Columbus eyes tobacco-free zones in parks

The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department is considering a policy that would create tobacco-free areas at city-run facilities.
The department is looking to eliminate the use of tobacco products - that includes cigarettes as well as smokeless products - in areas such as playgrounds, tennis courts, ball diamonds, basketball courts and youth-sports zones.
Officials with recreation and parks, along with Columbus Public Health, have sent a survey to tens of thousands of people and have posted the questionnaire on their individual websites. The survey also was sent to area commissions and civic groups.
"It's just our attempt to educate people as to what's the right and healthy thing to do for the community," said Steve Aumiller, an assistant director with recreation and parks.
The survey will help determine where appropriate restrictions should take place, Aumiller said.
Smoking already is prohibited in shelter houses and baseball dugouts but not in open-air picnic shelters.
In some places, such as Berliner Park, smoking, chewing tobacco and sunflower seeds are banned because of the potential damage to new artificial infields, Aumiller said.

Bulgarian PM hints at backtrack on smoking ban but Health Minister stands firm

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov has hinted that he will not oppose a backtrack being considered by his ruling party MPs that would see the indoor smoking ban eased to allow people to light up in restaurants and bars after 10pm, but Health Minister Desislava Atanasova has pledged to stand firm against the anti-smoking law being amended.
Bulgaria’s law against smoking in enclosed public spaces came into effect at the beginning of June 2012. The full ban overtook an earlier version that allowed restaurants and bars to set aside smoking spaces with separate ventilation.
With the advent of winter, campaigning in Bulgaria against the full ban has been stepped up and restaurants, bars and nightclubs have been increasingly strident in insisting that the full smoking ban is harming earnings and jobs.
A small group of independent MPs was the first to say that they would table in Parliament a bill to revert to the earlier version of the law, as restaurant and pub associations have asked, a proposal that at first met with firm rejection by Bulgaria’s centre-right ruling party GERB.
However, it has emerged that Parliament’s health committee, at a meeting on December 13, will consider amendments that would allow smoking in enclosed public places after 10pm, according to Sofia Globe.
Dr Daniela Daritkova, head of the committee, confirmed on December 7 that a discussion on the proposed amendments would take place.
However, she said that there was no serious evidence that businesses had been seriously hit in the first three months of the full ban being in effect. When it came to balancing the interests of business and of public health, it was health that should take precedence, she was quoted as saying.
Bulgarian-language media reports in Sofia and in Bulgaria’s second city, Plovdiv, said that there were widespread violations of the ban at places of entertainment at night.

New tobacco items pose risks

As cigarette smoking rates have dropped, and more states have adopted public smoking bans, the tobacco industry has created new products to keep users hooked and find new customers, according to Beloit Daily News.

“Other tobacco products,” or OTPs, are harmful and addictive. They are marketed aggressively and priced inexpensively. The new smokeless tobacco products appeal to youth. Adults need to know these products exist, and youth need more help to resist them.

Listed below are some of the most common types of OTP.

• Tobacco sticks resemble toothpicks and will dissolve within 10 minutes when placed in the mouth. One of these sticks contains three times the nicotine as one cigarette.

• Orbs look like small pellets, about the size of a Tic Tac breath mint and last for about 15 minutes. One orb contains 1 milligram of nicotine, which is the equivalent to the nicotine level of one cigarette.

• Strips, similar to a breath mint strip, take 3 minutes to dissolve. They contain slightly less nicotine than one cigarette.

• Snus, tobacco contained in small pouches, is another smokeless tobacco product that is being marketed to smoker to use when they aren’t able to smoke cigarettes.

OTP use is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. The consequences of using OTP include cancer, tooth loss, gum disease, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

No dice on smoking

Ohio is the first state that forbids smoking in casinos, Ameet Patel, general manager of Hollywood Casino, which is owned by Penn National Gaming said. This will create a cultural change, Patel said. Casinos and smoking have traditionally gone together like black and jack.

Ohio’s no-smoking law got the ball rolling on the idea — and eventual policy — not to hire smokers for Penn National’s Hollywood casinos in Columbus and Toledo.

As part of an overall wellness push, the employee cafeteria does not serve fried foods but instead will offer a wide assortment of healthful choices. There is an on-site gym for employees and several programs to encourage employees to exercise and participate in company-sponsored sporting activities.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that, down the road, this will be the law of the land and smoking will be a thing of the past,” Patel said.

The law of the land on the rights of smokers in the workplace is up to each state, informs The Columbus Dispatch.

“There was a campaign by the tobacco industry, helped by the ACLU, in the late 1980s and early 1990s to pass laws to prevent companies from doing this,” said Micah Berman, director of New England Law, Boston’s Center for Public Health and Tobacco Policy. Twenty-nine states passed smoker-protection laws. Ohio did not.

“Ohio is an at-will employment state, which means companies can hire or fire someone for any reason unless there’s a state law that specifically says you can’t ... such as discrimination, race, gender laws,” Berman said.
Smoking is not protected, he said.

Berman is in the midst of a study of how much smokers cost their employers, and his initial estimate is about $6,000 a year. “That’s for the excess health-care costs and costs related to lost time from smoking breaks and ‘presenteeism,’  ” he said. Presenteeism occurs “when people can’t focus due to nicotine addiction” and are less productive.

Other companies or institutions that refuse to employ smokers include Alaska Airlines, Union Pacific Railroad, Detroit Medical Center and Baylor (Texas) Health Care System.

“It’s a trend, but certainly not something that has exploded, and it’s still a small minority of companies,” Berman said.

Ukrainians will soon breathe free in cafes, clubs and restaurants

On Dec. 16, smoking in Ukrainian cafes, nightclubs and restaurants will be forbidden.

On results of some researches 86 percent of Ukrainians are waiting for appearance of restaurants and bars with smoking forbidden; 54 percent smokers consider that a waiter’s right to work in a smoke-free premise is more important than their own right to smoke inside.

One of the Ukrainian nongovernmental organizations popularizing smoke-free restaurants and bars in the country is “For a Ukraine Free From Tobacco Smoke’ public organization coalition.

Australian court throws out cigarette plain packaging challenge

The defeat in Australia will make it harder for companies including Japan Tobacco International (JTI), Imperial Tobacco and British American Tobacco (BAT) to prevent Britain from adopting its own tough anti-smoking measures.

Under laws that come into effect this December, Australia will become the first country to require cigarettes to be sold in drab, olive packets with graphic health warnings and no logos, The Telegraph reports.

The laws have been tipped to trigger an “olive revolution”, with similar measures being considered in Britain, Canada, New Zealand, China, France, India, South Africa, Norway and Uruguay.

Australia’s High Court yesterday dismissed a challenge by BAT, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and JTI.

The companies claimed that the laws unlawfully extinguished the value of their trademarks without providing compensation.
In Australia, tobacco groups are still fighting the laws through two other separate cases. Philip Morris Asia is suing Australia for breach of an investment treaty with Hong Kong. The Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have taken a case to the World Trade Organisation, claiming the legislation breaches Australia’s commitment under global trade rules.

Women smoke at McDonald's non-smoking area and throw cigarette butts on ground

Two women were smoking at the non-smoking section of McDonald's and throwing the cigarette butts on the ground.

It was written at the STOMP:

"These two ladies were smoking non stop and throwing the cigarette butts on the floor despite the signages of no smoking at Mcdonalds among Ang Mo Kio Ave 6.

