Panel snuffs tobacco tax hike

A bill to raise money for education by boosting state cigarette taxes by $1 a pack went up in smoke Thursday when a legislative committee voted unanimously against the idea.
The House Business and Industry Committee voted to table House Bill 35, sponsored by state Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, effectively killing it for this session.
Egolf said the legislation would have raised $36 million, which would have been earmarked for the public schools. He also said raising the price of cigarettes would be the best way to discourage teenagers from smoking.
Egolf also argued that the tax eventually would save money on Medicare and Medicaid because fewer people would start smoking as teens.
Health advocates, including the American Cancer Society, supported the bill. So did several labor and religious organizations, who saw they bill as a way to prevent further cuts to education and other state programs as the state grapples with a $600 million budget shortfall.
Gov. Bill Richardson in recent weeks has said he could support an increase in tobacco taxes.
Opposing the bill, however, were tobacco lobbyists and representatives of several business groups.
Among the opponents was Mark Smith of the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., the locally-based maker of American Spirit cigarettes. Smith said the company, which manufactures its cigarettes in North Carolina, employs 450 people. “We pay a good wage,” he said. “We’ve been in Santa Fe 27 years.” Smith claimed the cigarette tax increase would cause the loss of hundreds of jobs statewide in the retail industry.
State Rep. Jim Trujillo, D-Santa Fe, praised Santa Fe Natural Tobacco, noting the company is headquartered in his district. He said he’d fight to protect the company even if it meant voting against the bill — which he did.
Some opponents noted that the federal tax on cigarettes went up by 62 cents a pack only last year.
Rep. Eliseo Lee Alcon, D-Milan, who said he chews Skoal, told the committee he’d start buying his chewing tobacco at tax-free stores on Indian land if the tax goes up. His local Allsups convenience store would lose out on the $3.80 he spends there every five days on Skoal, he said.
Some committee members questioned the earmarking of revenue from the bill for education. Some expressed the fear that other funds getting revenue from tobacco excise tax — such as the University of New Mexico Cancer Center and the rural cancer treatment program — would be shortchanged.
Egolf tried to explain that while the percentage of the revenue going to those programs would go down, the actual amount would stay the same. That is because there would be more revenue coming in from the tax increase.
But some members worried that if tobacco consumption went down — as advocates predicted — revenue for these programs would suffer. Both Egolf and an analyst for the state Tax and Revenue Department said projections show the revenue would not fall.
The committee chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Espanola, said that earmarking the money for education caused confusion among members. Interviewed after the meeting, Egolf said that might have been a factor in the bill’s defeat. He said he included the earmark because polling last year showed wide public support for increasing the tax to pay for education.
There are two Senate bills still alive that would raise cigarette taxes. But even if one or both those passed the Senate, they likely would have to go through the same committee that voted down HB35.

Teenager robbed of cigarettes and a lighter at knifepoint by 3 men

A TEENAGER was robbed at knifepoint by three men.
The 17-year-old was grabbed from behind and forced around the back of shops near the junction of Ovenden Way and Nursery Lane, Halifax.
The robbers threatened him with a knife before stealing cigarettes and a lighter.
The victim suffered minor injuries in the attack.
The suspects are all white. The first, who spoke with a local accent, is described as 6ft 1ins tall and was wearing a black Adidas scarf covering his face.
The second is around 5ft 6ins tall and of skinny build, and was wearing a black baseball cap with a red logo on the front. He was wearing a black hoody with a collar similar to a scarf, which was pulled up over his mouth.
The third is not very tall, and was wearing white Adidas tracksuit bottoms and a black hoody with the hood up and a scarf over his mouth.
Anyone with information about the incident, which happened around 8.30pm on Sunday, should contact DC Brian Burke at Calderdale CID on 01422 337085.

Cigarette use in county's youth above the average

According to the Indiana Prevention Resource Center's 2008 survey of school students, Montgomery County students in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12 reported above state average use of cigarettes - making it about one in every five students in these grades that smoked on a regular basis. While the state's youth tobacco use rates have been on the decline between 2003-2008, use of cigarettes is still a significant issue for Hoosier teens.

Studies have shown that younger a person is when they become addicted to the drug nicotine, the more difficulty they will have quitting smoking. Among American adults, cigarette use kills over 400,000 people from a variety of cancer and other chronic diseases. Indiana ranks second in the nation for adult cigarette use and Montgomery County has one of the higher rates in the state at approximately 30 percent.

There have been other research findings that show that the younger a person is when they use tobacco, the more likely they are to use alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. Cigarette use takes its toll on the young person's physical and mental health. Experimenting with cigarettes can easily lead to addiction, which will present a life-long burden on the user's health and finances.

