many MPs — including Conservatives such as shadow health minister Mike Penning — are behind it. Sources at Westminster argue that that clause of the bill, and McCartney’s amendment, may be taken as a free vote in order to prevent the government suffering a defeat on one of its own major bills.

McCartney said that cumbersome, partial controls on vending machines would still allow under-18s to obtain cigarettes. “We don’t allow children to buy alcohol, fireworks or solvents in vending machines, so why should they be able to get cigarettes from them? It’s a loophole in efforts to ensure that the law which says that only those over 18 can buy cigarettes is upheld.”

Denis Campbell Guardian, 11 October 2009

LOUISVILLE, KY – A new bill making its way through the Canadian Parliament has Kentucky burley tobacco growers fearing for their business, the Courier-Journal reports.

The bill, “The Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act,” passed the Senate Social Affairs, Science, and Technology Committee last week on a voice vote and awaits final action in the Canadian Senate. It is intended to ban flavored tobacco products in Canada, a measure that Kentucky’s burley growers are worried will end their product’s export to Canada.

Burley is one of three kinds of tobacco mixed with additives for blended tobacco. Kentucky lawmakers have written to American and Canadian officials to appeal on behalf of the burley farmers.

Eighty-five percent of U.S. burley is exported, so the implications of the Canadian action and similar actions by other nations are enormous to Kentucky’s burley industry, the lawmakers stressed. And despite warnings that the legislation could close the Rothmans, Benson & Hedges cigarette plant in Quebec where blended tobacco is used, the Canadian Senate did not alter any provisions of the bill.

A Rothmans representative said that the blended cigarettes in question do not have a flavored taste, the target of the legislation.

Northern tourist town Ha Long City will tell its smokers to butt out, particularly in public areas. Ha Long will become the country’s second smoke-free city thanks to a project launched on September 26 by U.S.-based Campaign for Tobacco – Free Kids in the city.

Ha Long, in northern Quang Ninh Province, is home to UNESCO-listed Ha Long Bay, one of the major tourist destinations in northern Vietnam.

The US$284,500 project is being run by the U.S. organization and the Vietnam Union of Sciences and Technology Associations and aims to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of smoking, second-hand smoke and establishing a smoking ban at public spaces by imposing heavy penalties on violators.

Viet Nam is one of 164 countries that have ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, making it one of the most widely embraced treaties in United Nation’s history.

According to the WHO, Vietnam has one of the world’s highest smoking rates, with 56.1 percent of men and 1.8 percent of women being active smokers.

More than 40,000 Vietnamese die from smoking-related diseases each year, or quadruple the number of traffic fatalities.

New laws to end the display of tobacco in shops in Scotland are expected to pass their first parliamentary hurdle.

The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services Bill would also ban cigarette vending machines and introduce a registration scheme for retailers.

Scottish ministers said the move was needed to tackle Scotland’s smoking-related health problems.

If passed by MSPs, the legislation will go on to the next stage of parliamentary scrutiny.

The Tobacco Retailers Alliance has attacked the legislation, saying it would prove costly for shops to implement, while accusing the government of breaking its promise to help small businesses through the economic downturn.

Now that the smoke has cleared from a state law prohibiting lighting up in public places, Cheryl Singer has discovered a pleasant surprise.

Singer, the manager of Grille 31 in Mt. Pleasant, said the smoking ban has not exacted a toll on business there.

“We still have smokers who still come in here and we have an outside patio now and they go outside and smoke. Our business hasn’t changed at all. I was shocked,” Singer said.

And patrons are breathing easier since the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act took effect on Sept. 11, 2008.

“The Clean Indoor Air Act is clearly an improvement because it is saving lives and saving money in Pennsylvania,” said Joy Blankley-Meyer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco.

But anti-smoking groups are not completely satisfied because people can still smoke in some public places.

“The other way to look at it is that there are several exceptions in this law and that causes some workers in the hospitality industry not to be protected and we want everyone to be protected,” said Blankley-Meyer.

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, a Montgomery County Republican who advocated for the law, has introduced a bill to close the remaining “loopholes” allowing smoking indoors, she said.

No big bust …

Mulligan’s Clubhouse Grille in Harmar, Allegheny County, serves smokers and nonsmokers, and hasn’t had much trouble attracting either.

Smokers can go to a bottom-floor pub or an outdoor deck, while nonsmokers can enjoy a drink or a meal in the upstairs dining room and bar. Each section has its own ventilation system and entrances, as the law requires.

“There are a lot of people who say that they come because they can smoke downstairs, ” said manager Lola Nobilese. “We’re just lucky we are able to do both.”

All that was in place before the law, which requires restaurants to make modifications to completely separate smoking and nonsmoking sections and receive an exception.

Cary Rigatti, owner of the Creighton Hotel in East Deer, said he had to make slight modifications to serve smokers and nonsmokers.

He installed a door to separate the nonsmoking dining room from the smoking bar area, along with some ‘no smoking’ signs.

Rigatti prohibited smoking until the modifications were made. As a result, he said, he lost some smoking customers but thinks business has since evened out.

“One thing that happens for sure is (smokers) don’t stay as long because they get tired of walking in and out of the door,” Rigatti said. “For some of those guys, they were out of the building more than they were in the building. I think our smokers are happier about it now.”

The renovation was more extensive at The Carriage Inn in Lincoln Borough in southeastern Allegheny County, according to Judy Gibala, general manager.

The business sectioned off about 25 percent of its bar/dining room with a glass enclosure and added separate ventilation to create what employees call “the fish bowl” for smokers. The project cost about $21,000, Gibala said.

“I think it may have helped us because people tell me they come in here because they know they can smoke in here,” Gibala said. “We didn’t lose business that we would have lost to other places where they would have been able to smoke.”

