British American Tobacco buys back 65,000 shares

LONDON -(MarketWatch)- British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.LN) Tuesday purchased to hold in treasury 65,000 of its shares at an average price was 2,620.1764 pence per share.

Shares closed Tuesday at 2637 pence valuing the company at GBP52.50 billion.

Senate's sneak attack on tobacco prevention

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency, an independent agency overseen by an expert volunteer executive board that ensures the program operates in accordance with what scientific evidence shows are most effective for preventing youth tobacco use, helping smokers quit, protecting nonsmokers and the public from secondhand smoke and eliminating tobacco-related disparities.

ITPC has delivered significant successes in reducing adult smoking from 27.4 percent to a low of 23.1 percent, a 58 percent reduction in middle school tobacco use and a 42 percent reduction in high school tobacco use.

Now, a last-minute sneak attack in the Indiana Senate jeopardizes ITPC, its funding and the future of tobacco prevention efforts. With only a handful of days left of the legislative session, the Senate leadership launched an 11th-hour legislative attack on the agency and on tobacco control efforts as a whole, by proposing in Indiana's budget -- without one public hearing or public discussion -- to abolish ITPC and slash funding by about 50 percent for tobacco control. If this proposal is adopted, Indiana will suffer both in terms of lives and dollars.

Smoking is a significant risk factor for cancer, heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death. Tobacco products cause $2 billion in preventable health-care expenses in Indiana every year, $487 million of which are incurred directly by Medicaid.

Policymakers should demonstrate common-sense stewardship of Indiana's treasury by funding ITPC at least at the level of $9.23 million per year as recommended by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The Senate's proposed cuts to ITPC funding, just like the effort to abolish the agency, are not undertaken out of any sort of necessity, but rather by choice.

As a former representative, I call on legislators to act in the public's interest to save lives and dollars by supporting and sustaining ITPC as it presently operates and is structured and to dedicate the resources to ITPC to enable Indiana to have a vigorous and aggressive tobacco prevention and cessation program.

The effort to abolish ITPC and slash funding is the wrong direction to go for Indiana. The price tag for these actions will be staggering for Indiana in terms of lives lost and costs to the state for increased tobacco-caused preventable health care expenditures, increase absenteeism at work and lower productivity.

If ITPC is dismantled, it will be a big win for the tobacco industry. If ITPC is sustained and adequately funded, it will continue to be a big win for Hoosier kids, families, employers, community stakeholders and the people of Indiana as a whole.

Bill gives leeway for tobacco license violations

Law-abiding shops that sell tobacco could catch a break if a bill that aims to individualize violations of selling to minors passes.

Responsible stores should be punished differently than intentionally unlawful businesses when caught selling to minors, said Sen. Dave Thompson, R-Lakeville. He’s proposed a bill that would allow a more case-by-case response to violations.

"At this point, those retail establishments that would be careless, reckless or selling to minors intentionally are essentially treated exactly the same as those retailers that in good faith are trying as best they can to not sell tobacco products to minors," Thompson said. "We’re simply trying to put discretion at the local level."

Thompson’s bill says regulators can respond accordingly if a violation was "caused by a sincere mistake made by an employee of the licensee."

The Minneapolis Regulatory Services Department handles licensing and violations. Grant Wilson, manager of business licenses, said that each of the more than 400 businesses in the metro area that sell tobacco is tested once a year by a minor decoy who tries to buy tobacco. If the store fails a first test, there are follow-up checks.

The first two violations cost the store a fine, but the third and fourth could lead to the suspension of the tobacco license.

"I don’t want to get caught selling to anyone, so we card everyone," said House of Hanson Grocery Store manager Laurel Bauer.

For places like House of Hanson, violations can hurt business and can happen even with the strictest of policies.

"In October 2007 one of my stock boys decided to wait on someone, and he didn’t card them and he got caught," said Bauer. "He wasn’t even supposed to be behind the counter."

Bauer said she supports the bill because, though some stores are chronically unlawful, owners like her do make honest mistakes. She said her store has passed the last five tests.

"Sometimes they come back in and flash a badge in front of your face and say ‘You’ve passed!’" she said. "They pretty much make your blood pressure go through the ceiling. My feeling is, we follow the law to the letter and I get frustrated that other stores are selling to underage."

Of 40 violations of selling to minors in Minneapolis in 2010, none occurred in Dinkytown.

While the bill awaits a hearing next week, some have expressed opposition, like the American Cancer Society, which told Thompson it planned to testify against the bill. The group’s reasoning is that the bill would appeal to weaken sanctions on illegally operating stores, Thompson said.

Lt. Christopher Hildreth, commander of the Minneapolis police license investigation division, said the bill would not change current procedure.

"That’s something that we would do anyway," Hildreth said. "If you have a couple failures in a period of time we will call those licensees in for a license settlement conference where we will talk to those businesses about their practices."

BAT denies allegations that it funded anti-tobacco ban lobby

British American Tobacco is facing questions over whether it was involved in covertly lobbying MPs to persuade the government not to ban cigarettes from being displayed for sale in shops.

It is under pressure to disclose whether it secretly funded a campaign against the plan instigated by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN). The plan, which led to tensions in the coalition, involved efforts over many months by the London public affairs firm Hume Brophy to influence MPs and the media.

Hume Brophy works for BAT and the NFRN, which has admitted that it received financial help from unnamed tobacco manufacturers to pay for the lobbying.

The British tobacco company will face questions at its annual general meeting on Thursday from senior Labour MP Kevin Barron, the ex-chairman of the House of Commons health select committee. He has written to BAT chairman Richard Burrows asking "whether BAT has provided any funding or support, both direct and indirect, of lobbying and campaigning activities by third parties against the legislation to prohibit point of sale display of tobacco products".

