Easton voters OK smoking ban on town land

By a margin of 69-39, voters Monday night backed the Board of Health in its quest to include town-owned land as a public place where smoking is prohibited. It was the only article out of 48 that drew any type of discussion at the two-hour meeting. Places like the town pool and the new ball fields on Chestnut Street would now be smoke free, according to health agent Mark Taylor, who said the bylaw amendment would promote a healthy lifestyle and keep people from being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Some residents questioned whether the measure is enforceable. “The Police Department became involved because kids are smoking across the street from the high school (on conservation land),” Krajcik said. “It gives the school resource officer the ability to positively intervene, talk to the kids, maybe talk to the parents. We’re not going to balance the budget by ticketing these things.” Members of the Conservation Commission were against the measure with John Grant calling it presumptuous to have another board make rules and regulations on Conservation Commission controlled land.

“There are over 5,000 acres in town,” Grant said. “It’s not possible for you to police this. It doesn’t need policing.” Resident Janice Gilman said she thought it was a school issue that did not merit town intervention. “I don’t think a police officer should tell students not to smoke. That’s the parents’ job. (The police) have more important things to do,” Gilman said. Voters also passed the town’s $67.4 million operating budget that includes the School Department’s $33.8 million budget, a 2.3 percent increase over last year’s budget, according to town administrator David Colton.

The budget also adds one police officer, two firefighters, fully staffs the public safety dispatchers and partially restores some clerical hours cut at Town Hall, particularly in the collector/treasurer office. Community Preservation Act expenditures were also approved with $70,000 going to repair the roof on the children’s wing of the Ames Free Library, $38,567 to repair masonry and siding on the Children’s Museum of Easton, $120,900 to fix the chimneys and stonewall at the Town Hall, and $500,000 to purchase a preservation restriction for the Governor Ames Estate that will be repaid by a grant awarded to the town in that same amount.

Kids suffer long-term from parent smoking

Children whose parents smoke could suffer irreversible damage to their health well into adulthood, a new study has found. Researchers say those exposed to their parents' smoking have less elasticity in their arteries, an early indicator of poor cardiovascular health. The Menzies Research Institute Tasmania is involved in the international study, the first to look at the long-term effects of parental smoking on children's blood vessel health. "It seems to have a direct effect," research fellow Dr Seana Gall told reporters on Wednesday.

"The chemicals in cigarette smoke interact with the lining of the blood vessels and that seems to be causing an inability of them to expand and contract properly. "We know the elastic ability of an artery is actually linked to the risk of having heart attacks and strokes when you're older." Researchers in Australia and Finland have conducted a Seven Up style experiment, following children first examined 20 years ago who are now aged in their mid-30s. Whether on not they had taken up smoking themselves, worse results were returned by those exposed to cigarettes.

"The effect was seen up to 27 years later, suggesting a long-term and irreversible effect of passive smoking in childhood on the health of arteries," Dr Gall said. The research team will continue to follow the group into middle and old age to determine whether heart attack and stroke are directly related to parents' smoking. Second-hand smoke kills more than 600,000 non-smokers worldwide each year, the Institute said, while 40 per cent of the world's children are regularly exposed. Dr Gall said parents and those considering parenthood should be trying to quit. "The highest prevalence of smoking is still seen in those age groups that correspond with people first becoming parents, so that's still a concern and we'd want to get the prevalence down in those groups particularly," she said.

Louisiana Senate rejects smoking ban extension

The Louisiana Senate has refused to prohibit smoking within 25 feet of the entrance to any building where smoking already is banned, even after the measure was limited to state-owned buildings. Louisiana prohibits smoking in restaurants, public places, public buildings and many places of employment. As approved by the House, West Monroe Rep. Frank Hoffmann's proposal would have extended the ban to within 25 feet of those buildings' entrances and to their wheelchair ramps. The cheapest cigarettes online: cigarettesonline.beeplog.de

But senators said in downtowns and areas like the French Quarter, the 25-foot ban could eliminate smoking outside entirely. So, the Senate limited the measure to state-owned buildings. That wasn't enough to win passage. Senators voted 18-16 Tuesday for the proposal. It needed 20 votes to pass.

Vit C benefits newborns of smoking women

This is the conclusion of a new study at Oregon Health and Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital. "Smoking during pregnancy is known to adversely affect the lung development of the developing baby, causing lifelong decreased lung function and an increased risk of asthma," said Cindy McEvoy, M.D., M.C.R., neonatologist and associate professor of pediatrics at OHSU Doernbecher Children''s Hospital. "We found that babies born to pregnant smoking women who took 500 milligrams of Vitamin C daily during their pregnancy had significantly improved pulmonary function tests measured at about 48 hours after delivery," she stated.

 In this pilot study, McEvoy and colleagues randomly assigned 159 pregnant women who were unable to quit smoking to either daily Vitamin C or a placebo starting before 22 weeks gestation through delivery. A group of nonsmoking pregnant women also was studied as a reference group. The researchers measured the pulmonary function in all newborns at approximately 48 hours of age and found the newborns of smoking women who received Vitamin C supplementation had significantly improved lung function compared with the newborns of smoking women who received a placebo, as measured by standard newborn pulmonary function testing (TPTeF:TE and Crs). In addition, the scientists found that one particular genetic variant that has been shown to increase the risk of smokers developing cancer and is associated with both a reduced ability to quit smoking and a high likelihood of relapse also seemed to intensify the harmful effects of maternal smoking on babies' lungs.

