TOPEKA | In a landmark move, the Kansas House passed a statewide public smoking ban Thursday and sent it to Gov. Mark Parkinson.

If Parkinson signs the legislation as expected, Kansas will join nearly 40 states that have some statewide restrictions on where smokers can light up.

The ban would go into effect July 1.

Today’s vote was 68-54. Supporters said they were tired of waiting as ban proposals languished for years on the legislative agenda.

“While we continue to debate and debate… people are dying,” said Rep. Barbara Bollier, a Mission Hills Republican and a physician. “People are becoming ill, and they are asking you to help them.”

In the end, supporters of the ban used a procedural move to force a vote on the legislation on House floor Thursday. Since the Senate has already passed the measure it now goes straight to Parkinson, who has said he supports a ban.

The proposed ban would prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants, workplaces, 80 percent of hotel rooms and taxi cabs. Casino floors, tobacco shops, private clubs and designated smoking rooms in hotels would be exempt.

The ban will not replace stricter local smoking bans now in place. Some 39 Kansas cities and counties – including most in the metro area – already ban smoking to some degree.

For years health advocates pushed bills to outlaw smoking in bars, restaurants and workplaces only to see them snuffed out or tabled by skeptical lawmakers.

Last year the Senate endorsed the legislation but the House never voted on the measure. Lawmakers who pushed for a statewide ban for years told their colleagues that Thursday’s vote would be one they could tell their grandchildren about.

“If you care about improving the health of Kansans, this is the most important vote you can make this year, perhaps in your entire legislative career,” said Rep. Jill Quigley, a Lenexa Republican.

Earlier this year, critics of a ban had proposed legislation earlier this year that would allow restaurants and bars to opt out by paying a fee. But supporters of a stronger ban objected to that bill, saying it was disingenous.

Critics of a statewide ban said smoking bans should be left to local governments. They called it hypocritical for the state to ban smoking in private businesses but not state-run casinos.

“You’re going to be shutting down bars and restaurants that have been in business for decades,” said Rep. Scott Schwab, an Olathe Republican. “At what point has government gone too far?”
By David Klepper on February 25, 2010

Thomas Nunnery was enjoying a morning ritual at Lindy’s – breakfast, coffee and a cigarette.

Nunnery was sitting with his friends Tim Robinson, Josh Bain and Allen Jackson in a booth on the smoking side of the Raeford Road restaurant’s dining room.

“We’ll have a cigarette with our coffee,” Nunnery said. “Then we have a plate of food, and we’ll automatically light up another.”

“It’s part of the addiction,” Robinson added.

As of Saturday, the friends now have to change their routine. A new law bans smoking in most restaurants and bars.

House Bill 2, aimed at protecting the health of patrons and customers from primary and secondary smoke, prohibits lighting up in the establishments. Exceptions are allowed for cigar bars. Restaurants and bars also can have outdoor smoking decks or patios.

Health officials say they hope the new law is a wake-up call for smokers.

“We love to see things like House Bill 2 go in effect,” said Todd Collier, project coordinator of Breathe Easy Live Well. “Anything like that helps our program. It makes things a little better for us.”

Breathe Easy Live Well is a project of Fayetteville’s Southern Regional Area Health Education Center dealing with tobacco dependence and mental illness. Collier said about 75 percent of severely mentally ill people smoke, and heavy smokers in general die 25 years before nonsmokers.

Collier said he hopes the new law will encourage people to kick the habit, but he said it’s important for them to have a medical plan. He said studies show only about 5 percent of smokers who quit cold turkey stay off cigarettes for good.

Smokers should consult with their doctors, Collier said. He also directs smokers to QuitlineNC, which pairs smokers with a “quit coach” who can help them overcome the habit.

Pat Baros, a Cumberland County public health nurse, said there are several simple steps smokers can take to successfully kick the habit.

Baros suggested setting a date to quit, getting rid of all cigarettes and ashtrays in the house and not letting people smoke around you.

Baros also said telling people that you are quitting may help. She recommended that people who are trying to quit drink a lot of water, exercise and change habits that lead them to reach for a smoke.

“If they like to have a cigarette with their cup of coffee, maybe they should think about a different beverage,” Baros said. “Maybe they should think about going for a walk instead.”

They also shouldn’t get too discouraged if the attempt falls short, she said.

“The average person tries to quit between eight and 10 times before they are finally successful,” Baros said.

Smokers sometimes underestimate how hard quitting is going to be, Collier said. In many ways, giving up cigarettes is harder for smokers than giving up booze is for alcoholics.

Collier said there are seven Federal Drug Administration-approved medications to help smokers quit, most involving nicotine replacement therapy. There’s no reason smokers shouldn’t take advantage of the help if appropriate, he said.

“The way we look at it is, why quit cold turkey when there are medications that are approved?” Collier said. “Why be miserable when you don’t have to?”

Collier noted that, even with a smoking ban in restaurants and bars, smoking is still more socially acceptable than drinking.

“You can’t take an alcohol break at work, but you can go outside and smoke,” he said. “You can’t drink and drive, but you can smoke and drive.”

Whatever the strategy for quitting, health officials said it’s important to make the attempt. Collier cited statistics that show about 13,000 North Carolinians a year die from tobacco-related illnesses.

Collier said he hopes the new state law is a vehicle to get information out about the health benefits of quitting smoking. Some bars and restaurants are publicizing the Quit Line number on drink coasters, he said.

“I think access to help will be increased,” he said.

Many smokers, though, say the inability to smoke in restaurants and bars won’t move them to give up cigarettes.

Lukas Blair was smoking and drinking a cup of coffee outside the Coffee Scene on Morganton Road. He said the smoking ban didn’t surprise him, since he previously lived in states where the practice was already outlawed.

Blair said he can see the point of banning smoking in family restaurants, but he thinks it should be permitted in adult establishments such as bars, if the owners want to allow it.

As for himself, Blair said, “I’ll just go outside if I want a cigarette. That’s pretty much it.”

Profitability numbers from the major cigarette manufacturers and other statistics point to the continued strength of the tobacco category, despite a slumping economy and a major spike in the federal excise tax (FET) last spring, according to an industry analyst.

The strength of premium brands, especially in high-tax states, is also proving out, as is the general category of other tobacco products (OTP), “portion pouches” in particular, said speakers at last week’s CSPNetwork Tobacco Update CyberConference.

Despite falling volume numbers post FET hike, cigarette profitability is strong, according to Nik Modi, sector analyst, UBS Securities LLC, New York. “It’s remarkable to think that with unemployment, FET and [increasing] state excise taxes that price elasticity has remained constant.”

Reasons for the relational consistency between volume and retail price lead back to consumer demographics, he said. Tobacco users tend to have lower incomes on average, with 60% earning less than $40,000 per year. Relatively speaking, food inflation and gas prices—two indicators viewed as critical to lower-income citizens—have been moderate. In addition, minimum wage went up.