He also asked if BAT has "provided any financial assistance, either directly, indirectly or by sponsorship, to the NFRN in support of its campaign against the display ban?" and whether it had any discussions with Hume Brophy about the firm's campaign against the ban on behalf of the NFRN.

Parminder Singh, the president of the NFRN, which represents 16,500 small shopkeepers, recently wrote in its magazine that: "There is no way that the NFRN could afford the resources and expertise to mount such a high profile campaign to fight on its members' behalf to oppose the tobacco ban without some help towards funding. We are grateful, therefore, to have some help from the tobacco manufacturers to do this." but has refused to elaborate when asked by the Guardian to identify tobacco firms which had funded the campaign "as this would breach perfectly reasonable commercial confidentiality" of its donors.

But suspicion has fallen on BAT because of its existing links with Hume Brophy.

"For any major company to seek to covertly lobby MPs through the back door is disgraceful, but particularly when it comes to tobacco. The Government has legal obligations to protect public health policy from the vested interests of the tobacco industry and it can only do this if the tobacco industry is transparent about its lobbying activities", said Deborah Arnott, the chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). "Lobbying by the NFRN was effective in significantly delaying the implementation of the legislation in small shops and it has already admitted that it received support from tobacco manufacturers for this campaign. The question is which tobacco manufacturers. If BAT was involved it needs to come clean."

BAT, which stresses its commitment to "high standards of behaviour and integrity wherever our businesses operate", denied it had paid for the NFRN's campaign. "To accuse us of underhand tactics and the funding of an independent retailer organisation (the NFRN), via a PR agency that we use solely for work related to the European wide problem of tobacco smuggling, is untrue," said a spokeswoman.

"Hume Brophy does media work for us on the subject of illicit trade and tobacco smuggling across the European Union only. We have not given them any instruction to lobby on regulatory issues, nor have we given them any mandate to lobby UK politicians on regulation."

Singh added: "We do derive commercial incomes from a very wide range of suppliers, including tobacco companies but I can assure you that the incomes received from tobacco companies are very modest and represent less than 5% of our total income.

"Since tobacco represents about 30% of our members' sales you will see that this is exceptional only in the sense that it is so small."

Tobacco shop gets OK to come to Rohnert Park

A Rohnert Park businessman won City Council approval to open a tobacco and smoking products store in the Raley's Towne Centre.

The Tuesday decision overturned a ruling by the Planning Commission, which rejected Tareq Alrehani's application, saying his shop would cause blight in what “is becoming Rohnert Park's downtown” and wouldn't fit with other family oriented businesses.

Alrehani, 24, a Rohnert Park resident who owns a similar store in Sebastopol, said he did not know or believe the area was becoming Rohnert Park's downtown, and noted that his store was to be located between a check cashing store and a tire store.

The city planning department, which had recommended the application be approved, made similar comments.

“Common sense tells me that the Planning Commission made a terrible decision,” said Councilman Joe Callinan.

“We're begging businesses to come to town; it's a viable business, more than welcome,” he said.

Alrehani's prospective landlord, Codding Enterprises, also voiced support.

“Mr. Alrehani is just a local businessman trying to make a living,” said Kirstie Moore, development manager for Codding Enterprises, which owns more than a dozen large Rohnert Park properties.

The council voted 4-1 to approve the appeal, with Councilman Jake Mackenzie opposed.

Mackenzie said he didn't believe the Planning Commission had sufficient grounds to deny Alrehani's application, but he said he voted against the appeal because he agreed with suggestions that the store should be prevented from posting tobacco-related signs in its windows.

“I don't want anybody saying I was voting ‘no' for anti-business reasons,” Mackenzie said.

Kingpin Advocates 510 E Cigarette as an Alternative to Tobacco Cigarettes

27-April-2011 –Kingpin, provider of quality electronic cigarettes, offers the world market the 510 e cigarette as an effective alternative to smoking a tobacco cigarette. This alternative produces none to less toxin levels, making it a safer stick than the normal.

Many anti-cigarette groups and associations have been attempting to create a carcinogen scare among potential users of electronic cigarette. A lack of public information can lead to such results; however, there are doctors and researchers who continually produce quality and objective investigations that state otherwise.
Kingpin’s website features a number of articles from various interviews and studies that testify the health and safety of e cigarettes.

Normal tobacco cigarettes give users a number of toxic chemicals including carcinogens that can cause heart and lung diseases, and even cancer. In contrast to e cigarettes, it only produces enough nicotine used for medicinal purposes. More than 50 top cigarette smoke toxins were not detected in the mist or vapor produced by e cigarettes.

E cigarettes give its users the feel and impression of smoking. For psychological reasons, it satisfies their oral urge or hunger for smoking a cigarette stick. Most e-cigs, such as the Joye 510, consist of three parts: the atomizer, battery, and the cartridge which contains the e-liquid.

The e-liquid is vaporized through heat that the atomizer produces, which in turn gives off vapor that can he inhaled by users.
When used correctly, e cigarettes and its liquid will not pose any hazard to a user’s health. As a “healthier” alternative to tobacco cigarette smoking, e cigarettes can help reduce the users of normal cigarettes for the sake of their health and for the people around them.

Businesses disgruntled by possible ban on menthol cigarettes

Businesses are not pleased about the push by Senator Richard Blumenthal LAW ‘73 to ban menthol cigarettes.

In an Apr. 18 letter, Blumenthal expressed his support for the United States Food and Drug Administration’s call to ban cigarettes with more than 0.3 percent menthol by weight. But six New Haven store proprietors interviewed said they were worried about how this move would negatively affect thier business profits. While business operators and smokers interviewed agreed that the potential ban would have public health benefits, they said business interests and personal freedom should also be considered.

