E-Cigarettes Win Court Ruling

Electronic cigarettes moved a step closer to being regulated just like mainstream tobacco products on Tuesday when a federal appellate court unanimously upheld an injunction against the Food and Drug Administration’s attempt to ban them or regulate them more strictly as drugs.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered tubes that look like cigarettes. They deliver nicotine by vaporizing a nicotine-derived liquid without combustion. Their distributors say this makes them more healthy than cigarettes. They can even deliver steam to exhale like a clean, smoke-free smoke.

The F.D.A., concerned with marketing claims of products that deliver a highly addictive substance, has tried to ban e-cigarettes as unapproved drug delivery devices.

But the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld a lower court injunction against the F.D.A. ban. The appellate court said the F.D.A. should regulate them under the 2009 legislation that set up a Center for Tobacco Products. E-cigarettes are marketed for the pleasure of a product, not for the therapeutic benefit of a drug or medical device, the court said.

Jeffrey Ventura, an F.D.A. spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday, “We are studying the opinion and considering next steps.”

The e-cigarettes in the case were manufactured by Sottera of Scottsdale, Ariz., doing business as NJOY. It sells the products and refill cartridges on a Web site requiring certification that the buyer is 18 years old. A starter kit costs $79.99.

Quit-smoking products like nicotine patches and gum and the Pfizer pill Chantix are regulated by the federal drug law, which requires them to be proven safe and effective. The tobacco law allows the F.D.A. to regulate ingredients and marketing claims in “any product made or derived from tobacco,” but shifts more of the burden of proof to federal regulators.

The F.D.A. tried to regulate all tobacco products as drugs in 1996. The Supreme Court ruled against that by a 5-4 vote in 2000, leading to work in Congress to develop the tobacco control act that passed last year.

The appellate court ruling was hailed by advocates of e-cigarettes, who say they are much safer than cigarettes.

“This is a huge victory for public health and civil justice,” Bill Godshall, founder of Smokefree Pennsylvania, a nonprofit group supporting e-cigarettes, wrote in an e-mail message. “It’s time for F.D.A. officials to come to their senses by reclassifying (and promulgating reasonable regulations for) e-cigarettes as tobacco products.”

The American Heart Association was among the antitobacco groups to support a drug ban or tighter regulation.

“We’re gravely concerned about the implications of today’s ruling,” the association’s chief executive, Nancy Brown, said in a statement. “The appeals court has cleared the way for the industry to peddle these products to consumers without any scrutiny as to their safety or efficacy. There is no scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are effective smoking cessation devices and, until they undergo rigorous evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration, they should be pulled from the marketplace. With this ruling, e-cigarette manufacturers will continue to make misleading claims that their products can help smokers quit.”

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington advocacy group, said the ruling would leave an unregulated period before the F.D.A. could assert jurisdiction.

“This decision will allow any manufacturer to put any level of nicotine in any product and sell it to anybody, including children, with no government regulation or oversight at the present time,” the campaign’s president, Matthew L. Myers, said in a statement. “We urge the government to appeal this ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. “

J&J to roll out Nicorette from this week

Smokers looking to give up the habit have one more alternative to choose from, with Johnson & Johnson Ltd set to bring in Nicorette, its sugar-free nicotine gum that helps reduce nicotine cravings.

Nicorette will be available at all chemist outlets beginning January 2011, a note from J&J said.

Many people choose to quit regular cigarettes like Davidoff cigarettes or Lucky Strike cigarettes and start using Nicorette.

Tobacco cessation products are already present in the country, with Pfizer having launched its Chantix (sold in India as Champix ) in 2008. GlaxoSmithKline's product Zyban was launched locally in 2001, but shelved two years later.

J&J, however, said that from later this week, Nicorette would be rolled-out in packs of 4mg (10 gums) – prescribed by doctors for “heavy smokers”, and as an over-the-counter product of 2 mg (4 & 10 gums) for “light smokers”, a note from the company said.

The cessation products are priced at Rs 22 for a 2 mg, 4 pieces box of Nicorette and Rs 50 for a 2 mg, 10 pieces box of Nicorette, besides Rs 65 for a 4 mg, 10 pieces box.

A Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) product, Nicorette provides therapeutic and clean nicotine, slowly and in lesser quantities as compared to a cigarette, but also just enough to satisfy the cravings, the company said.

NRT substitutes the nicotine obtained from smoking, thus controlling craving and withdrawal symptoms, and preventing relapse to smoking.

Also, unlike tobacco smoke, it delivers nicotine that is devoid of harmful chemicals such as tar, irritants and carbon monoxide, and, hence, is safer than smoking a cigarette, it added.

Concerns

NRTs are recognised as part of cessation programmes, and its short-term use is a bridge to actual cessation, said Dr Srinath Reddy of Public Health Foundation of India.

But long term use could have adverse effects in terms of impact on the heart and fresh addiction, he said, adding that it needs to be monitored.

In fact, cessation products have in the past too had to deal with associated concerns. Late last year, Pfizer had to update the label on its smoking-cessation product Champix, to alert health professionals of behavioural changes, including depressed moods and suicidal thoughts, reportedly associated with such products.

This was after the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration raised the concern and mandated “boxed warnings” on Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion hydrochloride), two prescription medicines used as part of smoking cessation programmes.

NC union says menthol ban means worker hardship

A union representing workers at the company that makes the top-selling brand of menthol cigarettes says a ban on the additive would cause economic hardship.

Many tobacco brands are on top because they have good quality even if some of them do not have menthol addition. For example Camel cigarettes or Vogue cigarettes are very demanded among smokers.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union also says it's being shut out of a Wednesday meeting in Raleigh.

The federal Center for Tobacco Products is meeting with representatives of the tobacco industry. The Food and Drug Administration is studying the use of menthol in cigarettes, and may recommend tighter regulations or an outright ban.

The union represents about 1,000 workers at Greensboro-based Lorillard Inc., makers of Newport cigarettes.

Dozens of union workers plan to rally in front of the Raleigh hotel where the meeting is being held.

Pro-smoking group petitions against EU regulations

Proposed changes to the European Commission’s Tobacco Products Directive include a ban on the display of tobacco products in retail stores, the introduction of plain packaging, the enlargement of picture warnings on packs and the prohibition of all types of smokeless tobacco products.

There are different regular cigarette brands like Davidoff cigarettes or West cigarettes.
The European Commission’s public consultation closes on Friday 17 December.
“We support measures that educate children and adults about the health risks of smoking, but we oppose unnecessarily restrictive regulations that are designed to denormalise a legal product and will threaten jobs and small businesses and inconvenience millions of law-abiding citizens throughout Europe,” said Forest director Simon Clark.
“We urge everyone who opposes these proposals to sign the petition which will be submitted to the EC as part of the consultation. It is essential that consumers make their voices heard in Brussels as well as in Westminster.”
The petition will be delivered by Forest to the European Commission in Brussels on 17 December.

Menthol Ban Could Boost Kid Smoking

A ban on menthol in cigarettes might be an obvious way to curb kiddie smoking, but a new survey of anti-smoking regulations in Canada finds that getting tough only results in a black market of smokes that are cheaper and easier for kids to get.

As the Food and Drug Administration considers a ban on menthol, cigarette makers like Lorillard, which produces Newport, have been pushing back. At a meeting today of the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, which has until March to advise the FDA on a regulatory path, the report they presented was a reminder that those who want to smoke will find a way to do it.

The survey from the research firm Compass Lexecon found that a ban would create a sizeable black market for menthol cigarettes, boost organized crime, increase youth access and have little impact on smoking rates. The key summary paragraph: "Restrictions placed on legal menthol sales would primarily divert current sales of menthol cigarettes to non-menthol cigarette alternatives and to black market menthol cigarettes. Further, our best estimate is that the black market that will emerge will be substantial. In terms of unit sales, our estimate is that black market menthol sales will be over 70 percent of current volumes, and that aggregate revenues will approximately be close to current sales levels. Finally, our analysis suggests that there could be many unintended consequences, ranging from the more obvious outcomes, such as significant growth in organized crime activity, to other types of effects, such as greater youth access to cigarettes (especially in urban areas) and large increases in the sales of low-cost counterfeit cigarettes."

Groups like the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids believe a ban will curb youth smoking, but Bill Wilson, the president of Americans for Limited Government, says a ban will only lead to a black market that makes cigarettes cheaper and easier to get. "This is a classic case of government interference leading to devastating outcomes. Since the charge to ban menthol cigarettes is led by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, it may be time for them to change their name to the Campaign for Tobacco Access for Kids," he says.

What's happened in Canada, after it significantly raised taxes, is that a huge black market opened with cartons of cigarettes being stuffed in plastic bags for sale about a quarter of the retail price. Kids are able to buy them without having to prove their age. The industry survey and Powerpoint, provided to Whispers, found that the Canadian provinces that suffered the greatest increase in contraband sales are also those that saw teen smoking rates jump.

