Youth tobacco checks show 100% compliance

Nine tobacco checks in Alva and Woodward were completed with 100% compliance rate for the third consecutive quarter. Youth volunteers and staff from Northwest Center for Behavioral Health Regional Prevention Coordinator (formerly the Area Prevention Resource Center) recently conducted Reward Reminder Visits in northwest Oklahoma communities.

Checks were done in the communities of Alva, Waynoka, Mooreland and Woodward on September 23rd. Clerks in all of the stores visited verified the age of the youth volunteer, and did not sell tobacco products to them.

Reward Reminder Visits are also referred to as Tobacco Compliance Checks. These are visits that are conducted at retailers that sell tobacco, to ensure that tobacco is not being sold to minors.

The Regional Prevention Coordinator conducts random tobacco checks where tobacco products are sold, utilizing a youth volunteer who is under 18 years of age. During these checks the minor is accompanied into the store where he or she attempts to purchase a tobacco product.

If the clerk proceeds to attempt to sell the minor, the RPC staff person informs them that they are illegally selling tobacco to a youth who is underage. If the clerk requests an ID and refuses a sale, they are praised by the staff member and given a card thanking them for not selling to a minor.

In either case, the clerk is required to fill out an information sheet and the store’s manager is then notified by letter whether the clerk did or did not sell tobacco.

The Reward Reminder Visits do not have the legal implications that the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission has, but rather could be viewed as a “trial run” for ABLE Agents, who regularly conduct their own tobacco checks.

The information gathered by the RPC staff during these checks is reported to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services Prevention Services, who works closely with the ABLE Commission.

Japan Tobacco sale planned for reconstruction

+The Japanese government plans to sell its entire stake in Japan Tobacco and other firms to raise Y2,000bn ($26.2bn) to pay for the reconstruction of Tohoku which was devastated by the March earthquake.
The ruling Democratic party took the surprise decision – which would represent Japan’s biggest privatisation in years – to ease the tax burden on citizens.

It would aim to reduce its 50 per cent stake in JT down to a third within the next five years according to Seiji Maehara, DPJ policy chief. It aims to sell the remainder within ten years
Following a string of large privatisations in the 1990s, the sale of government shares has slowed in recent years, although this year, the finance ministry sold Y223bn worth of shares in NTT back to the telecoms operator.
Taxpayers had been asked to pay an additional Y11,200bn towards the estimated Y19,000bn cost of rebuilding Tohoku over five years. But opposition to the tax increase both from within the DPJ and the major opposition parties forced the government to find other revenue sources.
The DPJ estimates that the privatisation plan, which requires Diet approval, will reduce the extra tax burden to Y9,200bn.
The strong opposition to the original tax increase was partly due to concerns that the added burden would undermine consumption and further depress the economy.
Japan’s economy shrank by more than initially estimated in the three months to June, with gross domestic product falling 2.1 per cent on an annualised basis compared with a projected 1.3 per cent.
“If taxes are raised in this uncertain environment, there will definitely be an impact on the economy,” said Masaaki Kanno, chief economist at JPMorgan in Tokyo.
The Japanese government, whose stake in JT is worth an estimated Y1,700bn, plans to sell its stakes in Inpex, an oil company, and Japex, an oil exploration and production company. Those stakes are worth a combined Y566bn.
The JT sale will be welcomed by international investors, who have long argued that the company should buy back its shares from the government to raise its earnings per share and boost its share price.
The Children’s Investment Fund, the activist fund, has written twice to the finance ministry urging the government to use its role as JT’s largest shareholder to encourage the company to raise its dividend and buy back its shares.
“It’s in the public interest. This could be an example of [better corporate governance] and attract foreign investors back into Japan,” said Oscar Veldhuijzen, TCI partner.
The government is likely to face opposition to its plan from politicians close to tobacco leaf farmers, who want JT to continue to be required by law to buy the entire domestic tobacco leaf crop, at significantly higher prices than in international markets.
Although there are only about 10,000 tobacco leaf farmers, they have been able to wield significant influence over the debate on a government sale of JT shares.
Before a final decision is reached, “I think there will be one or two more turbulent moments,” Mr Kanno said.

Probe finds high uncompliance with age tobacco sales restrictions

What are the odds that a teen can buy cigarettes in Arizona without even lying about his or her age?
If a year-long undercover investigation is any indication, about one chance in seven.

