Talk of Tobacco Tax Increases in New Jersey, Maryland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tobacco, brewery stocks edge up on escaping tax hikes

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

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

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

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

Marijuana-shaped candy alarms parents, officials

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

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

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

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

"It does pretty well," he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phillipsburg resident urges smoking ban at school bus stops

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

Dampener on smoking in public places

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Delaware County bar owners say business down since smoking ban

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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