BusinessVibes Showcases the Tobacco Industry

Covering the main players and regions in the industry, the portal serves as a starting point for companies wishing to expand their international business. BusinessVibes is a perfect fit for those willing to search for new business partners and opportunities to make new deals.

Tobacco and Allied Products - the new industry introduced to the website includes 118 leading companies. Those which have already joined us, represent more than 30 countries considered to be crucial players in described Industry. Members of this group on BusinessVibes can benefit also from database of multiple international events gathering experts and leading exhibitors in this industry. All the companies and events listed on the website were hand-selected and verified by the BusinessVibes research team.

Tobacco Industry gathers those companies, which are engaged in growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. Tobacco industry is being developed in many places worldwide as tobacco itself can grow in any environment and on every continent apart from Antarctica.

BusinessVibes provides a platform for international buyers and sellers helping them to make connections and form partnerships. New companies wishing to join the directory are verified and categorized by the BusinessVibes team to ensure that listings are trustworthy and useful to our members.

Industries already covered on BusinessVibes include Textiles, Food Processing, Plastic Products, Farm Supplies, Industrial Equipment, Industrial Chemicals, Electronics and Electricals, Renewable Energy, Hotel Supplies, Metal Mining, and more.

Insurance company's new questionnaire on tobacco use and gun storage irks Oregon state workers

Tobacco users were outraged to find they would pay a $25 monthly surcharge for all of 2012, even if they quit mid-year. That policy has been modified — employees can stop paying when they quit, and the insurer will take them at their word.

"There was no incentive for them to quit mid-year," Public Employees Benefit Board Deputy Administrator Kathy Loretz said. "Now there's an incentive for people who make the good choice and stop smoking."

Directors of the state Public Employees Benefit Board voted unanimously last week to change the policy.

The questions were part of a new state program that uses financial incentives to encourage healthy behavior — and financial penalties if state workers refuse to participate in education programs designed to curb the behavior.

The second set of questions, involving firearms, riled gun owners who were asked questions about the manner in which their firearms are stored. The health assessment questionnaire asked whether respondents speed, wear seatbelts or drink and drive.

The firearms questions are part of insurer Kaiser Permanente's standard health questionnaire used across the nation, Loretz said. "It's a safety question, but some people were offended by it," Loretz said.

State Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli said the questions were a "violation of the right to privacy and the Second Amendment right to bear arms" that "ironically put worker's health and wellness at risk."

"If this information was ever lost or leaked, criminals could find in one convenient database a list of which individuals own guns, and how accessible those guns are," Ferrioli said in a statement. "This question is utterly inappropriate."

The benefits board asked Kaiser to remove the firearm question.

Tobacco company steps up fight

THE tobacco company Philip Morris Limited has opened a second legal fight against the Australian government over the plain packaging laws with the filing of a High Court challenge yesterday.
Philip Morris, which has already initiated a claim under trade law, joins three other tobacco companies in taking High Court action to claim that the government has taken the company's brands and intellectual property despite being unable to demonstrate that the plain pack move would reduce smoking.
''We believe plain packaging violates the Australian constitution because the government is seeking to acquire our property without paying compensation,'' the company's spokesman, Mr Chris Argent, said.

Progam links exercise to kicking cigarettes

Using jumping jacks and leg kicks to help kill cigarette cravings is the basis of an Ontario Lung Association fitness program coming to Sarnia-Lambton.

Quit and Get Fit programs will be held at In Motion: Health Wellness Fitness in Sarnia, and the Mooretown Sports Complex in Mooretown in the new year.

Participants receive free personal training sessions that combine smoking cessation support with fitness and health information.

The association and its partners believe the combination will motivate and support people trying to quit, while kick-starting a healthier new year.

Research shows physical activity can help reduce cravings and manage nicotine withdrawal symptoms, the association said.

Meanwhile, Ontario's health care system spends nearly $2 billion on tobacco-related diseases each year, said Health Minister Deb Matthews, noting tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death.

"Helping more people quit smoking is critical to improving the health of Ontarians and their loved ones. Quit and Get Fit is a unique option to help people, break their addiction to nicotine in a healthy and fun environment."

Marketing through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube is being done to appeal to young adults who have higher smoking rates than older Ontarians, said Andrea Stevens Lavigne, the association's vice president of provincial programs.

"We're aiming to reach this audience online where they are already spending a great deal of time," she said.

Programs are available for members and non-members at partnering fitness centres in 12 communities across the province.

Registration is first-come, first-served until Jan. 8 or until spaces are filled. Programs continue until March 10.

USAS campaign to ban sale of some cigarettes on campus

A group of about 10 students paid a visit to the basement of the University bookstore in Ferren Mall early yesterday morning. But unlike most students, they were not there to buy books.
Instead the students, part of United Students Against Sweatshops, found success in their campaign to stop the sale of R.J. Reynolds cigarettes on campus.
“We had a small victory — we had Reynolds [cigarette] products pulled from the campus stores,” said Beth Breslaw, USAS vice president. “This [victory] is only the first leg of the journey.”
After weeks of protesting against the R.J. Reynolds cigarettes, the group met with John Cusick, general manager of the Barnes and Noble bookstores on campus, and received his approval of the campaign resulting in select campus stores taking certain cigarettes off their shelves.
Four campus stores as of yesterday afternoon are removing R.J. Reynolds-brand cigarettes, including Camel and Natural American Spirit cigarettes, from their shelves. These stores include the Livingston Student Center bookstore, the Student Activities Center on the College Avenue campus, the Busch Campus Center and Ferren Mall bookstore.
Student Life runs the Cook/Douglass Barnes and Noble and the Cook Campus Center store and would need to be addressed separately, said Breslaw, a School of Arts and Sciences senior.
University students held signs yesterday displaying pictures of the harsh conditions within a R.J. Reynolds worker camp in North Carolina, with the intention of seeing Cusick to stop the sale of these cigarettes on campus.
According to an open letter R.J. Reynolds issued in October 2011, Reynolds American and R.J. Reynolds state that they support efforts to ensure workers in all parts of the industry have safe working conditions.
R.J. Reynolds has contracts with independent farms across the United States, including ones across North Carolina for tobacco-leaf products, according to the letter.
“Those contracts require the farmers to comply with all laws — including labor laws covering issues such as employment, and working and living conditions of workers,” the letter reads. “We meet with growers regularly and encourage them to follow all applicable laws and regulations.”
Breslaw said the University’s chapter of USAS delivered letters to the general managers of all seven bookstores on campus within the past two months and emailed the letter with their requests to see Cusick.
The letter, written on behalf of USAS, Rutgers University Campus Coalition Against Trafficking, Sociedad Estudiantil Dominicana, Rutgers United Students Coalition, Women’s Center Coalition, Rutgers University for the Welfare of Animals, Rutgers Undergraduate Geography Society and the Asian American Leadership Cabinet, addressed the group’s struggle to reach him and their mission.
In the meeting, Cusick said he did not receive the emails or the letters but read the letter for the first time yesterday and was taken aback by the photos of the cramped work camps.
“Jesus Christ, in my mind that is happening in Honduras or somewhere like that,” he said while looking at the photos of the living quarters of the workers on the posters.
Of the 700 Barnes and Noble bookstores on college campuses across the nation, only a handful of those stores sell cigarettes, which suggests why the issue was not addressed, Cusick said.
“We originally didn’t want to sell cigarettes when we got here,” he said.
The company that ran the Ferren Mall bookstore before Barnes and Noble sold cigarettes in the store, Cusick said.
Cusick said he would not be able to make a written statement in support of the campaign until he contacts Joel Friedman, vice president of General Merchandising and Store Construction/Design at Barnes & Noble College Booksellers.
Breslaw and others became involved in the cause after visiting work camps and tobacco fields in Dudley, N.C.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, a labor organization part of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organization, hosted the USAS trip to North Carolina over the summer to visit work camps and tobacco fields, Breslaw said.