Project Toward No Tobacco (TNT) is an evidence-based curriculum that seeks to prevent tobacco use in young people; particularly those aged 10-14. The program is designed to counteract several different causes of tobacco use by young people.

The AHEAD Coalition has adopted Project TNT and will be working with each school corporation over the next few months to deliver the program. Project TNT is a class-room based program that consists of 10 core lessons and two booster sessions. The sessions are no more than 50 minutes long and use a wide range of teaching approaches to engage students.

"Preventing first use of tobacco by young people is most important, because once young people begin smoking they are unlikely to stop," said AHEAD Program Manager Liz Thompson. "All educators can play a positive role in prevention.'

Thompson has worked with each corporation to put implement Project TNT with sixth and eighth grade students; as well as any other students who may be identified as high risk for tobacco use. Thompson will be administering the program as well as training school staff to deliver it in future years. In addition to this curriculum, Thompson is also certified to offer Tobacco Addiction Program (TAP) which helps individuals under the age of 18 quit smoking.

Activities in Project TNT include games, videos, role-plays, large and small group discussion, use of student worksheets, homework assignments, activism letter writing, and a videotaping project. Student participants will be evaluated by pre- and post-test measures to determine what they have learned from the program. The evidence of a reduced youth smoking rate as a result of the program will hopefully be seen in future IPRC student self reports.

The theory underlying project TNT is that youth will best be able to resist using tobacco products if they (1) are aware of misleading social information that facilitates tobacco use (e.g., pro-tobacco advertising, inflated estimates of the prevalence of tobacco use); (2) have skills that counteract the social pressures to achieve approval by using tobacco; and (3) appreciate the physical consequences that tobacco use may have on their own lives. These are all emphasized in Project TNT.

Move to Ban Groceries Near Schools

In an attempt to make cigarettes inaccessible to underage youth, officials are mulling over banning groceries near schools and sports stadiums.
The move follows the recent introduction of the federal anti-tobacco law that specifies sale of tobacco products in designated areas only and also bans sale of cigarettes to youth under the age of 18.
Under the new by-laws that are expected to take shape soon, groceries will also be required to obtain special permits before being allowed to stock and sell cigarettes. “Once implemented, municipalities will carry out intense ‘sting perations’ to ensure rules are being followed,” said a senior official.
“A GCC-wide draft law on licensing of groceries to allow them to sell cigarettes is ready for implementation,” said Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, Head of the National Tobacco Control Committee at the UAE Ministry of Health.
“This law will help us draft regulations at the local level which will curb sale to both the youth and adults,” she explained, while talking to Khaleej Times on Thursday. She said the issue would be further discussed during a GCC-wide meeting to be held in Kuwait next week. “The law has been announced but we are still detailing the by-laws and will announce further health policies in this regard soon,” said Salem Al Darmaki, Acting Director General at the ministry.
Though a UAE-wide law barring groceries from selling cigarettes to underage youth has been there since 2000, it has never been strictly implemented, said Dr Wedad. “Groceries have been flouting rules openly since there has been no strict implementation,” she explained. However, once the licensing procedures are in place, groceries will not be able to stock any such products, and hence will not be able to make these retail sales to youth, she added.
Smoking or tobacco use among schoolchildren in the UAE starts at an early age, according to the Global School Health Survey (GSHS) released in 2005 which is the only such survey to date.According to the survey conducted among 15,790 students from 200 schools from all over the UAE, 9.3 per cent of the students smoked cigarettes and 10.7 per cent used another form of tobacco on one or more days during one month.
Boys were found to be significantly more likely than girl students to smoke or use tobacco in any form, the survey showed. Under the anti-tobacco law, shopkeepers can ask for identification in case they doubt the buyers’ age before selling any tobacco product.
However, grocery owners admitted they were not following any such rules but said the new rule could affect sales.
“People get upset if we ask for identification,” said a grocer in Sharjah, the second emirate following Dubai to ban smoking even before introduction of the federal law.
“Most regular customers ask only for only one cigarette or so. If we ask for identifications, they may stop buying from us,” he added. Another local grocer also admitted that he was aware that in some cases, adults bought cigarettes for oungsters.
“We can’t say no in such cases,” he added. Under the new federal law, sale of tobacco will entail a jail term of up to a year and a fine of up to Dh100,000.