Santa Cruz City Council to consider tobacco retail license fee: Funds would be used to fight underage cigarette sales

SANTA CRUZ -- Following in Watsonville's footsteps, the Santa Cruz City Council on Tuesday will weigh the creation of an tobacco retail license fee to fund programs designed to reduce access to cigarettes by minors.

The council will vote on directing staff to study how many businesses would be affected and how the fee would be administered. The council would consider an actual proposal later.

In August, Watsonville City Council passed a similar measure, the first of its kind in the county, to charge retailers $255 annually for a license to sell tobacco. The program is expected to raise more than $15,000 from 61 retailers, money that would support education programs and decoy stings designed to ensure retailers are checking IDs.

Santa Cruz Mayor Mike Rotkin is recommending the license fee now because "there will be community support for it" and because it will take time to document the rates of tobacco sales to minors. Staff also must still determine whether the fee is subject to Proposition 26, the recently passed state measure requiring voter approval for some taxes and fees.

Interim Police Chief Kevin Vogel said the department does not currently conduct tobacco decoy stings, adding, "It's my anecdotal sense is that it's occurring out there, but hasn't come on our radar as a problem." But he noted that Watsonville police weren't sure how widespread a problem they had until they studied it.

Thirteen-year tobacco retailer Ron Venturi, who owns Ron and Bridgette's Place with his wife, has long anticipated the city would pass a fee like nearly 80 other jurisdictions in California. He said he understands the desire to curb illegal sales to teens.
"We don't sell to minors," he said. "We have children. They don't smoke. We wouldn't want someone selling to our children."

But he also said another fee will make doing business difficult. "Basically, we're being fined for not doing anything wrong," he said, adding that he will have no choice but to pass the cost along to his customers.

The city created an Alcohol Sales Permit Fee 12 years ago to fund a police education and compliance program about alcohol sales.

Rotkin said he is sympathetic to small businesses, but said retailers that sell a product proven to pose serious health risks should have to fund programs that address negative impacts.

"I don't have a problem if you drive the tobacco industry out of business," Rotkin said. "They are selling death and I don't see that we need to support them."

The council will weigh the fee study during its 3 p.m. session.

Cigarette butts targeted

Smokers have a convenient new way to dispose of their cigarette butts at public events in Salem and Beverly under a new initiative. An ad hoc committee comprised of officials and environmental advocates from the two cities recently acquired 20 cigarette butt receptacles that it is making available for borrowing at no charge for public events in Salem and Beverly.

The committee, Citizens for Salem/Beverly Water Resources, purchased the receptacles as part of a $1,500 grant it received earlier this year from the Vermont-based New England Grassroots Fund to acquire equipment that can protect water resources and reduce waste. Committee members note that cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate that is non biodegradable and are the most littered item in the world.

The new receptacles have already collected more than 500 cigarette butts at several events over the last few weeks, including the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival held at Salem Willows Park, according to Jason Silva, chief of staff to Salem Mayor Kimberley L. Driscoll. The committee estimates the receptacles have the potential to collect more than 20,000 cigarette butts each year.

Citi Downgrades Altria, Lorillard, RHS Could Get Burned

Citigroup made calls on U.S. tobacco companies today.

Citi downgraded Altria (MO) from buy to hold, maintaining a $17 price target.

It downgraded Lorillard (LO) from buy to hold, maintaining a $95 price target.

Citi cited increased menthol regulation risk in the downgrades.

Citigroup has buy rating on Reynolds American (RAI), with a price target of $79, and noted the company is less exposed to methanol.

Altria, Lorillard and Reynolds American traded lower today.

Together, the three companies make up 7.62% of the Rydex S&P Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RHS), which was flat on Friday.

Protecting Kids from Tobacco

Every day nearly 4,000 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids under 18 become daily smokers. Many of these kids will become addicted before they are old enough to understand the risks and will ultimately die too young of tobacco-related diseases. FDA is working to protect the health of America’s children and ultimately reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco use.

Regulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco to Protect Children and Adolescents
FDA is issuing a final rule that contains a broad set of federal requirements designed to significantly curb access to and the appeal of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to children and adolescents in the United States.
The new rule became effective on June 22, 2010, and has the force and effect of law. Among other things, the rule:
Prohibits the sale of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco to people younger than 18,
Prohibits the sale of cigarette packages with less than 20 cigarettes,
Prohibits distribution of free samples of cigarettes,
Restricts distribution of free samples of smokeless tobacco, and
Prohibits tobacco brand name sponsorship of any athletic, musical or other social or cultural events.

Halloween holdup nets cash, cigarettes

HALIFAX - Police in the Halifax area say they're looking for a suspect in a Halloween armed robbery of a convenience store.

Police were called to the store on Pleasant Street in Dartmouth on Sunday night, where someone in a Halloween-style scream mask held a knife at the clerk.

The suspect fled on foot with some cash and cigarettes.

Police say there were no injuries.

The suspect is described as a white male wearing a blue hoodie, yellow work boots and baggy jeans.

Police also say he was wearing one glove.

Lawmaker: Series should skip smokeless tobacco

WASHINGTON A congressman is calling on the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers to tell their players not to use smokeless tobacco on the field or in the dugout during the World Series.

New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone, chairman of the House Health Subcommittee, says he's concerned about free advertising baseball players give the tobacco industry and "the influence this exposure has on young people."

On Monday, Pallone sent letters to Rangers President Nolan Ryan and Giants President Larry Baer, telling them a "ban of smokeless tobacco while players are in uniform would be a great service to this country."

At a House hearing in April, Pallone urged baseball and its players to agree to bar major leaguers from using chew, dip or similar products during games.

Cigarette Makers and Retailers Sue to Block Rule Requiring Antismoking Posters

The nation’s three big tobacco companies, and trade associations representing hundreds of New York City bodegas and convenience stores, are challenging the city’s latest salvo in the antismoking wars: graphic images of diseased brains, lungs and teeth that are posted where cigarettes are sold.

The tobacco companies — Philip Morris, Lorillard and R. J. Reynolds which is the manufacturer of Camel cigarettes— joined with the New York State Association of Convenience Stores and retailers in filing a federal lawsuit against the city in an effort to remove the gruesome placards from about 11,500 establishments. Since late last year, the city has required the retailers to post them within three inches of cash registers or in each place where tobacco products are displayed.

The suit, filed on Wednesday in United States District Court in Manhattan, contends that the placard rule infringes on the federal government’s authority to regulate cigarette advertising and warnings and violates the First Amendment rights of store owners who disagree with their message, and that the placards are so disgusting that they hurt business by discouraging people from buying not only cigarettes but also more-wholesome merchandise like milk and sandwiches.

“This is not the city taking out a billboard, which it would have every right to do,” Floyd Abrams, a First Amendment lawyer who is representing the convenience stores, said Friday. “What it doesn’t have the right to do is to force other people to adopt its expression.”

The suit also complains that because of heavy restrictions on cigarette advertising, advertising space near the cash register is one of the last places where companies can promote their brands.

By putting ugly posters there instead, the suit says, the city is blocking tobacco companies from communicating with consumers, depriving retailers of coveted advertising revenue and pushing restrictions on tobacco-related speech “past the constitutional tipping point.”

In a statement, the city’s health department said that putting warnings where cigarettes were sold was one of the most effective ways to deter people from smoking and to discourage a new generation of smokers. “By trying to suppress this educational campaign,” the statement said, “the tobacco industry is signaling its desire to keep kids in the dark.”

The city has spent $80,000 to print and distribute the signs in the eight months since the law was adopted. They are based on research that shows pictures are much more effective at conveying the hazards of smoking than written text, according to the health department.

The suit received a mixed reception on Friday at the Corner News convenience store at 40th Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.

Maria Roman, 35, a customer-service representative, barely glanced at the poster of a bloody tooth, stuck to the cash register, as she paid for a package of candy. To her, she said, the poster seemed perfectly factual. “It’s the truth,” she said, shrugging. “It’s just a visualization of what’s actually happening.”

John Pae, 58, a chef, said he generally resented government intrusions into his life but was even angrier about high cigarette taxes and a proposed soda tax, because they affected his wallet.

He said that he had called the city’s 311 hotline to help him quit smoking about two and a half months ago, but that the nicotine patches the city provided were so cheap that they had to be held on with duct tape. He has since bought patches at a drugstore.

“Everything pushed me to quit — taxes, getting older, the effect on my health,” Mr. Pae said. But he conceded that the city’s 311 smoking-cessation program, which he saw advertised on television, “made it easier.”

A clerk at the store, Saiful Islam, said a photograph on the cash register, of a diseased tooth, was so upsetting that some customers had switched from buying cigarettes to buying candy or gum. Many of them were spending as much on soda, candy and lottery tickets as they had on cigarettes, he said, so the store had not lost business.