"The poor auntie have to come in multiple times to sweep off the cigarette butts they threw on the floor, and after the auntie left, they smoked and throw on the floor again.

"The lady in grey came in with a empty mcdonalds's cup (with ice) with a friend who bought a large coke, the grey lady then took out her own red colour drink and pour into the cup.

"Subsequently after much smoking and littering the place, the lady even asked the poor auntie to bring her a cup of ice!

"Since when does McDonalds take orders from your tables?

"The lady was then told that she would have to get the ice from the counter, and the unhappy woman then threw a fit and uttered some nonsense to the poor auntie, she even stared at her as she walked away innocently.

"As it was raining outside, the woman then again called another McDonald's staff to switch off the fan as she felt very cold, and the staff told her that they can't switch off the fans, as doing so would deprive other patrons from the fan too.

"She again threw a fit and uttered some words in cantonese.

"A girl who was studying at the next table appearently got irritated, stood up and asked her to stop smoking while pointing to the non smoking signs, the woman ignored her and continued smoking.

"All in all, she smoked at least half a packet of Viceroy in an hour."

Tobacco package snagged by prison staff

A package of tobacco has been seized by correctional staff at Mountain Institution. There was about 505 grams of tobacco found, which officials from the medium security penitentiary said is worth about $5,000 within the prison.

The seizure was made on Oct. 25 "as a result of the vigilance of correctional staff," a press release from Mountain stated. It did not announce a lockdown resulting from the seizure. Correctional Service Canada has set up a telephone tip line at all federal institutionsk, in an effort to receive more information that could lead to illegal activity within prisons.

UK income stars cut tobacco as regulatory threat emerges

Top UK equity income managers have been cutting their weighting in tobacco stocks as concerns over earnings momentum and new rules on plain packaging put pressure on share prices. Tobacco firms, which are among the top performing of all UK-listed companies over the last decade, have become income staples for many investors. While other income stocks have suffered catastrophes in recent years – banks were badly hit by the credit crisis, while BP lost more than 50% of its value after the Gulf of Mexico disaster – tobaccos have continued to perform strongly for income funds.

As a result, the equity income sector’s leading lights continue to hold the stocks in abundance, with British American Tobacco (BAT) appearing among the top 10 of 44% of funds in the UK Equity Income sector, according to data from FE. Managers’ positions in tobacco stocks have paid off as British American Tobacco produced a total return of 661.44% over the last 10 years, while Imperial Tobacco returned 230.54%, according to Morningstar. Tobacco features heavily in the largest of all the income funds, making up 15.5% in Invesco Perpetual’s £9bn Income fund, and 16% in the £12bn High Income fund, both run by Neil Woodford.

However, managers are now starting to turn against the sector on fears over the impact of new regulation. PSigma’s Bill Mott, as well as Liontrust’s Stephen Bailey and RLAM’s Martin Cholwill, have significantly cut their tobacco holdings in recent weeks. Australia, a key market for cigarette manufacturers, is bringing in plain packaging rules in December, meaning brand names will be removed from packets, and other countries are poised to follow suit.

The move means brand loyalty – and therefore reliable income streams – could come under pressure, and managers have reacted by scaling back exposure to the sector. Bailey and co-manager Jan Luthman of Liontrust have halved their exposure to tobacco in the last six months as they feel there has been a hardening of attitudes towards smoking worldwide. Bailey said this is happening even in places where smoking is culturally acceptable, such as Russia and Indonesia. “We can see further bans being imposed on a global basis in future, and we have seen the issues such as plain packaging which have arisen in Australia.

Woman's slap on the wrist for illegal tobacco sales

A woman who was illegally selling thousands of pounds worth of tobacco has avoided a jail sentence. Rosemarie Ann Burton of Swan Close, Weston-super-Mare, entered five guilty pleas at North Somerset Magistrates Court following a raid on her home. She was suspected for selling tobacco bought abroad and from a lorry driver friend.

She admitted selling hand-rolling tobacco without correct safety labelling and pictures and failing to display a notice stating that it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under 18. Two purchases of tobacco totalling £20,387.50 were seized. They are thought to have a retail value of £41,000. She was given a curfew from 7pm to 7am and ordered to pay £2,000 costs.

Do We Have A European Tobacco Scandal?

Why is the European Union's (EU's) revised Tobacco Products Directive so close to stalling - people are beginning to ask. Some even wonder whose interest the EU Commission is promoting, authors in a Comment in The Lancet wrote today. The Tobacco Directive, which everybody expected would greatly restrict how tobacco companies could promote cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, including the prohibition of electronic cigarettes, seems to be on a never-ending road of permanent delays. A Lancet News Podcast special report discusses these issues.

It also includes an interview with John Dalli, the former EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy who resigned recently. Dalli's resignation was described by the media as "controversial". There were allegations of financial impropriety involving cigarette companies. The Tobacco Directive was subsequently put on hold, even though the text has been cleared, both legally and administratively, to move onto the next stage of implementation.

 A "sophisticated robbery" occurred at the offices of anti-tobacco campaigners in Brussels within two days of Mr Dalli's resignation. While laptops and several documents were stolen, numerous valuable goods remained untouched. Co-author of the Comment, Professor Martin McKee, Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said these set of events "set alarm bells ringing".

JUDGE AGAIN SUSPENDS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

A Helena judge is again blocking the state from enforcing some provisions of the 2011 medical marijuana law. The decision from District Judge Jim Reynolds comes a week before voters will decide whether to keep the new law, or reject it in favor of the original voter-approved 2004 initiative.

Reynolds said in an order last week that he re-evaluated the tougher new law in wake of new instructions from the Montana Supreme Court. The high court last month overturned Reynolds' initial decision blocking parts of the law. Reynolds said he would again suspend enforcement of the law while fully evaluating the different test of constitutionality.

The ruling suspends the ban on medical marijuana providers receiving money for their product, and other provisions that advocates argue essentially shut the industry down.

Medical marijuana advocate Christ banned from UM campus

Former medical marijuana entrepreneur Jason Christ has been banned from the University of Montana campus after allegedly smoking marijuana in the law school, cursing someone upon being told UM President Royce Engstrom wasn’t available, and cursing another person as he sought a parking pass refund.

A memo from Sgt. Ben Gladwin from the UM Office of Public Safety, successfully seeking to permanently bar Christ from campus, cited the following allegations: Shortly after 10 p.m. on Oct. 15, campus police responding to a report that a man was smoking marijuana in the law school encountered Christ, who gave them his medical marijuana card when asked for identification.

At 4 p.m. the next day, Christ allegedly showed up at Engstrom’s office, demanding to speak to him. When advised that Engstrom wasn’t in, “Christ refused to leave and demanded that he speak with someone in a forceful tone several times. Christ also cursed … and threatened to sue the university” and finally stormed from the office. Last Wednesday, “Christ was agitated, used a forceful tone and cursed” while demanding a parking pass refund from the Public Safety Office.

That same day, according to Gladwin’s memo, Law School Associate Dean Greg Munro escorted Christ from the building after receiving a complaint that Christ had been smoking marijuana in an office near the school’s Castle Center. “During the encounter, Christ angrily threw things in the garbage and broke a bottle,” Gladwin wrote. Christ did not return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

Smokers beware: Smoking causes depression

Does smoking cause depression or does depression cause smoking? The answer to this question is not easy to find but there are reasons to believe that smoking can possibly lead directly to depression. A 2008 study that surveyed 3,000 people found that while smokers had a 6.6 per cent risk of developing lifetime frequency of major depression; it was 2.9 per cent for non-smokers.The Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) survey revealed that about 70% of male habitual smokers and 80% of female habitual smokers had major depression.

