Innokin iTaste VV starts hitting Japan e cigarette market

Innokin iTaste VV is a new variable voltage e cigarette with beautiful design, solid quality and rich features. With more and more Japan vapers showing interests in this innovative device, Innokin iTaste VV starts hitting e cigarette market in Japan. Now Japan vapers can get iTaste VV from vendors like 沼田茶舗. iTaste

VV main features:

 Magnetic Atomizer Connection Beyond the square shape, the connector has to be the hallmark of the uniqueness of this ecig. This connector is purely proprietary. Rather than a threaded connection, the atomizer simply slides on the battery. Powerful magnets hold everything in place. This feature is sort of a mixed bag. On the plus side, it’s absolutely brilliant. The feature works amazingly well and makes it simple to change out accessories.

 The bad news is of course that it’s a proprietary connection. No standard cartomizer is going to fit without an adapter. Fortunately the company offers four different adapters to allow cartomizers using 510 and 808 standards (and a couple less popular ones) to work with the iTaste. But the adapters which are small metal blocks with the proper thread on one end look a little kludgy on the iTaste. The adapter raises the height of the connector as well-meaning that the iTaste’s pen cap won’t work with a number of cartomizers.

Tobacco-tax proponents concede defeat

A California ballot measure that would have added a US$1 tax to the price of each pack of cigarettes sold in the state was narrowly defeated, its opponents conceded on 22 June. The measure would have funded a $500-million research enterprise as well as smoking-cessation and smoking-prevention efforts. Although the vote on the measure took place on 5 June, state officials took weeks to count a large number of mail-in and provisional ballots on Proposition 29, which ended up losing by less than 1 percentage point.

 The Proposition 29 campaign blamed an advertising campaign funded by tobacco companies for the measure’s loss. Although two-thirds of voters supported it in March, voters were evenly split on the proposition by May after tobacco companies rolled out an ‘anti-29′ ad campaign across the state. “Big Tobacco’s $50-million misinformation campaign will rob Californians of the ability to invest more than $500 million annually in cancer research, save more than 104,000 lives, stop more than 228,000 kids from smoking and reduce long-term health-care costs by more than $5 billion,” the campaign said in a statement.

 Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California in San Francisco, and a Proposition 29 supporter, cited other reasons for the campaign’s loss, including the Los Angeles Times recommendation for a ‘no’ vote on the proposition, the fact that the proposition did not mandate that the proceeds of the tax be spent in California, a “weak media campaign” on behalf of the proposition and media coverage of the ‘no’ campaign. Glantz also suggested that the ‘yes on 29′ campaign should have placed less emphasis on research and should have attacked tobacco companies directly. “Rather than taking on Big Tobacco, [Proposition 29 supporters] tried to sell cancer research.

Our earlier work shows that this was not the way to got [sic] from the beginning,” Glantz wrote in a post on his blog. Glantz suggested that supporters of Proposition 29 should improve and reintroduce the measure in a future election. “I think that 29 was reasonably well-conceived but there is definite room for improvement,” Glantz wrote. “I know that this is scary for the sponsors who would have to come up with the money, but we just can’t let down all the people who worked so hard on this campaign.”

California isn't using tobacco money for smoking prevention programs

Cigarettes shop with cheap prices: http://cigarettehome.livejournal.com/
With California voters poised to vote next week on a tobacco tax hike, a new federal study concludes that the state has used relatively little of the billions of dollars in tobacco money it already takes in to prevent kids from smoking or to help smokers quit. Between 1998 and 2010, just 6 percent of the money collected from a massive lawsuit settlement and from cigarette taxes went to tobacco interdiction and education programs, the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week, far below federal spending guidelines for effectively curbing tobacco use.

The report has provided fuel for both sides of the pitched debate over a June 5 ballot measure that would more than double the state tax on a pack of cigarettes. The money would pay for tobacco-related disease research and anti-smoking programs and go to fight illicit tobacco sales. Proponents such as American Cancer Society lobbyist Jim Knox say the CDC report underscores why voters should support Proposition 29 – to lock in money for anti-tobacco efforts, improve public health and ultimately save lives. The measure would bolster proven anti-tobacco programs that are woefully underfunded but remain a "model throughout the nation and the world," Knox said. Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for the tobacco industry-backed No on Prop 29 campaign, said the CDC study just proves government can't be trusted with more tobacco tax money.