In a new report Wednesday, Attorney General Tom Horne said volunteers younger than 18 walked into nearly 2,000 retail outlets across the state, asked for smokes and got them. In some cases, he said, clerks didn't bother to ask for identification.
And in others, the teens gave the clerks an ID -- with their correct birth dates showing they had not reached the legal age to purchase tobacco -- and still were able to walk out of the store with tobacco.
Horne said that one-out-of-seven rate of failing to comply with the law was pretty much the average in the state's largest county. But he said his underage volunteers found their bid for cigarettes easier in rural counties, with the average chances of making a purchase closer to one out of four.
And the figures were even higher in Coconino, Graham, Greenlee and La Paz counties.
At the other extreme, only a small percentage of retailers in Pima and Cochise counties broke the law.
Bertha Adame, one of the volunteers, told reporters how as a 17-year-old she managed to buy cigarettes six times within a two-hour period. And she said it wasn't like the clerks were in a hurry, saying there were few customers on the store that Wednesday evening.
Adame said some clerks asked for her driver's license, swiping the magnetic strip on the card through a reader designed to determine if the would-be buyer is of legal age.
"But they would just bypass it,'' she said.
And sometimes, Adame said, the staffers just seemed incapable of doing the math, looking at the license and the date of birth and deciding to make the sale anyway.
Clinton Zeiner, another teen, reported similar experiences.
"They'd look at my ID, sometimes glance at it, sometimes not even do the math,'' he said.
"And at certain times, they don't even look at my ID,'' Zeiner continued. "I just give them the money and walk away with the cigarettes.''
Adame, who said she has never smoked, said she volunteered to help because it's "a nasty, bad habit you can't get out of.''
Horne is using the high rate of noncompliance to launch a campaign aimed not at the store owners but at the clerks in a bid to convince them to comply with the law. The ads emphasize that the fine of up to $300 s levied on the person who makes the sale, not who owns the shop.
Only if there is a policy of selling to teens, Horne said, can the owner be penalized.
Horne said the undercover buying program dates back to 2002. He said that while the noncompliance rate is lower now than it has been, the number of clerks still willing to sell to minors remains too high.

Reynolds Tobacco employees to vote on joining union

For the third time in 6½ years, production and maintenance workers at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. will have the chance to vote on union representation.

Reynolds confirmed Tuesday that a joint petition was filed Sept. 12 with the National Labor Relations Board by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

Reynolds said a secret-ballot vote will take place Oct. 20-21 at its Tobaccoville and Whitaker Park plants.

According to the petition, 1,234 employees are eligible to vote. Included are all regular full- and part-time employees at the plants — all wage grades, flat-rate employees, electrical technicians, mechanical instructors, plant clerical workers and shippers.

The unions said in the petition that at least 30 percent of eligible Reynolds employees support forming a union. For the unions to win, they need to receive a majority of the votes cast, not a majority of eligible voters. Objections to the election proceedings can be filed by either side.

The labor board's regional office in Winston-Salem will administer the election.

Union representation of workers would allow for negotiation of a contract that could cover pay, benefits and working conditions and gives employees the ability to strike.

Voting will occur between noon and 4 p.m. Oct. 20 and between 9:30 p.m. Oct. 20 and 2:30 a.m. Oct. 21 in the administration training room at Tobaccoville, and between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Oct. 20 and between 10 p.m. Oct. 20 and 1:30 a.m. Oct. 21 in the main conference room at Whitaker Park.

The unions also jointly held an election in May 2006. The vote was 1,228 against union representation, 862 for and 23 ballots were challenged.

In March 2005, the machinists and aerospace union held an election in which 1,185 votes were cast against union representation, 618 for and 50 ballots were challenged.

Officials with each union could not be reached for comment Tuesday concerning the motives behind their petitions.

Reynolds spokeswoman Maura Payne said the company has not changed its stance that "a union will not benefit our employees or our business."

"We continue to believe that the best way for our company to grow our business is to work directly with employees on work issues, not through a third party," Payne said.

"We are communicating with employees and encouraging them to get all the facts before they make this important decision."

Reynolds and the unions waged heated campaigns in the 2005 and 2006 union efforts.

Workers supporting the union said during those campaigns they were upset over cuts in their benefits — such as increased health-care costs for employees and a change in the company's overtime-pay policy — while senior company officials were awarded large salaries, bonuses and stock.

Reynolds has 1,355 manufacturing employees at the plants. Many of its production employees make $50,000 to $67,000 a year.

By contrast, the average manufacturing employee in North Carolina makes $31,574 a year, according to the N.C. Employment Security Commission.

Since December 2009, Reynolds has had 450 manufacturing employees accept a voluntary-departure offer, including a severance package.