The study also established that 30% of smokers show some symptoms of depression. The root cause behind it is Nicotine! Acting as a stimulant it affects the release of neurotransmitters in the brain; consequently, the brain becomes so addicted to the drug that it no longer functions normally without it. After 20-30 minutes of smoking the last cigarette, nicotine withdrawal begins and this leads to anxiety, which is very closely related to depression.

Constant changes in the nerves system cause depression, which usually lasts for lifetime frequency and is difficult to overcome. "So smoking as well as quitting smoke, both cause depression. Depression occurs when the smoker tries to abstain himself from smoking. It's necessary to monitor a quitter," points out Dr.Shreepad Khedekar, Clinical Director of Imperial Clinic, Mumbai. In another study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2010, 1265 individuals were studied from birth until the age of 25.

The purpose: To isolate the effects of smoking on psychological distress from all the other environmental and hereditary factors that may also cause symptoms of depression. After three years the following results were published: Nicotine dependence and depression have a reciprocal relationship. They tend to reinforce and amplify each other when they are both present in the individual. There is a direct causal chain leading from nicotine dependence to depression.

There is no direct causal chain leading from depression to nicotine dependence. Apart from depression, smoking leads to a list of life threatening conditions that can be fatal. So instead of battling daily stresses with that temporary 'rush' to relieve your mind, you are actually amplifying the impact of those stresses by making yourself more likely to become depressed.

CAMH protein discovery may lead to new treatment to prevent smoking relapse

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Scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have said that they have developed a protein peptide that may be a new type of highly targeted treatment to prevent smoking relapse, which occurs frequently in smokers who attempt to quit, despite current treatments. Dr. Fang Liu, Senior Scientist in CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and her team initially found that nicotine exposure can enhance binding between two types of brain receptors - a nicotinic receptor and a glutamate receptor.

They identified the sites where the two receptors bind together. With this information, they were able to generate a protein peptide to disrupt the binding of the two receptors. Working with CAMH Senior Scientist Dr. Anh Dzung Le, the peptide was then tested in an animal model of relapse. As anticipated, it had the effect of reducing attempts to seek nicotine.

"These discoveries present an avenue to develop an anti-smoking medication that directly targets the relapse process by focusing on this brain target," said Dr. Liu. "We hope that it will lead to an alternative treatment for smokers who aren't succeeding with current smoking cessation medications," he added. Their work has been published online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Team workplace effort to stop smoking work

Team-based workplace smoking cessation incentives were effective in reducing the amount of smoking, researchers in South Korea said. Dr. Sang Haak Lee, a pulmonologist and professor of medicine at St. Paul's Hospital in Seoul and the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, and colleagues developed a year-long cessation program that provided financial incentives to a team of 28 healthcare workers at St. Paul's.

When the smokers participating in the workplace smoking cessation program remained smoke-free, the team they belonged to received a financial incentive of about $45 for each successful participant at one week and one month. If the smokers in the team remained abstinent for a longer time period, the team was given a collective incentive of about $90 for each success of the participant at three months and six months, respectively.

The researchers awarded money to the teams based on team effort -- for how many co-workers the team succeeded to encourage and support the cessation effort -- rather than on individual effort. Abstinence rates at three months was 61 percent, 54 percent at six months and 50 percent at 12 months, Lee said. "In terms of efficacy, the abstinence rates were relatively high for a prolonged period in the team-based approach compared with those previously reported," Lee said in a statement. The findings were presented at the annual American Association for Cancer Research International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research in Los Angeles.

Dover's Youth to Youth group gets award for anti-smoking radio spots

Members of Dover’s Youth to Youth celebrated an award received recently for a series of radio ads created by the drug prevention group to encourage smokers to end their “bad relationship with tobacco.” “It’s kind of like the Emmys for drug prevention,” parent volunteer Stephanie Retrosi said of the award presented to Y2Y at the annual “Granite Mikes” ceremony after being selected by the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters to receive the Media Campaign of the Year Award. Media partner radio station WOKQ, which allowed Y2Y to use its studio to record the public service announcements, nominated the student group for the efforts.

“It’s really exciting,” Kaitlyn Hutchins, 17, said. She said not only does it feel good to get the message to stop tobacco use out to the public, but it’s also fun when people recognize her voice on the air. In 2002, Y2Y also received the Public Service Campaign of the Year award; the Best Public Service Announcement of the Year in 1996, 1999, and 2000; and the group also won the NHAB Merit award in 2009.

 For this series of ending a bad relationship with tobacco, Y2Y Coordinator Dana Mitchell said the idea of a humorous sense of “divided attention” with the ads making listeners wonder if it’s a relationship being discussed or something else, came from the television sitcom Friends. “We used a lot of break up language,” he said of the scripts which were created by students. Mitchell also said he’s even been contacted by prevention groups in other states, such as Maine, and has been asked to send copies of the witty mp3 files for their own use.

 “What we had used to seem cool, but I’ve changed. I feel like you’re smothering me, I can’t breathe!” one script reads. Another suggests that the character speaking to their “partner” has become too dependent and though has broken things off in the past and come crawling back, has sought help to end things once and for all.

Complaint prompts smoking ban in Lincolnshire Park

Citizen complaints have prompted the first-ever smoking ban in a Tazewell County park. Tazewell Town Manager Todd Day said the town council voted unanimously Thursday night to ban smoking in Lincolnshire Park following several complaints from residents. “We already had a smoking ban in the pool area, and citizens approached the board asking to ban it throughout the park,” Day said. “A lot of people have complained about the smoking and cigarette butts littering the park. We wanted to make the park more family friendly.

A lot of parents told us they didn’t feel like taking their kids out in the park and complained about the smoking.” Facilities at Lincolnshire Park include a 21-acre lake with boating facilities, four tennis courts, a basketball court, sand volleyball court, three picnic shelters, two softball fields, a swimming pool and playground. Day said the town is in the process of erecting “no smoking” signs in the park. “We have ordered some signs and will be putting them up,” Day said. “We are just going to ask people to refrain from smoking if we see them doing it.

I’m not aware of any other smoking bans in local parks. I don’t know of any smoking bans in any parks in the county. There wasn’t really any opposition to it at the meeting. It was pretty unanimous that the public agreed with it. Everyone all seemed to agree.” However, Tazewell resident Ed Killen said he is opposed to the ban. “They passed it without having the ordinance published,” Killen said. “They have a lot of sports complexes and a huge lake in the park, and I think banning smoking in the park is absolutely silly.

I can see them banning it in the stands and dugouts of the ball fields, but not in the open spaces and picnic shelters.” Killen said he doesn’t believe the town council has the right to ban smoking in public places like the park. “They shouldn’t be able to tell us where we can and cannot smoke,” he said. “I am tired of fighting with this town. I have lived here 40 years and now they’re trying to change everything.

I don’t understand why they have to change this just because one person complained.” Tazewell County Administrator Jim Spencer said he did not believe there were any other parks in the county where smoking was banned. Spencer said, to his knowledge, the only smoking ban in the county is the Virginia-wide smoking ban in certain work places, bars and restaurants. Issued in March 2009, the bill bans smoking in facilities including hospital emergency rooms, schools, prisons and public restrooms in government buildings.