Andrew Pyros, manager of The George Washington, a hotel in Washington, said smoking is only permitted in its bar, which is largely frequented by local residents.

“We had to seal the door between the restaurant and the bar,” Pyros said. “The bar is isolated — you have to get to it from the street.”

He said the renovation was not expensive.

“I think the effort to isolate the bar from the restaurant area was worth it,” Pyros said. “The bar business has increased because we have smoking.”

Smokers do not always find such welcoming accommodations.

The Elbow Room in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood has a patio for smokers to use, according to manager Keri Chitester.

“In the winter we had a little tent up on our patio so they wouldn’t get snowed on, but it wasn’t anything special,” Chitester said.

She said while the restaurant lost some smoking customers, the level of business has not changed because of the nonsmokers it attracts.

… or boom

Because most private clubs are exempt from the smoking ban, some saw shifts in their customer base.

Joanie Jerina, manager of the American Slovanic Home in Greensburg, said membership didn’t jump, but the bar saw more business from old members.

“Last year, when it went into effect, I did notice an increase in business as far as our actual members coming in more often,” Jerina said. “What I noticed, too, was people coming in earlier. Instead of coming in the door at 2 a.m., they would be coming in at 11 or 11:30 p.m. and it was the smokers, you could tell.”

Jerry Pellish, vice-president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles lodge in New Kensington, said his club is “running about the same. I don’t think we lost any to (the smoking ban), and we didn’t gain either. It hasn’t gone either way.”

He said the club’s smokers and nonsmokers seem to have a peaceful coexistence.

“They get along for the most part, nobody complains or anything,” Pellish said.

Stacy Kriedeman, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said the department has issued 1,100 warning letters to businesses for smoking violations during the past year, but only eight citations. Businesses that receive a citation are subject to a $250 fine for the first offense.

Kriedeman said the Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement has been active in enforcing the ban.

“I can tell you that according to our most recent data, the LCE has issued more than 250 citations and more than 250 warnings,” Kriedeman said.

Copyright © September 13, 2009 Pittsburghlive

SANTA CRUZ — City leaders on Tuesday unanimously approved a smoking ban along Pacific Avenue, Beach Street and West Cliff Drive, among other spots, and agreed to consider a new fee on cigarette sales in the near future.

“Our kids are picking up cigarette butts, kids are breathing cigarette smoke and it doesn’t encourage a family atmosphere,” said Councilman Ryan Coonerty, who proposed the ban along with Councilmen Mike Rotkin and Don Lane at the prompting of many in town.

The ban was warmly received by the audience of about 40 people, most of whom supported the new rules. Corinne Highland told the council she hoped it would create a cleaner environment for her 3-year-old.

“My 3-year-old picked up a cigarette butt and I shrieked,” she said.

Some encouraged the council to go even further and eventually ban all outdoor smoking in Santa Cruz.

“The current amendments are a pitiful attempt to do the right thing. You get an F-plus,” said longtime county resident Bob Yount, who first asked Councilwoman Katherine Beiers for a downtown smoking ban in 1996.

One opponent to the proposed ban wondered how big an impact the new rules will have, as cars are still polluting the air with their exhaust.

“This room used to be filled with people smoking cigarettes at City Council meetings. No one died at those meetings,” said Scott Graham of Santa Cruz. “If I were to back my car into this room and let it run for 10 minutes, everyone would be dead.”

The new ban prohibits smoking within 25 feet of public doors and windows and increases the required percentage of non-smoking hotel rooms in Santa Cruz from 75 percent to 90 percent.

It also eliminates smoking on city property, including the wharf and City Hall, its adjacent parking lots, all parks and the West Cliff Drive recreational path, benches and landscaping.

The new rules are slated to take effect Oct. 20. Police would issue only warnings for the first month and then move to citations.

The issue has grown especially important, city leaders said, after the American Lung Association of California last year gave Santa Cruz a D grade for lax efforts to control tobacco smoke in public places. That grade came despite a Community Assessment Project report that showed 90 percent of county residents do not smoke.

City leaders also asked staff to return at a future meeting with information on a potential new fee on cigarette sales inside city limits to help fund cigarette butt cleanup efforts.

# Within 25 feet of any door or window used by the public

# All of Pacific Avenue, Beach Street between the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and Third Street, West Cliff Drive

# In all city parks and on Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf

# In all outside dining areas, such as bars, coffee shops and restaurants

# The new rules also would increase the required percentage of non-smoking hotel rooms in Santa Cruz from 75 percent to 90 percent

SOURCE: City of Santa Cruz

COLUMBIA — The push to snuff out smoking in Lexington County restaurants, bars, stores and offices is set to shift to 13 municipalities.

Anti-smoking forces will urge municipal leaders to follow the County Council’s example in outlawing smoking in workplaces.

The council is expected to give final approval Tuesday to a smoking ban in businesses in unincorporated areas – home for 71 percent of the county’s estimated 250,000 residents.

Open burning will be restricted in North Myrtle Beach and possibly in other municipalities that have firefighting contracts with the city, if things go as planned.

The City Council on Monday gave initial approval to changes in its current open burning ordinance following the April 23 wildfire that destroyed 76 homes in the Barefoot Resort area.

The proposed changes, which basically would prohibit open burning in the city, come after the Highway 31 Task Force recommended that the city initiate an ordinance to ban open burning citywide. North Myrtle Beach City Councilmen Greg Duckworth and Hank Thomas led the task force.

The litany of woes in the Black Pearl is well known: years of financial crisis, an embattled annual Bikefest and vacancies at all levels in a town government that breeds perpetual controversy.

