Tobacco.org

Lighting up a stogie and sinking into an overstuffed leather couch may be all it takes to rub shoulders with the area's top business guns. At least that's the way Fred McGhee sees it. McGhee -- who will open Fred's Fine Tobaccos in Oakwood Dec. 8 -- expects his guest list to include CEOs and top executives from NCR Corp., Mead Corp., Bank One and The Dayton Power & Light Co. to just name a few.

A group including the New York-based Zweig-DiMenna Associates LLC said Monday it has increased its stake in Consolidated Cigar Holdings Inc's outstanding Class A common shares to 9.6 percent or 1.06 million shares.

Global Direct is the importer of the COHIBA Republica Dominicana cigar into the United States, according to William G. Brooks, Jr., President. "There are a number of cigars being marketed or labeled as 'COHIBA' throughout the world," stated Mr. Brooks. "Of those, the COHIBA Havana Cuba, made by Cubatobacco is perhaps the best known of the 'COHIBAs', but it may not be imported or sold in the United States." In addition, he related, "General Cigar Holdings, Inc. markets a 'COHIBA' cigar in the United States. Although," he noted, "General's U.S. trademark 'COHIBA' was first challenged in July of 1997 by Cubatobacco in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office."

The weekly Juventud Rebelde says the new cigar, which is three-point-four meters long, was rolled in four days by William Cornejo who says it is of the best quality.

Mr. Williams, who has three kids, has stuck with Eclipse. "I was ready to quit, but my wife and kids begged me to stick with it," he says. "They liked that there wasn't so much smoke in the house and in the car. Besides, I'm used to the taste now." "But," he adds, "it is a weird little cigarette."

Dozens of minor league teams might very well become spit-tobacco free if members of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society succeed in a newly enacted program to help players quit its use. Their secret weapon -- mint leaves. Until recently, the leaf of choice for baseball had been tobacco. But a growing number of players in both major and minor leagues, under pressure to quit by the Commissioner of Baseball's office, have given up tobacco and instead turned to two alternatives made from mint leaves called Mint Snuff All Mint Chew and All Mint Pouches. Reports of quit rates as high as 80 percent have made heads turn in the health and athletic training profession. The program using mint was promoted by the Tobacco Intervention Network, Gresham, Oregon (800-938-1957; www.quittobacco.com) an organization comprised of over 8,000 health professionals trying to help people quit tobacco.

It took place in a movie theatre featuring an evening of TV advertisements from the Asian side of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation region. . . But the most interesting set of ads, by far, came in the very different entries from the Indian subcontinent. For one thing, they advertise cigarettes as cool. The typical Indian ads feature some cool dude who is challenged for his girlfriend by a nasty yob. They square off, they fight, the hero gets the girl, he lights up.

The SurfWatch/PICS implementation removes no material from the Internet or any server, but simply blocks inappropriate material at any computer where SurfWatch rating is active. Through this label bureau, SurfWatch Web site ratings are distributed in four different categories: sexually explicit content, violence (including hate crimes), drugs/alcohol/tobacco, and gambling.

Schmooze or Lose," says Susan RoAne, The Mingling Maven(TM), author of "What Do I Say Next?" (Warner Books) as she offers the Do's and Dont's for ensuring merry mingling. . . Don't -- What to Avoid . . . 4. Don't Have Your Party Go Up in Smoke: Light up ... the party ... not your cigar or cigarette.

Ruth G. Radcliff, 312 Norwood St., fell asleep in her wheelchair with a lighted cigarette, said Trooper Thomas E. Barton of Embreeville state police.

IMPERIAL TOBACCO'S Achilles' heel is its core market; the company is heavily dependent on the UK, where the decline in smoking accelerated last year. After the embarrassing Ecclestone affair, the Labour Government is unlikely to let up on an industry that shrunk 5 per cent last year.

IMPERIAL TOBACCO, the Embassy cigarettes company that was demerged from Hanson last year, has seen a sharp acceleration in the decline of the UK tobacco market (Paul Durman writes). The UK market, in which Imperial holds a 37.9 per cent share, contracted by 5 per cent last year to about 77 billion cigarettes.

Imperial Tobacco shrugged off "punitive" UK duty rises, a strong pound and tough UK market conditions to produce a "healthy" first set of results after its demerger from Hanson.

Imperial Tobacco Group (IMBTY) said Monday, when unveiling as-expected maiden pretax profit of 307 million GBP, that it was failing to maintain its share of the declining U.K. cigarette market.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 1997--Swisher International Group Inc. (SWR), the world's largest manufacturer of cigars, today announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase a 50% interest in SP Holding Inc., the owner of Puros de Villa Gonzales, a major tobacco processor and manufacturer of premium hand-rolled cigars. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The state's modified law banning tobacco sales to minors takes effect Monday. People younger than 18 who buy tobacco and people who sell the product to minors face $1,000 fines and 30 days of community service.

(AP) -- A tougher state law banning tobacco sales to minors goes into effect today, but whether it will actually reduce the number of teen-age smokers remains to be seen. The new law, approved by the General Assembly in August, removes a legal loophole that made it nearly impossible to prosecute cases of illegal sales of tobacco to people younger than 18.

Why Danville? What Time magazine lists as reasons to move there: "An unusually diverse racial mix, a first-rate cultural life (recent visitors: Wynton Marsalis, the Royal Philharmonic), and a rock-solid economy (tobacco, livestock, seven Fortune 500 companies) all wrapped up in streetscapes borrowed from Norman Rockwell."

The 1995-96 Community Health Risk Assessment is a pilot program sponsored by the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. . . Some findings of interest in Columbus and Franklin County: . . * About 52 percent of men and 42 percent of women in both the city and county said they had smoked at least five packs of cigarettes in their lives. * The lower the income and education level, the higher the smoking percentage was. * About 8 percent of smokers said they smoked 40 cigarettes a day. The average smoker went through 20.

The ban is the idea of council President Jim Fouts, whose goal is to make it tough for tobacco companies to influence minors. . . The ban is expected to be considered this month by the City Council. It will be patterned after a similar anti-smoking and drinking law in Baltimore.

About one in three Wisconsin teen-agers smokes cigarettes and most know that smoking is bad for them, a University of Wisconsin researcher says. What they don't know is how hard it will be for them to quit, says Ann Schensky, who works for the UW-Madison Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. . . Schensky's work on teen smoking was reported on in the current issue of the Wisconsin Medical Journal. . . "Kids are like adults. It might take them four or five attempts to kick the habit. In the meantime, their peers are likely to keep urging them to keep smoking," she said.

The Wisconsin Division of Health Survey says 37% of 14 to 17 year-olds are smokers. The survey says that age group consumes more than 16 million packs if cigarettes in Wisconsin in one year. The report also says that in 1995 17% of all Wisconsin deaths were due to smoking related illnesses. The survey of 600 teenagers could even be a conservative number. That's because the state information is already two years old.

Oklahoma sheriffs are facing increased pressure from health advocates to ban smoking in county jails. Of 77 counties, 35 have banned tobacco in their jails. But some sheriffs say cigarette and snuff privileges are a useful disciplinary tool.

The scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Center for Health, who used federal figures, said the statistics indicate that more pregnant women are getting prenatal care, fewer are smoking and advanced technology appears to be helping more premature and low birth-weight babies survive. . . However, improved fertility treatment is contributing to the growing number of babies born weighing less than 5.5 pounds, and many of them need sophisticated medical treatment to survive. The researchers said the proportion of low birth-weight babies rose to 7.4 percent last year, the highest since 1975. The increase occurred even though prenatal care was up last year and smoking by pregnant women was down. Both are considered risk factors for low birth-weight babies.

If you want proof of advertising's powerful ability to produce toxic results, consider the historic success with which it has convinced people that smoking is glamorous, Lynch said. "With the first puff of a cigarette, everything your body tells you is negative -- the coughing, the dizziness, the nausea," he said. Yet, millions of people are smoking, at least in part because of the influence of advertising . . . For nearly five years years now, Lynch Jarvis Jones has specialized in what Lynch calls "marketing that matters," accepting only those clients he deems are similarly concerned about "meaningful social issues."

A committee under Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's fiscal reform panel is considering raising taxes on tobacco to cover massive debts left over by the defunct national railways and a national forestry project, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Shares of Japan Tobacco Inc. (J.JTB or 2914) lost ground Tuesday morning on selling from foreign and Japanese institutional investors disheartened by the news that the government is studying the possibility of raising the tax on tobacco in the fiscal year beginning April 1 by roughly Y1 per cigarette.

Florida's auditor general will investigate trips Gov. Lawton Chiles took at the expense of friends -- some who do business with the state -- as well as money that Secretary of State Sandra Mortham collected from a cigarette company and then spent on parties and trinkets. The double-barreled inquiry is targeting a Democratic governor who will retire at the end of 1998, as well as a Republican secretary of state who has signed on as Jeb Bush's running mate in his bid for governor next year.

If Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick agrees with the lawyers' request, the legal tables would be turned on the company as a penalty for withholding documents. Jurors at a civil trial scheduled for Jan. 20 in St. Paul would be told to consider American liable for consumer fraud and other wrongdoing. . . At issue is whether American and its new owners deliberately avoided turning over internal documents about smoking and health. Tobacco companies have turned over 30 millions pages of documents in the Minnesota case. But American's response was "virtually devoid of the types of smoking-and-health, research-and-development and new-product development documents that have been produced . . . by every other manufacturer," according to court papers filed Monday.

Attorney General Gale Norton told members of the Legislature's Joint Budget Committee that she needed authority to spend her existing cash reserve of $791,000 on the lawsuit right away and would return to the committee for an additional $934,000 to last until January. At a hearing Monday morning, JBC members protested the cost and the fact that Norton didn't seek their approval before joining the suit. But by day's end they had approved both the spending requests. If the suit hasn't settled by early next year, Norton said, she'll ask for an additional $2.9 million for the budget year that begins next July.

According to the attorneys, the complaint charges the company and certain of its officers and directors with violations of federal securities laws. The plaintiff claims that the defendants issued a series of materially false and misleading statements regarding the company's financial condition and results of operations.

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that a Class Action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on behalf of all purchasers of Caribbean Cigar Company (Nasdaq: CIGR - news ) common stock between August 14, 1997 and November 14, 1997, inclusive. The Complaint charges CIGR and certain of its officers and directors with violations of federal securities laws.

The National Smokers Alliance, vowing to continue its "righteous" battle against UC-San Francisco's tobacco industry research, said it will appeal the recent dismissal of its lawsuit against the university. "What I'd like to say is: If Dr. Glantz thinks this is over, think again," said Gary Auxier, a spokesman for the Virginia-based alliance. . . "We're supporting this because we believe this is a righteous case," said Auxier

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Joe Gray ruled Monday there were no grounds for the lawsuit filed by Californians for Scientific Integrity, an organization linked with the National Smokers Alliance, which is funded by the tobacco industry.

The Sacramento County Superior Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the University of California San Francisco regarding the work of a prominent UCSF tobacco researcher. The suit, filed by Californians for Scientific Integrity, a group associated with the tobacco-industry funded National Smokers Alliance, claimed that Stanton A. Glantz, Ph.D. . . . had used public funds to conduct politically motivated research -- specifically, research on tobacco. The group, represented by the law firm of Zumbrum and Findlay, challenged the ability of public officials or employees to engage in "political" activity,.

We sent NSA staffers into some of the areas and reached into others by telephone. The reality is that, in most of Glantz's "smoke-free bar" communities, people smoke in the bars. Openly. With no enforcement of the law. Sometimes with no knowledge of the law. Glantz told a reporter for The San Francisco Examiner that local health departments said the laws were being enforced. Yet, in Shasta County, 77 percent of bars we surveyed continue to allow smoking in spite of the bar ban and many said the ban was something of a local joke. In the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County, not a single bar could be found that didn't allow smoking.

"Of those predicting a change in their restaurant patronage, the proportion predicting increased use was almost four times greater than the proportion predicting decreased use. "For bar patronage, the proportion predicting increased use was almost twice as large as the proportion predicting decreased use," the study said. "Our analysis ... suggests that smoke-free policies are likely to increase overall patronage of restaurants and bars," the report added. . .

In fact, the researchers found that bars and restaurants may actually pick up patrons who had stayed away because they didn't like getting someone else's smoke in their eyes and lungs, or coming away from a night on the town smelling like an ashtray. In the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, scientists from the University of Massachusetts Center for Survey Research, Boston, and the Boston University School of Public Health, interviewed 2,356 adults in Massachusetts to find out what they would do if restaurants and bars were smokefree.

The researchers concluded: "This study provides further evidence that workers can be protected from the hazards of ETS exposure without adverse consequences for bar and restaurant business."

The following chart reflects the total contributions to candidates or political parties in the 1995-96 election cycle by the top 50 givers, their PACs, employees and members of their immediate families, according to a study by the Center for Responsive Politics. Not included are independent expenditures, money for issue advertisements or other indirect expenses.

Contributor	Total	Democrats	Republicans
1. Philip Morris Cos.*	$4,208,505	21%	79%
3. Association of Trial Lawyers of America	$3,513,588	85%	14%
10. American Medical Association*	$2,794,894	23%	77%
18. RJR Nabisco*	$2,300,336	20%	80%
40. U.S. Tobacco Inc.*	$1,461,215	17%	83%


* Contributions came from more than one affiliate or subsidiary.

The American Cancer Society is launching its "Snappin' on Smoking" program, touted as the country's first hip-hop anti-puffing campaign. Def Jam comedians JB Smoove and Fig play Scratch and Wheez, characters that will target teenagers as part of the Great American Smoke-out. The snapping pair debuts today at a Brooklyn mall. . . The funnymen exchange lines like, "Your smoker's breath is so bad, your girl has to kiss you by fax," and "Your breath is so nasty, you nose is pressing charges."

In his foreword to the first (1982) edition of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Lilienfeld noted, "Less than forty years ago, cancer was regarded as...a natural concomitant of the aging process. As a result of the gradual accumulation of evidence, climaxed by the epidemiologic studies that implicated cigarette smoking as a cause of lung cancer, a major conceptual change regarding the nature of cancer occurred.... This paradigmatic shift [has yielded] the basis for seriously considering methods of cancer prevention and control."

It's never too late to quit smoking, a new study suggests. Even lung cancer survivors who kick the habit are less likely to develop a second cancer compared with those who continue to smoke. . . "This should eliminate the excess risk related to radiation therapy and alkylating agent exposure," according to Glisson and Hong, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute (1997;89:1782-1788)

Acting in concert with individual susceptibility, environmental factors such as smoking, diet, and pollutants play a role in most human cancer. However, new molecular evidence indicates that specific groups--characterized by predisposing genetic traits or ethnicity, the very young, and women--may have heightened risk from certain exposures. . . [K]nowledge of the full spectrum of both genetic and acquired susceptibility in the population will be instrumental in developing health and regulatory policies that increase protection of the more susceptible groups from risks of environmental carcinogens. This will necessitate revision of current risk assessment methodologies to explicitly account for individual variation in susceptibility to environmental carcinogens.

Report of a Case.-- A 61-year-old man was brought to the hospital by ambulance after a syncopal episode. He was at a crowded cigar dinner and had just finished smoking 2 cigars . . . Venues in which cigar smoking occurs in a group require adequate ventilation to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning among participants. Cigar smokers, especially those occasional smokers who have a low nicotine tolerance, should be warned of the potential for toxic effects from carbon monoxide and nicotine.

In Woodridge, cigarette use among young people dropped by 70 percent in two years after the village adopted a tough licensing ordinance to regulate the sale of tobacco products. Proponents hope a similar ordinance expected to come before the DuPage County Board next week will have the same impact countywide.

Word of the scaled-back purchasing intentions, combined with a large surplus of leaf from the 1997 crop, mean the amount of flue-cured tobacco that U.S. farmers will be allowed to grow will drop from just over 1 billion pounds this year to no more than 819 million pounds in 1998.

Flue-cured tobacco farmers learned Monday that their crop could bring about 17 to 20 percent less money in 1998 than 1997. The U.S. government likely will limit flue-cured tobacco sales to roughly 810 million pounds next year because demand for the crop is expected to be lower, and because reserves of surplus leaf are higher than expected.

Observers are predicting that the proposed tobacco settlement combined with a large volume of surplus leaf could result in a 20 percent cut in the crop in North Carolina. The US Department of Agriculture is now making its annual calculation of how much tobacco farmers will be allowed to raise in the coming year. The quotas and support prices are scheduled to be announced December 15th.

Warren officials say they adamantly support a local ban on all billboards that carry advertisements for cigars and cigarettes. The ban is the idea of council President Jim Fouts, whose goal is to make it tough for tobacco companies to influence impressionable minors. "Children are often exposed to billboard advertising of tobacco simply by walking to school or playing in their neighborhoods," Fouts said.

Beginning Dec. 10, the agency will launch a $250,000 anti-smoking media campaign aimed at teens. The funds come from the $15.8 million expected to be generated by Utah's new cigarette tax. . . The Health Department and the Utah Anti-Tobacco Commission have asked Crowell and Associates, a Salt Lake advertising agency, to oversee the campaign. A 10-year-old Ogden boy says he recently quit smoking after learning the truth about the hazards associated with it. "It got me pretty scared," said the boy, who started smoking when he was in the first grade.

For the first time, an American tobacco company has begun listing long-secret ingredients contained in its cigarettes directly on the label. Yesterday, Liggett Group Inc. introduced cartons that the company plans to begin using that list the ingredients in its L&M cigarettes, including molasses, phenylacetic acid and the oil of the East Indian mint called patchouli.

Among those makings are, yes, tobacco, but also molasses, patchouli oil, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, natural and artificial licorice flavor, artificial milk chocolate and natural chocolate flavor, phenylacetic acid, glycerol, propylene glycol, isovaleric acid, hexanoic acid, 3-methylpntanoic acid, valerian root ex tract, vanilla extract and cedarwood oil. . . But if health statistics still don't convince people to stay away from the tobacco sticks, perhaps the lengthy list of ingredients will.

The company, a unit of Brooke Group Ltd, has begun printing all 26 ingredients on cartons of that brand. The labeled cartons just began being shipped, a company spokesman said. It's not immediately clear if any of the new cartons are on store shelves yet. "Months ago, Liggett agreed to full disclosure of ingredients on its cigarette cartons and recently has begun making that disclosure nationwide," Brooke Group Chairman and Chief Executive Bennett LeBow said in a statement on Tuesday. "Liggett believes that its adult consumers have a right to full disclosure of ingredients and other relevant information ...," he said.