“Low-income consumers are in a healthy situation relative to middle-income and higher-income consumers, many of whom were impacted by housing and, earlier in year, with the [falling] stock market,” Modi said.

Premium brands have also benefitted from the tax-heavy climate, Modi said. Documenting the strength of premium in relation to state taxes, he said that in states where taxes were the highest ($1.50 or more per pack), premiums held 94% of the market. He reasoned that after already paying $5- or $6-per-pack prices, a smoker is less sensitive and will often opt to trade up.

OTP in general is faring well, according to speaker Joe Teller, director of category management for Richmond, Va.-based Swedish Match North America, which sponsored the CyberConference. A trend his company is seeing is a tie to new moist-snuff tobacco (MST) users and cigarette smokers. He said company research shows that many of the newer users are also cigarette smokers, but ones that have used MST at some time in the past. These new users are pressured by bans and other social influences to smoke less and are returning to the MST category.

Of all the subcategories within OTP, he said the “portion pouch” business is the most robust, growing 20% in the past year despite the economy.

Although cigarettes typically make up the bulk of a retailer’s tobacco portfolio, Teller said OTP shoppers visit convenience stores twice as many times as the average consumer and buy higher-ticket items.

“If these guys get more important over time, you’re going to have to focus more on the fundamentals in order for them to stay loyal to your stores,” Teller said.
By Angel Abcede
CSP Daily News, December 8, 2009

NORTH HAMPTON, N.H.—Surfer Michael Sander believes firmly in New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” state motto when it comes to smoking – and that includes his right to smoke on state beaches.

Sander, 24 of Rye, surfs regularly at North Beach and says he would not obey a proposed law to ban smoking on the beach to eliminate second-hand smoke and discarded butts.

“Ban the tourists,” Sander said. “They’re the ones that litter. We put our butts in our pockets. … It’s ridiculous that anyone can tell me where I can and cannot smoke.”

State Rep. Judith Day has filed legislation to ban smoking on beaches in New Hampshire’s 23 state parks, an idea she got from neighboring Maine, which this year became the first state to ban smoking on its beaches.

The Maine law’s sponsor, Sen. John Nutting, said a mother’s complaint prompted the ban.

“The 2-year-old daughter was playing at the beach and all of a sudden she realized that her daughter’s cheeks looked like a chipmunk’s cheeks, just as full and distended as you could get them,” said Nutting, D-Leeds. “When she examined the reason for that, her little girl’s mouth was plum full of cigarette butts that she’d picked up on the beach from people smoking and discarding.”

Day, a North Hampton Democrat, said getting rid of cigarette butts is secondary to her.

“My point is to do it for people’s health,” she said.

Another seacoast Democrat, Susan Kepner of Hampton, has filed a similar bill — but hers also proposes a ban on outdoor smoking in public areas of state parks, such as picnic areas.

“So much of our economy is driven through and around with our state parks and being outside,” Kepner said. “They’re healthy things. This to me is just part of helping New Hampshire residents and guests be healthy.”

Gary Nolan, national director of Citizens Freedom Alliance Inc., sees both bills as “political correctness run amok.”

“What is the point? Is it to ostracize smokers and punish them from smoking or are they relying on the junk science that second-hand smoke is somehow dangerous,” said Nolan whose group defends smokers’ rights.

House Republican Leader Sherman Packard of Londonderry agrees with Nolan.

“We’ve gone pretty far on preventing people from doing something that’s legal. If the goal here is to ban smoking altogether, then just come out and say it,” said Packard.

New Hampshire would be the second state to enact a ban on smoking at state beaches. Puerto Rico also bans smoking on beaches, according to Bronson Frick of the Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. Frick said almost 100 cities have smoke-free beaches and more than 1,000 cities and a handful of states have outdoor smoking policies ranging from bus stops to business doorways.

Frick said reasons for the bans vary from concern over litter from the butts to keeping smoke out of adjacent buildings.

New Hampshire has laws banning indoor smoking in public buildings, grocery stores, public conveyances, hospitals, restaurants and bars. Businesses must segregate smokers from nonsmokers in workplaces with four or more employees.

Nonsmoker Sheila Foster, 39, of East Kingston, said she isn’t bothered by the smoke when she’s at the beach as much as the discarded cigarette butts.

“If they had places to dispose of (butts), it would be one thing,” she said. “They throw them everywhere.”

New Hampshire should enforce a litter law if that’s the issue, Nolan said.

“If it’s litter, then anyone who has anything wrapped in paper should be targeted as well. That you do with a litter law, not an anti-smoking law,” he said.

State Parks Director Ted Austin believes in promoting a healthy lifestyle, but questions who would enforce the bans. Day’s bill doesn’t include enforcement, a penalty or even signs. Kepner’s bill would let park rangers enforce the law. Violators face a fine of up to $50. Signs would be posted around picnic areas, playgrounds and other areas covered by the law. Campsites and hiking trails are exempt.

“The last thing I want is to turn our staff that should be ingratiating themselves to our guests into law enforcement types,” said Austin.

Tenants from the city’s senior housing complexes put out a call to arms yesterday. They plan to fight for the right to continue to hang American flags from their apartments and to smoke within their units.

“HUD don’t care, housing don’t care, we’re like slaves to them,” an angry Ann Musk said in opening remarks to about 50 Warwick Housing Authority tenants gathered at the Meadowbrook Terrace community room.

The group is troubled by the authority’s action to forbid smoking at all its housing complexes, both inside individual units and anywhere on authority property, by Jan. 1, 2011. New tenants must agree to the condition immediately and the newly constructed Shawomet Terrace will be smoke-free when it opens later this month. In addition, Meadowbrook tenants have been advised because of recently renovated decks they will no longer be permitted to hang decorations, including flags. Flags are allowed if placed in a stand.

But it was more than the smoking and flag bans that riled residents. During a 45-minute organizational meeting, tenants complained that their units have not been painted; that plumbing leaks; drains back up; electrical fixtures have not been repaired and that there is mold in their apartments. Also, they complained that the authority keeps imposing new restrictions.

“They keep taking things away from us,” said Gerry Greene. Greene quit smoking after a heart attack, but said she knows how much smoking can mean to people.

“Smoking, that’s all we’ve got left,” she said. “I don’t know how much more dignity they can take away.” Greene reasons those who smoke should be “grandfathered” in and be permitted to smoke in their units as long as they live there.

Although she smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, Musk focused on the prohibition of hanging flags. She questioned how many would want to stick a flag “in a pot of dirt” and said she would take the issue to Senator Jack Reed and the Veterans Administration.

“They’re messing with the wrong girl when they’re messing with my husband’s flag,” Musk said turning from the audience to hide her tears.

Reached after the meeting, Michael Lyckland, executive director of the Warwick Housing Authority, said that there is a no smoking trend for the Housing and Urban Development funded housing units across the country.