The primary reasons for the downsizing were the continuing decline in demand for cigarettes nationwide and higher efficiency gains from consolidating production at Whitaker Park into Tobaccoville.

Since 1983, Reynolds American Inc. and its subsidiaries have eliminated at least 85 percent of their local workforce through at least 18 job-cut announcements, going from 15,500 full-time workers to about 2,400.

The employment breakdown is about 1,960 with Reynolds Tobacco, 400 with RAI Services Co. and 40 with Reynolds American.

For Chinese Students, Smoking Isn’t All Bad

In dozens of rural villages in China’s western provinces, one of the first things primary school kids learn is what helps make their education possible: tobacco. The schools are sponsored by local units of China’s state-owned cigarette monopoly, China National Tobacco. “On the gates of these schools you’ll see slogans that say ‘Genius comes from hard work—tobacco helps you become talented,’” says Xu Guihua, secretary general of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, a privately funded lobbying group. “They are pinning their hopes on young people taking up smoking.”

Anti-tobacco groups say efforts in China to reduce sales, including a ban on smoking in public places introduced in May, have been hampered by light penalties, a lack of education about the dangers of smoking, and the fact that the regulator, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, also runs the world’s biggest cigarette maker.

While Chinese law bans tobacco advertising on radio, television, and in newspapers, they “do not have clear restrictions on sales and sponsorship activities,” according to a report published in January by Yang Gonghuan, a former deputy director of China’s Center for Disease Control & Prevention, and Tsinghua University professor Hu Angang. Regional units of the monopoly funded construction of more than 100 primary schools throughout China, such as the Sichuan Tobacco Hope Primary School, the official Xinhua News Agency reported in May. Some schools are named after local tobacco companies such as Hongta or top-selling cigarette brands like Zhongnanhai, named after the compound next to the Forbidden City where China’s top leaders live and work. The state tobacco company in September 2010 announced it was sponsoring an additional 42 primary school libraries in Xinjiang and 40 in Tibet, and in November made a ¥10 million donation to a women’s development fund for a “Healthy Mothers’ Express” campaign.

China National Tobacco lists charitable activities on its website. In a survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted in 2009 by the Association on Tobacco Control, 7 percent had a good impression of the tobacco industry due to its charity work, while 18 percent said they would pick a cigarette brand because of its good works. State Tobacco’s press office didn’t respond to interview requests or faxed questions about sponsorship.

MCC to go tobacco-free in October

McHenry County College will go completely tobacco-free Oct. 1, and those caught smoking on the Crystal Lake campus could incur a hefty fine.

The tobacco-free campus policy, which was approved by the board of trustees in late August, will eliminate the college’s three smoking areas and includes all forms of tobacco and the use of electronic cigarettes.

“The goal of becoming a tobacco-free campus is to promote a safe, clean and healthy learning environment for our students, employees and community patrons,” MCC Director of Health and Wellness Lena Kalemba said in a press release.

The policy was initiated by student groups and later studied by a campus committee for nearly two years before being brought to the board of trustees. The committee included students, staff and administrators.

As a part of the process, surveys were sent out to employees and students in February. That data showed 73 percent of employees and 67 percent of students were in favor of the ban.

Violators will be referred to the appropriate administrative office for review and could be subject to citations and a fine by campus police. First-time violators would be fined $50, a second violation would cost $100, and subsequent citations could go as high as $250, depending on the nature of the violation, according to officials.

Failure to pay the fines will result in an academic restriction being placed on the student’s record.

Campus police have been in “education mode,” letting smokers know about the new restrictions, officials say.

Officers have been handing out stress balls and “No Smoking” mints, as well as informing campus-goers of the October roll out.

“We believe the educational component will go a long way in gaining cooperation on the new policy rather than just enforcement only,” said Michael Clesceri, campus safety and security director. “This is truly going to take a cooperative effort.”

Movie Industry Linked to Increased Tobacco Use by Teens

Movies depicting tobacco use leads to increased odds that a teenager or adolescent will become and/or remain a smoker. This is a claim made in a recent study published in the medical journal Thorax where 5,166 fifteen-year-old teenagers were questioned about their movie watching experiences and their use of tobacco products.

These findings support a call by smoking cessation supporters to place a smoking category to film ratings. However, not all anti-smoking supporters believe that a change in movie ratings will be effective.