She compared the ballot measure to others that funded controversial state projects, such as high-speed rail and stem cell research. "It's not hard to see this measure is headed down the same path of exorbitant salaries, high-priced consultants and more wasteful government spending," Miller said. From 1998 through 2010, California collected nearly $22 billion from a lawsuit settlement with tobacco companies and from cigarette taxes, according to the federal report. It appropriated $1.3 billion, including state funding and federal grants, for tobacco prevention and cessation programs during that period. In 2010, California spent about $79 million on anti-tobacco efforts, about 18 percent of what federal guidelines recommend spending to have a significant impact on public behavior.

California's experience reflects a national trend that shows states and local governments have used tobacco-related revenues for just about everything but curbing tobacco use. In the 13 years that ended in 2010, states collected nearly $244 billion in cigarette taxes and settlement cash and appropriated just $8 billion for tobacco control programs, less than one-third the $29 billion the CDC says should have been spent. A 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry promised California would receive $25 billion over 25 years, split evenly between the state and counties. It's received a little over $10 billion so far, according to the California attorney general's office. The terms of the settlement left it to governments how to spend the money. Locals have used their share for a range of projects, from fixing sidewalks to adding juvenile hall beds.

California lawmakers in 2003 used the tobacco industry payments as collateral on bonds to help close the state's general fund deficit. "California gave away all its (tobacco) settlement agreement money. None of it went to tobacco control. It should have," Knox said. California cigarette excise taxes are currently 87 cents per pack; 50 cents of that goes to early childhood development programs and 10 cents to the general fund. The remaining 27 cents is earmarked for tobacco education and prevention, health care services and research, according to a state analysis. The state Department of Public Health said last year that the adult smoking rate dropped to a record low of 11.9 percent, down from the 27.7 percent in 1985.

Proposition 29 would add another $1 per pack for cigarettes and other tobacco products. It sets up a new state-run trust fund and oversight committee devoted to cancer and other tobacco-related illness research, education and prevention programs and to fighting smuggling and illegal tobacco sales. The tobacco industry has poured millions of dollars into a campaign to defeat the measure, and public opinion appears to be turning against it. Two recent polls by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California show the percentage of voters likely to support the measure has fallen from 67 percent in March to 53 percent this month.

Miller said that the public mood is shifting because voters recognize Proposition 29 doesn't address the state's budget deficit while adding an "unaccountable commission" free to spend as it sees fit. Knox, the cancer society lobbyist, denied that the measure would create a burgeoning bureaucracy, saying it would "rejuvenate" current programs starved for money. "(The programs) have already proven immensely successful in driving down smoking," Knox said.

Pa. duo stole cigarettes to pay drug debt

Police say two women who allegedly tried to steal $187 worth of cigarettes planned to use them as partial payment of a drug debt — and also had crack cocaine on them when arrested. Online court records don't list attorneys for 31-year-old Jamie Bacon and 36-year-old Amy Fryman, both of Sharpsville, who were arrested late Monday.

 The Herald of Sharon reports Wednesday the women tried to buy the cigarettes using a check, but ran away when it didn't clear. When police arrived, the women told them they desperately needed the cigarettes to make a partial payment toward a $1,300 drug debt. Police say that's when they found eight rocks of crack cocaine and a pipe on the women. The duo remained jailed Wednesday unable to post bond on retail theft and drug-related charges.

New Smoking Vaccine Using Gene Therapy Being Developed

By using gene therapy to create a novel antibody that gobbles up nicotine before it reaches the brain in mice, scientists say they may have found a potential smoking vaccine against cigarette addiction. However, there is still a long way to go before the new therapy can be tested in humans. In a study reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine this week, Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City show how a single dose of the vaccine protected mice, over their lifetime, against nicotine addiction.

 The addictive properties of the nicotine in tobacco smoke is a huge barrier to success with current smoking cessation approaches, say the authors in their paper. Previous work using gene therapy vaccination in mice to treat certain eye disorders and tumors, gave them the idea a similar approach might work against nicotine. The new anti-nicotine vaccine is based on an adeno-associated virus (AAV) engineered to be harmless.

The virus carries two pieces of genetic information: one that causes anti-nicotine monoclonal antibodies to be created, and the other that targets its insertion into the nucleus of specific cells in the liver, the hepatocytes. The result is the animal's liver becomes a factory continuously producing antibodies that gobble up the nicotine as soon as it enters the bloodstream, denying it the opportunity to enter the brain.