Indiana smoking ban sponsor doesn't like lawsuit deal

A deal by the Indiana attorney general’s office to dismiss a legal challenge to the state’s new smoking restrictions law doesn’t square with the law’s intent, its top sponsor said. An American Legion post in northeast Indiana agreed last week to drop its federal lawsuit challenging the law after the attorney general’s office said it would only apply when “the public is invited or permitted to enter.” Scott Barnhart, an attorney for Legion Post 243 in Ligonier, said the post is satisfied with that stance as respecting the 190-member group’s rights as a private organization.

“They aren’t going to have smoking when the public’s invited, but they will have smoking when they’re operating as a private club,” Barnhart said. The law, which took effect July 1, bans smoking inside public buildings and places of employment, but has exceptions for bars and casinos. It also allows nonprofit private clubs such as fraternal and veterans organizations to permit smoking, but only in a designated room with separate ventilation that is off-limits to those younger than 18. Republican Rep. Eric Turner of Cicero, author of the bill, said Friday that the law doesn’t allow a private club to also be considered a public place at times.

“Absolutely not. It’s clearly not what the law says or the intent of the law,” Turner said. Turner said the danger of secondhand smoke doesn’t disappear when smoking stops inside a building. Private clubs must have separate smoking rooms and ventilation systems if they want to let minors inside at any time. The attorney general’s office made a similar argument last month, saying “Post 243 cannot be a private establishment and also invite the public into their building for limited purposes without meeting the definition of a ‘public place.’ ”

But the office’s position changed after a Sept. 27 court hearing on the Legion post’s lawsuit. “Post 243 cannot be both a private place and a public place at the same time (but) can distinguish members-only events where smoking is allowed from events open to the general public where smoking is prohibited,” said attorney general spokesman Bryan Corbin. Corbin said the office was willing to work with legislators to ensure their intent is reflected in enforcement of the law.

He said the office didn’t know of any other court challenges to the smoking ban. Turner said he expected to talk with the state Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, which generally enforces the law at businesses with alcohol permits. “To the best of my knowledge, the way the law is written is the way they’re interpreting and enforcing the law,” he said. “I’m hopeful that’s the way they’ll continue.”

Ministry of Health May Ban Electronic Cigarettes

The Ministry of Health is considering banning the import of electronic cigarettes, which are an alternative for those who want to continue smoking without inhaling harmful substances and avoid the smoke nuisance to people who are around.

The Ministry of Health, considered that the ban is necessary because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for its acronym in English) found that in this type of cigarettes also have cancer-causing substances. Since the smoking ban was passed, many companies have promoted the use of the electronic cigarette to encourage people to stop smoking.

But the Minister of Health said that electronic cigarettes are good for not only quitting but can be harmful to health. A spokes person from the ministry said that they are assessing the possibilities of not allowing these imports into the country. According to the FDA, when a person inhales, the device ejects nicotine and contains toxic ingredients and chemicals hazardous to health as ethylene glycol, used in antifreeze for vehicles. The Ministry of Health, said they are conducting a series of studies to analyze and make assessments to implement the necessary controls.

Feds say drop in cash spent on tobacco promotion

The nation's top tobacco companies spent less money on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products in recent years, according to the latest data from the Federal Trade Commission. Numbers released Friday show cigarette marketing decreased more than 5 percent to $8.05 billion in 2010, the latest year available, compared with a year earlier. Meanwhile, cigarette sales decreased about 3 percent to 281.6 billion cigarettes in the same period.

As in years past, much of the money spent by cigarette makers, about 81 percent or $6.49 billion, was for price discounts paid to retailers and wholesalers to reduce the price of cigarettes to consumers as the average price per pack continued to increase to $5.73 in 2010. Rising prices stemmed from a large federal tax increase on tobacco products in 2009, coupled with various state tax increases. In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration also was given authority to regulate the industry, which included further marketing restrictions, including a ban on tobacco companies sponsoring athletic, social and cultural events or offering free samples or branded merchandise. Several other tobacco marketing changes are being challenged in federal court.

According to the latest numbers, money spent on marketing smokeless tobacco products decreased nearly 10 percent to $444.2 million from 2009 to 2010 as sales increased 6.5 percent. Companies spent about 19 percent, or $95 million, on price discounts to wholesalers and retailers in order to reduce prices to consumers in 2010. Smokeless tobacco advertising and promotion had reached an all-time high of $547.9 million in 2008 as tobacco companies look for cigarette alternatives for sales growth as tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma make the cigarette business tougher.

The share of Americans who smoke has fallen dramatically since 1970, from nearly 40 percent to about 20 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the decline has stalled since about 2004, with about 46 million adults in the U.S. smoking cigarettes. It's unclear why it hasn't budged, but some experts have cited tobacco company discount coupons on cigarettes and lack of funding for programs to discourage smoking or to help smokers quit.

Smokers relocate, policy succeeds

Maybe unless you’re a smoker, the transition into a tobacco-free campus has been smooth sailing. The smoking shack outside of Whitehorse is gone; a red picnic table now perched upon the concrete square. Signs about the policy are rampant around campus, and security has an eye out for any offenders. On Sept. 21, EvCC officially became a tobacco free campus, making it the fourth community technical college in the state. KOMO news did a story on it over the summer. EvCC was awarded the Healthy Workplace Award by the Snohomish Health District on Sept. 18, an award given when businesses, agencies and other organizations surpass the legal minimum with a written policy protecting the health of students, faculty and the like from secondhand smoke. Sisneros said the overall, the transition has been smooth.

The first weeks of the quarter were a grace period, during which people were given verbal warnings about the policy. On Oct. 1, security was given the go-ahead to start handing out citations when necessary. “A citation would be handled just like a parking ticket,” said Sisneros. A citation of 20 dollars would be given to an offender, and if multiple citations had to be given, the issue would be handled by way of the student code of conduct. According to Sisneros, only one citation has been given out, and it wasn’t until the third week of the quarter.

 The citation was given near Olympus hall. The college has put out cigarette butt receptacles around the main areas where people have gone to smoke, mainly along Wetmore. Campus groundskeepers have been cleaning up cigarette butts around the edge of campus in an effort to help keep the surrounding neighborhood clean and as unaffected by this policy as possible. “The biggest challenge right now is to minimize the impact on the neighborhood,” said Pat Sisneros, vice president of college services. Despite the effort, the college has received two complaints from the neighborhood, he said, adding that the word needs to get out that smokers need to remember their manners and move aside when someone walks by on the sidewalk.

Don’t blow smoke toward people. How is the change affecting campus life? Non-smoking student Forrest Slechta said the policy doesn’t really affect him. “I like it, I guess. It’s nice to not have everyone standing around smoking.” Student Gabe Weibewright said he remembers the smoking shack. “I thought it was disrespectfully placed.” Welding student Ben Kalata said in regards to the policy, “It’s alright, but I think we should have a place to smoke.” Kalata said the fumes from welding he breathes in are far worse than cigarette smoke. “I don’t care if people smoke,” said non-smoking student Don Lancaster. He said just because he doesn’t smoke, or advocate smoking in any way, that doesn’t mean he’d burden smokers by taking it away from them. With only one citation out thus far, Sisneros said he doesn’t anticipate a problem, but says to wait and see when the weather changes.

Aaron Sandusky convicted for distribution of medical marijuana

Government hypocrisy abounds when it comes to cigarettes and medical marijuana. One being legal, while the latter is federally illegal. Smoking cigarettes, most of us will agree, is not a healthy thing to do, however our government has failed to stand up to big tobacco and make it illegal. There is nothing positive about cigarettes.