"Getting women to quit smoking during pregnancy has to be priority one, but this study provides a way to potentially help the infants born to the 50 percent of women who cannot quit smoking when pregnant," said McEvoy. "Vitamin C supplementation may block some of the in-utero effects of smoking on fetal lung development." "Our findings are important because improved lung function tests at birth are associated with less wheezing and asthma in childhood. "Vitamin C is a simple, safe, and inexpensive treatment that may decrease the impact of smoking during pregnancy on the respiratory health of children," McEvoy said. The results will be presented at the American Thoracic Society 2012 International Conference in San Francisco.

Tobacco fund, money laundering debated

Lawmakers yesterday agreed that the establishment of a tobacco prevention fund would provide a basic foundation for implementing the Law on Tobacco Prevention and Control. In debate yesterday at the third session of the 13th National Assembly, many deputies said that the fund would demonstrate political commitment as well as provide a legal foundation for mobilising financial resources for tobacco prevention efforts. Chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs Truong Thi Mai said that the draft law had been revised towards the goal of reducing tobacco production nationwide. More information - www.freetobacco.info

Many deputies suggested that the State budget should provide financial resources annually for the fund but that the amounts allocated should not exceed 2 per cent of the total funds collected from special use tax on tobacco. However, others suggested that the fund be raised from tobacco producers and importers as a percentage of cigarette prices before VAT and special use taxes. "Financial resources for the tobacco prevention fund should be collected from the pockets of tobacco producers, traders and user rather than from the State budget," said deputy Pham Khanh Phong Lan from HCM City. "We cannot force people who do not use tobacco to pay for this." Lan said that the law should provide for stricter penalties for violations and urged that greater attention be paid to cigarette smuggling and illegal imports.

Deputy Vuong Dinh Hue from Binh Dinh Province said: "Money for the fund should come from an obligatory contribution from tobacco production and import units. The contribution need not affect the State budget and would therefore not violate current laws and regulations on spending." Deputy Tran Van Huynh from Vinh Long Province added that smoking should be prohibited at pagodas and other worship areas and the law should define clearly who is in charge of handling violations at public sites. "We expect a draft law to be promulgated soon in order to reduce the burden on the public health," said Huynh. Discussing the draft Law on Prevention of Money Laundering, many deputies said that the law should regulate in detail all behaviours related to money laundering. Do Van Duong from HCM City and Tran Dinh Nha from Thua Thien-Hue Province said that money laundering was a global battle because it took place not only in monetary transfers but also in other channels such as real estate and business investments.

"Many contents of the draft law should be re-designed in conformity with the current situation," said Duong. Many deputies agreed with Deputy Cao Sy Kiem from Thai Binh Province that the Ministry of Public Security and the State Bank of Viet Nam should take primary responsibility for preventing money laundering and that the law should regulate in detail duties and collaborative mechanisms for both agencies.

Ruth resets Tillery tobacco hearing to Aug. 21

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Attorney Stephen Tillery is arguing that a judgment in favor of cigarette maker Philip Morris was "fundamentally flawed," because it was based on "false facts advanced by Philip Morris at every step in this litigation." Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth has reset a hearing originally scheduled for Tuesday involving Tillery's petition for relief from the Illinois Supreme Court's dismissal of Price v. Philip Morris in 2005. The hearing will be held Aug. 21 in the $10.1 billion "light" cigarette labeling judgment that was later overturned.

Tillery filed a brief in support of a first amended petition for relief from judgment on May 4. According to Tillery, the FTC never allowed "low tar" descriptors, never had a policy of permitting descriptors, never required that Philip Morris disclose test measurements, never allowed the use of descriptors through consent orders and never intended for non-parties such as Philip Morris to take guidance from consent orders. "Because Philip Morris falsely represented contrary 'facts' in the litigation and successfully convinced Justice Garman to rely on those false 'facts' to dismiss Plaintiff's claims, plaintiff's petition should be granted," Tillery wrote.

 Philip Morris filed a defendant's reply in opposition to plaintiffs' first amended petition for relief from judgment on April 23. "Litigation must come to an end, and the Illinois courts have thus imposed a heavy burden on litigants - like plaintiffs here - who seek to overturn a final judgment based on 'newly discovered evidence,'" according to the company's lawyers. Philip Morris is represented by Larry Hepler and W. Jason Rankin of Hepler Broom in Edwardsville, Michele Odorizzi of Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago and George C. Lombardi of Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago. Rankin signed the brief. Nothing the plaintiffs say can get them past the problem that the new "evidence" they rely on does not reveal any new facts since Price was decided, he wrote.

"No previously undisclosed FTC history concerning 'lights' descriptors has been revealed, nor has any new document evidencing FTC action or inaction been unearthed that was previously unknown either to plaintiff's or the Illinois Supreme Court," he wrote. "To the contrary, the historical record remains the same today as it was in 2005, when the Illinois Supreme Court issued its decision." Philip Morris says it is erroneous for the plaintiffs to assert that Judge Ruth has power to grant its petition and reinstate the $10.1 billion judgment the Illinois Supreme Court reversed, because the Madison County courtlacks power to reverse the Illinois Supreme Court's decision.