Colleges move toward absolute bans on smoking

As a political science major at Ohio State University, Ida Seitter says, she lit up many a cigarette to help her through the stress of exam season. Right or wrong, they were her security blanket as she toiled through college. Seitter, now 26, was old enough by then to make her own decisions, she says. She opposes efforts by policymakers in Ohio, New York, California and other states to impose bans on tobacco use not just in buildings at public colleges, but also anywhere on the campus — even in the open air. "Just back away from me a little bit. I won't blow it in your face and I'll try not to be rude," Seitter says.

"At the same time, I think it's a little discriminatory for a practice that is considered legal." Bans on use, advertising and sales of tobacco in all its forms are being enacted or considered at perhaps half of campuses nationwide, sometimes over the objections of student smokers, staff and faculty. The movement is driven by mounting evidence of the health risks of secondhand smoke, the reduced costs of smoke-free dorms and a drive to minimize enticements to smoke at a critical age for forming lifelong habits. California's state system will begin to bar tobacco use in 2013. A ban on use and advertising at the City University of New York system goes into effect in September, and the University of Missouri at Columbia is going smoke-free in 2014.

Ohio higher education officials plan a vote next month urging all public campuses to ban tobacco use. That includes Ohio State, one of the nation's largest universities, which currently bans only indoor smoking. According to the surgeon general's report for 2012, tobacco use among people ages 18 to 25 remains at epidemic proportions nationwide. The review found 90 percent of smokers started by age 18, and 99 percent by age 26. About a quarter to a third of college students smoke, studies have found. The study found the U.S. would have 3 million fewer young smokers if success in reducing youth smoking by state tobacco-cessation programs from 1997 to 2003 had been sustained. Many of the programs have been hit by budget cuts.

Health and education officials, anti-smoking groups and a generation of students who grew up smoke-free are increasingly united on the issue, says Bronson Frick, associate director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. "There are many reasons why a college or university may choose to pursue this type of policy, whether secondhand smoke, dorm fires, or other issues," he says. "They are also questioning what the role of tobacco is in this academic setting, where we're supposed to be standing for truth and training the next generation of leaders." According to data kept by the nonsmokers group, campus tobacco bans have risen from virtually zero a decade ago to 711 today.

That includes both four-year and two-year institutions, both public and private. One of the first campuses to ban tobacco was Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Mo., which endorsed the move in 1999 and put it in place four years later. The school also established a research center that works with other colleges and hospitals pursuing similar moves, now known as the National Center for Tobacco Policy. Ty Patterson, the center's director, says Ozarks quickly realized that its previous policy of allowing smoking in designated outdoor areas was impractical and couldn't be properly enforced. Forbidding all tobacco use was deemed to be more effective than simply saying no to cigarette smoke, Patterson says. "When you go smoke-free, you drive smokers to use smokeless tobacco, which is more addictive," he says.

Cigarette-size cigars containing candy and fruit flavorings, dissolvable strips and lozenges are among the smokeless tobacco products being targeted to youths, according to the surgeon general. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says studies show many smokers mix and match such products with cigarettes as they move from smoking to nonsmoking venues. Compliance with tobacco bans is generally voluntary, and violations come with few, if any, real penalties. Repeat offenders are sometimes subjected to university disciplinary policies, which vary by school. While precise statistics on the number of campuses curtailing tobacco are elusive, Patterson estimates that one-third to one-half of all higher education institutions have either made the move or are considering it. Smoking rights advocate Audrey Silk, founder of New York Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment, says any outdoor ban — whether for a campus, beach or public park — is an attack on the rights of one segment of the population.

"This isn't a health issue anymore. It's a moral issue," she says. "There's absolutely zero reason for a smoking ban outdoors. They use it as a tool. Harm from smoke outdoors is an excuse to frustrate smokers into quitting because they can't find a place to light up." Silk says it's not the place of schools to enforce health issues. "Schools are a business," she says. "Who assigned them the role of behavior modification? It's their responsibility to educate. What they're doing is indoctrinating." Tobacco companies have also questioned the role of universities to take such steps. With limited lobbying power at the college level, they have pursued legislation in some states to pre-empt tobacco-control decisions from occurring at any but the state level.