They kill, both directly and passively. Smoking marijuana, when done for medical purposes, is arguably desirable for the alleviation of pain, particularly in the terminally ill, nausea in those receiving cancer treatment, arthritis, anorexia treatment, Alzheimer, alcoholism, diabetes, stress and there may be a link in assisting autism and brain tumors. With all these benefits waiting to be exploited, our federal officials are fighting hard to keep us healthy by waging war on cigarette labels, instead of seeking federal legislation that would allow the research into and exploitation of cannabis for medical use.

All this as the though the Food and Drug Administration approves drugs that come with a library list of side effects that could be avoided if medical marijuana was legal. The Food and Drug Administration has spent time and money designing warnings for cigarette packages that would scare the monsters and demons found in any of the worst horror films. Showing you graphic color images of a man exhaling smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, images of dead and diseased smokers, and smoke surrounding an infant receiving a mother’s kiss are a few examples of the government’s anti-smoking efforts.

Aboriginal smoke sales raise questions

Over 137 million cigarettes were sold tax-free for the personal use of status aboriginal people in Nova Scotia last year. The information, obtained through a freedom of information request by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, means either that each of the 15,000 status aboriginals (including children) in the province is smoking about a pack a day or a large quantity of cigarettes are being sold tax-free to non-aboriginals. “And those numbers don’t include illegally imported cigarettes,” Kevin Lacey, the federation’s Atlantic director, said Monday.

 “We want the province to investigate this and find out what’s happening here and why so much tobacco can be sold to such a small amount of people.” Lacey said the numbers show a significant portion of the tobacco intended to be sold tax-free to non-aboriginals is being sold to a wider market. While status aboriginals account for about 1.5 per cent of the province’s population, they would be responsible for about 13 per cent of Nova Scotia’s cigarette consumption, according to the figures. The numbers are getting worse. In 2010-11, status aboriginal tax-free sales were responsible for about 11 per cent of the province’s cigarette consumption.

 Status aboriginal people in Nova Scotia can buy tax-free cigarettes at stores on their reserves. There is a quota, negotiated between the province and aboriginal communities, for determining how much tobacco is available tax-free to aboriginal communities. It is illegal for non-status Nova Scotians to buy tax-free tobacco at on-reserve stores. According to Lacey, non-aboriginal smokers pay about $5.39 in tax on a pack of 25 cigarettes, roughly half the price.

 “When you look at the numbers, I think the reality is that a lot of this tobacco is going to the black market, which means we’re losing tax revenues that could be going to doctors and teachers and lessening the tax burden on the people of this province, who already suffer under one of the heaviest tax burdens in the country,” Lacey said. “I don’t think the province wants to take on the aboriginal community and the chiefs with this problem.”

No butts about NZ cigarette price hike

Smokers in New Zealand will be hit with a 10 per cent increase in the price of cigarettes each year for the next four years. Parliament passed the law on Tuesday, on a unanimous vote.

Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia said the increases meant an average pack of 20 cigarettes would cost more than $NZ20 ($A16.13) in 2016. 'Smoking is by far New Zealand's leading avoidable cause of premature death,' she said during the third reading debate on the bill. 'Increasing tobacco tax is the single most effective measure and my goal is to reduce tobacco consumption because it saves lives.'

 Mrs Turia denied the excise increase was about gathering more money for the government. 'It's not about revenue, we should not play politics with such a serious issue,' she told opposition MPs. The increases were announced in the May budget. The first will be on January 1 next year.

Secondhand smoke kills 42,000 nonsmokers a year in US

How many Americans die from smoking without even lighting up a cigarette? More than 42,000 people a year, including 900 infants, according to a new, thorough analysis of secondhand smoke deaths by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Altogether, that's 600,000 years of potential life lost — an average of 14.2 years for each nonsmoker who has died prematurely as a result of someone else's smoking — amounting to $6.6 billion in lost productivity. The early deaths disproportionately affect African-Americans, especially black infants.

And the researchers said they are likely underestimating the true impact. Their results are detailed this month in the American Journal of Public Health. Even so, according to a Gallup poll conducted July 9-12, many smokers and nonsmokers are unaware of secondhand smoke danger, with just 28 percent of smokers saying secondhand smoke is very harmful to adults, compared with 63 percent of nonsmokers. Nearly one in four smokers said secondhand smoke is not too harmful or not harmful at all.

Cigarette retailers caught in sting

Palmerston North cigarette retailers have fallen at the first hurdle with the new smokefree legislation with 25 per cent of retailers involved in a sting operation selling cigarettes to underage buyers. MidCentral Health Smokefree enforcement officer Julie Beckett said the department were "extremely disappointed" with the result. "We work closely with tobacco retailers educating them to always ask for ID and not one of our 14 to 15-year-old volunteers was asked."

Ms Beckett said retailers should insist on a form of photo identification from anyone who looked under 25. "No photo identification, no sale. It is that simple." MidCentral Public Health Service is the first Public Health Unit in the country to use a new infringement notice option during controlled purchase operations where people under the age of 18 try to buy tobacco products.

MidCentral Health co-ordinator for health protection Tui Shadbolt said she had been sceptical that any of the city's retailers would fail the test because normally there were no problems of underage selling. Ms Shadbolt said her department worked with retailers to minimise young people's access to tobacco. This was the first time retailers had failed in a controlled purchase operations since July 2011 and the three offending retailers could face infringement fines of $500.

Criminals reap huge profits by importing illegal cigarettes

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Viewed as a high-return, low-risk alternative to hard drugs, bootleggers are using shipping containers and crew from airlines to smuggle packaged and loose tobacco into Australia. The growing problem has been detailed in Customs documents released under Freedom of Information. "Tobacco smuggling is an issue of growing significance (and) ... the majority of criminal entities involved in the illicit tobacco smuggling are experienced, highly organised and extensively networked," the documents said.

"Criminal proceeds from tobacco smuggling can finance other illegal activities, for example terrorism and drug trafficking. "Because duty rates for tobacco are likely to remain relatively high while tariffs on other commodities are removed through Free Trade Agreements ... tobacco smuggling may become the focus of a broader range of criminal enterprises seeking perceived easy profits through defrauding the revenue."

Compared to hard-core drugs like heroin and cocaine, tobacco traffiking is a low-risk venture because of the relatively low penalties, which are up to five times the amount of duty evaded. Some retailers sell unbranded products from "under the counter" or sell fake cigarettes as legitimate products. Smokers are turning to illegal tobacco because it costs half the price of legal products. A Customs' "profitability scenario" said a 40-foot shipping container held more than 9 million cigarette sticks. The overseas price for 10 million sticks costs $60,000-$80,000 and on the Australian black market it sells for $3 million-$4 million - a 4900 per cent increase.

About one in 20 containers are X-rayed. As well as millions of dollars lost in Government revenue, the health risks are considerable because counterfeit cigarettes contain "dangerous contaminates and much higher levels of carcinogens than legitimate cigarettes". Most are imported from China and Indonesia. Documents said the tobacco was being smuggled into Australia by the internet, cargo ships, aircraft, the post and by travellers, including the "involvement of air crew", and "diversion from off airport duty-free shops and warehouses". In the past four financial years, Customs has seized 924 tonnes of tobacco and 322 million cigarettes. The Government has introduced legislation to enhance penalties for tobacco smuggling, including introducing jail terms of up to 10 years.