E-Cigarette Manufacturer ECigator Smokes Out the Competition with Top-Quality, Affordable Products

With more than 5,000 identified chemicals reportedly released in tobacco smoke, the trend of smokers switching to electronic cigarettes is quickly sweeping the world. The popular new smokeless cigarettes allow smokers to fulfill their nicotine craving and enjoy the habitual sensation of inhaling and exhaling, while avoiding many of the harmful toxins associated with traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Many studies have also concluded e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking all together.

With the growing demand for the electric cigarette, companies looking to sell quality e-cigarettes and accessories are choosing to purchase their products from ECigator.com, a wholesale e-cigarette manufacturer and supplier offering superior products at wholesale prices. Based in China, the company meets both Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) requirements, giving companies the opportunity to brand themselves on some of the most top-quality electronic cigarette products available on the market.

Smokers making the switch from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes want to be assured the products they are purchasing are made from the best quality materials.

Recognized as the world’s largest retail e-cigarette website, ECigator’s specialized manufacturing processes continue to impress customers and companies alike.

Featuring the popular eGo-T cigarette, ECigator exceeds customer’s expectations by offering a more stable and higher quality product with no leaking and no burning taste. The company also offers the eGo-TC cigarette with a brand new five LED light power show and no liquid leakage guaranteed.

ECigator not only cares about manufacturing and supplying top-quality goods, but also does so at an affordable price.

ECigator.com states, “Just as we are concerned about our customers’ health, so are we when it comes to the price. Yes, we offer e-cigarettes at competitive prices when compared to other electronic companies. No other company can entertain our customers with value-added service and high-quality electronic products.”

In addition to producing a variety of e-cigarettes, including PCC e-cigarettes, disposable e-cigarettes and e-cigars, ECigator also offers a range of accessories all ready for companies to brand as their own.

Judge Blocks Tax Scheme in New Cigarette Law

A provision of the new cigarette-trafficking law unfairly subjects remote sellers of tobacco products to unfair local and state taxes, a federal judge ruled.
Passed to combat illegal trafficking and cigarette sales to minors, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act prohibits the post office from delivering cigarettes sold on the Internet and forces Native American vendors to pay excise taxes to local and state governments.
Robert Gordon, a member of the Seneca Nation of Indians who sells tobacco products online through Allofourbutts.com and by mail from upstate New York, claimed that the act cost him nearly all his business. Before the law took effect on June 30, 2010, Gordon said Internet and phone sales accounted for 95 percent of his business.
Gordon's lawsuit in Washington, D.C., claimed constitutional violations and infringement on tribal sovereignty. Under the regulations, Gordon can accept only phone orders and must use a private shipping service to mail cigarettes across six states.
He said the new regulations caused a 90 percent loss of business and made him lay off 16 of 22 workers.
A federal judge had previously denied Gordon's motion for a restraining order and preliminary injunction, but the D.C. Circuit revived Gordon's suit in February.
On remand, Chief U.S. Judge Royce Lamberth upheld the ban on shipping cigarettes through the mail, saying that the ban aligns with "the legitimate government interests of reducing underage tobacco use and cigarette trafficking."
Gordon had argued that the mail ban was intended to "reward the lobbying efforts of the tobacco industry and convenience stores and amounts to simple economic protectionism," according to the Dec. 5 decision.
Lamberth did agree, however, to stay enforcement of the law's taxing mechanism, saying Gordon is likely prove that the provision violates due process because it "appears to impose a new, independent duty on the delivery seller by requiring that they ensure that the applicable state and local taxes are paid," even if the retailer doesn't have a substantial connection with those jurisdictions.
Gordon cannot advance claims that PACT violates his 10th Amendment rights by "commandeering" states to collect taxes from delivery sellers before a product can be shipped, the 28-page opinion states.

N.J. man found with 1,324 cartons of untaxed cigarettes

Maryland State Police say a traffic stop on the Eastern Shore led to the discovery of more than 1,300 cartons of untaxed cigarettes in a New Jersey man's van.

When a trooper stopped a man on Saturday near Berlin for negligent driving, police say he noticed cargo in the back and smelled tobacco. WGMD-FM reports that a search of the van turned up 1,324 cartons of cigarettes without tax stamps worth more than $79,000.

Police say the driver, 49-year-old Charles Davis Jr. of Carteret, N.J., did not have any documentation for transporting the cigarettes. The tax loss to the state is estimated at more than $26,000.

Davis was charged with transporting unstamped cigarettes and released on $25,000 bond.

Roll-your-own cigarette stores, including one in Camillus

A pack of name-brand cigarettes can run as high as $10 in New York state, and a carton about $80. In New York City, a pack can cost up to $14, and a carton $130.
In comparison, a pack of roll-your-own cigarettes can cost less than $4 in the state and a carton less than $30. With tightening budgets and a bad economy, more people are turning to roll-your-own machines in stores to get their cigarettes.

But $4 packs and $30 cartons might be short-lived. The fate of the roll-your-own machines in stores is up to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which is trying to determine whether those roll-your-own machines manufacture cigarettes. If the court determines that they do, a federal tax on each pack of roll-your-own cigarettes will be added, making those cigarettes similar in price to name-brand ones.
Jonathan Behrins, an attorney at the Behrins Law Firm in Staten Island, said he believes the decision will apply to local, state and federal laws. Behrins represents Island Smokes, a roll-your-own shop, in a New York City case. “People in the industry all over the nation are holding their breath to this decision,” Behrins said.
Roll-your-own stores sell the tobacco and empty cigarette tubes to customers, and the rolling machine is available for customer use, said a spokesperson for Tobacco Express, which has a store in Camillus. The customers roll the cigarettes themselves for their own personal use.
“When you go to the supermarket and the coffee section, you buy the beans and put it in the grinding machine, and it turns into coffee,” the spokesperson said. “It is the same thing we do.”

Roxon denies Big Tobacco the prospect of any smokescreen

They argue that cigarettes are a legal product, smoking is a matter of choice, and that when it comes to telling us how we can live our lives, the nanny state can go stick it in its pipe and smoke it.

This is all fine, up to a point. And that point is when smokers get sick and automatically assume that it is the job of the health system - that is, the taxpayers - to step in and cover the cost of their collapsed lungs, clogged arteries and triple bypasses.

It is a logically inconsistent position and, frankly, quite a pathetic one. If smokers and the tobacco industry are going to be hairy-chested about the manner in which they live their life, they should also be held to account for the manner of their death.
I write that not as some clean-living puritan, but one of those poor sad dills who has become addicted to this stupid drug, but who is now happily (and hopefully) in the final stages of a victorious battle against nicotine, setting aside last week's beer-fuelled regression at the office Christmas party.

You hear smokers say all the time that the amount of tax levied on their habit is more than enough to cover the cost to the health system of smoking-related death and disease, and lost productivity through the premature departure of the nicotine-addicted from this mortal coil.