Brooke Group Ltd. (BGL) said its Liggett Group unit has not joined other major tobacco companies in seeking to delay the reporting requirements under the 1996 Massachusetts ingredient disclosure law. In a press release Tuesday, Brooke reiterated that it agreed to full disclosure of ingredients on its cigarette cartons and has begun making that disclosure nationwide.

"Liggett has not joined Big Tobacco in its attempts to delay the reporting requirements under the Massachusetts ingredient disclosure law. Months ago, Liggett agreed to full disclosure of ingredients on its cigarette cartons and recently has begun making that disclosure nationwide. Liggett believes that its adult consumers have a right to full disclosure of ingredients and other relevant information and we continue to support Massachusetts' efforts toward that end."

A story yesterday about new ingredient labels on L&M cigarettes stated that a list of 599 ingredients used by major cigarette companies was never officially made public; that list was released in April 1994.

Brooke Group Ltd. (NYSE: BGL - news) announced today that it has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.075 per share, payable December 16, 1997, to holders of record as of December 12, 1997.

U.S. cigarette companies stunned tobacco farmers yesterday by announcing plans to buy 15 percent less flue-cured tobacco in 1998, a drop grower representatives said could drive some small farmers out of business. "This is going to be like a stick of dynamite under these farmers," said Andrew Shepherd, a Lunenburg County tobacco grower who represents Virginia on the national board for flue-cured tobacco growers.

The major cigarette companies have agreed to pay as much as $250 million to 11 law firms representing Mississippi and possibly additional lawyers in other states settling their tobacco litigation. By reaching a contractual arrangement on fees, Mississippi and the cigarette companies are trying to bypass congressional efforts to curb legal fees in the massive tobacco settlement, lawyers familiar with the agreement say.

Morales said his main goal during his final year in office will be winning the state's lawsuit against the tobacco industry. "It will be very difficult for the tobacco industry to continue to attempt to mischaracterize this as a political effort simply brought by an officeholder attempting to run for higher office," he said. Peggy Carter, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., one of the defendants in the lawsuit, said she expects the trial to be over before Morales leaves office.

"This takes the politics out of the tobacco litigation," he said.

Meanwhile, three GOP candidates for attorney general have blasted incumbent Dan Morales for promising a 15% fee to plaintiffs' attorneys in the state's tobacco liability suit. The state Supreme Court has also weighed in against contingency fees in some consumer-law cases.

A state court judge in King County, Wash., ordered the tobacco industry to turn over 32 internal documents to the state attorney general, saying the documents provide evidence supporting the state's case that cigarette companies used an industry research group "to mislead the public and/or that the RJ Reynolds Co. concealed health risks associated with its products." Judge George Finkle also found that the state showed that "RJR was engaged in or was planning a fraud" at the time some of the documents were written.

King County Superior Court Judge George Finkle has ordered that the State Attorney General's Office be given access to key tobacco company documents for use in the state's lawsuit . . . Judge Finkle specifically found that: "The 32 documents, considered as a whole, provide evidence that supports the state's assertions that defendants used CTR to mislead the public and/or that the R.J. Reynolds Company concealed health risks associated with its products." The Judge also found that: "The state has made a prima facie showing that RJR was engaged in or was planning a fraud at the time certain that the recorded communications were made."

City Council leaders agreed Tuesday to weaken provisions of a bill that would ban outdoor cigarette advertising near schools and playgrounds, saying the changes would insure that the bill could withstand legal challenges from the tobacco and advertising industries. The most significant revision is the withdrawal of a provision that would have permitted only black-and-white text, known as tombstone text, in tobacco advertisements in areas more than 1,000 feet from schools. While the original version would have effectively banned all traditional tobacco advertising in the city, the new version would allow color advertising, including such familiar figures as the Marlboro man, as long as it was not within 1,000 feet of schools and other youth-oriented sites.

A week ago, the Winston-Salem, N.C., company quietly began selling its Eclipse brand at 14 tobacco shops in an affluent area north of Atlanta stretching from Buckhead to Alpharetta. Atlanta is the third test market for Eclipse, which has been selling in Chattanooga, Tenn., and Lincoln, Neb.

Naperville Police Sgt. Lisa Burghardt said two girls were cited Monday after they were found smoking in a restroom at the school.

The students, a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl, face either a $100 fine or a one-week tobacco education class. The teens were ticketed by police at the school Monday--the day the ordinance went into effect--after a staffer found them smoking in a restroom, Principal Tom Paulsen said Tuesday.

Despite slowing demand for cigarettes in its home market and a growing antismoking crusade in much of the developed world, Spain's Tabacalera SA is smoking. Having just completed a series of U.S. and Central American acquisitions that make it the world's leading cigar producer, the state-controlled tobacco company is preparing for its planned full privatization next year with a blend of cost cutting, new products and plans to expand in new markets in cooperation with France's Seita SA.

Researchers say stop-smoking programs are far more cost effective than mammography and cholesterol screening programs, but less than half of insurance companies cover cessation treatment. A team of economists and preventive-medicine specialists say smoking- cessation programs would cost insurance companies about one-twentieth the amount they pay for mammography screening per life saved. The team also found that even brief counseling could raise a smoker's chance of kicking the habit from about 7 percent per attempt to 15 to 25 percent.

Fiore and his colleagues have analyzed the [Agency for Health Care Policy and Research's (AHCPR) Clinical Practice Guideline] and determined that the recommended smoking cessation interventions are cost-effective. Moreover, the greater the spending on interventions, the greater the net benefit in both money saved for society and quality of life for those who quit smoking.

DynaGen Inc. (DYGN) received a distribution agreement for its NicCheck I diagnostic product from Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC). In a press release Wednesday, DynaGen said Henry Schein will market the NicCheck I product to physician customers within specific specialties. NicCheck I is a strip test that detects nicotine and its metabolites in urine. The test determines smoking status and distinguises between low and high levels of nicotine consumption.

A lot of people still consider smoking cool, their rebellion of choice. Hollywood and Washington aren't much help -- movie stars strike glamorous poses with butts dangling from their lips, and quite a few teens think ignoring a presidential warning is the ultimate rebellion. Then there are the cigarette advertisements that show hip, sexy, fun-loving young smokers not yet diagnosed with hideous tumors.

R.J. Reynolds, for implying that its new "no additive" Winston cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes. The company's response: it was emphasizing "true taste," not safety. "New Winston is simply a choice we are offering to the 45 million adults in this country who choose to smoke," said corporate spokeswoman Carole Crosslin.

The Board of Directors of Universal Corporation (NYSE: UVV - news), at a meeting held today, declared a regular quarterly dividend of twenty-eight cents ($.28) per share on the common shares of the Company, payable February 2, 1998, to common shareholders of record at the close of business on January 12, 1998. This represents an increase of 5.7% or $.015 per share per quarter and indicates an annualized rate of $1.12 per share.

Swisher International Group Inc. (SWR) agreed to buy a 50% interest in SP Holding Inc., the owner of Puros de Villa Gonzales, a tobacco processor and maker of cigars.

Goldman Sachs said on Thursday it raised its rating on shares of UST Inc to a trading buy from a market perform. . . "Recent conversations with management have left us with encouraging indications about the state of UST's business, particularly regrading pricing flexibility, for the first time this year," Cohen said.

Merrill Lynch cut its intermediate-term rating on cigarette maker Gallaher Plc to "neutral" from "accumulate," and kept its long term rating at "neutral," the investment bank said on Thursday.

Neiman Marcus' December catalog also features a custom cigar named in honor of the recipient, a six-day trip for four to a private villa in the Dominican Republic as guest of the General Cigar facility and 2,000 cigars. The package sells for $50,000.

Unfortunately, you haven't been able to experience the pleasures of a true cigar bar unless you hit the road (though that's likely to change soon). Cigar bars are required stops on the nightlife circuit in almost every major U.S. city, but the craze has barely registered a flicker here -- surprising, even for the trend-wary Twin Cities. . . Now here's the good news. It appears the Twin Cities' first honest-to-goodness cigar bar is coming to the Warehouse District. Club Ashe is expected to open by the end of the month

Dan (The Common Man) Cole, an afternoon sports jockey on KFAN (1130 AM, 1 to 3 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m.), was a virgin himself until last year. After giving up cigarettes, Cole tried his first cigar last March and quickly got hooked. He's now up to three or four a day. Here's some advice from Cole before taking your first puff: Spend a few bucks . . .

A ll right, it's time to quit the cigar fad. They stink. They make your clothes and hair stink. They make your companion stink, too, and they make taxicabs stink worse. And they're too expensive, now that the yuppies have found out about how great they are. Enough.

Carlos the Jackal likes his two cigars a day in jail, when he can get them, and still remembers the first he ever smoked -- in Moscow in 1969. The French magazine L'Amateur de Cigare published on Wednesday a brief interview in which the guerrilla mastermind answered 10 questions in writing from his Paris prison.

Tuesday, December 9: "Test Your Smoking Quotient" - Learn how to kick the habit with the second installment of the new MSNBC/HealthBuzz feature. Nonsmokers will also want to take an interactive quiz to figure out health risks from secondhand smoke.

Aged 75, Lord Hanson's legacy is four separately listed companies -- Imperial Tobacco Plc (IMT.L), Millennium Chemicals (NYSE:MCH - news), the Energy Group Plc (TEG.L) and the blue-chip building group which inherited the Hanson name.

It reads like a John Grishman novel: Two small, once-obscure Southern law firms. A big case. Explosive allegations of deceit and greed. And a huge potential payoff -- at least $115 million or, by some estimates, as much as $1.29 billion in money originally meant for Floridians. Who are these guys?

Shocked by the bitterness of the fight, lawmakers lifted the lid Tuesday on a struggle among lawyers for a share of Florida's tobacco winnings to find what one senator called "a pack of dogs fighting over red meat."

Under a new agreement with cigarette makers, two small Southern law firms that handled tobacco suits filed by the states of Mississippi and Florida could end up splitting a total of $90 million for their work. The fee arrangement, disclosed earlier this week, was contained in an agreement reached between both states and tobacco companies.

High-powered lawyers representing Florida in its successful war with the cigarette industry were portrayed on Tuesday as a scheming, corrupt "cartel," thriving on backroom deals and poised to funnel $20 million to a politically connected Texas firm. In emotional testimony, Tallahassee attorney Tim Howard, who played a key role in securing the $11.3 billion settlement, urged a Senate committee to launch a wide-ranging investigation of the state's lengthy tobacco war and its bitter aftermath.

The tobacco industry has agreed to pay up to $250 million this year and up to $500 million annually in subsequent years to satisfy the fees charged by law firms that represented Mississippi and possibly other states, an industry spokesman said Tuesday. The actual amount paid in legal fees would be determined by a three-judge arbitration panel, industry spokesman Scott Williams said.

National law firms hired to help Florida fight big tobacco are part of a "lawyers' cartel" trying to distribute millions of dollars to law firms that had nothing to do with the state case, an attorney told legislators Tuesday. Tallahassee attorney Tim Howard made a list of allegations concerning the conduct of a handful of the 11 law firms involved in the suit during testimony to a state ethics panel. Howard, 36, acted as Florida's liaison with its team of private attorneys on the state's Medicaid case against cigarette companies.

Some lawyers in the case are suing for immediate payment of what could turn out to be more than $200 million each -- or as much as $2.8 billion altogether -- arguing that is what they are owed under the original 25 percent contingency fee deal they signed with the state. "A deal's a deal," said Sheldon Schlessinger, one of the attorneys fighting the state. But Florida officials negotiated a different deal with the industry. Under that agreement, the industry, not the state, would pay all legal fees and the amount would be determined by a panel of arbitrators.

As the influential City Council speaker, Vallone is the driving force behind a bill to ban tobacco ads near schools and other places where kids congregate. The bill prohibits retailers from displaying tobacco ads or logos outside their stores and, for the most part, even inside them. To deny 12,000 mom-and-pop stores, newsstands and bodegas these ads is to take the food right out of their mouths. They pick up a nifty side income, amounting to nearly $30 million a year, for displaying those signs.

Gov. Jim Edgar signed a measure increasing assorted user taxes to raise $607 million more for public education. . . . Besides the new money, which comes from increases in the state tobacco tax to take effect Dec. 15, and the riverboat casino, telephone transmission and late tax payment fees to begin in 1998.

After two hours of debate, the state House passed a $485 million school-funding plan that would raise taxes on cigarettes, telephone calls and profitable riverboat casinos. The bill goes to Gov. Edgar, who called the House into special session to vote on the proposal.

The Oakland City Council has gone ahead with its plan to restrict billboards displaying alcohol or cigarette ads in neighborhoods where youngsters go to school and play. But opponents of the partial ban immediately threatened to challenge the new law in court.

[T]he Entertainment Industries Council (EIC) announced Thursday a tobacco prevention initiative aimed at writers, producers, directors and creative executives. The EIC, an alliance of industry organizations and creative guilds, plans to issue 1,500 copies of its initiative, which includes suggestions as to when smoking might be appropriate in a film and, more significantly, when not. "The industry should try to reflect the reality that the majority of people don't smoke," a summary of the initiative said. "Unless a character's tobacco use truly reveals something important about the character, consider other unique behaviors that might convey the same information," the EIC suggests. "Avoid using smoking as an icon or to stereotype an individual."

Representatives of the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild and Writer's Guild -- along with Christy Turlington speaking for supermodels -- pledged to use their own kind of peer pressure to keep their colleagues from depicting cigarettes as cool. It would be a voluntary initiative with no new government regulations or censorship, Gore said. . . Regrettably, he added, impressionable moviegoers "don't see the victim of lung cancer drowning in the fluid that builds up in their lungs." Richard Masur, president of the actors' guild, blamed a new generation of younger filmmakers and TV executives. "They have not had the benefit of the kind of educational process that many of us who are older had," he said.

"It's not Washington's job to tell authors and artists what to put in their movies and television shows. We know that we need to turn the tide against the glamorization of smoking. We will reach that goal when each of us takes responsibility for our actions and their effects on the nation's young people."

PREMIUM CIGARS INTERNATIONAL, LTD . . . announced today that it signed a Retail Agreement . . . with Mobil Oil Corporation . . to roll out its PCI Cigar Program beginning this month to the approximately 500 Mobil owned and operated Mobil On the Run(SM) and Mobil Mart stores located across the United States. The rollout will begin with Mobil's Chicago and Detroit area stores. Add itionally, Mobil will recommend the PCI Cigar Program to its franchisees and distributors nationwide. Combined, the Mobil company-owned stores, franchisees and distributors represent a potential market of approximately 7,500 stores.

Spain's second-largest union, the Confederation of Labor Committees (CCOO), said Friday it's asking tobacco company Tabacalera SA (E.TAB) to negogiate its early-retirement program plant by plant. Tabacalera is going to begin downsizing early next year, ahead of its full privatization.

Spanish tobacco firm Tabacalera said on Friday it had renewed its pact with Philip Morris to produce Marlboro and LM-brand cigarettes in the Canary Islands factory of Tabacalera unit TACISA.

Spanish tobacco company Tabacalera SA (E.TAB) said Thursday it estimates it will lose 24 billion pesetas of its 1997 sales to illegal cigarette sales in Spain.

Philip Morris Companies Inc. (NYSE: MO - news) today announced that Dinyar S. Devitre, senior vice president, corporate planning has decided to leave Philip Morris effective January 15, 1998 to pursue a senior executive role with Citibank.

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. likes the advertisements Long Haymes Carr came up with for its Winston campaign in America, so it has thrown the agency a major international account. Long Haymes Carr, based in Winston-Salem, will handle the Winston campaign in Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and the Magna campaign in Russia. Steve Zades, the chairman and chief executive of Long Haymes Carr, told Adweek that the campaign will use mainly outdoor advertising. The company will make its media buys through the international offices of its parent, Ammirati Puris Lintas. . . Winston advertisements show city skylines and an eagle flying overhead with the slogan: "A taste of freedom," Adweek reported.

The 1997 version of "Spike & Mike's Sick & Twisted Festival of Animation," a collection of animated shorts, lives up to its title -- and reputation -- as one of the raunchiest, most irreverent party films anywhere. . ."Smoking" is an elegant cel piece by Neil Ishmine that's intended to portray the evils of the weed, but ironically almost makes puffing look glamorous.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that only 8 percent of 448 smokers in alcohol treatment centers in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska were able to quit smoking. The survey, which was taken between 1995 and 1996, was conducted within a year of their alcohol treatment. Treatment centers may shy away from trying to help alcoholics quit smoking because of a fear that the stress will push them back to the bottle. The government is encouraging alcohol treatment centers to start anti-smoking programs too.

"Prior to jury selection, the Court will be conducting hearings on select motions pending before the Court," [U.S. District Judge David Folsom] said. Among the pre-trial issues still to be resolved is the state of Texas' request that it be allowed to use confidential industry documents that it alleges demonstrate the tobacco companies concealed evidence on the health risks of smoking from government regulators and the general public.

Hyland Variety, at 767 Quebec St., has the dubious distinction of being the first convenience store in London to be slapped with a six-month prohibition on all cigarette sales after two convictions in Provincial Offences Court of selling cigarettes to youths under age 19. The ban will expire April 15 and was in addition to a total $1,000 fine for both convictions. . . Another 65 similar charges against convenience store owners and or clerks in London and Middlesex County are now before the courts.

THE end is near for "kiddie" 10-packs of cigarettes which start disappearing from shops next month. Production of the 10-packs stopped in August after they were banned by the Smokefree Environments Amendment Bill in July, which also raised the smoking age to 18.

"We still have major concerns with toxicity" of such additives as glycerol, licorice flavor, molasses extract, and sugars, Connolly said, because burning them may produce hazardous compounds. However, there's been far too little research on the combustion of the many additives to say how harmful they are, he added. What is known, he emphasized, "is that it's the natural stuff that kills you. Tobacco smoke is a lethal combination of natural chemicals."

They also passed a resolution declaring that states should be allowed to retain, for state health programs, all money from the proposed $368.5 billion national tobacco settlement. "The concern is that the federal government will use part of the settlement to balance the federal budget," Kitzhaber said. "This is not a money grab," said Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, governors association chairman. "It's a health issue."