The next blow is brewing, town officials learned this week, as federal officials are conducting a six-month study that will likely lead to the closure of the 40 remaining public-housing apartments in town, eliminating a major segment of Atlantic Beach’s population.

During that time, if the town cannot come up with a concrete plan to lure those residents back, their loss could push the town to the brink of the state’s 50-resident threshhold required to keep its charter, reverting the historic Black Pearl to an unincorporated enclave of Horry County with no local control.

The chief of the State Law Enforcement Division met Thursday with the leaders of the tiny coastal town of Atlantic Beach to discuss a possible new partnership to stave off drug crime there during the coming summer months.

“Our plan is to be much more aggressive around the state, particularly when it comes to narcotics and violent-crime issues,” said SLED Director Reggie Lloyd.

Lloyd traveled to Atlantic Beach for the informal meeting with the town’s new attorney, Steve Benjamin of Columbia, a friend of his since law school. Sitting in the town’s community center, Lloyd listened as Councilman Donnell Thompson, Police Chief Randy Rizzo and Town Manager Kenneth McIver described how Atlantic Beach’s drug trade has mostly subsided.

A development plan that was supposed to revitalize Atlantic Beach with oceanfront condominium projects, restaurants and other businesses is on indefinite hold because the town does not have money to pay consultants who were working on the proposal. State legislators gave Atlantic Beach $225,000 on Nov. 20 to help finish the development plan, which has been in the works for more than two years.

The town used about $130,000 to pay past-due bills owed to Zyscovich Architects in Miami and the Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments in Georgetown. Those are the consultants who were helping Atlantic Beach create development, planning and zoning guidelines to spur growth.

It is not clear how the remaining $95,000 was spent.

It would follow a ban in force in the town of Lexington for 10½ months.

But the reluctance of some municipal leaders to take up the idea suggests anti-smoking advocates won’t get uniform limits throughout the county immediately.

“It won’t start out that way,” said Jim Bowie of Ballentine, executive director of the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative. “We may not get some smaller [municipalities].”

County economic-development officials estimate there are 15,000 businesses in the county – 8,000 in unincorporated areas and 7,000 in municipalities.

The prospect of scattered “islands” within the county where smoking is permitted bothers some municipal leaders.

“It doesn’t need to be a checkerboard,” Springdale Mayor Pat Smith said. “If that happens, it’s going to create a nightmare.”

His community, home to 3,200 people and 85 businesses, is first in line to decide whether it will adopt a ban and put it in place Jan. 1 to match the county plan.

Town leaders will listen to local reaction to the idea at a hearing Sept. 1.

Smith isn’t sure whether Springdale will adopt a ban or leave it to merchants to decide individually.

“Normally, I can tell you really confidently how it will go,” he said. “On this one, I don’t have a clue.”

Officials in tiny Pelion are leaving the choice up to merchants rather than stir up a matter they consider contentious.

“I don’t want to fight that battle,” Mayor Charles Haggard said.

Other communities are hesitant to deal with the idea soon.

“We’ve got so many other irons on the fire now, that is going to be on the back burner,” Swansea Mayor Ray Spires said.

Chapin “will get around to it, but it’s sort of a low priority,” Mayor Stan Shealy said.

Meanwhile, anti-smoking forces are trying to revive interest in Irmo and West Columbia after the initial rejections of such a ban.

Any restrictions in West Columbia probably will exempt small businesses and private bars, Mayor Bobby Horton predicted.

Officials in Gilbert, Gaston and South Congaree aren’t sure whether a ban will be considered. Those in Summit couldn’t be reached.

Still, the success at the county level is stirring support for a similar step in some communities.

Pine Ridge, a neighbor of Springdale and West Columbia, likely will “follow suit” on the county restrictions, Mayor David Busby said.

And resistance could be thawing in Batesburg-Leesville.

“It’s not a hot-button issue,” councilwoman Rita Crapps said. “Maybe it will be once Lexington County crosses the great divide.”

Officials in the town of Lexington will look at easing their restrictions to allow smoking on outdoor decks and patios to mirror county standards.

Anti-smoking forces predict municipal restrictions will occur piecemeal.

“It’s something that will evolve,” Bowie said.

If St. Louis County voters decide on Nov. 3 to ban smoking in indoor public places, county officials would take the word of bar owners who apply for an exemption.

An election bill exempts casino floors and “drinking establishments” whose income from food is 25 percent or less of gross income. Exemption applicants would certify they meet the measure’s requirements. An earlier version of the smoking ban bill would have required them to submit receipts and data about their expenses and income relating to food and alcohol sales to support their applications.

On Tuesday night, the St. Louis County Council voted 4-3 at its regular meeting to move the bill toward final passage next week.

The agency that would implement the measure, the licensing section of the county’s revenue department, has only three employees and soon will be down to two as a staff member is transferring to another county job.

Eugene Leung, director of the revenue department, said Monday that he could not add another employee to handle applications because of a hiring freeze.

Some bar owners, meanwhile, are unhappy about the prospect of a smoking ban.
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“It’s looking like I’m going to get the shaft no matter what,” Kevin Gallagher, owner of the Sports Attic in Brentwood, said.

Leung said his department’s licensing section would handle the bar exemption in a way similar to processing applications for Sunday liquor licenses. Those licenses require establishments to have at least 50 percent of gross sales from food or sales of $200,000 a year. The county’s Sunday liquor application form does not make applicants provide documentation to back up the monthly breakdown of sales of food and liquor that they put on their form.

Applications for a Sunday liquor license must be notarized, and so would the form for a smoking ban exemption. Putting incorrect information on a notarized form could get applicants in legal trouble, Leung said.

The county agency, which also handles a variety of other licenses, is set up to process applications, not investigate them, Leung said.