The reality is somewhat different. The cost of smoking to the health system alone is a very hefty $31.5 billion a year. Annually, some 15,000 of us go to meet our maker many years before we otherwise would. Think back to early 2010 when then prime minister Kevin Rudd jacked up the price of a packet of fags by 25 per cent a packet. Even that whopping increase only raised $5 billion, which is just one-sixth the annual illness bill from our vulgar little habit.

The tobacco industry has been having a pretty ordinary time of it of late, as all those personal choice arguments vanish in a puff of acrid smoke as even smokers like this one start to admit there is no logical defence available for smoking or the public costs associated with smoking.

As a final last-gasp action, the tobacco industry has been mounting a spurious civil libertarian argument against plain packaging, featuring a matronly nanny-state lady displayed at tobacconists and corner store cigarette counters. The campaign has failed to ignite the outrage the tobacco industry would have envisaged because even smokers know deep down that what they are doing is quite dumb.

Cigarettes worth more than £10,000 stolen from newsagent

Police are investigating a break-in at the Crofters Newsagent on Greenburn Drive at around 1.30am on Friday, December 9.

Cigarettes worth a low five-figure sum were taken during the break-in.

It is thought that a vehicle may have been used to help transport the cigarettes from the shop.

Police are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen someone acting suspiciously or saw any vehicles in the area at the time.

Electronic Cigarettes Sponsors Rosie Fortescue Fashion Launch

The stars of the hit E4 reality show Made In Chelsea turned up in force for a night of champers, cupcakes and canapés, as Rosie chatted about the inspiration behind her exciting new blog launch AtFashionForte.com. Everyone enjoyed smoking SKYCIG Lite, handed out on silver trays, with Francis Boulle (who Tatler recently announced as London’s most eligible chap) exclaiming the Menthol cartomizers were his favourite!
Voted ‘Best Electronic Cigarette in the UK’ in 2011, SKYCIG offers smokers the chance to light up whenever they feel like it, at a far reduced risk to their health. E-cigs are a healthier alternative to smoking as they don’t produce second-hand smoke, nor do they contain the harmful carcinogens or high levels of nicotine found in ordinary cigarettes!
How do they work? New to the UK market, SKYCIG Lite are battery powered and provide smokers with inhaled doses of nicotine by delivering a vapourised liquid nicotine solution. When the body absorbs the nicotine, users exhale a water vapour, which looks like a puff of smoke to the common eye. This vapour provides a sensation similar to that of inhaled tobacco smoke - but no tobacco, smoke or combustion is actually involved! The similarity to a genuine cigarette is uncanny, with better vapour production for a smaller cigarette than competitor brands.

Man attempts to hide marijuana in patrol car, Alameda police say

A man who was detained as part of a theft investigation was arrested after he attempted to conceal marijuana in a patrol car, police said.
The arrest occurred shortly before 10 p.m. Nov. 20 at Mel's Bowl on Park Street.
The 40-year-old man, who was suspected of using fraudulent credit cards at the business on several occasions, attempted to discard the marijuana under the rear seat of the car, police said.
MARIJUANA POSSESSION -- Police are investigating a report from a teacher that a student was selling marijuana-laced baked goods to another juvenile in the 1900 block of Third Street. It was reported about 9:20 a.m. In another narcotics case, police arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of possessing narcotics paraphernalia about 10:30 a.m. at Alameda South Shore Center.
GRAND THEFT -- The theft of a laptop was reported in the 1200 block of Park Street about 2:25 p.m.
BURGLARY -- A burglary was reported about 6:10 p.m. in the 1800 block of Santa Clara Avenue.
PETTY THEFT -- Someone stole a catalytic converter from a vehicle parked in the 2200 block of Encinal Avenue, police said. The theft was reported just before 9 p.m.

Tobacco firm gave thousands of pounds worth of hospitality to nine MPs who opposed smoking bill

MPs who received thousands of pounds worth of hospitality from one of the world’s largest tobacco companies opposed a new law banning smoking in cars.
The parliamentary register of members’ interests shows Japan Tobacco International, which produces Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut and Camel cigarettes, spent £23,000 entertaining 20 MPs in the past six months.
Almost half of them voted against a Private Member’s Bill banning smoking in cars carrying children.
The MP behind the Bill, Labour’s Alex Cunningham, has asked Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon to investigate.
In May, seven Tory MPs accepted tickets from JTI to the Chelsea Flower Show, costing at least £1,100 each for themselves plus a guest.
Less than a month later they voted against the Bill, which passed the first stage of the parliamentary process by 78 votes to 66 on June 22.
The seven were Therese Coffey, Richard Ottaway, Christopher Pincher, Alun Cairns, Stephen Metcalfe, Laurence Robertson and Michael Ellis.
In August Labour MP Simon Danczuk and Tory Andrew Rosindell watched the England versus India Test match at the Oval courtesy of JTI. They had also voted against the anti-smoking Bill.
Mr Danczuk received hospitality to the value of £1,389 and Mr Rosindell was given £1,447 worth. Both attended the game with a guest.
The MP behind the bill – Labour’s Alex Cunningham – is now demanding an investigation by John Lyon the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

Tobacco-free zones

This Thursday is the 36th anniversary of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, an event encouraging smokers to quit, if just for a day. In commemoration of the day, the communities of Brocton and Portland have announced newly established smoke-free zones.

On Monday, the Tri-County Tobacco-Free Program supplied the signs to post to the areas. The signs were presented at the Portland Town Hall.

Roxane Sobecki, town clerk in Portland, said, "The places that are now smoke free are Portland Town Hall property, the Community Park in Portland, Arch Park for Brocton, Brocton's Little League fields, and Brocton Village Office property. We (the town) did the resolution at the October's meeting.

"It was so nice to work with them (Tri-County Tobacco Free). The library applied first, and that's how I found out about it. I wasn't sure, but found out that we qualified (for the signs) as well."

Ahira Memorial Library in Brocton, Darwin Barker Library in Fredonia and Minerva Library in Sherman also recently established their tobacco-free outdoor areas.

Laurie Adams, Tri-County Tobacco Free Program Director said, "Establishing tobacco free property and grounds is a proven way to reduce the social acceptability of tobacco use, encourage smokers to quit and make sure our youth don't start. Across the state hundreds of communities and businesses have established tobacco free outdoor policies because we know that secondhand smoke is a class A carcinogen - a substance known to cause cancer. There's no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure. If you can smell it, secondhand smoke is harming you. Cigarette butts are a danger to our children and to the environment. We applaud the actions taken by Brocton, Portland, and many other communities in our country. We ask adults to please observe the policy and help protect our children and the environment."

Brocton Village Trustee Art Donovan commented, "I am all in favor of this. I smoked for about 48 years. I used the patch and quit 13 years ago. I have had bladder cancer and one of my lungs has a problem. I know that it is my fault for smoking. I would be willing to talk to groups through a hospital and tell them my story."

Tobacco program a waste of money

The Food and Drug Administration will spend $600 million in the next five years to “educate the public about the dangers of tobacco use.”

You would have to be living under a rock not to know the dangers of tobacco use. And yet our government, about to go bankrupt and floating in debt, is going to waste over half a billion dollars telling us what we already know?

If people want to use tobacco despite all the evidence of its ill effects, then they probably will anyway.

When is this government going to figure out that the good times are over and we can’t be wasting limited revenues on idiotic programs like this? If this president and Congress are serious about trimming the deficit and waste, cancel this program and use the $600 million to pay down the debt or bail out another solar company.