Tillery responded to the tobacco company's opposition to re-opening the case in a brief filed April 10. The "facts were false," Tillery stated. In his brief, Tillery argues the Illinois Supreme Court had each relevant fact it considered wrong because Philip Morris presented the court with inaccurate facts about descriptors allowed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Tillery states that whether Philip Morris' conduct was authorized is a question of the law, and whether the FTC permitted Philip Morris to use descriptors is a question of fact.

Tobacco use kills 100,000 every year: experts

Tobacco-related diseases killed as many as 100,000 people every year and nearly 1,200 children start smoking every day in Pakistan because of government inaction, health experts agreed on Tuesday. They were addressing a seminar on the 'Role of Media for Advancing Tobacco Control'. Criticising the government inaction on tobacco control laws, Project Co-ordinator of the Network for Consumer Protection Dr Hussan Mehmood said that around 40 percent men and 9 percent women smoked in Pakistan. He said that lack of enforcement, blatant violation of existing tobacco control laws and unregulated tobacco advertising and promotion was regretful.

The network, he said, wanted to remind the government to immediately rotate pictorial health warnings, adding that the deadline was missed in December 2011. Terming tobacco use in public places the most alarming global public health challenge, Communication Officer Asma Qamar said that the district government of Faisalabad needed to take stringent measures to effectively enforce tobacco control laws in public places. Reminding that World No Tobacco Day would be observed on May 31, she said that the network was also launching a campaign to monitor Tobacco Advertising, Promotion and Sponsorship (Taps) and enforcement of the existing tobacco control laws in Faisalabad. The network, she said, had also held an interactive session with the media in the Faisalabad city make national level legislation in line with guidelines of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty.

Terming the situation in Pakistan alarming, Dr Hussan Mehmood said that nearly 1,200 young children started smoking and youth were predominantly using shisha and other smokeless tobacco products such as gutka and snuff. Highlighting media's potential role in the tobacco control drive, speakers called for a stronger partnership with mass media for implementing anti-tobacco use laws. Speakers said that youth constituted 63 percent of the country's population, adding that underage tobacco sale was growing rapidly because of poor implementation of tobacco control policies. Similarly, pictures depicting the true effects on health on cigarette packs were yet to be revised, they added.

King County weighs tobacco ban in parks

King County would join a growing list of local parks, hospitals and schools with policies for tobacco-free areas under a proposed ordinance, prohibiting tobacco use in the busiest areas of the county’s expansive parks system, being considered by the county council. The proposed ordinance would mean visitors to county parks could no longer use tobacco in heavily-used park areas such as children’s playgrounds, athletic fields, picnic shelters and trailheads.

 “When people come to a public park, they expect to breathe fresh air – not someone else’s cigarettes,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, citing a survey of county residents in which more than 70 percent said they support smoke-free public places, including parks.

One shareholder's lonely pro-smoking battle

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This time of year, shareholders bombard corporations with suggestions about executive pay, governance and other arcana. But once in a while, an idea comes along that truly stands out. This year's prize may go to Daniel Morrison, who asked Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA, to resurrect TV and radio ads for its cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. His logic? It's the only way that potential customers will find out about new products, or be lured to switch brands. He also asked Altria to examine how it could advertise online, on smartphones, by text message and on satellite radio. In a letter to Altria's board, Morrison wrote that "hundreds of millions" of Americans have never heard slogans like "Come to where the flavor is" or "You get a lot to like with a Marlboro: filter, flavor, pack or box."

 "This proposal is not about selling more cigarettes," he wrote. "This is about freedom." Morrison described himself as a retired city employee who owns about $9,500 worth of stock in Altria, which held its annual meeting Thursday in Richmond, Va. The Securities and Exchange Commission, which catalogued his letter along with other shareholder proposals, isn't allowed to release details about Morrison, including contact information. Altria asked the government for permission to exclude Morrison's proposal from its shareholder ballot. For one thing, the company points out, Morrison didn't send a written notice that he intends to hold his shares through the meeting, as the SEC requires, or even proof that he is a shareholder.

 More important, his proposal would require breaking the law: Tobacco companies have been banned from advertising cigarettes on TV for more than four decades. They're also forbidden from any marketing that could be construed as youth-oriented, and the government is considering more restrictions on advertising tobacco products via new media and technology, such as the Internet, email and smartphones. The SEC almost certainly would have granted Altria's request, but as it turns out, it never had to.

The day after Altria sent the SEC and Morrison a letter with its objections, the company's legal department received a brief email. "To whom it may concern," it said. "Please withdraw my proposal dated 11-29-11....Thank you, Daniel Morrison." An Altria spokesman declined to comment beyond the company's filings.

Tough sell for tobacco taxes in California

In the past decade, red and blue states alike, from Mississippi to New York, have approved more than 100 tobacco tax hikes in a desperate hunt for budget revenue. But not one has passed in California, whose 87-cent cigarette tax dropped from third-highest in the nation in 1999 to 33rd today despite the state's ongoing budget woes. That confounds health advocates, who otherwise consider California to be a trailblazer when it comes to bans on smoking in bars and restaurants, and public campaigns urging tobacco users to quit. But longtime state budget watchers are hardly surprised.