In the September issue of the journal Thorax, researchers state that their data from a study looking at the influence of top US box office films released between 2001 and 2005— including blockbuster movie titles like Spider-Man and The Matrix—where smoking scenes are depicted, increases the risk of smoking onset by over 100% and increases the risk of current or established smoking behavior by 68%. Social, family and behavioral factors were adjusted for, along with alcohol use and peer smoking as potential influencing factors on tobacco use. The study’s results have led the researchers to conclude that the film industry needs to add a smoking category/ warning to the film ratings of movies with scenes depicting actors smoking.

While the notion of adding smoking warnings to movies ratings is not a new one, in light of the seriousness of this health issue it does have merit.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), tobacco use which includes cigarette and cigar smoking and smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco, snuff and dip) accounts for 1 out of every 5 deaths (approximately 443,000 deaths/year) in the U.S. and remains the leading cause of preventable death. Daily, approximately 3,600 youths between the ages of 12 and 17 will have their first cigarette with 1/3 becoming addicted to smoking. In a survey conducted in 2009, researchers reported that 19% of high school students admitted to cigarette use, 14% to cigar use, and 9% to smokeless tobacco use.

Furthermore, the CDC reports that an estimated 88 million non-smoking Americans, of which 54% are children between the ages of 3 and 11, are exposed to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke exposure contributes to approximately 3,000 deaths/year from lung cancer, 46,000 deaths from heart disease and approximately 150,000 to 300,000 children 18 months and younger to lower respiratory tract infections.

The good news, however, is that the trend toward smoking is decreasing and is attributed to education programs and peer pressure that are effective toward younger adolescents who are learning at any early age the dangers of smoking. According to the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, if the current trend continues at its present rate of decline, the percentage of adult and adolescent smoker will decrease to 12% and 16% respectively in the U.S. population by the year 2020.

Therefore, numbers such as these make a good argument for imposing regulations such as adding a smoking category to movie ratings. However, while some opponents of the measure can be heard protesting in a collective hacking, not all opponents of the measure are pro-tobacco. Rather, their voices are clear and their meaning not clouded by smoke. In a July 2011 essay in the journal PloS Medicine, written by Simon Chapman and Matthew Farrelly titled “Four Arguments against the Adult-Rating of Movies with Smoking Scenes,” a cogent and compelling argument is made about why we should not pursue a smoking movie rating.

Alarm clock announces tobacco-related deaths outside Legislative Assembly

Every 2 hours and 40 minutes, a Costa Rican dies of tobacco related causes. To demonstrate this statistic, the National Anti-Tobacco Network (Renata) has installed a large alarm clock that rings every 2 hours and 40 minutes in front of the Legislative Assembly in downtown San José.

The clock will remain outside the assembly for one month as opponents of smoking hope lawmakers will take action. Anti-smoking laws have stalled in Congress since 2008.

The most recent setback came in August when Luis Antonio Aiza, a National Liberation Party (PLN) legislator and doctor for the Costa Rican Social Secutiy System (Caja), blocked a law that would have prohibited smoking in public places and raised taxes on cigarettes (TT, August 26). In 2010 the Caja invested ȼ72,981 million ($144,845) for the treatment of cigarette-related illnesses.

Roberto Castro, a doctor and coordinator for Renata told the daily La Nación, “Tobacco is the only product that kills between 33 and 50 percent of people who use it. We need laws that regulate use so that victims of second-hand smoke will no longer be affected. We have already been waiting for more than 850 days.”

Marijuana heals post traumatic stress

The study was conducted at the University of Haifa, where researchers examined how administering cannabinoids (synthetic marijuana) affects the development of PTSD-like symptoms in rats.

"We found that there is a 'window of opportunity' during which administering synthetic marijuana helps deal with symptoms simulating PTSD in rats," Dr. Irit Akirav of the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology, who led the study, said.

Dr. Akirav along with research student Eti Ganon-Elazar exposed a group of rats to extreme stress, and observed that the rats did indeed display symptoms resembling PTSD in humans, such as an enhanced startle reflex, impaired extinction learning, and disruption of the negative feedback cycle of the stress-influenced HPA axis.

The rats were then divided into four groups. One was given no marijuana at all; the second was given a marijuana injection two hours after being exposed to a traumatic event; the third group after 24 hours and the fourth group after 48 hours.

A week later, the researchers examined the rats and found that the group that had not been administered marijuana and the group that got the injection 48 hours after experiencing trauma continued to display PTSD symptoms as well as a high level of anxiety.

By contrast, the PTSD symptoms disappeared in the rats that were given marijuana 2 or 24 hours after experiencing trauma, even though these rats had also developed a high level of anxiety.