Stores Caught Selling Tobacco To Minors

Federal officials warned 37 Colorado stores in October that undercover inspectors caught clerks selling cigarettes or smokeless tobacco to minors.
The violations were cited in enforcement warning letters sent to store operators by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The letters warned merchants to immediately correct the violations or face a "no-tobacco-sale order," product seizure and/or civil fines.
Store operators were given 15 working days to send a written response describing their intent to comply with the order and explain their plan to end violations.
Here's a sampling of violations cited in warning letters issued last month.
Florence Mini Mart in Aurora was warned that on July 16 a store employee sold someone under 18 years old a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and failed check a photo identification to confirm the buyer was over 18.
Maxx Liquors in Lakewood was warned that on July 8 a clerk sold a pack of Blue Camel cigarettes to a minor without checking an ID.
The King Soopers at 4271 S. Buckley Road in Aurora was warned that on July 20 a clerk sold a pack of Camel 99’s Filters cigarettes to a minor without checking ID.
The Greeley Fast Break store was warned that on July 26 a clerk sold a pack of Basic Gold cigarettes to a minor without checking ID.
A 1st Stop at 2900 S. Wadsworth Blvd. in Denver was warned that on July 1 a clerk sold a pack of Newport 100s cigarettes to a minor without checking ID.

Location of Stroke a Factor in Smoking Cessation

Most smokers who have a stroke have not dropped the habit by one year after the event, which might be related to their intentions to quit before the stroke and the location of the stroke, researchers found.

At a single Spanish hospital, nearly 70% of smokers hospitalized for a stroke had stopped smoking by discharge, although only 40% remained abstinent at one year, according to Rosa Suñer Soler, PhD, of Girona University in Spain, and colleagues.

Those who had plans to quit smoking in the near future before the stroke were significantly more likely to have quit by one year after discharge (OR 7.29, 95% CI 1.89 to 28.07), the researchers reported online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Jessamine schools target underage smokers

Students younger than 18 who bring tobacco to East or West Jessamine high schools in Nicholasville can find themselves paying a steep price.
Literally.
School resource officers at the two Jessamine County high schools now issue citations to underage students if they are caught with cigarettes or tobacco products on school property. The tickets are referred to Jessamine County Juvenile Court, where students can face fines of as much as $150 for violations, Jessamine Superintendent Lu Young said.
Citations are issued to enforce Kentucky state law that prohibits possession of tobacco products by anyone younger than 18. Fines are paid to the court and don't go to the school system, Young said.
Students 18 and older can't be ticketed for tobacco violations, but they can receive administrative punishment from the school system, Young said.
East Jessamine High began issuing tickets to tobacco violators at the start of the previous school year, and West Jessamine High started last month. District officials said both schools have seen a sharp drop in cases of students bringing tobacco on campus.
Before the policy went into effect, East Jessamine had 120 incidents of students smoking in 2008-09 and 148 in 2009-10, Principal Janet Granada said.
"Last year, we only had 39," Granada said. "Once the word spreads that there's a fine involved, it seems to lessen smoking greatly."
Young says the intent is to reduce student smoking, not punish students.
"We're not about fining kids or busting kids and that sort of thing," she said. "But these deterrents are there for a reason.
"And if it can become the ticket that moves a kid toward smoking cessation, then that's a win for us."
Brad Hughes, a spokesman for the Kentucky School Boards Association, said other Kentucky school districts might be taking such steps to combat smoking, but he hasn't heard of any. State Education Department spokeswoman Lisa Gross also said this is the first she has heard of school officers ticketing underage students for having tobacco on school property.
Federal law generally prohibits tobacco in any building used for educational purposes but doesn't cover outdoor smoking on school property.
Many of Kentucky's 174 public school districts, including Jessamine County, have adopted tobacco-free policies on their campuses. Fayette County Public Schools prohibit cigarettes and tobacco products in buildings, on grounds, in school-owned vehicles and on field trips.
Presumably, however, any public school district could adopt a court-based approach like the one at East and West Jessamine.
The Jessamine County effort is the brainchild of Billy King, a school resource officer at East Jessamine High. School resource officers in the Jessamine County system are official members of the Nicholasville police.
"We recognized we had a problem with minors using tobacco," King said. "We talked with faculty members and also with the court system, and we decided that I would make it a rule that if students were caught in possession of tobacco on campus, they would receive citations.
"I felt that it would prevent them from bringing tobacco to school if they knew they could get a fine. But I also knew that they probably didn't think it would happen. Police generally don't cite juveniles for tobacco possession, even though the law has been on the books forever."
King said he first posted signs around the school warning that citations would be issued to any minors who were caught with tobacco. After waiting a few weeks for students to get the picture, he started issuing tickets.
"The word got around pretty quickly that the court system was putting some pretty big penalties on the violators," he said.
Young said she didn't know exactly how many students have been fined, but that the number is relatively small.
"They only had to fine a couple of students at East High before the kids were saying, 'Forget it,'" she said. "Now, they're applying the same thing at West High too, and apparently it's gotten some quick reaction there as well."
Asked whether parents end up paying the fines, Young said that many students now have part-time jobs and could pay the fines themselves. Individual families would decide how they want to handle it, she said.
King said he understands that the court has required students, not parents, to pay the fines. He said, however, that fines are not imposed in every case.
Young said the school district is trying to support the effort with smoking-cessation classes for students who want help.
"The kids who don't smoke say they're really annoyed when they have to use bathrooms that smell like smoke," she said. "This is another weapon to try and cut out smoking in the high schools. I'm hoping it's going to be successful."

Council plan to shame smokers at outdoor dining areas

SMOKERS would be shamed into restricting their smoking at outdoor dining areas under a novel campaign being considered by an inner-city council.

Instead of banning smoking in alfresco dining precincts, the City of Yarra is looking at a campaign calling on smokers to be more considerate of the majority.

"This will require a community regulation approach where it will become the norm for smokers to move away from non-smokers especially where eating and drinking or people are seated and/or congregating," says a proposal before a council meeting tonight.

Will smokers behave without a ban? Have your say below
Several councils have introduced bans at children's playgrounds and some other public spaces but so far only Baw Baw Shire has moved to outlaw smoking in outdoor dining areas.

The Municipal Association of Victoria wants the State Government to launch a statewide alfresco ban and to consider one at beaches too.

A six-month community consultation by Yarra Council has revealed strong support for a smoking ban at playgrounds but opinions are sharply divided over whether it should extend to outdoor dining areas.

The proposal before council says that a health promotion campaign, supported by local businesses, might work in areas where smoking is not restricted.

"(It would) call on smokers to be considerate of the majority," it said.

Smoking 'primes the brain for cocaine cravings'

Smoking may increase the chances of someone abusing cocaine later in life by priming the brain to be more receptive to the Class A drug, say scientists.
The landmark study, from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Maryland, is the first to show how nicotine can change the brain in a way that enhances the behavioural effects of cocaine.
It could help explain why so many drug-using teenagers tend to start with cigarettes and alcohol before moving on to more illegal substances.
In the current study, scientists from Columbia University in New York, found mice exposed to nicotine through their drinking water for one week showed an increased response to cocaine.
This priming effect depended on the previously unrecognised impact that nicotine made on gene expression. It was found to reprogram specific genes linked to addiction ultimately making the brain more responsive to harder drugs.
The team found that the results paralleled findings in humans after they reexamined statistics from the 2003 National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol Related Consequences.
They found that the rate of cocaine dependence was higher among cocaine users who smoked prior to starting cocaine compared to those who tried cocaine prior to smoking.
The findings, published in Science Translational Medicine, suggest smoking prevention would not only prevent the damaging effects of the habit but could also decrease the risk of progression and addiction to cocaine and other illegal drugs.
Senior author, Dr Eric Kandel, said: 'Now that we have a mouse model of the actions of nicotine as a gateway drug this will allow us to explore the molecular mechanisms by which alcohol and marijuana might act as gateway drugs.
'In particular, we would be interested in knowing if there is a single, common mechanism for all gateway drugs or if each drug utilises a distinct mechanism.'