A spokesman for Philip Morris USA Inc., the nation's largest tobacco company, deferred comment to the company website, which states that some smoking restrictions are justified but that all-out bans "go too far." "Smoking should be permitted outdoors except in very particular circumstances, such as outdoor areas primarily designed for children," it states. Seitter, who now works as development coordinator for the Columbus Board of Realtors, says budding college smokers often took up the habit after-hours, at venues such as bars that campus tobacco bans don't reach. "You find a lot of people start drinking at that age, and many people who don't consider themselves smokers, they smoke when they drink," she says. "I would think that atmosphere has more of an effect than somebody smoking on the corner."

Pitkin County approves marijuana rules

Licensing procedures for medical marijuana businesses in unincorporated Pitkin County won final approval Wednesday on a 2-1 vote by county commissioners. The measures have been the source of two split votes; they passed on first reading earlier this month by a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Michael Owsley and George Newman dissenting. They argued that the issuance of a license should be done through a public hearing before commissioners, not administratively by the county manager, as the adopted regulations dictate.

 On Wednesday, with Newman and Commissioner Rob Ittner absent, the licensing regulations passed with the support of Commissioners Jack Hatfield and Rachel Richards. Owsley, voting in opposition, again voiced his preference for a public review of license applications and said he couldn't get past the contradiction between state law, which allows the production, sale and use of medical marijuana, and federal law, which prohibits it. “The degree where you have to adjust your logic to support this — I'm just not capable,” he said.

 “If the federal government wanted to come in here and shut us down, it would have done so already,” said local attorney Lauren Maytin, indicating that she represents most of the medical marijuana businesses in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley. Maytin was the only member of the public who spoke during Wednesday's public hearing on the county regulations. Previously, commissioners agreed to limit medical marijuana businesses in accordance with the wishes of neighborhood caucuses.

That means no marijuana enterprises of any kind will be allowed in the portion of the Fryingpan Valley in unincorporated Pitkin County, no growing operations will be permitted in the Snowmass/Capitol Creek area, and no dispensaries will appear on Redstone Boulevard. Dispensaries will be allowed only in the B-2 zone district, which is the Aspen Business Center, but an existing business in Holland Hills will be allowed to continue. The limitations aren't expected to affect the handful of medical marijuana operations that currently exist in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Must Have e-cigarette vendor to open 40 outlets in 12 months

A firm which sells its own brand of electronic cigarettes today unveiled a nationwide expansion of its retail concessions. Must Have currently operates 24 standalone concessions in shopping malls nationwide, including ones in Bury, Middleton and Stretford in Greater Manchester and, further afield, in locations such as Newcastle upon Tyne and Chelmsford. The Radcliffe-based firm has opened 12 of them in the past six months and today announced it would launch a further 40 over the next year, in a joint venture with an unnamed retail partner.

Must Have, founded by David Levin and Miguel Corral in 2004 as an online electrical goods retailer, developed its own brand of e-cigarettes called VIP in 2008 following a decline in demand at its core business. The VIP brand is sold online and through concessions, and the duo said it has seen huge growth in demand. Electronic cigarettes contain pharmaceutical nicotine, which is also used in nicotine patches, to help wean smokers off cigarettes, and they can be ‘smoked’ indoors. They produce a vapour, providing the physical sensation of tobacco smoking when inhaled. Must Have employs 10 staff at its headquarters and 72 people operate the concessions. It expects revenues from VIP to reach £4.3m for the year to the end of this month and £10m in the next financial year.

Mr Levin said: “When we launched into the market, the concept was still new, but it has gained momentum over the last 18 months, as people have become more aware of the products, which look more sophisticated than when they first entered the market. “We have spent three years developing the VIP brand with our customers in mind. We offer a range of e-cigarettes, including one with zero nicotine and flavoured ones. “Most of our clients choose e-cigarettes because they are cheaper to buy and do not contain some of the harmful substances found in real cigarettes.

“The demand for this product is growing at a very fast pace, and we want to expand our business throughout the UK to meet this demand.” The VIP range is also sold to around 300 pharmacies and newsagents in the UK, and there are plans to launch a franchise model to expand the business further. “We've had a number of people who have asked us about franchising opportunities and it is something we are looking into,” said Mr Levin.

Vietnam bans under-18s from smoking

The new law will take effect from May 1, 2013. Violations of the smoking ban in public places will be strictly handled by the Ministry of Public Security. The law also regulates the establishment of an anti-tobacco harm fund under the Ministry of Health and financially managed by the Ministry of Finance. Tobacco producers and importers will have to make compulsory contributions equivalent to 1% of special sales tax from May 1, 2013, 1.5% from May 1, 2016 and 2% from May 1, 2019. The NA yesterday also passed four other laws – the Deposit Insurance Law, the Anti-Money Laundering Law, the Higher Education Law and the amended Labor Code.