County liquor applicants also must obtain a state license. The state will verify information in Sunday license applications if its agents doubt their accuracy, Mike O’Connell, spokesman for the division of alcohol and tobacco, said Friday. The agents can require applicants to show such items as food guest checks, cash register tapes and food and liquor invoices.

The bill sets a $35 application fee for the smoking ban exemption.

It also says the county health department or its designee would enforce the ban.

Gallagher said a smoking ban would put his Sports Attic in a precarious situation.

“My business is about 50/50 food and alcohol,” Gallagher said. “But I would estimate that at least half of my customers are smokers, and if this passes, they will not be happy campers. They will go down to the other bars where they can drink and smoke and watch sports.”

Gallagher said, “What I’m trying to figure out now is whether it would make financial sense for me to cut back on my menu choices in order to boost liquor sales to 75 percent. That way, I’d keep my smoking customers. But if I fall below 51 percent on food sales, then I lose my Sunday license and can’t open for football games.”

One of the venues that Gallagher said might grab his smoking customers in the event of a ban is the Sideline Bar, just two blocks west of the Sports Attic on Manchester Road.

Joyce Trokey, the Sideline Bar manager, said food accounts for less than 25 percent of her business. That would put her in a position to benefit from the business of smokers who would stop going to bars where their habit is forbidden.

“Sure, we could use the extra business,” she said. “But as a non-smoker myself, I say bring on a total ban, in every municipality. That would be the only fair way to do it,” she said.

The bar and restaurant in the well-known Yacovelli’s restaurant in Florissant are physically separate. “I’m not against a smoking ban,” owner Jack Yacovelli said. “But I know without a doubt we’ll lose our smokers to nearby bars where they will still be allowed to light up,” he said.

“That is just blatantly unjust. It’s got to be all or nothing. And what really irks me is that (the County Council) will exempt the (casinos). I think they’re favoring them because they’re a big tax cash cow.”

County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, D-University City, who introduced the bill, has declined to discuss the compromises she made to get the support she needs. She has said she prefers a clean-air bill without the casino floor and bar exemptions but she said “this bill is a critical bill. This bill will help.”

By the time the final vote on the measure takes place on Tuesday, the deadline will have passed for putting the issue on the November ballot. So if the smoking ban is approved by the council, a court order will be required before it can go before voters on Nov. 3.

Puducherry (PTI): The Puducherry government on Wednesday announced an increase in the rate of Value Added Tax (VAT) on cigarettes from 12.5 per cent to 20 per cent in its budget for 2009-10.

The Puducherry Chief Minister V Vaithilingam, who also holds the Finance portfolio, presented a Rs 4,133-crore budget for the Union Territory for 2009-2010 in the Assembly.

Mr. Vaithilingam said the rise in VAT on cigarettes was aimed at discouraging consumption of cigarettes.

He also announced that food and drinks sold by the Indian Coffee Workers Cooperative Society Ltd here would be exempted from VAT.

He said the Planning Commission had pegged the plan size of Puducherry for 2009-10 at Rs 2,250 crore. This comprises of state’s own resources of Rs 1,016.15 crore, Central assistance of Rs 273.59 crore and borrowings and negotiated loan of Rs 960.26 crore.

The non plan allocation is Rs 1,846.20 crore and an amount of Rs 36.80 crore is also provided under the Centrally sponsored schemes, he added.

Meanwhile, alleging that the Congress government under Vaithilingam failed to implement several schemes and to ensure balanced development of all the regions, legislators belonging to opposition AIADMK and CPI staged walk out from the House.

AIADMK legislators A Anbalagan said that he and his party colleagues were walking out to mark their protest against government’s failure in ensuring development of Puducherry.”


Copyright © 2009 Hindu

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Patients, visitors and employees at the University of Florida Health Science Center campus and Shands HealthCare facilities throughout north central Florida are going Tobacco-Free Together, officials announced today (Aug. 4).

As of Nov. 1, the use of cigarettes or other tobacco products in any of the Health Science Center, Shands or UF Physicians buildings and parking lots, or in vehicles in these areas, will not be permitted. UF plans to implement the policy on its main campus in July 2010.

“Going tobacco-free on our health-care campuses is the right thing to do for our patients and visitors — and for each other,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, UF’s senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “Coinciding with Tobacco-Free Together will be the opening of the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF, which reflects our commitment to the prevention and treatment of cancer.”

The new rule mainly affects a few designated outdoor smoking and tobacco-use areas and the properties surrounding Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare facilities. Smoking and tobacco use are already prohibited indoors.

“The decision to have tobacco-free campuses systemwide supports our commitment to providing a healthy environment for our patients and to improving health in our communities,” said Tim Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare. “We not only provide outstanding medical treatment and patient care, but also work hard to promote wellness and disease prevention.”

Tobacco dependence is the nation’s most preventable cause of death and disease, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Nationally, tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths or an estimated 440,000 deaths per year, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That’s approximately 1,200 people each day — more than deaths caused by alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car crashes, fires and AIDS combined. Currently, one out of every seven adults hospitalized at Shands at UF is treated for cancer or cancer-related illnesses.

Throughout Florida, more than 70 hospitals support the Florida Department of Health’s “Tobacco Free Florida” campaign and have tobacco-free campuses. Shands Jacksonville and the UF Health Science Center-Jacksonville went completely tobacco-free last November.

The Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare are providing information and resources to assist employees, patients and visitors who would like to break the habit. A wide selection of counseling services, self-help materials and medicines are available to help smokers and tobacco-users quit successfully.


Copyright © 2009 Ufl

Turkey’s government is setting up a 4,500-strong team to help enforce an upcoming no-smoking ban in bars, restaurants and coffeehouses in this country of heavy smokers, a Health Ministry official said Thursday.