Blumenthal defended the FDA’s push to ban menthol cigarettes in his letter and cited the health benefits the ban would bring, which were detailed in a March report by the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.

“[Blumenthal] has advocated for a removal of menthol tobacco products from the marketplace, and hopes that the FDA will act swiftly to implement the committee’s findings,” said Kate Hansen, a spokesperson for Blumenthal. “While youth will still be susceptible to aggressive marketing by tobacco companies, removing menthol tobacco products from the marketplace is an important step in reducing harm and protecting public health.”

But six of seven businesses said the negative business impact outweighs the health benefits of a menthol cigarette ban.

At the two Sam’s Food Stores on Whalley Ave. and Kimberly Ave., employees said around 80 percent of cigarette sales are menthol-flavored, and sales might drop because not all customers would switch to alternatives if the ban were enacted. Employees said that although menthol cigarettes are priced similarly to non-menthol counterparts, there is still a higher demand for them. They added that customers of the product were roughly spread evenly across all age demographics.

Joe Lentine, the master tobacconist at the Owl Shop on College St., said that especially at smaller convenience stores that sell cigarettes, the ban could have a significant negative impact on business, explaining that such stores were popular with younger customers that liked menthol cigarettes. He added that the impact of a menthol cigarette ban on the Owl Shop would be minimal because of the store’s inventory and typical clientele.

One underage smoker near the Sam’s Food Store on Whalley Ave., who asked to remain anonymous because he had acquired his cigarettes illegally through older acquaintances, said that his underage friends smoked only menthol cigarettes.

“I don’t understand what Blumenthal’s going on about,” he said. “We have a God-given right to choose what we smoke.”

This smoker was one of nine New Haven smokers interviewed who said they did not support a ban of menthol cigarettes.

Justin Petrillo ’11, a member of the Committee for Freedom who has participated in a number of smoke outs this year, estimated that around 10 percent of smokers on Yale campus consume the menthol-flavored cigarettes.

Petrillo said he does not smoke menthol cigarettes but thinks a potential ban would be a “horrible idea.”

“[The damaging affects of smoking] ought to be tackled by awareness, not a ban,” he said. “I don’t think there is any reason that any sort of cigarettes should be banned or there should be a set age at which you can begin to smoke.”

City officials said they supported Blumenthal’s move, though there are other complexities that ought to be considered.

Ward 23 Alderman Yusuf Shah, who is the chair of the city’s Finance Committee, said that he supports Blumenthal’s call for the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes. He said that while businesses in his neighborhood could take a hit, this will be countered by the profit from illegal sales of “loosies” — which are individual cigarettes that citizens buy illegally because they cannot afford entire packets. These individual cigarettes are priced higher than buying whole packets, he added.

“I would prefer that people didn’t smoke at all, particularly in our area, where we have the hospital and other facilities,” he said. “But we know that’s not a reality, and I think this is a step in the right direction.”

Menthol cigarettes were first developed in 1927 and constitute 20 percent of the American cigarette market according to United States Federal Trade Commission’s latest Cigarette Report, issued in 2009.

Cigarette maker Lorillard 1Q profit rises

Cigarette maker Lorillard says its net income increased 7 percent in the first quarter as it sold more Newport and Maverick cigarettes at higher prices.

Lorillard says it earned $248 million, or $1.71 per share, for the period ended March 31. That's up from $232 million, or $1.50 per share, a year ago. The per-share figure was boosted by a lower number of shares outstanding.

The nation's third-biggest tobacco company says revenue excluding excises taxes increased 14 percent to $1.06 billion.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.57 per share on revenue of $955 million.

Lorillard, based in Greensboro, N.C., sold 9.5 percent more cigarettes on gains from Newport and lower-priced brands like Maverick. Rivals Reynolds American and Altria Group both reported selling fewer cigarettes during the quarter.

Letter revives fear of U.S. prosecution over medical marijuana

A letter written by U.S. attorneys in Washington State is creating some new concerns over New Jersey's medical marijuana program.
The letter, written after consultation with Attorney General Eric Holder, says growing and possessing marijuana are violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act regardless of state laws that permit it.
David Evans of the Drug Free Schools Coalition said that could put New Jersey's medical marijuana plan in jeopardy.
"If it gets off the ground, it very well could wind up with some people getting federal charges against them," Evans said. "They are engaging in selling something as medicine that really isn't."
But Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, one of the main sponsors of New Jersey's medical marijuana law, said he believes the federal government is just putting states on notice to have strict controls on medical marijuana distribution.
"I think that New Jersey's very tight regulations in place now meet all the federal requirements," Gusciora said.
And Ken Wolski, the executive director of the New Jersey Coalition for Medical Marijuana, also said he doesn't believe the letter jeopardizes the state's program.
"The Supreme Court of the United State has acknowledged that states have the right to define the practice of medicine within each state, and that's exactly what New Jersey is doing with the compassionate use of medical marijuana act," he said,
The state Health Department has not yet finalized the rules for New Jersey's program that is expected to begin sometime this summer.

Marijuana smoke odor in car not enough for police action?

The ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was in response to an appeal filed by lawyers for Benjamin Cruz from Boston, whom police ordered out of a car in 2009 when they approached the vehicle parked in front of a fire hydrant and smelled marijuana.

Cruz was later charged with possession of a class B controlled substance with intent to distribute and committing a controlled substance violation in a school zone.

The high court said a key factor in its decision was the 2008 change in state law which made possession of one ounce or less of marijuana a civil rather than a criminal offense.

"Without at least some other additional fact to bolster a reasonable suspicion of actual criminal activity, the odor of burned marijuana alone cannot reasonably provide suspicion of criminal activity to justify an exit order," the opinion said.

