Smoking info and cigarettes news

Big Tobacco wins fire marshals as ally

The problem facing cigarette manufacturers decades ago involved tragic deaths and bad publicity, but it had nothing to do with cancer. It had to do with house fires. Smoldering cigarettes were sparking fires and killing people. The tobacco industry insisted it couldn’t make a fire-safe cigarette that would still appeal to smokers, and instead promoted flame-retardant furniture — shifting attention to the couches and chairs that were going up in flames. But executives realized they lacked credibility, especially when burn victims and firefighters were pushing for changes to cigarettes.

So Big Tobacco launched an aggressive campaign to “neutralize” firefighting organizations and convince these far more trusted groups to adopt tobacco’s cause as their own, according to a Chicago Tribune investigation. The industry poured millions of dollars into the effort, doling out grants to fire groups and hiring consultants to court them. These strategic investments endeared cigarette executives to groups they called their “fire service friends.” “To give us clout, to give us power, to give us credibility, to give us leverage, to give us access where we don’t ordinarily have access ourselves — those are the kinds of things that we’re looking for,” a Philip Morris executive told his peers in a 1984 training session on this strategy.

The tobacco industry’s biggest prize? The National Association of State Fire Marshals, which represented the No. 1 fire officials in each state.

How it happened

A former tobacco executive, Peter Sparber, helped organize the group, then steered their national agenda, according to the Trib’s investigation. He shaped their requests for federal rules requiring flame retardant furniture and fed them tobacco’s arguments for why altering furniture was a more effective way to prevent fires than altering cigarettes. For years, the tobacco industry paid Sparber for what the marshals mistakenly thought was volunteer work. The Chicago Tribune discovered details about Big Tobacco’s secretive campaign buried among the 13 million documents cigarette executives made public after settling lawsuits that recouped the cost of treating sick smokers.

These internal memos, speeches and strategic plans reveal the surprising and influential role of Big Tobacco in the buildup of toxic chemicals in American furniture.

Tobacco Import Bans Have Stronger Support

It has been recently revealed in a report that most people feel tobacco is a bad thing for the children and for the same there is need for an appropriate ban to be placed on the same in the time to come. They are of the view that this needs to be done in order to make the place safer for the kids in the future. They are of the view that bans placed on the tobacco products shall help the children stay away from smoking in the long run.

"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”, said Vicky Crichton, the charity's public affairs manager for Scotland.

People think that if there are appropriate bans placed on the same, children won’t have to deal with all the temptation to try the same on their own, and this would be a positive step for them. It remains to be see where things go from here and whether or not there can be bans put on the import of marlboro cigarettes in the future.

JKVHA organises high level anti-tobacco advocacy workshop

J&K Voluntary Health Association (JKVHA) organised a high level anti-tobacco advocacy workshop for senior Police Officers at Hotel Silver Star, Srinagar on Saturday. The workshop was chaired by Inspector General of Police, Kashmir SM Sahai and attended by senior Police Officers of the level of SPs and Senior Prosecution Officers.

The dignitaries present on the occasion were Former Chief Justice of J&K High Court, Bashir Ahmed Khan, Dr (Professor) G.Q. Allaqaband, Chairman JKVHA, DIG CKR, Srinagar, Syed Afadul Mujtaba, A.M.Mir (IAS Retd), Executive Director JKVHA, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, SSP Srinagar, Ms. Seema Gupta, Regional Director VHAI, Mohammed Rafi, Former Dy Commissioner Budgam, Er. Ghulam Nabi Mir Lasjan, eminent social worker, Dr. Javid Iqbal, noted columnist, Dr GM Dar, HOD Disaster Management Centre, IMPA, AK Wani, Senior Programme Manager, Dr Bikram Singh, Manjit Singh Legal expert from WHO, besides officers from Health Deptt, Drug & Food Control Organisation.

Speaking on the occasion, Sahai said that cigarette smoking is the stepping stone for drug addiction. He assured that Police would play its role in making the general public aware of the ill-effects of consumption of tobacco and would enforce prohibition of smoking in public places, in compliance to Section 4&6 of COTPA and would also prevent sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of educational institutions, hospitals and sale of tobacco products to children below 18 years of age. Later, a cultural event was also held with the support of Director Tourism and Space Communications.