In his letter, Rep. Rob Leighton, DFL-Austin, criticized the governor for his attack of Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III's handling of the case. Leighton wrote that in order to determine the reasons for Carlson's positions, he wants to know the level of contact the governor and his staff have had with the tobacco industry. He requested the governor publicly disclose his contact with employees, lobbyists, lawyers and other representatives of tobacco companies and tobacco-related organizations within the past six months.

Gov. Arne Carlson intensified his criticism Thursday of the tobacco lawsuit being pursued by DFL Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III. Humphrey's office responded by accusing the Republican governor of "doing the tobacco industry's dirty work." In a seven-page letter to legislators and at a televised news conference in his office, Carlson called on Humphrey to include the governor and legislative leaders in setting strategy for the three-year-old litigation. . . "The governor is trying to undermine our case . . . with statements that read like they came out of the press office of Philip Morris," [Eric] Johnson said.

Bismarck -- It took a jury of fifth-graders at Saxvick Elementary less than an hour to find cigarettes guilty of poisoning and addicting people. Prosecutors in the mock trial said cigarettes are suicide in slow motion.

Philip Morris USA's largest union will vote by mid-December on the company's latest offer of a one-time bonus in return for a one-year contract extension, sources familiar with the negotiations said this week. The 3,522-member local of the tobacco workers' union will be briefed Wednesday in Richmond about the company's offer, sources said. In return for working under the current contract for another year, Philip Morris has offered workers a bonus of more than $2,500. The precise figure was not available.

Also at the meeting: Doctors could demand stronger provisions be included in the national tobacco settlement, which will be debated by Congress next year. They include: increasing penalties for tobacco companies that fail to curb teenage smoking; removing restrictions on the Food & Drug Administration to regulate tobacco; and eliminating the federal subsidy to tobacco growers.

Last month, Citizen Action closed its national office in Washington and dismissed 20 employees . . . The directors of the Indiana and Ohio affiliates say they grew even more concerned after learning that national Citizen Action had received money from a group called the Labor Management Committee, a coalition of tobacco company unions. Although formerly opposed to cigarette and excise taxes, the affiliates said Citizen Action had changed its position on the issue, and was planning to use the labor committee grant to influence voting on tax policies.

Forget about cookies and aprons -- Ms. Rivera is Ms. Santa Claus, the old guy's liberated daughter. . . Ms. Rivera insisted that she was not destroying tradition but enhancing it. She thinks that Santa needs a makeover. His pipe and fur-trimmed costume seem tacky in light of secondhand smoke risks and animal rights.

Make no mistake, the authors caution, SIDS does exist, and it is a tragedy. Recommendations to minimize the risk by placing sleeping babies on their backs, not exposing them to tobacco smoke and so on have helped bring the numbers of SIDS deaths down. But, the authors note, SIDS remains a "wastebasket" diagnosis that is used whenever no identifiable cause of crib death can be determined. The terrible irony is that the apnea and monitoring theory of SIDS was "a godsend to women playing out this grotesque charade" of harming or even killing their babies.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has released, "Tobacco in Australia", its second major discussion paper on smoking. The report found that while the smoking rates for adults were down to their lowest ever level - 28 per cent for men in 1992, amd 24 per cent for women - young adults have the highest smoking rates in the community. It found 37 per cent of men in their early 20s smoke, with a corresponding 36 per cent for women.

President Robert Mugabe rallied his ruling party Friday with promises to keep going in a campaign to seize hundreds of mostly white-owned farms and hand them over to landless black farmers. "Let the message be clear. There is no going back," Mugabe told 5,000 delegates to the annual convention of the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front in this eastern border city.

The airport board probably will decide by February whether to build smoking lounges inside the terminals, but a survey shows that passengers are lukewarm to the idea, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport officials said yesterday. . . The survey of 1,082 people conducted in the airport's four terminals during September and October found that 46 percent favored building the lounges. Thirty-five percent of nonsmokers and 83 percent of smokers approved of the idea. . . Even the smokers surveyed expressed concerns about being confined to a room full of other smokers, but D/FW Concessions Manager Pat Gleason said the lounges would have special ventilation systems to pull the smoke out quickly and replace it with fresh air.

After making last-minute changes to toughen penalties against tobacco companies, two City Council committees unanimously approved a bill on Thursday that would ban outdoor cigarette advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds. . . The bill would ban tobacco ads on billboards, water towers and buildings near gathering places for children, and would prohibit such ads on the doors and windows of stores within four short blocks of schools, playgrounds, day-care centers, youth centers or amusement arcades. The bill was approved, 7 to 0, by the Health Committee and 9 to 0 by the Youth Services Committee.

A trio of health advocacy groups joined the Maryland State Teachers Association yesterday to launch a drive to increase Maryland's cigarette tax by $1.50 a pack in an effort to curb teen-age smoking. The Maryland Children's Initiative -- a creation of the MSTA, Smoke Free Maryland, Advocates for Children and Youth and the Safe and Sound Campaign -- set a goal of enlisting an additional 100 organizations in its campaign to raise the tax.

Less than a month before most tobacco billboards become illegal in King County, the area's largest outdoor advertising company has agreed to donate signs for a "cutting-edge" campaign to promote cancer support organizations. Throughout 1998, AK Media / NW will donate 150 signs, each for about a month, to three organizations: Cancer Lifeline, Team Survivor Northwest and the Cancer Information Service.

The NRA's latest newsletter highlights a little-reported act introduced in the Senate last month by Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). This act would prohibit smoking in all U.S. restaurants and bars, without exception. . . The act "smells like bad news for restaurant operators who want to continue accommodating diners who smoke," the NRA says.

Offering hospitalized smokers bedside stop-smoking counseling can help them stay off cigarettes after they return home, according to a Massachusetts General Hospital study appearing in the December 8 Archives of Internal Medicine. The research team found that patients receiving stop-smoking counseling while hospitalized were more likely to have stopped smoking a month after discharge than patients who did not receive such counseling. Six months after discharge, the difference in smoking rates between the counseling and control groups had nar?rowed and was no longer statistically significant. "Hospitalization can offer smokers a chance to improve their health in a way they might not have anticipated," says Nancy Rigotti, MD, director of the MGH Tobacco Research and Treatment Center and first author of the report. "We believe that turning this short-term success into permanent smoking cessation will require more support after hospital discharge than we offered in this trial."

NASCAR's 50th anniversary celebration got off to a glitzy start Thursday as part of the festivities leading to the annual Winston Cup Awards Dinner. . . Sports Marketing Enterprises, the marketing arm of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., announced the rest of its big-money No Bull 5 promotion for 1998. Earlier this year, the company announced that the new promotion would replace the 13-year-old Winston Million . . The new deal offers a $1 million bonus at each of the five events in 1998, with the top five finishers in each race eligible to win the bonus at the next No Bull 5 event. . . Robertson also announced a program that could pay as many as five race fans a $1 million bonus.

More recently, a series of highly aggressive sting operations to catch teenage smokers, including a three-week undercover operation at the high school, have prompted questions about the police department's priorities. Some residents complain that the police force is not focusing on more important problems, such as the city's drug trade. . . Police officials also say they conducted the smoking sting largely at the behest of residents. Chief of Detectives Brad Russ says that a survey police sent to 500 residents last year showed that many regarded teenage smoking as a top priority for police. Russ also notes that a drug trafficker was caught at the high school during the smoking stakeout.

[W]hile some antismoking advocates support a toughened approach toward young people who smoke, others see the new state laws, many of which are backed by the tobacco industry, as a draconian response to a custom that was once considered a teen-age rite of passage. . .But many antismoking experts have also said that teen-age smoking rates will fall only if the cost of cigarettes rises far more steeply than the 70 cents a pack called for under the proposed settlement. Some authorities like Warner have put that increase at $2 a pack. Here's the article at the Lexington (KY) Herald Leader

Along with blended tobacco and water, the 26-item L&M list includes high fructose corn syrup, sugar, natural and artificial licorice flavor, menthol, artificial milk chocolate and natural chocolate flavor, valerian root extract, molasses and vanilla extracts, and cedarwood oil. Less familiar additives include glycerol, propylene glycol, isovaleric acid, hexanoic acid and 3-methyl-pentanoic acid. Some 600 ingredients are used in American cigarettes, but a Liggett spokesman said the L&M statement was a "quite exhaustive list" of every ingredient used in that brand. Liggett also plans to list ingredients of its other brands as soon as it becomes feasible, the spokesman said. The Durham-based manufacturer also makes Chesterfield, Lark and Eve brands.

Two school districts in the Babylon and Islip areas held special assemblies in November, with special guests, to demonstrate support for the Great American Smoke-Out. At the Hauppauge Middle School, Rep. Rick Lazio (R - Brightwaters) hosted an "anti-smoking" rally. Lazio spoke to more than 800 sixth-, seventhand eighth-grade students at two 40-minute assemblies. . . At West Babylon High School, Patrick Reynolds, whose grandfather, R.J. Reynolds, founded one of the largest cigarette manufacturing companies in the world, came to talk with students on the day before the Smoke-Out.

It had been a long day for Dr. Edward Staples when the call came about 1 a.m. He'd been up since 5:30 the morning before, and his day included open-heart surgery on one patient and removing a section of cancer from a lung of another. . . Between medical cases, he talked about his family, organ donation and tobacco. . . Seeing these very vivid images, touching a bag of lung cancer, the kids get grossed out," he said. "But it's a zero-cost program that can have the single most impact on preventing smoking."

"When I was Your Age . . . ," subtitled "Remarkable Achievements of Writers, Artists and Musicians at Every Age from 1 to 100" (Triumph Books) is enough to give the most serious over-achiever a sense of failure.

I am not sure what Richard Beard's point is, but I do know that he has his readers pierced and pinned from four or five different directions in mutual defiance of all logical geometry.

• At Amazon, you can Order It Here

"Johnston County" by Todd Johnson and Durwood Barbour (Arcadia. $16.99. 128 pages.) is an evocative scrapbook of times gone by. A photographic history of the county through 1945

He's Straight Edge, a subculture of a subculture -- hardcore punk rock -- whose adherents walk the razor's edge of no booze, no drugs, no cigarettes and no meat.

The health of Canadians comes before any other consideration despite Imperial Tobacco's decision to pull $50 million in sports and cultural sponsorships, he said. "The health question is the primary concern. We have no intention of abolishing the law. We believe it's a major problem and efforts must be taken that children don't fall into the tobacco trap." Chretien said the government will keep its promise "to soften the law" to ease restrictions on auto-racing sponsorship to keep Toronto's Molson Indy and Montreal's Gran Prix alive.

Health Minister Allan Rock said Monday he won't be pressured to go further when he amends anti-tobacco legislation to allow sponsorship of car races. "We shall not be influenced, nor shall we be intimidated by these pressure tactics by the tobacco companies," Rock said in the House of Commons.

If every one of the 270 tobacco-sponsored events in Canada loses its funding next October when the federal government's ban on advertising kicks in, many of them won't survive, said Max Beck, head of the Alliance for Sponsorship Freedom, a lobby group representing them.

Max Beck of the Alliance for Sponsorship Freedom, said the government has failed to realize what the sponsorships mean to the economy. "Our worst fears are being realized now," Beck said. "I think it's just the beginning and we're going to see more events collapse."

Tobacco giant Imasco's decision to pull $50 million in sponsorship of sports and cultural events because of the federal government's anti-smoking advertising law will have no influence on the cabinet, ministers insisted yesterday. The withdrawal, effective October 1998, plunges the finances of sports and cultural events across Canada into uncertainty. Imasco, the parent company of cigarette brands including Players and Du Maurier, is a major sponsor of Toronto's Molson Indy, the jazz festival and the Harbourfront theatre. Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano, whose hometown of Montreal benefits from $20 million in Imasco sponsorships, said the government won't give in to blackmail. "I consider this a threat, and the government of Canada doesn't operate under threats," Gagliano said at a Liberal Party meeting.

The federal Liberals plan to take the steps necessary to help ensure the future of the Grand Prix but on their own timetable, Human Resources Minister Pierre Pettigrew said while attending a meeting of the party's Quebec wing. "We are right now working both on the regulations and an amendment to the law," said Pettigrew. "It is a premature decision. The Formula 1 (issue) is going to be addressed."

The tobacco company's "threats" come as the result of Ottawa's new anti-smoking law, which goes into effect next fall. The law will restrict brand-name tobacco advertising of cultural or sporting events to the bottom 10 per cent of the ad, and bans tobacco ads from broadcast outlets, billboards, street kiosks and panels on buses. Print advertising will be allowed only in adult publications. Federal Health Minister Allan Rock has promised to amend the law to allow the Canadian Grand Prix to continue to be sponsored by tobacco firms and suggested that he may water down restrictions for some other events.

Imperial Tobacco announced yesterday it is cancelling support for Spruce Meadows, the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One car race and cultural events across Canada, Le Devoir reported today. The company said it was tired of waiting on the federal government to come up with regulations on tobacco sponsorship, the paper said.

Driving down Interstate 95 toward the Philip Morris Manufacturing Center, the world's largest cigarette plant and the biggest area factory. Normally, billboards touting the joy of smoking Virginia Slims or Marlboros line the highway. But instead, weary tobacco workers will look up and see some kid asking, "Your parents did it. How cool can it be?"

Tensions are mounting, inside the courtroom and out, as Minnesota's three-year-old challenge of big tobacco nears a potentially lengthy and arduous jury trial.

For years, local billboard companies have refrained from putting up signs advertising tobacco or alcohol. New billboard companies have started doing business in the county, though, and they have put up such signs. So the McHenry County Board of Health has instructed Public Health Administrator J. Maichle Bacon to ask the state's attorney about possibly restricting tobacco and alcohol billboard advertising.

The Dover Middle School Youth to Youth program and the Dover Coalition for Smoke Free Youth are sponsoring Dover's third gear exchange on Tuesday. The exchange will take place from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the upstairs conference room of the Dover Public Library. The gear exchange program allows Dover residents to trade T-shirts, clothing and any other promotional items with tobacco company logos or advertisements for a variety of specially designed smoke-free Dover T-shirts and hats.

The November-December edition of the Smoke-Free Dining Guide, listing 150 Sedgwick County restaurants that ban smoking in dining areas, has just been released by the American Cancer Society. A project of the local anti-smoking group, Tobacco-Free Wichita, the list is revised every four to six months, said Cathy Gilmartin, tobacco/school health specialist for the Cancer Society. Copies are available from the society by calling 265-3400. This edition of the book was designed by Wichita State University marketing students, who under the direction of Dr. Joyce Morris, also conducted a sampling of diners about the effect of smoke-free dining facilities on business. Their conclusion: Restaurant traffic suffered no ill effect from banning smoking.

Adolescent girls face increasing challenges to their mental and physical health, warn experts from The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) today at a briefing on adolescent health. . . Although adolescent girls are a relatively healthy sub-group of our population, many of their behaviors put them at substantial risk for poor health outcomes," reports ACOG President Vicki L. Seltzer, M.D. "Smoking is an example of the vicious cycle in which adolescent girls may find themselves. Despite the unpleasantness of the habit, pressures to stay thin or relieve stress may induce teenage girls to take up what can become a lifelong addiction -- one that will increase their chances of lung and cervical cancer as well as infertility."

Global Direct Marketing (GDM), exclusive U.S. importer of the Cohiba Republica Dominicana, has become embroiled in what promises to be a landmark case over one of the world's most complex trademark issues. On October 22, 1997, General Cigar Company (NYSE: MPP - news) filed suit in N.Y. Southern District Court requesting a preliminary injunction against GDM alleging trademark infringement. Two weeks later Cuban cigar manufacturer, Cubatobaco, filed suit against General Cigar Company, Culbro Corp., and Dunhill's alleging the same trademark infringement. The issue is over the validity of the U.S. trademark registration of Cohiba, the most famous name in cigars.

Guidera Communications today announced it has been retained by Advanced Optics Electronics, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: ADOT - news), Albuquerque, NM to inform Wall Street brokers about its patented electronic instantly changeable billboards. "The $2.3 billion outdoor advertising industry grew fast due to technological advances. The rule preventing new tobacco ads on billboards as of 1/l/98 changes the complexion of billboard advertising -- they are more acceptable now. Demand is exploding and rates already increased 50 percent"

Automated age-verification equipment is now installed in 1,169 California 7-Eleven stores to assist sales associates in verifying the age of customers purchasing age-restricted products. The equipment, manufactured by VeriFone Incorporated, enables sales associates to swipe California driver's licenses and receive a message on a display telling them to allow or deny the sale. A news conference announcing the new program will be held at the 7-Eleven store at 5791 Broadway in Sacramento.

MODERN-DAY Viking Ludde Ingvall yesterday unveiled his newlook Swedish maxi yacht Nicorette with which he and partner Ola Astradsson hope to thwart George Snow's long-cherished dream of taking line honours in the Sydney-Hobart race in Brindabella. Nicorette, 22 metres long and a notional top speed of 32 knots before she was optimised in New Zealand specially for this year's Telstra Sydney-Hobart, is the first maxi to contest the ocean classic from Sweden

In his speech, Gore took a subtle swipe at groups that have questioned the premise that global warming causes environmental problems, comparing them to those who have espoused the tobacco industry's denial that smoking did harm. "To those who seek to obfuscate and obstruct, we say, 'We will not allow you to put narrow special interests above the interests of all humankind,'" Gore said.

The following is a statement . . . in reaction to Vice President Gore's speech before the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto, Japan on Monday, December 8, 1997: ". . . I was also very troubled by the reference to the business community and the reference to tobacco companies. It is the companies in our nation that have created jobs, invested in new technology, that participate in the voluntary programs. I do not know anyone who does not say this is a legitimate concern. And so to attack the engine of economic growth and characterize us as denying there's a problem is troubling to me."

Cigar smoking, a fad in the wider world, is yet another area of caution for corporate Santas. Despite a surge in inquiries about cigars and related paraphernalia this year, few orders were placed, said Amy Noel, vice president of Wood Associates, a promotions and gift service in Santa Clara. "Some buyers say they don't know if they want their company associated with smoking," Noel said.