Loleta smoke shop sued by state for 'contraband cigarettes'

A tribal tobacco shop in Loleta has been ordered by the California Attorney General's Office to stop selling what it describes as illegal cigarettes and to cease distributing them beyond the boundaries of the Wiyot Table Bluff Reservation in Humboldt County.
What was originally an order in a letter dated nearly one year ago has transformed into a lawsuit against the Huber Enterprise Smoke Shop and owner Ardith Huber, alleging the shop has been selling contraband cigarettes since March 2007. The case is scheduled to be heard this week by a Humboldt County Superior Court judge.
The state said in the lawsuit that the smoke shop sells cigarette brands that aren't listed on the California Tobacco Directory and aren't certified as compliant with the California Cigarette Fire Safety and Fire Protection Act. The lawsuit said such brands include Seneca, Opal, Sky Dancer, Smokin' Joes and All Natural Native cigarettes.
Lynda Gledhill, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said one of the reasons the lawsuit was brought against the shop is that Huber has sold these cigarettes beyond the reservation's boundaries and to non-tribal members.
In addition, the lawsuit states Huber's choice not to charge taxes on the cigarettes is in violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, making the state lose an 87-cent tax on each package of 20 cigarettes and encouraging people to buy non-state-licensed cigarettes.
While tribal cigarettes aren't covered by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, which requires tobacco companies to pay states to help mitigate the costs of smoking-related public health expenses, Gledhill said that tribal cigarettes are still subject to state taxes. The letter sent to the smoke shop last year states, “Native American tribes and tribal retailers that sell cigarettes to non-Indians and non-members of the tribe are legally obligated to collect applicable state taxes.”
Michael Robinson, Huber's attorney, said he didn't want to discuss the specifics of the case but said the next step is for the Humboldt County Superior Court to make a ruling on Nov. 10 as to whether the case can even be heard due to jurisdictional issues.
”You've got a Native American on her own Indian reservation,” Robinson said. “Tribes are sovereign entities.”
He said the state doesn't have jurisdiction over Huber's smoke shop because it's part of a tribal reservation. He said he originally filed his response to the lawsuit in federal court, but it was remanded back to the state.
”We still believe that the issue of whether or not the state can regulate Indian reservations is a federal issue,” Robinson said.
Gledhill said Huber's smoke shop isn't the first Native American tobacco retail facility to be targeted by the Attorney General's Office for selling contraband cigarettes.
”There have been others ... BlackHawk, SevenLeaf, Roadrunner and NativeBuy,” Gledhill said, listing smoke shops that have been shut down.

Brazil's Government Delays Cigarettes Tax Hike Until May

The Brazilian government on Monday said it will delay until May raising taxes on cigarettes, in order to curb inflationary pressure.

The government had planned to raise the IPI industrial products tax for cigarettes starting in December. Through incremental moves the IPI would be raised to 9% through 2015, from the current level of 6%.

Inflation in Brazil stands above 7%, well above the upper limit of the government's tolerance band of up to 6.5%.

By 2015, the government expects the increased tax to bring in an extra 7.7 billion Brazilian reais ($4.6 billion) per year, from BRL3.6 billion currently, which would help offset tax breaks for other industrial sectors.

According to a study by the World Health Organization published in 2011, 15% of Brazil's population smokes. By comparison, in Mexico the rate is 8%. Chile has the highest smoking rate in the region with 34%. Argentina has 22%.

Regarding taxes, according to the same WHO survey there were 26 countries in the world that have total taxes constituting more than 75% of the retail price of cigarettes.

Brazil's tax rate represented 60% of the retail price of cigarettes. Mexico's tax rate was 63%. Argentina and Chile both had a rate of 76%.


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Smoking, tobacco ads banned at Euro 2012 stadiums

UEFA has imposed a ban on smoking and tobacco advertising at next year's European Championship.

UEFA says the ban will apply in and around all eight host stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA President Michel Platini says the ban is about ''respecting the health of our spectators.''

Host cities will also be urged to extend the policy to ''ensure smoke-free public transport, restaurants and fan zones.''

UEFA worked with the World Health Organization and European Union to introduce the policy.

The 16-nation tournament will be played from June 8-July 1

Teenager plays active role in tobacco battle

There are area youth who take a different approach in the fight against teens’ smoking: at the front lines.

Or rather, some youth stand in line and see what clerks will sell.

Local police solicit the help of teens to do periodic compliance checks on establishments with tobacco and liquor licenses, seeing if they will sell illegally to minors.

Eve, whose name was changed to provide anonymity, has been on undercover “stings” before with local and state officers. She is 15 years old.

During a compliance check, Eve goes into a bar or gas station and asks for a pack of cigarettes. Sometimes she gets nervous. She worries she will mess up the brand name of the pack. Clearly, she does something right. Once, nine establishments sold her cigarettes in one night.

Dave Wesner, Danville’s corporation counsel, said last year 12 citations were issued at establishments for violating the ordinance prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone younger than 18. Wesner said typically the employee who sold tobacco to a minor is the one who is fined. However, continual violations at a certain site may result in a suspended or revoked license for the business.

Eve said she thinks it’s wrong when establishments sell to minors.

“What they’re doing is telling teenagers it’s OK, when really it’s not,” Eve said. She said it’s not good for places to break the law, especially when smoking puts one on a path that may lead to death.

Moving forward

Eve’s mom knows parents play a big role.

“I was raised in a family of smokers. Both my parents were heavy smokers,” her mom said. “I knew from an early age, it was a habit I didn’t want to develop.”

While she thinks it is good for schools to educate teens about risky behaviors, she doesn’t think it’s their responsibility.

“I absolutely think it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their kids right from wrong.”

Her daughter said she will never smoke.

“I want to try to be like my mom,” Eve said, “because she never tried drugs when she was younger.”

Eve is comfortable talking to a parent and to her peers.

As they are being interviewed, Eve and her mom talk to each other about the situations Eve has encountered. Her mom knows Eve has been tempted by peers. Eve explains that she knows what to do when she’s pressured to start an unhealthy habit.

“I’ll just be like, ‘You know I don’t do that type of stuff,’” Eve said. “Later, they don’t even ask.”

“You’re that direct?” Eve’s mom asks her.

“Mm hm. Yeah, because if you’re not, they’re just gonna keep asking you,” Eve said.

“That’s true,” her mother replied.

Alberta sells off tobacco stock

Though a Crown corporation selling off tobacco stock is being called an unprecedented move, the province’s plans to sue the tobacco industry remain unclear.

The Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) has sold $17.5 million in directly managed tobacco stock held by public sector pension funds and the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, said AIMCo CEO Leo de Bever.

The decision to sell the stocks was initiated by the province, he said.

One year ago, when Premier Alison Redford was justice minister, she announced plans for the province to sue Big Tobacco to recover health care costs.

On Friday, Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear said while that’s still the plan, a lawsuit launch date has still not been picked.