They largely blame the state's supermajority requirement to pass tax hikes in the Legislature. That forces tobacco tax votes to the ballot, where industry can spend unlimited sums of money. "Certainly the state has been looking in every place possible for new sources of revenues," said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. "Most other places have a simple majority, and I think a two-thirds majority is a hurdle even for something seemingly as popular as a tobacco tax." The June ballot has a tobacco tax hike, Proposition 29, that would raise $735 million in its first full year, mostly for cancer and disease research.

The Legislature could not tap the funds for 15 years, and even then not without meeting certain requirements. The initiative has generated much of its support and opposition along predictable political lines, with Republicans and anti-tax groups opposed and Democrats and health organizations in support. Tobacco firms R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris have contributed more than $38 million against the measure. An early PPIC poll showed 67 percent of likely voters in support in March, but backers believe it will ultimately be a close contest under the weight of heavy industry opposition. Baldassare observed that support for tobacco taxes "fits the tax-the-other-person mentality."

The state Department of Public Health said last year that the adult smoking rate dropped to a record low of 11.9 percent, a precipitous decline from the 27.7 percent in 1985. As Gov. Jerry Brown prepares to release a revised budget today reflecting a deficit that has ballooned to $16 billion from the original $9.2 billion estimate, Proposition 29 opponents have seized on a budgetary argument to make their case. The No on 29 campaign states on its website, "Billions in New Taxes, but Nothing to Fix the State Budget." It also points out that funds would not go to schools, unlike other general fund revenues. Proponents have dismissed the argument, saying it is beside the point and disingenuous coming from foes who oppose other state tax hikes for education.

"This measure is not going to solve the state budget crisis," said Jim Knox of the American Cancer Society. "It is not a cure for global warming. There are a lot of things it doesn't do. This measure is intended to raise the tobacco tax to protect kids from smoking." Still, the budgetary argument has won sympathy in some unexpected places. The Los Angeles Times editorial board opposed the initiative on grounds that cancer research is not a priority during the budget crisis, even though it praised the health benefits that could result from a $1 per pack hike in cigarette taxes.

The left-leaning California Budget Project, which has not taken a position, concluded in a policy paper, "A key policy issue raised by Proposition 29 is whether it is desirable to dedicate hard-to-raise new revenues to a specific set of programs that would be 'locked in,' limiting the ability of the Legislature to make changes in response to shifting economic, budget and demographic trends."

My Addiction Started with My First Cigarette, One Local Woman’s Crusade to Save Lives

Becki Jones of Pleasanton, CA remembers smoking her very first cigarette. Forty-five years and a stage IV lung cancer diagnosis later, the 62-year-old Tri-Valley local also recalls smoking her last. Just before her birthday last summer, Jones became one of the 110,000 new cases of lung cancer diagnosed in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. “I found a lump in my abdomen and one in my breast,” said Jones. “I had surgery to remove them. To our complete surprise, it turned out to be metastatic lung cancer. Three days later, the doctors told me the cancer had spread to my brain.”

 The diagnosis came as a shock. “I never thought it would happen to me. But, I knew right then I had to stop smoking, because there was no point in undergoing treatment otherwise,” said Jones. According to Gautam Prasad, M.D., Ph.D., cigarettes contain nearly 70 ingredients known to cause cancer. Prasad is one of Jones’ doctors and a radiation oncologist at Epic Care’s Dublin location. “Just one cigarette is enough to get you addicted for life. Kicking the habit before you’re 30 can cut your chance of dying of a smoking-related illness by up to 90 percent,” said Dr. Prasad. Because Jones’ cancer was so advanced, her oncologists at Epic Care had to work carefully and quickly not only to contain the current tumors, but also to stop future growth.

“We had to take my treatment in stages. My radiation therapy tackled the lung cancer in my brain,” said Jones. “I trusted I was in good hands with Dr. Prasad.” To treat the metastasized tumor in her brain, Dr. Prasad opted for a state-of-the-art radiation treatment method called stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), which uses an advanced linear accelerator-based platform with on-line 3-dimensional image guidance. “This treatment allows us to zero-in on the tumor and spare the rest of the brain from unnecessary irradiation. A fundamental consideration was the fact we were able to treat Becki in a single SRS session so she could immediately start chemotherapy,” explained Dr. Prasad. The end of March marked Jones’ last chemotherapy treatment. She and her partner of 20 years, Mike, have been taking it day-by-day.

“The battle may not be over. I may have to go back on chemotherapy and keep fighting, but right now, we’re just trying to stay positive,” said Jones. This June, Proposition 29, or the Tobacco Tax for Cancer Research Act, will be introduced on the California ballots. The proposition enacts an additional one-dollar sales tax on each cigarette pack purchased. All money will be dedicated directly towards cancer research and smoking prevention / cessation measures. Research funding facilitates important treatment advances, such as SRS advanced radiation therapy and more targeted chemotherapy agents.