Over the years GRACE MIRABELLA and Dr. WILLIAM G. CAHAN have given parties for all sorts of reasons, but never for a political campaign. Now they have decided to break that record to help a candidate who will have no direct influence over their lives: HUBERT H. HUMPHREY 3d, the Attorney General of Minnesota, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in next year's election. The Cahans are giving a fund-raising party for Mr. Humphrey in their apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on Wednesday because of his efforts against the big tobacco companies.

When Homer went inside for smokes, Gordon freed his wife and they ran out to the highway and flagged down a car. Happy ending for them. . . Bad ending for Minnesota taxpayers. Not only will we have to feed this guy, but in Minnesota, where smoking is a crime at least as onerous as, say, vehicle theft, Homer might have an actionable claim. Tell them it was the tobacco industry's fault, Homer. We have a Hubert who will believe you.

There are state-of-the-art answers in a 670-page report entitled Food, Nutrition and the Prevention Cancer: A Global Perspective, prepared by a team of 150 scientists and available for $69.95 from the American Institute of Cancer Research. . . Lung: Decreases risk -- vegetables, fruits. Probably decreases risk -- carotenoids in food. Possibly decreases risk -- vitamin C in food, selenium in food, physical activity. . . Smoking: Increases risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, lung, pancreas, cervix and bladder cancers; possibly increases risk of kidney, colon and rectum cancers.

As the new year approaches, many people will begin to make important decisions about health and lifestyle changes. In order to make those choices easier, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Blue Care Network of Michigan suggests that you take a close look at some startling facts concerning the harmful effects of smoking and what you can do to kick the nicotine habit.

Farmers were hoping for good prices, but apparently were disappointed this morning at the opening of Lancaster County's eight-week tobacco auction market. In early bidding at the Paradise Tobacco Auction, buyers passed on many bales. And when they did offer prices, they ranged from $1 to $1.80 per pound, with most in the $1.40 range.

The state of Florida said Monday that it had begun a nationwide search for an agency to develop an anti-smoking campaign to be supported by $70 million in spending during the next 18 to 24 months. Charles Wolfe, director for the tobacco team in Tallahassee, confirmed a report of the review this week in Adweek, adding that the state was considering agencies with at least $40 million in billings. Other criteria, Wolfe said, include youth marketing experience, having an office in Florida or opening one by Dec. 31 and an absence of ties to tobacco companies

It's the end of a era at the Charlotte County Stadium. For the past ten years, the Marlboro man stood guard over the field. Monday, stadium officials tore down the smoking cowboy's image. It'll be replaced by a billboard promoting Charlotte County and the visitors bureau.

Although students in Simi Valley have long been forbidden to wear clothes advertising cigarettes or tobacco products, the school board will vote tonight whether to make that policy official in the district handbook.

The next time you walk into a 7-Eleven to buy cigarettes or beer and you look underage, a clerk will probably ask to scan your driver's license. A small electronic device will allow clerks to quickly determine whether you're old enough to make the purchase. The scanner reads information coded onto a magnetic strip on the back of a driver's license or state-issued ID, which includes a person's name, birth date, address, height and weight. The device, developed by VeriFone Inc. (), only registers a person's age and whether a sale of alcohol or tobacco is allowed with prompts such as "OK to purchase alcohol/tobacco" or "denied."

Trade Group Provides Educational Materials Aimed at Enhancing Decision-Making Skills Among Young People WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) today pledged to expand its efforts to equip parents and teachers with educational tools designed to help young people make wise decisions concerning tobacco. The announcement was made in a letter to Chairman Michael Bilirakis of the House Subcommittee on Health and Environment in conjunction with today's hearing on aspects of the Tobacco Settlement relating to the prevention of teen tobacco use.

Heavy volume in some Philip Morris Cos Inc (NYSE:MO - news) options Wednesday was from investors using the options to capture the dividend, but this time around, all the volume was not in in-the-money calls. Typically, investors will buy in-the-money calls right before a stock goes ex-dividend as a way to capture the payout, but some investors in Philip Morris were using a combination of stock and put options as well.

Philip Morris Cos., in an effort to jump-start its lagging international food division, said it would cut its overseas work force by more than 2,500 employees as part of a restructuring that would result in a $630 million pretax charge.

Philip Morris Cos. will slash 2,500 jobs to restructure its international food business, hoping to make the sluggish division as profitable as the North American tobacco and food businesses. The maker of Marlboro cigarettes, Kraft foods and Miller beer said Tuesday it will sell overseas businesses not related to its core food products, which include coffee and chocolate.

Philip Morris Companies Inc. (NYSE: MO - news) announced today that it would take a pre-tax restructuring charge in the fourth quarter of $630 million to significantly reduce costs and enhance focus in its international food operations. The restructuring includes the sale or exit of certain non-strategic businesses, the eventual closure of several manufacturing facilities and a consolidation of sales and administrative functions, resulting in a total workforce reduction of more than 2,500 employees.

Of course, like any smoker these days, she approaches the subject carefully. "I never said smoking is a good thing," she said. "I've never said that. I've never agreed with that." Her Web site, Smokers.Com, is based more on a matter of principle. "It's always about what we're feeling, about our rights and what society has done to us," she said.

It cost me $200 an hour to fly a plane behind the Parliament cigarette plane that went up and down the beach a few summers ago -- Parliament, the Perfect Recess. My plane read, Parliament, the PERMANENT Recess. But $200 is little more than a good plumber charges these days, and guess what? There have been no tobacco planes on Long Island since.

San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne has been named by California Lawyer magazine as one of the state's top attorneys of 1997. Renne was credited with being involved in a variety of landmark suits on issues related to the city . . . Renne's action in national tobacco litigation, and to end Joe Camel cigarette advertising, was also cited.

If successful, the argument of the national smokers would threaten the integrity of professors and scientists with a personal interest in what their research means outside the ivory tower. And a personal interest is a good thing. This scary attempt to suppress critics has another result. We had doubted that public esteem for the cigarette makers could possibly sink any lower, but we were wrong. And if the National Smokers Alliance thinks this is over, think again.

D.D. Bean & Sons Inc., a company that has been making matchbooks here since 1959, said yesterday that it is closing its Winston-Salem plant Dec. 18 and cutting 65 jobs. . . Walton said that recent improvements at the company's main plant in Jaffrey has allowed the company to increase its capacity without the need for additional workers. The company, founded in 1938 by Delcie David Bean, also wants to focus much of its efforts on expanding its business overseas, he said.

USA DEBATE:

Taxpayers need both judicial and congressional oversight to ensure such relationships don't lead to sweetheart deals. The aim of any tobacco settlement isn't about making lawyers wealthy. It's about improving health - especially by stopping kids from smoking. Until the settlements worked out by the states and their lawyers prove they'll do that, the lawyer fees should be kept low.

The dirty little details: We were told not to worry because the arbitration was fixed. Two arbitrators were already named, the third to be picked by the lawyers. Tobacco would not object to any fee. Tobacco would assist in recovering much more than our contingency contract under its scheme if its global settlement was approved. I would not and will not be a part of such a plan. We are entitled to an honest contract. Tobacco has arranged for the fix to ensure that it can continue as a business which kills 425,000 people per year.

"I don't think First USA has taken into account that there are a lot of public health advocates who would refuse to do business with a bank that promotes an addictive and lethal product-which is exactly what cigars are, " said Ahron Leichtman, executive director of Citizens for a Tobacco-Free Society in Cincinnati. . . "Cigars are synonymous with celebration, success, and achievement. " said Tony Plohoros, a First USA spokesman. "What we are allowing people to do here is express to others when they use the card, that they enjoy that experience. " . . . Jeffrey Baxter, principal of S.J. Baxter & Associates in Forest Hill, Md., came to the defense of First USA, saying that a card for premium cigar smokers was not the same thing as, say, a cigarette card. "They are targeting the upscale cigar here, not the kind you buy in 7- Eleven, " Mr. Baxter said. "I think it is an interesting move in a nice market. "

Releasing internal documents of the Liggett Group to House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley, R-Va., does not waive any defense claim of privilege, defense lawyer Peter Sipkins told Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick during a pretrial hearing Tuesday. "Today is not the right time to decide it," Sipkins said. Michael Ciresi, lead attorney for the state of Minnesota, had argued that the more than 800 Liggett documents should be immediately turned over to the plaintiffs.

Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick questioned Tuesday whether American Tobacco Co. was sold to another cigarette manufacturer in order to remove a potentially incriminating link to an Irish company known for its biological research on smoking and health. During a hearing concerning possible financial penalties on American for not producing critical documents to the state of Minnesota, Fitzpatrick asked about the timing of the sale -- only months after the state filed its lawsuit against the tobacco industry -- and the motivation behind it.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is seeking $350 million in damages against tobacco companies for treating smokers over the past two decades, a lawyer said in court Tuesday. The statement made to a St. Paul judge marked the first time anyone in the 3-year-old Minnesota tobacco litigation has publicly said how much Blue Cross is seeking to recoup from cigarette makers.

[Attorney General Drew Edmondson] cited a ruling by Cleveland County District Judge Tom Lucas, who denied motions by several tobacco companies challenging the state court's jurisdiction in the case.

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker is in talks to hire two high-powered, high-priced anti-tobacco law firms that played a role in getting the big U.S. tobacco companies to agree to the proposed national $368.5 billion settlement. If hired as the state's national counsel, Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole, of Charleston, S.C., and Scruggs, Millette, Lawson, Bozeman & Dent of Pascagoula, Miss., would lead Georgia's belated case against tobacco . . .

The Florida attorneys eyeballing big law fees in the state's lawsuit against Big Tobacco aren't alone. An associate of Lawrence Tribe, a Harvard professor with national renown imported for the state's court hearings, turned in a bill for Tribe's time -- $800 an hour. At 146 hours, "conservative estimate," that's $116,800.

The state's public universities have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in research grants, scholarships and gifts -- $667,000 over the past decade at the University of Florida, almost $40,000 at Florida International University. The many gifts of cigarette makers that Florida sued for endangering the health of smokers covered by state and federal health insurance are tallied in memorandums collected by the state during Florida's court battle with tobacco. . . The biggest way that Florida was beholden for many years: investing a share of the state's $70 billion employees' pension fund in lucrative tobacco stocks.

Florida is launching a nationwide search for advertising firms ready to craft its $200 million anti-smoking effort, but companies with tobacco ties need not apply. The state's campaign, aimed at youngsters under age 18, will be the largest of its kind in the nation and a lucrative contract for media firms, industry experts said Tuesday. But no firm working for cigarette companies or their wide-ranging product line will be considered, a provision that likely eliminates some large national agencies from the competition.

Why would a City Council with four lame ducks take an early vote in an attempt to bind the incoming council? . . Perhaps some are afraid the balance of power on the council is turning to those who support a higher standard of lobbying practices. . . Minneapolis' first lobbying contract is with North State Advisors which also lobbies for . . The Tobacco Institute.

A state tobacco enforcement official says he's pleased a sting operation nabbed just 8 percent of 208 stores for selling chewing tobacco to minors. "I really expected it would be higher then 8 percent. We have been so focused on cigarettes," said Albert Elwell, chief of enforcement for the Department of Liquor Control. Seventeen out of 208 stores sold chewing tobacco illegally to juveniles during the latest undercover sting by the department, Elwell said.

Two Pittsburgh convenience stores and a drug store face fines for selling cigarettes to a minor. Pittsburgh police cited clerks at the A-Plus Mini Market at North Craig and Bayard streets, and Rite Aid Pharmacy at 209 Atwood St., both in Oakland; and the BP Food Mart, 5801 Forward Ave., Squirrel Hill. The summary offense carries a $25 fine, plus court costs. The A-Plus and BP stores were cited for the same violation six weeks ago. Greg Hartley of SmokeFree Pennsylvania noted, "One store even displays four signs that say, `We Card.'"

The pullout of the tobacco companies as a result of federal anti-tobacco-sponsorship legislation along with an expected dip in the amount replacement sponsors will pay will reduce the over-all sponsorship envelope in Quebec from its current level of $85 million to less than $50 million, the report concludes. The study by the research firm Secor was commissioned by the Alliance for Sponsorship Freedom, a group representing sports and cultural events that is largely financed by the major tobacco manufacturers.

Some 5,000 jobs for young Canadians are at risk because of Ottawa's dithering on amendments to its anti-smoking law, according to a coalition of promoters of arts, sports and cultural events. Max Beck of the Alliance for Sponsorship Freedom said there is an inherent contradiction with a government which would imperil that number of jobs in the 15-to-24 age group at the same time it is calling an attack on youth unemployment a national priority.

Every time the name Rothman appears on the uniform of a star like Jacques Villeneuve, it legitimizes the use of a deadly product. . . The abolition of tobacco sponsorships has become a worldwide, irreversible trend. Since it is only a question of time, sooner is better than later.

A study backed by the cigarette industry says Quebec cultural and sporting events will be hard hit by the federal law limiting tobacco advertising. The study examined eight major events, including Montreal's jazz, comedy and film festivals, Quebec City's summer festival and Grand Prix racing in Montreal and Trois-Rivieres. The law that takes effect next October will likely mean the eventual death of three of the events, said Marcel Cote, president of the Secor research firm. However, Cote refused to name the three, saying that he had given assurances of confidentiality.

Metro's economy stands to take a $30-million hit if the Jazz Festival and Harbourfront Theatre can't find sponsorship to replace Imperial Tobacco's funding. And another $60 million is on the line if the Symphony of Fire and the Toronto Film Festival lose Rothmans' sponsorship - a move that company officials say is imminent.

The best thing the government can do now is introduce its legislation promptly, make it clear that the rules are not negotiable and get out of the business of bargaining with the tobacco lobby.

U.S.-based R. J. Reynolds International, a leading investor in the Russian tobacco industry, became the first company to occupy an office in Moscow's largest business complex, Usadba-Center, on Tuesday. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who cut the symbolic ribbon, said he was pleased that the company had moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow and opened its head office here.

"Aristocrats could more safely preach equality in a slave society than in a free one," Edmund S. Morgan wrote in American Slavery, American Freedom. The landless mob could not threaten the vision of an agrarian republic, he said, because in the Chesapeake "they had achieved a society in which most of the poor were enslaved."

Tobacco companies have long pushed smoking in bars. But the most recent promotions, particularly the "Camel Club" of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, rankle smoking opponents who say the strategy promotes underage smoking and may be eroding success in curbing smoking among young adults. The anti-smoking forces have reason for concern. R.J. Reynolds wouldn't say exactly how rewarding the nearly 3-year-old Camel Club has been, only that the company has expanded the promotion to most major metropolitan areas and that sales of Camels and Red Kamels . . . are strong and growing.

Shaw-Ross, an importer of fine wines, imports the "Sinatra" cigar, endorsed, says S-R, by Frank himself. Hine, the French Cognac firm, now has a Cigar Reserve Cognac. Closer to home, California's Germain-Robin distills a Cigar Blend brandy, and Cosentino Winery, in the Napa Valley, is promoting its 1996 Cigarzin California Zinfandel, with the tag-line "It's smokin'." In Washington, Stimson Lane, the parent company of Ch. Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest, has added a cigar sales force. The list is growing every day. . . While the wine industry is promoting wine and health from one side of its mouth, it is blowing smoke out of the other side.

And they offered up one more caveat. Smoking and drinking too often go hand in hand, they say, with one's likelihood of taking up cigarettes rising "with the frequency of alcohol consumption." Although moderate drinking may slightly reduce overall death risk in middle-aged populations, they say "cigarette smoking approximately doubles this risk."The New England Journal of Medicine (1997;337(24):1705-1714)

Middle-aged and older men and women who drink about one alcoholic drink a day have slightly lower overall death rates compared to nondrinkers, but this benefit is far smaller than the large hazard produced by smoking and is influenced by the pattern of drinking and background health risk. . . "The good effects of alcohol were five times smaller than the bad effects of tobacco," says Richard Peto, of Oxford University, a co-author of the study. "Moderate drinkers had death rates one fifth lower than nondrinkers, but smokers bad double the nonsmoker death rate." . . Drinking more than two drinks daily, especially combined with smoking, using snuff, and chewing tobacco, greatly increases the risk of cancers of the oral cavity, esophagus, and larynx. "When all is said and done, smoking poses the really large hazard for death in middle age," says Clark Heath, Jr., MD, a co-author of the study and vice president of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research for the American Cancer Society.

U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole enjoined Massachusetts from enforcing its ingredient reporting provisions until further arguments could be heard.

"In his Memorandum and Order, Judge D. J. O'Toole stated, 'In sum, this court concludes that the plaintiffs have shown a significant likelihood of success on at least one of their constitutional claims, and that having done so, they have satisfied the other criteria for the grant of a preliminary injunction.' . "We believe national legislation is the best approach to this issue. "

Minnesota's landmark case against the tobacco industry on Wednesday became the first lawsuit in the state with an official Web site. Ramsey County District Judge Kenneth Fitzpatrick, who is presiding over the 3-year-old litigation, established the site because of the widespread interest in the suit, one of 41 cases filed by state attorneys general. "Since this is a large case and we know there was lot of interest, the judge felt that he wanted to make access as easy as possible and relieve our staff from having to send out pieces of paper," said Richard Parker, technology manager for the 2nd Judicial District in St. Paul. The tobacco case site, part of the larger Minnesota courts site ( www.courts.state.mn.us ), contains more than 180 orders issued by the judge since 1994. Parker said officials have no plans to publish other pleadings, which now number more than 1,800.

A state Senate panel investigating Florida's $11.3 billion settlement with cigarette makers may hear allegations of sexual harassment at a prominent law firm representing the state, officials said on Wednesday. A former secretary at the South Carolina law firm of Ness, Motley is prepared to testify before the Executive Business, Ethics and Elections Committee about activities at the firm, attorney Tim Howard said.

A coalition of anti-smoking activists and children's health groups is calling for a $1.50-a-pack increase in the state tax on cigarettes. The coalition, the Maryland Children's Initiative, says . . they see the proposal as a "run-on bill," that is, a measure that will prove popular enough in many areas that candidates can run on it in the fall. The new coalition, which includes the Maryland State Teachers Association, is headed by Vincent DeMarco.