He said the taxes that had pushed the price of a pack of cigarettes to $10 were worse for business than the posters, because they led people to buy cigarettes on the black market — which he said thrived on the sidewalk right outside the store.

Cigarettes and how they influence us

Imagine walking home one day to smell a thick scent of smoke. This isn’t the same smell left out, but of something burning. Suddenly, you think of all the possibilities. Maybe the stove was left on. ou ask him why he would make such a bad decision? He says he is under a lot of pressure and he friend told him that smoking would make him feel better. Let’s stop and think for a second, you can’t blame your child. There is a temptation and no one to stop him, wouldn’t it be better if did away with the temptation or illegalize it.

America alone has 46.2 million adults smoking cigarettes. Smoking nearly harms every organ in your body. It is the leading cause of cancer. It causes cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx (voice box), mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia. Every year 440,000 people die due to health conditions caused by smoking. Once you try one cigarette, it is hard to resist. Not only is it harmful, but it is also addictive. Because it posses nicotine that addicts, smoking and poverty go hand and hand. People will spend every last penny to buy a box of cigarettes.


Not only is smoking harmful for the smoker, but it can affect anyone inhaling the smoke. It is known as passive or second hand smoking, many people call the silent killer. Even though you might not smoke, you are still in danger. When you inhale the 4000 chemicals burning from a cigarette, you might suffer disease such as Lung cancer, asthma attacks, and breathing problems. There were 46,000 deaths from heart disease in non-smokers who live with smokers last year in American alone. Plus the 3,400 who died from lung cancer. I don’t think that is fair, there are innocent people dyeing. We as American citizens or just people on earth deserve clean air where we don’t have to worry about inhaling smoke that can endanger life.

Cigarette companies know all these facts and so does congress, then you wonder why cigarettes are legal. Why would something that can kill you be legal? There is a very simple answer, money. To stay alive cigarette companies pay money as well as allowing congress to put a special tax on cigarettes. Every year congress makes about 7.7 billion dollars and states make about 13 billion. Basically, the government’s priority is money over our health.

With all this being said, I think cigarettes should be illegalized. The world would be a safer place. We might even stop worrying that are children might take a wrong step by smoking, one less thing to worry about.

U.S. Postal Service to put curbs on the mailing of tobacco

The Post Office will shut down one of the main ways kids can get cigarettes and distributors can dodge taxes.
As of June 29, the U.S. Postal Service will stop accepting and carrying packages containing cigarettes or smokeless tobacco, the agency said yesterday in its latest internal bulletin.
The agency is taking the move to implement a new federal law meant to crack down on illegal trafficking in cigarettes.
The new rules about tobacco say the Post Office can refuse to accept packages if it has reasonable cause to believe they contain cigarettes or smokeless tobacco -- for instance, if the packages are shipped by companies or people with websites promising to mail cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or loose tobacco for roll-your-own cigarettes.
The rules apply to international and domestic shipments alike. They do not apply to cigars.
"Internet sales of cigarettes is a problem because they can sell to kids and they evade taxes," said Eric Lindblom, director of public policy research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "The Post Office was the No. 1 way illegal Internet sellers deliver cigarettes."
Major package delivery firms, such as FedEx, UPS and DHL, will not ship cigarettes, under agreements reached with state attorneys general seeking to enforce laws banning sale of tobacco to minors.
"These new requirements will put an end to tax-evading online sales and impose rigorous age-verification requirements for remote sellers of these products," said David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria Group Inc., the Henrico county-based tobacco giant.
He said Altria supported the new law, adding "it will help states recover millions of dollars in tax revenues they are losing to tax-evading online sales; help ensure that kids cannot purchase tobacco products online; and help combat illegal activity associated with the sale and distribution of tax-evading tobacco products."
Convenience store operators and law-enforcement agencies also supported the law.
The new law does allow some exceptions. For instance, a smoker can return defective cigarettes to manufacturers for a refund, or small amounts can be mailed as gifts.
But the Post Office said all such deliveries will be made face-to-face, and the recipient must show proof of age. Such shipments are limited to 10 ounces and no more than 10 a month.
There are also exceptions allowing licensed tobacco manufacturers, wholesalers, test laboratories and government agencies to mail cigarettes for business or regulatory purposes, if they win permission from the Post Office. The rules also allow for cigarettes or smokeless products to be mailed within Alaska and Hawaii.

Court backs Walgreens' objection to tobacco ban

San Francisco's first-in-the-nation ban on tobacco sales in drugstores appears to be unconstitutional because it exempts supermarkets and big-box stores that have pharmacies, a state appeals court said Tuesday.

But the First District Court of Appeal left open the possibility that the legal defect could be cured by extending the tobacco ban to all stores that sell prescription drugs, rather than repealing it. The court referred that question to a Superior Court judge.

The ruling is "a powerful condemnation of the legality of the ordinance," said Daniel Kolkey, a lawyer for Walgreens, which filed the suit.

Australia Senate Approves Cigarette Excise Hike

CANBERRA -(Dow Jones)- Lawmakers in Australia's upper house Senate on Tuesday approved a 25% increase in cigarette excise taxes.

The increase, which raised the price of a pack of 30 cigarettes by about A$ 2.16, was enacted with immediate effect on April 30 but needed legislative approval. It will raise around A$5 billion over the next four years.

Canberra is also working on a separate plan to ban brand labels and other marketing imagery on cigarette packaging by 2012. Cigarette companies have vowed to fight that measure.

Province's controls on teen access to tobacco 'second class' Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Province+controls+teen+access+tobacco+s

The provincial government must do more to curb teen access to tobacco products, an Edmonton-based anti-smoking group said this week.

"Alberta is the only province in Canada without specific provincial controls on sales to minors," said Les Hagen of Action on Smoking and Health. "We believe that Alberta kids deserve first-class protection from tobacco, and right now they're getting second-class protection."

Hagen's group is calling on the province to introduce stricter regulations to help prevent retailers from selling tobacco to teens. A Health Canada survey on retailer compliance released last month showed that 17 per cent of Alberta retailers were willing to sell tobacco to minors between the ages of 15 and 17, compared with about 10 per cent of retailers willing to do so in 2006.

Hagen's group wants to see Alberta build on existing federal legislation by introducing regulations similar to those currently controlling the sale of alcohol in the province.

He said Alberta should introduce a licensing policy and mandatory training for tobacco retailers, better point-of-sale signs, and a mandatory ID check for anyone 25 or under. The province should also introduce a minimum age of 18 for clerks who sell tobacco products, Hagen said.

"You could have a 14-year-old selling tobacco in Alberta," he said. "Not only is it an issue of controlling the sale, but tobacco products invite crime. It is a health issue and a safety issue."

Minister of Health and Wellness Gene Zwozdesky agreed that more action may be needed to lower youth smoking rates and said he was willing to listen to suggestions from anti-smoking advocates. But he said the province already has strict fines and guidelines in place regarding tobacco sales to minors.

"We haven't had that discussion, but I am prepared to listen to what the proponents are advocating," Zwozdesky said.

He said smoking rates among teens aged 15 to 19 now stand at about 16 per cent, a number he wants to see decline.

"Clearly, we have to do more work to continue reducing that number and eventually eliminating it if we can," he said.

Hagen said teens continue to take up smoking partly because of tobacco industry marketing campaigns designed to encourage them to buy their products.

"They will vigorously deny that they are doing anything to attract teenagers, but you have to look no further than candy flavours, price discounts and slim cigarettes," Hagen said. "It's obvious to everyone that the industry is targeting kids and continuing to entice them to use their deadly products."

Charlene Reese, 17, has been smoking for a few years.

"Maybe you have to be 18 to buy smokes, but anyone can get them. All you need is an older friend or something."

Kelly Allers, 23, is a clerk at a downtown tobacco shop. He regularly turns away minors trying to buy tobacco products.

"On average, I probably kick out two people a week because they don't have ID."

He said he usually asks for identification from anyone who looks under 23.

Noynoy says he will smoke even on no-tobacco day

Not even World No-Tobacco Day can stop president-apparent Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III from indulging in one of his most controversial habits – smoking.

Aquino told reporters at the Senate Monday he is not inclined to take a break from puffing a cigarette on the occasion.

“Palagay ko po (I think)," he said smiling when asked if he would light a stick today.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has selected "Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women" as the theme for the World No-Tobacco Day, which falls today.

According to WHO, more than 1.5 million women die from tobacco use annually, most of them in poor and middle-income countries. In addition, two-thirds of the 430,000 adults who die each year from second-hand smoke are women.

"We must turn back the global tobacco epidemic. On World No Tobacco Day, I urge all governments to address this public health threat. Tobacco use is not stylish or empowering. It is ugly and deadly," a statement from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

Last week, Aquino said he was not inclined to stop smoking yet as kicking the habit might create pressure affecting his decisions.