 A new feature of the Labor Code is that female employees can take maternity leave for six months, instead of the current four. In case a female worker has twin or multiple pregnancy, she can have one more month off for each additional child. Prenatal leave is not allowed to exceed two months. Overtime hours are guaranteed not to exceed 50% of the official hours a day.

With the weekly working mode applied, the total number of normal working hours and overtime hours must be less than 12 hours a day, excluding some special cases stipulated by the Government. The amended Labor Code will come into force on May 1, 2013. The Deposit Insurance Law approved by 92.99% of the NA deputies present yesterday regulates that only deposits by individuals and deposits in Vietnam Dong are covered by insurance.

Oettinger Davidoff Group performs well in a challenging environment

The Basel-based Oettinger Davidoff Group (ODG), the world's leading producer of premium cigars, performed well in a challenging international environment. In 2011, it was able to increase sales by 0.2%; after making allowances for currency fluctuations, a slight decline of 2.3% to CHF 1.29 billion resulted. Annual production rose to 34.4 million cigars, equivalent to an increase of 6.8%.

With a revised strategy focussing on the core cigar business and the important sole agencies as well as controlling the whole value chain, CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard is aiming to make the company and the Davidoff brand even more firmly established in the global luxury segment of premium cigars and gain additional market shares. The refurbishment of the international shop network, launched both in the duty free locations and in the headquarters in Basel, and the conclusion of a strategic partnership with the international art fair ART Basel are among the main cornerstones in the implementation of the strategic reorientation.

At the end of 2011, the Oettinger Davidoff Group employed a global workforce of 3,697 people, a small decline of 2.8% over the previous year as a consequence of the increased productivity in the production facilities in the Dominican Republic. "In the Davidoff brand's centenary year, we are highly satisfied with the results that we have achieved in a regionally even more strictly regulated market and despite the disadvantages of the strong Swiss franc," was how CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard described the course of the 2011 financial year.

With 65 Davidoff Flagship Stores around the world, 150 cigar lounges and 540 Davidoff Appointed Merchants, the ODG enjoys a strong market presence in Europe, the USA and Asia as well as in the duty free outlets around the world. With last year's production of 34.4 million cigars, the group also holds a respectable market share in the worldwide hand-rolled premium cigar market, estimated to be less than 500 million cigars.

Marlboro, Camel, Pall Mall, Winston cigarettes for cheap price at: cigarettescheap.livejournal.com

Tobacco Products Market in Asia

This package contains 27 tobacco product market analyses from the following Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen.

 These market research reports offer an in-depth perspective on the actual market situation, trends and future outlook for tobacco products market in Asian countries around the world. The analyses provide essential market information for decision-makers including:

 * Overall market value for tobacco products in Asia by country
* Overall market volume for tobacco products in Asia by country
* Market value and volume for tobacco products by type (Cigars, cigarillos and cheroots, Cigarettes, Smoking tobacco and Other tobacco products)
* Product prices
* Forecasts and future outlook of the market
* Country overview, macroeconomic indicators and indicators of doing business These market analyses answer to questions such as:
* What is the market size of the tobacco product markets in different Asian countries around the world?
* How are the markets divided into different types of products? Which products are growing fast? * How the markets have been developing? How does the future look like?
* What is the potential for the markets?
* How the indicators of doing business look like? For example, how easily the contracts are being enforced, or what is the inflation rate and how is it developing?

Gilbert warehouse fire caused by discarded cigarette

The massive six-alarm fire that destroyed the warehouse of a Gilbert plumbing supply company on Monday caused an estimated $8 million in damage, and was caused by a discarded cigarette, a Gilbert Fire Department spokesman said Tuesday. The blaze destroyed the outdoor warehouse of Farnsworth Wholesale, on Baseline Road between Arizona Avenue and S. McQueen Road. The large plumbing supply company has other facilities in Mesa and the west Valley. Captain Mark Justus said someone apparently threw a cigarette into an area where there were cardboard boxes containing fiberglass bathtubs.

"We see people discard cigarettes all the time,'' he said, adding the owners of Farnsworth Wholesale want the public to know that "they are down several million in merchandise because of carelessness.'' No charges are planned because there is no evidence the fire was intentional, Justus said, adding that the fire occurred in a public area and it is unclear if it was started by an employee or a visitor. Justus said Investigators could not narrow the fire down to a specific cigarette and are calling it improper disposal of smoking materials for that reason. Investigators made the ruling based upon surveillance video from Farnsworth Wholesale and nearby businesses, interviews with witnesses who were near the point of origin and aerial footage shot from news helicopters.