In additiona, the sales tax will be used to deter cigarette use, especially among teenagers. “If this gets even one person to stop smoking, it’s worth it,” said Dr. Prasad. “Epic Care supports the measure because it has the potential to save lives.” Jones is doing her own work to get others to stop smoking. “I’ll go up to people at the supermarket and tell them not to buy cigarettes. We all think it can’t happen to us,” said Jones. “My advice to the next generation,” Jones says, “is to never pick up that first cigarette at all. Quit before you get to this point.”

Tax tobacco products equally

Massachusetts has slashed youth cigarette smoking by more than half in the last two decades, aided significantly by higher taxes that rose to $2.51 a pack in 2008. But an underworld of tobacco products, not subject to the same level of state and federal taxation, has emerged into broad daylight: Strawberry, vanilla, and wine-flavored cigars; mango and chocolate blunt wraps; watermelon, grape, and peach snuff pouches; and dissolvable coffee- and wintergreen-flavored orbs that look like Tic Tac breath mints. Since 2003, use of these “other tobacco products,” or OTPs, by Massachusetts kids has risen from 13.3 percent to 17.6 percent of high schoolers, surpassing the 16 percent of teens who smoke cigarettes.

Earlier this year, the Government Accountability Office reported that non-cigarette tobacco products have tripled their share of the smoking market in the last decade, from 3 percent to 9 percent. The tobacco firm Altria recently boasted of a quarterly volume jump of 14.5 percent for its cigar line and a 19 percent rise in smokeless products income since 2009. For three years now, legislators including Representative Jonathan Hecht, a Watertown Democrat, and Senator Harriette Chandler, a Worcester Democrat, have advocated closing the state tax loophole on OTPs. Governor Patrick proposed doubling the taxes on such products in his fiscal 2013 budget.

Patrick’s proposal was a non-starter in the no-new-taxes budget of House Speaker Robert DeLeo. But a bill by Hecht to equalize tobacco taxes has been referred favorably to the joint committee on health care financing. Advocates hope to insert the provision into the final health care bill currently being hashed out on Beacon Hill. And they should. Closing the loophole could add up to $13.5 million a year to state coffers as it simultaneously dissuades teens from products that in many cases are only half the cost of cigarettes. It also takes the state out of the business of abetting sales of this nicotine candy. This is a loophole no legislator should want to keep open.

Survey Shows Substantial Support for Ban on Tobacco Marketing

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There has been an ever growing opposition on cigarette smoking, with a lot of campaigns focusing how to curb the menace of smoking. The society is also growing with many people opting to stay away from the harmful effects of smoke. This is evident from the fact that a latest survey shows that more than 86% people are of the view that tobacco advertisement should be banned. The survey also came out with an observation that eight out of 10 people thing that tobacco marketing is harmful to children.

There were nearly 4,099 adults in the UK and 239 adults in Scotland questioned on the awareness of children with respect to tobacco branding. The survey was conducted by Cancer Research UK and was a part of a consultation, whether to put all tobacco in packs of uniform size, shape and design, with large health warnings on the front and back.

 According to Vicky Crichton, the charity's public affairs manager for Scotland, "This survey shows people across the country clearly support action to get rid of one of the last ways the tobacco industry can market its products. We're asking them to sign our petition and help end the packet racket".

State tax on roll-your-own cigarettes will hit in July

One little-known part of the recent state budget deal was a tax on roll-your-own cigarettes. Legislators wanted to bring it in line with the high tax that is already charged on regular, manufactured smokes. Businesses that offer this service say the state’s action is unfair and illegal. “It’s different because the person is involved in the making of it, so it’s a completely different product,” said Brandon Johnson of Natural Smokes on Capitol Hill. The roll-your-own industry has been growing in recent years, mostly as a way of getting around the high taxes on regular cigarettes.

 There are now about 65 roll-your-own outlets around Washington; these are places where you buy raw tobacco(www.tobacco-news.net) of your choice, put it in machine and out pops a carton of cigarettes. Starting in July, a carton of roll-your-own cigarettes will double in price, from about $40 to about $80. Some state legislators say this new tax violated Initiative 1053, which requires a supermajority for a tax increase. “The people said, ‘Two-thirds’ vote of the Legislature while in session to increase a tax or to create a tax,’ ” state Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, said. “It’s an increase if it didn’t exist and now it does.”

 But other legislators, who voted for the roll-your-own tax, argue it’s not a new tax at all. “What this does is simply extend an existing tax to a product that is enjoying a tax loophole,” state Sen. Karen Kaiser, D-SeaTac, said. “That was the ruling of the president of the Senate.” It is true that an extension of an existing tax would be allowed under I-1053, and that’s what supporters say this is. They argue they simply redefined what a cigarette is so that the existing tobacco tax would include non-manufactured products as well. Store owners are vowing to go to court.

They also say that the new tax is unlikely to raise the $12 million in revenue that is expected. Customers “are concerned about the tax and most of them would go back to rolling their own at home if the tax were put into place,” Johnson said. But supporters say taxing the growing roll-your-own industry is not just about revenue. “The issue here is a tax loophole,” said Kaiser, “and the tax loophole was going to be used, we thought, for an exponential increase in the sale of cigarettes in our state.”

Machine makes cigarettes for less

David Gomi and business partner Adam Chen saw a world of potential in Rocky Mount as a location for their new business, Tobacco Direct. The business at 1240 Home Depot Plaza has machines that allow customers to roll 200 smokes in eight minutes from tobacco grown locally. In the down economy with businesses closing locally, people are looking for reasonably priced smokes, Gomi said. And the machine price of $19.95 for 200 rolled smokes is less than half that of premanufactured cigarettes, he said.