The function was attended amongst others by Mohammed Akbar Lone, Hon’ble Speaker, J&K Legislative Assembly, Ms Naseem Lanker, Former Divisional Commissioner, Lt. Gen. Sengupta, Brigadier T.P.S. Rawat, Chief Engineer Beacon, Chief Post Master General J&K, John Samuel, Transport Commissioner, Mehraj Ahmed Kakroo, Deputy Commissioner, Budgam, Mohammed Akbar Ganai and Joint Director Fire Services RT Dubey, Dr Professor Abdul Majid Wani from SKIMS.

Two Chico tobacco vendors hit by burglars

Two Cigarette City locations were hit by burglars early Sunday morning, but only one appeared to lose property. Police were called to the tobacco retailer's location at 208 W. East Ave. about 3:13 a.m. to check on an alarm. Officers found the rear door to the business kicked in, but it didn't appear that entry had been made, and no loss was reported. Just 23 minutes later an alarm went off at a second Cigarette City location, at 1722 Mangrove Ave.

Police found a front window to the business smashed in and owners reported that a substantial amount of property, including cigarettes and non-merchandise items, had been taken. The suspect in the Mangrove incident is described as a white male adult, 5-foot-10, about 170 pounds, wearing dark clothing. He was possibly driving a white full-size pickup. The break-ins are believed to be connected, police said. Investigators are following leads and processing evidence found at both locations. A third Cigarette City in Chico, on Notre Dame Boulevard, was not burglarized.

Various Countries Tobacco Product Markets Discussed in New Global Report

Globally, the consumption of tobacco products has increased as rising smoking rates in the developing world and emerging countries has surpassed the decline in smoking rates for higher income countries. Falling consumption in developed countries is generally attributed to a mix of increasing excise taxes in several countries; increasing regulations; and greater health awareness. Overall, these factors combined are expected to boost revenue in the next few years. New market report package "Tobacco Products - Global" developed by Global Research & Data Services has been recently published by Market Publishers Ltd.

The report package incorporates 81 tobacco product market analyses from a wide range of countries across the globe. Each analysis gives a deep overview of the current situation, developments and future outlook of the tobacco product market in the respective country. Each review covers total market value and volume for tobacco products, market value and volume for tobacco products by type, product prices.

Furthermore, overall country overview, macroeconomic and key doing business indicators in each pertinent country are also provided. Tobacco product types covered include: cigars, cigarillos and cheroots, cigarettes, smoking tobacco and other tobacco products.

Alcohol-tobacco agency moves to shutter Daytona offices, others

The Florida agency that monitors illegal alcohol and cigarettes sales plans to take 46 investigators off the streets statewide -- to the dismay of police chiefs and at least one sheriff, who fear law enforcement in party-oriented Daytona Beach will suffer. Over the next two years, 46 law enforcement agents employed by the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco will instead be responsible for civilian tasks within the agency, a national trend called "civilianization" that is supposed to save government entities thousands of dollars.

The proposal also is supposed to allow those who remain as law enforcement agents to concentrate solely on criminal investigations because they will no longer have to work on administrative issues, said Sandi Copes Poreda, a spokeswoman for the agency. The move also includes the demotion of at least five lieutenants who will go back on the street as agents. That's aimed at reducing the agency's "top-heavy" command structure, said Vicki Cutcliffe, chief of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco's Bureau of Law Enforcement.

Cutcliffe also called the demotions "putting boots back on the ground." In a letter earlier this year, Cutcliffe said the changes are based on recommendations by the Law Enforcement Consolidation Task Force. The board was created in 2011 by the Legislature to study the feasibility of converting law enforcement positions into civilian positions in all state agencies that have sworn personnel. The plan has prompted the closing of the Daytona Beach office of the Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco where five agents worked. Now, two of those investigators will become civilian employees and three will continue monitoring and investigating illegal alcohol and tobacco sales in Daytona Beach and Volusia County, Poreda said.

However, those agents will work out of the agency's Orlando office. Poreda said because those three agents will zero in on law enforcement issues, the Daytona Beach area will be effectively covered. But Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson and Port Orange Police Chief Gerald Monahan -- speaking for the Florida Police Chiefs Association -- are opposed to the plan. "The closure of this office (Daytona Beach) and the subsequent loss of sworn law enforcement officers will place a tremendous burden on the resources and the manpower of my office and could have a severe impact on the public's safety," Johnson wrote in a letter to Gov. Rick Scott in April.