On July 19, a year-old ban on indoor public smoking will be widened to include bars, restaurants, and even smoky, hazy village coffeehouses and hookah bars, despite protests from owners who fear it will bring ruin to businesses already suffering from the effects of an economic crisis. The ban already covers offices, public transport and shopping malls.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government – keen to reduce smoking rates and the effects of second-hand smoke on people’s health – has dismissed the protests and calls for the ban to be postponed.

A Health Ministry official said the force would carry out surprise checks on bars, restaurants and coffeehouses where men traditionally pass time lighting up, drinking tea or coffee and playing backgammon and card games.

He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules barring civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.

Around 1,000 inspectors will be assigned to monitor bars, cafes and restaurants in Turkey’s three largest cities – Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, while the rest will be scattered around other parts of the country. The official said the number of inspectors could be increased in the future.

Patrons breaking the ban will be fined 69 Turkish Lira ($45; euro32), while owners who do not enforce the ban could be fined between 560 and 5,600 Turkish Lira ($366-$3,660; euro260-euro2,600).

More than 100,000 people die annually in Turkey from smoking-related illnesses, according to official figures. “To smoke like a Turk” is a common expression in many European countries to describe someone who smokes a lot.

Enforcing smoking bans has proven difficult in the country where, according to Yesilay, an organization devoted to fighting alcohol and tobacco consumption, around 40 percent of Turks over the age of 15 are smokers, consuming around 17 million packs a day.

Davut Kaya, the owner of a smoke-filled coffeehouse in Ankara’s Dikmen neighborhood, says he fears for his business.

“Ninety percent of my customers are smokers. They come here to get rid of their stress by smoking and playing cards. I cannot see them going outdoors to smoke every 10 minutes. They will stop coming here,” he said.

“There’s no way I’m going to stop smoking,” 64-year-old Turan Akdeniz, a self-declared chain-smoker intervened, looking up from his game of Rummy. “I’d rather stay at home than stop.”
Copyright © 2009 Thejakartapost

The news about the Senate Health Committee’s passage of SB 600, which increases tobacco tax by $1.50 in California, is encouraging.
As a cardiologist I appreciate the impact that SB 600 will have on the efforts to reduce cigarette smoking in California, particularly among youth. This is a step in the right direction, but we have to make sure that SB 600 and any other tobacco tax increase includes provisions for anti-smoking and smoking cessation programs.
Yes, California faces a severe budget crisis and will need as much revenue as it can get. But without these provisions, tobacco will continue to kill nearly 40,000 Californians every year and cost the state more than $15 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity yearly.
Increasing the cost of cigarettes and other tobacco products and directing a portion of the revenues for tobacco control and education programs will reduce youth smoking by 21 percent, prevent more than 360,000 children from starting to smoke, causing nearly 190,000 current smokers to quit, prevent more than 165,000 premature deaths, and save California billions of dollars.
Copyright ©2009 Appeal-democrat

A PROPOSAL that could see a packet of cigarettes sell for more than $20 for a packet of 30 has been met with mixed response on the Gold Coast.

Local tobacconists and smokers are outraged at news the Federal Government is considering a tax hike and a ban on all remaining tobacco advertising and sponsorship in response to its Preventative Health Taskforce report.

However, the Gold Coast Medical Association supports the Government’s bid to reduce smoking.

The report outlines suggestions on how best to halve smoking rates by 2020 and argues for more extensive education campaigns to ‘personalise the health risks of tobacco’.

If the suggestions are imposed cigarettes will jump from 25 cents to 43 cents, with a packet of 30 cigarettes topping the $20 mark.

The increase would raise an estimated $1.97 billion a year.

Gold Coast tobacconist and long-term smoker, Bob Johnson, said he was concerned the jump in price could incite the illegal tobacco trade — known as chop-chop.

“It’s going to play into the hands of people who supply tobacco illegally and will only cause that industry to grow,” he said.

“It will certainly increase illegal tobacco and there is currently an illegal supply of it which the government doesn’t collect any taxes on.

“If people stop buying cigarettes the country will go broke because of the huge amount of revenue generated already.”

The smoker of 53 years said the price hike would most likely see some smokers quit but he was concerned about the Government’s motives.

“I am also a person who believes individuals have rights and if they want to smoke they should be allowed to,” he said.

Smoker Tony Keough said the idea was ‘disgraceful’.

“If the price goes up that much I dare say it will stop a few people from smoking but I would say a lot of people will turn to rolling their own,” he said.

“If the price of cigarettes goes up that much you are going to bring in more of a gangster element and more people will be desperate to get their hands on it. They do anything to steal it because it will be like gold to people.

“If a smoker wants to buy cigarettes and kill himself, it’s his choice.”

Gold Coast Medical Association president Philip Morris said he supported any measures to reduce the effects of smoking in the community.

“Taxing tends to reduce the number of people who use these drugs,” he said. “The one qualification I would have is that the money that is raised be put into preventive medicine to reduce smoking further.”

President Obama does not discuss the fact that he still occasionally smokes, a habit he very publicly tried to kick during his race for the White House.

But there he was on Monday, talking about cigarettes. As he signed legislation bringing tobacco products under federal control for the first time, the president conceded that the new law, aimed at keeping children from starting to smoke, could have helped him three decades ago.

Mr. Obama noted that 90 percent of smokers began on or before their 18th birthday.

“I know — I was one of those teenagers,” he said, standing beneath a punishing afternoon sun at a Rose Garden ceremony. “I know how difficult it can be to break this habit when it’s been with you for a long time.”