In a dissenting opinion, now retired Justice Judith Cowin wrote, "Even though possession of a small amount of marijuana is now no longer criminal, it may serve as the basis for a reasonable suspicion that activities involving marijuana, that are indeed criminal, are underway."

"The odor of marijuana permits an officer reasonably to suspect that the parties involved are in possession of criminal quantities of marijuana or are in possession of marijuana with intent to distribute," she wrote.

Anti Tobacco Network finally registered

THE Anti Tobacco Network (ATN) was formally registered last week as a society. It aims to create an enabling environment in which tobacco control activists and other stakeholders can work together to make a lasting impact to control and reduce tobacco use in Botswana.

The main objective of the non-profit organisation is to develop strategies and activities that will reduce tobacco consumption and to protect the public from tobacco smoke and its related consequences.

“Even though Botswana passed an anti-smoking law in 1992, the law has largely remained un-enforced and defaulters are not punished. Although tobacco control initiatives have been ongoing in Botswana for many years their impact has not been felt due to lack of co-ordination at national and local levels, as well as limited implementation structure,” Bontle Mbongwe, one of the leading members of the organisation explained.

She added that available information on tobacco use in Botswana and related problems is scant and insufficient to enable well-planned and viable tobacco control initiatives; “therefore there is need for a more coordinated effort through the involvement of all sectors of the nation,” she said. The need for the sustainable enforcement of the law cannot be over emphasized, she observed.

Beaches, parks, grounds of city buildings to go tobacco-free in Lake Worth

Lake Worth plans to create a new environment free of tobacco smoke.

According to our newspartners at the Palm Beach Post , cigarette smoking would not longer be allowed at Lake Worth Beach. The ban would also extend to city parks and the grounds of city buildings.

The tobacco-free parks and workplace ordinance will be modeled after a similar one suggested by the county health department.

Promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing health insurance costs for city employees are also goals of the project according to Mayor Rene Varela.

Enforcement would not be strict and would likely come by raising awareness about the ordinance, Varela said.

"We all know realistically we're not going to have police out there enforcing this," Varela said. "A big push in public health is creating awareness."

The health department has offered to help the city with its anti-smoking campaign at no charge by:

* Providing tobacco-free signs for property.
* Helping organize events to raise awareness about the hazards of smoking.
* Supplying brochures about smoking and contact information for the Florida Quitline, a telephone service that provides counseling, nicotine patches and other services to smokers trying to quit.
* Offering city employees services to help them quit smoking.

Health department statistics showing that more than 80 percent of county residents are non-smokers.

Oklahoma City tobacco wholesaler says slow response to complaints has cost state millions

Slow government response to repeated complaints of illegal tobacco sales has cost the state and legitimate distributors millions of dollars, according to longtime Oklahoma City tobacco wholesaler Alan Beck.
For six years, Beck has complained to the Oklahoma Tax Commission and elected state officials that certain distributors were illegally selling huge volumes of untaxed tobacco products in Oklahoma.
Beck, 53, says he never saw much response to his complaints until April 6 when a 59-count federal indictment was unsealed that accuses three Edmond men of profiting from the illegal sale of more than $3 million worth of untaxed cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.
“What took them so long?” Beck asks. “I’m hoping they’ll indict a bunch more people. There’s a lot of other people cheating.”
U.S. Attorney Sandy Coats said he couldn’t comment on the likelihood of additional indictments.
However, Coats said he believes criticism of the Oklahoma Tax Commission for failure to take action on complaints is unjust.
“Any suggestion that the Oklahoma Tax Commission might have been negligent in its efforts is incorrect,” Coats said. “They were a critical partner in this important investigation.”
Coats said it was at the request of investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other federal agencies that the Tax Commission delayed enforcement action for years.
A regional, and “in some ways nationwide” investigation of companies allegedly involved in the illegal sale of untaxed tobacco products could have been compromised if Oklahoma Tax Commission officials had failed to cooperate, he said.

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Heated debate over proposed N.H. tobacco tax cut

During a floor debate in the Legislature last month on lowering the New Hampshire tobacco tax, Rep. Patrick Abrami, R-Stratham, said the move was necessary to help small businesses rebound and strengthen a competitive advantage in lower cigarette taxes with neighbor states.

"We have reached the tipping point," Abrami said about the sizeable increase in tobacco taxes that had taken place since 2006. "We are hurting our merchants. We are losing sales on our borders."

According to the New Hampshire Grocers Association, tobacco sales topped more than $755 million in 2010 and the prevailing theme among supporters of a measure to cut the tobacco tax is a reduction of 10 cents a pack, from $1.78 a pack to $1.68 per pack, is appropriate, and other tobacco-related products should be reduced by an average of 17 percent, leading to greater state revenues.

Buoyed by a recent Southern New Hampshire University study that estimates that decreased tobacco taxes will lead to more sales and more state revenues by as much as $13 million, supporters of the tax cut got overwhelming support in the House to pass the measure. The Senate is now considering the bill.

But critics of the proposal point to the just-released study by PolEcon Research in Dover, which questioned the economic and historical assumptions in the SNHU report. The PolEcon report also disputed claims that other sales and state revenues would rise and stated the likely outcome would be a $9 million drop in state revenues.

John Dumais, president of the grocers association, said the SNHU report verified the soundness of a "what's good for the state is good for grocers" approach. "This report makes it clear that a cigarette tax decrease, while not a magic bullet, would make a substantial contribution to solving New Hampshire's financial difficulties," Dumais said. He added that depending on tobacco sales as a significant funding source for the state budget was "bad public policy."

The state Department of Revenue Administration estimates a cut in tobacco tax will lead to estimated drop in revenues ranging from $7 million to $14 million. After business taxes and rooms and meals tax, collections from cigarette and tobacco product sales account for the third highest source of revenue for the state budget. Through March, the state reported that tobacco tax collections were $9 million above revenue estimates for fiscal year ending June 30.