“It’s too early to say,” said Dear.

“The next step is to proclaim Alberta’s Crown’s Right of Recovery Act — that will really set up all the steps that will follow.

“Obviously it’s an important issue and we’ll take the time we need to get it right.”

Dear said the lawsuit will seek to recoup health costs that resulted from the side-effects of the tobacco industry.

Cynthia Callard, executive director of the policy group Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said to the best of her knowledge, Alberta is the first province in Canada to dump these sorts of investments in the tobacco industry.

She said though Alberta’s stocks were modest compared to others — the Canada and Quebec pension plans each have more than $200 million invested and there is another $300-plus-million in B.C. — the move sets a good example.

“This step of Alberta is a major precedent,” she said.

Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said he’s also pleased by the province initiating the stock sell-off.

“It’s completely contradictory for the Alberta government to sue the tobacco industry on one hand and profit from it on the other,” he said.

“We think it’s a good move — it draws a clear line between government and the tobacco industry.”

Illegal cigarette trade costs kitty Rs10.5 billion

Tax evasion by cigarette industry along with cigarette counterfeiting and smuggling has cost the national kitty Rs10.5 billion over the last nine months as compared to Rs9.5 billion in the corresponding period in 2010, according to tobacco industry statistics.

Of the Rs10.5 billion revenue losses, Rs7 billion is caused by tax evasion, Rs1 billion by counterfeiting and Rs2.5 billion by smuggling.

Most counterfeit cigarette manufacturing units are located in Chakwal, Sargodha and Okara in the Punjab, and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. And their number is around 25.

According to the statistics, 2008 reported Rs 6 billion revenue losses from tax evasion, counterfeiting and smuggling by cigarette makers and traders. In 2011 until now, 31 billion cigarette sticks were manufactured.

During the fiscal 2010-11, the cigarette industry s contribution to national exchequer totalled Rs58.5 billion, while it was Rs55.9 billion in the previous year. The national cigarette market s size is around 72 billion sticks of which 59 billion are supplied by over 50 licensed manufacturers, while the remaining are either counterfeit, non-duty paid or smuggled ones. As claimed by the tobacco industry, unregistered cigarette manufacturing units force farmers to grow substandard tobacco, which is used to produce substandard and counterfeit cigarettes, for better profit at the expense of people s health.

Marijuana Smoking Competition At Stadium

It was as if there was marijuana smoking competition at the Accra Sports Stadium from last Saturday night till the early hours of Sunday as there was unrestrained smoking of marijuana also known as ganja during the Mavado Live in Ghana concert.

The selling, possession and use of marijuana is a criminal offence in Ghana yet that law was put aside during the concert and thousands of persons turned their nostrils into a chimney, inhaling and puffing out thick smokes of marijuana as if they were on a suicide mission. The smokers were so daring that they passed on lighted joints of the illegal substance rolled perfectly and skillfully clipped between fingers. Not even the MC for the show, Bola Ray was spared as he and other non-smokers at the event had no choice but to become passive smokers as they inhaled the illicit drug.

The concert could pass for one of the biggest and most successful shows of the year, taking into account the turn up and performances. Midway into the show, News-One picked reports that the ticket had been completely sold out yet long winding queues had still been formed at the gates. The desperate fans outside the stadium, in apparent frustration, gave security officials a hard time as they became agitated and attempted entering the stadium with our without tickets .The main artiste for the night, Mavado, simply did not live up to expectation and had many people walking out of the show while he was still performing.

The question on the lips of many was who awarded Mavado the title Dancehall Messiah and named him as the biggest dancehall artiste in the world? News-One observed that Mavado might have had a problem playing with a live band as the coordination between him and the instrumentalist was jus missing. There were a few times he even went off key ad sang faster than the band.

There were also times he appeared confused and undecided on what to do and he kept stopping the performance midway and starting another song which he would also stop and start. His stage craft was equally questionably and it was clear he had a problem with audience coordination and at a point people started calling for Samini to be brought back on stage.

Samini was the most celebrated artiste of the night as he delivered a 30-minite live band performance that got everyone dancing and jumping in wild ecstasy. ‘Outstandingly thrilling’ is not good enough phrase to describe Samini’s performance as he stole the show and took shine from Mavado himself. Samini simply proved that he may not have an international image as big as Mavado’s but when it comes to music, he understands the act better. Fidie Ranks from Nigeria, Kwaw Kese and Sarkodie also put up very spectacular performance that got the crowd calling for more.

Talk of Tobacco Tax Increases in New Jersey, Maryland

There is a push in at least two states to raise taxes on tobacco products, and while cigarettes are the usual target of tax talk, at least one of these states is taking a look at increasing the levy on other tobacco products as well.

In New Jersey, state Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen, Essex, Passaic) has sponsored legislation that would tax little cigars the same as cigarettes, according to the Press of Atlantic City. "The additional tax will make little cigars less appealing to current cigarette smokers seeking a cheaper alternative," the bill reads.

Currently, New Jersey's excise tax for a pack of cigarettes is $2.70. This is in addition to the $1.01 federal excise tax. According to the news report, New Jersey collected nearly $742 million in cigarette taxes last year. That was a 4-percent drop, or $33.1 million less, compared to 2008, state Treasury Department data show. However, at the same time, revenue from other tobacco products -- such as cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco and roll-your-own -- increased 26 percent, generating $3.7 million more from lower tax rates.

The state has a wholesale tax on these products that is 30 percent of the price the wholesaler pays the manufacturer, Treasury Spokesman Bill Quinn told the news outlet.

Traveling south on Interstate 95, there is also a movement by a health advocacy group in Maryland to increase taxes across the state's tobacco landscape.

Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative, said the group will start a campaign next week asking the General Assembly to increase the state's $2-a-pack tax on cigarettes to $3 and raise taxes on other tobacco products, including cigars and smokeless tobacco. He hopes to build on momentum from this year's assembly, in which legislators voted to increase the state's alcohol sales tax from 6 percent to 9 percent after several years of lobbying, as reported by The Washington Times.

Prior to 1999, Maryland taxed smokers 36 cents a pack of cigarettes. That year, the rate was increased by 66 cents. A second increase moved the rate to $1 in 2002, and state lawmakers again raised the tax, to $2 a pack, during their 2007 special session, according to the news outlet.

DeMarco said he would like to see a tax increase passed as early as next year's regular session, but that could prove to be a tall order, said Delegate Jolene Ivey, (D-Prince George's County).

"Once you do something like raise a particular tax, it's a long time before it's raised again," said Ivey, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which would have to approve the increase. "I don't see it passing next year or in the foreseeable future."

Tobacco, brewery stocks edge up on escaping tax hikes

Tobacco and brewery stocks edged up in early trade on Monday, Oct 10 after the government spared them of an excise duty hike under Budget 2012 tabled last Friday.

At 9.31am, BAT gained 48 sen to RM43.98 while JT International rose 29 sen to RM6.09

Meanwhile, GAB added 10 sen to RM10 and Carlsberg rose six sen to RM6.52.

The FBM KLCI slipped 1.63 points to 1,398.42, as key blue chips stocks weighed on the index.

Marijuana-shaped candy alarms parents, officials

Candy shaped like marijuana that's showing up on store shelves around the country won't get kids high, but aghast city leaders and anti-drug activists say the product and grocers carrying it represent a new low.

