Bills advance on roll-your-own tobacco shops

Roll-your-own cigarette stores could be headed for a Virginia endangered retailers list as bills to treat those merchants as tobacco manufacturers burn through the General Assembly.

Separate bills to reclassify shops with the automated rolling machines unanimously cleared a key House of Delegates committee and won full Senate approval on Monday.

The rolling devices stuff loose tobacco into paper tubes to produce a carton's worth of cigarettes in about 10 minutes. Several stores with the machines have sprung up in South Hampton Roads over the past year.

Patrons and other defenders of the niche industry say the machines make personalized cigarettes at a price lower than commercial brands.

Legislation targeting those businesses is backed by Altria, parent company of Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker.

Company officials contend that roll-your-own products can be sold for less because retailers avoid paying the same taxes as traditional tobacco manufacturers and wholesalers.

Mass. man in court on RI cigarette smuggling case

A Massachusetts man accused of participating in a contraband cigarette ring that cost Rhode Island an estimated $5.7 million in tax revenue is due to face a federal judge.

An arraignment is set for Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Providence for Mohamad Mohamad of Cambridge.

Court records show Mohamad signed a plea agreement last week and agreed to admit to bringing more than 10,000 contraband cigarettes into Rhode Island.

The plea agreement says when Mohamad was arrested on Nov. 8, 2011, he had nearly three million cigarettes worth more than $500,000 in Rhode Island cigarette taxes.

The agreement says prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lesser sentence for Mohamad. He faces up to five years in prison.

Mother shocked at electric cigarette ban

A WOMAN said her birthday night out was spoilt after she was asked to leave a York bar for using an electronic cigarette.

Cherry Knott, 59, of Kingsway West in Acomb, York, was celebrating her birthday with her daughter, son and his partner in Yates’s in Lower Ousegate, when they were approached by a member of staff who asked them to stop using the e-cigarettes or to leave the venue.

The mock cigarettes emit an odourless water vapour and simulate smoking by producing a mist which is inhaled.

The group, who say they have used the cigarettes indoors in other venues in York without any issue, questioned the member of staff before deciding to leave.

Mrs Knott said they had been in the bar for a while and had even discussed the cigarettes with a barman, before being asked to leave by a member of staff who said they might encourage people to light up genuine cigarettes.

She said: “I never saw anybody light a cigarette. We tried to argue our point and said they were harmless. My son said there should be notices if we were not allowed to smoke them.

“We had just got a round of drinks in when the manager asked us to leave. He said we had to leave if we wanted to smoke them.

“It ruined my birthday a little bit because we were having such a good time.”

Mrs Knott said she wanted pubs and bars to have greater clarity on their rules about the electronic cigarettes, which she said had helped her and her family to reduce or quit smoking.

A manager at Yates’s, who asked not to be named, said that initially two people had been using the electronic cigarettes indoors, but then they were joined by two other people who were also using them, causing concerns other people in the bar might be encouraged to start smoking inside.

She said: “It’s something we have never experienced before.

“If people see them smoking what appear to be cigarettes, bigger groups might smoke themselves.

“They were seated in the food area and we had a few complaints.”

Sales of the electronic cigarettes have soared and are expected to top one million in the UK this year.

But it has been reported that medical experts have called for further research into their side effects, raising questions about what the devices contain and their impact on users.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was legal to smoke e-cigarettes indoors if they were only emitting a vapour and they are not ignited, but said it would be at the discretion of the owner of the premises.

Proposed cigarette tax costly but effective

State Rep. Mary Still, D-Columbia, has proposed legislation to increase the state cigarette tax and use the revenue to help fund higher education. We support her proposal and hope the Missouri General Assembly will pass the initiative to put it on the ballot so the public can eventually vote for it.

As of Jan. 1, Missouri has the lowest cigarette tax rate in the nation at $0.17 per pack, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators. According to the FTA’s figures for 2012, even after Still's proposed quadrupling of the tax to $0.89 per pack, Missouri would have the 18th lowest state cigarette tax, and 18th out of 51, (including the District of Columbia), is not bad at all.