A spokesman for Gov. John Lynch said it would hurt revenues unnecessarily at a time when the state couldn't afford it and the 10 cents per pack cut will have little effect on drawing any more smokers across state borders.

"We would have to sell 15 million more packs of cigarettes to make up the revenue loss at a time when they are cutting services to the developmentally disabled," said Colin Manning. He said the cut is also bad public health policy as it would encourage more youth smoking and use of other tobacco products.

New Hampshire has raised its tobacco tax aggressively from 52 cents a pack in 2006 to the current $1.78. By comparison, the closest state is Maine at $2 a pack and Massachusetts is $2.51 a pack. The SNHU study estimates that 50 percent of all tobacco purchases in the state are from out-of-state buyers.

Dumais said that "99 percent" of his members, many of whom are small convenience store owners, support the tax cut and believe it will lead to more auxiliary sales and increased profits, which will in turn lead to greater revenues to the state with increased business profits taxes paid. He said many convenience owners along the state lines to Maine and Massachusetts have criticized the tobacco tax hikes as hurtful to their businesses.

The PolEcon study emphasized that any loss in sales to retailers had far less to do with tobacco tax hikes than the cost of gasoline. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, one of the organizations that commissioned the PolEcon study, said the report disputed claims that lower tobacco taxes would lead to wider sales and increased gasoline, rooms and meals, and alcohol taxes.

"Higher cigarette taxes haven't hurt New Hampshire's economy or convenience stores," said Kevin O'Flaherty, the Northeast director for Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "To the contrary, higher cigarette taxes have been shown to improve state revenue and increase the number of convenience stores while preventing kids from becoming addicted to these deadly products."

O'Flaherty believes there will actually be minor health care costs from the cigarette tax cut because it's unlikely that smokers looking for a bargain will see any decrease in the retail price. Most of the dime-per-pack decrease will be pocketed first by manufacturers and then by the retailer, he said.

When asked why, if the economic benefits were so certain, didn't supporters push for a much deeper cut in the tobacco tax, Dumais said it was contemplated but a smaller figure was chosen as a first step "to prove our point."

Ramsammy says tobacco use still “alarmingly high”

In the fight against Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), tobacco use, which is one of the risk factors, is still at an alarmingly high level, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy told the 21st Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which opened here on Friday morning.

He noted that the region’s progress towards meeting its obligations to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was “slow at best,” according to a press release from the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen

Carroll County Health Department: Agency to become tobacco-free

As the county's leading public health agency, the Carroll County Health Department is proud to announce the implementation of a new tobacco-free policy. While smoking has long been prohibited in the building, starting April 20, tobacco use will no longer be allowed on the entire campus including sidewalks, parking lots and personal vehicles.
This policy is part of our ongoing mission to create and sustain a community of wellness in Carroll County. Any tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke, carries a health hazard for which there is no risk-free level of exposure.
Tobacco free policies are becoming widespread and many feel that it is overdue. Carroll Hospital Center, Springfield Hospital, Carroll Community College and Target, Inc. are other county organizations who have led the way in implementing tobacco-free campuses. The objective of these policies is not to force people to quit, although we hope that some will consider it. Tobacco free policies are designed to protect people's health and safety, improve employee health and make work sites a place where healthful choices are easy choices.
The health department started planning for the implementation of the new policy more than six months ago. An employee committee with both smokers and nonsmokers was established to craft the policy and create an implementation plan. Earth Day was chosen as the date to reinforce the commitment we are making to create a healthier environment.
As we move forward with the plan we look forward to the many advantages of a tobacco-free campus:
A cleaner environment. Cigarettes are the most littered item in the U.S. and can take decades to degrade. Toxic residue from the filters is harmful to children, water supplies and wildlife.
A safer environment. The elimination of smoking around the building and on the grounds provides our clients of all ages, visitors, volunteers and employees, protection from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
Less fire risk. A discarded cigarette can smolder for up to three hours. Discarded cigarette butts are a fire hazard especially in locations that use bark mulch for landscaping.
Changing the social norm for tobacco use. Implementation of tobacco-free policies has been associated with a decrease in tobacco use. The tobacco use rate for adults in Carroll County in 2008 was 14.4 percent for adults and 15.3 percent for underage youth. As tobacco use becomes less convenient, some will choose to quit and we can look forward to even lower tobacco use rates in the future.
The Carroll County Health Department has been offering tobacco cessation programs to Carroll County residents for many years and has assisted several organizations in creating a tobacco-free campus. Information on quitting tobacco and tobacco-free campuses is available through the Cigarette Restitution Fund Program at 410 876-4443 or 410-876-4429.

Aussies Take on Big Tobacco With Plain Packaging Law

The Australian government is stepping up the fight against smoking by proposing laws to restrict cigarette packaging, replacing colorful logos and branding with graphic images of death and disease.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed bigger and more graphic warnings on cigarette packaging in this country, Australia is aiming to impose even more extensive requirements to curb tobacco promotion. “This plain packaging legislation is a world first and sends a clear message that the glamour is gone,” Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in a news release. “Cigarette packs will now only show the death and disease that can come from smoking.”

But the move sets up a major fight with Big Tobacco. British American Tobacco, the largest cigarette seller in Australia, said the laws would infringe on intellectual property rights and international trademark rules. “It’s going to end up in the courts,” a company spokesman told The Wall Street Journal.

According to the government, smoking kills 15,000 Australians a year and costs the country about $33 billion annually. Under the Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011, product names will appear in standard colors and packets will be colored a dark olive-brown, which government research has found is the least appealing color to smokers. Health warnings with graphic images of the harmful effects of smoking will have to make up 75 percent of the front of the packaging and 90 percent of the back.