"We're already dealing with a high amount of drug abuse and drug activity and trying to raise children so they don't think using illegal substances is acceptable," said City Councilmember Darius Pridgen. "So to have a licensed store sell candy to kids that depicts an illegal substance is just ignorant and irresponsible."

The "Pothead Ring Pots," ''Pothead Lollipops" and bagged candy are distributed to retail stores by the novelty supply company Kalan LP of the Philadelphia suburb of Lansdowne. It also wholesales online for $1 for a lollipop and $1.50 for a package of three rings.

Company president Andrew Kalan said the candy, on the market six to nine months and in 1,000 stores around the country, promotes the legalization of marijuana.

"It does pretty well," he said.

"This is the first complaint I've heard," Kalan said, "and people are usually not shy. I'm actually surprised this is the first."

An irate parent brought the candy to Pridgen's attention, hoping the city could apply pressure and get it out of stores.

Pridgen and Councilmember Demone Smith displayed the candy, along with fake marijuana known as "K2" that's also sold in some stores at Tuesday's Common Council meeting, where Pridgen said he'd refuse to grant licenses to stores in his district that planned to sell the merchandise and would seek to embarrass stores that carry it. The synthetic marijuana is sold as incense but is smoked.

Synthetic marijuana typically involves dried plant material sprayed with one of several chemical compounds. The products contain organic leaves coated with chemicals that provide a marijuana-like high when smoked. The Drug Enforcement Administration recently used its emergency powers to outlaw five chemicals found in synthetic marijuana.

It appeared Pridgen's message had gotten out by Thursday. A check of about a half-dozen stores in Buffalo, often in impoverished neighborhoods where real drugs are a festering problem, turned up none of the controversial candy.

The bags of "Pothead Sour Gummy Candy," and lollipops shaped like marijuana leaves appear to be a recent addition to the inventory of some corner stores. The sour apple-flavored candy contains nothing illegal, but with its marijuana leaf, the word "Legalize" and a joint-smoking, peace sign-waving user on the packaging, critics say it's not only in poor taste but an invitation to try the real thing.

"It's the whole idea that it promotes drugs and the idea that, here, you'll look cool if you use this — which is what gets these kids in trouble in the very first place," said Jodie Altman, program supervisor at Renaissance House, a treatment center for drug- and alcohol-addicted youth.

Charmaine Rosendary, 36, of Buffalo shook her head when she saw a picture of the package.

"That's not right. It's just promoting marijuana," she said while buying produce Friday at a Buffalo market. She said she wouldn't allow her five teenagers, ages 15-19, to have it.

"I would not buy it or give them money to buy it," she said. "It looks like weed."

It's not the first legal product to come under fire.

In 2008, the Hershey Co. stopped making Ice Breakers Pacs in response to criticism that the mints looked too much like illegal street drugs. Police in Philadelphia complained that the packets, nickel-sized dissolvable pouches with a powdered sweetener inside, closely resembled tiny heat-sealed bags used to sell powdered street drugs.

Candy cigarettes and fruity or energy drink-infused alcoholic beverages have been criticized for targeting young people. And in 1997, the Federal Trade Commission said the iconic Joe Camel cigarette ads and packaging violated federal law because they appealed to kids under 18. The tobacco company, R.J. Reynolds, eventually shelved the caricature.

A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy said advocates for legalization who claim marijuana is benign are not supported by science.

"Trivializing drug use is a threat to public health because it erodes perceptions of harm among young people," said Rafael Lemaitre.

Kalan said his company carries several products with the marijuana leaf and "legalize" message to accommodate growing demand in the movement to legalize marijuana.

"We don't advocate for a political position. We just look at what the marketplace wants and respond to it," the wholesaler said. "It's just candy... It's sour apple flavor, it doesn't claim to be pot in disguise or anything like that."

Smoking Still High in U.S. Mining, Food Service

Cigarette smoking remains stubbornly high among workers in the mining, food services and construction industries despite dramatic overall declines in the United States in recent decades, a federal study showed.
Thirty percent of workers in mining, hotel/motel and food services smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which analyzed data from 2004-2010.
The construction industry had the next highest smoking rate at 29.7 percent.
"Since the first surgeon general's report in 1964, we've almost cut the smoking prevalence in half overall," said Ann Malarcher, senior scientific adviser at the CDC. "But then there are groups that are still at very high rates and are being left behind."
The management and education sectors had among the lowest percentage of smokers. Only 9.7 percent of educators smoke, according to the study.
Low education levels are a factor in high smoking rates, along with poverty and gender, Malarcher said.
"One of the things that has been studied is that persons with lower levels of education tend to have less access to health information," she said. "They tend to be less knowledgeable about the dangers of tobacco use."
The CDC survey found the highest smoking rates among workers ages 18-24, males, those with high school or less education and those without health insurance. Midwestern workers had the overall highest rates.
The CDC recommends that employers increase their anti-smoking efforts, including imposing smoke-free workplace policies and providing health insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatments.
Adult smoking has decreased 42.4 percent since 1965, the CDC said. But the decline has slowed in the past five years, dropping to 19.3 percent of adults in 2010 from 20.9 percent in 2005.
Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year. Smoking costs about $193 billion annually in direct health care expenses and lost productivity.

Phillipsburg resident urges smoking ban at school bus stops

Parents smoking at Phillipsburg school bus stops might soon have to put their butts out.
A Phillipsburg resident appeared before town council Tuesday venting about other parents smoking at her son’s Barber Elementary School bus stop.
“No matter where I turn someone is smoking,” said resident Prudence Burd, whose 7-month-old daughter was born premature.
Burd’s daughter, who has chronic lung disease, travels with her mother and brother to the Fourth and Broad streets bus stop because her husband leaves for work early.

Dampener on smoking in public places

LOCAL government peak body the Municipal Association of Victoria is pushing a plan that would restrict smoking in outdoor public places, including bans in alfresco dining areas and children's playgrounds.

MAV president Bill McArthur said the proposal to Health Minister David Davis was to provide consistency in local laws for some common outdoor areas and improve public health.

Simon Armstrong, of the cafe Seddon Deadly Sins, said it was a vexed issue with no simple answer. The cafe has outdoor seating and he estimates about a quarter of its customers are smokers. Increasingly, non-smokers are becoming frustrated with drinking their coffee in the courtyard shared with smokers, he said.

"It's their right to smoke if they want to and that right would be taken away by [a ban]. There's an equally valid argument saying, 'Why should I have to smell that smoke while I'm having my nice coffee and breakfast'."

Mr Armstrong, a non-smoker, said a uniform law on smoking in outdoor areas could make it easier for individual traders to uphold wishes of non-smokers without losing business because it would be up to the individual to modify their lifestyle when dining out.

Almost one in four males and one in six females in Maribyrnong are regular smokers, according to the most recent Health Department survey. Cancers and cardiovascular disease are the cause of more than half the deaths - 60per cent for males, 63per cent for females - of people in Maribyrnong.

Mayor Sarah Carter said the council did not have a formal position but supported the broad intent of the plan to reduce smoking rates and health risks associated with second-hand smoke. "Council would need to determine the costs associated with this approach and community views about smoking in outdoor areas if considering the proposal."

A government spokeswoman said it was "receptive to reviewing practical ideas to reduce smoking rates" and would be examining the results of council trials.

Delaware County bar owners say business down since smoking ban

Local tavern owners on Monday testified they've lost business -- and one is likely to close this week -- as a result of the enhanced smoking ordinance enacted by Delaware County officials in August.