A national group has picked Ohio as a place to start a war against teen smoking. The American Cancer Society, through the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, chose Ohio because it has one of the highest smoking rates in the country. Their surveys show most Ohioans want tougher tobacco laws to keep cigarettes out of kids' hands. Radio ads begin Thursday to encourage Ohio voters to call their congressmen about the campaign. The American Cancer Society wants the FDA to have full authority on the regulation of tobacco, tougher penalties for tobacco companies and increased taxes on it.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) dropped in Wednesday at Naperville Central High School and was told by students that there is still a group at the school known as "the smokers," although he said it is getting increasingly more difficult for them to light up. Sitting at a high school desk, the senator, a longtime foe of tobacco, listened as students and staff at the high school told him what they think of the city's recent ordinance banning possession of tobacco by minors.

The county is running anti-smoking messages in 35 local theaters in a campaign to take the glamour out of smoking. . The county's 3-week-old campaign has received a cool reception from theater chains. Though the county took pains to create inoffensive ads, only General Cinema and a smattering of independent movie houses have accepted them. Meanwhile, anti-smoking activists have given the ads lukewarm reviews.

Just in case you've been in hibernation, I want to remind you that as of Jan. 1, smoking will no longer be legal in any bar or club in San Francisco. . . Vogue rebels Michelle Drinks, Sebastian and Harry Denton's Starlight Room respond to this outrage with a highbrow Prohibition Party where dudes and dames can burn one in decadence. On Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 7:30 p.m., you are invited to share a toke on our last day of fume freedom.

Smoke-free bars will no doubt be a big hit in some circles, and hopefully, the new law, however poorly written and unenforceable, will encourage some pub owners to move in that direction. But until that time, bar owners are between a smoke and a closed place. And the best way out is for the state's lawmakers to come up with a reasonable standard so pub workers, butt heads and booze drinkers can peacefully co-exist.

Vincent A. Gierer, Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of UST Inc., after a meeting of the Board of Directors today, announced that John P. Clancey, Edward T. Fogarty and Peter J. Neff have been elected to the Company's Board.

Hemingway's Fine Cigars & Wine Bar: The only glaring shortcoming in this smoking parlor is that it doesn't offer patrons a good Cuban cigar. . . Come January, Hemingway's may be among the very few public places where people are allowed to smoke. A new state law is intended to prohibit smoking in bars. Because the majority of Hemingway's sales are from tobacco, however, Hemingway's is exempt, Lazarus explained.

In "X-Files," he puffs away on herbal cigarettes, saying butting- out tobacco was one of the most rewarding things he has ever done. Davis told United Press International he "got fooled" into quitting. "Somebody told me that it really only takes three days. Three days of misery. So I went up to my ski cabin by myself and it wasn't too bad, a little shaky, but I lasted three days." "And then the next six months were really hard. But, because I'd done the three days, I wasn't going to go back. If I'd known it would take that long, would I have done it? I don't know." In Montreal for the filming of the comedy-drama "Perpetrator of the Crime," Davis sags he fully supports government efforts to curb tobacco company sponsorships. . ."I think the tobacco industry should not be advertising _ period! If they want to sponsor things the way philanthropists sponsor things, by having their name on the back page (of a program), in small print, ... that would be wonderful. "Of course they don't want to do that. They're not really sponsors, they're really advertisers."

Some of the best minds in the tobacco industry have spent their entire careers thinking up the best ways to hook children on their highly addictive product. . . "For years," he said, "the tobacco companies have had a blame-the-kids strategy that was designed to divert attention from the wrongdoing of adults who market and sell tobacco. I have never seen a study that shows that making it illegal for a kid to possess tobacco products has had any impact on consumption whatsoever." . . There are many ways to cut down on the number of kids who smoke, the simplest being to drastically raise the price of cigarettes. Passing punitive measures that are wildly out of proportion to the offense, or that are too harsh to even be enforced, will only undermine the credibility of adults in the eyes of the young and further diminish their respect for the law.

My prediction is that Skip will win his case, and because of his dogged determination, he will have made the biggest difference in history for the public health of Minnesota. From way down South in Mississippi, we wish Humphrey good luck, good fortune and God's blessings. Minnesotans should be proud to have Skip Humphrey on their side.

Three members of Florida's courtroom "Dream Team" that battled the tobacco industry asked a judge on Thursday to step in and settle the nightmarish fee fight dividing them. The attorneys want Tallahassee-area Circuit Judge Terry Lewis to determine whether the alliance among the 11-firm team is truly a partnership, a move that could quell the vicious infighting now plaguing the team.

[A]ccording to court papers filed on Thursday, Montgomery is planning to take depositions of, among others, Maher, Cohen, Gov. Lawton Chiles, Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Reynolds CEO Stephen Goldstone and Philip Morris CEO Geoffrey Bible. The papers filed by the state on Thursday charge that Montgomery's attempts to take the depositions are in direct violation of Cohen's order quashing Montgomery's lien.

A seven-member federal jury yesterday rejected a prisoner's claim that second-hand smoke violated his protection against cruel and unusual punishment. In the 2 1/2-day trial, Bradley Denham argued that officers at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Tucson ignored his complaints about fellow inmates' smoke entering his cell. . . Denham filed his suit in 1995. In 1996, the Department of Corrections banned smoking in Denham's facility, but not because of the lawsuit, said Dan Vanelli

The Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative wants to extend the sales season for as long as four extra weeks so the leaf has more time to cure. A unanimous vote by the organization's board of directors in Lexington, Ky., came at the pleading of growers, buyers and regulators concerned about the dismal state of this year's crop.

The state Attorney General's office says the Jackson City Council can legally approve a proposal that bans the sale of tobacco products within 500 feet of a school.

A correctional officer at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City faces the prospect of serving 11 years behind bars because he allegedly sold tobacco to inmates. The Indiana State Police and prison officials arrested Michael Smith on Wednesday afternoon. Smith, 25, is facing felony charges of bribery and trafficking. He is the first worker at a state prison to be fired or arrested for allegedly carrying tobacco since the Department of Correction's ban on tobacco went into effect in August.

The reactions ranged from embarrassment and surprise to anger after store clerks got nailed yesterday in Denton County for selling tobacco products to a minor.

The CTA Board of Directors have approved a ban on alcohol and tobacco ads on all of its buses, trains, stations and bus stops.

There are those who still believe second-hand smoke poses no danger to non-smokers. However, it has been proven that each year, thousands of people die from lung cancer as a direct result of breathing the smoke from other people's cigarettes. . . Some see the smokefree bars law as an assault on smokers rights. But with 85% of Californians not smoking, the law actually acts as an affirmation of non-smokers rights. L.A. LINK is a tobacco control agency in LA County that works to educate businesses and the public regarding smoking related issues. . . Members of L.A. LINK are working to help bar patrons, workers and owners understand the reasoning behind this law to ensure a smooth transitional period as it goes into effect.

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto spent most of Thursday trying to persuade skeptics of the virtues of a plan to raise 10 trillion yen in life support for the Japanese banking system. . . The government has said that since it intends to use shares it owns of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and Japan Tobacco as collateral, the plan would not add to the deficit and would therefore not constitute deficit financing.

Japanese officials are concerned about the rising number of arson cases being committed, but cigarettes not stubbed out in ashtrays remain the biggest single cause of the country's fires. . . In 1996, there were a total of 64,066 fires throughout Japan, of which cigarette-induced fires accounted for 11 percent and numbering 7, 121 incidents, cigarettes were the biggest single cause of fires.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. may start full retail distribution of the low-smoke Eclipse cigarette in Atlanta next year, but analysts and marketing experts say the slow rollout reflects weaknesses in the product.

Another drawback: While liquor and cigars are a good match, "you don't have the control you want and can end up on a back shelf," warns James Tighe, president of MarketReach in Stamford, Conn. . . To avoid that fate, they encourage primary placement with liquor stores and bars by discounting display humidors (based on the percentage of Tabacon cigars carried). And to keep tobacconists happy, they require liquor distributors to have a separate staff to sell Tabacon products to smoke shops . . Although the cigar boom has been well-hyped, the long-term outlook is not bright (chart). Tabacon has to win over cigar loyalists during these good times to survive long-term. Chart: Up in Smoke? Annual per capita cigar consumption 1970-1997

In January 1998, when Congress returns, I will propose several new initiatives that I believe Democrats can unify behind. Each of the initiatives is budget neutral. But they are not neutral about values or about making a difference in people's lives. . . Second, we should enact comprehensive tobacco legislation, including an increase of $1.50 in the price of a pack of cigarettes. The most effective way to reduce teen smoking is to raise the cost of cigarettes. Increasing the price of cigarettes by $1.50 a pack has another benefit. It could raise $20 billion, half of which should be used to double the budget of the National Institutes of Health for biomedical research and half should be committed to early-childhood development and child care. With these funds we could expand Head Start to reach many more eligible children, and we could raise the quality of child care and make it safer and more affordable for all families.

The media have become a primary source of health and medical information for most Americans, slightly surpassing even doctors, according to a new survey released today by the National Health Council. Because of the media's importance in providing health information, the Council is seeking an ongoing dialogue between the health care community and the media to further the process of providing the public with accurate and timely information.

From Jan. 1, none of the United Nations' 2,500 staff, the 120,000 annual visiters to the [Geneva, Switzerland] office complex, nor the estimated 10,000 officials who take part in conferences and summits there will be permitted to light up. According to U.N. circular 4377, smoking will be forbidden in all parts of the U.N. headquarters which houses, among others, the World Health Organization, a U.N. body that campaigns against the tobacco industry.

Michael E. Szymanczyk, appointed in June as president and chief executive officer of Philip Morris USA, was on the subpoena list . . . Texas Attorney General Dan Morales said Szymanczyk, Campbell and eight other tobacco executives have "intimate knowledge of the conspiracy and fraud committed by the industry. They must be required to face a jury and answer questions regarding documented evidence of fraud."

• 12/12/97 TEXAS to Subpoena Ex-Tobacco CEOs Dallas Morning News
  
  Mr. Morales said he plans to make the former CEOs the first witnesses to take the stand in the state's case, followed by the current top executives at each company. . . While Mr. Morales said subpoenaing the CEOs was strictly a legal strategy decision, others believe it also forces the industry to rethink its position on settling the Texas lawsuit prior to trial.
• 12/12/97 MORALES Seeks Subpoenas for Tobacco Executives Austin American-Statesman
• 12/11/97 TEXAS Seeks Subpoenas for Tobacco Execs UPI
  
  Among those Morales wants to subpoena are James W. Johnston, former CEO of R.J. Reynolds; Ed Horrigan Jr., former CEO of Liggett Group; William I. Campbell, former CEO of Phillip Morris; and Andrew Tisch, former CEO of Lorillard.
• 12/11/97 TEXAS Requests Subpoenas for 10 Tobacco Executives in $14B Lawsuit Reuters
  
  The state of Texas asked a federal judge on Thursday to subpoena 10 current and former chief executives of the nation's top tobacco companies to testify in its $14 billion lawsuit against the industry. Texas Attorney General Dan Morales said the 10 included four executives who testified before Congress in April 1994, that they believe nicotine is not addictive and that cigarettes do not cause cancer.
• 12/11/97 TEXAS: State Can Broaden Cigarette Litigation Austin American-Statesman
  
  In a decision issued late Tuesday and made public Wednesday, U.S. District Judge David Folsom said he erred when he decided the state could not sue tobacco companies for violating its consumer protection laws. Folsom also clarified an earlier motion, saying the state could sue cigarette makers for producing a defective product.
• 12/11/97 Ruling Gives Boost to Texas' Tobacco Suit Houston Chronicle
• 12/10/97 TEXAS Tobacco Suit Advances Reuters
  
  A federal judge in Texas has reversed an earlier ruling, allowing the state to pursue product liability and other claims in its suit against cigarette makers, Texas Attorney General Dan Morales said Wednesday.
• 12/10/97 Judge Widens Texas Tobacco Lawsuit UPI
  
  U.S. District Judge David Folsom has also ruled that B.A.T. Industries, the parent company of Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp., is a defendant in the suit. . . Morales said today that Folsom, in an order late Tuesday, partially reversed a previous order barring the state from alleging that cigarette makers violated trade practice and product liability laws. Folsom said although the state cannot seek monetary relief under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, it can seek injunctive relief if the attorney general wants to pursue such action. The judge also reversed a prior ruling that barred the state from bringing charges alleging product defect.

Attorney General Scott Harshbarger . . . announced today he will first ask the First U.S. Court of Appeals to block O'Toole's order and force the tobacco companies to comply with the regulations immediately. The industry claims that disclosing all of the ingredients in their cigarettes would require them to reveal trade secrets, in violation of federal law. But Harshbarger says cigarettes are treated no differently under the statute than other food and consumer products.

Gov. Arne Carlson threatens to undermine the state's lawsuit against tobacco companies, Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe wrote in a letter to Carlson Friday. . . Moe said he worries the industry's lawyers will use the split to bolster their case at trial. "(Carlson's) letter might very well find its way into the legal process," he said.

Normally, the tobacco companies prefer that growers separate their leaf according to whether it came from the top, middle or bottom of the plant. But during the past two markets, because supplies of burley were short, the companies paid the same price for unseparated burley as for leaf that was separated. This year, however, things have changed. When the market opened about Thanksgiving, those farmers who had mixed tobacco discovered that they would be paid 10 to 45 cents a pound less for unseparated tobacco than for separated leaf.

The Illinois tax on cigarettes will officially increase by 14 cents on Monday but smokers may not notice. December 15th is when cigarette distributors will begin putting the new blue and green tax stamps on packs of cigarettes. . . But, officials say retailers will probably sell cigarette packs with old stamps so smokers may not have to pay the extra tax on Monday.

And the bags didn't hold the usual bundles of marijuana or cocaine. Inside were 2,874 premium Cuban cigars worth about $72,000, the largest single seizure of the illegal but coveted cigars through the middle of last year, according to the U.S. Customs Service. Total seizures of Cuban cigars surged last year across the country - topping $1.14 million - with Tucson and Nogales, Ariz., ranking among the top 10 seizure ports in the United States.

At the Fraternal Order of Eagles' lodge in Yucaipa, Calif., a sign declares, "We don't have a nonsmoking section." All five employees smoke, as do 85 percent of the roughly 300 Eagles. But as of January 1, lighting a cigarette in the lodge could draw fines of up to $500.

Tragedy: Cigarette Dropped By Bedridden Resident Started Fire, Officials Say. . . A series of strokes more than a decade ago left the woman paralyzed on one side and with restricted movement on the other, neighbors said. One of her few pleasures, they added, was smoking.

The day after the government collapsed over the extradition law, Croes and Oduber struck a deal with another cousin, banker Carlo Mansur, to form a government that would serve out the parliament's remaining six months -- and make Mansur finance minister. Public outrage at the prospect of a Mansur in a cabinet post prompted immediate elections. The Mansurs, whose huge business interests include a majority shareholding in the Philip Morris tobacco company and a franchise that gives them a percentage of every Marlboro cigarette sold in Latin America and the Caribbean, called in a years-old debt of $2.3 million that Eman owed the family's Interbank. That would have bankrupted Eman and barred him from running for office, but a court suspended the Mansurs' lawsuit indefinitely.

Trinidad's government on Friday proposed banning smoking in government buildings and a curb on advertising cigarettes throughout the Caribbean nation. The tobacco proposals, including a sharp rise in cigarette prices to $0.42 from $0.36 per package of 20, came in a US$1.78 billion government budget for 1998 presented to parliament by Finance Minister Brian Kuei Tung. . . Parliamentary debate on the measures, as well as other provisions of the budget, will be held on Wednesday.

[T]he Government has come under fire for failing to ban sales of its own House of Commons branded cigarettes. The offending items came to light when Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester, asked the chairman of the catering committee in a written question whether he would "take steps to discourage sales" of the cigarettes.

Following some media reports here suggesting a U.S. and Japanese conspiracy behind the IMF bailout, there were reports of people burning packages of American cigarettes, which are widely advertised here, and picketing places that sell Japanese electronics.

The attempt to register the name and image of Diana, Princess of Wales as a trade mark is likely to be at least partly rejected, according to a leading trade mark lawyer. Her memorial fund team would be unable to stop such products as "Princess of Wales" cigarettes or a "Diana" alcopop unless they planned to back official versions, said specialist solicitor Tony Willoughby. His opinion was based on a long list of categories for which the fund lawyers had applied to register her name and image as a trademark, he said. . . "I can hardly imagine the memorial fund wanting their own cigarettes.

"My response is that tobacco is a legal product and everyone has the freedom of choice to enjoy it, or forswear it, like alcohol. Quite a number of people who smoke still don't get any diseases at all. We still don't know for a fact what it is that causes the harm."

A biotechnology company that helped Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. develop a tobacco plant with high levels of nicotine is cooperating in a U.S. Justice Department probe of the cigarette industry, CBS reported. . . Janis A. Bravo, a former scientist at DNA Plant Technology, which had a joint venture with the tobacco firm, has been granted immunity from criminal prosecution for assisting federal prosecutors, the Los Angeles Times reported in July.

But Indian health educators are emphatic: Ceremonial smoking is not the same as daily use of cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco. "Commercial tobacco abuse causes enormous and unnecessary health risks and premature death among many of our Indian people," says the policy statement of the American Indian Tobacco Education Network. "It is contradictory to our original sacred use which purifies, supports, strengthens and nurtures Indian people." The unique network is part of California's effort to tailor anti-smoking messages to different ethnic groups. If the network did not honor sacred tobacco use, its health message would be lost on many Indians, says manager Toni Martinez.

DEER LODGE, December 12­ Some Montana State Prison employees are protesting a tobacco ban for inmates. They say it's too dangerous to face a thousand inmates who are forced to quit smoking cold-turkey. The ban will take effect in January and will hopefully reduce health costs and potential lawsuits resulting from second-hand smoke.

SYDNEY'S new casino is facing massive revenue losses with WorkCover set to direct Star City to ban smoking at gaming tables. . . Star City says more than 50 per cent of its tables are already smoke free, well above the 30 per cent of tables at the former temporary casino. Croupiers work eight-hour shifts with 15-minute breaks each hour. This means they can be exposed to passive smoke plumes for six hours a day. One croupier told The Sunday Telegraph that most of the dealers at the tables left work feeling ill from the smoke.

The research, conducted by consultancy Morgan & Banks, found tea and coffee breaks cost Australia businesses more than smokos. The caffeine boost is estimated to cost employers an estimated $12 billion in lost time, compared with $10 billion for smoking.