He said he was not keen on being a poster boy for anti-smoking advocates, adding he would stop smoking at the "appropriate" time as there might be too much pressure on him if he kicks the habit at this time.

"Noong tumakbo ako, alam ng taumbayan [na] naninigarilyo ako. At the appropriate time na hihinto ako, titigil ako. So long as nako-control ako sa mga batas at wala akong naiistorbo baka parte ito ng kalayaan kong natitira," Aquino said.

(When I ran for the presidency, everyone knew I was a smoker. I will kick the habit at the appropriate time. As long as I follow the controls of the laws and I don't disturb other people, then maybe this is a part of what remains of my freedom.)

Pressures from the industry

As the world marks World No-Tobacco Day, anti-tobacco advocates advised Aquino not to be swayed by pressures from the tobacco industry once he assumes office next June 30.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) said that if Aquino thinks he is facing much pressure from well-meaning people to quit smoking, the more he would be pressed by the demands of tobacco companies.

“It is with the tobacco industry that he should be cautious about. This industry is bent on influencing the public sphere to ensure that it will continue to sell cigarettes while the government’s health agency deals with the increasing number of deaths due to smoking-related diseases," said Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP executive director, in an article posted on the Health Department website.

The president-apparent should keep his doors open to professional help, if he really wants to quit smoking, Limpin added.

A pulmonolgist, Limpin said programs on how to stop smoking are available in government and private hospitals

Kicking the habit is difficult because of the addiction to nicotine, according to her.

Trying to quit now would not add “stress" to Aquino’s life, as he claims, but he should exercise the willpower to stop, she said.

Young people as the target of tobacco companies these days have no idea about the harmful effects of smoking to their health, Limpin said.

"The tobacco industry does not want to stipulate clearly the fatal impact of tobacco on the consumers, lest they lose the profits they currently enjoy," she said.

How to quit

While the WHO's Tobacco-Free Initiative said Aquino could pick several options as a "patient" who needs to stop smoking, it reminded him that his parents had symptoms of exposure to cigarette smoke.

"(From) his public statements, it seems that Mr. Aquino is aware that he is not only damaging his own health but is setting a poor example to his fellow-countrymen and fellow-countrywomen and has expressed a desire to quit," WHO Tobacco-Free Initiative Western Pacific regional adviser Susan Mercado said in an article posted on the Department of Health website.

She noted that former Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. suffered a heart attack while the late President Corazon C. Aquino had colorectal cancer. "Both of these conditions have been linked to cigarette smoke exposure," she said.

Mercado said that with the coming into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) in 2005, anti-smoking programs have changed dramatically.

"In the past, smoking and quitting were left to the individual smoker. Today, because of the WHO FCTC, it is also government's responsibility and mandate to control tobacco use," she said.

Unfinished agenda

Mercado said it took 17 years from 1987 for the first anti-smoking bill in the Philippines to get passed into law.

Now, she said there is a huge unfinished agenda for the Philippine government to comply with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

"Noynoy Aquino is a smoker like 17 million other Filipinos. Like others who were born in the 1960s, he grew up in an environment where smoking was the norm – even among role models like priests, doctors, businessmen, scientists, scholars, actors, athletes," she noted.

Women’s groups also scored the tobacco industry over deceptive marketing gimmicks to lure more women into smoking.

The groups representing the urban poor and farmers sectors said this puts the lives of Filipino women, especially the young, in danger.

“More young women will be convinced to embrace this addiction if the government fails to decisively act and prevent the tobacco industry from further victimizing our young children. The government cannot afford to stay at the sidelines while the industry continues to prey on our children," said WomanHealth Philippines national coordinator Ana Maria Nemenzo, in an article posted on the Department of Health website.

Women smokers

Meanwhile, the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey reported that 2.8 million Filipino women 15 years and older were smokers.

“We urge Health Secretary Cabral to institute administrative measures to put more effective health information in cigarette packs to effectively counter the aggressive marketing strategies of the tobacco industry. The statistics on girls as young as 13 years becoming addicted to smoking is really alarming and increases the reproductive health risks for those who would become mothers some day," said Mercy Fabros, WomanHealth advocacy campaign coordinator.

Studies conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) showed the risk of heart attack for women who smoke and use oral contraceptives was greater than for non-smokers.

The studies also found that pregnant women who smoke were twice as likely to have a miscarriage during pregnancy.

No sale of tobacco products today

Traders will not sell cigarettes and other tobacco products on May 31 being observed as the World No Tobacco Day.This will be part of their attempt to create awareness of the ill effects of tobacco, said T. Vellaiyan, president of Traders Association, here on Saturday.

Addressing a workshop on tobacco control, he said profit making alone should not be the motive of traders. They should have social responsibility too. He appealed to traders to educate the public on the evil effects of smoking and use of tobacco products on that day. They should voluntarily join the anti-tobacco campaign launched by various voluntarily organisations.

R.T. Porkaipandiyan, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said all efforts should be made to put an end to “tobacco terrorism,” which was spoiling the lives of youth in the productive age group of 20 to 40.Of late there had been a rise in smoking habit among women, which would lead to delivery of babies with low IQ and stillborn infants.

Appealing to traders to restrict the sale of tobacco products, he said by this, they were serving a social cause.V. Shanta, Chairman of the Cancer Institute, said tobacco was the root cause for heart-related diseases and cancer. Though all smokers would not get cancer, 90 per cent of the cancer patients were tobacco users.

Early detection could cure cancer. But, it was difficult to detect lung cancer at an early stage. It was mostly caused by tobacco products. Passive smoking was yet another menace affecting children and women. The battle against tobacco could not be won without the active support of traders, who could play a positive role in curbing tobacco practices, she said.

T.G. Sagar, director and dean of the Institute, in his welcome address, said the purpose of the workshop was to target traders in the campaign against tobacco and also to make them aware of tobacco control legislations. Traders should make efforts to motivate the public in creating and maintaining smoke-free public places.

Local students stand up against smoking

Students in Kingman took center stage in the fight against tobacco on Tuesday and Wednesday when they joined thousands of young people nationwide in the 15th Annual Kick Butts Day.

Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Kick Butts Day is an annual event where kids educate their peers on the dangers of smoking and how tobacco companies try to target youth.

On Tuesday, students at the Kingman Academy of Learning High School handed out literature and hosted a table displaying visuals of tobacco's dangers along with a graffiti wall for youth to write powerful messages about tobacco's toll on them and their loved ones.

The Kingman High School in Kingman will be doing a similar graffiti/pledge wall as well as a numbers campaign to represent the number of kids in Arizona who start smoking each month at 10 a.m. According to the campaign, tobacco use is the No.1 cause of preventable death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in healthcare bills each year.

While there has been significant progress in reducing youth smoking, 20 percent of high school students still smokeAccording to the campaign, in Arizona, tobacco use claims 6,800 lives and costs $1.3 billion in healthcare bills each year.

Currently, 22.2 percent of the state's high school students smoke, and 22,900 kids try cigarettes for the first time each year.

Side Effects of Smoking

In today's culture, smoking is considered cool, among the youth and adults alike. However, no one has paid much attention to the effects of smoking, that can lead to irreversible damage on the mind and the body. This damage is not only individual. It even affects our close ones, and our environment. As such, it is important to take a look at the side effects of smoking, and then proceed with a healthier and more suitable course of action.

Side Effects of Smoking Cigarettes

Lots of people already suffer from these side effects, yet sometimes, a fact sheet is required to open their eyes to their invitation to bad health.
Smoking cigarettes not only stains the teeth but over time, can lead to the development of oral cancer. Not to mention its effect on the breath.Not only oral cancer, smokers are susceptible to the development of several other types of cancer, including lung cancer.

Smokers are at an increased risk of developing heart problems and stroke.
Smoking makes the smoker feel lethargic, and disturbs the metabolism of the body. This affects the immunity levels in the body, making it more prone to contracting diseases.The belief that smoking relieves stress is only psychological. It is a belief that is true to the withdrawal symptoms and not an actual cause of smoking.

Smoking strips the skin of its natural glow, and ages the skin by causing the development of wrinkles, dark circles, and a gray skin pallor. It also leads to sudden weight gain.
Smoking is sure to leave a dent in your pocket, and if you calculate the expenses just on cigarettes over a period of ten years, you will see the huge amount you have spent on it.
Lastly, smoking reduces the average life span by almost 15-20 years.

Toxic Dangers to Children from Third-Hand Smoke

Most people recognize potential health risks to the smoker and those exposed to second-hand smoke. Throughout the world, cigarette labels warn of potential impotence, fetal injury, premature births, cancer, heart disease, emphysema, gum disease, and tooth loss. The Surgeon General's report in 2006 on involuntary smoking stated that more than 126 million people are exposed to second-hand smoke with 50,000 deaths annually.