The increased tax will affect businesses associated with the tobacco industry, but the impact cannot be concisely figured, and we think it is the right price to pay for higher education funding. Our only concern is that the tax could affect lower income individuals, who make up the largest population of smokers, according to the World Health Organization. We hope a cigarette tax will encourage those individuals to stop purchasing cigarettes, which is a luxury good and not a necessity. According to the WHO, a tax that increases cigarette prices by 10 percent decreases consumption by 4 percent in high-income countries like the U.S., and according to the American Lung Association, a 10 percent increase in the overall price of cigarettes results in a 7 percent decrease in the amount of smoke children consume. We understand quitting is difficult, but it is not impossible.

This legislation is not an attack on tobacco users or those businesses in the tobacco industry. It is an attempt to increase higher education funding, which has received cuts. The cigarette tax, even after being quadrupled, will still be well below the national average, which, according to The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and The Missourian, is $1.46 and below the national median, which, according to the FTA, is $1.25. This is not an unreasonable tax.

Presently, Missouri is one of four states to be given a failing grade by the ALA, which works to improve lung health and prevent lung disease in each of the four categories: program spending, smoke-free air, cigarette tax and cessation. If an increased tax on cigarettes is enough to convince even a few cigarette users to cutback on consumption, we consider the marginal health benefits a positive effect for our state.

Whichever House committee the bill is referred to must clear it, and the Senate and House must then pass it. Afterward, the vote will require voter approval. We urge that, in contrast to previous attempts to raise the cigarette tax in 2002 and 2006, the Missouri public expresses slightly more than 49 percent approval to put the approval rate over 50 percent and ensure the beneficial legislation is enacted.

If paying $0.70 more for a pack of cigarettes allows for increased funding, which Still estimates to be $4 million, for higher education, it is a very effective value. In an article in The Missourian, Still is quoted as saying, “I value funding education over having the lowest cigarette tax in the country.” We agree.

Our View: Tax cigarettes out of kids' budgets

During a recent trip to New York City, a member of the Post-Bulletin's editorial board noticed that there were relatively few cigarette butts on the sidewalks and streets. The air in Manhattan was rich with the smell of roasting nuts and fresh-made gyros and bagels, but cigarette smoke seldom intruded into the mix.

There's a simple explanation for this phenomenon: Cost. If you try to buy a pack of cigarettes in New York City, a $10 bill won't do the job. State and local taxes of $5.85 per pack have pushed the price up to $14 in some areas — the highest in the nation. A string of tax increases since 2002 has pushed 450,000 New York City smokers to kick the habit, and the smoking rate among high school students has plummeted to 7 percent.

In Minnesota, by comparison, The American Lung Association says the teen smoking rate is 19 percent.

That's reason enough for us to support Sen. Carla Nelson's proposal to add another dollar to Minnesota's state cigarette tax, which currently is $1.59 per pack.

Multiple studies have found that young smokers are the most price-sensitive, which means that the best way to keep kids from smoking is to make it too expensive. And, given that 80 percent of adult smokers became addicted before age 18, the benefit of the new tax is fairly obvious: If teenagers can't afford to smoke, they'll be unlikely to pick up the expensive, deadly habit when they get "real jobs" and higher incomes.

It's somewhat surprising for a Republican to be proposing a tax increase, but Nelson could rightly argue that this is a true "user fee." If you don't smoke, it won't affect you at all.

Furthermore, Nelson has specific purposes in mind for the new revenue the tax increase would bring in. She'd start by repaying the $700 million the state "borrowed" from K-12 public schools last summer. When that debt has been repaid, she wants to dedicate future revenues to reduce property taxes on businesses. That, of course, should make Nelson's proposal more popular with her Republican colleagues — while drawing criticism from DFLers who will have other ideas on how to spend the new revenue.

But ultimately, we can only hope that the state's revenue from cigarette taxes (more than $400 million per year) will begin to decrease, to the point that even the most draconian of per-pack tax increases can't make up the shortfall.

The goal, after all, isn't to maximize the amount of money Minnesota reaps from the sales of cigarettes; rather, it's to reduce our smoking rate to the point that tobacco taxes are no longer a significant source of revenue.

How would we fill that $400 million hole in the state budget? Well, the $3 billion we wouldn't be spending on smoking-related illnesses would be a good start.

Big Tobacco led throat doctors to blow smoke

Tobacco companies conducted a carefully crafted, decades-long campaign to manipulate throat doctors into helping to calm concerns among an increasingly worried public that smoking might be bad for their health, according to a new study by researchers at the School of Medicine. Beginning in the 1920s, this campaign continued for over half of a century.