“They are encouraging [smoke-free units]. It is not a mandate,” he said.

Lyckland cited safety and health as major reasons for the policy. But the safety and health reasons failed to fly with the tenants. No one had any recollection of complaints from non-smoking tenants and as for safety, questions were raised as to the dangers of candles, if not unit stoves. Jen Brosnahan also questioned how the authority would cope with tenants who medically use marijuana. Would they be forced out of the complexes?

Also, she asked, would the authority pay for smoking cessation programs?

Lyckland said he hadn’t thought of Brosnahan’s question about medical marijuana.

“We’ll have to see what HUD’s policy is in general,” he said suggesting that while the use of the drug is allowed in Rhode Island, the federal government may have restrictions.

“The big issue is smoking,” said Robin Whalen, “this is my civil liberty.”

Whalen addressed the issue of enforcement, asking where tenants would go if their leases were voided for smoking.

“We’re all there because we can’t go anywhere else,” she said.

Noting that she doesn’t live in the federally subsidized housing by choice, Whelan said, “This is the wasteland. This is the bottom of the rung. I have no place to go.” Complex tenants pay rent on the basis of their income.

“If I pay rent I want to be able to smoke where I want,” Whalen added.

As Musk, who ran the meeting, called on people around the room, complaints shifted from the smoking and flag bans to the condition of housing units and what tenants said was a lack of maintenance. There were numerous complaints about mold and the lack of what tenants believe should be periodic upkeep, including painting.

While there is no set guideline, Lyckland said yesterday if a unit is occupied for a long period it will be painted. Otherwise, he said, as a practice a unit is repainted when tenants move out and before new ones move in. He estimated about 20 percent of the more than 500 city elderly housing units are repainted every year.

He said the cleaning and primer that must go into repainting the unit of a smoking tenant makes upkeep of those units more costly.

As the meeting started to break up, Whalen vowed, “This is the beginning of the fight.” Yet, as people left, there was no announced plan for a follow-up meeting. Musk said she would be circulating a petition.

The smoking ban in Greece is not effective, according to Greek officials, who said that they will launch a review of the law that was passed earlier this year, following complaints from non-smokers at home and pressure from the European Union.

Greek health minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou told of “great gaps in the application of the smoking ban” as many establishments were simply not complying, the Greek Kathimerini reported on November 11 2009.

Similar complications were observed also in Croatia where on September 10 2009 the outcry against the ban went as far as to have it partially repealed.

Against the backdrop of the general population flouting the ban, and establishments refusing to apply the law, Panayiotis Behrakis, head of the Greek co-ordinating committee against smoking, said that the government should not allow any exceptions to the decree. Some establishments could legally apply for smoking licences, but Behrakis says the ban should be absolute. Additionally, the price of cigarettes in Greece should be increased in an attempt to deter youngsters from picking up the habit. Greece, like Bulgaria, has some of the cheapest cigarettes in the European Union.

Meanwhile, pubs and clubs in the Greek capital that have applied for a smoking licence, 2,200 in all, have encountered red tape and cumbersome bureaucracy and delays in processing their applications.

By contrast, in Croatia, the local government revised the ban because cafe owners complained that it was severely harming business. The U-turn comes in the tourism-dependent country which has more than 5800 restaurants and almost 10 000 bars – mostly cafes – with more than 100 000 employees.

Since the anti-smoking law was adopted in May 2009, establishments in Croatia, especially those without terraces, reported a “significant decrease in business,” an association of about 16 000 owners said, according to the state-run HINA news agency.

In Bulgaria, the dispute is likely to be just as heated. The new legislation is fiercely contested by both sides as more than 40 percent of Bulgaria’s 7.6 million population are believed to smoke. The ban, which takes effect on June 1, 2010, is part of an anti-smoking government strategy that includes price hikes on cigarettes and media campaigns.

November 12, 2009 Sofiaecho

A proposal to ban smoking in nearly all Indianapolis workplaces faces an uncertain future after a narrowly divided City-County Council tabled it Monday night.

The 14-13 vote means the ordinance can return to the council agenda with majority support, but some on the council said achieving that could be difficult. The vote is the latest in a series of close decisions by the 29-member body in recent months.

Opponents of the ordinance, which would strengthen a current ban on smoking in most restaurants and public spaces such as hotel lobbies, were declaring victory after Monday’s vote.

“I don’t think this council is going to bring it back,” said Brad Klopfenstein, former executive director of the Indiana Licensed Beverage Association who is leading an opposition group called Save Indianapolis Bars. “I’m glad to see they’re representing the rights of adults to make adult decisions.”

Others interpreted the vote differently. Bruce Hetrick is a volunteer for Smoke Free Indy whose wife died of cancer after years of working in a smoke-filled environment.

“We have tonight stared in the face of overwhelming health and economic evidence and just scoffed at it,” Hetrick said. “This delay tonight is another death sentence. It’s deeply disappointing.”

Some supporters, however, say the battle is far from over. Councilman Ben Hunter, a Republican and one of the sponsors, said he expects it will be back before the council in the next two to three months with enough votes to pass.

“It’s inevitable that it’s going to pass,” Hunter said. “Indianapolis will move forward on the issue.”

Councilwomen Doris Minton-McNeill and Marilyn Pfisterer were absent from Monday’s meeting.

The ordinance, sponsored by Democrats Angela Mansfield and Jose Evans and Republicans Barbara Malone and Hunter, would add about 400 venues, including bars, bowling alleys and private clubs, to the list of places where smoking is prohibited. It would exempt hookah and cigar bars.

The move to table the ordinance came after the council voted 13-12 against the measure, leaving it shy of the 15 votes needed to pass or fail.

Monday’s vote follows a series of other narrow margins, including a 15-14 vote in favor of a hotel tax increase to help the struggling Capital Improvement Board and a 15-13 vote in favor of an ordinance making it tougher to panhandle.

To bring the measure back, a council member would have to make a motion to pull it off the table, and a majority of members present at the meeting would have to support the motion.

During Monday’s meeting, council members continued a public debate that began when the proposal was introduced earlier this month.

Libertarian Ed Coleman said the issue is a matter of personal choice.

“People (going to bars) are adults (who) can make adult decisions,” Coleman said. “It’s not the government’s place to tell them how to live healthy lives.”

Malone disagreed. For her, the issue is personal: Her close friend’s mother, a nonsmoker who worked an office job and was surrounded by secondhand smoke, died of lung cancer.

“(Smokers) are not a protected class,” Malone said. “It’s not your right to smoke, particularly if it infringes upon your neighbors’ rights.”

No public comment was allowed Monday, but nearly all the seats in the Public Assembly Room of the City-County Building were filled.

Opponents donned red shirts to signify stopping the resolution and had to be subdued for making comments during the council members’ remarks. Proponents wore green shirts to promote passing the ban.