"The agents in this office assist us in intelligence gathering operations in coordination with the FBI during special events and work with us throughout the county on all issues related to alcohol and tobacco." Monahan, as a past president of the Police Chiefs Association and a representative of that group on the Law Enforcement Consolidation Task Force, last month sent his concerns about the ABT's civilianization plans and demotions to that board. The police chief also said that by the demoting five lieutenants, the agency is putting five more sets of boots on the ground. But he noted the transfer of 46 law enforcement officers to civilian positions is taking another "46 sets off the ground." Monahan said in a meeting last November, members of the task force met and reviewed a report that espoused using nonsworn personnel to perform administrative jobs in order to free up law enforcement officers for criminal investigations.

"The report mentions no less than nine times that civilianization of agencies is a way to increase the sworn complement of an agency, not to diminish it," Monahan told the task force. "Nowhere in this report does it advocate cutting sworn positions." Johnson and Monahan are not the only cops troubled by the state's actions. One of the lieutenants demoted is veteran agent John Szabo, who worked in the Daytona Beach office. Szabo could not comment for this story, but in a letter sent to him by agency Director Allen Douglas in late March, Szabo was informed he would become a law enforcement investigator II. Szabo's $55,000-a-year salary will be cut by 7 1/2 percent. He's worked for the agency for more than 20 years.

How smoking ban has led to sleepless nights

IT wasn't the aim of the smoking ban, but one of its effects has been sleepless nights for many city-dwellers. Dublin City Council has revealed that rowdy beer gardens are now among the main reasons for noise complaints. With the collapse of the property market, the entertainment business has replaced construction sites as the major source of complaint, the council said.

After the introduction of the ban, pubs built large beer gardens for smokers. While being welcomed by smokers, the open-air extensions have led to increased levels of noise pollution. "During the height of the construction boom we were dealing with a lot more [complaints]. At the moment, a lot of our complaints come from the commercial sector, in particular the entertainment business which has now become our major source of complaint," city official Martin Fitzpatrick said.

The grievances generally relate to late-night music. Councillors expressed concern about the "enormous size" of some beer gardens, which can be jammed with hundreds of drinkers until the early hours of the morning. The local authority says a planned noise act has yet to be introduced by the Dail. Public consultation took place in 2006 but nothing has been done. The act is still in the Government's plan in terms of proposed legislation, but "we haven't seen anything back on it yet", Mr Fitzpatrick said. Current regulations go back to 1992 and the mooted laws would update these provisions.

City manager John Tierney told councillors previously that the existing legislation did not "adequately address" noise pollution issues. However, six years on, the situation remains the same, the local authority's environment committee heard. This is despite research showing that high levels of environmental noise can increase the risk of stress-related problems.

Smoking Ban in Woodinville Parks Approved

In a 6-1 vote, with Mayor Bernie Talmas the lone dissenter, the Woodinville City Council declared smoking or chewing tobacco to be against the law in city parks. There was some discussion on whether the ban would be enforceable, but after Councilman Art Preglor pointed out the success of such bans in California and City Attorney Greg Rubstello said the ban in the sports fields seemed to be working, the council voted for an outright ban.

The subject of smoking cigarettes in the parks first came up back in March when the council agreed that the city’s parks should be smoke free but were split on whether it should be a suggestion to the public or a law, punishable with fines. The city's Park and Recreation Commission’s recommended that the City not adopt a policy prohibiting tobacco use in parks, largely due to the difficulty of enforcement and their conclusion that this is a non-issue in Woodinville parks.

To qualify for a King County program for free signage alerting the public to a smoking ban, be it by ordinance or voluntary, the city must pass a policy before September, 2012. Last year, five cities adopted the county’s plan and declared their parks tobacco free, Auburn, Covington, Seattle, Snoqualmie and the Vashon Parks District, which have similar policies. Tobacco policies are enforced mostly by residents themselves, much like with dog leash and alcohol policies, according to the county’s health services website. This is how similar laws have worked in other places, including Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. People can also contact the individual parks departments, according to the county.

Spring vegetables and indoor smoking

Spring and summer, my favorite two seasons. I love the many different greens of all the trees and grass, and the many different colors of flowers, whether they are growing wild along a path in the woods or laid out in a perfect pattern in a garden. It is also a time for all of the fresh fruits and vegetables to come rolling into farmer’s markets. I can hardly wait. Visiting a farmer’s market and seeing and smelling all of the fresh, colorful fruits and veggies makes me want to grab a little of everything and take it home to start cooking and canning.