There is another concern--third-hand smoke which contains contaminants of tobacco toxins after visible smoke dissipates. The journalPediatrics 2009, reports a study led by Dr. Jonathan Winickoff of Massachusetts General Hospital. The study included a national survey of 1,478 people and their beliefs on the health effects of third-hand smoke. Two-thirds of non-smokers agreed that it would be harmful to their children, compared to less than half of smokers.

Research has documented the association between smoking in the home and persistently high levels of tobacco toxins well beyond the period of active smoking. These toxins take the form of particulate matter deposited in a layer onto every surface in loose household dust. These volatile toxic compounds off gas into the air over a period of days, weeks and months. Particulate matter from tobacco smoke includes 250 poisonous gases, chemicals and metals according to the National Toxicology Program. Among these are hydrogen cyanide (used in chemical weapons), carbon monoxide (found in car exhaust), butane (used in lighter fluid), ammonia (used in household cleaners), toluene (found in paint thinners), arsenic (used in pesticides), lead (formerly found in paint), chromium (used to make steel), cadmium (used to make batteries) and highly radioactive polonium-210.

Dr. Winckoff stated: "Eleven of the compounds are classified as Group 1 carcinogens, the most dangerous. When you smoke--anyplace--toxic particulate matter from tobacco smoke gets into your hair and clothing. When you come into contact with your baby, even if you're not smoking at the time, the baby comes in contact with those toxins. And if you breastfeed, the toxins will transfer to your baby in your breast milk." He commented, however, that breastfeeding is still preferable.

The study concluded there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Small children are especially susceptible to third-hand smoke exposure. They have faster respiration than adults and can inhale near, crawl and play on, or touch and mouth contaminated surfaces. Dr. Winickoff further stated, "Emphasizing that third-hand smoke harms the health of children may be an important element in encouraging home smoking bans. Health messages about third-hand smoke contamination could be easily incorporated into current tobacco control campaigns, programs, and routine clinical practice."

Awareness of children's unique susceptibility to toxins of all kinds should impel us to keep a home environment as pollutant free as possible. Besides stopping future in-home smoking, methods to help resolve the residue problem can include inexpensive measures like opening windows, air- filtering plants and cleaning with non-toxic cleaning products. Additionally, a high-quality and effective air purifier would be a blessing.

Mother of two shot and killed over a cigarette at Edmonton LRT station

EDMONTON — Heather Rae Thurier, the 23-year-old mother of two killed at the Stadium LRT station Friday, was shot over a cigarette, according to her family.
“It was about a cigarette, it started over a cigarette. My family asked, him, the guy, for a cigarette,” said Thurier’s sister, Nicole Gladue.

Gladue wasn’t there on Friday night when Thurier was killed, so she didn’t know how a simple request for a cigarette turned fatal for her sister — only that the man pulled a gun from his bag instead.

Police said the man fired one shot before running away. Thurier, who was hit in the head, fell face down and was pronounced dead minutes later, lying just inside the 112th-Avenue entrance to the station.Thurier’s brother was there with her Friday night and is badly shaken up from witnessing the shooting, but he described to Gladue some of what happened.

“She fell on her face,” Gladue said. “My brother was at her feet.”Thurier came from a large, close family, Gladue said. From an early age, she showed a fierce, protective attitude toward anyone she felt had wronged someone she loved.

“She was everybody’s bulldog. I remember this one time when she was three, she knocked out my brother who’s almost three years older than me, so five years older then her,” Gladue said.“She just ups and clocks him, right. He was picking on me and she got really mad. She wasn’t gonna have that.”

Thurier had a family of her own: a one-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy.

“She loved the kids, adored the kids, talked about them all the time,” said Thurier’s longtime friend, Joshua Nielsen.Nielsen met Thurier in the small town of Willingdon, around 135 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, where she lived parts of her life with her dad.

The two kept in constant contact over the years, Nielsen said.“She was always outgoing, always fun loving, liked to laugh all the time,” he said.

She had just moved to the Coliseum area of Edmonton, Nielsen said, and was excited about returning to the city.

Thurier was a regular user of the services offered by the Mustard Seed Church. She had been at the church Friday evening before she was shot to death.“She was very dear to many community members who are shocked,” said a church staff member.

The young man believed to have shot her is described as between 16 and 21 years old, around five-foot-10 and 160 pounds.Police seized LRT security footage to help with their investigation and were still searching for the suspect Sunday.

Thurier was Edmonton’s seventh homicide victim of 2010 and the third of last week.

Tobacco smoke causes behavior problems in children

A study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives has revealed that children who are exposed to cigarette smoke prenatally and during the first year of their life are likely to develop behavioral problems by the time they are of school age. Particularly problematic during the gestational years, tobacco smoke can more than double the risk of childhood behavior problems.

Scientists from Germany analyzed children whose mothers smoked while they were in the womb as well as children who were exposed to second hand smoke following their birth up until their first birthday. The children who were only exposed prenatally were 90 percent more likely to develop behavioral problems compared to children whose mothers did not smoke at all. Children who were exposed only after birth had a 30-percent higher risk. Children exposed both prenatally and after birth had a double risk of developing abnormal behavior problems.

In order to isolate the true cause of behavioral problems, scientists crafted a detailed questionnaire that aimed to eliminate possible biases that would have altered results, such as external social and environmental factors. When all was said and done, hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, and social interaction problems were among the primary setbacks observed in the tobacco-exposed children.

Because the negative effects of tobacco smoke were found to be the greatest during fetal development, scientists see an undeniable link between tobacco and developmental problems. The formative years of a child's growth and maturation are severely upset by the presence of tobacco, something sc

Teen Choice Award Winner Tells His Story

The Leon County Health Department Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) invites Tallahassee youth to hear Chad Bullock, national stand-out anti-smoking advocate, speak.

“Igniting Initiative” is a carefully researched and developed experience that creatively explores the power of socially engaged youth.

Students will be actively engaged with hands on activities and contests while learning how they can create change in their communities.

The presentation is based on Chad’s unique journey from loss to super advocate.

Over 40,000 students have been reached with his message, and they always walk away with a fresh perspective on community involvement and a flair for tobacco control.

His home state governor sums up his one-of-a-kind approach: “Chad is the poster kid for getting in the trenches and advocating strongly and making change happen,” said North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue. She added, “It’s incredible, right here in the heart of the tobacco district, for young kids to make a difference."

Chad Bullock is often referred to as one of the leading anti-tobacco activists in the nation. Bullock developed a passion for tobacco-use prevention in the 9th grade after learning that he had lost a loved one to tobacco. He worked to get smoke-free ballparks in North Carolina, successfully petitioned a major tobacco company to end unlawful marketing and has trained over 35,000 youth to become anti-tobacco activists.

Bullock won the 2008 Do Something Award and $100,000 to continue his anti-smoking efforts and became the first and only “non-celebrity” to win a Teen Choice Award from FOX. His anti-tobacco efforts were recently featured on 35 million Doritos chips packages.

Bullock is the director of a new national anti-smoking activism campaign, called “helloCHANGE,” and currently works with MTV News. He also studies mass communications at school in New York.

FDA issues final rule on youth smoking restrictions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule containing a broad set of federal requirements designed to significantly curb access to and the appeal of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to children and adolescents in the United States.
The new rule is titled “Regulations Restricting the Sale and Distribution of Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco to Protect Children and Adolescents”, and restricts the sale, distribution, and promotion of these products to make them less accessible and less attractive to kids. Among other things, the rule prohibits the sale of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco to people younger than 18, prohibits the sale of cigarette packages with less than 20 cigarettes, prohibits distribution of free samples of cigarettes, restricts distribution of free samples of smokeless tobacco, and prohibits tobacco brand name sponsorship of any athletic, musical or other social or cultural events.
Enforcement of the new rule will begin once it becomes effective on June 22, 2010. The FDA will work closely with states and territories to ensure that retailers comply with the rule. The FDA will also work with the retail community over the coming months to educate them about the new requirements and assist them in understanding how to comply with them and help protect children and adolescents.
Manufacturers and retailers who do not comply with the rule may be subject to enforcement action. The rule was originally crafted in the 1990s by the Food and Drug Administration. After being set aside by the Supreme Court, it was included as a key provision of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. (pi)

Anti-smoking fund cut, smoking rises

In the last three years, New York's once heralded anti-smoking program has been cut three times by a total of 30 percent and as its TV spots, quitters' help line and free nicotine patch programs were scaled back, 105,000 adults started smoking who otherwise might not have.Anti-smoking advocate Russ Sciandra notes the state Tobacco Control Program has been cut far deeper and more often than most areas, and wonders why.

The answers say much about Albany and how its forces have torn at the Tobacco Control Program, one of the quiet casualties of the state's fiscal crisis.