By Francesca Jarosz
October 27, 2009

Now that the state budget has been signed, those affected are getting a look at how the spending plan will affect them.

For some tobacco users it’s going to mean higher prices to take a drag.

Sharon Minarchick of Mahanoy City wasn’t happy Monday when she bought her cigarettes. She found out soon she will be paying more for every pack she buys because of a new cigarette tax included in the new state budget.

“I am not going to be smoking that much. Instead of a carton a week I’ll go down to half,” Minarchick said.

Dealers said although the price of a pack of cigarettes is going up by 25 cents a pack, the price of a pack of small cigars, is going up by $1.60 a pack.

“I don’t like it but there is nothing I can do about it. It’s just not fair. I personally do not smoke but it’s not fair. They target them all the time. I am sure there was a way they could have done something different,” said Doretta Jones of Jones News Agency.

At the Cigar Box near Hazleton, people said smokers always seem to be targets when lawmakers are looking to make a quick buck.

“No matter how much money the government brings in, it’s never enough. Six months from now, they will be in a deficit again and be looking for more money,” said Tom Trella of the Cigar Box.

The state tax increase on cigarettes and small cigars comes a few months after a hike in federal taxes.

“This item retailed for $10 but because of President Obama’s tax, this one bag carries a tax of $26.75,” Trella added.

Cigarette dealers said they are awaiting word from the state as to when the higher prices will take effect.

Copyright © 2009, WNEP

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department has asked the state Attorney General to investigate a Charleston bar owner who flouted the county’s expanded smoking ban by setting up a giant inflatable cigarette pack replica outside his bar.

Health officials allege that Blackhawk Saloon owner Kerry “Paco” Ellison violated the 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement that limits cigarette marketing and advertising. Last month, the 16-by-18-foot inflatable Winston cigarette pack was visible for weeks to motorists on Interstate 64, just east of the state Capitol.

“It was visible to children,” said Brenda Isaac, the health board’s president. “We thought people should look into whether it’s breaking federal law. You can’t put up a billboard like this and advertise cigarettes.”

Ellison, who has butted heads with the Health Department over the county’s expanded smoking ban for more than a year, said he put up the custom inflatable to help advertise a “smoker’s night” at his bar on Aug. 19.

On Wednesday, the giant Winston advertisement was hanging outside on the side of the bar — deflated. Ellison said a fan used to blow air into the inflatable was broken.

After learning of the Health Department’s complaint, Ellison vowed to fix the fan’s motor and redisplay the inflatable later Thursday.

“I’m going to have to get that up again,” Ellison said. “I’ll have to do that. I call it my inflatable doll.”

Chief Deputy Attorney General Fran Hughes said her office has assigned lawyers to investigate. The attorneys planned to meet today to discuss the allegations.

“We’re responsible for enforcement under the tobacco settlement,” Hughes said. “If there’s a direct violation, we’ll do what we’re responsible for doing under the terms of the agreement and proceed accordingly.”

Ellison said the Winston inflatable was originally displayed at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, which hosts NASCAR races. The product replica was discarded at some point, he said.

“It was in a Dumpster down there, and some guy fished it out,” he said.

The inflatable was passed from person to person over the years, and a Blackhawk customer gave it to Ellison as a gift last summer, he said.

Ellison said Winston did not pay him to display the air-blown advertisement.

“I don’t sell cigarettes,” said Ellison, who added he put the display on a 12-foot-high platform so it would be visible from I-64. “It’s not like I’m advertising them. I’m standing up for an injustice.”

During the past year, the Health Department has filed six criminal complaints against Ellison in Kanawha County Magistrate Court, alleging that he has repeatedly violated the county’s expanded Clean Indoor Air Act.

The regulations, which took effect in July 2008, prohibit smoking in bars, gambling parlors and at the Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in Nitro.

Earlier this month, a Kanawha County judge upheld a previous conviction against Ellison in Magistrate Court, ruling that the bar owner passed out ashtrays and allowed customers to smoke. Ellison plans to appeal the verdict and $200 fine. He wants a jury trial.

Four more complaints against the Blackhawk Saloon remain pending in Magistrate Court. One of the complaints was dismissed earlier this year.

The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement was reached between U.S. tobacco companies and Attorney General offices in 46 states, including West Virginia.

As part of the settlement, the nation’s four largest tobacco companies agreed to restrict their marketing, especially advertisements that target youth. R.J. Reynolds’ Winston brand sponsored the NASCAR stock car circuit from 1971 to 2003.

Reach Eric Eyre at erice…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.

CIGARETTE firms yesterday insisted that a proposed ban on tobacco displays was “unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted”.
Christopher Ogden, the chief executive of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association, also claimed the display ban – put forward by the Scottish Government – could be exploited by organised crime.

The tobacco boss hit out after the majority of MSPs on

Holyrood’s health and sport committee gave their backing to the move.

But Mr Ogden said: “The last thing we need in the midst of recession is further regulation that will facilitate illicit trade in tobacco products and impact adversely on thousands of small retailers and the communities they serve.”

The government’s Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill aims to curb the sale of cigarettes and tobacco to youngsters. The legislation would ban stores from displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products, outlaw cigarette vending machines and introduce a registration system for tobacco retailers.

MSPs on the committee have also urged the Scottish Government to expand the proposals to make it a criminal act for adults to buy tobacco for under-age youngsters.

Committee convener Christine Grahame said: “The majority of our committee believes that cigarettes at the point of sale represent an advertisement and a ban on these displays would have a particularly positive effect in deterring teenagers. Most members also believe that cigarette vending machines should be banned.”

However, Mr Ogden claimed MSPs had failed to consider “compelling evidence” provided by manufacturers and retailers that the “ban will not have its intended effect”.

He added: “The ban is unnecessary, unjustified and unwanted by many stakeholders.”

Copyright © 14 September 2009 News.scotsman

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. — Opponents of tougher restrictions on smoking in public and work places dominated a public hearing Thursday evening at Hedgesville High School about the proposal.

Among about 130 people who attended the forum on the proposed clean indoor air regulation revisions being considered by the Berkeley County Board of Health, only two people spoke in favor of the changes. More than 15 spoke against the changes prompting sustained applause practically every time by most of the people seated in the school’s auditorium.

Many speakers echoed the sentiments of businessman C.B. “Butch” Pennington, who presented members of the Board of Health with a stack of petitions in a cardboard box that he said bore more than 6,000 signatures of people opposed to the new regulations.

“In these hard economic times, we certainly don’t need this,” said Pennington, who owns three clubs and two liquor stores in the county.

Pennington predicted the elimination of the exemptions now in place in the existing clean indoor air regulation for bars and clubs would result in a loss of video lottery gaming and liquor tax revenues for the county.

Health Department Administrator Bill Kearns said in the public hearing that the Board of Health would discuss the proposed changes at their next meeting on Sept. 21 in the second floor courtroom of the old Berkeley County Courthouse. Board of Health members George Karos, John Miller III and Joy Buck did not attend the public hearing, but Kearns said they would be given copies of the comments submitted for consideration.