PremiumEcigarette Works to Make E-cigarettes as Accessible as Traditional Cigarettes

PremiumEstore LLC has been closely monitoring the news about the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulating e-cigarettes. Today, it is excited to announce that the FDA cannot regulate electronic cigarettes, making it possible to now offer its products to national chains, and other retailers, on a wholesale basis.
A recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon sided with two electronic cigarette suppliers in their lawsuit against the FDA, explains an Associated Press article.
Last year, two e-cigarette companies sued the government after regulators stopped shipments of electronic cigarettes because the FDA said it found cancer-causing ingredients in the products. This was despite manufacturers' claims that the products were safer than tobacco cigarettes.
And, while the FDA recently gained the power to regulate tobacco-based cigarettes, electronic cigarettes don't contain tobacco, and don't fall under that regulation.
Electronic cigarettes provide smokers with the freedom to smoke everywhere. They are tobacco and tar free. The smoke is almost comparable to traditional cigarettes.
"So, smokers can now go ahead and purchase electronic cigarettes with ease and stop smoking traditional cigarettes," says Vitali Servutas, co-owner PremiumEstore.
The E-cigarette provides smokers with the physical sensation of a cigarette without the dangerous side effects. A vapor liquid simulates smoke and a microprocessor activates an orange glowing light at the tip.
The electronic cigarette is safe to use in the house or car. There is no flame required, making it even safer than traditional cigarettes. And, it does not provide any second-hand smoke hazards.
"This ruling provides us with the ability to sell e-cigarettes to wholesale distributors and small business owners at a better price," Servutas adds. "That's why we're currently pursuing national chains. We want to make the e-cigarette just as accessible as the traditional cigarette."
The e-cigarette is perfect for people who want to break free of the habit completely, and for smokers working in non-smoking environments.
Wholesale buyers will benefit from buying PremiumEcigarette products because it provides customers with top-notch quality products in addition to a high level of customer support. It also offers several models, including two of the best (PR110 and PR111), and maintains the lowest prices on the market for the two-part models.
PremiumEcigarette provides free shipping for all of its U.S. products in addition to same day, Saturday or next business day shipping; a 30-day money back guarantee; and refill cartridges that are equivalent to more than one pack of regular cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes not a drug device, judge says

Electronic cigarettes will remain on the market for now, after a federal judge's ruling this week that could have wider implications for federal regulation of tobacco products.
Some tobacco-control advocates warned that if upheld, the ruling could give rise to a host of new, nicotine-laced products that historically have been restricted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The preliminary ruling said electronic cigarettes are not drug-delivery devices but should be treated as tobacco products.
"This opens the door for manufacturers of non-tobacco products to insert nicotine, a highly addictive substance and, in certain uses, dangerous, into a wide variety of non-tobacco products that would previously have been forbidden," said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Made mostly in China, the tube-shaped e-cigarettes are battery-powered and include a heating element that vaporizes a mix of nicotine and a type of alcohol for the smoker to inhale. Imported e-cigarettes have been advertised in the United States as alternatives to conventional cigarettes, sometimes with claims that e-cigarettes are less harmful to smokers' health.
The FDA considers e-cigarettes to be unapproved drug-delivery devices and has halted some shipments into the country, prompting a lawsuit by two importers based in Florida and Arizona. The companies say they have sold hundreds of thousands of e-cigarettes in the U.S. in the past two years, but the FDA action has depleted inventories and threatened their businesses.
Judge Richard J. Leon of U.S. District Court in Washington sided with the importers, issuing a preliminary injunction on Thursday ordering the FDA to stop blocking importation of e-cigarettes. Leon wrote that the importers are likely to prevail in their argument that e-cigarettes are not subject to regulation by the FDA's drug division.
Instead, e-cigarettes fall under the agency's new authority to regulate tobacco products, Leon wrote.
Congress passed legislation last year that for the first time gives the FDA oversight of the tobacco industry. Among other powers, the agency has authority to review for approval any new products that claim to be less harmful than conventional tobacco products.
"This case appears to be yet another example of FDA's aggressive efforts to regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices," Leon wrote.
The FDA "has not cited any evidence that electronic cigarettes are any more an immediate threat to public health and safety than traditional cigarettes, which are readily available to the public," Leon wrote.
The ruling, if upheld, raises questions about how the FDA will approach "hybrid products" that contain nicotine but are not clearly either traditional tobacco products or nicotine-cessation products, said John F. Banzhaf III, a professor of public-interest law at George Washington University.
Banzhaf said the FDA could argue on appeal that the judge overstepped by failing to give deference to the agency's scientific expertise.
"The question of how best to regulate [novel products] . . . should lie first with the agency and not the judge, who does not have any particular skill or expertise in this field," he said.
Myers with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said he believes the decision will be overturned on appeal. "I think it is a misunderstanding of long-standing law," he said.
The FDA said it is reviewing the ruling and considering options.
"Nicotine in products currently regulated as drugs and devices is derived from tobacco products, but that doesn't make them tobacco products," Myers said.