In a recent Cancer Council Australia study of residents of the state of Victoria, 73 percent said they supported plain packaging for cigarettes. If all goes according to the government’s plan, the law would come into effect this coming Jan. 1, and manufacturers will be required to comply within six months. “This is a historic day for tobacco control globally,” a spokesman for the Australian Council on Smoking and Health told the Australian Associated Press.

Roxon believes the government can win a legal battle. “We’re not going to have Big Tobacco scaring us with legal action,” she said.

Oklahoma measure proposes tax hike on smokeless tobacco to fund health programs

A proposal to increase the state tax on some forms of smokeless tobacco — moist snuff — to fund programs to recruit doctors to rural and underserved parts of the state is working its way through the Legislature.
Senate Bill 233 is expected to raise $8 million to $9 million a year for recruitment programs of the Physician Manpower Training Commission.

It would eliminate the current 20 percent tax on moist snuff and replace it with a $1.20 per ounce tax. A typical can of moist snuff contains a little more than one ounce. The tax hike would not apply to dry snuff, chewing tobacco, smoking tobacco, cigarettes or cigars.
Rep. John Enns, R-Enid, said the tax increase is needed to fund incentives for primary care physicians to move to parts of the state that don’t have enough basic medical care. That includes rural parts of the state and urban high poverty areas.
“We are so underserved in the rural areas. It is incredible,” said Enns, author of the proposal.
Rick Ernest, executive director of the Physician Manpower Training Commission, said budget cuts in recent years have hampered the agency’s ability to recruit doctors to rural Oklahoma.
The agency has three scholarship programs that pay off the college debt of physicians if they agree to work in small rural communities. Those programs have a strong record of success of recruiting doctors to rural areas and convincing them to stay there, but without funding, there isn’t much that can be accomplished, Ernest said.
“I can’t tell you what a shot in the arm (the tax’s new funding) would be for putting physicians out in rural Oklahoma,” he said.
Texas has used a similar tax for two years to recruit young doctors — including Oklahoma physicians — to rural part of that state, Ernest said. The Texas program raises $35 million a year and places about 250 physicians a year, he said.
His agency has a budget of about $3.7 million, but much of that money is committed to pay for residency training programs at the University of Oklahoma Health Care Center, OU-Tulsa and the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathy Medicine. About $1 million a year goes into the physician recruitment program, he said.
“There’s a lot of people out there waiting for that money,” he said.
IN OPPOSITION
Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, is a physician and a big supporter of programs to recruit more doctors to rural areas, but he opposes the tax.
The bill is a “great quick fix” for funding physician recruitment, but the change from a price-based tax to a weight-based tax would lock down taxes on a dangerous product without any future adjustment for inflation.
A similar tax scheme has locked the state tax on alcohol since the 1970s, he said.
“While it’s a great quick fix for physician recruitment, I think my job is to look at the long-term future for the state of Oklahoma,” Cox said.
Cox said he would support a straightforward price-based tax hike or possible a weight-based tax, if it provided for automatic adjustments for inflation every few years.
The bill is expected to bring heavy lobbying from tobacco companies, although some are likely to be for it and others against it. Relatively expensive products would benefit from the flat rate change in the bill. Relatively inexpensive ones would benefit from a price-based tax.
A spokesman for Gov. Mary Fallin said she has not made a commitment on the proposal.
“Governor Fallin is waiting to see how SB 233 evolves as it makes its way through the legislative process,” said Alex Weintz. “She is reviewing with staff the fiscal impact of the bill as well as the bill’s potential impact on rural physicians.”

Bangor man charged with giving cigarettes to teens

The Bangor Police Department’s Special Enforcement Team went to Chapin Park off Forest Avenue on Thursday night to check out a group of disruptive juveniles and, while watching the group, noticed a man handing out cigarettes, Sgt. Ed Potter said Friday.

Eugene Brown, 49, was seen around 7:10 p.m. allegedly giving cigarettes to an underage group, made up of both girls and boys. The youngest person was a 14-year-old boy, Potter said.

Brown was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. He was not arrested. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)

A University of Maine student left his backpack at the Hilltop dining complex Thursday night and when staff members checked the pack to see who owned it, they found a marijuana pipe, university spokesman Joe Carr said Friday.

UMaine police investigated and found the owner, Jason Pulley, 19, and charged him around 11:50 p.m. with the sale and use of drug paraphernalia. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)

An Orono man was charged with domestic violence criminal mischief late Thursday after he went into his ex-girlfriend’s home while she was in the shower with her new boyfriend and broke items as he left, Capt. Josh Ewing said on Friday.

“He knocked over a table and broke the door’s window,” Ewing said of Robert Attanasio, 21.

The windshield of the new boyfriend’s vehicle also was smashed with a cinder block, but with no witnesses and Attanasio denying he smashed the car window, he was not charged, Ewing said.

Attanasio was arrested and taken to Penobscot County Jail in Bangor and later released, Ewing said. (Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN)

Two weapons were taken from a 21-year-old Orono man who became suicidal early Friday and later was arrested for terrorizing his girlfriend, Orono police Capt. Josh Ewing said Friday.

The girlfriend called police at 2:05 a.m. to say her boyfriend, Patrick Sage, had a handgun and was threatening to kill himself.

“She said he put a gun to his head,” Ewing said.

Police arrived and “several weapons were seized for safekeeping,” including a handgun and a rifle, he said. The investigation into the incident resulted in Sage being charged with domestic violence terrorizing, but details about why he was charged were not available, Ewing said.

Bill seeks alcohol, tobacco tax hike

Saying Nevada has the smallest government in the country, Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, called for approval of a bill sharply increasing state taxes on alcohol and tobacco products.

She said that reduction happened over the past 30 years as the state repeatedly refused to increase revenues.

“We didn't cut government as much as we starved it,” she said.