The board could act on the changes as proposed at that time, revise and then approve them, table the regulation or reject the changes being considered altogether, Kearns said.

Kearns said he had received more than 70 comments via the Health Department’s Web site and noted that the 30-day public comment period ends today.

Pennington said he believes that some clubs might be forced to close and suggested the county consider alternatives such as requiring installation of air filtration systems or a partial ban on smoking a few days a week. Businesses could place “a big red ‘S’” on their doors to alert patrons that smoking is allowed inside their establishment, Pennington said.

Smoking in most hotel and motel rooms also would no longer be allowed in Berkeley County if changes to clean air rules are adopted. The county’s current regulation was adopted in 2001.

Among the comments the health department received over the Internet, Kearns said many expressed concern about the overall economic impact of the regulations proposed.

“That is definitely a valid concern,” Kearns said. “This Board of Health is not wanting to create a burden for the community. What they are here to do is to protect the public health in this county and that’s a big responsibility that they have.”

Kearns said about 90 percent of people who submitted comments via the Internet aired concerns about infringement on civil liberties and individual rights, but few offered recommendations on how to reach “a happy medium” on the public health issue.

Christina Mickey, project coordinator with The Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia, said the tougher regulations would better protect people working in the hospitality industry.

Mickey has said that waiters and waitresses get four times the amount of lung cancer than any other profession.

About 40 percent of the people who submitted comments indicated they were nonsmokers, but still enjoyed frequenting bars and clubs in the county that allow smoking, Kearns said.

Copyright © 2009 Herald

Roseboro, N.C. — A fire that ripped through a Sampson County tobacco operation Wednesday afternoon caused an estimated $250,000 in damage.

The fire destroyed four tobacco barns, a warehouse and an office on the farm in the Herring community that the West family has owned for generations. About 8,500 pounds of tobacco in the barns also burned up, as did some equipment and children’s bicycles stored in the buildings, family members said.

“The tobacco was dry, and all of it was just like if you put gasoline on it, you know. It was just fast. You couldn’t do anything with it,” said Ted West, 66, the patriarch of the family farm.

Thirty-seven firefighters from seven departments responded to the fire and fought to bring it under control.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but West said something electrical or the gas-powered heat exchangers used in curing tobacco likely sparked the blaze.

“Seeing the building that you’ve grown up with since you were a little girl just going up in smoke in no time, it was hard,” said West’s daughter, Tracy Honeycutt. “It brings tears to my eyes now.”

The family has insurance to cover the damage, and members said they plan to begin cleaning up and rebuilding on Friday.

“If there’s a good sign, we saved these two barns,” said West’s son-in-law, Chad Honeycutt. “It’s hard to comprehend, but we’ll get it off and going again.”

The farm still has plenty of tobacco in the fields that will need to be harvested and cured in the coming weeks.

“Tobacco is my heritage. That’s what I’ve been raised in,” Tracy Honeycutt said.

Copyright © Aug, 27 2009 Wral

The price of tobacco in Malawi, Africa’s second-largest producer of the burley variety, traded 18 percent below the government-mandated price of $2.15 last week, said Auction Holdings Ltd., which manages the country’s auction floors.

The leaf sold at an average $1.77 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) during the week ended Aug. 21, Auction Holdings said in a weekly sales report published in the Daily Times newspaper today. Since the market opened on March 16, tobacco has sold for an average of $1.72, it said.

Malawi earned $16.7 million during the week, selling 8.5 million kilograms of the leaf, Auction Holdings added. The southern African nation started setting minimum prices for the various grades of tobacco two years ago after it accused merchants of putting farmers out of business. Dealers denied that they underpaid farmers.

Malawi relies on sales of the leaf for 60 percent of its export earnings. President Bingu wa Mutharika on April 6 threatened to deport buyers of the leaf if prices don’t improve.


Copyright © Bloomberg

London’s City Council has approved a ban on smoking inside public buildings – and some smokers are fuming.alt

“I smoke and I drink and I smoke and drink at the same time. If I can’t smoke while I drink, then I’m not going to be in your restaurant,” said Chris Mills outside Dino’s, a restaurant and bar there.

The ban goes into effect as soon as it’s published, which could be as soon as Friday – just time in time for the weekend.

“It’s a real low blow to do this thing, because I’ve seen it out in California and I’ve seen it in different states and now it’s moving my home state,” Dino’s patron John McKnight told ABC 36 News.

Owner Kosta Ververis said while Dino’s will comply with the law, which carries up to a $200 fine for violators, he expects it will hurt business, at least early on. “We’ll lose a lot of regular smoking customers, but we’re hoping in the future we might gain some non-smoking,” he said.

Supporters of the ban argue customers and employees deserve a chance to eat, drink or work in a tobacco smoke-free environment. Opponents say those people can eat, drink or work elsewhere.

Ron Naples and his wife stopped for a bite on their way north. They own a restaurant/bar in Florida, which passed a state-wide indoor smoking ban about four years ago.

“It’s coming. And people just have to accept it for what it is. You can’t fight it. And ordinary person can’t fight the system,” he said.

Once the law goes into effect, businesses and their customers will have up to 60 days to change their ways – or, perhaps, explain those ways to a judge.

NEW YORK — The New York Association of Convenience Stores filed written comments opposing a proposed amendment to the New York City Health Code that would force tobacco retailers to prominently display point-of-sale warning signs about the adverse health effects of tobacco products, some with graphic images as large as three feet square, the association reported.

The measure would require stores to post the pictures of black lungs and other images wherever tobacco products are displayed, and at the cash register or point of purchase. Although the proposal is confined to New York City, it has statewide implications for convenience stores, according to the association.

NYACS cited three main concerns:

– Timing: After years of struggle, public health advocates finally won congressional approval for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco nationwide, wrote NYACS President James Calvin. “The FDA is about to plant your flag at the summit of Mount Everest, but it seems like suddenly you’re elbowing them out of the way to get there first. We don’t understand the rush to unilaterally enact rules that are bound to be inconsistent in nature and timing with FDA guidelines,” he said.

– Small Business Impact: Calvin said the Board of Health, which held a public hearing on the proposal Thursday, should examine it not only as a public health issue, but a small business issue as well. “It’s not just that the proposed number, size and placement of the signs amount to a seizure of prime retail space used for promotional messages and product displays,” he wrote. “If ghoulish pictures of black lungs dominate the view of our counter, they will be seen not only by adult tobacco customers, but by non-smokers entering the store to buy milk, produce, candy, beverages, newspapers, lottery and everything else we sell. And these images are going to turn them off to coming into our store. Consequently, some non-tobacco customers will stop coming in altogether, costing us business.”