In 1993, Carson was looking for a creative way to celebrate the birth of his granddaughter, Elise Rohr. "I didn't want to pass out cigars because I had quit smoking, as had most people I know," he said. Instead, Carson created a pink candy wrapper to put around Hershey chocolate bars. It proclaimed "HERESHEIS" in large type. Elise's name and weight appeared in small print on the front, and other vital statistics . . .The edible birth announcement was an instant hit . . . And thus Carson Enterprises was born in the Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield, Ohio.

It's fitting that when one of the world's most famous dissidents comes to dinner at your house, rules will be broken. I just hope my kids don't get the wrong idea. . . The first thing he asked for was an ashtray. But wait a minute. This is a strict no-smoking house. . . As for the kids? We're not hypocrites. This guy has bad habits. He was in jail for a long time. If he wants a smoke now and then, it's no crime. We're just being tolerant. But if I ever catch one of you with a cigarette . . . Broken rule No. 2: No smoking -- ever.

Yefim Shubentsov, a 57-year-old Russian emigre, claims he can cure nearly any craving with the "energy" in his hands. Food, cigarettes, booze, phobias - doesn't matter. Since 1980, he has treated more than 100,000 people who make the pilgrimage to his row house outside Boston. Billy Joel, publisher Jann Wenner and author Amy Tan say he has helped them kick smoking. He couldn't help writer Fran Lebowitz.

I want to clarify a misleading chart that appeared alongside the article, "Delegation home to rest, campaign," NH Weekly, Nov. 23). I have been and will remain an opponent of the federal program that subsidizes crop insurance for tobacco. . . In fact, I was the chief sponsor of an amendment to eliminate the tobacco crop insurance program.

A survey of 1,604 youths in grades 9-12 in the state shows 83% of the pupils had tried smoking, 44% smoked in the month before, and 18% had used chewing tobacco.

Dr. Tom Allen believes it's important that the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine send a message that it cares about people's health. . . . That's one of the reasons why the college will ban smoking throughout the campus beginning Jan. 1. Students no longer will be allowed to smoke outside entrances, the parking lot and even the loading dock. Visitors are not exempted.

A study of some 1,300 sixth through twelfth graders in New Hampshire and Vermont reveals that one-third of those students own items of the promotional gear that has been heavily hyped by several tobacco companies during the past seven years. The study is published Dec. 15 in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. . . The investigation, led by James D. Sargent, MD, a researcher at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center) and pediatrician at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD), shows a strong relationship between children's tendency to be regular or beginner smokers and ownership of the cigarette logo-emblazoned clothing, backpacks, camping gear and electronics. "We found that, in effect, children are being used to market cigarettes to their peers," said Dr. Sargent. "Children in sixth grade are in a formative stage, just developing attitudes about whether to smoke and what's in it for them. When children wear these T-shirts, jackets and backpacks with cigarette logos they become promotional tools. It's like having a billboard in your school."

One-third of the students studied in rural schools in New Hampshire and Vermont wore clothing or carried items promoting cigarettes, according to new research. Tobacco companies say they sell such promotional gear only to people over 21. The industry is challenging Food and Drug Administration regulations that would prohibit selling such items to anyone. "These items are highly visible in the public school setting, and their ownership is strongly associated with initiation and maintenance of smoking," said researchers led by James D. Sargent of Dartmouth Medical School.

If tobacco manufacturers hope to promote smoking by producing clothing or accessories emblazoned with cigarette logos, research by Dartmouth Medical School suggests that the tactic works well - at least with youngsters.

Lawyers for Mirjana Spasic of Burlington, Ont., hope to win their case with "a mountain of the cigarette company's own secret, internal documents," CTV News said in a report prepared for broadcast Sunday. The statement of claim filed for Spasic claims BAT and its subsidiaries, including Montreal-based Imperial Tobacco, "conspired to suppress, conceal and destroy by unlawful means, documentary and other evidence ... that cigarettes are hazardous to health to prevent such evidence becoming public knowledge."

• 12/15/97 YES Rob Cunningham
  
  Cultural and sporting events have continued to thrive abroad despite tobacco legislation, and despite vociferous predictions of doom. Even though arts and sports events will thrive without tobacco sponsorship, this is really the wrong issue. The Tobacco Act is critical to preventing young people from smoking. Should World War II have been continued an extra year to protect jobs in arms factories? Of course not. Human health must come first.
• 12/15/97 NO Max Beck, Alliance for Sponsorship Freedom
  
  The Alliance for Sponsorship Freedom accepts that Parliament wants tougher regulations on tobacco company sponsorships, but we also want our events to continue. Accordingly, we have recommended that the most reasonable solution for the federal government is to extend the transition period by an additional seven years.

Passive smoking is one of the European Union's major public health problems, an independent report sponsored by the European Commission said. Children of mothers who smoke while pregnant face especially serious health risks, both during childhood and in later life, according to the report, co-ordinated by the French National Anti-Smoking Committee (CNT) and released on Monday. The report "Passive smoking: the health impact" says passive smoking can aggravate chronic illnesses such as asthma and heart disease. It increases the risks of bronchial cancer or cardiovascular disease and, among children, the danger of respiratory infections or cot death. "There is evidence that both intra-uterine and childhood exposure to passive smoking increases the risk of various cancers," according to Professor Anne Charlton

Merit awards were won by Ceylon Tobacco Company Ltd . . .

A handful of white commercial farmers have threatened to poison their wells and tear down buildings before the leave their land. Most are trying to offer Mr Mugabe a face-saving alternative. "It does not make sense to smash an industry which produces 50 per cent of Zimbabwe's export earnings and gross domestic product," said John Travers, who now manages his father's tobacco farm next door to Imire. "Land held by absentee landlords and poorly utilised properties should be handed over to the people. We should all contribute 10 to 15 per cent of our land, and offer a commitment to help the new owners to farm it commercially. That way we would add to growth, not strangle it."

"We're very proud to have stepped forward," said Bennett LeBow, chairman of the Miami-based Brooke Group Ltd., Liggett's parent. "People have a right to know what's in their cigarettes."

The Liggett Group Inc. plans to turn over to Massachusetts health officials a list of ingredients in its cigarettes, even though a federal judge has said it did not have to do so.

"Liggett is following through on our earlier promise to comply with the Massachusetts ingredient disclosure law. By voluntarily complying, Liggett has once again distinguished ourselves from Big Tobacco and demonstrated our commitment to go above and beyond our settlement agreements with 26 states, accounting for more than 70% of the nation's Medicaid claims."

Cigarette testing results submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health today underscore the critical need for a national tobacco resolution, the nation's four largest cigarette manufacturers said today. . . Smokers could see one set of ratings in cigarette ads, based on the FTC method, and another, conflicting, set of ratings for the same cigarettes, based on the Massachusetts guidelines. This is bound to confuse smokers -- with the potential for 50 states generating 50 different sets of numbers for the same cigarette brands.

"I'll never forget saying to this patient, `God has given you a second chance'," Koh recalls. And he also never forgets that the patient, a man in his 50s, was unable to quit, and deeply embarrassed about it. "It wasn't really his fault. Even with a second chance, he was still hooked." That was one of the lessons in his career as a cancer specialist that led Koh to conclude that medicine can only do so much to treat illness once it starts, and that the real answer to reducing the pain and suffering is prevention. Now, as the state's top public health official, Koh is setting out to bring the prevention message to every man, woman and child in Massachusetts.

Blue Cross operates under a unique state charter to "promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of hospital, medical-surgical, dental and other health services for the people of Minnesota." Blue Cross' decision to join the state in filing this lawsuit is a direct response to this charter. . . The relief it seeks is not a windfall to Blue Cross but instead a public benefit, as statutorily mandated, wrote Fitzpatrick. Blue Cross proceeds would support broad-based, innovative programs that focus on three goals: * Promote a culture of non-tobacco use among young people. * Provide opportunities for those who want to quit tobacco use. * . . . * Prevent another generation of nicotine addicts. * Provide assistance to smokers who want to quit. * Protect Minnesotans - especially the most vulnerable, children from the impact of second-hand smoke.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota will use any money recovered in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry to reduce tobacco use and cut health care costs, the company's leader says. "The best way to use proceeds is to help mitigate the future costs of health care for our members and all Minnesotans," Andy Czajkowski, Blue Cross president and chief executive, said Monday.

Eric Svensson sees his nine-store chain of Tobacco Warehouse stores as the Target of tobacco retailing. There's some irony in that analogy since a contributing factor to Svensson's success with his growing chain of discount tobacco stores is the decision by Minneapolis-based Target to get out of the tobacco business more than a year ago. That, as well as similar moves by other retailers who believe that tobacco sales just aren't worth the hassle, have left an opening in the market for stores such as Tobacco Warehouse.

Smokers buying cigarettes in Illinois will have to pay more Monday to cover a 14-cent-a-pack tax increase contained in recent school funding legislation. The increase raises the state tax to 58 cents a pack but does not apply to cigarettes delivered to stores prior to Monday. Retailers, however, are free to raise prices anytime and by any amount. The Walgreens chain plans to raise prices Monday from $2.77 to $2.92 a pack.

I read with great regret of the recent personal attacks on Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III in connection with his crusade against the tobacco companies.

United States Tobacco Sales and Marketing Company today announced a price increase on all of its moist smokeless tobacco products effective Monday, December 22, 1997. Wholesale prices on all premium moist smokeless tobacco products will increase by 10 cents to $2.06 and price-value brands will increase by 20 cents to $.90.

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. (RN) named to its board Barnes Group Inc. (B) President and Chief Executive Theodore E. Martin. Barnes's election increases the size of RJR Nabisco's board to 10 directors from nine. Barnes Group makes and distributes parts and replacement products for the aerospace, automotive and other durable-goods markets.

"We are extremely pleased to have Ted Martin join our board," said Steven F. Goldstone, RJR Nabisco's chairman and chief executive officer. "He is widely recognized as an outstanding operations executive, particularly in complex international markets. Ted's expertise will be a valuable addition to the RJR Nabisco board."

Directors of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. (NYSE:RN - news) today declared the regular quarterly cash dividend of $578.125 per share, or 57.8125 cents ($.578125) per depositary share (the 1/1,000 share units that trade on the New York Stock Exchange), on the company's Series B Cumulative Preferred Stock.

"One of the foremost criticisms of individual responsibility for health is that it blames the victim by ignoring social content," said Meredith Minkler of the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. . . This approach can also lead to blaming individuals for their health status, she said. For example, some surgeons will refuse to perform additional cardiac bypass surgeries on someone who refuses to quit smoking. "By equating being ill with being guilty we may stigmatize the disabled, the overweight. . . . Such a perspective lets government off the hook. We need to find a way, as a society, to balance personal responsibility with societal health promotion."

Americans overwhelmingly support the idea of the First Amendment, but many are willing to chip away at it over such issues as flag burning and prayer in schools, according to a poll released by The Freedom Forum on Monday. . . Advertising tobacco or alcohol shouldn't be allowed, according to 42 percent and 38 percent respectively.

Envoy Class departing passengers can relax at US Airways' Envoy Lounge at the Philadelphia International Airport. Its features include a multi-lingual staff, expedited check-in, complimentary hors d'oeuvres, domestic and international magazines and newspapers, complimentary use of fax and photocopy machines, private telephone booths, a separate smoking area, cable television and a separate Weather Channel monitor.

Because The Smoking Section is the result of a kind of feel-good party-vibe, the album can be listened to with the same attitude. According to Meen Green, the best place to play the record is in the car where you can get the full effect of the beats and the movement. "It's just a lot of ridin' music," he said. "You just sit back with your friends and there are nice bass lines, nice hooks. Some you can chant while you ridin'. Some people choose to smoke, some people choose to drink, whatever they do when they ride. Turn the sound up and go."

The Illinois Coalition Against Tobacco (ICAT), an organization headed by the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association, suppo rts continued tobacco tax increases for a simple reason: They push kids out of the tobacco-buying market

Winning the war against tobacco addiction requires better prevention and treatment strategies along with enforcement of regulations regarding the sale of nicotine products, according to a summary of a 1996 national symposium that surveyed the problem. The summary is published Wednesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The inhalator is a plastic tube like a cigarette holder with replaceable cartridges of nicotine. By sucking on the tube the smoker can obtain a dose of nicotine equivalent to a third of that in a cigarette but without cancer-causing lungfuls of smoke. Mrs Bargery said: "For long-term smokers it is not so much the nicotine that counts as having something in your hand to put in your mouth and mess about with. Nothing else dealt with that."

Advanced Therapeutic Products, Inc. . . . announced that Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. . . , the world leader in nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), launched the Nicorette(R) Inhaler as an over-the-counter product in the United Kingdom today.

Al Behar, President of PICS, Inc., has been spending a lot of time in high school lately. His mission: to find out what it will take to get kids to stop smoking. PICS is best known for its LifeSign(R) stop smoking program . . PICS has won another NIH grant to develop a LifeSign to meet the special needs of teenage smokers. Students at Fairfax County high schools have been gaining real world experience in their effort to redesign the LifeSign unit and packaging concept in a way that will be more appealing to teen smokers.

It's "absolutely wrong" for the Democrats to "launder money in Buddhist temples," Romer said, but it's also wrong for "Big Tobacco to walk in and get a $50 billion tax break" because of the tobacco industry's campaign contributions. "I am really worried about free speech getting down to who can buy the most of it," Romer said, renewing his call for the Republicans to reject "soft money" donations. "Jim has refused to do this for months," he said. But Nicholson said the Democrats want to outlaw "soft money" . . . because it's the GOP's major campaign tool. The Democrats, though, can rely on support from organized labor and "the national liberal media" . . . "There is nothing wrong with soft money," Nicholson said; it's "not illegal or unsavory," and it's protected as a form of political speech by the First Amendment.

By Don Colburn Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 16, 1997; Page Z08 Ask American adults to name the most serious problems facing children, and one answer overwhelms the rest: drugs. Crime and the breakdown of home life rank a distant second and third, respectively. . . When the Harvard School of Public Health reported last week on its nationwide survey, "American Attitudes Toward Children's Health Care Issues," health care was conspicuously absent. . . "Very few kids just start taking drugs," she said. "They start drinking or they start smoking, and that's what leads them to drugs." . . . Q: What do you think are the two or three most important HEALTH problems facing children in America today? AIDS 23 percent Infectious 17 percent diseases (besides AIDS) Drugs 15 percent Smoking 11 percent

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday that trial judges have great discretion to decide what type of scientific testimony can be presented to juries, a decision that could have a significant impact in product liability cases around the country. . . John G. Kester, a Washington lawyer who represented General Electric, said the ruling sends a message to lower courts to scrutinize the methodology behind an expert's conclusions and to ensure that studies introduced at trial are relevant.

The first major impacts of the decision, which applies to identical standards in both criminal and civil trials, could be felt in tobacco lawsuits and the massive class-action lawsuit against silicone breast implants, both of which hinge on novel scientific conclusions. . . Among those disappointed, and a bit surprised, by the ruling was Jeffrey R. White, counsel for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, whose members represent plaintiffs most apt to try changing the body of belief by showing a jury new scientific findings. "The big guys, the corporations, generally have the inside track to experts," Mr. White said. He cited smoking lawsuits, in which the industry experts maintained smoking was harmless long after many other scientists took the opposite position.

Cigarettes contain twice as much nicotine as is currently reported, and "light" cigarettes pack just as much addictive wallop as regular ones, according to testing data supplied yesterday by the three major cigarette companies to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Regular Marlboros contain 2.2 milligrams of nicotine under the testing methods required by Massachusetts, compared to 1.2 milligrams under current federal methods.

For the first time in 20 years, one of the world's richest cigar tobacco growing regions was touched by a fast-moving fungus called blue mold last summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the loss at 16% of the crop, or 400,000 pounds of tobacco. The delicate wrapper leaves are one of the most expensive crops in the world to grow--with costs running up to $25,000 an acre

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman used his discretionary authority to minimize the cut, which could have amounted to 20 percent.

Tobacco farmers will be forced to grow 20 percent less leaf in 1998 than they did this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced yesterday. And that means a hit of roughly $200 million for the economy of North Carolina, which grows two-thirds of the nation's tobacco.

LANSING, Mich., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Secondhand smoke presents a serious health risk to everyone, particularly children. In this holiday season, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) urges retailers and restaurateurs to create a smokefree environment for their customers.

The 26,000 men and women living in this storied warrior tribe die younger than any other group in the nation, according to preliminary results released this month by epidemiologists at the Harvard School of Public Health. The life expectancy for the Oglala Sioux men on this reservation is 56.5 years. For women, the average life span is 66. Those figures rival sub-Saharan African countries and are lower than those of any nation in this hemisphere except Haiti. . . The destitution yields a reckless lifestyle. Many of the Oglala Sioux here smoke heavily, eat poorly, drink way too much.

[T]he state's convenience store operators today urged the Clinton Administration to "get behind a concerted effort to curb youth access to tobacco without unnecessarily restricting the rights of adults to purchase legal products." Amy Brackenbury, executive director of the Washington Association of Neighborhood Stores (WANS), said that small retailers have been taking the brunt of anti-tobacco efforts over the last couple of years, "unfairly burdening those businesses who can least afford it." `

The father of one of six family members who died in a Hunters Point apartment fire told investigators that he accidentally started the blaze when he dropped a lighted cigarette or a match into a living room sofa after he had been drinking. Henry Lee Redmond, 60, was the only resident to survive the fire at 132 Westpoint Road, and he is currently the subject of a criminal investigation into whether the fire was set intentionally or by accident, arson investigators said Monday. "At this time," said arson investigator Brendan O'Leary, "there is nothing to indicate that the fire was anything but accidental."

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A cigarette left burning on a sofa might have started a fire that killed six people in an apartment in a city housing project

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said Tuesday it has begun proceedings against Australian tobacco company W.D. & H.O. Wills (Australia) Ltd. (A.WLS) and a delicatessen operator, alleging price-fixing on cigarette sales. The watchdog agency said that Wills' employees persuaded the delicatessen operator and the proprietor of two nearby businesses to coordinate price rises on cigarettes in October 1996.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants misrepresented the truth about Caribbean, its finances, revenues, gross margins and future business prospects. In particular, defendants misrepresented Caribbean's financial results and operations for its 1997 first quarter ended June 30, 1997. The complaint alleges that as a result of these misrepresentations, the Company's securities traded at inflated prices on the Nasdaq Small Cap Market System and the Boston Stock Exchange.