She said she introduced Assembly Bill 333 and three other tax measures to provide the revenue the state needs to provide proper levels of services to Nevadans.

The measure increases the tax on a pack of cigarettes 90 cents to a total of $1.70. Assembly Taxation Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, D-Las Vegas, said the bill projects the legislation would raise more than $200 million a biennium.

The proposal is one of two tobacco price hikes heard by committees Tuesday. The other was Senate Bill 386 which was presented to the Senate Revenue Committee, drawing testimony from the same group of supporters including the American Cancer Society and Jennifer Hadayia of the Washoe Health District.

Hadayia told both committees it has been proven a 10 percent increase in the cost of tobacco products cuts the number of smokers by 4 percent.

Amy Ballou of the American Lung Association made similar statements saying higher prices are the best way to reduce the number of smokers — especially among juveniles just starting to smoke.

Pierce's bill drew opposition from several businesses including Wendy Garner of Carson Cigar Co. who said when the tobacco taxes were raised in 2003, sales of their premium cigars plummeted. She said the proposed increases would seriously damage their business, which she said employs seven people in the capital.

Michael Frey of Las Vegas said he has six stores selling premium tobacco products in Southern Nevada. The proposed increases would force him to close four of them. He said it would add up to $3 a cigar to his prices.

“As much as they are loyal customers, they would stop buying in Nevada and go to the Internet,” he told lawmakers.

A spokesman for Frey told lawmakers the increase could force up to 35 layoffs.

Sean Higgins representing Terrible Herbst said more than 50 percent of their sales at some 100 locations are tobacco and alcohol.

Peter Kruger representing the cigar industry questioned whether the projected revenue would ever be realized. He said as the taxes on alcohol and tobacco are raised, sales go down, taking revenue to the state down with them.

He too said higher taxes will just drive more of the business to the Internet, which generates no revenue to the state.

Pierce's bill also raises the price of alcoholic beverages. The tax on a gallon of beer would rise 9 cents to 25 cents, a gallon of wine from 70 cents to a dollar and hard liquor from $3.60 to $4.50 a gallon.

Opponents representing the liquor distributors said sales there would also move more to the Internet.

They said when liquor taxes were raised in 2003, there was almost a two-year lag before revenues recovered. The increased prices, they argued, just resulted in buyers moving to lower priced beverages.

The Curious Life of Menthol Cigarettes

Menthol cigarette smokers can exhale in relief: their Kools won't be losing their cool anytime soon.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has declined to recommend a ban on menthol cigarettes, even though the study group conceded that a ban would improve public health. The decision follows a 2009 federal ban on candy flavorings in cigarettes because of their potential allure for young smokers.

The panel's decision not to recommend a menthol ban is potentially a big victory for tobacco companies, in particular Lorillard Inc., makers of Newport, the country's top-selling menthol cigarette. Lorillard's stock price jumped more than 10 percent shortly after a draft of the panel's report was made public.

The FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its advisory committees, but it usually does. The panel's pronouncement makes it more likely that menthol will continue its curious history as the world's most popular flavor additive in cigarettes. An Ohio man named Lloyd "Spud" Hughes is credited with introducing American smokers to the refreshing taste of menthol cigarettes in 1925. Hughes was working as a cashier in a restaurant when he came up with the idea of adding menthol flavoring to give the illusion of a "cooler" smoke. Thus was born Spud brand cigarettes, the first widely sold menthol smoke in America. By 1932, Spuds had become the fifth most popular cigarettes in the country.

The success of Spud caught the attention of the Brown & Williamson tobacco company, which launched its own menthol brand, Kool, in 1932. Kool was initially targeted to upscale smokers; the brand's mascot was a cartoon penguin sporting a monocle and top hat. And menthol smokes really took off in 1956, when R.J. Reynolds introduced Salem, the first filter-tipped menthol cigarette.

Neither the filter nor the menthol protected smokers from the harmful effects of cigarettes, but tobacco companies shamelessly promoted menthol cigarettes as being somehow "fresher," and, by implication, healthier. In the early '70s, Salem print ads touted the brand's "natural" menthol. "That's what gives Salem a taste as soft and fresh as Springtime," the ads declared. Later, the makers of menthol Newport began a long-running campaign touting the brand as being "Alive with Pleasure."

Worcester council postpones vote on restricting tobacco sales

A city councilor has temporarily put the brakes on a proposal to ban the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products by local health care providers, including chain pharmacies and other drugstores, and local colleges.

Councilor-at-Large Michael J. Germain last night exercised his right under the City Council's rules to hold for one week amendments to the city's tobacco control ordinance that have been recommended by City Manager Michael V. O'Brien.

In addition to banning the sale of cigarettes at pharmacies and colleges, the amendments would regulate the advertising of tobacco products within the city by prohibiting them in areas where they could be viewed from public streets, parks, schools and colleges.

Also, the amendments would ban the sale of so-called “blunt wraps,” a cigarette-like rolling paper usually made from tobacco leaves, and include pharmacy chains among local health care facilities required to create a 50-foot no-smoking buffer zone in front of their main entrances.

By exercising his “personal privilege” on the item, Mr. Germain cut off council discussion until its next meeting.

In an interview, Mr. Germain said his father died prematurely at age 47, adding it was probably smoking-related because he was smoking up to three packs of cigarettes a day until the day he died.

Having witnessed firsthand the health risks associated with smoking, Mr. Germain said, one would think he would be very supportive of such a ban, but he does not believe city government has any business legislating where legal tobacco products can and cannot be sold.

He said he also feels the amendments are “overreaching.” While he could support the provision banning blunt wraps, he has trouble with other provisions, especially the one banning the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in pharmacies.