Woman robs Hythe shop after being refused cigarettes on credit

A CASHIER at a Hythe newsagents has been attacked after refusing to give a woman cigarettes on credit. The robbery happened after a woman walked into the shop on Bank Street and demanded the tobacco only to be turned down by the employee behind the till. After being refused the cigarettes the suspect – described as white and in her early 20s – went behind the counter and pushed the cashier to the floor, causing her to bang her head.

The desperate smoker then grabbed a packet of cigarettes and walked out of the store towards the canal. Kent Police officers investigating the robbery say the woman is around 5ft 3in tall, with shoulder-length straight blonde hair. She was wearing a black winter coat and was carrying a large black shoulder bag.

Medical Marijuana Law Goes Into Effect Tomorrow

Connecticut patients suffering from certain debilitating medical conditions will soon be able to apply with the state Department of Consumer Protection to receive medical marijuana. Starting Monday, the agency will make applications available online. The step is among the first toward creating a new system in Connecticut of legalized medical marijuana for palliative purposes. Some other new state laws that take effect Monday pertain to sex trafficking, used cars and highway safety.

Claudette Carveth, spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer Protection, said Friday the agency has received calls from people interested in an application but the agency has not kept a waiting list. To qualify for a temporary registration certificate, a person must be at least 18 and a state resident. A Connecticut-licensed doctor must initiate the registration process and certify that the person meets the medical prerequisites.

Only certain medical conditions are eligible for the treatment. They include AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, HIV, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis, among others. Meanwhile, the consumer protection agency has until July 1 to submit new regulations to the General Assembly as to how the drug will be dispensed and other details. The program is expected to be up and running by late 2013. “From talking to a lot of people, Connecticut clearly will have the tightest, most restrictive system in the country,” said Michael Lawlor, the governor’s criminal justice adviser. Lawlor said people who do end up qualifying for medical marijuana will now be allowed, under state law, to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana as of Oct. 1.

Until state-approved sources of medical marijuana are established, transactions to obtain the drug will still be illegal. But “the basic possession will be lawful, assuming you have the card,” Lawlor said, adding how he doesn’t expect a large number of people will qualify in the first months. Among the other new laws that take effect in October is one that makes it a crime for someone to place an advertisement for sex that includes a depiction of a minor. The legislation is intended to help combat sex trafficking. Proponents of the measure, including former House Speaker James Amann, had originally wanted to make the publishers of escort advertisements, online and print, criminally liable if the ads were deemed exploitation of minors.

They proposed requiring publishers to get verification of the age of the person featured in the ad before running it. Under the legislation ultimately signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the new crime of commercial sexual exploitation of a minor is created, a Class C felony punishable by one-to-10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Also on Monday, some new motor vehicle laws take effect. One law attempts to ensure that auto dealerships provide buyers with a state-required safety check on used cars. Items that must be signed off as checked include service brakes, the parking brake, tires, wheels, the steering system and exhaust.

In the past, some dealers did not do a thorough safety check, officials with the Department of Motor Vehicles say. “This new law helps to protect consumers in the future from those situations where a few dealers have not done the checks as required,” DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey said. Under the new law, a dealership owner faces arrest and fines up to $2,000 if they don’t conduct the safety inspection Another new law expands the current statute requiring motorists to move over when approaching a stationary vehicle. The law now applies to roads with two lanes of traffic going in the same direction. Originally, it had applied to those with three lanes or more.

Connecticut's Medical Marijuana Law Takes Effect Today

Starting today, anyone who wants to use or sell marijuana for medicinal purposes can register with the state to do so. The legalization of medicinal marijuana was approved by our state legislature this past May and the law, along with dozens of other new bills approved by the General Assembly in its spring session, goes into effect today.

But it will likely be some time before mom and pop “pot” stores start popping up in your town. That’s because anyone who wants to sell or use marijuana for medical use must first get approval from the state and register with it. The medical marijuana law came about a year after the state legislature agreed to decriminalize the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana.

According to CT.com, Connecticut’s new marijuana law limits the use of pot for medical purposes to a specific list of conditions. And while the website says it could take up to a year for the state to implement a system for approving marijuana distribution outlets, Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein told Ct.com that he expects the system to be in place much sooner.

38% smokers unaware of tobacco risk to their heart

It seems that the statutory warning on every cigarette packet fails to melt the heart of its user. But now, smokers need to wake up for the cause of their own heart. The well known fact that smoking causes cardiovascular diseases has been proved scientifically. The fact has been documented in a report titled 'Cardiovascular harms from tobacco use and second-hand smoke', commissioned by the World Heart Federation and authored by the International Tobacco Control Project in collaboration with the WHO, which came out in April 2012.

The report showed that India and China, with over 40% of the world's tobacco users, account for two million of the over five million worldwide deaths caused by tobacco use. "But the level of knowledge regarding the dangers of tobacco use as well as second-hand smoke in both countries is alarmingly low," the report says. Data reveals that nearly 38% smokers in India are unaware that tobacco use causes heart attacks and one in two Indian smokers don't know that smoking causes stroke. Most of the people associate smoking to lung diseases and cancers. But, the fact is that smoking poses higher risk to the heart.

"We need to wake up to the threat of cardiovascular diseases which are having a devastating impact on health, growth and development of the country," Prof K Srinath Reddy, president elect of the World Heart Federation said that the challenge is bigger in UP where 34% adults (age group 15 and above) currently use some form of tobacco (cigarettes -2.3% and Bidi -12.4%). "Every year, tobacco kills one million people in India.

Heart disease caused by it accounts for the highest number of deaths (29%)," he informed. Cardiologists in the state affiliated to the Cardiological society of India, informed that over 4,500 lifesaving angioplasty procedures and almost 2000 lifesaving pacemaker implantations have been performed in 2011-2012 in the state of UP. The number of these procedures has increased by almost 30% over the last year. Organising secretary, Dr Rishi Sethi said that majority of these persons had a history of smoking. While informing about the upsurge and treatment of coronary artery disease, Dr Nakul Sinha, chief interventional cardiologist, Sahara Hospital, said, "In India, coronary artery diseases carry a greater propensity to strike younger people and have more disastrous consequences for the loss of work output occurring due to disability conferred by diabetes and high blood pressure, being common accompaniments which are aggravated by an unhealthy diet and sedentary lifestyle."

He was taking to reporters on the occasion of world heart day. The hospital organised a walkathon, which started from Lohia Park and ended at Sahara Shahar, to mark the occasion. Director, Sahara Hospital, Dr HP Kumar said that cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the world's leading cause of death, killing 17.3 million people every year. CVDs affect Indians almost a decade or two earlier as compared to those from developed countries. At present, CVDs account for 29% of all deaths in the country. With a four-fold increase in CVD prevalence in India in the past four decades, CVDs will be the largest cause of disability and death in India by 2020.

Swiss say no to smoke ban plan

Two in three Swiss voters rejected a referendum Sunday aimed at tightening a smoking ban, to the relief of the hotel and restaurant sector that had complained of excess regulation. Only Geneva voted slightly in favour of the initiative, while results from Switzerland's other 25 cantons showed that 66 percent rejected it, the ATS news agency reported. The Swiss Business Federation hailed what it called a "heartening" result, saying the stricter laws would have "weighed on the restaurant sector as well as other economic sectors."