DIMON Incorporated . . . announced that it has reached an agreement with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) to process its U.S. tobacco requirements beginning in 1998. DIMON International, Inc., the Company's tobacco division, has purchased RJR's U.S. tobacco requirements since 1994. Under this new agreement, all tobacco will be processed at DIMON's Kinston, North Carolina facility before being shipped as packed tobacco to RJR.

AP-Dow Jones News Service TOKYO (Nikkei/Dow Jones)--Shares of Japan Tobacco Inc. (J.JTB or 2914) finished the Wednesday's morning session sharply lower, depressed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's decision Tuesday to introduce a new tobacco tax and Nomura research institute's ratings downgrade of the shares, a trader said.

The third store in a nationwide expansion of a "divan" concept known as Shelly's Back Room(R) is under construction in downtown Chicago. Scheduled for completion in late December, the 4000 square foot Shelly's Back Room is reminiscent of turn-of-the-century London divans . . . The Chicago Shelly's Back Room will provide 106 seats and total accommodations for approximately 150 guests. The space will offer exceptionally clean air supplied by an innovative air purification system -- the kleen-aire(R) system, developed by Woodroast Systems. The system replaces the room's entire volume of air with fresh, filtered outdoor air as frequently as every 90 seconds. The result is air quality that is perceptively -- and objectively -- cleaner and fresher than virtually any other smoking area in America. While premium cigars are available for guests to enjoy, the kleen- aire system provides a virtually smoke-free tavern -- pleasing smokers and nonsmokers alike.

Winner of the laziness-disguised-as-savvy-gen-x-ironic-marketing award. Every so often an ad comes along that tries so hard to be hip, and fails so badly, that you have to wonder who the real slackers are . . . From the December 10th, San Fransisco Bay Guardian

The lie told to make money is as American as -- well, as American as Lou Gehrig. Here is Lou speaking of cigarettes in a full-page ad from The Saturday Evening Post of April 24, 1937: "For a sense of deep-down contentment -- just give me Camels. After a good man-sized meal, that little phrase 'Camels set you right' covers the way I feel. Camels set me right, whether I'm eating, working -- or just enjoying life. All the years I've been playing, I've been careful about my physical condition. Smoke? I smoke and enjoy it. My cigarette is Camel."

B.A.T. Industries' 75% Brazilian subsidiary, Souza Cruz SA, said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its Companhia Industrial De Papel Pirahy business to Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc. for $62 million. Souza said 'Pirahy is the only national producer of cigarette paper, holding a non-relevant share of the Brazilian market of other kinds of paper.' The disposals continues the division's policy of concentrating on its core tobacco and cigarettes business.

Czech tobacco producer Tabak AS (R.TBK) will increase the price on all of its cigarette brands effective Jan. 12, 1998 due to high excise taxes being imposed at the beginning of the year, according to a company press release.

Hundreds of "daytrip entrepreneurs" take ferries to France and return in transit vans weighed down with beer, wine and tobacco. The bootleggers earn about 2,000 pounds per trip and their merchandise is freely available around Britain. Treasury officials have estimated the trade costs Britain at least 770 million pounds a year in lost revenue. Known gangs have been targeted. Officers have made 21 arrests and seized hundreds of vehicles.

India's market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India is investigating the recent volatility in the share prices of cigarette maker, ITC Ltd., D.R.Mehta, chairman said Wednesday. As reported, shares of ITC rose started rising sharply from the 500 rupees level after it announced a 67% increase in net profit to 3.02 billion rupees for the six months ended Sept. 30.

Smoking should be treated like any other addiction, from cocaine to alcohol: with a combination of drugs, behavioral therapy and social pressure, experts said. Smokers may want to quit cold turkey on their own, but that is not always the best way, Paul Cinciripini of the University of Texas and a team of colleagues wrote in a special article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The New Jersey Senate's Budget Committee passed a bill to double the state's tax on tobacco products to finance hospital care for uninsured patients

After agreeing to make smokers pay 30 cents more for a pack of cigarettes to support hospital charity care, lawmakers tacked on an additional 10 cents Tuesday to help finance school construction. The proposed increase would double the New Jersey cigarette tax from 40 cents a pack to 80 cents, beginning Jan 1.

Gov. Christie Whitman and legislative leaders tentatively agreed Monday to raise New Jersey's cigarette tax by at least 25 cents to help cover the cost of hospital treatment for uninsured patients, the governor's top aide said.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Christie Whitman on Monday agreed to raise cigarette taxes by at least 25 cents a pack to provide cash for hospitals. Michael Torpey, chief counsel for Gov. Christie Whitman, said all sides agreed on a 25-cent increase, and they might increase it to 30 cents or more Tuesday as the new component of a $484 million hospital and insurance package.

The Capital Region Airport Commission voted yesterday to ban smoking in passenger concourse hallways immediately, ensuring that nonsmokers will be able to reach their planes without walking through a smoky haze. The restrictions, which take effect this morning, will confine smoking to certain lounge and restaurant areas. . . It was one of the few airports nationwide to still permit smoking in open passenger areas. To get to their planes, passengers had to pass through what critics described as a gauntlet of secondhand smoke.

Fire can start in a variety of places, but can you imagine the tobacco aisle. According to employees at the Walgreens store on US 41 and Alico Road, flames suddenly flared up from a section where tobacco and butane lighters were on display. . . No word on how the fire started.

TEXARKANA, Texas, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The nation's leading tobacco companies Tuesday accused Texas of happily taking in billions of dollars from cigarette sales despite knowing all about the health risks. In a key hearing ahead of Texas' $14 billion Medicaid lawsuit against the industry next month, tobacco attorneys urged U.S. District Judge David Folsom to allow them to present evidence of the state's involvement in what they describe as a partnership with cigarette makers. "We sold in a state that permitted sales," said David Bernick, an attorney for Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. "They (state officials) told us it was wanted."

Gore acknowledged that he was "feeling stress" when he began smoking in college. He blamed tobacco companies for "promising the illusion" that nicotine relieves stress. "I think these young people should know that one reason nicotine is so addictive is that people can make anything they want of it," Koop said. Another student, Demica Watkins, raised her hand when Gore asked for students who continue to light up. "I have a lot of problems in my life, cigarettes make me relax," Watkins said.

A survey by the Office for National Statistics published yesterday shows that young teenagers think many more adults and children smoke than actually do. More than a quarter thought that all or most people of their own age smoked although the actual proportion is one in eight.

The Public Health Minister, Tessa Jowell, unveiled the £2.5m TV advertising campaign, which features real people who have cancer and other smoking-related diseases and the doctors who treat them, at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. Katie Aston, the Cancer Programme Manager for the Health Education Authority which devised the campaign, said: "The time has come to let the real victims of tobacco tell their stories. . . Ms Aston said: "Research has shown us that younger smokers underestimate the health risks of smoking. "In response, the TV adverts take a hard-hitting approach, showing young people that smoking can cause serious damage to younger people. It's not just people in their 60s and 70s.

The Health Education Authority (HEA), an arm of the National Health Service (NHS), described the series of television adverts aimed at 16 to 24-year-olds as its hardest-hitting ever. The adverts, to be screened after Christmas, show the suffering of ordinary people with smoking-related diseases. David Vaughan, 51, who has emphysema and smoked his first cigarette at 13, is filmed close-up as he violently coughs and struggles to breathe. In another advert, Tracey Cotton, a mother-of-two, talks about how she was diagnosed with cancer and, subsequently, a brain tumour. "I'm too young, too young for lung cancer, you don't have it at my age," Cotton, 36, says.

He asked Mr Allen to take delivery of some cigarettes and pay for them, because he would be out of town at the time. He promised to reimburse the money. Three days later, Mr Allen took delivery of two boxes wrapped in brown paper and paid the female delivery person $1000 in cash. However, the boxes were never collected and that money was never repaid. It was later found that the boxes contained rubbish. Similar frauds were carried out on Mr Bruce Heeps, 64, of Clarence Gardens, in early January this year and Mr Max Hoffman, 75, of Stepney, later that month.

The domestic cuts include 190 full-time employees in the company's Winston-Salem operations and 200 seasonal employees at the Brook Cove plant. The leaf-processing plant, which opened in 1959, will close in February. Dimon Inc., based in Danville, Va., will process Reynolds' domestic tobacco at Dimon's plant in Kinston. . . 'This is purely a reflection of where cigarette volume is at this point and time," said Maura Payne Ellis, a local Reynolds spokeswoman. "Whether Congress takes action or not, we still would have done what we did today."

They bore no resentment for Reynolds. They saved their slights for lawyers and lobbyists who in the name of public health have sought to shut down the tobacco industry. . ."I had no idea they would ever do that. A little town like Walnut Cove, we depend on tobacco. Even though it was seasonal work, that seasonal work was healthy for the town."

"It seems that for the tobacco companies they're looking at 1998, which could be a potentially exciting year for them," said Timothy Swanson, an analyst who follows the tobacco industry for A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. "RJR is going to use 1997 to clean up anything they can. If and when this settlement goes through, these companies don't want anything to hold back valuations."

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp's . . . aims to breathe life into its anemic overseas tobacco operations amid expectations that the business of selling cigarettes in the United States will get much tougher in the years ahead, analysts said.

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. said today it was eliminating nearly 3,000 jobs from its worldwide tobacco operations, or about 10 percent of those employed making Winstons, Camels and other cigarettes. The cutbacks are part of a restructuring that RJR says is aimed at improving its prospects for growth by cutting costs in less promising areas and redirecting its spending to more promising opportunities. The bulk of the cuts will come from its international operations, where about 2,600 jobs are being eliminated.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s loss is Dimon's gain. Danville-based Dimon Inc. announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement with Reynolds to process all of the cigarette-maker's tobacco in 1998. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new relationship was disclosed as Reynolds' parent company ‹ RJR Holdings Corp. ‹ said it was closing its tobacco-processing plant in Brook Cove, N.C., in February, eliminating 40 full-time and 200 seasonal jobs as part of a sweeping reduction in force around the world.

Czech cigarette maker Tabak a.s., a unit of Philip Morris Inc Cos, on Wednesday said it would raise retail prices on all its brands in response to a tax hike on tobacco products which takes effect next year. The company said in a statement the increase, effective from January 12, will range from "8.6 percent on higher priced brands to 12.5 percent on lower priced brands."

Havana Republic Inc.'s moniker is in danger of going up in smoke. . . Gap Inc., the San Francisco retail giant, has notified the cigar maker that it may be violating the trademark of Gap's Banana Republic clothing chain. Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office . . . has refused to register "Havana Republic" on the grounds that it's geographically misleading: Most of the company's cigars are made in Nicaragua, not Cuba.

Examples of supposedly grass-roots lobbying groups whose names don't always reflect financial backing or agenda: --Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions: A group formed in 1994 by tobacco companies in an effort to head off strict new rules on workplace smoking. --Contributions Watch: A self-styled campaign watchdog group that studied political giving by trial lawyers nationwide. It was set up by a public relations firm hired by cigarette maker Philip Morris.

DESK CALENDARS Perhaps coming up with 365 funny entries is just too much to ask. Except for cartoon-based calendars, most desk varieties seem to fall short, although there's something inherently funny about Workman putting out both "Cigars" and "The Stop Smoking Calendar" and seeing them displayed side by side.

King County Superior Court Judge George A. Finkle late Friday rejected a motion by tobacco company attorneys to delay the September, 1998 trial date for the state's lawsuit against the industry.

Weeks before the state's $11.3 billion settlement with Big Tobacco was signed, Attorney General Bob Butterworth and an out-of-state law firm had already promised to rip up Florida's contract with its legal "Dream Team," a member of that trial team charged on Thursday. Butterworth never bothered to tell the attorneys that they would not be receiving the 25 percent contingency fee agreed upon three years ago, Pensacola attorney Bob Kerrigan said. That, Kerrigan said -- not greed -- is the basis of the testy dispute that has fractured the state's trial team.

The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a law that overhauled the state's civil justice system, saying the legislature's ballyhooed tort-reform measure trespasses on the judiciary's domain and discriminates against plaintiffs who have suffered the most serious of injuries. In one of the longest--if not the longest--opinions in the court's history, a majority of five justices eviscerated the legislation, which was a top priority for Republicans when they took control of both legislative chambers after the 1994 elections.

House Speaker Ron Corbett and House Majority Leader Brent Siegrist said in an interview that they have just started to research the idea of boosting the 36-cent per pack state cigarette tax, which hasn't been raised since 1991. They aren't yet sure whether their fellow House Republicans would go along with such a proposal.

In the ongoing political sideshow over Minnesota's tobacco lawsuit, Republican Party Chairman Bill Cooper has revealed that he personally thinks tobacco ought to be banned and the companies shut down. But he said he had no intention of leading a tobacco prohibition drive within his party and believes most activists probably disagree with him.

The Dec. 5 letter, obtained Wednesday by the Pioneer Press, also said, "I will believe that you are serious about this issue along with (Attorney General) Skip Humphrey when we support the shutdown of the tobacco industry, not the demand for its blood money." Cooper's position stunned both the tobacco industry and anti-smoking activists. Even hard-core tobacco foes have not called for banning cigarettes and abolishing the industry.

Minnesota Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III wrote in a letter to legislators Tuesday that it is "shockingly inappropriate" for Gov. Arne Carlson to press for a tobacco settlement just before the state's trial. . . Humphrey wrote that the governor's position "actively diminishes the most important public interest lawsuit in Minnesota history."

"Our case is the tobacco cartel's worst nightmare," Humphrey wrote. He accused Carlson of pushing for a "plea bargain" for the tobacco interests by expressing interest in a proposed nationwide settlement with the industry. "I cannot help but comment on how shockingly inappropriate it is for any state official to publicly press a settlement position which actively diminishes the most important public interest lawsuit in Minnesota history," Humphrey wrote. "And to do so on the eve of a trial in a matter, wittingly or unwittingly, which aids and abets defendants is most regrettable."

The Israeli Health Ministry says it plans to sue American cigarette companies for part of the cost of treating smoking-related diseases in Israel. But the action must first be approved by Israel's Attorney General.

Singapore Airlines (P.SAL) said Friday it will forbid smoking on routes starting and ending in Tokyo as of Feb. 1, making all its flights smoke-free. . . The Tokyo routes are the last holdouts. 'We recongnize that the percentage of smokers in Japan is higher than in many other countries,' Singapore Airlines deputy managing director Michael Tan said. 'For this reason, we have carefully monitored passenger reaction to no-smoking services on Japanese routes over a period of three years and have taken a progressive approach to phasing out smoking on those services.'

Chris Farley, the blubbery "Saturday Night Live" comic whose specialty was sweaty, tightly wound characters who erupted in vein-popping frenzies, was found dead Thursday in his apartment. He was 33. . . In a recent interview with Steppin' Out magazine, Farley's frequent co-star David Spade said he was concerned for the 290-pound, size-54 comic. "I mean, the fact that he cut out drugs and alcohol is the biggest thing," Spade said. "But he's my friend and I'm just concerned. ... He needs to watch his weight, he drinks too much coffee, he smokes."

A Northwestern Mutual Insurance Co. report compares the dangers of Santa's high-flying toy delivery operation to private pilots and skydrivers. The report says Mutual considers Santa an experienced pilot but agents would still need to scrutinize the application of any pilot who landed on iced rooftops. Mutual's report says his pipe smoking and "bowl of jelly" waistline add increased risks but determining a final figure for life insurance is impossible.

On a card from Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, a snowman puffs a cigarette; a second picture shows it melted dead to the ground. In a "'Twas the Fund-Raising Season" poem, Public Campaign chides Clinton's and Congress's "equal delight, for the Washington pastime, of raising big loot."

The Tasmanian Health Department may now penalize tobacco companies up to $1 million if they lie about the health effects of tobacco, or about the effects of tobacco legislation. . . The bill is unquestionably one of the toughest and most unusual pieces of tobacco control legislation in the world.

While other cities have restricted cigarette and tobacco ads on billboards and outdoor posters, the council's bill would also prohibit store owners from placing tobacco ads on doors and awnings and in windows. If signed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who has supported such restrictions in the past, it could take effect as early as February.

The New York City Council voted 45-to-3 on Wednesday for a bill that would restrict the advertising of cigarettes, cigarette tobacco and smokeless tobacco in outdoor locations within 1,000 feet of school, playgrounds, day care and youth centers or amusement arcades. Additionally, officials said, the council law would ban the sale or distribution of tobacco product promotions bearing tobacco product brand names on non-tobacco items such as t-shirts and hats, to anyone under 18 years of age. "The council's action ... is for the kids," said Speaker Peter Vallone, who introduced the bill. "This bill has one aim and one aim only -- to protect kids from the negative effects of tobacco advertising," he said.

The New York City Council voted overwhelmingly today to ban outdoor tobacco advertising from within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, arcades and day-care centers‹virtually all of the city. The bill now goes to Mayor Rudolph Giuilani, who has spoken favorably about the proposal but hasn't said if he will sign it. If approved, businesses would be forced to remove thousands of tobacco ads from billboards, water towers and store windows, dramatically reshaping the appearance of New York's streetscape.

State officials and the American Cancer Society released their third annual guide to Connecticut's smoke-free restaurants. The 14-page pamphlet lists nearly 1,400 eating establishments, serving everything from fast food to fine fare, where smoking is not permitted.

By a 4-1 vote, council members last night killed -- at least for now -- sweeping tobacco regulations primarily aimed at minors after the measure's chief proponent withdrew her support. Council member Kathy Lengel voted along with the majority of her colleagues to table the proposal that would have created "cigarette-free school zones" as well as levied heavy fines for the possession, purchase, or use of tobacco products by youths under 18. . . The two sections that raised concern, Lengel said after the meeting, dealt with the use or possession of tobacco products by minors in public places away from school property and a prohibition on parents and guardians to allow their children to possess or use tobacco products.

City's jails smokeless, prisoners left to cope now by Mark McDonald Daily News Staff Writer As Philadelphia's prisons head toward a smokeless future beginning New Year's Day, some inmates are failing to see the salutary health effects of going cold turkey and giving up their butts. With cigarettes now banned from the prison commissaries and with personal stashes dwindling, some inmates aren't holding up well.

Three Centuries Tours of Annapolis has been conducting the walking tours of Maryland's historic capital for over 30 years, with guides dressed in period costume. . . . Few changes have been made to the tours over the years, Fishback said. But they did eliminate the clay pipes filled with Maryland tobacco that followed a pub night dinner. "We decided smoking was not something we need to encourage," she said.