Smokeless tobacco may be on its way out of Major League Baseball parks

Major League Baseball begins the 2011 season in two days, and if public heath officials have their way it will be the last season during which players will be able to chew and spit smokeless tobacco on the field.

The leaders of 15 public health departments in cities with professional baseball teams sent a letter Monday to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Michael Weiner, executive director of the union representing major league players, urging them to forbid the use of smokeless tobacco products. Tobacco has been banned in baseball’s minor leagues since 1993.
“The use of smokeless tobacco endangers the health of Major League ballplayers and sets a terrible example for the millions of young people who watch baseball at the ballparks and on TV,” the health chiefs wrote. The letter continues:

Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than400,000 people each year. As cigarette smoking has declined, the tobacco industry has increased its marketing of smokeless products and is spending record sums to promote them. But smokeless tobacco use is itself very dangerous, causing serious diseases of the mouth, including oral cancer. In addition, there is reason to worry that smokeless tobacco use by young persons may serve as a gateway to cigarette smoking, this nation’s leading preventable cause of premature death and disease.

As officials in Major League cities around the country, we know that baseball is important to civic life and that ballplayers are local heroes. They should provide positive role models and not associate themselves with a product that causes disease and death.

Anti-tobacco effort for kids educates, turns stomachs

It's no ordinary children's book, this tome called "Huff and Puff" by Patricia Kelleher, a nurse in the Anne Arundel County public school system.

A homemade, hand-illustrated paperback, its pages stand 3 feet high. Its story turns the Big Bad Wolf into a chain smoker. By the last page, that fearsome figure is as harmless to others as Little Bo Peep.

The old wolf's nasty habit, it seems, has so defiled his lungs that he can't blow anything down.

"The [main] question in the story, of course, is 'Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?' " says Kelleher, the longtime school nurse at Freetown Elementary in Glen Burnie. "By the end, even the kindergartners know the answer: Nobody!"

How do you convince a child never to take up smoking? It can't hurt to lay out the facts: that using tobacco leads to cancer, emphysema and gangrene, that it kills 5 million people around the world each year and that it costs more than $2,000 every 12 months just to support a pack-a-day habit, among other filthy truths.

But if you hope to reach people between 4 and 17, as the Anne Arundel County Department of Health does during its annual Tobacco-Free Kids Week starting Monday, you'll do what Kelleher does: Come up with methods so vivid they'll leave a mark stronger than stink in the drapes.

"I use [ideas] that attract their eyes, that involve them, that affect their senses," says Kelleher, who will use "Huff and Puff" and other teaching tools in more than a dozen schools next week, all as part of an initiative that will reach thousands of young people over seven days. "It's the best way to reach our goal — to nip [smoking] in the bud."

Group surveys students on campus tobacco ban

The lawn in front of Downing University Center on Wednesday afternoon looked like it was decorated more for Halloween than for the second week of spring.
A student was dressed as a carton of cigarettes, and 44 paper tombstones were set up in the space as part of a survey to gauge the student body's opinion of a tobacco-free campus.
The survey, a capstone project for a group of political science seniors, asked questions such as whether or not participants used tobacco products and whether they support a campus-wide smoking ban.
The Bowling Green Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance regulating indoor smoking in public places in late January. The ban goes into effect on April 28.
WKU's University Senate passed a proposal to ban tobacco on campus last semester, and Staff Council has since voted down a smoke-free resolution.
The Student Government Association plans to discuss similar legislation and read a resolution by the end of the month.
Madisonville senior Jack Jackson, who was part of the group handing out surveys, said one goal of the project was to give SGA a look at how students feel.
"They have been pressured to get some sort of legislation, and we're just helping them," he said.
President Gary Ransdell has said he won't support a smoke-free campus until WKU's three governing bodies pass a resolution.
Kaylee Egerer, chair of the SGA's campus improvements committee, said nothing has been drafted yet because the SGA doesn't know what side to take.
"Nothing is going to happen," Egerer said. "But we need to get student opinion so that if Staff Council does it again we have the info."
Nashville senior Rachel King, a member of the political science capstone class, said her group was happy to have a good combination of smokers and nonsmokers who took the survey.
"We don't want it to be slanted," King said. "We want to get both sides so that SGA knows it's a diverse group."
Briana Campbell, a sophomore from Columbus, Tenn., said she supported a smoking ban.
"I'm in favor because I don't like walking into people's smoke," she said. "People die from second-hand smoke, and I don't want to die because of someone else's smoking."
Hopkinsville junior Matt Sanchez said he understands people being bothered by smokers on campus.
"It's one of your natural rights to smoke outside, but if it bothers people, why not try to make others happy too?" Sanchez said.
Nancy senior B.J. Hardy said he supports having designated smoking areas, but he said they should be enforced more.
"I think that if we are a leading American university, then why are we being led by other universities?" he said.

Tobacco on the field: Bush-league chew

like the Yankees’ starting lineup — is a relic of the past. And while New York’s aging superstars might still be able to pull together a winning season, it’s past time for Major League Baseball to ban this dangerous habit from the diamond.

About a third of major leaguers still chew. But with every passing season, baseball’s tolerance for tobacco use, and the disgusting spectacle of grown men spitting on the field like llamas, has become more of an embarrassment for the national pasttime. Unfortunately, Red Sox manager Terry Francona has been one of the most visible offenders.

Now, frustrated by baseball’s inaction and alarmed by an uptick in smokeless tobacco use among teenage boys, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Medical Association, and public health officials from Boston and 14 other big league cities are demanding a ban starting next season. Commissioner Bud Selig said yesterday he supports a ban, but the players’ union also must consent. Anyone who’s had to explain to a child what exactly is in the players’ mouths would surely hope they do.

From the first trading cards, baseball has had a long relationship with smokeless tobacco. Now the league should do its part for public health by finally pulling tobacco out of the lineup.