 Gomi, who owns a Subway restaurant on N.C. 97, and business Chen, who owns the Rainbow Garden Chinese Restaurant next door, saw the machines being used in Virginia and were sure that Rocky Mount was the place to open such a business. “We found out about these machines through Adam’s relatives, and then we went to Virginia to look at them,” Gomi said. “There was a person in Virginia that has opened up five of these stores. We just looked at the machines, and saw customers using machines, and we were so enthralled.” The rolled smokes do not have nearly as many chemicals and additives as regular premanufactured cigarettes, Gomi said.

 There are couches and a television inside of Tobacco Direct for people to sit down and relax. Under the law, people can’t smoke the cigarettes inside, but can go outside and take and a drag. There’s an ashtray for them. “We are trying to maintain that ambiance or environment for smokers, because tobacco has such a history in North Carolina,” Gomi said. “There are going to be people probably strongly opposed to or in support of smoking tobacco, but you cannot deny the strong history of smoking in North Carolina.” Q: What products or services do you provide?

 A: Freshly rolled smokes. There is a difference between cigarettes that are premanufactured and rolled smokes. The tobacco we sell is from Wilson and is locally grown. They are better than premanufactured cigarettes. I cannot say the (rolled cigarettes) are chemical-free, because there may have been some fertilizer or some kind of chemical used (when the tobacco was grown). But the rolled cigarettes don’t have ammonia and other chemicals (in premanufactured cigarettes.) If you saw a list of all the chemicals that go into those cigarettes, it would astonish you.

Ninety-nine percent of (the chemicals) is not in (the rolled smokes). We’ve had customers come in here and said that after smoking the rolled cigarettes, the burning (sensation) is not there. It’s clean. We offer freshly rolled smokes without all the chemicals and at an affordable price.

Cigarette taxes push smokers to roll their own

Americans’ smoking habits experienced “sizable market shifts” since federal tobacco taxes were increased in 2009, a new government report concludes. Sales of pipe tobacco and large cigars, which are taxed at a lower rate, have skyrocketed as smokers have adjusted their buying habits to the new price structure. Pipe tobacco is increasingly used to make relatively inexpensive cartons of roll-your-own cigarettes. The Fox Valley has several shops with roll-your-own machines available for customers.

Kim Schafer of Appleton Souvenir and Cigar Co. said she’s noticed changing trends in tobacco use. “Actually, a few more people are picking up pipe smoking,” Schafer said. Monthly sales of pipe tobacco increased twelve-fold, from about 240,000 pounds in January 2009 to more than 3 million pounds in September 2011, the General Accounting Office found. Monthly sales of large cigars more than doubled, from 411 million pounds to more than 1 billion pounds over the same period. Congress increased taxes on both roll-your-own tobacco and packs of cigarettes in April 2009, making them equal. Lawmakers enacted a smaller tax increase for pipe tobacco, which has become a substitute for roll-your-own tobacco.

In Wisconsin, state cigarette taxes have increased by a $1.75 per pack since the end of 2007 to the current $2.52, making roll-your-own tobacco a cheaper alternative to manufactured cigarettes. Likewise, Congress began taxing small cigars at the same rate as cigarettes. In response, manufacturers of small cigars fractionally increased the weight of many of their products so they would qualify as lower-taxed large cigars, even though they often are just slightly larger than cigarettes and often have filters.

Premium handmade large cigars retail for $3 to $20 and more each, but “smaller factory-made cigars that meet the legal definition of a large cigar can cost as little as 7 cents per cigar,” the GAO reported. The market shift has cost the federal government an estimated $615 million to $1.1 billion in uncollected tax revenue between April 2009 and September 2011, the report said. It did not estimate how much individual states may have lost in uncollected taxes.

Secondhand Smoke Continues to Vex Children With Asthma

Despite longstanding recommendations for children with asthma to avoid tobacco smoke, many youths are still exposed to secondhand smoke and their health suffers because of it, according to a study to be presented May 1, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston."National asthma guidelines have advised avoidance of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) for patients with asthma for decades, but it is unclear to what degree these recommendations are being followed and what the impact of exposure has been in an era of increased awareness of the effects of ETS exposure," said lead author Lara J. Akinbami, MD, FAAP, medical officer, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers undertook this investigation after co-author Brian Kit, MD, MPH, conducted a study showing that 53 percent of children with asthma were exposed to smoke from cigarettes, cigars or pipes from 2005 to 2010. These findings also will be presented at the PAS meeting on April 28. Investigators analyzed data from the 2003-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for 972 children ages 6-19 years who had been diagnosed by a doctor with asthma and who reported having asthma at the time of the survey. They looked at the association between exposure to ETS and the following effects of wheezing in the past year: number of days of school or work missed; number of health care visits to a doctor's office or emergency department (ED); number of days with sleep disturbed; amount of activity limitation; and any wheezing with exercise or physical activity.