With that, Mr. Obama moved on. He did not mention whether he still smokes, a topic that has been a subject of considerable curiosity, and family drama, for years. Instead, he talked about the dangers of the addiction and its causes.

“Kids today don’t just start smoking for no reason,” he said. “They’re aggressively targeted as customers by the tobacco industry. They’re exposed to a constant and insidious barrage of advertising where they live, where they learn and where they play.”

The new law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, allows the Food and Drug Administration not only to forbid advertising geared toward children but also to lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products, ban sweetened cigarettes that appeal to young taste buds and prohibit labels like “light” and “low tar.”

When Mr. Obama entered the presidential race, he said his candidacy had been contingent on a deal with his wife, Michelle, that he quit smoking. The couple discussed his habit on “60 Minutes,” where Mrs. Obama declared, “I hate it.”

“That’s why he doesn’t do it anymore, I’m proud to say,” she continued. “I’m the one who outed him on the smoking. That was one of my prerequisites for, you know, entering this race, is that he couldn’t be a smoking president.”

Now there are few touchier questions inside the White House than whether Mr. Obama is still smoking. One senior administration official declined to answer, but pointed out that the president spoke Monday in the present tense, saying, “I know how difficult it can be to break this habit,” as opposed to “I know how difficult it was to break this habit.”

As Mr. Obama shook hands with some of the guests at the bill-signing ceremony, he wandered near a group of reporters. Dan Lothian, a correspondent for CNN, asked, “Mr. President, how difficult has your struggle been with smoking?”

The president, a mere few feet away, did not reply.

Several minutes later, the question came up at the daily White House press briefing. When asked directly if Mr. Obama was still smoking, Robert Gibbs, the president’s press secretary, replied: “He struggles with it every day. I don’t honestly see the need to get a whole lot more specific than the fact that it’s a continuing struggle.”

Copyright © 2009 Nytimes

Continuing news articles and editorials ["Big tobacco finally loses," editorial, June 12] in The Seattle Times have given an undeservedly favorable slant to a very troublesome, even unhealthy, piece of legislation.

The Food and Drug Administration bill awaiting the presidential signature contains so many questionable and even incorrect components that it is hard to imagine Congress actually read it. Let’s hope the president does.

The bill claims “light” cigarettes mislead people that they are safer, so the FDA will ban labeling cigarettes as “light.” But Congress empowers the FDA to require exactly such cigarettes by lowering nicotine levels. Manufacturers of “light” cigarettes have done that for decades with government approval, though this causes increased smoking, deeper inhaling and more exposure to all the toxic and cancer-causing adulterants.

The bill wrongly describes nicotine as “harmful” although it has been deemed safe in many patented nicotine-delivery products. The FDA, a drug agency after all, acknowledges nothing about the medicinal drug properties of nicotine for stress relief, alertness, digestive relief, appetite suppression and even symptomatic relief for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

There are many other questionable points, but the most stunning is that the FDA will not address, forbid or even warn about the 450 or so registered tobacco pesticides that leave toxic and carcinogenic residues on tobacco. Nor will it regulate or ban the cancer-causing levels of radiation that come from certain still-legal phosphate fertilizers. Those contaminants, easily the most health-damaging parts of typical cigarettes, will be left to the Department of Agriculture — which has long approved them.

So, Congress has the FDA lowering levels of medically beneficial nicotine but leaving in place some of the most harmful industrial chemical substances on earth. The bill is a lie, packaged as being about protecting kids, but actually about protecting cigarette makers and complicit chemical interests.
Copyright © 2009 Seattletimes

An effort to raise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products survived a full-fledged legislative attack Tuesday in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Opponents tried and failed in three separate parliamentary moves to scuttle the tax legislation without directly voting on the issue. House Bill 889 would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 50 cents.

The measure still faces debate and a vote by the full House.

The last attempt came as opponents moved to “table” HB889, which would have effectively killed the measure for the current legislative session.

“Let’s just settle it right now,” said state Rep. Joe Lopinto, R-Metairie.

Sixty-one state representatives voted against tabling the measure while 37 voted in favor of the motion. The measure would need 70 votes to pass the House.

HB889 sponsored by Rep. Karen Peterson, D-New Orleans, would increase the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 36 cents to 86 cents. The tax is estimated to generate about $100 million, which would go to help pay for health-care programs.

Peterson asked her colleagues not to fear voting to allow debate on the tax proposed in “The Louisiana Healthier Families Act.”

At the end of nearly two hours of wrangling, the House agreed to advance Peterson’s legislation for a full House debate and vote, perhaps by next week.

Lopinto said he had no more parliamentary maneuvers to try.

“I think we have done them all,” replied House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Terrytown.

HB889 is the only major tax bill that remains alive — although on life support — to generate revenues to close big health care and higher education budget funding gaps.

A two-thirds majority — 70 votes — is needed for the House to advance the measure to the state Senate for consideration.
Copyright © 2009 2theadvocate

The authors of a proposed statewide indoor smoking ban declared the measure extinguished Tuesday, and one blamed the tobacco lobby.

“Big Tobacco is a powerful interest group to go up against,” said the Senate author, Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. “But we made tremendous progress.”

Ellis said that despite help from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, he couldn’t win enough support in the Senate. At a news conference, Ellis and Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, the House author, vowed to bring the proposal back in 2011.

Twenty-seven states have passed comprehensive bans, according to Smoke-Free Texas, a coalition supporting the proposal.

“Texas will one day follow suit, but unfortunately, more people in the state of Texas are going to die because of secondhand smoke because we did not take action,” Ellis said.

Secondhand smoke kills 53,000 Americans a year, according to the coalition.

“Secondhand smoke is not an annoyance — it doesn’t just make your hair smell bad or burn your eyes,” Crownover said. “It literally kills people.”