Blocking import of 'electronic cigarettes' not right

On Thursday, a federal judge said the versions of conventional smokes powered by battery also called electronic cigarettes may not be banned by the Food and Drug Administration.
Since 2008 the FDA impounded imports of the devices. The two suppliers, Smoking Everywhere and Sottera, took a legal action to halt the agency's action.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon stated that such cigarettes were not tobacco products and were not subject to such restrictions.
"This case appears to be yet another example of FDA's aggressive efforts to regulate recreational tobacco products as drugs or devices," Leon stated.
FDA spokesperson George Strait said, “The agency was reviewing the judge's decision. The public health issues surrounding electronic cigarettes are of serious concern."
FDA called e-cigarettes unapproved drug gadgets.
The FDA compared e-cigarettes to nicotine gums and said these gums were regulated because the suppliers of these gums promote the product stating that it helps people quit smoking.
Zogby poll conducted last year found Americans divided over the regulation of e-ciggarettes by the government.

Long Island Cigarette Dealer Awaits Sentence

A New York Indian reservation smoke shop proprietor who made a fortune supplying untaxed cigarettes to the black market will have to wait to learn his sentence in a racketeering case.
Rodney Morrison was convicted of trafficking in contraband cigarettes on Long Island's Poospatuck Reservation.
A federal judge began a sentencing hearing for Morrison on Thursday morning, but after hours of arguing by the lawyers he adjourned the proceedings to be concluded another day.
It could be days or weeks before the court takes up the matter again.
The case has been watched closely by New York's tribes.
Reservation shops now supply about a third of all cigarettes sold in the state.
Morrison's case has raised questions about whether that business is legal.

Philip Morris targets S.F.'s cigarette fee

In what has become a familiar scenario, Philip Morris USA has filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court over the city's new 20-cent fee tacked onto packs of cigarettes.
The move likely foreshadows a lawsuit - the second time in 18 months the tobacco giant will have sued San Francisco over its cutting-edge cigarette policies. The company said the city's first-of-its-kind ban on cigarette sales in drug stores including Walgreens violated its constitutional rights to advertise its products, but its claim was rejected in court.
Now, Philip Morris and some local retailers say the city's 20-cent charge on cigarette packs, the brainchild of Mayor Gavin Newsom that was implemented Oct. 1, violates state law because voters didn't approve it. The city argues that since it's a fee, rather than a tax, voter approval isn't required.
Newsom said the city completed an extensive study showing that it costs San Francisco $7.5 million every year to clean up cigarette butts tossed onto city streets - and that smokers should be the ones picking up the tab.
"Twenty cents a pack - that's what it costs us," Newsom said of the clean-up, adding he wasn't surprised by Philip Morris' complaint. "We anticipated this. I think they'll lose. They lose most of their lawsuits."
Newsom has long said he believes chewing gum is the real culprit when it comes to littering the city's streets, but he's not ready to levy a fee on packs of gum. Even in open-minded San Francisco, that would likely be a real, um, sticky situation.

Armed man takes cash, cigarettes from Shawnee convenience store

An armed man took cash, cigars and cigarettes from a Shawnee convenience store in the early hours of Monday.
Shawnee police reported that at 2:45 a.m., a man entered the 7-Eleven at 11023 Johnson Drive and asked the clerk for cigars. The clerk turned around to retrieve the cigars, and when the clerk turned back, the man had produced a gun, Shawnee Police Capt. Bill Hisle said.
The man demanded cash and cartons of cigarettes. Before leaving, he told the clerk to go lay down in the back room and not call anybody. A K-9 unit search indicated the man went north across Johnson Drive to the Hartman Harware parking lot, where the trail ended, Hisle said, so he likely got in a car parked there and drove away.
Hisle said the man is described as a black male in his mid-30s, 5-foot-10 and 170-180 pounds with a mustache. He was wearing all-black clothing, including a stocking cap, jacket, pants and gloves. Anyone with information should contact.

Bulgaria Introduces Staggering Cigarette Tax Hike

Bulgarian smokers will have to swallow a raise in excise duties on cigarettes and their prices as of January 1, as the government struggles to curb smoking and relieve the health care system.
Under a decision that the parliament took at the end of November, a BGN 101 excise duty for 1000 cigarettes is introduced instead of the previous BGN 41, while the proportional tax is 23% of the sales price instead of 40,5%. The latter will affect mostly expensive cigarette brands.
The tax for tobacco for pipes and cigarettes is set at BGN 100 per kg.
The new duties increase the price of a pack of cigarettes anywhere between BGN 1,10 and 1,40 making the price of the best-selling “Victory” brand BGN 5 instead of the current BGN 3,40.
Opponents to the tax hike claim that it will boost cigarette smuggling and may lead to the bankruptcy of the dominant state cigarette maker Bulgartabak.
Bulgaria has the second highest percentage of smokers in Europe and plans to ban smoking in all public spaces as of June next year.