"Normally, you don't have this trail of information to follow. This is as good as it gets,'' Justus said, adding that burn patterns also helped narrow down the point of origin. "They could tell where the most concentrated area was from the videos." The massive fire was fought by 193 firefighters, during its zenith, from the Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Tempe fire departments. There were no major injuries and firefighters were able to contain the blaze, preventing it from spreading to Farnsworth Wholesale's offices and to a nearby neighborhood. Mesa Fire Captain Forrest Smith said today that one patient was treated on scene for a laceration, a second suffered from smoke inhalation and two firefighters were treated for heat-related illnesses.

While the fire's cause remains under investigation, fire officials estimate the damage at about $8 million, he said. With 193 firefighters from Gilbert, Tempe, Chandler and Mesa battling the blaze at its height, Justus said: "It's testimony to the ability of these firefighters to work together." "We all work from the same playbook,'' he said. "We all play well together.'' Early this morning, firefighters started using heavy equipment to remove debris from the fire scene so that they could extinguish embers burning underneath, Justus said. He said a team of investigators from the Gilbert and Mesa police departments, and possibly other agencies, then started to investigate the origin. Justus estimated that it may take several days to determine a cause.

Smith said the Union Pacific Railway shut down a line as a safety precaution as thick black smoke enveloped the area just south of Baseline Road and west of McQueen Road. Railroad ties also were damaged and crews were dispatched to begin repairs about three hours after the fire started at 3 p.m. Gilbert police Lt. John Lyle said residents on one street east of the fire site were voluntarily evacuated as a precaution. Justus said the evacuation lasted for about two hours so that air quality readings could be obtained to assure the safety of residents.

Embers from the fire, whipped by high winds, also ignited palm trees on fire in the neighborhood. By 7 p.m., the state Department of Environmental Quality determined it was safe for residents to return, but advised them to minimize their exposure to air outside. Despite the heavy burden caused by the fire, Smith said Mesa fire still responded to 94 ther calls for service, including three where patients had stopped breathing.

ITC testing low-cost, smaller cigarettes

In a bid to wrest market share from cheaper grey market rivals, ITC Ltd has re-entered the 64-mm small-filter cigarette segment. It is currently testing two products in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, launching them under the Gold Flake and Capstan brands, pricing them at Rs2.5 per stick and Rs2 per stick, respectively. The 69-mm size versions are sold at Rs4.5 and Rs3. The move comes after the government introduced a new slab of lower excise duty of Rs0.66 per stick on cigarettes below 65 mm in length in this year’s Budget.

 The company is looking to pitch the segment against “illegal” cigarettes that are available at Re1 a stick, and support its volume growth at a time when sharp price hikes may slow down the growth in the larger size (king-size or 69 mm, 74 mm and 84 mm) cigarettes. About 80% of the industry volume, however, is in the 69 mm segment. This is not the first attempt by ITC to enter the small-size cigarette segment. It used to sell non-filter cigarettes at Rs2-2.50 but exited post the excise duty increase in fiscal 2011.

 Analysts suggest ITC’s attempt may fail because the grey market dominates the small cigarette segment which accounts for about 8% of all cigarette-buyers in the country. Some suspect ITC’s re-entry may also lead to consumers downtrading from 69 mm to 64 mm as the difference is not significant. That would cannibalise margins. Since the excise duty hike of 20% in this year’s budget, ITC has hiked prices by a weighted average of around 12%.

 Esprito Santo Securities analyst Nitin Mathur wrote in a client note on Tuesday that this level of price increase could result in around 5% on-year volume decline in fiscal 2013 against street expectations of flat-to-2% volume decline. Mathur said rival VST Industries too is already test-marketing cigarettes in the shorter-than-65mm segment in Chhattisgarh and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Tobacco products to carry larger anti-smoking ads

Smokers who get their fix from Canadian tobacco retailers can no longer avoid Ottawa's latest in-your-face effort to convince them to quit. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq says as of today, packages of cigarettes and little cigars sold in Canada must carry large, dramatic, new anti-smoking images and messages. The new labelling, which covers 75 per cent of cigarette packages, includes graphic pictures of a cancer-infected mouth and of an emaciated, cancer-stricken Barb Tarbox.

