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

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

Move to Ban Groceries Near Schools

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

Tobacco in Austria - new report released

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distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2012 illustrate how the market is set to change. Product coverage includes: cigarettes, cigars and smoking tobacco Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares and brand shares. Why buy this report? * Get a detailed picture of the tobacco industry; * Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change; * Understand the competitive environment, the market’s major players and leading brands; * Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.

It's Legal: Cigar Smokers Light Up In Benson Bar

Cigar smokers can light up legally inside Jake's Cigar Bar in Benson, despite a statewide smoking ban.
The bar is the first Omaha business to get a special cigar permit.
To qualify, a business must earn at least 10 percent of its income form the sale of tobacco products, have a walk-in humidor and not sell food.
Even with the license, cigarettes smoke is banned from the bar.
Owner John Larkin said the permit is good for business.
"We're just going to bring in more overall dollars. Still, we assume that more of the trend is going to be a raise in cigar sales, more than bar sales," he said.
Cigarros has also applied for a special permit. The bar near 132nd Street and Maple Road is closed for renovations.

Hearing focuses on cigarette sales on Indian reservations

As state lawmakers Tuesday bemoaned losses from untaxed cigarette sales on Indian reservations, an attorney for Gov. David A. Paterson raised the prospect of violence if New York enforces laws aimed at recovering the funds.
Citing State Police, Peter J. Kiernan, counsel to the governor, said it was possible the cost to police of guarding collectors on reservations could surpass the taxes collected.
Native Americans testifying at the all-day hearing at Borough of Manhattan Community College Tuesday, most notably the Seneca Nation, strongly resisted the notion of paying state taxes on the sales to nontribal members. Violent confrontations accompanied two attempts at tax collection by the state in the 1990s.
"A police problem could quickly elevate to a military one," Kiernan said, adding Paterson is still considering how to move forward. He said the state favors a policy of negotiating a peaceful settlement.
Paterson's proposed resolution would establish minimum price levels for cigarette and fuel sales, which, if broached, would shift the difference to fund borrowings for infrastructure projects equally benefiting Indian reservations and nearby nontribal lands.
But looming large at Tuesday's hearing was the state's budget deficit. Numerous senators cited the shortfall and expressed frustration that existing laws to tax the cigarettes weren't being enforced. Measures empowering the state to collect the tax, including one signed by Paterson in December, are stalled, either in courts or as a result of negotiations with tribes.
Estimates of state losses from non-native cigarette sales range from $100 million to more than $1 billion annually. Yet costs for law enforcement, should the measures be enforced, could surpass more than $2 million a day, Kiernan said.
Emotions ran high at the hearing of the State Senate committee on investigations and government operations, chaired by state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington).
When state Sen. Michael Nozzolio (R-Fayette) told Seneca Indian Nation co-counsel JC Seneca that he would "hope that the nation would not condone violence," and that Seneca didn't strike him as someone who would, Seneca said, "You don't know me very well, do you?"
While he said he was kidding, Seneca went on to mention a mural he said he sees in a state office building when he visits the governor's office, which he says depicts the killing of an Indian, and said: "You tell me about violence."
James F. Simermeyer, an attorney for the Poospatuck tribe, based in Mastic, noted it was the "smallest and poorest in New York," yet had drawn five federal lawsuits and various government enforcement actions. He added the tribe has not been invited to talks to resolve the tax collection. He called on the state to "deal with this tribe in all fairness as it does with other tribes."

Tower Hamlets clamps down on shisha smoking

TWO venues for smoking water pipes have been shut down in Tower Hamlets and another six are facing prosecution.
The Town Hall said it visited venues for smoking shisha in a joint operation with the police in a bid to stamp out illegal smoking in public places.
The council's lead member for the environment Abdal Ullah said: "Wherever cigarettes can't be smoked, shisha can't be smoked. Some people fail to understand this restriction because they think shisha is a safer alternative to cigarette smoking.
"That's why we are also working with NHS Tower Hamlets to educate people on the dangers of shisha smoking.

15 on trial over bogus cigarette export in S China

GUANGZHOU: Fifteen people went on trial Wednesday in south China for their involvement in the export of a huge amount of bogus cigarettes to foreign countries.
They were accused of providing services of storage, transfers, booking cargo space and customs clearance for people who had been exporting the bogus cigarettes since 2005, the Intermediate People's Court in Dongguan, Guangdong Province heard.
Huang Conglin and Ding Ping, two of the suspects, were involved in the transfer of bogus cigarettes worth 156 million yuan (US$22.8 million) between December 2005 and June 2008. The other 13 people were involved in exports worth between 598,500 yuan and 152 million yuan.
The bogus cigarettes were made in Yunxiao and Zhangpu counties in Fujian Province and sent to storehouses in Dongguan and Shenzhen cities in Guangdong, before they were moved on to Britan, Germany, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.
The suspects face charges of marketing fake commodities, a crime carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The hearing is ongoing.

The Myths About Smoking

If you are a smoker, then you know that any cigarette or cigar is bad for your health, but did you know that all of the different kinds are all the same in the regards of the damage they cause? When some people try to quit the habit, they will go to smoking the lights or they will even go so far as to try smoking the menthol brands, thinking that if they can't stand to smoke these they will be able to quit. Most of the time, this only leads to this person smoking more as the only difference is in the filter that is on the cigarette.

Our cigarette companies are in a lot of hot water today because of their claims that light cigarettes aren't as bad for us as the full-favored ones. Do you realize that smoking the menthol cigarettes only helps in crystallizing your lungs? I quit smoking a year ago and had smoked for years and never knew about these menthol cigarettes doing this until I quit. These companies really don't want people that smoke to really know all the facts about these because if we did, there would be more people that would quit. Some people quit when the ban for smoking in all buildings started, and most quit because they can't afford the cost of all the cigarettes that they smoke.

We have people that quit just because the habit is so nasty because the more you smoke, the worse your teeth will become. There will be yellowing of the teeth because of the tar and the smoke that settles there. Also, the tar stains will show on your fingers because of all the cigarettes that sets between and on the skin. We have been smoking for centuries and are learning about all of the side effects in the last several years.

We have made it look so relaxing and enjoying to our young children that now we have to not only see health problems with our seniors and ourselves but also now our children as well. We have so many of our young dying each year because of the cancers that come from this habit. We really need to find out better ways to keep these things out of the hands of our children. In most cases, it might be too late for us, but when you do quit you have a better chance of stopping the problems from showing up later on as it might give your body time to heal itself.