Loleta smoke shop sued by state for 'contraband cigarettes'

A tribal tobacco shop in Loleta has been ordered by the California Attorney General's Office to stop selling what it describes as illegal cigarettes and to cease distributing them beyond the boundaries of the Wiyot Table Bluff Reservation in Humboldt County.
What was originally an order in a letter dated nearly one year ago has transformed into a lawsuit against the Huber Enterprise Smoke Shop and owner Ardith Huber, alleging the shop has been selling contraband cigarettes since March 2007. The case is scheduled to be heard this week by a Humboldt County Superior Court judge.
The state said in the lawsuit that the smoke shop sells cigarette brands that aren't listed on the California Tobacco Directory and aren't certified as compliant with the California Cigarette Fire Safety and Fire Protection Act. The lawsuit said such brands include Seneca, Opal, Sky Dancer, Smokin' Joes and All Natural Native cigarettes.
Lynda Gledhill, spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said one of the reasons the lawsuit was brought against the shop is that Huber has sold these cigarettes beyond the reservation's boundaries and to non-tribal members.
In addition, the lawsuit states Huber's choice not to charge taxes on the cigarettes is in violation of California's Unfair Competition Law, making the state lose an 87-cent tax on each package of 20 cigarettes and encouraging people to buy non-state-licensed cigarettes.
While tribal cigarettes aren't covered by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, which requires tobacco companies to pay states to help mitigate the costs of smoking-related public health expenses, Gledhill said that tribal cigarettes are still subject to state taxes. The letter sent to the smoke shop last year states, “Native American tribes and tribal retailers that sell cigarettes to non-Indians and non-members of the tribe are legally obligated to collect applicable state taxes.”
Michael Robinson, Huber's attorney, said he didn't want to discuss the specifics of the case but said the next step is for the Humboldt County Superior Court to make a ruling on Nov. 10 as to whether the case can even be heard due to jurisdictional issues.
”You've got a Native American on her own Indian reservation,” Robinson said. “Tribes are sovereign entities.”
He said the state doesn't have jurisdiction over Huber's smoke shop because it's part of a tribal reservation. He said he originally filed his response to the lawsuit in federal court, but it was remanded back to the state.
”We still believe that the issue of whether or not the state can regulate Indian reservations is a federal issue,” Robinson said.
Gledhill said Huber's smoke shop isn't the first Native American tobacco retail facility to be targeted by the Attorney General's Office for selling contraband cigarettes.
”There have been others ... BlackHawk, SevenLeaf, Roadrunner and NativeBuy,” Gledhill said, listing smoke shops that have been shut down.

Brazil's Government Delays Cigarettes Tax Hike Until May

The Brazilian government on Monday said it will delay until May raising taxes on cigarettes, in order to curb inflationary pressure.

The government had planned to raise the IPI industrial products tax for cigarettes starting in December. Through incremental moves the IPI would be raised to 9% through 2015, from the current level of 6%.

Inflation in Brazil stands above 7%, well above the upper limit of the government's tolerance band of up to 6.5%.

By 2015, the government expects the increased tax to bring in an extra 7.7 billion Brazilian reais ($4.6 billion) per year, from BRL3.6 billion currently, which would help offset tax breaks for other industrial sectors.

According to a study by the World Health Organization published in 2011, 15% of Brazil's population smokes. By comparison, in Mexico the rate is 8%. Chile has the highest smoking rate in the region with 34%. Argentina has 22%.

Regarding taxes, according to the same WHO survey there were 26 countries in the world that have total taxes constituting more than 75% of the retail price of cigarettes.

Brazil's tax rate represented 60% of the retail price of cigarettes. Mexico's tax rate was 63%. Argentina and Chile both had a rate of 76%.


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Smoking, tobacco ads banned at Euro 2012 stadiums

UEFA has imposed a ban on smoking and tobacco advertising at next year's European Championship.

UEFA says the ban will apply in and around all eight host stadiums in Poland and Ukraine.

UEFA President Michel Platini says the ban is about ''respecting the health of our spectators.''

Host cities will also be urged to extend the policy to ''ensure smoke-free public transport, restaurants and fan zones.''

UEFA worked with the World Health Organization and European Union to introduce the policy.

The 16-nation tournament will be played from June 8-July 1

Teenager plays active role in tobacco battle

There are area youth who take a different approach in the fight against teens’ smoking: at the front lines.

Or rather, some youth stand in line and see what clerks will sell.

Local police solicit the help of teens to do periodic compliance checks on establishments with tobacco and liquor licenses, seeing if they will sell illegally to minors.

Eve, whose name was changed to provide anonymity, has been on undercover “stings” before with local and state officers. She is 15 years old.

During a compliance check, Eve goes into a bar or gas station and asks for a pack of cigarettes. Sometimes she gets nervous. She worries she will mess up the brand name of the pack. Clearly, she does something right. Once, nine establishments sold her cigarettes in one night.

Dave Wesner, Danville’s corporation counsel, said last year 12 citations were issued at establishments for violating the ordinance prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone younger than 18. Wesner said typically the employee who sold tobacco to a minor is the one who is fined. However, continual violations at a certain site may result in a suspended or revoked license for the business.

Eve said she thinks it’s wrong when establishments sell to minors.

“What they’re doing is telling teenagers it’s OK, when really it’s not,” Eve said. She said it’s not good for places to break the law, especially when smoking puts one on a path that may lead to death.

Moving forward

Eve’s mom knows parents play a big role.

“I was raised in a family of smokers. Both my parents were heavy smokers,” her mom said. “I knew from an early age, it was a habit I didn’t want to develop.”

While she thinks it is good for schools to educate teens about risky behaviors, she doesn’t think it’s their responsibility.