“Tobacco companies sought to exploit the faith the public had in the medical profession as a means of reassuring their customers that smoking was safe,” said Robert Jackler, MD, the Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in Otolaryngology.

“Tobacco companies dreamed up slogans such as, ‘Not one single case of throat irritation with Camels;’ then, to justify their advertising claims, marketing departments sought out pliant doctors to conduct well-compensated, pseudoscientific ‘research,’ which invariably found the sponsoring company’s cigarettes to be safe,” Jackler said. “The companies successfully influenced these physicians not only to promote the notion that smoking was healthful, but actually to recommend it as a treatment for throat irritation.”

Jackler is the senior author of the study, which was published in the January issue of The Laryngoscope. Hussein Samji, MD, a recent Stanford residency graduate, was his co-author.
Using internal documents from tobacco companies from the Legacy Tobacco Document archives, the study’s authors reviewed a wealth of correspondence, contracts, marketing plans and payment receipts that shed light on the industry’s multifaceted, highly effective campaign.

Jackler’s ongoing research into the history of tobacco company advertising has resulted in several published studies on the topic, sparked in part by his collection of thousands of historical cigarette ads exhibited online at http://tobacco.stanford.edu, the originals now donated to the Smithsonian Institution. He also spearheaded a group called the Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising, which analyzes the effects of tobacco advertising, marketing and promotion.

In the new paper, the authors describe how tobacco companies regularly hosted “hospitality booths” at otolaryngology conventions from which they gave out free cigarettes, sometimes with packs embossed with the doctors’ names. In major cities all over America, throat specialists were taken out to elegant dinners at which they were implored to “prescribe” their brand of cigarettes to patients with sore throats or coughs.

When the government, through the Federal Trade Commission, tried to intervene against “hucksterish” advertising slogans promoting the healthfulness of their cigarettes, prominent otolaryngologists were recruited to defend the validity of the blatantly false claims.

“The list of recruitments who served as experts testifying on behalf of tobacco interests includes a virtual who’s who of leading otolaryngologists in the 20th century, including many leading head and neck cancer surgeons,” Jackler said.
In 1949, the average physician income was $11,058. In that era, a $5,000 payment — which was common from tobacco companies to otolaryngologists — represented a major inducement.

Even after the Surgeon General’s Report of 1964 definitively linked smoking with cancer of the voice box (larynx), the otolaryngology departmental chairs of four major universities testified before Congress in opposition to the findings.

“It was especially disappointing to discover that leading otolaryngologists took public positions exculpating tobacco even after the definitive Surgeon General’s report,” the study said.

The authors emphasized the importance of collaboration between doctors and industry for continued advances in medicine, but pointed to this study as a reminder to the medical community of the need to adhere to the “highest standards of scientific validity” and to remain vigilant in the advocacy for patients’ interests when working with industry.

“Ethically, a physician must always act on behalf of the well-being of patients,” Jackler said. “Responsible industries balance their need to maximize profits with a commitment to improve the health of their consumers.”

This research was conducted as part of the Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising. The school’s Department of Otolaryngology also supported the research.

Store Robber Gets Away With Cigarettes, Cash

Manchester police are looking for a man who robbed a convenience store overnight.
Police said just after midnight Thursday, a man walked into the Tedeschi Food Mart on Second Street and asked for a carton of cigarettes before demanding all of the money from the cash register.
The clerk said the man threatened to harm her. The robber did not show a weapon, but he had his hands in his pockets as if he was armed, according to the clerk.
Police said the man ran away from the store with some cash and the carton of cigarettes.
The robber is described as a 5'4'' tall man in his mid 20's and is clean shaven. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black baseball cap and a black quilted jacket over a gray hooded sweatshirt.
Those with information are asked to contact Manchester police.

Miami-Dade PD raids 25 marijuana grow houses

Miami-Dade County police say officers have raided 25 marijuana grow houses and seized more than 1,300 live pot plants.

The countywide "Operation Machete" also turned up seven guns, more than $31,000 in cash and various other drugs.

The estimated street value of the plants seized is at least $4.5 million. There were also 25 people arrested on drug and other charges in the simultaneous raids Wednesday.