Tarbox was an anti-smoking activist before dying of lung cancer at the age of 42, and her story -- among others -- is featured in the new packaging. Statistics Canada says that in 2011, 1 in 5 Canadians aged 12 and older -- nearly 5.8 million people -- smoked on an occasional or a daily basis, down from 25.9 per cent in 2001.

 A Canada-wide "quitline" and website address also figure prominently on the new packs, which Aglukkaq says are part of an ongoing federal effort to inform Canadians, particularly young people, about the perils of tobacco use.

Margin on tobacco tax measure continues to narrow

The margin of loss for the tobacco tax on Tuesday’s primary ballot continued to narrow Friday as elections officials across California tallied hundreds of thousands of uncounted ballots. Proposition 29 was losing by just over 45,000 votes Friday afternoon, compared with 53,000 votes Thursday and 63,000 on election night. On Friday morning, the margin was down to 40,000, but it bounced upward by 5,000 later in the day. “Ballots continue to trend in our direction.

We still have an awfully long way to go, but we hope that [the trend] continues to hold," said Chris Lehman, campaign manager for Yes on 29. More than 4 million ballots have already been counted across the state. The secretary of state’s office released a partial estimate of the number of uncounted ballots Friday morning -- 972,000 -- but that did not include outstanding ballots in 12 of California’s 58 counties. The uncounted ballots consist of many cast by mail, as well as provisional and damaged ones.

Marshall to study smoking ban or limit on campus

Marshall University plans to study limiting or banning smoking on its campus following the adoption of a tobacco ban at West Virginia University. Tobacco use on WVU's main campus in Morgantown will be banned effective July 1, 2013. Marshall Chief of Staff Matt Turner tells The Herald-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/nzOvU5 ) that WVU's ban probably will bring the issue more to the forefront at other institutions, including Marshall.

Turner says Marshall President Stephen Kopp has asked the student government to look at a tobacco or smoking ban. Student body president Ray Harrell says student government will look at what peer institutions are doing, along with other schools in West Virginia.

California tobacco tax initiative backers still hope for narrow win

Campaigns for and against a proposed dollar-per-pack pall mall cigarette tax hike in California held their breath on Friday, each hoping to eke out a slim victory by the time voters' final ballots are tallied in a race still too close to call. Voters were widely reported to have narrowly rejected the ballot question, known as Proposition 29, on Tuesday, a result observers largely attributed to a $47 million advertising blitz mounted against the measure by big tobacco companies. But as of Friday, backers of the initiative were refusing to concede defeat, pointing to the opposition's shrinking lead as election officials reported nearly 1 million ballots still left to count.

 Both sides in the Prop 29 campaign say it will probably be another week or two before the outcome of the race is settled. California counties have until July 3 to complete their vote tallies and three more days to report their results to the secretary of state. Californians awoke the morning after the election to news that Prop 29 had lost by a mere 63,000 votes, a tiny fraction of the more than 4.4 million ballots cast in the state. But opponents' lead had declined to just under 53,000 votes on Thursday and to 40,000 on Friday as the count of mail-in and provisional ballots continued, according to figures posted by the California Secretary of State's office.

 Prop 29 political consultant Steve Smith said he calculated the margin had tightened even further on Friday to about 30,000, based on results from late-reporting counties that had yet to be formally included in the statewide total. On Friday afternoon, the Secretary of State's Office reported it still had nearly 973,000 ballots left to tally, not including an unknown number outstanding from 12 of California's 58 counties that had yet to submit their final results.

"We're talking about 25 percent of all the votes cast in the election," Smith said, adding, "We obviously like the trend." Prop 29 opponents were keeping their fingers crossed, as well. "We were very encouraged coming out of election night," said Beth Miller, a spokeswoman for the No on Prop 29 campaign. "There are still quite a few ballots to be counted. We don't anticipate any huge shifts and swings in the vote outcome, but obviously we are watching and waiting with keen interest."

More Teens Smoking Pot Than Cigarettes

Seems like teens have gotten the memo that cigarettes are bad for you; however, the same isn’t true for marijuana, according to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.Released late last week, the government study revealed that in a nationwide study of 15,000 high school students, pot is now more popular among teens than cigarettes, CBS reports. Eighteen percent of surveyed students in 2011 reported smoking a cigarette in the past month, while 23% reported smoking marijuana in the last 30 days.