“I absolutely think it’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their kids right from wrong.”

Her daughter said she will never smoke.

“I want to try to be like my mom,” Eve said, “because she never tried drugs when she was younger.”

Eve is comfortable talking to a parent and to her peers.

As they are being interviewed, Eve and her mom talk to each other about the situations Eve has encountered. Her mom knows Eve has been tempted by peers. Eve explains that she knows what to do when she’s pressured to start an unhealthy habit.

“I’ll just be like, ‘You know I don’t do that type of stuff,’” Eve said. “Later, they don’t even ask.”

“You’re that direct?” Eve’s mom asks her.

“Mm hm. Yeah, because if you’re not, they’re just gonna keep asking you,” Eve said.

“That’s true,” her mother replied.

Alberta sells off tobacco stock

Though a Crown corporation selling off tobacco stock is being called an unprecedented move, the province’s plans to sue the tobacco industry remain unclear.

The Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) has sold $17.5 million in directly managed tobacco stock held by public sector pension funds and the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, said AIMCo CEO Leo de Bever.

The decision to sell the stocks was initiated by the province, he said.

One year ago, when Premier Alison Redford was justice minister, she announced plans for the province to sue Big Tobacco to recover health care costs.

On Friday, Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear said while that’s still the plan, a lawsuit launch date has still not been picked.

“It’s too early to say,” said Dear.

“The next step is to proclaim Alberta’s Crown’s Right of Recovery Act — that will really set up all the steps that will follow.

“Obviously it’s an important issue and we’ll take the time we need to get it right.”

Dear said the lawsuit will seek to recoup health costs that resulted from the side-effects of the tobacco industry.

Cynthia Callard, executive director of the policy group Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, said to the best of her knowledge, Alberta is the first province in Canada to dump these sorts of investments in the tobacco industry.

She said though Alberta’s stocks were modest compared to others — the Canada and Quebec pension plans each have more than $200 million invested and there is another $300-plus-million in B.C. — the move sets a good example.

“This step of Alberta is a major precedent,” she said.

Les Hagen, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said he’s also pleased by the province initiating the stock sell-off.

“It’s completely contradictory for the Alberta government to sue the tobacco industry on one hand and profit from it on the other,” he said.

“We think it’s a good move — it draws a clear line between government and the tobacco industry.”

Illegal cigarette trade costs kitty Rs10.5 billion

Tax evasion by cigarette industry along with cigarette counterfeiting and smuggling has cost the national kitty Rs10.5 billion over the last nine months as compared to Rs9.5 billion in the corresponding period in 2010, according to tobacco industry statistics.

Of the Rs10.5 billion revenue losses, Rs7 billion is caused by tax evasion, Rs1 billion by counterfeiting and Rs2.5 billion by smuggling.

Most counterfeit cigarette manufacturing units are located in Chakwal, Sargodha and Okara in the Punjab, and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. And their number is around 25.

According to the statistics, 2008 reported Rs 6 billion revenue losses from tax evasion, counterfeiting and smuggling by cigarette makers and traders. In 2011 until now, 31 billion cigarette sticks were manufactured.

During the fiscal 2010-11, the cigarette industry s contribution to national exchequer totalled Rs58.5 billion, while it was Rs55.9 billion in the previous year. The national cigarette market s size is around 72 billion sticks of which 59 billion are supplied by over 50 licensed manufacturers, while the remaining are either counterfeit, non-duty paid or smuggled ones. As claimed by the tobacco industry, unregistered cigarette manufacturing units force farmers to grow substandard tobacco, which is used to produce substandard and counterfeit cigarettes, for better profit at the expense of people s health.

Marijuana Smoking Competition At Stadium

It was as if there was marijuana smoking competition at the Accra Sports Stadium from last Saturday night till the early hours of Sunday as there was unrestrained smoking of marijuana also known as ganja during the Mavado Live in Ghana concert.

The selling, possession and use of marijuana is a criminal offence in Ghana yet that law was put aside during the concert and thousands of persons turned their nostrils into a chimney, inhaling and puffing out thick smokes of marijuana as if they were on a suicide mission. The smokers were so daring that they passed on lighted joints of the illegal substance rolled perfectly and skillfully clipped between fingers. Not even the MC for the show, Bola Ray was spared as he and other non-smokers at the event had no choice but to become passive smokers as they inhaled the illicit drug.

The concert could pass for one of the biggest and most successful shows of the year, taking into account the turn up and performances. Midway into the show, News-One picked reports that the ticket had been completely sold out yet long winding queues had still been formed at the gates. The desperate fans outside the stadium, in apparent frustration, gave security officials a hard time as they became agitated and attempted entering the stadium with our without tickets .The main artiste for the night, Mavado, simply did not live up to expectation and had many people walking out of the show while he was still performing.

The question on the lips of many was who awarded Mavado the title Dancehall Messiah and named him as the biggest dancehall artiste in the world? News-One observed that Mavado might have had a problem playing with a live band as the coordination between him and the instrumentalist was jus missing. There were a few times he even went off key ad sang faster than the band.

There were also times he appeared confused and undecided on what to do and he kept stopping the performance midway and starting another song which he would also stop and start. His stage craft was equally questionably and it was clear he had a problem with audience coordination and at a point people started calling for Samini to be brought back on stage.

Samini was the most celebrated artiste of the night as he delivered a 30-minite live band performance that got everyone dancing and jumping in wild ecstasy. ‘Outstandingly thrilling’ is not good enough phrase to describe Samini’s performance as he stole the show and took shine from Mavado himself. Samini simply proved that he may not have an international image as big as Mavado’s but when it comes to music, he understands the act better. Fidie Ranks from Nigeria, Kwaw Kese and Sarkodie also put up very spectacular performance that got the crowd calling for more.