Sciandra said the anti-smoking program faces a formidable obstacle for any cause in Albany: A lack of a shrill constituency that politicians don't dare ignore.

"We don't have clients," said Sciandra, director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York. "Politically, it doesn't hurt anyone."

All he has is facts: 100,000 more smokers means 25,000 more premature deaths and $1 billion in added cost to the state in government-subsidized health care for the poor and elderly.

"Until people quit, they hate us. And once they do, they don't need us," Sciandra said.

Elections records give some bite to what he considers another obvious factor.

Back in October of 2008, less than a week before the legislative elections would determine which party controlled the Senate, Philip Morris parent Altria Group Inc. contributed $30,000 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee when they needed it most. It was the second $30,000 contribution to the committee that year, and was followed by a $50,000 donation in January, when Democrats opened the Senate session in the majority.

It's all legal, just like the $125,000 Altria contributed to the Senate Republican campaign when Republicans controlled the Senate during the 2006-07 session and the $50,000 it gave the GOP committee in November 2008, days after some dissident Democrats threatened to switch the majority back to the GOP.

"There's nothing there," agreed Altria's David Sutton. "It's something we've done for a number of years ... we simply do not lobby on control issues at all." Instead, Altria's was dedicated to fighting more cigarette taxes, trying to get Albany to end its delays in collecting hundreds of millions in taxes on cigarettes sold by Indian tribes, and other issues including fighting for positive programs for youths.

"The government policy side and political side operate completely independent of one another," said Eric Blankenbaker, spokesman for the Senate Democratic campaign. "There is no connection."

Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group chuckled at that.

"It reminds me of the scene in `Casablanca' when the French police chief is arguing that he's `shocked' there is gambling as he gets his winnings," Horner said. "In my opinion, they wouldn't be giving that money to the Democratic Senate unless they felt they were getting something in return." The result is that a program that was once a top priority of Republican and Democratic governors is another casualty of the fiscal crisis in which the state can no longer sustain levels of spending as tax revenues plummet. Even protected programs such as school and hospital aid face some cuts. Schools for example, are fighting a 5 percent reduction.

The latest cut to the smoking program is proposed for $5 million in the 2010-11 state budget, now a month late and under negotiation.

"Do we like it? Of course not," said Claudia Hutton, spokeswoman for the state Health Department. "But I don't know of any program in the Health Department that is an entitlement that isn't taking a whack."

Some of the cuts were pushed by the Legislature, as it sought a deficit reduction program in December that spared school aid and some other funding.

Hutton doesn't dispute Sciandra's trends or the cuts so far. She said whenever tobacco is taxed more, or whenever more TV ads and programs like free nicotine patches are offered, smoking declines including smokers who cut back. Lift those even briefly, and smoking increases.

"You can see this kind of swing that quickly," Hutton said. "Ideally, we would never have a period without tobacco advertising and not one minute when the help line isn't open."

Australian Cigarette Packaging Censorship - Has it gone too far?

The Australian government is moving to have cigarette company/brand logos removed from packages and replaced with graphic images of diseased lungs. The only thing that would differentiate one brand from another would be some small generic text with the brand's name. Tobacco companies are already complaining that such packaging will reduce sales. But, isn't that the point?

The whole Australian proposal got me thinking, the "Tumor Pack" concept could have some useful spin-offs. Why not beef up other warning labels? Or, create frightening labels where there weren't ones before? Here are three such possibilities:

1) Alcohol – In the US, alcohol is currently labeled with the ABLA warning: “(1) According to the Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects [INSERT GRAPHIC IMAGE HERE]. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery [INSERT GRAPHIC IMAGE HERE], and may cause health problems [INSERT GRAPHIC IMAGE HERE].

2) Hairdryers – Here is part of the label from my wife’s hairdryer: “Keep away from water! Danger! ‘Unplug It!’ Do not remove this tag! Warn children of risk of death by electric shock! [INSERT GRAPHIC IMAGE HERE]”

3) Automobile Airbags – “Warning! Death or serious injury can occur. [INSERT GRAPHIC IMAGE HERE] Children age 12 and under can be killed by the air bag [INSERT GRAPHIC IMAGE HERE] … Never put a rear facing child seat in the front… etc…”

Admittedly, some of these images might seem a bit macabre and disturbing. Certainly, images of dead or injured children are bound to be controversial, but consider the lives saved. Are smokers the only ones we want to attempt to scare into safety? Or is it the addictive nature of smoking that seems to require stronger and more disturbing measures to be taken in an attempt to improve public health?

Think about it. If you are someone who may be apt to put hairdryers in the tub while they are plugged in, you may be a bit dim, but you’re probably not a stupidity addict. In fact, you probably won’t be around long enough to find out if such behavior could be addictive. However, keep smoking in spite of calm warnings about how bad it is for your health, and how it could kill you, and there may be other factors at play.

Whatever the reasoning… cigarettes will probably have graphic labels long before any of the others will. Alcohol, well… we don’t want to scare people off of it completely, right? I mean, there is such a thing as moderation. And, what red-blooded American wants to look at pictures of children with birth defects, and bloody accident victims while partaking in his/her well-deserved after-work beer (assuming that red-blooded American still has a job.) And hairdryers? Well, let’s be honest… two words: Natural Selection. Airbags? We are trying to get our auto manufacturers back on track, fiscally. Just think about how mini-van sales will plummet if little Billy and Annie have to look at images of disembodied children next to their built-in, in-car DVD system.

Tobacco groups seek to challenge UK display ban

Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and British American Tobacco said on Monday they are to seek a judicial review of the relevant sections of the Health Act 2009, in which the UK government is looking to impose the display ban to discourage smoking.

Imperial, which makes Lambert & Butler and Richmond cigarettes in the UK, said there is no evidence to suggest children start smoking or that adult smokers continue to smoke as a result of the display of tobacco products.

"If this misguided legislation is implemented it will simply fuel the growth in the illicit trade of tobacco and create a huge cost burden for retailers who are already under considerable pressure as a result of the difficult economic climate," said Chief Executive Gareth Davis in a statement.

JTI, which took over Gallaher in 2007 and makes Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut cigarettes in the UK, called the regulations "unreasonable and disproportionate" and said it had no option but to start the legal process to challenge the ban.

BAT, which makes Rothmans and Pall Mall cigarettes, added there was no evidence to show the move will cut smoking rates in the UK, but argued it would damage competition and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of small businesses.

It said driving legal trade from public view will encourage illegal traders.

The Health Act 2009 requires cigarettes, cigars, pipe and roll-your own tobacco products to be hidden from view in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from October 2011 in large retailers and from October 2013 in smaller outlets.

Scotland is pushing its own banning legislation through its own parliament.

Only government will influence price of alcohol and cigarettes

ONLY the government has the power to influence the price of alcohol and cigarette products that are subject to excise tax in the event the unsolicited proposal by Sicpa Security Solutions SA successfully hurdles the so-called Swiss challenge.

Sicpa director for institutional relationships Hans Schwab emphasized this point in a briefing at the Makati Shangri-La on Friday as his company’s bid to win a government contract enters its third year.

Sicpa has offered to cure the rampant underreporting and smuggling of cigarettes and alcohol in the country with a proprietary process seen ramping up excise-tax collection by some P70 billion a year.

Schwab said the government will not have to spend a single centavo for a technology able to track and trace for tax purposes each exciseable product at any point of its production, distribution and eventual sale.

While the government immediately benefits from the system in the form of ramped- up collection, Sicpa will only get to bill the government for the service only after the system is up and running, Schwab said.

Because Sicpa assumes all the cost of putting up the system, there should not be any price increase on the sale of exciseable products, Schwab said.

“We provide the technology at absolutely no start-up cost to the government. Sicpa assumes all of the cost of deploying the system. We get paid on per-pack once the system is fully operational. At the same time the government starts paying Sicpa, it also starts benefiting from the incremental revenue, so on net basis, there is no cost whatsoever to government,” Schwab said.

“If after this the government still decides to pass on the cost despite the fact that it is a fraction of the additional revenue or if it still decides to pass on that cost to the manufacturer, then that is its choice,” Schwab added.

He also noted it has taken Sicpa three times longer than usual in the Philippines to complete a bid that should normally last them four to six months elsewhere.

He said while Turkey produces more or less 4 billion packs of cigarettes every year, the Philippines only produces 4.5 billion packs.

Turkey also manufactures 67 tobacco product lines while the Philippines has 150.

Schwab acknowledged unsolicited proposals in the country have a long and difficult history hurdling government requirements.

But he vowed to push forward and leave it to his principals in Switzerland to decide whether giving up was preferable over wanting to continue with the project.

“Giving up is something our shareholders will have to decide. But as long as we’re asked to wait and continue negotiation with government we will do so,” Schwab said.