 Perhaps thanks to the anti-smoking campaigns in ads and in schools, or to the personal experiences teens may have with family members or relatives with lung cancer, cigarette use has been on the decline over the past few years. But apparently, the association of marijuana with cancer and other health risks is not as prevalent among teens. “I just hear a lot of dangers of cancer and cigarettes and I think that’s why a lot of teens look to marijuana,” Tianda, a Philadelphia high school junior who wasn’t identified by her full name, told CBS Philly.

 While plenty of research has been done on the health effects of the marijuana use, results are mixed. A study published in the journal Addiction last year found that marijuana had little long-term effect on learning and memory, and that any cognitive damage was reversible. However, while there may not be lasting cognitive effects, there could be other health effects. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana smoke contains 50-70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke, and that pot smokers usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath, which can lead to an even larger increase in exposure to the smoke.

Oak Parker Breathes Life Into Anti-Smoking Film

Screenwriter Felice Bassuk was kind enough to offer us a sneak peek of an unfinished version of The Call, the anti-smoking film she co-wrote with the help of a collaborator. At a little more than nine minutes, it's a powerhouse package with a strong message. Namely, that smoking is devastating to your health and will lead to heartbreak. "The message is there," she said. "You can't miss it." The film revolves around two kids, actors Ryan Newman and Jonathan Morgan Heit, in a desperate attempt to reach their dying grandfather, played by Menahem Zilberman.

 The kids are hanging out on the beautiful beaches of Santa Monica, Calif. as their grandfather hacks and wheezes "in a crappy nursing home 100 miles from the ocean," the kids say. We won't say what happens next, but suffice it to say the movie is part public service announcement, part indie short and all full of emotion. Bassuk said final editing is expected to be finished in the next week or so. After that, the producers will shop it around to various film festivals across the country. Even unfinished, the film, directed by Stephen Messer, has captured plenty of social buzz.

Its Facebook page has more than 12,000 fans and their Twitter account clocks in with more than 1,300 followers. And it has picked up a key endorsement from the American Cancer Society. Bassuk said the grassroots support speaks to the unfortunate but common experience of knowing someone battling smoking-related health problems. According to the Center for Disease Control, "tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death, disease, and disability in the US."

About 443,000 people die from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke, the CDC reports, and another 8.6 million suffer from a serious illness from smoking. "It's just amazing how smoking is prevalent in this country," Bassuk said. Locally, Bassuk has been talking with school districts in Oak Park and River Forest to possibly screen the film during health and physical education classes, complete with a viewing guide. A premiere at the Lake Theatre is also in the works.

Meghan McCain Says Yes to Legalizing Marijuana

A few minutes later a very tall, handsome black man approaches and greets us with hugs, giving Michael the “guy hand shake,” and I can’t help but giggle because Michael clearly isn’t used to giving other guys bro hugs. “Hi, Michael, Meghan?” he asks and we nod. “Good to meet you. I’m Glen.” As we make our way into Glen’s neighborhood, he suggests a quick stop at his girlfriend’s house. She is apparently a professional boxer training for the Olympics.

We walk up to a modest-sized white porch leading to the door and he casually asks if we smoke weed. This is a loaded question for me, because there is no right answer to this in the political world. I am a truthful person and I hate liars, so saying no would be a lie. Saying yes in America basically makes me a scofflaw. Let me put it right out there. Yes, I have smoked marijuana a few times in the past. The first time was on a trip to Amsterdam in college and I was surprised by how mild of an experience marijuana was (and in my experience still is). It is a plant that makes me mellow and giggly and, quite frankly, tired. Yet, depending on where you are in the United States, smoking is possession, and that is either a misdemeanor or a felony.

Split that hair however you want, it’s still a crime. That being said, I believe that marijuana should be legalized. This is not a decision I have come to quickly or lightly. Over the course of the last four years, in discussions with friends pro and con, I believe the legal ramifications of possessing marijuana are egregious. For one reason, I think it is a substance that does no more damage than alcohol does, and second, if we legalized marijuana in this country and taxed the hell out of it, our economic problems would at least be temporarily helped a great deal.

In fact, you could even use the revenue stream to pay for universal health care if you wanted. Mostly though, I do not completely understand the allure and taboo associated with marijuana. The few times I have partaken in smoking pot it has been a mild experience. Yes, it is a substance that will alter your mind frame and judgment, but as someone who is high strung and has a natural tendency to get nauseated, I can see its appeal.