The Miami area is one of the nation's leaders in indoor marijuana growing operations. Police say they involve other dangers including diversion of large amounts of stolen electricity, the increased possibility of fires and use of hazardous chemicals.
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Store Selling Cigarettes Using Tax Loophole

An Upstate store owner said smokers can get cigarettes without paying state and federal taxes because of a tax loophole.
M.J. Farah, owner of Jake's One Stop in Pelzer, is offering customers the chance to roll their own cigarettes.
"The customers are taking advantage of a tax cut. They don't have to pay the taxes on the tobacco if they are making it on their own," said Farah. "I have people who drive all the way up here 45 minutes just to come get their tobacco."
Farah recently got three new machines that stuff the cigarettes for customers. He was already selling roll-your-own supplies, but the new machines are less time-consuming and still save smokers money.
"We probably do 10 times the business with it than we did a year and a half ago," said Farah. "People are counting change to come in and buy cigarettes, so this is a great way for them to come in and save money."
Farah said the brand of cigarettes he sells the most is Marlboro. A carton goes for $43.39, he said.
Smokers who buy their own tobacco, tubes and use the machine in the store will pay $15 a carton or $1.50 a pack, Farah said. Customers who buy the same supplies and stuff their own cigarettes at home will save even more. Farah said a carton with their best-selling tobacco will cost $7.03.
After 30 years of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, Tracey Hawkins said she's using the machines to save money.
"Hopefully we're going to save right at a dollar a pack, I hope," said Hawkins. "It tastes kind of like what we were smoking, and if it saves us money, why not?"

$4,000 in cigarettes stolen from Oak Ridge North Valero station

The Oak Ridge North Police Department is investigating two burglaries of the Valero gas station in which the same burglar caused $3,000 worth of damage and took nearly $4,000 in cigarettes in December.
Detective Sgt. Kent Hubbard said the first burglary occurred at 2:40 a.m. Dec. 24, when a white 1990s Ford F-150 or Ranger pulled up to the Valero gas station at 145 Robinson Road. The suspect approached the store with a stone and broke out the bottom half of one of the glass double doors, crawling underneath, heading for the counter and stuffing $2,000 worth of cigarettes into a trash bag before crawling out two minutes later.
The suspect is believed to be a white or Hispanic male about 5’9” or 5’10” in height and of a “thin build” based on surveillance footage, Hubbard said. Although he believes the man is younger, his face was wrapped in something similar to a turban and he left no finger prints at the scene, where he caused about $1,000 worth of damage.
A second incident occurred at 2:19 a.m. Dec. 28, when what may have been the same suspect pulled up, shattered both glass doors and took $1,700 worth of cigarettes in similar fashion, causing about $2,000 worth of damage.
Hubbard said he did not know of any other leads and that cigarette theft is “fairly common” because of their value and light weight.
In September 2009, a similar burglary occurred at that Valero station, but a tip from a relative helped police identify and catch the suspect. Hubbard does not believe that man to have committed these crimes as he does not match the description.
COPPER THEFT
Police are investigating another crime, where in the afternoon of Jan. 5, it was discovered that seven air conditioning units behind a business center at the 26800 block of Interstate-45 North were damaged. Hubbard said the thieves took copper and precious metals from the units, destroying them in the process and leading to nearly $26,000 worth of damage.
Another common crime, Hubbard said the value of the metals was probably nowhere near the damage caused. The actual date of the crime is still unknown as the units had not been turned on in days and the damage was not discovered until businesses atttempted to operate them Jan. 5.
While all three crimes occurred around the holidays, Hubbard said it is likely just a coincidence, as the crimes are not uncommon.
“These types of crimes occur throughout the year,” he said.

'Illegal profiteering' follows tobacco tax hike: smoker

Smokers who bought cigarettes or tobacco this year have had to pay the increased price from January 1 and are victims of "illegal profiteering'', a disgruntled smoker says.

The Commerce Commission confirms the price rise must apply to new stocks and any retailer selling old stock at the new price might be in breach of the Fair Trading Act.

In another push to get Kiwis to give up smoking, the Government has raised the excise duty on tobacco.

The cost of a standard 20-pack of cigarettes rose by 10 percent on January 1, to shoot through the $15 price tag.

On New Year's Day, most dairies and service stations in Gisborne sold a packet of cigarettes at the new price.

Legally, the new price is effective on new stock purchased on or after January 1. Existing stock was to be sold at the pre-increase price.

A Gisborne smoker found retailers acknowledged they should not charge the extra, but would not adhere to it.

"After visiting five retailers, I rang around the majority of other retail outlets and none of them would honour the old price,'' he said.