– Double Standard: The proposed amendment adds to the regulatory double standard that has long existed between licensed, tax-collecting, law-abiding retail stores and unlicensed, unregulated, untaxed competitors, according to the association. Calvin asked the Board of Health if it is also going to require nearby Native American smoke shops on Long Island, Internet tobacco Web sites, black-market tobacco traders to display the health warning signs, noting half the cigarettes consumed by New Yorkers are purchased from these unlicensed, unregulated, untaxed channels.


Copyright © 2009 Csnews

Customs officials warned smokers to steer clear of smuggled tobacco today – after finding a stash of illicit cigarettes concealed in a sewer.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said the find in Dudley, West Midlands, was made at the home of a milkman who had also hidden tobacco among milk, eggs and bread on his delivery van.

Around 16,000 cigarettes and 2.5kg of hand-rolling tobacco were seized from the 50-year-old’s address near Dudley town centre on Saturday.

Keith Morgan, senior detection officer for HMRC, said part of the stash was found in drains underneath a manhole cover, where a metal plate had been fixed to house the contraband.

“We are constantly warning people of the dangers of buying cheap tobacco products, which are unlicensed and unregulated,” Mr Morgan said.

“Unfortunately, this latest seizure shows they were being stored in the most unhygienic conditions imaginable – in the sewers.

“This detection will horrify the public and will reinforce the importance of our messages of the nature and antics of those involved in this form of criminality.”

Further investigations are under way pending potential criminal charges, Mr Morgan added.
Copyright © 2009 Independen

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.

Ninety percent of Turks support the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants that will come into force this month, a poll has shown.

More than half the respondents also said they were concerned the July 19 ban would not be properly enforced, according to the poll of 600 people by Istanbul-based Quirk Global Strategies published today.

About 35 percent of all adult Turks smoke, including more than half the men in the country of 72 million. Philip Morris International Inc. and British American Tobacco Plc are among the companies that make cigarettes in Turkey. This month’s ban follows legislation in May 2008 that outlawed cigarettes in workplaces, shopping malls, schools and hospitals. Turkey’s government collects about $8.5 billion a year in taxes on tobacco products, and spends about half that amount treating smoking-related illnesses, Toker Ergüder, who runs the World Health Organization’s tobacco-control project in Turkey, said Thursday.

Copyright © 2009 Hurriyet

San Francisco smokers will soon have to pay an additional 20 cents for a pack of cigarettes. That was just one of well over a dozen fee hikes that were approved yesterday by the board of supervisors.

The new 20 cent surcharge on a pack of cigarettes is supposed to cover the cost of cleaning up tobacco litter and go towards a related educated campaign.

At a recent hearing, Catherine Dodd of the mayor’s office blamed those cigarette butts for damaging the environment.

”Just one smoked cigarette butt in a liter bucket of water that creates a lethal concentration of toxins that is known to kill fish,” said Dodd.

On Tuesday the supervisors approved the fee without a word of comment. They also approved new fees for recreation programs, including higher fees for swimming pools.

Fees are being raised everywhere to help offset the deficit. The new revenue will be a critical part of the mix when the Supervisors vote on the full budget next week.


Copyright © 2009 Kcbs

More than 80 per cent of the country’s psychiatric wards are failing to enforce the smoking ban, says a report to be published tomorrow.

Staff shortages, a lack of safe outdoor space and insufficient training in quitting techniques means staff have had little success in stopping patients smoking indoors, says research by the Mental Health Foundation.

Around 70 per cent of people with severe mental health problems smoke cigarettes, but those admitted to hospital under section are often unable to leave the confines of the ward without special permission and accompanied by a staff member.

The ban – in force since 1 July 2008, a year later than elsewhere to enable hospitals to make provision – has led to secret smoking among patients, according to the foundation, which is calling for a review of the ban’s impact.

Simon Lawton-Smith, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “We need legal guidance… there is no point in having a law which is clearly being flouted on a daily basis.”

Ralph Hill, 60, from north Essex, who has bipolar disorder, said: “Yes, smokers are offered help to stop, but many are too ill to cope with giving up at the same time as being sectioned.”
Copyright © 2009 Independent

Politicians have extraordinary shoulder joints that enable them to pat themselves on the back, and last week the president, a master of that calisthenic, performed it in the Rose Garden. His subject — aside from himself, as usual — was the bill by which Congress authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. The president called this “a bill that truly defines change in Washington” and “changes the way Washington works and who Washington works for.”

Our leaders are often wrong but rarely so precisely wrong. In two important particulars, the bill is a crystalline example of Washington business as usual – the protection of the strong. The bill was supported by America’s biggest tobacco company and by the Democratic Party’s fountain of funds, the trial bar.

Congress could ban cigarettes; therefore it could ban tobacco advertising. Instead, tobacco advertising and promotions will be even more severely curtailed. These restrictions merit a constitutional challenge. Although commercial speech does not receive full First Amendment protection, Congress should not be allowed to effectively prohibit truthful communication about a legal product. Philip Morris, however, can live — indeed, can flourish — with the new restrictions on the marketing measures by which less powerful companies might threaten its dominance. And lest courts conclude that companies cannot be sued for behavior (selling cigarettes) governed, hence authorized, by a regulatory body, the bill stipulates that it shall not be construed to limit “the liability of any person under the product liability law of any state.”

Government policy regarding tobacco, as regarding so much else, is contradictory and unlovely. Nevertheless, it has been, on balance, a success: Americans are behaving much more sensibly.
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Before the surgeon general declared tobacco addictive (1988) and carcinogenic (1964), before a character in a 1906 O. Henry story asked, “Say, sport, have you got a coffin nail on you?” people intuitively understood that inhaling smoke is unhealthy. Smoking is addictive (although there are about as many ex-smokers as smokers), sickening, often fatal and usually childish: Ninety percent of all smokers start by age 18; few start after 21. But death and intelligence cost the companies 6,000 customers a day, so that many new smokers must be made daily just to keep up.

Ironies abound. The February expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program is supposed to be financed by increased tobacco taxes, so this health care depends on an ample and renewable supply of smokers. State governments, increasingly addicted to tobacco tax revenue, face delicate price calculations: They want to raise their regressive tobacco taxes (smokers are disproportionately low income and poorly educated) to just below where smokers are driven to quit.

Governments cannot loot tobacco companies that do not flourish. In a 1998 settlement, 46 states conspired to seize $206 billion from companies selling legal tobacco products made from a commodity subsidized by the governments that subsidize treatment of tobacco-related illnesses. The dubious premise of the settlement was that smoking costs governments substantial sums. Actually, tobacco is the most heavily taxed consumer good (Rhode Island’s tax is $3.46 per pack) and the accurate actuarial assumptions of public and private pension plans are that premature deaths of smokers will save billions in payments.

