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.