While he totally supports the added tax to push people to stop smoking, he is against "blatant profiteering''.

"There is no way any retailer could have new stocks delivered on January 1 in Gisborne. I rang the local tobacco distributor and they were closed and had not sold or made any deliveries.''

Retail outlets The Gisborne Herald spoke to said they understood the price rise started from January 1 and they were unable to carry much excess stock.

"We are dictated to by the cigarette companies about what we charge and how much stock we can carry. Gisborne retailers were able to carry more because of the Rhythm and Vines festival, though.'' said one retailer.

Only one cigarette and tobacco retailer The Herald talked to did not lift prices.

"We will not put the price up until we start using new stock,'' he said.

Sara Stavropoulos, a spokeswoman for Customs New Zealand - the government body responsible for tax on tobacco and tobacco products - said any of those products removed from a licensed manufacturing area or imported (which is where excise is collected) after midnight on December 31 would be subject to the new rates.

Commerce Commission communications manager Allanah Kalafatelis said if a shop owner represented that the price rise was due to the government increase in the excise, and the shop was not at that time entitled to charge the increase as they were selling old stock, it could be construed as misleading - prompting an issue under the Fair Trading Act, which it did enforce.

Judge dismisses medical marijuana suit by Arizona

A U.S. District Court judge Wednesday dismissed Arizona’s lawsuit seeking to clarify whether its voter-approved medical-marijuana law trumps federal drug laws.

In an unusual legal request, Gov. Jan Brewer had asked the court to mediate the conflict between state and federal drug laws. But Judge Susan Bolton tossed the suit, saying the state couldn’t show its workers were at risk of federal prosecution for following Proposition 203, or even if it intended to fully implement the law.

Although Bolton’s decision clears the way for state health officials to begin licensing medical-marijuana dispensaries, officials are not likely to begin the process immediately.

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the governor would consult with Attorney General Tom Horne before deciding whether to appeal Bolton’s ruling.

“What this court has essentially said is that it won’t hear the state’s lawsuit unless and until a state employee faces federal prosecution for enforcing Proposition 203,” Benson said. “The federal court has essentially punted on the issue.”

Under the law, passed in 2010, state workers issue special ID cards to people with certain medical conditions, authorizing the patients to use marijuana. Prop. 203 also allows the Department of Health Services to issue permits for a limited number of marijuana dispensaries.

Brewer filed suit in May, just days before the dispensary-permit process was to begin. She asked the court to clarify whether U.S. drug laws override Prop. 203 and, if not, whether state workers are immune from federal prosecution for implementing it.

But the governor allowed the health department to continue issuing ID cards to qualified medical-marijuana users. Nearly 18,000 Arizonans have permission to use marijuana to treat a variety of debilitating conditions, including cancer and chronic pain, and about 15,000 of them have requested permission to grow the plant.

In her order, Bolton said the state could file an amended complaint, but the state would have to satisfy two key problems: Federal prosecutors have not threatened to prosecute state or municipal employees for following the law; and the state can’t show that any harm will come absent a court ruling.

“Plaintiffs do not challenge any specific action taken by any defendant,” Bolton wrote. “Plaintiffs also do not describe any actions by state employees that were in violation of (the Controlled Substances Act) or any threat of prosecution for any reason by federal officials.

“These issues, as presented, are not appropriate for judicial review.”

Brewer and Horne said the lawsuit was prompted by federal prosecutors, including former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, signaling a crackdown against the medical-marijuana industry. They said their chief concern was protecting state employees, though Burke and other U.S. attorneys said their focus was on large-scale trafficking, not patients or public employees who were complying with state laws.

Burke and top federal prosecutors across the country sent a series of letters to governors last year, saying they would abide by earlier policies discouraging the prosecution of medical-marijuana users but warning that using, selling or distributing marijuana still violates federal law.

The prosecutors said they would continue to focus on large-scale operations, and Burke’s letter did not mention state employees, who continue to process ID cards. He also told reporters he had no intention of prosecuting state workers.

Arizona and 15 other states have medical-marijuana laws that conflict with federal law, which outlaws the cultivation, sale or use of marijuana. Mounting federal pressure in California, Washington and other states has led to dispensary raids and crackdowns on landlords who lease property to dispensaries.

Wednesday’s ruling came in response to a motion to dismiss filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

ACLU Attorney Ezekiel Edwards called on Brewer to implement the law that voters approved.