Boy, I am so glad that is just a passing fancy! So far, I am still able to see the work involved in all of that! One vegetable that I love to munch on the most in the spring is fresh asparagus. I know that you can pretty much buy fresh asparagus year round, but getting it in the spring gives it a special “yum” factor! OK, so it tastes the same and it is all in my head. My favorite way to fix it is roasted. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grab a few young, tender stalks of asparagus, then rinse and drain them. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and some sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Get a brown paper bag and lay it out on a cookie sheet.

Place the asparagus inside. Quarter a lemon and place half of it in the bag on top of the asparagus. Fold bag closed. Bake about eight to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and open slowly to release steam. Eat up! Oh, and the aroma of it cooking is almost unbearable! Another one of my favorite spring/summer dishes is chicken and vegetables baked in foil. I love to make this dish and stick it on the grill. However, if it is raining, oven baking is the next best way. I have the recipe above for you. It is quick, and it is easy clean up after. It is a perfect dinner that kids love!

If you are caught in the rain and you have a perfect cut of salmon you wanted to smoke, there is a way to get the smoky flavor in the oven or on the stovetop. The only thing is be prepared to have your house smell like smoke for a few days. Purchase a small bag of grilling wood chips. Soak them in water for about two hours to keep them from burning. Place about two cups of wood chips in the bottom of a deep baking pan fitted with a rack. Place a disposable aluminum broiler pan over the chips. These pans are available at most supermarkets.

Place baking pan on top of stove and turn on medium heat. As you see smoke start to wisp up, adjust the heat so as not to start a fire. Place cooking rack over the foil. Place salmon with dry rub on rack, skin side down and cover tightly with foil. Cook until salmon is done, about 10-15 minutes. Once it is cooked, the skin should come right off. Once the skin is removed, lightly scrape along the surface, removing the bloodline (the whitish looking layer).

Higher cigarette tax will benefit students

If a ballot initiative succeeds, Missourians will be able to decide whether to raise the cigarette tax in November. As residents of a state begging for more revenue, we support this initiative and a cigarette tax increase. It’s unacceptable to have the lowest cigarette tax in the nation while being the 45th in state funding for higher education. Missouri has continuously cut funding for higher education while refusing to consider raising cigarette taxes to generate revenue. As students, we are the victims of this mistake.

When State Rep. Mary Still proposed raising the cigarette tax to 89 cents in January, it was estimated the increase would bring in $400 million in revenue. With only a penny difference between her proposal then and the one on the table now, about the same amount of revenue would come of the increase. Thirty percent of that revenue would go to higher education, which would be approximately $120 million worth of funding. This proposal also spreads revenue out more appropriately than past proposals. Other proposals have suggested giving higher education all of the revenue, which doesn’t make sense. The current proposal splits revenue by giving 30 percent to higher education, 50 percent to K-12 education and 20 percent to tobacco education. Missouri’s cigarette tax sits at 17 cents, while the national average cigarette tax is $1.46 per pack, according to Tobacco Free Kids. The proposed increase would put the tax at 90 cents, still well below the national average. Although this is more than a 500 percent increase, Missouri's tax is still far below the national average.

The cigarette tax hasn’t been raised since 1993, so this has been a long time coming. Though the cigarette tax has stayed at a low rate for the last 19 years, the cost of higher education for students has been drastically increasing. In the same amount of time, students have taken on 21 percent more of the burden for university operations, and the state has dropped 28 percent of it, according to the Missouri Students Association. MU tuition rises with inflation, so why not also the price of cigarettes? With higher education in a bind for funding, it’s hard to argue cigarette taxes aren’t the place to get that revenue. While the Missouri House and Senate have proposed a budget that does not cut any funding from higher education, that doesn't mean higher education is off the chopping block for state funding forever.

That budget only for one year and the governor might not even sign it, keeping Missouri education at a $66 million cut. In a state where losing that much money is considered a bargain after a $106 million cut was originally proposed, something needs to change. If Missouri decides to stay the same — keeping luxury taxes ultra-low and making higher education pay the price — we can't expect to get a better deal anytime soon.

If Missouri does nothing to increase revenue, higher education will be faced with cuts much like the original $106 million cut, a 12.5 percent slash in funding. The funding higher education would get from an increased cigarette tax would be consistent. If Missouri does raise the tax, Nixon’s $106 million cut will be countered indefinitely. Yes, taxes will go up. No one wants higher taxes, but it’s a necessary evil, especially on luxury items like cigarettes. If Missourians expect quality education, they have to pay for it in one way or another. A higher cigarette tax will help put the burden back on the state instead of students.