The testimony came during a nearly three-hour hearing before Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees, who is considering a request for a temporary injunction against the ordinance, which prohibits smoking in bars and fraternal organizations. County commissioners said they hoped to protect employees and other patrons from the hazards of secondhand smoke.

The request for the temporary injunction stems from a lawsuit, aimed at overturning the measure, by the Delaware County Licensed Beverage Association, four local fraternal organizations and a tobacco shop. The suit was filed Aug. 31 by attorney Bruce Munson, who called several of his clients to the stand on Monday.

Lewis Coulter, county president of the DCLBA and owner of two Muncie taverns, said business, and his profits, were down significantly since the ordinance went into effect on Aug. 12.

"Some of the familiar faces you don't see nearly as often," said Coulter, who owns the Red Dog Saloon, 1600 W. 23rd St., and the End Zone Sports Bar, 2430 W. Kilgore Ave.

Coulter said the Red Dog used to sell about $300 in food to bar patrons on Monday evenings. On a recent Monday night, that total was down to $60, he said.

Danyelle Cross, co-owner of Timbers Lounge, 2770 W. Kilgore Ave., said her "lunch crowd is probably half, if that" since the smoking ban went into effect. As a result, the westside bar now has two fewer employees.

The day before the ban went into effect, "we had customers tell us, 'It was nice knowing you,'" Cross recalled.

Dan Hill, who recently bought the Triangle Saloon, 1634 Kirby Ave., said that "99 percent" of his customers were military veterans who smoke, and "since they can't smoke, they're not coming in."

As a result, his tavern sees about 15 customers per day as opposed to a previous average of 60, and "Friday will probably be my last day," Hill said.

Smoking Rihanna falls foul of farmer while filming video in Northern Ireland

The 23-year-old singer was spotted having the sneaky cigarette during a break in filming the video for We Found Love, her collaboration with dance music producer Calvin Harris.
And she also raised the ire of a local farmer, who deemed her choice of attire 'inappropriate' and said he'd never even heard of her.
The clip had been filmed in a field near Bangor, County Down, ahead of Rihanna's three concerts in Belfast later this week.
And she braved the autumn weather in some revealing outfits during the shoot - including a black cropped jumper and unbuttoned jeans, as well as a red bikini and oversized cowboy shirt plus a red and white striped bikini over a denim waistcoat with a US flag design.

Divorce, smoking may trigger hair loss in women

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As if the heartache of divorce wasn't hardship enough, it appears that women enduring marital break-up may also have to deal with hair loss.
New research reveals that, genetics aside, the next strongest predictor of midline (central) hair loss among women is their marital status, with the loss of a spouse (through either divorce or death) raising the risk for thinning hair above that of married or single women.
"Most likely, stress is the aspect of a troubling divorce that appears to lead to hair loss among women," noted study author Dr. Bahman Guyuron, chairman of the department of plastic surgery at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.
Excessive drinking and/or smoking also appear to boost the risk for hair loss among women, the study found.
Smoking and heavy drinking also contributed to thinning locks among men, the study found. But in other respects the two genders were affected differently, with various patterns of male hair loss sparked by overexposure to the sun, cancer history and having a "couch potato" lifestyle, among others.
"What we can say is that we identified factors that appear to both raise risk and lower risk, for both men and women, independent of genetic disposition," Guyuron said
He is slated to present the findings from two related studies on Sunday at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' annual meeting, in Denver.
In the first study, the authors focused exclusively on a pool of 84 female identical twins, all of whom completed lifestyle questionnaires, followed by hormone blood level testing and an extensive photo analysis of their hair. Studies of identical twins can be useful because each twin carries the same genes as the other, ruling out genetic differences as a potential cause for a trait or illness.
Across the temporal area (near temples) of the head, the team found that the more years a woman had smoked the greater the hair loss. A history of skin conditions also contributed to hair loss in that area, while having just a couple drinks per week actually seemed to reduce the risk.
Hair loss in the coronal area (nearer the top) of the head among women was linked to being diabetic, having some form of skin disease and being a current smoker, while being overweight or obese was associated with lower risk of hair loss.
Guyuron said the findings indicate that female hair loss can also be sparked by excessive sleeping patterns, as well as situations commonly associated with stress such as having multiple children and/or getting married.
Women who drank coffee, used sun protection (such as a hat) and were happily married all faced a lower overall risk for hair loss, he added.
The team's second study similarly looked at hair loss among 66 male identical twins.
The results: in addition to smoking and sun exposure, having a history of dandruff also boosted midline hair loss risk, while cumulative sun exposure and a history of cancer elevated risk for both temporal and coronal hair loss.
Men who didn't exercise regularly and had high blood pressure also had a higher risk for coronal hair loss.
Men who exercised outdoors a lot also face a higher risk for hair loss, and Guyuron believes sun exposure could play a role there.

Extending smoking bans to the outdoors is worthwhile

The guest editorial overlooks the many functions of smoking bans.

First and foremost, of course, is the protection of non-smokers from noxious, toxic second-hand smoke.

But we should also remember that the fewer places people can smoke, the less they smoke, and the more people decide once and for all to quit. That improves everyone's health.

Smoking bans make it very clear to smokers that we don't want to be forced to breathe what they're inhaling because we don't want any of the more than 50 diseases caused by tobacco smoke. And we certainly don't want to die as young as most smokers die.

I, for one, have been forced out of transit shelters and queues by inconsiderate smokers. I have had to move away from smokers on beaches and in parks, only to have another smoker light up next to my new location.

Despite very clear and shocking warnings on cigarette packs, some smokers are still not getting the message.

If you've ever burned your foot on someone's discarded "cigarette" on the beach, you'd support a ban.

Millions of dollars will be saved by preventing the destruction of trees by fires caused every year by discarded cigarettes.

Smoking bans have to include outdoor public places, as well, if we are going to achieve all of the aforementioned objectives. A cigarette is no less deadly when it is being smoked outdoors.

Businesses targeted in underage tobacco sales sting

FIVE shops in Bassetlaw were caught selling tobacco to underage kids during a test purchase operation across the county.

Trading Standards officers from Notts County Council worked with volunteers aged 15 to 17 on the operation at newsagents, grocers, petrol stations and small supermarkets in Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, Broxtowe and Bassetlaw.

Of the 57 premises checked during week commencing 22nd August, sales were made to the young volunteers in nine.

Two further sales took place in Newark and Sherwood and two in Broxtowe. No sales to under-18s were made at the premises tested in Ashfield.

Owners at the nine shops will now be interviewed by officers and a decision will be taken on what, if any, action will be taken against them.

Shops can be fined up to £2,500 if found guilty of selling cigarettes to under-18s.

If a premises, person or company sells tobacco or cigarette papers to under 18s twice in two years, the county council can apply to ban sales for a period of up to a year.

Coun Mick Murphy, cabinet member for community safety, said it was ‘disappointing’ so many premises in the county have been willing to sell tobacco products to children without challenge, despite clear guidance to the contrary.

“Trading Standards work closely with local businesses who want to ensure that they do not sell tobacco to under-18s by giving advice on their legal responsibilities as well as tips on how to avoid selling all age-restricted products to young people.”

“But whilst we recognise that the majority of retailers are responsible, we will come down hard on those who flout the law,” he said.

Meanwhile, from 1st October, the law will change to make it illegal to sell tobacco products directly to the public from vending machines, regardless of age.

Under the change in law, businesses will still be allowed to have tobacco vending machines but they cannot be accessible to the public.