In the early 1950s, the sponsor of anchorman John Cameron Swayze’s “Camel News Caravan” on NBC television required him to have a lit cigarette constantly visible. Today smokers are pariahs in a country the Father of which was a tobacco farmer. Someday the ashtray may be as anachronistic as the spittoon, but fear of death may be a milder deterrent to smoking than is the fact that smoking is dumb and déclassé. Dumb? Would you hire a smoker, who must be either weak-willed or impervious to evidence? Déclassé? Twenty years ago, California cut smoking 17 percent with commercials such as: “I tried it twice and I, ah, got all red in the face and I couldn’t inhale and I felt like a jerk and, ah, never tried it again, which is the same as what happened to me with sex.”

Three decades ago, public outrage killed an automobile model (Ford’s Pinto) whose design defects allegedly caused 59 deaths. Yet every year tobacco kills more Americans than did World War II — more than AIDS, cocaine, heroin, alcohol, vehicular accidents, homicide and suicide combined.

In the time it takes to read this column, three Americans will die of smoking-related illnesses. If you tarry to savor the column’s lovely prose, four will die, so read fast.
Copyright © 2009 Washingtonpost

I’ll quit when I’m good and ready to quit. If you’ve ever thought about or actually tried to quit smoking, that’s likely a phrase you’ve uttered either aloud or to yourself. What you might not know is that that is one of the keys to being successful when trying to quit smoking – wanting to quit.

Or maybe you’ve not given it much thought before. If not, that’s a shame. While the reasons to stop smoking are numerous, here are some that should be high on your list when considering quitting cigarettes altogether. It’s not a comprehensive list, but we’ll have a solution for that at the end. Start at the beginning, though, knowing why you should want to quit.

Health

Cigarettes cause cancer! It’s written on the packaging! I’m not sure whether everyone thinks about it all the time, but sooner or later most people start thinking about their health. Whether they’re younger and tired of already feeling old or older and about to realize that their bodies won’t last forever.

For too many reasons to list here, cigarettes are bad for your health. This should be on the top of your list as an overall reason to quit smoking. Remember that that’s the first step – gathering enough information so that you want to quit.

Wealth

Cigarettes aren’t cheap! You might be made of money, but if you’re like most people in these unsure economic times, money is tight. Cigarettes can be a big drain on your money. Sometimes when you buy a pack or a carton at a time you don’t realize how much they’re adding up over time, especially if, like most people, you gradually need more and more nicotine and start to smoke more.

Try to add up how much you spend each week on cigarettes some time. Then multiply that number by 52 for the number of weeks in a year. You might be shocked at how much you’re spending each year on cigarettes. If you stopped smoking, how else could you spend that money?

Family

Not everyone has close friends and family, but most people on this planet would be missed by other people if they die. And smoking cigarettes leads to death. You can’t quit for other people, but you should take them into consideration as a reason to quit.

One Method to Quit Smoking

What if there was a guide that compiled a lot of great information and tips for quitting smoking – would you be interested? Getting help for a tough task like quitting smoking isn’t a dumb idea that makes you weak. Seeking help means you’re serious about quitting.

Citing the potential for harming businesses, the House today overwhelmingly rejected a move to broaden the state’s indoor smoking ban to include bars and gambling establishments.

The 29-71 vote on House Bill 844 by Rep. Gary Smith followed more than an hour of debate and several attempts to change the bill, most of which were turned away.

Supporters of the measure said it was a public health measure designed to protect patrons and workers in bars and casinos from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, and would create a level playing field between restaurants, bars and casinos.

Smoking has been banned in restaurants since 2007. More than two dozen states have already passed complete bans on indoor smoking in public places.

“I’m here today with a bill that’s going to bring some equality to restaurant owners and is going to bring health to the people of Louisiana,” said Smith, D-Norco.

But opponents said it was likely to hurt businesses that allow smoking and that bar owners should be free to decide for themselves whether to allow smoking. “Where will smokers be able to go and have their dinner and also enjoy tobacco products?” said Rep. Rick Nowlin, R-Natchitoches.

The original version of Smith’s bill would only have applied to bars. But it was amended in the House Health and Welfare Committee to include gambling establishments. Smoking would still have been allowed on open-air patios and Indian casinos.
Copyright © 2009 Nola

Opponents of a law to extend a state smoking ban to include bars and casinos expect to have the needed number of petition signatures to refer the law to a public vote.

And they’re planning on turning them in a week before the June 29 deadline.

Larry Mann of Rapid City, who coordinates the petition drive for Citizens for Individual Freedom, said the ballot-issue committee plans to turn in petitions to the secretary of state in Pierre on June 22.

“The drive is going well, and we are on target to meet our goal,” Mann said Friday.

About 2,500 petitions were assigned to circulators throughout the state, and completed petitions are being returned daily, Mann said.

“We will be making a big push to get petitions turned in beginning next week,” he said.

The South Dakota Legislature approved HB1240, which would expand a state ban on smoking in businesses and public places to include bars and casinos. Gov. Mike Rounds signed the bill into law, which would take effect July 1.

If the required 16,776 signatures are verified, however, the law would be suspended pending the next general election vote in November 2010.

You already know you have to be ready in your mind to quit smoking. You can quit for someone else, but you most likely won’t stick with it. Believe it or not, just about the easiest way to quit smoking is with hypnosis. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars going to a hypnotist and having to spend more money for follow-up sessions.

You can listen to hypnosis audios in the privacy of your home whenever you choose to. It’s easy, fast and works. A doctor on Fox news said they have proven studies that hypnosis is the best way to quit smoking, and for good. It beat out patches, gum and anti-depressants.

Other methods to quit are either way too expensive or they don’t work. Why use the patch, take pills or any of the other ways to quit if it means you are putting more stuff into your body and probably spending a lot of money too. Isn’t the main purpose to quit smoking for improving your health? Hypnosis prevents you from having to put nicotine, such as the patches, in your system.

Just about the easiest way to quit smoking is with hypnosis and by letting your mind be open to it. You really need to be ready to quit and also to be open to the hypnosis method itself. It works and it works quickly, so if you are ready to quit, why not give it a go? If you are almost ready, but not one hundred percent ready, you could get the hypnosis audio and material ahead of time so when it hits you and you want to quit, you will be prepared to listen to your audio at that time. Hypnosis truly is just about the easiest way to quit smoking, and permanently.

It is no longer a secret that smoking dangerous to human health. It is however not only injurious to one’s health generally but also one of the most difficult habits to overcome.

Please do not misunderstand me here. I am in no way an apologist for those people who keep smoking because they believe that it is impossible to stop it.

As a matter of fact, they cannot be further from the truth! And I believe that most of such people continue to smoke either because they are not yet ready to give up the smoking habit or they simply lack the information on how to go about it.

It is no longer a secret that most countries in the world are coming up with laws banning smoking in public places. This is not an assault on cigarette producing companies but an informed attempt by responsible governments to protect its valued citizens from the inherent dangers associated with smoking.

A Healthy Nation is a Wealthy Nation!