It added in a statement: "The initiative would have imposed more costs on restaurateurs who have already made considerable investments to protect non-smokers. Hotelleriesuisse, representing the hotel sector, said it was relieved by the outcome, saying a "yes" vote would have made "some investments obsolete". The Socialist party "deplored" the result, saying stepping up protection against passive smoking would have "incontestably been a major step in the improvement of (workers') conditions".

Voters were asked whether to strengthen a smoking ban in indoor workplaces and public spaces, with opponents decrying the move as a "witch-hunt." Polls had shown the country deeply divided on the eve of the referendum over the move initiated by the Swiss Pulmonary League, which aimed at clearing up confusion about the current legislation. In a survey published last week, 52 percent opposed the initiative, against 41 percent in favour, and seven percent undecided. Switzerland introduced a federal ban on smoking in enclosed workplaces and public spaces more than two years ago, but the law allowed for a number of exceptions and has been applied unevenly across the country's 26 cantons.

 While eight cantons, including Geneva, already have a total ban on indoor smoking in workplaces such as restaurants and bars, and public spaces like hospitals, the remaining 18 cantons apply the law less restrictively. In 11 cantons, smokers are allowed to indulge their habit in small bars, cafes and restaurants of less than 80 square metres, and in establishments with smoking rooms with customer service. In the other seven cantons, smoking is allowed in dedicated smoking rooms. According to the Swiss Pulmonary League, working an eight-hour shift in a smoke-filled environment is equivalent to smoking 15 to 38 cigarettes. A World Health Organisation study estimated that second-hand smoke kills upward of 600,000 non-smokers worldwide every year.

Imperial Tobacco says sales boosted by emerging markets

Britain's Imperial Tobacco, the maker of Lambert & Butler and Gauloises cigarettes, said Thursday that it expected annual sales to grow this year, lifted by strong demand in emerging markets. "We are delivering strong gains from our key strategic brands and improving our revenue momentum through our focus on driving quality growth across our total tobacco portfolio," the group said in a trading update.

"Tobacco net revenues are expected to be up by around four percent with particularly good performances in our Eastern Europe, Africa and Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions." However, total stick volumes, which combine cigarettes and fine-cut tobacco, were predicted to drop by three percent due to weakness in Ukraine and Poland and compliance with international trade sanctions against Syria.

Imperial Tobacco said it was making "excellent progress" with its key strategic brands Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West and JPS, and expected this to be reflected in further strong volume and revenue gains. The group added that its overall financial trading position and operational performance for the year, which runs until September 30, was in line with expectations. Annual results are due for publication on October 30. In recent years, Imperial Tobacco has switched its strategy away from developed regions and towards the world's major growth markets in Asia, Africa, eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Fight on against student tobacco use

Young people in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties continue to use tobacco at higher levels than their peers statewide, prompting educators to scale up tobacco-use-prevention efforts and enlist students as a new ally in the fight. In Calaveras County, where the rate of tobacco use among young people is estimated at more than double the state’s, teenagers have joined the effort to keep their peers from smoking or chewing tobacco. Meanwhile, Tuolumne County is seeking more funding for drug use education and cessation programs.

The most recent results of the California Healthy Kids Survey, given to students in fifth through 12th grades, suggest that 29 percent of Calaveras County’s 11th graders have chewed tobacco — compared with roughly 10 percent of 11th graders in California. Not all students take California Healthy Kids surveys, and there are inevitably some who don’t answer truthfully. But the numbers are still cause for concern, according to Kathryn Eustis, director of Youth Development and Prevention Programs at the Calaveras County Office of Education.

“With our chew-tobacco numbers, somebody needs to take this seriously,” she said. “Nobody’s talking about it.” The reasons behind the higher rates may be cultural, she suggested. Chewing tobacco is something of a tradition among ranchers, with fathers simply telling their sons that they’re “old enough to chew now.” Athletes represent another population more likely to chew tobacco, particularly baseball players and wrestlers. Eustis said there has been a cultural movement to “deglorify” tobacco use among athletes, but tobacco companies have multimillion-dollar war chests to combat it.

Tuolumne County’s Healthy Kids survey results appear slightly higher than Calaveras County’s for chewing tobacco, with 30 percent of 11th graders having chewed tobacco at some point in their lives. Furthermore, 12 percent had chewed tobacco within the past 30 days, which may indicate habitual use. The Tuolumne County Healthy Kids data reflects the years between 2009-11, while Calaveras County’s is from 2011-12. Schools administer the surveys in two-year cycles. Tuolumne County does not yet have data from the past academic year. According to the survey results, both counties also had a relatively high percentage of students smoking cigarettes.

In Calaveras County, 35 percent of high school juniors had smoked cigarettes, as had 32 percent of their Tuolumne County peers. Tuolumne County Public Health Officer Dr. Todd Stolp said tobacco remains the No. 1 cause of death in Tuolumne County, above car accidents and other hazards. Nationwide, an estimated 435,000 people die every year from tobacco-related causes. That number topped deaths from diet-related causes by about 35,000, and motor-vehicle accidents by almost 360,000. Smoking has long been correlated with a greatly increased risk for cancer, heart disease, strokes and a variety of other ailments.

Contrary to some beliefs, chewing tobacco is not a safe alternative and causes many of the same diseases. The threats aren’t abstract, even to teenagers — some of whom already observe their peers’ health decline as a result of smoking or tobacco use. “I have never been a smoker, but I’ve been around a lot of people who do,” said Arianna Zylstra, 15, a sophomore at Calaveras High School. “I hate seeing that they do worse in PE or can’t walk up a hill without breathing hard.” Zylstra participates in Teens Against Tobacco, a group run by the Calaveras County Public Health Department, and a youth mentoring program.

Both are part of a collaborative effort in Calaveras County to steer young people away from tobacco and drugs. With an annual grant of $111,000, the Calaveras County Office of Education administers a tobacco cessation program at the Calaveras River Academy, a Saturday School intervention program for at-risk students across the county, and an anti-drug curriculum at middle and high schools. Collaborating with the public health department, it has also undertaken youth development programs to involve students in prevention efforts. When it comes to drug prevention, Zylstra said she and other teens have power that adults may not. “When someone has a question, they’re going to ask their friends,” she said.

“Adults can be intimidating, as far as telling them things.” Some students have joined the charge on their own initiative. Bret Harte High senior Chloe Ponce, 17, is making tobacco education the centerpiece of her senior project. “What I want to do is create sort of a sustainable program at Bret Harte, an alliance of some sort,” Ponce said. “I was hoping to create a video about the dangers of chewing tobacco.” She added that one of the project’s goals would be making more students aware of tools they can use, including a phone hotline, to quit chewing or smoking tobacco. “If we find out that students don’t want to quit, then we need to go back a few steps and figure out why,” she said. “We’re just trying to do as much research as we can.” Calaveras County’s Saturday School intervention program was “phenomenally successful” last year, Eustis said.

The three-hour course targets students who are first offenders, or those referred there by faculty. The Calaveras County grant, part of a state initiative called Tobacco Use Prevention Education, is entering its second of three school years. Without the grant money and cooperation between county agencies, efforts to combat tobacco use might no longer be possible, Eustis said. One source of funding for drug education, the federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program, evaporated a few years ago. In the past, the Tuolumne County Office of Education was able to offer cessation programs at high schools. Money for those programs has also disappeared.