Hospitalization Rates For Heart, Respiratory Ailments Drop In Toronto Because Of Smoking Ban

Toronto registered a 39 percent decline in heart ailment hospitalizations and a 32 percent drop in confinements due to respiratory conditions. The city attributed the drop to a city-wide three-phased smoking ban Toronto imposed beginning 1999.


The study covered a decade – from 1996 to 2006 – which includes three years prior to the smoking prohibition. The capital city of Ontario banned in 1999 smoking in all work places, in 2001 at all restaurants and in 2004 at all bars.

The 39 percent and 32 percent slip in hospitalization were observed in 2004, three years after Toronto prohibited smoking inside restaurants. During that year, heart attacks also decreased by 17 percent.

Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences Fellow Dr. Alisa Naiman, one of the study’s authors, said aside from the smoking ban, other factors that contributed to the decline in hospital confinement for the two smoke-related ailments were the hike in tobacco taxes, new advertising rules on tobacco products, graphic warnings on the danger of lighting up and improvement in handling chronic ailments such as asthma and angina.

Naiman wrote, “Our results serve to expand the list of health outcomes that may be ameliorated by smoking bans. Further research is needed to establish the types of settings in which smoking bans are most effective. Our results lend legitimacy to efforts to further reduce public exposure to tobacco smoke.”

The study came out in the Tuesday edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Tobacco shop controversy heats up in Cloverdale

A tobacco shop that opened late last year in Cloverdale alongside Highway 101 is selling contraband cigarettes and making dubious claims that it is operated by an Indian tribe, according to state authorities.


The state attorney general's office has notified Native Tobacco 101 that most of the brands it sells are untaxed, not approved for sale in California, and do not meet fire safety standards.

“These cigarettes they are selling don't have a tax stamp on them,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Dennis Eckhart said.

While the business claims it is exempt from state taxes because it only sells cigarettes manufactured on Indian land, Eckhart said, “We don't agree.”

In a letter dated March 18, he asked the store to stop selling the cigarette brands and to confirm the “illegal conduct” has ceased.

The manager of the store on Friday said he was not aware of the letter, but requested a copy.

“We are on native land. We are a tribally operated, sovereign nation,” said Tony Speer, manager of Native Tobacco 101.

“One side believes we should pay state taxes, the other that we should not - only federal (taxes). It's been going back and forth,” he said.

There are complicated issues of Indian law and restrictions on state enforcement procedures involving tribes and Indian lands. But legal experts said the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear tribes have an obligation to collect and remit state tax on the sale of cigarettes to non-tribal members.

When the Cloverdale store opened in December, it drew immediate complaints from other tobacco retailers in Cloverdale who said its American Indian owners enjoyed an unfair advantage by not charging sales tax.

It also touched on a controversy that has played out in other states involving American Indian smoke shops and the taxes they sometimes avoid.

In New York, for example, state officials claim bootleg sales of tobacco products on reservations or through the Internet have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost state revenues.

When Native Tobacco 101 opened, the then-store manager confirmed he charged no state taxes on his products. But he said the tobacco products were mostly manufactured by Indians on Native American lands and had been subjected to federal taxes.

Eckhart on Friday said the shop is unlawfully avoiding an estimated $1.50 per cigarette pack in state excise and sales taxes, and other levies.

Some of the revenue from the state taxes on cigarettes goes to children health care services, tobacco control and cessation efforts, he said.

Local officials have also expressed consternation that Native Tobacco 101 has put other retailers at a disadvantage.

“They are not paying taxes and I'm not sure that's appropriate,” Cloverdale Mayor Carol Russell said Friday. “I'm a firm believer in one set of rules for everybody.”

Russell said she also was “shocked” to learn the brands sold at Native Tobacco 101 allegedly do not comply with cigarette safety provisions, which are designed to ensure they don't keep burning when not being puffed.

Many tribes in California sell cigarettes that are authorized on a state directory and also pay state taxes.

But the attorney general's office has recently gone after some shops in Southern California that were alleged to have sold illegal tobacco products on reservations, or failed to collect state taxes.

Earlier this month, four of the retail tobacco stores on Indian lands in Riverside County voluntarily closed after the state filed an injunction seeking compliance.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians agreed that the tobacco products on the reservation were being sold illegally and they were not in partnership with the retailers.

Native Tobacco 101, located on a frontage road next to the freeway, is on a remnant of the former Cloverdale Rancheria, owned by survivors of John Santana, a Pomo elder and postmaster who was allotted the land more than 40 years after the rancheria was dissolved.

When it opened several months ago, the then-manager of the shop said the owners are working with a Native American company licensed to use the land and operate the tobacco business. But he declined to provide more detail.

Speer, the current manager, referred questions about the attorney general's allegations to the owners, who could not be reached for comment.

The restored Cloverdale Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, who are proposing a casino on adjacent lands, have said they have no connection to the tobacco business, and it is not on land belonging to the tribe.

In his letter, Eckhart said a sign posted in the shop is misleading.

It states that the store is located on Indian land and operated by a federally recognized Indian tribe.

“We believe that the posted sign may falsely represent to your customers a fact about the shop's ownership and/or management,” he said.

University of North Alabama to change campus smoking policy

As someone who has smoked for 14 years, Chris Lazo knows some people consider his habit offensive.

"I'm addicted," he said, standing outside Bibb Graves Hall on the University of North Alabama campus. "I don't smoke to make friends or be social. I smoke because I'm addicted to it."

Where Lazo smokes on campus could change in the coming months as UNA officials revamp the university's smoking policy. It's a process that's already under way, according to David Shields, vice president for student affairs. He said the enhanced policy could take effect as early as this fall.

Smoking is prohibited inside all university buildings, and Shields said the new policy would designate smoking areas that would be a certain distance from building entrances. It also would add resources, such as smoking cessation programs for students who want to break their habit.

"With the revisions, we plan to make it a stronger policy," Shields said.

"Anecdotally, we're seeing some increases in our incidence of smokers, especially among young women."

Studies among college students who use tobacco show that between one-third to one-half of the population nationwide smokes, even if infrequently. Although male smokers outnumber female smokers, according to the findings, the number of women between the ages of 18 and 24 who smoke is rising.

Increased marketing by tobacco companies, as well as peer pressure and a sense of freedom from parental control, are among the reasons Cindy Wood believes the numbers to be rising.

As the director of University Health Services, Wood said Bennett Infirmary often is busiest Monday mornings with students complaining of sinus or asthma issues brought on by smoking cigarettes during the weekends.

"From a medical standpoint, it's a problem if even one person smokes," she said. "Although I don't have the data to support the theory, based on what I see in the clinic, it's more and more among young women. I hear the term 'social smoker,' which is the idea that, if they only smoke on weekends or when they drink (alcohol), they're not really smokers."

Medically, Wood said a casual smoker can become a two-pack-a-day smoker if the genes for addiction are present. Young women who take birth control medication put themselves at an increased risk of stroke and blood clots if they smoke, she said.

April Curry, a senior at UNA, said she spent some of her early college years as a social smoker.

"I went to a nonsmoking school in Georgia for a couple of years," she said. "But I'd go out with friends, and I might smoke."

Curry said cigarettes provided a sort of stress relief for her, but it's a habit she has since given up. Although the new policy won't affect her, it will affect those such as Lazo who light up between classes.

"I might not go through a pack a day, but you're going to find me smoking after each class," he said.

"Now, if it were to go nonsmoking, I wouldn't be in favor of that. I believe that's bias and discrimination against smokers."

Shields said UNA isn't contemplating a smoke-free campus, but part of the problem continues to be cleaning up the cigarette butts that get tossed once the tobacco is smoked, he said.

"We have containers all over campus, and I'll see someone flick it on the ground when the container is an arm's length away," he said. "It's a problem."

Michael Gautney, director of facilities, administration and planning, said it is the job of two groundskeepers each morning to clear the campus of cigarette butts.

"The majority of our problems are around congregational areas, including the residence halls and the Guillot University Center," he said. "It's not a large percentage of our garbage, but it is a lot."

Gautney said cigarette butts that aren't disposed of properly also pose a safety hazard. In the past year, he said there have been two grass fires on campus as a result of cigarettes.

"Even with a new policy, it will create other issues," Gautney said. "If we say they can smoke 30 feet from an entrance, that could put them at a fresh air intake unit that would send all the smoke into the building."

Shields said these and other issues, including how to enforce the new policy, are being hashed out, and violations are bound to happen.

"But what we won't tolerate is smoking in the dorms," he said. "I don't have a lot of patience or tolerance for putting others at risk like that."

It's time to put out those cigarettes [Sentinel and Enterprise, Fitchburg, Mass.]

The first step to snuffing a smoking habit is to make quitting a top priority, according to Marianne Pappas, director of the Take Charge occupational-health program at HealthAlliance Hospital/Leominster.