NHANES consists of health interviews and examinations at a mobile center. During the health interviews, respondents were asked about demographic characteristics, smoking in the household, personal smoking habits (ages 12 and above) and asthma history. Blood samples were taken to assess serum cotinine, which measures exposure to ETS or personal use of tobacco products. Results showed that 53 percent of the children were exposed to ETS. After adjusting for differences in age, sex, race and poverty status, exposure to ETS was associated with higher odds of having three or more visits (vs. no visits) to a physician's office or ED due to wheezing in the past year; sleep disturbed by wheezing one or more nights per week (vs. none); and activity limitations (fair amount, moderate amount or a lot vs. none) due to wheezing. There was no significant association between ETS exposure and missing school or work due to wheezing or wheezing during exercise.

"Although this advice is certainly not new, discussing avoidance of environmental tobacco smoke with asthma patients remains critical," Dr. Akinbami said. "New tools are needed to help families achieve the goal of reducing exposure, both inside the home and in other environments."

Bill would restrict efforts by cities, counties to ban smoking

A Springfield, Mo., legislator is proposing to prohibit Missouri cities and counties from banning smoking in establishments where at least 60 percent of retail sales come from alcohol, tobacco or entertainment. The legislation, if passed, would mean that many more bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls, billiard parlors and movie theaters, among other businesses, could be exempted from smoke-free ordinances. Casinos would fall into that category. Restaurants probably would not be affected, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Melissa Leach, R-Springfield.

The bill will be heard today by the House Small Business Committee. The bill would need to win committee approval before it could be debated by the full House. With less than three weeks left in the session, it would be hard for a bill to make it through the legislative process unless it were added as an amendment to another bill that is already in the pipeline. As to whether she expects it to pass this session, Leach said: "I believe in miracles." Leach said her purpose was to give business owners more of a say in how to run their establishments.

Under the bill, she said, 'smoking would be left up to the business owner, not the local government." Voters in Springfield passed a comprehensive smoking ban last year. A move to repeal it is on the June ballot. Leach said that some businesses had been forced to close since the ban was enacted. "We have a couple bars just hanging on," she said.

"It's a job killer." Leach's bill would also prohibit bans on electronic cigarettes. Leach said she was not sure what impact her bill would have on existing ordinances. She said that issue was being researched. "I don't think it's automatic," she said. However, opponents said the bill's wording is clear. Charley Gatton, an advocate of smoking bans, said such a law would harm anti-smoking efforts throughout Missouri.

"This will be a major setback to the employees and patrons of hundreds of businesses," Gatton said. Richard Sheets, deputy director and lobbyist for the Missouri Municipal League, said the bill as worded would put limits on existing bans approved by councils or voters themselves. "It's a local control issue," said Sheets, who will speak against the bill at the hearing. "The voters and citizens of a community should decide to what extent their regulation should be.

If they want it more stringent, or less, it's their choice." Smoking bans went into effect in January 2011 in St. Louis and St. Louis County. Exemptions are allowed for establishments in which food does not exceed 25 percent of their combined food-alcohol revenue. A St. Louis County health department spokesman said Tuesday it appeared that Leach's bill would increase the number of establishments in the county that would be able to allow smoking. Co-sponsor of the bill is Kathie Conway, R-St. Charles County. "What it does is give restaurant and bar owners a little more control over their property and businesses," Conway said. "It's not whether smoking is bad for you. We know it's a bad thing."

Quinn ties cigarette tax hike to health benefits

Whether successful or not, Illinois governors repeatedly have aimed at the same target for additional money to address the state's financial gap -- cigarette smokers. But for the first time, Gov. Pat Quinn has floated the idea of tying a cigarette tax hike to improving health care. The Democrat says a $1-per-pack increase would bring in nearly $700 million -- including federal matching funds -- to help close a $2.7 billion Medicaid short fall, with the benefits going well beyond.

 The thinking goes like this: Raising the price of cigarettes gives smokers incentive to quit and deters young people from starting. Since there'll be fewer smokers, the costs of treating smoking-related diseases should also go down. But the plan to essentially double the cigarette tax has raised questions about whether such a hike could indeed curb smoking, if it's a sensible funding source as the number of smokers dwindles, and if it would simply drive smokers to buy cigarettes elsewhere. "It makes sense from a public health perspective," said Heather Eagleton a spokeswoman for the Illinois division of the American Cancer Society.

 "We are aware that it is difficult to quit ... and this may be the final push they need to quit." Her group estimates that about $1.5 billion of the state's $14 billion Medicaid budget goes toward treating smoking-related diseases, such as lung cancer and Emphysema. However, business groups and smoker rights advocates say it's not so simple. "Why should a segment of the population that smokes have to pay for (Medicaid)?" said William Fleischli, a vice president of the Illinois Association of Petroleum Marketers and Illinois Association of Convenience Stores.

 He cites a 2010 study by Illinois State University that calls a cigarette tax an unstable source of income, especially as the number of smokers continues to shrink. The percentage of smokers has gone down dramatically over the last few decades, and though the rate of decrease has slowed, experts say it continues to dwindle as social attitudes change and smoking bans become more prevalent. There are about 1.6 million adult smokers in Illinois, roughly 17 percent of adults -- down from around 22 percent in 2000, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

 The governor tried to raise the cigarette tax before, as did his predecessor, Rod Blagojevich. The two most recent proposals passed in the Illinois Senate but died in the House. The cigarette tax was last increased in 2002, from 58 cents to 98 cents, under Republican Gov. George Ryan. Quinn's proposal to fix the state- and federally funded health insurance program, which serves about 2.7 million poor and disabled Illinoisans, also includes $2 billion in cuts to services and care-provider rates. "We've got to use our heads here," Quinn said Friday. "We ought to use this (cigarette tax) strategy to get revenue for Medicaid and also prevent bad things from happening in the first place.