“The majority of voters in Arizona passed a statute to regulate marijuana as medicine,” Edwards said. “They’re just obstructing the will of the voters.”

Five other medical-marijuana lawsuits are still pending in Maricopa County Superior Court, including two filed by would-be dispensary owners against the state for failing to fully implement the law.

In arguments last month, attorney Ty Taber told Judge Richard Gama that Brewer had no right to refuse to implement a voter-approved law. Gama took the matter under advisement.

Under state rules, the Health Department was to begin accepting dispensary applications last June and issue up to 126 permits by August. The law allows patients to grow up to 12 plants per person if they live more than 25miles from a dispensary.

Medical-marijuana advocates say Brewer’s failure to fully implement the law is leading to widespread marijuana cultivation, rather than fewer, large-scale regulated sites.

“The people of Arizona should be outraged that there are continuing efforts to use their money to pursue a political agenda,” said Joe Yuhas of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Association. “Do we really want potentially 150,000 patients growing their own marijuana? Because that is the road we’re on right now.”

Meanwhile, at least four states recently asked the Obama administration to change marijuana’s classification under federal drug laws so it could be prescribed, removing the conflict between state and federal laws and avoiding the risk of federal prosecution.

Currently marijuana is listed alongside other street drugs, such as heroin and LSD, with a high potential for abuse and no acceptable medical uses. State officials in Washington, Rhode Island, Colorado and Vermont want marijuana included with drugs — such as cocaine, opium and morphine –that can lead to abuse or addiction, but can be dispensed legally for medical treatment.

Benson said the governor does not plan to join the other states in that request because she doesn’t believe reclassifying the drug would eliminate dispensaries and the potential for state employees prosecution.

Rising tobacco prices cause stir in West Bank

Mustafa Jum'a, who runs a coffee shop in Ramallah in the West Bank, began to worry about his business as the prices for hookah smoke rise due to an extra tariff imposed on tobacco.

Israeli authorities suddenly raised import tariffs on tobacco, a move the Palestinians have to follow because of the Paris Economic Protocol signed with Israel in 1994, which states the two must have bond import tariffs in the light with the unified customs framework.

The rise has caused a reduction of customers, said Jum'a, adding most of his customers are public employees that used to come to the coffee shop twice or three times a day. "(They) now come here only once, if not every other day," he said.

The hookah price in Jum'a's coffee shop has risen from seven shekels (around 1.8 U.S. dollars) to 12 shekels (3.4 dollars). He made money when hookah smokers order tea, coffee or other drink, so now he makes less profit due to the reduction of customers.

Head of the tobacco customs department in the Ministry of Finance Bandi Dahdah said the new customs tariff requires the payment of 279 shekels (73 dollars) per kilogram, compared with the previous 50 shekels (13 dollars). Since the best tobaccos are imported from Egypt and Bahrain, almost all hookah smokers are affected by the new regulation.

Local tobaccos, mainly produced in the north of the West Bank, are unsuccessful in competing with these Arab blends.

However, the Ministry of Health welcomed the decision, Dahdah said, noting the health ministry hopes the move would encourage smokers to quit smoking. According to an official study, the number of smokers in the Palestinian territories are estimated at 800,000.

"My young children smoke hookah, even my 16-year-old child smokes behind my back. I hope this decision will help them get rid of it," said Nadia Karim, a 45-year-old mother in Bethlehem.

However, regular smokers are not expected to refrain from smoking after the rise. Mohammed Radi said it's unlikely for him to stop smoking. "I think we have become addicted to it now," he smiled and said.

Meanwhile, the price hike has also encouraged tobacco smuggling into the West Bank. Dahdah said "smuggling has become very profitable after the rise in tariffs, and the PNA (Palestinian National Authority) is aware of that and we had fined the smugglers," Dahdah added.

Dahdah also said "the Palestinian authority is seeking measures to change the economic protocol in general with Israel."

Cartoons, widely-circulating text messages and jokes among the Palestinians are criticizing the price rise. "From now on, we will honour our guests by slaughtering a Muassel pack for them (as opposed to slaughtering animals to feed them)," One cartoon read.

Angry hookah smokers have turned to social network sites to express displeasure, some of whom even went as far as threatening demonstrations.

Resolve to Quit Smoking Anytime

Many smokers start the new year with the goal of quitting the habit, but anytime is a good time to stop smoking, said Dr. William Mercer.