The hospital is running a series of free smoking-cessation seminars beginning next month at its Burbank/Fitchburg campus, each with a different theme and each recognizing that a nicotine addiction is a hard thing to overcome, Pappas said.

Smokers are well aware of the health risks their behavior poses, especially as new research continues to surface about the effects of smoking, Pappas said.

"I know physicians and nurses who smoke," she said. "You would think the knowledge (about risks) would deter it. But it's an addiction -- and a powerful one -- and you have to treat it as such."

Even President Barack Obama sneaks an occasional cigarette, according to his recent physical records -- his doctors reported Obama as being in good health, but urged the president to cut back on smoking.

You have to be motivated to quit, because temptation will hit you during the activities or moods in which you're accustomed to lighting up, said Pappas.

"The behavioral aspects of smoking are really significant, beyond just the physiological aspects," she said.

Counselors advise smokers to keep busy through their cravings, which usually only last two to three minutes, eat healthy foods -- such as carrot or celery sticks -- to replace the

action of smoking, throw out all their cigarettes, and offer themselves small rewards, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Pappas said the rising cost of cigarettes -- nearly $8 per pack -- is also good motivation to quit.

In the case of someone like Obama, quitting may be difficult because he will likely not be able to put a great deal of time and focus into it -- which is the same challenge facing many busy, overworked and stressed-out smokers, Pappas said.

She also said that Obama is a healthy, educated, athletic person -- bucking the stereotype that smokers are uneducated or in otherwise poor health.

"It's just probably not on his list of things to do," she said. "Obviously, he's got the resources. You have to make that a priority, taking care of yourself. You have to have a plan, and it has to be something that you want to do."

HealthAlliance, like many workplaces, last year banned tobacco use inside and outside, and offered services to help employees quit smoking, Communications Director Mary Lourdes Burke said.

The counseling has proven to be successful, and by not allowing smoking on campus, Burke said the hospital is promoting a healthier image.

"It just goes hand-in-hand with what our goals are," she said. "A lot of businesses are going in this direction."

For many smokers, the cigarette break is a long tradition in the workplace, so if a company is cracking down on tobacco use, or a smoker is trying to quit, it's helpful for them to band together with fellow smokers and come up with a plan to support one another, Pappas said.

"Get a pact going and support each other. Some people just want to get through that eight-hour shift without smoking," she said. "If you think about it, you have to be pretty motivated on some of these New England days to go out and smoke, especially if you can't smoke at your building."

The HealthAlliance smoking-cessation classes run every Thursday night for six weeks, starting April 1, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Burbank campus Cancer Center in the Brian Bergevin conference room. The classes are free and people may attend as many seminars as they choose.

The following is the schedule of class themes: April 1, health effects of smoking/personal evaluation and plan; April 8, benefits of being a non-smoker/decisional balance; April 15, obstacles in quitting/coping techniques; April 22, controlling weight/situational smoking; April 29, dealing with stress/relaxation techniques; and May 6, quitting forever/how to remain a non-smoker and avoid relapse.

Singapore Customs calls a media pitch for anti-contraband cigarettes campaign

SINGAPORE - Singapore Customs is believed to be on the lookout for an advertising agency for its anti-contraband cigarettes campaign.

The contract period is for twelve months starting from April 2010 to March 2011.

The government body will be briefing the agencies on 2 March and the closing date and time for submission of tender documents is 15 March at 4.00pm.

In September 2008, Singapore Customs awarded its US$1.04 million anti-contraband campaign assignment to local shop Up BrandBuzz, following a final round of pitching, believed to involved Saatchi Lab, McCann Erickson and Mandate Advertising.

The appointment followed a ruling by the Singapore Government to stamp cigarettes with a 'Singapore duty-paid cigarette' marking to curb rising contraband sales.

Last year in January, Up BrandBuzz launched an anti-contraband campaign for Singapore Customs. The campaign aimed to convey the severity of buying, selling and possessing illegal cigarettes following the passing of a law.

Tobacco Company Marketing To African Americans

“We don’t smoke that s_ _ _. We just sell it. We reserve the right to smoke for the young, the poor, the black and stupid.”
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Executive
The tobacco industry has gone to great lengths to target the African-American community over the past 30 years. Through market research and aggressive advertising, the industry has successfully penetrated this population. The industry’s “investment” in the African-American community has had a destructive impact: African Americans suffer the greatest burden of tobacco-related mortality of any ethnic or racial group in the United States.2
Targeting African-American Youths
Research shows that cigarette company advertising and other marketing efforts greatly influence tobacco use initiation among adolescent non-smokers and maintenance among those youths who have already become regular smokers.3 80 percent of all smokers start before the age of 18 and, not surprisingly, the vast majority of kids smoke the three most heavily advertised brands. 4 5 One of these heavily advertised brands, Newport, is the cigarette brand leader among African-American youths in the United States.6 Eight out of every ten black, youth smokers smoke Newport cigarettes.7
While smoking among black youths has decreased steadily since peaking in 1997 and 1998, smoking among African American tenth graders in 2008 was almost identical to the smoking rate among this group in 1992 (6.6 percent vs. 6.5 percent, respectively), and smoking among African American twelfth graders was actually higher in 2008 than it was in 1992 (8.7 percent vs. 10.3 percent, respectively).8
Targeting African Americans through Advertising
The tobacco industry targets the African-American community through intense advertising and promotional efforts.
A 2008 study of retail outlets in California found that the number of cigarette ads per store and the proportion of stores with at least one ad for a sales promotion are increasing more rapidly in neighborhoods with a higher proportion of African-Americans.9 A 2007 study found that there were 2.6 times more tobacco advertisements per person in areas with an African American majority compared to white-majority areas. In addition, the odds that billboards were tobacco-related in African American communities were 70 percent higher than in white communities.10
African-American communities have been bombarded with cigarette advertising. Since the MSA, the average youth in the United States is annually exposed to 559 tobacco ads, every adult female 617 advertisements, and every African American adult 892 ads.11
There is more interior and exterior tobacco advertising in retail outlets in low-income communities and communities with larger African-American populations.12
Expenditures for magazine advertising of mentholated cigarettes, popular with African-Americans, increased from 13 percent of total ad expenditures in 1998 to 49 percent in 2005.13
During the two years after the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in November 1998, the average annual expenditures for Newport in magazines with high youth readership increased 13.2 percent (from $5.3 to $6.0 million).14
Studies found more cigarette ads in African-American magazines, such as Ebony and Jet, than in similar magazines, such as Time and People.

Customs enforce currency rules for incoming travelers

Travelers returning to Taiwan must make sure they do not carry with them banned food items or excessive foreign currencies and cigarettes, customs authorities have warned.
Incoming travelers are banned from bringing plants or fresh food items into Taiwan, the authorities stressed.
Foreign currencies in excess of US$10,000 (S$14,120) will have to be declared, and undeclared portions will be confiscated, they said.
Last year, the customs offices cracked down on 57 cases of undeclared foreign currencies, with the total equivalent to NT$18.41 million (S$810,040) - 14 times the sum of 2008, they said.
For the Chinese renminbi, travelers are allowed to carry 20,000 yuan each. Any excessive sums will have to be bonded at the customs, which will return them when the travelers leave Taiwan, the officials said.
For the local currency, the limit is NT$60,000 for both arriving and departing travelers. Any sums over the limit must be approved by the central bank before travelers can leave or enter Taiwan with the extra sums, the officials said.
Since the government raised the health tax on cigarettes last year, violations of the duty-free cigarettes regulations have been rising, they said.
The customs offices have reported a total of 231 violations since May 12, 2009, with travelers paying NT$1.35 million in taxes for their cigarettes, the officials said.
Each incoming traveler can carry 200 cigarettes and one litre of alcoholic drinks with no duty imposed on the items.
Individual travelers can carry up to 400 cigarettes and four litres of alcoholic drinks by paying taxes for quantities over the duty-free limit. Any excessive amounts will be seized, the officials said.

Cigarette linked to deadly attack

The man killed in what police call a random attack may have lost his life over a cigarette.

Police will not comment on a motive in the death of Marcus Tremaine Deveaux Monday night.

But several people — including Jo-Ann Amond, the sister of the man accused in the murder — said the encounter began with a request for a cigarette and ended with the 37-year-old left for dead on a street.

She said her brother told her he was walking with a friend to get cigarettes from a store when her brother’s friend, “asked him for a smoke and the man said, ‘Sorry I have none.’ ”

Deveaux was found by a passerby clinging to life in the area of 22 Ave. and 17 St. S.E. about 8 p.m.

He died before arriving at the hospital.

Police said a second man in custody on unrelated warrants is a possible suspect in the killing, but as of Thursday no charges were laid.

Police could not be reached for comment on Amond’s family’s claims there was another man badly hurt during an attack downtown the same evening.

Darrin Thomas Amond is charged with second-degree murder.