I do not intend to dabble into reasons why people should give up smoking in this article. I am more concerned about how to help the willing ones to succeed in their quest to give up this dangerous habit.

I have discovered that most successful “quit smoking products are effective mainly because they do not only teach you how to quit smoking but actually kill your appetite for smoking.

Make no mistake about this. I am not talking about hypnotism here. Neither is it what people call “Neuro-linguistic Programming”.

(I have always wondered what linguistic anything has to do with smoking, talk less of neuro-anything).

Anyway, what I am talking about here is simply a number of truths concerning the psychology of smoking that explains why a person and how he or she can overcome this injurious habit. I have arranged these in form of tips for those who honestly desire to quit smoking once and for all.

Tip #1: Accept that smoking is dangerous to your health, can cut short your life and so needs to be gotten rid of.

Tip #2: Prepare yourself psychologically to be ready to do all it takes to get liberated from this bondage because that is exactly what smoking is – BONDAGE!

Tip #3: Rid your entire immediate environment of items associated with smoking as much as possible. In other words, get rid of items like your old cigarette packs, lighters, matches, ashtrays, and so on.

Tip #4: Ensure that nobody and I mean NOBODY smokes in your house, car, garden and everywhere you have control over. If you have smoker friends who insist on doing their smoking in your house, you will need to choose between your life and them. And I am sure you won’t find it difficult to make the right choice here.

Tip #5: Never, ever doubt your decision and ability to quit smoking. You have made the right decision. Stick to it as if your life depends on it. It actually does, after all.

Tip #6: Get a harmless product as a replacement for cigarettes so that whenever you have a craving to smoke, you simply take that replacement. It could be a bubble gum, a peppermint or something else.

Users of Durham’s American Tobacco Trail should take note of a temporary detour to accommodate the Apex Street Bridge demolition work that is now underway.

The City of Durham’s Department of Public Works is beginning the next step in completing a new trail connection from the Southside/St. Theresa Neighborhood to the American Tobacco Trail.

The demolition of the Apex Street Bridge is the second component of the project and will take place over the next few weeks. The first step in the project has been completed with the construction of a new ramp connecting the American Tobacco Trail to Apex Street.

Due to the bridge demolition, a detour of the American Tobacco Trail is required between West Enterprise Street and Apex Street and will begin May 27, 2009. The detour will remain in place for approximately four weeks.

Users of the American Tobacco Trail should note that the trail will not be passable from West Enterprise Street south to Apex Street during this period and they will be required to use a detour. American Tobacco Trail traffic between Apex Street and West Enterprise Street will be diverted from the trail to Fargo Street. The newly constructed ramp will serve as an access point for the detour. Signage providing directions to the detour will be posted on the trail.

Copyright © 2009 Durhamcounty

ISU will be quitting cold turkey when the smoking ban takes effect July 1, and preparations are being made for any problems that result.

Bill Mercier, the director of public safety, said he expects people to comply “voluntarily,” where people would follow this regulation without needing police incentive.

“We don’t really envision us having to enforce this,” he said.

Mercier said if someone did choose to not comply with the smoking ban, the person would first be asked to stop smoking.

If the person continues to smoke, the punishment would “depend on … who they are to the university,” he said.

If the person is a community member, the person would be escorted off campus. Anyone who is involved with the university would be directed towards the appropriate disciplinary entity, Mercier said.

“If it is a student, it would be appropriate to take it to student judicial,” he said.

To help student smokers cope with the ban, the Student Health Center is providing free classes to help students quit smoking, said Aimee Janssen-Robinson, an outreach educator for the Student Counseling Center.

She said, so far, two graduate students have taken advantage of the classes.

Mercier wants students to be aware of where people can and can’t smoke to prevent unnecessary interventions.

He said people smoking on city-street sidewalks are not on campus and therefore not subject to the ISU smoking ban, even if the sidewalk is inside campus.

Mercier also said, since the smoking ban is only a regulation, no one would be arrested for smoking on campus.

SGA President Michael Scott Jr said there will be “smoking islands” available around campus for smokers.

Scott also said he had mixed feelings about the fairness of the smoking ban.

I think fair is very subjective,” he said. “As a non-smoker, I am often the recipient of undesirable secondhand smoke, there will be more comfort walking around campus as a result. Conversely, I can see how a smoker would see this being heavy-handed and an invasion of civil liberties.”

For more information about the free smoking cessation classes, call student health promotions at 237-3939.

Copyright © 2009 Media

The congressional drive to bring tobacco under Food & Drug Administration control – given new life in the Senate last week -  is poised to approach the finish line in the Senate in June, but not without a bipartisan fight from North Carolina’s two senators.

Sens. Kay Hagan (D) and Richard Burr (R) plan to push a substitute bill that would put the controversial drug under the control of a newly created entity of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services instead of the FDA. The substitute bill by Burr and Hagan has been criticized by critics who say taking control outside the FDA would short-circuit attempts at worthwhile regulation, while Burr and Hagen say HHS is better equipped to regulate the drug.

“FDA doesn’t have the manpower or the staff to do it,” Hagan said. “We’ve got 65,000 people employed by tobacco in North Carolina. I will oppose the bill, but there’s a huge push for regulation right now, and what we’re doing is looking at who would have regulatory approval. To me, I don’t think the FDA is the place for it.”

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act passed the House by a vote of 298-112 on April 2 — a vote opposed by most House Republicans. Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said last week that Senate Democrats plan to move forward on their side sometime in June.

The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed the bill on a 15-8 vote last Wednesday.

Matt Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids — a coalition of 130 health-advocacy groups including the American Cancer Society — lauded the vote and called on full Senate passage.
“FDA regulation of tobacco products, the nation’s number one cause of preventable death, is an essential step toward improving health and reducing health care costs in the United States,” Myers said.

The bill — primarily pushed by HELP Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) would set new FDA regulations on nicotine. Federal officials would gain new power to regulate the ingredients, marketing and disclosure requirements of cigarettes, for example, including the power to ban advertising that seeks to downplay the drug’s effect, such as companies that advertise cigarettes as “low-tar,” or “mild.”

The bill is also an attempt to circumvent a March 2000 Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Clinton administration attempt to regulate tobacco. On a 5-4 vote, justices at the time said the FDA was “overreaching” in attempting to regulate tobacco without congressional approval.

“It is plain that Congress has not given the FDA the authority that it seeks to exercise here,” wrote Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in the majority opinion joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.

But the bill won’t go down without a fight. Democrats say they have the necessary 60 votes to pass the bill, but Burr said he will lead opposition.

“FDA’s core mission is to prove the safety of every product that they regulate — except for tobacco, which we know is dangerous and kills people,” said Burr. “So what do you do, ask FDA to ignore their core mission when it comes to tobacco but apply it on everything else?”

Burr said he and Hagan do not disagree with the need for increased regulation.
“But where you put it is important,” Burr said.

Copyright © 2009 Thehill