Tobacco companies have hired 40 lobbyists who are earning between $1.2 million and $2.4 million this session, the Dallas Morning News reported.

The Ellis/Crownover proposal, which would have banned smoking at indoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars, was passed by a Senate committee, and a House committee approved a weaker version. But the measure — which was also attempted in 2007 — wasn’t taken up on the House or Senate floor this year.

Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, said it should be up to individual businesses to set smoking policies. And he said most people who are around secondhand smoke are exposed at home.

“I hate cigarettes,” said Deuell, who is a physician. “I don’t dispute the medical data that secondhand smoke is bad. I just don’t think people are getting exposed at the workplace.”

And Democratic Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr. said that since his city, Houston, already has a smoke-free ordinance, it’s not right for him to tell other Texas cities whether to allow smoking.

Ellis said he chose to end his fight rather than accept amendments that would have gutted the bill.

The ban had support from groups such as the American Cancer Society and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which are part of Smoke-Free Texas. James Gray, a lobbyist for the cancer society, said the coalition will work to ensure that the smoking ban becomes a campaign issue in 2010 state elections.

“Big tobacco spent millions to kill smoke-free legislation and they got to enough of our legislators to win this round,” Armstrong, who was in Italy, said in a statement. “As we’ve seen in states all over America, it’s just a matter of time before our efforts succeed. We are not intimidated by big tobacco and we will not give up.”

Bar owners are calling on staff and patrons to join them next Sunday to protest against a ban on smoking in nightclubs, bars and mahjong schools set to come into force in July.

They claim the ban could force more than half the city’s 1,000 or so bars and clubs to close, because smokers are their major clients.

The owners want the government to postpone the ban for two years, saying their businesses have already been hit hard by the economic downturn. Next Sunday’s protest, with the theme “no smoking, no job”, is a fresh bid by the sector after a failed attempt last week by legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip to move a private member’s bill seeking to push back the implementation of the ban.

Legislative Council president Tsang Yok-sing ruled that Mr Chan’s attempt breached a ban on lawmakers introducing bills related to “government policy”.

The Hong Kong Bar and Club Association, which is organising the protest, expects a turnout of at least 2,000 people.

The debate over whether to have federal oversight of the tobacco industry has resurfaced with the reintroduction of a bill in the U.S. Senate.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., contains few major changes to the one he submitted last year that would put the industry under the auspices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

That bill failed to pass the Senate because Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., threatened to tie up the bill with a filibuster and President Bush opposed the move.

The bill “would stop the marketing of tobacco products to children, require tobacco companies to list the poisons in their products and mandate larger and more effective warning labels on tobacco product packaging,” said John Seffrin, the chief executive of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.

The latest version of the Kennedy bill does not include a separate category for smoke-free tobacco as a potential harm-reduction product.

Such a provision has been sought by some anti-smoking groups that view smoke-free products, such as moist tobacco, snus and dissolvables, as alternatives for tobacco users who can’t or won’t quit.

“We continue to believe that Sen. Kennedy’s bill is lacking,” said Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

“It would impede efforts to bring potentially reduced-risk tobacco products to market, would make it difficult for adult tobacco consumers to gain accurate information about the comparative risks between different types of tobacco products, and would task an already overburdened FDA with taking on regulation of a product category about which it has no expertise,” Payne said.

In March, Burr and Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., introduced an alternative bill for federal regulation of tobacco products that would save cigarette companies billions of dollars over the next 10 years.

The proposed Federal Tobacco Act would create a new federal agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to solely regulate tobacco instead of assigning the task to the FDA.

Also in March, a key House panel approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to give the FDA oversight of tobacco. The House passed the bill on April 2 by a 298-112 vote.

Both bills propose paying for the new regulation by imposing “user fees” on tobacco companies, with the largest share paid for by the nation’s two largest cigarette companies, Philip Morris and Reynolds.

Tobacco analysts said that the Burr-Hagan bill has only a slim chance of passing both the House and Senate, though some of its provisions could be incorporated into a final version of the Waxman bill.

Bill Godshall, the executive director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania, said that a drop-off in sponsorship for the Kennedy bill could open the door for an amendment aimed at smoke-free products.

“While Kennedy’s FDA tobacco bill last session had 59 co-sponsors, his new bill has only 40 co-sponsors, including just three Republicans,” Godshall said.

“I suspect that is why Kennedy delayed the bill’s introduction for more than two weeks — to try to get more co-sponsors and/or to get a lead Republican co-sponsor.”

Copyright © 2009 2.journalnow

The Jordan Restaurants Association (JRA) has called for postponing the implementation of the Public Health Law, which bans smoking in public places, until the end of the year, a JRA official said on Sunday.

The Ministry of Health issued a circular banning smoking in shopping malls starting March 1, while restaurants were given until June to abide by the law so they have enough time to study the implementation mechanisms.

However, the restaurants said they needed more time.

“We cannot implement the law that soon. We need to move step by step to be able to ban smoking in restaurants, and I think it needs years, not months, to enforce the ban,” JRA Deputy President Essam Fakhreldin told The Jordan Times yesterday.

He noted that the sector has already been affected by the global financial crisis and the implementation of the law will add to its financial burdens.

“We still have not reached a settlement with cafés that serve argileh,” Fakhreldin said, adding that the association will propose designating a non-smoking area in restaurants and hotels.

Meanwhile, Hiba Ayyoub, head of the Tobacco Control Department, said no fines have been issued to violators since March, when the ban came into effect in malls.

“The idea behind enforcing the law is not to collect money from people, but to change behaviour and protect non-smokers,” she told The Jordan Times, adding, however, that “we will soon start issuing fines for those violating the law. We announced the endorsement of the law last year and the enforcement started in March… I think everyone knows about it now and it is time to implement it.”