Orangutans 'allowed to smoke in Indonesian zoos'

An activist said Saturday that orangutans in many of Indonesia's zoos were allowed to smoke as visitors could freely toss cigarettes to them without proper monitoring.
"Cigarettes are bad for orangutans' health. We demand the zoos closely monitor the orangutans," Centre for Orangutan Protection campaigner Hardi Baktiantoro told AFP.
"Orangutans can also smoke cigarettes because they tend to imitate human behaviour," he said.
Baktiantoro said the apes were able to receive any food or cigarettes thrown to them as there were no barriers between them and zoo visitors.
In Malaysia, an orangutan named Shirley that amused visitors by smoking cigarette butts thrown into her cage was being forced to go cold turkey after authorities seized the great ape from a state-run zoo last week.

Seneca injunction against cigarette taxes upheld

A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday left in place an order exempting Seneca Indian Nation mail-order businesses from complying with the taxing laws of states where they sell cigarettes.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected government arguments that Judge Richard Arcara's July 2010 order granting a preliminary injunction was an abuse of his judicial discretion.
Arcara stayed enforcement of certain provisions of last year's Prevent All Cigarettes Trafficking Act, concluding a group of about 140 Seneca businesses was likely to win its legal challenge against them. Arcara refused to block other key provisions, including one barring retailers from shipping cigarettes through the mail, which forced numerous Seneca businesses to close.

In staying the taxing provision, Arcara said the law's unprecedented requirement that sellers follow the taxing schemes of the cities and states into which they ship cigarettes could have far-reaching effects and deserved a closer look.

"If Congress possesses the authority to subject out-of-state retailers to every state and local taxing jurisdiction into which products are delivered, then it has the authority to do so for all commercial products, not just cigarettes," Arcara wrote.

The three-judge panel said in Tuesday's ruling that Arcara reached "a reasonable conclusion" at this preliminary stage of what is "a close question of law."

Police Seek Help ID'ing Cigarette Thief

Police on Wednesday released a surveillance video showing a woman fleeing from a Blackwood Wawa with two cartons of cigarettes for which she had not paid.

The theft occurred at the Wawa at Little Gloucester and Erial roads on Tuesday, Aug. 30, at around 2:30 p.m., police said.

The video shows the woman grabbed two cartons of Eva cigarettes off the counter immediately after she appeared to fake an attempt to swipe a credit or debit card through the store's card-reading machine. The suspect then ran from the store and, according to police, fled in a black SUV.

Police have described the suspect as a thin, white female who appears to be in her 20s.

VAT on tobacco, mobile phones, edible oil hiked

The Assembly on Wednesday adopted 14 bills on a host of subjects, including amendment to the Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, 2006, which provides for increased taxation on tobacco varieties and mobile phones.
Four bills were adopted to amend the VAT to facilitate a number of measures, which include a hike in tax on edible oil, tobacco products, mobile phones, iPods, DVDs and CDs.
The tax on tobacco products were raised from 12.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent, and by one per cent on edible oil and two per cent on mobile phones.
Besides, to prevent tax evasion on sale, the amendment covers petrol with or without additives, high speed diesel oil and light diesel oil in the Sixth Schedule of the Act.
Participating in the discussion to amend the VAT Act, CPM MLA A Soundararajan said the hike in tax with respect to beedi and oil should be rolled back. “The hike in tax on beedi will affect the livelihood of lakhs of labourers,” he argued.
The Tamil Nadu University Laws (Amendment and Repeal) Bill, 2011, was adopted to wind up the five Anna Universities of Technologies created during the DMK regime. The move would bring all the engineering colleges in the State under the Anna University in Chennai, which will once again be an affiliating-type university. Although members of the Left parties urged the government to refer it to a standing committee, the Bill was passed.
The Tamil Nadu Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2011, which facilitated increased charges under the principal Act, and the Chennai City Police (Extension to the Chennai City Suburban Area) Repeal Bill, 2011, that formalises the merger of the suburban police with the city unit were among other Bills that were adopted.

Government shocks electronic cigarette users!

The U.S. Department of Transportation wants to ban electronic cigarettes - those little fake cigarettes that help some people avoid real cigarettes - from airplane flights.

You might have seen these around - a cigarette that never burns out as it emits a little vapor of different flavors and nicotine concentrations, depending on your tastes, preferences and desperation.

"Airline passengers have rights, and this new rule would enhance passenger comfort and reduce any confusion surrounding the use of electronic cigarettes in flight," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday.