That's what a good health wellness system is all about." Illinois' current 98-cent tax on cigarettes ranks 32nd highest among states, according to a 2012 survey by the Federation of Tax Administrators. But that ranking jumps into the top five for those who buy their smokes in Chicago and have to fork over a 68-cent city tax and $2 tax for Cook County. The suburb of Evanston also imposes a 50-cent tax in addition to the Cook County tax. "We feel that we're being singled out and picked on unfairly," said David Kuneman, a Midwest spokesman for The Smoker's Club, an advocacy group. He said smokers already bear an unfair tax burden and that state legislators should look to taxing alcohol. A tax hike in Illinois could increase sales in nearby states, experts say.

Indiana's tax is slightly higher than Illinois' and ranks 32nd, but it doesn't have the same county or city taxes. Meanwhile, Missouri's tax is 17 cents, which is the lowest in the nation. Illinois customers come into County Market Express in Taylor, Missouri, every day just for cigarettes, says 20-year-old clerk Aerick Steward. A pack of Camel's totals $4.66 compared with $5.41 in a nearby Quincy, Ill. convenience store. "When people get paid they come over and get cigarettes and buy by the carton," he said. The Illinois tax hike "would be good for business and we'd definitely have a lot more people coming here."

 However, economists say a boost in cross border sales wouldn't affect major metropolitan centers like Chicago or trump the other benefits. "If the price of something goes up, we've got a lot of evidence showing you've got a lot of smokers who will try to quit smoking," said Frank Chaloupka, an economist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's basic economics." He estimates that some 60,000 smokers in Illinois would give up the habit for good if the tax goes up $1. The American Cancer Society has placed that estimate even higher, at nearly 73,000.

New provincial restrictions on buying cigarettes

The Selinger government plans to make it more difficult for smokers to buy their tobacco. The NDP tabled a bill in the legislature Tuesday that would prohibit tobacco sales in stores that contain pharmacies, including drugstores and large retail outlets such as Safeway and Superstore. Bill 17 would also prohibit tobacco sales in health-care facilities and through vending machines. "What we're trying to do is promote health," said Healthy Living Minister Jim Rondeau.

"We look at pharmacies as an institution that provides wellness and health and supports individuals. And smoking does not really equate into that picture." He said research has also shown making it more difficult to buy tobacco products helps reduce the number of smokers and helps prevent youth from adopting the habit in the first place. In 2004, Manitoba became the first province to introduce an indoor smoking ban. It also passed legislation to remove tobacco from display on store shelves.

The province's tobacco taxes are now the second-highest in the country. However, until now, it had not sought to ban the sale of tobacco in pharmacies, as Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta have done. Murray Gibson, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, called the proposed legislation "a very positive move." He said MANTRA has been advocating the measure since 2004. "Government has the right and ability to mandate this. So we're pleased that they're doing that," he said. Rondeau said the new law will affect some 106 retail outlets, mainly large chain stores.

He said the province will give them plenty of time to prepare for the change. He said very likely the new law will take effect on May 31, 2013 -- to coincide with World No Tobacco Day. Rondeau said there are only 17 vending machines remaining in Manitoba that sell cigarettes. The government's concern with the machines is they're tough to supervise and regulate. "Nobody is watching who is buying cigarettes (from a machine)," the cabinet minister said. John Graham, a Winnipeg spokesman for Canada Safeway, said the grocery chain is not surprised by the proposed legislation.

"In principle, Safeway supports government initiatives that reduce tobacco use and ultimately prevents citizens from taking up this activity," he said. Graham said the chain has continued to sell tobacco in its stores as a convenience to smoking customers. Roger Tam, a Winnipeg pharmacist with Walmart, said his company has never sold tobacco products in stores that contain pharmacies. And it has not sold tobacco in Canadian stores at all since its move north of the border in 1994.

Roll-Your-Own Cigarette Machine Makers Object To Proposed Tax Hike

A roll-your-own machine can produce a carton’s worth of cigarettes for about $20, as opposed to the $50 or more you would pay for the leading national brand at a convenience store. State Sen. Terry Link (D-Waukegan) wants to change that. “This sets forth a tax and regulatory scheme that would treat roll-your-own cigarettes like regular retail cigarettes, thus closing the tax loophole,” Link said.

 But not everyone agrees that tax fairness is the motivation. “This is not about taxes,” said Phil Accordino, president of Ohio-based RYO Machine LLC, which makes cigarette-rolling machines. “This is about legislating winners and losers.” Advocates of the “roll your own” industry have said all the bill would do is encourage the customers – who already pay some tax – to go out of state or to the Internet.

Owners of roll-your-own shops in Worth and Peoria have described themselves as job creators who would have to put their employees out of work if the bill passes. Senators admit big tobacco is supporting Link’s bill.