Mercer, Wheeling-Ohio County health officer, said that's just the advice he gives his private practice patients in Wheeling. But the smoker has to be ready to quit, he noted.

''Every time someone tries to quit they learn something from that attempt,'' Mercer said.
The process can be made a little easier if one has a partner who also is trying to quit, such as a spouse or friend.

''There are benefits to quitting at anytime of your life - even people in their 80s,'' he said.

For those who need assistance quitting, there are some products that have been helpful to people, such as nicotine replacement patches and lozenges, Mercer said. Also, a drug called Chantix works on the brain's nicotine receptors, while others have used an anti-depressant named Zyban.

''It's the best we have so far to help people quit," Mercer said, noting there have been some reports of Chantix users having suicidal thoughts.

Others have tried electronic cigarettes as a product to help stop smoking. But Mercer said since the product is not classified as a stop-smoking aid, its makers are not required by law to prove it is safe to use.

''Since it's classified as tobacco, they don't have to show it's safe,'' Mercer said.

Marijuana found in car after woman is killed in rollover

Approximately two pounds of marijuana was found inside a vehicle that overturned and killed a woman in Benson last Saturday.
Deputies with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the 2000 Nissan Xterra on Wednesday and collected DNA evidence to determine the events leading up to the fatal wreck that occurred on the morning of New Year’s Eve on Johnson Road.
The details of the vehicle accident remain under investigation, said Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
The vehicle is registered to a man in Phoenix who, according to the sheriff’s office, did not know that his vehicle had been involved in an accident when contacted by authorities.
Half a mile from the scene of the rollover, another vehicle registered to a Bianca Gonzalez was located. The 2002 Honda Civic was registered out of Phoenix.
Deputies later learned that the name was used by the deceased woman, however it is not her real name.
Investigators have determined her true identity, but are withholding it until next of kin have been notified.
According to the sheriff’s office, the woman is from Guatemala, though her legal residency status has yet to be determined.

Province may follow Hat's lead on smoking ban

Once again, the provincial government appears poised to follow in the City of Medicine Hat's footsteps when it comes to anti-smoking legislation.
Recently, premier Alison Redford publicly restated her campaign pledge to look into a province-wide ban on smoking in vehicles where minors are present. Redford's announcement comes just months after the City of Medicine Hat's decision to pass its own bylaw to that effect Ñ a bylaw that makes Medicine Hat the largest of four Alberta municipalities that currently already ban smoking in cars with children.
In June of 2011, Mayor Norm Boucher wrote a letter to then-Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky, informing him of Medicine Hat's new bylaw and encouraging the province to take similar action. The letter received in response gave council the impression that the province had no intention of pursuing a provincial ban -- however, under a new premier, the mood of government has changed. Redford has indicated a new strategy aimed at combating youth tobacco use is in the works, and will contain a number of initiatives being pushed for by the anti-smoking lobby group, Action on Smoking and Health.
"We have reason to be optimistic. We certainly hope the premier will deliver on her promises," said Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health.
Hagen said he believes the City of Medicine Hat's bylaw sent a message to the provincial government Ñ and pointed to the fact that Medicine Hat and other cities enacted their own smoking bans in bars and restaurants years before the province followed suit in 2008.
"I think that would have been much longer in coming if not for the actions of local municipalities like Medicine Hat," Hagen said. "It (a municipal bylaw) definitely raises the profile of the issue and gets people thinking about what the provincial government's role is."
Ald. Les Pearson, who was council's most vocal supporter of the local bylaw banning smoking in vehicles with minors, said it is gratifying to hear Redford's intentions. However, he said it is unfortunate that municipalities so often have to take the lead on what should really be a provincial responsibility.
"It's frustrating," Pearson said. "The city pays a lawyer to develop a bylaw, it's an expense for the municipality, and we know that when enough municipalities come on board, then the province comes forward."
Since Medicine Hat's bylaw came into effect September 1, only one ticket for smoking in a vehicle with children present has been issued.
However, Michelle SauvŽ of the local Canadian Cancer Society Ñ which also lobbied hard for the bylaw Ñ said that's not the point.
"This is about education and denormalization," SauvŽ said. "Most people are law-abiding citizens. It's like when the seatbelt legislation came in many, many years ago - a lot of people weren't wearing seatbelts, and then the law came in, and people started wearing their seatbelts."