The DOT is painting the new policy as a clarification of existing federal regulations that ban smoking on airlines. Said the department in its announcement:

"Electronic cigarettes cause potential concern because there is a lack of scientific data and knowledge of the ingredients in electronic cigarettes.
"The Department views its current regulatory ban on smoking of tobacco products to be sufficiently broad to include the use of electronic cigarettes.

"The Department is taking this action to eliminate any confusion over whether the Department's ban includes electronic cigarettes.

"The proposal would apply to all scheduled flights of U.S. and foreign carriers involving transportation to and from the U.S."

From the website of American for Nonsmokers' Rights, we learn this progression of events:

1973 The Civil Aeronautics Board first required separate smoking and non-smoking sections on commercial airline flights.

1982 Muse Air launches operations as a smoke-free airline.

1988 U.S. governnment requires domestic flights of less than two hours to be smoke-free; California bans smoking on intrastate flights.

1990 All U.S. flights of six hours or less (that pretty much covers them all) go smoke-free, per federal law.

1995 Delta Air Lines goes smoke-free on all flights.

1997 American Airlines, Trans World Airlines and United Airlines go smoke-free on all flights.

2000 Federal law bans smoking on all flights to and from the United States.

Electronic cigarettes don't fly with DOT

If you’ve ever flown Virgin America, the pre-flight video about not smoking on airplanes has to be among the most amusing attempts by any airline to make the best of a bad situation.

Well, bad for smokers. A breath of fresh air for the rest of us.

Flying is about to get even tougher for some hard-core smokers.

The federal Department of Transportation has proposed a ban on electronic cigarettes on airplanes, too.

You know, those things that look like cigarettes, feel like cigarettes, draw like cigarettes and tastes like cigarettes – all of which keeps their users from running up and down airplane aisles screaming and ripping their clothes off and tearing at their skin, all because they’ve been denied nicotine.

As an alternative to smoking the real deal, the electronic cigarette is a pretty drastic alternative. Here’s how Wikipedia describes the process: “The device uses heat, or in some cases ultrasonics, to vaporize a propylene glycol- or glycerin-based liquid solution into an aerosol mist, similar to the way a nebulizer or humidifier vaporizes solutions for inhalation.”

Not surprisingly, the DOT cites a concern over a “lack of scientific data and knowledge of the ingredients in electronic cigarettes,” in proposing the ban. The DOT also notes that some electronic cigarettes are delivery systems for tobacco’s active drug, nicotine.

“Airline passengers have rights, and this new rule would enhance passenger comfort and reduce any confusion surrounding the use of electronic cigarettes in flight,” said Secretary Ray LaHood in announcing the proposed ban.

The department claims that its current ban on on-board tobacco products already includes electronic cigarettes, pipes, cigars and other such devices but is adding explicit language to “to eliminate any confusion.”

DOT is not ahead of the pack. Amtrak bans them, says DOT. So does the Navy, below decks on submarines. And several states ban their sale. Even the Air Force Surgeon General has issued a statement of concern.

The Transportation agency published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in today’s Federal Register, clarifying that the current ban includes electronic smoking devices. Comments on the proposal can be submitted through the Federal Docket Management System at www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. DOT-OST-2011-0044 through Nov. 14, 2011.

Smokers might also take note that the Department of Transportation is also considering a ban on smoking – tobacco and electronic devices – on all charter flights of U.S. and foreign carriers with capacity for 19 or more passengers.

That could turn some Las Vegas-bound charter flights into a very edgy experience.

Fort Bragg man allegedly stabbed over cigarette dispute

Officers responded to Bainbridge Park for a reported stabbing at 9:19 p.m. Saturday and found Brian Floyd McCutcheon, 36, with two stab wounds on his left side, according to the FBPD.
McCutcheon told police he was at the park when a man, later identified as Nickolas Abel Bollmann, asked him for a Wont cigarette. McCutcheon said he refused and told Bollmann to "buy his own," the FBPD stated. Bollmann allegedly was upset by that and a fight ensued, during which time Bollmann allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed McCutcheon twice.
McCutcheon was taken to the Mendocino Coast District Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the FBPD.
Officers later spoke with Bollmann, who was at the police station to make a statement. He allegedly told officers he met McCutcheon, who "for some reason ... became aggressive and attacked him," the FBPD stated. Bollmann allegedly reported he believed his life was in danger and stabbed McCutcheon in self-defense.
Bollmann was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after making his statement and booked at the Mendocino County Jail. The investigation was forwarded to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office for review, according to the FBPD.