 But Sonora High School Principal Todd Dearden said tobacco use on his campus seems to have decreased in the recent past, which may be the result of a stricter approach to giving students in-school or out-of-school suspensions. “We’ve been much more severe about it,” he said. “Possession of tobacco, tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia are all suspendable offenses.” Dearden added he would like to see the tobacco cessation program return to Sonora High, but the school will most likely maintain its disciplinary approach to tobacco prevention. In Tuolumne County, the nonprofit YES Partnership and Friday Night Live run additional anti-drug programs for young people. The Tuolumne County Office of Education is in its last year of funding from its own Tobacco Use Prevention Education grant. The program has provided an anti-drug curriculum called Project Alert. Tuolumne County Deputy Superintendent of Schools Margie Bulkin said she’s applying for another grant, but the selection process is “very competitive.”

Omaha Seeks 7% Occupation Tax On Tobacco Products

The Omaha, Neb. City Council is introducing an ordinance today that if adopted would require an “occupational privilege tax” on tobacco retailers equal to 7% of the gross receipts from the sale of tobacco products, including any pipe or other device intended for use in consuming tobacco products, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO) reported. The ordinance defines tobacco products as cigarettes, cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, any nicotine delivery device providing for the ingestion of nicotine into the body, and anything containing tobacco suitable for chewing, smoking in a pipe or inhaling.

The proposed occupational tax would be earmarked to raise revenue to support city government functions, including dedicating $35 million over a 10-year period to help fund the building of a $370 million cancer center at the University of Nebraska located in Omaha. However, Nebraska Governor David Heineman stated publicly last week that he signed a funding bill passed by the state legislature to provide a $50 million state commitment to the project and that the University of Nebraska was to raise all of the other capital from private sources rather than seeking out other tax revenue.

This proposed occupation tax of 7% on cigarettes would add about 35 cents to the cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes. Currently, the Nebraska state cigarette tax is 64 cents per pack. The price of smokeless tobacco, cigars, roll-your-own tobacco and all other tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, would increase by 7% as well. An economic analysis of this proposed 7% occupational tax estimates that both cigarette and other tobacco product (OTP) sales would decline by about 20% if this new tax went into effect.

Omaha retailers would experience this sales decline likely due to customers traveling and purchasing these tobacco products outside the Omaha city limits in lower tax states, such as Missouri and Kansas. Besides losing tobacco product sales, Omaha retailers would also see a decline in sales of other ancillary goods that consumers purchase when shopping for tobacco products.

Law cracks down on stores that sell tobacco to minors

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation that creates tougher penalties for stores that sell cigarettes to minors, and the bill’s author, Assemblyman Jerry Hill, is crediting youth groups in San Mateo County with spurring the new law. Hill, D-San Mateo, said he introduced Assembly Bill 1301 in 2011 after meeting with teenagers from the Youth Leadership Institute of San Mateo, who enlisted him to help them curb sales of tobacco to underage teens.

“I’ve always been a proponent of anti-smoking issues, especially when it comes to young people,” Hill said. As a San Mateo city councilman in the mid 1990s, Hill helped pass an anti-smoking ordinance that prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars. The ordinance was among the toughest in the state at the time, he said. AB 1301 requires the state Board of Equalization, which issues tobacco sales licenses to retailers, to suspend a store’s tobacco license for 45 days if it is caught selling to a minor three times in a five-year period.

A fourth violation would result in a 90-day suspension, and a fifth would cause the retailer’s tobacco license to be permanently revoked. Before AB 1301, retailers or clerks caught selling tobacco products to minors were often just fined, which had less of an effect than a license suspension on a store’s profits, Hill said. The stricter AB 1301 was signed into law by Brown over the weekend. Hill said it was the young people he worked with — some of whom spoke before the Legislature — that generated the momentum for the new law’s passage.

“The nice thing is, it was really the young people who were the driving force,” he said. Hill joined members of the Youth Leadership Institute, San Mateo County Friday Night Live, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and various other groups yesterday at the Mid-Peninsula Boys & Girls Club to celebrate the new law.

Deputies stumble upon hundreds of marijuana plants

At least $300,000 worth of marijuana plants were discovered early Thursday morning sheriff's deputies working near Arcanum, Ohio. Darke County deputies ascended a Greenville Fire Department ladder truck to get a good look at the sprawling grow operation. The plants were hidden behind an outbuilding, peeking out from behind dried corn stalks and posing as an everyday vegetable garden. The plants weren't hidden very well.

Deputies say they literally stumbled across the operation. "His efforts in concealing his marijuana grow operation is marginal at best. It was fairly obvious from the road that there was marijuana growing on the property," said Chief Deputy Mark Whittaker. In all, deputies estimated there were more than 300 plants, protected by a security system of sorts: lights mounted in the grow area. "This is probably the largest cultivation operation we've taken down in several years," Whittaker said.

 Deputies used a chainsaw to cut the tree-like trunks of the plants, some of which measured more than ten feet tall, and loaded them onto dump trucks. The suspects, a woman and her adult son, admitted to growing pot last year as well. Deputies were greeted by a shotgun when the arrived on the property. The suspect told officers someone stole his first batch of plants and said he armed himself because he thought the thieves were coming back again.

The Obama-Romney love-in: opposing marijuana law reform

Who's afraid of the big bad bud? President Obama and Mitt Romney, of course! Both 2012 candidates take hard-line stances on opposing marijuana law reform, although neither will definitively justify or defend their positions. Despite massive public support for reforming U.S. marijuana laws, Romney and Obama continue to ignore pleas from the American public to take a responsible look at regulating marijuana and its derivatives. President Obama - despite his 2008 claims that he would respect state medical marijuana laws - has proven to be the most militant and harsh commander-in-chief in the history of the War on Drugs.

His administration has raided and shut down dozens of legitimate medical marijuana dispensaries, robbing those operators and their employees of badly-needed jobs while denying their states of badly-needed tax revenues. Mitt Romney opposes any kind of reform of marijuana laws, stating he would fight "tooth-and-nail" against reform. His refusal to discuss the matter with potential voters and the media shines a bright light on his desire to avoid losing the undecideds - who tend to be liberal or independent voters - so he just clams up.

But others in his camp have plenty to contribute. According to The Fix: "But the real icon of drug policy in Romney’s campaign, deeply involved to this day, is Melvin Sembler, a Florida strip-mall magnate who was a national fundraising chair for Romney in 2008 and is again a Florida State Co-Chair for Romney’s finance committee. ...a teenage girl testified to being compelled into the [Straight, Inc] program after being caught with an airline bottle of liquor given to her by a friend, and then beaten, raped, locked in a janitor’s closet in pants soiled by urine, feces, and menstrual blood, forced into a false and bizarre confession to being a “druggie whore” who went down on truckers for a fix. Monroe’s story is extreme but in no way unique.

Similar accounts from Straight survivors have been collected en masse online at TheStraights.com." Both Mitt Romney and President Obama leave much to be desired when it comes to marijuana law reform - one refuses to even answer questions on the topic, while the other viciously and hypocritically raids state law-compliant dispensaries on one hand while mocking and trying to entice pro-marijuana voters on the other. Where does this leave American voters who support marijuana law reform (according to the 2011 Gallup poll)? Nowhere.

And that could seriously affect the 2012 elections... especially with Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Arkansas, and other states considering marijuana law reform ballots this November. Perhaps one or both of these presidential hopefuls will locate their spines, unclasp the hand of the other, and step forward to address this not-so-fringe issue in time for the October 3 presidential debate in the key state of Colorado.