Ayyoub noted that the Health Ministry will soon sign an agreement with the environment police to help monitor adherence to the law.

As for restaurants, she said they “have to implement the law, but we still work with them on a mechanism to enforce it”.

The Health Ministry will also meet with the Lower House next month to discuss implementing the smoking ban in Parliament.

Ayyoub pointed out that although the House is the legislative authority, the Public Health Law has not been implemented there yet.

The only public institution other than the Health Ministry that implemented the law is the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

“It announced that its buildings are non-smoking and designated smoking areas in accordance with the required standards,” Ayyoub said, adding that they will use the ministry as a model to be followed in other public places.

Source: Jordantimes

More than 8,000 sick smokers in Florida have sued the tobacco industry for misleading claims but on Tuesday two legislative committees pushed through bills that will cap how much the industry is required to set aside in the event it loses those cases.

The House Finance and Tax Council and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed similar bills that would shield Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Lorillard from having to post hefty bonds as they face an avalanche of lawsuits from smokers.

The measures would allow the three companies to set aside a total of no more than $100 million in bond money in order to appeal the verdicts. Under state law, when a company loses a lawsuit and wants to appeal, it must post a bond for the entire amount of the judgement.

Trial lawyers complained the measures will remove the financial incentive for the tobacco giants to pay their judgements or settle their cases. Instead, they said, it will encourage the companies to pursue endless appeals and delays designed to financially break plaintiffs or wait until they die.

Promoters of the bills — House Finance and Tax Council chairwoman Ellyn Bogdanoff and Melbourne Republican Sen. Mike Haridopolos — said the measure is needed to give the industry financial certainty, and to protect the state’s annual $205 million payment by the tobacco companies as part of the landmark 1997 settlement with the industry.

“As far as I’m concerned, the plaintiffs are going to be paid,” said Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.

But of the nearly 3,000 cases pending since the court closed the door to individual cases last year, only four have come to trial — including the case of Elaine Hess of Fort Lauderdale, the widow of 40-year smoker Stuart Hess, who died of lung cancer at age 55 in 1997.

Keith Teel, a lawyer representing the three tobacco giants, said that with the average lawsuit yielding a $19 million jury award, the industry faces posting bonds worth $45 billion — unless the Legislature passes the bills.

“That’s just not tenable to continue to make the payments to the state as a matter of cash flow,” he said.

Hess, however, won $8 million in damages.

Teel noted that the bill also punishes tobacco companies if they fail to pay a judgement; they would no longer be protected by the cap and would have to post b onds for the total amount of pending judgements against them.

Robert Hanrech, a Miami lawyer representing some tobacco plaintiffs, said that in a Feb. 26 Goldman Sachs statement to shareholders, one tobacco company said the 8,000 claimants stemming from the class action lawsuit “fails to pose a significant threat.”

“This would be a bailout for tobacco,” he said. “They would be getting an unfair advantage when they don’t need it.

Steve Barnes, a Tampa attorney who also represents tobacco plaintiffs, told lawmakers Tuesday that the bill was not needed. “Current law gives the tobacco companies the relief that they want,” he said.

If a cigarette company believes it can’t post an adequate bond based on the cases before it, it can go to a court and ask a judge to reduce or eliminate it, Barnes said.

Barnes said U.S. tobacco companies made $81.8 billion last year from their domestic and international businesses.

He described how delaying tactics have resulted in many sick smokers dying before their cases reach court.

If their spouse dies as well, “the claim goes away,” he said.

He said the cases have a name in the industry: a dead-dead case.

Source: Tampabay

Smokers suffer because of the smoking ban, but You Tube suffers because of its “irresponsible and deceptive” videos which were posted online and showed how young people smoke a hallucinogenic drug – Salvia.
For example tobacco smoking is also very hazardous to the user’s health, but it does not have emotional effects or cause behavior changes in any way comparable to the other common drugs of abuse, one of them can be Salvia.
A man said: “I went into a local head store to get some tobacco. And they sell this salvia. So, a kid comes in the shop, and he’s talking about doing some “dream work”, and he wants salvia to “have a vision”, because he’s got a job interview in a few days. I mean, the kid had flipped his lid. But I think now this salvia is banned in my state. So that’s good. I’ve smoked this drug a few times. The trip is like you think your body is an inanimate object. It’s like you become the last thing you looked at.”

The clips showed users smoking the herbal drug Salvia, feeling the effects just seconds later.

Doctors said that Salvia, which is illegal in nine countries but legal in the UK, is unsafe and could bring on psychotic episodes, which were showed on YouTube. In UK Salvia is marketed as herbal ecstasy, using names such as Eclipse.
Although, in some countries Salvia, which is part of the same family as mint, is classified at the same level as cocaine, that’s why it was banned.
Drug information service FRANK says the effect is ‘unpleasantly overwhelming and more scary than fun.’
For example in one video, a teenager smokes the drug before laughing uncontrollably and falling to his knees. In another clip, viewed two million times, an American girl is seen grabbing at her mouth and muttering.
All these videos showed that Salvia is really a legal drug which can be smoke even in the street and it really work. Unlike most of the herbal fake-weed concoctions, salvia is actually a powerful drug.
Now, New York state lawmakers are moving to ban salvia, with penalties of up to three months in jail for possession, and a year for distribution.
The state senator who proposed the ban said that he was convinced that the drug should be banned after he and his aides watched YouTube videos of people smoking salvia and having psychedelic experiences.

He added: “Not so funny now, is it? Okay, it’s still funny. The videos in question—which we’ve helpfully posted after the jump—mostly prove that salvia makes people do one thing very well: fall down.