The Jackson city council passed the state's toughest ban of cigarette sales during Tuesday's meeting. Many believe the ban will remove the temptation to smoke, while others say it will take a lot more action to keep cigarettes from kids. The ordinance bans the sale of tobacco within 500 hundred feet of schools. Councilman Kenneth Stokes sponsored the ban to help remove the temptation for young people to smoke.

Legislation that would drive the final nail in the coffin of outdoor tobacco advertising in San Francisco was finally passed yesterday by a supervisors committee. If it is enacted, and if it survives likely legal challenges, the sweeping law would not only ban outdoor billboards but also do away with any in-store ads for tobacco brands that are visible from outside.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- The air was cleared by the City Council on Tuesday after it voted 5-0 to shut down a coffee shop that has been allegedly cited numerous times for smoking. Since receiving a permit from the Planning Commission in April, Paul Bui, owner of Dalat Cafeteria on Euclid Street, has been cited for at least 26 reported code violations. The allegations include spiking coffee drinks with alcohol, over-the-counter sale of tobacco products, as well as patrons and employees smoking indoors.

In fact, in an intriguing twist on the tobacco controversies, gun executives say they want to follow the "alcohol industry model" rather than the "tobacco industry model" by responding to safety concerns rather than automatically resisting. Just as liquor executives thwarted critics by campaigning against drunken driving, gun makers say they want to convince the public that they are dedicated to making safer weapons and saving lives.

Up in smoke: Australian tennis player Pat Cash has never been known to pull verbal punches. His speech after accepting his winner's check at the Salem Open began: "I'd like to thank the sponsors, even though I think it's a disgrace to smoke cigarettes."

Jackie Stewart on Thursday unveiled two new, non-tobacco sponsors for his formula one team two weeks after motor racing's ruling body questioned its financial viability for the 1998 season. The former world champion, whose team entered the sport last season, announced deals with the Lear Corporation [NYSE:LEA - news] and MCI which are expected to bring in five million pounds a year. "These companies are the new face of Formula One," Stewart said

KOCE-TV Channel 50 in Huntington Beach has won an IRIS Award from the National Assn. of Television Production Executives for its series of public service announcements about the dangers of cigarette smoking. Competition for the 31st annual awards was open to broadcast and cable stations around the world.

Esquire may be struggling as a magazine, but Hearst brass are hoping to cash in on merchandising the name. The flagging monthly is launching a new line of Esquire cigars next month in a licensing deal with Swisher International Group.

Does on-screen tobacco use send a message to teens that it's cool to smoke? Are you influenced by the movies or TV? Is the industry obliged not to show smoking and other potentially harmful activities? What are you more likely to imitate, a star's clothing, habits or beliefs?

The state was a partner of the industry and actually encouraged people to smoke, the companies contend. As a result, the state shouldn't now be able to collect huge damages by claiming fraud and deceit, industry lawyers argue. At a hearing last week, lawyers for Texas asked U.S. District Judge David Folsom to prevent the use of that defense, saying the conduct of cigarette makers, not the state's behavior, is the only issue. They compared the industry's proposed tactic to a criminal defense attorney pointing to the length of a victim's skirt in a rape case.

If all goes according to law, as the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, bartenders at California's 35,596 saloons will ask their patrons to snuff out their smokes, then gather up the ashtrays. If the patrons comply, California will be transformed into the first state in the nation with smoke-free bars and casinos. Those are two big ifs. Although anti-smokers hail the step, seeing bars as a major hurdle toward ridding public places of tobacco fumes, smokers are fuming.

"(The) Mediterranean diet or its elements have repeatedly been shown to provide remarkable protection against chronic diseases," say Dr. Arjan Gjonca of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Dr. Martin Bobak of University College London in the U.K. Their study, published in this week's edition of The Lancet, examined national death statistics and census data from the tiny European nation . . . The researchers also note that Albanians have some of the lowest rates of both alcohol consumption and smoking in Europe, as well as "high" rates of healthy physical activity. They say the Albanian example of a "high adult life expectancy, achieved despite economic misery and modest health services," can serve as a model for health policy planners everywhere.

Yunnan province is moving to end its dependency on tobacco cultivation and cigarette manufacturing, a high-ranking provincial official said. "We want to change the situation where Yunnan has only one pillar industry," vice-governor Liu Jing said. Strong growth by the tobacco industry over the past 10 years has provided tremendous benefit to the southwestern province's economic development, particularly in alleviating rural poverty and developing provincial infrastructure, Mr Liu said. Competition from domestic and international brands, however, as well as recently ignited anti-smoking efforts, made high growth unsustainable. "Tobacco is a sunset industry in the long term," the vice-governor said.

President Clinton's budget for fiscal 1999 is expected to feature as much as $25 billion in new tax incentives and credits, administration officials said. Also among the initiatives will be spending increases for cancer research, offset in part by a tobacco tax, and for secondary education.

According to a new study done by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School, such promotional plans work, at least when it comes to getting youngsters to smoke. The study found that students who own some other item with a tobacco company logo on it were four times more likely to be regular smokers than their peers who didn't own such items.

Robert W. Morgan, the personality with the longest consecutive service in Los Angeles radio at 32 years, will formally announce his retirement next month as part of a station KRTH-FM. . . However, Morgan hasn't been on the air full-time since May, when he announced he was battling lung cancer and needed to take some time off to fight the disease. . . A longtime smoker, Morgan spoke out against the dangers of tobacco this year in the wake of his diagnosis. In tandem with Variety Club of southern California, he established an education fund this year designed to help children persuade their parents to quit smoking.

RESTON, Va., Dec. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Millions of Americans are searching for a way to quit smoking in hope of making their New Year's Resolutions stick. Although many will attempt to kick the habit cold turkey, veteran smokers have learned that they need help. This year, savvy smokers are counting on technology to get them through the rough spots in the form of a credit card-sized computer called LifeSign.

But now that the fad isn't fading, several prominent local businessmen and sports personalities are working on a South End location for a new cigar-themed bar. It isn't surprising; they are the same people driving some of the growth in the local cigar business -- enough of a boost to spur Tinder Box owner Craig Cass to spend more than $80,000 on his expanded store in SouthPark mall.

General Cigar Holdings, Inc. announced today that U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet had issued an order enjoining Global Direct Marketing ("GDM") and its affiliates from using General Cigar's COHIBA(R) brand trademark "to identify services constituting or relating to cigars." GDM was also enjoined from making any false or misleading statement about General Cigar's COHIBA brand and ordered to recall all cigars which GDM distributed or sold which bear the infringing COHIBA mark, and to inform their customers that they cannot sell COHIBA cigars in the United States and that all their COHIBA cigar sales have been unauthorized.

Now that cigarettes have been banned from many restaurants and offices, Harlan Brothers, an inventor in Branford, Conn., has designed a portable ashtray for peripatetic smokers.

What made Camel's campaign so remarkable is that it is the successor to Joe Camel, the smartass cartoon character who nearly singlehumpedly exposed the tobacco industry to unprecedented regulation and billions of dollars in tort liability. Unnecessarily, as it turns out, because the new work is at least as compelling, brand-building and iconographically powerful--with no damning, and unconscionable, particular appeal to minor children.

If you're the sort of woman who likes to smoke a cigar while breaking glass ceilings, pay a visit to Cigar Woman for an interactive how-to of cigar smoking. The site also employs a panel of women across the country who review cigars each month, so you can make sure your money goes up in the best-tasting smoke. . . www.cigarwoman.com/

Settling in Philadelphia, he made a fortune selling tobacco and was one of the first and most vociferous agitators against British rule. When revolution was imminent, [Thomas] Leiper helped form Philadelphia's First City Troop. He went on to fight from Trenton to Yorktown.

During the 1660s, when the price of tobacco plummeted to a penny a pound, planters turned to volume production to make profits. Tobacco being a very labor-intensive crop, this required a much larger, and preferably cheaper, labor force. Nothing in the long run was cheaper than a slave, who was held in bondage for life.

In launching his 11th-hour assault on Minnesota's tobacco lawsuit, Gov. Arne Carlson has raised more questions about his own conduct than that of the legal team he seeks to second-guess:

As cigarette makers - through their outside law firms - pumped some $7.5 million into his studies, he became a leading critic of other scientists who were labeling tobacco smoke hazardous. Eventually, he was participating in legal strategy sessions, fishing with senior attorneys and even attending Sunday school with a top corporate executive. Now, with tobacco companies bracing for what could be a final showdown in Congress and courthouses around the country, Dr. Huber is back in the middle of the fray. Only this time, he's on the other side

What many people in this city of 75,000 didn't know until recently is that for years, tobacco lawyers funded much of Dr. Huber's Health Center work and bankrolled the start-up of his Texas Nutrition Institute. Or that he switched allegiance early this year and now may be a key witness in Texas' lawsuit against tobacco companies, set for trial in Texarkana next month. "You don't go around advertising that you're working on projects the [tobacco] industry is funding," says Dr. Huber's wife, Mary. "He never intentionally hid it from anybody. But you just don't say."

Although both sides say publicly they're ready to fight it out before a jury, people close to the case say privately they expect it to be settled, either as part of a national settlement of suits against cigarette companies or in a separate settlement involving only Texas.

The [Florida tobacco] lawsuit had Chiles' name at the top -- and Lewis' sweat behind it. But that immense victory, the pinnacle of Lewis' career, led quickly to his downfall. Just before Thanksgiving, state officials learned that Lewis, 60, had borrowed more than $21,000 from Tallahassee attorney P. Tim Howard, who won a lucrative position on Florida's tobacco trial team thanks in large part to Lewis.

Q. Can smoking cause mesothelioma? A. No. Experts say almost all cases of mesothelioma are attributed to asbestos exposure. Smokers exposed to asbestos do increase their risk of contracting lung cancer, however.

In the past, assertions of the attorney-client privilege were accepted without serious argument; now, however, after one tobacco company, Liggett Group Inc., cast new light on the inner workings of the industry, providing copies of some long-hidden documents, states are becoming convinced that both the industry and its lawyers have misused the privilege to cover up their awareness of smoking hazards.

The survey also reported that tobacco use among eighth-graders fell last year after steadily increasing throughout the 1990s, remained about the same among 10th-graders and increased among seniors. From 1992 to 1996, the rate of cigarette smoking among eighth-graders rose, as those reporting daily tobacco use in the prior month increased from 7 percent to 10.4 percent. This rate fell to 9 percent in 1997. Among 12th-graders, those reporting that they smoked in the prior month rose to 24.6 percent in 1997 from 22.2 percent the year before. The 1997 Monitoring the Future survey involved the results of anonymous questionnaires completed by 51,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-grade students at 495 high schools nationwide.

In the shadow of cigarette behemoths such as Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, small companies are fighting for a share of America's $45.7 billion-a-year cigarette market. There are about a dozen so-called microsmoke companies in the United States, said Gabriel Avram, a Winston-Salem, N.C., lawyer who follows the industry.

Freakish tobacco plants that explode from the soil in this remote river valley grow huge leaves on stalks as thick as Louisville Sluggers. The growers here call it fumo louco. Crazy tobacco. Crazy not just because it grows so big and so fast. Crazy because it has been genetically altered by one of the world's largest tobacco companies to pack twice the nicotine of other commercially grown leaf. And they're growing it by the ton for the world market, though it couldn't be learned for certain which countries are importing the nicotine-rich leaf.

Juca Schneider hadn't seen anything like it in 30 years as a tobacco field instructor. The dark green plants towered above him, 12 feet high, 7 feet taller than regular varieties. From the stalks sprang broad leaves with veins that bulged like a body builder's. "Even out in the field, I had a hard time approaching the stuff without getting dizzy" because of the plant's high nicotine content, Schneider said. "That smell was heavy, felt cold in my lungs. It made the back of my neck crawl."

Cheaper cigarettes claimed to have an "American flavour" will go on sale in Thailand on Monday. The new brand, Krong Thip filter, will be another choice for smokers made poorer by the economic slump, says the manufacturer, the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. The state agency hopes the new line, and the recently-introduced Marble brand, will help it regain market share lost to foreign competitors.

Health experts say the tobacco industry's points have nothing to do with the criteria of addiction established by the World Health Organization. "Something doesn't have to be intoxicating to be addictive," said Dr. Gary Giovino, chief epidemiologist at the CDC's office on smoking and health. Walker Merryman, vice president for the Tobacco Institute, said: "The criteria have been drawn up to fit tobacco so they can wrap the net around tobacco. For their criteria to make any sense, they'd have to include caffeine.

The use of illegal drugs among eighth graders was steady from 1996 to 1997, with the exceptions of marijuana, cigarettes and heroin, which showed a slight decrease in use, according to the report by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Cigarettes
• The percentage of eighth-grade students who said they smoked heavily decreased.
• Eighth graders who smoked a half-pack of cigarettes or more per day decreased from 4.3 percent to 3.5 percent.
• Seniors who used cigarettes in the past month increased from 34.0 percent last year to 36.5 percent this year.
• Daily cigarette use among seniors increased to 24.6 percent.

Many will be called next month, but only six, plus an undetermined number of alternates, will be chosen for the jury in a trial that could last months. On Friday, Circuit Judge Alan Postman predicted that jury selection will take four to six weeks. He said he will ask for an initial pool of 750 potential jurors.

With the hearing over, Postman asked whether there was any discussion of resolution. Speaking for the industry, Philip Morris attorney Robert Heim said, "I know of none, but if there's going to be any, he'll know about it," nodding to smokers' attorney Stanley Rosenblatt. Postman pitched his question to Rosenblatt and his co-counsel wife, Susan, who responded: "There are no current discussions. But it doesn't mean there won't be."

A class-action suit against the tobacco industry on behalf of sick Florida smokers, scheduled to begin in February, could be delayed by the task of assembling an unusually large pool of jurors, the judge said Friday. Dade County Circuit Judge Alan Postman set Jan. 16 for the next pretrial hearing in the suit, known as Engle vs. R.J. Reynolds. He said lawyers would discuss then whether it was "realistic" to start the trial on Feb. 9, as scheduled.

Tobacco industry interests - including Philip Morris, the Smokeless Tobacco Council, the Cigar Association of America, the Pipe Tobacco Council and R.J. Reynolds - spent at least $70,000 in their unsuccessful fight against an increase in the tobacco tax. The American Cancer Society spent $15,000 in successfully lobbying for that bill.

Instead of signing the new bill into law, Mayor Giuliani should challenge Mr. Vallone and his colleagues to come up with a more finely tuned version tailored to both New York City and the Constitution. He should also work with the Council to sharpen the city's attack on teen-age smoking in ways that do not implicate free speech. He might, for starters, crack down hard on stores that sell cigarettes to minors, and lobby Albany to tax cigarettes beyond the reach of most youngsters.

Under a three-bill package signed into law, taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products will double and the general revenue fund will become the primary source for reimbursing hospitals that provide care to the state's 1.3 million uninsured. Hospitals are expected to receive $2.4 billion over the next five years.

The New Jersey Legislature voted overwhelmingly Thursday to double the state's cigarette tax to 80 cents a pack, making cigarettes more expensive in New Jersey than in any other state in the region. The proceeds, about $205 million a year, will help pay for hospital treatment for uninsured patients and for school construction. Both Republicans and Democrats offered unflinching support for the tax increase to 80 cents a pack, saying that they hoped it would curtail smoking

U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw has decided not to accept any more campaign contributions from tobacco companies, saying it would look bad while Congress is debating restrictions on the industry. It was an easy decision, since no opposition to Shaw has surfaced. Democrats, tired after 17 unsuccessful years of trying to toss him out of Congress, have largely given up. Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, also won't be losing much money by his gesture. He collected $8,000 from tobacco companies in 1995-1996, not much for a candidate whose campaigns cost $500,000.

Tobacco products are not allowed on campus. Nor is swearing or tardiness. If you are late or plan to be absent, you must notify staff by 8 a.m., or face expulsion. "The structure of this place sucks . . . and I hate having somebody looking over my shoulder every second," complained Jim, an 11th-grader who left Maple Grove High School for the Twin Cities' newest alternative public school, Youth+Education+Sobrietyin Hopkins. "They don't let you do anything here. Nothing! They don't even give you a chance to ruin your life."

The city formally accepted $1.5 million from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. as part of a $10 million settlement to end a lawsuit accusing the company of targeting children with its Joe Camel advertising campaign.

The city formally accepted $1.5 million from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. as part of a $10 million settlement to end a lawsuit accusing the company of targeting children with its Joe Camel advertising campaign. "This is our share of a lawsuit we filed with several other California cities and an agreement to consolidate with other legal actions," City Attorney James Hahn told the City Council, which formally received the money Friday.

Mathis-Swanson, who heads a group called Tavern Owners United for Fairness, said: "We want to respect the law, but we won't turn our backs on the people who made us successful. If we end up getting arrested and have to litigate, well, let's just see how this plays out." . . ."Our industry needs to demonstrate vision, to rejuvenate itself instead of clinging to the unhealthy idea that we need to have a roomful of carcinogens to keep our patrons happy. We need to recognize that there's a big untapped market out there," Moench said. . . "In this age," he explained, "smokers represent the bad money because they're keeping the majority who don't smoke out."

Others on this year's list: Bill Cosby, Elton John, Madeleine Albright, Fox's "Xena: Warrior Princess" Lucy Lawless, tobacco warrior Michael Moore, who is Mississippi's attorney general, Jewel, Drew Carey and Timothy McVeigh prosecutor Joseph Hartzler.

For his part, Moore claims that he's content merely to be on the side of right. "We've been guided in this thing," he says. "We had some help from above."

Jeffrey Wigand -- the tobacco executive-turned-whistle-blower who gave Louisville-based Brown & Williamson fits in the mid-1990s and fueled a pyre of state lawsuits against the industry -- is leaving Louisville. Wigand, 55, resigned his teaching post in the Manual High School science department effective Dec. 19 to move to South Carolina, where he will be working as a consultant.

Sad and pathetic. That was my reaction to seeing a full-page Winston cigarette ad in the Sunday Globe Dec. 7 (Page D7). . . I can't wait to see the Globe's upcoming editorial positions on the proposed national tobacco settlement while the paper is running full-page cigarette ads!

In your Dec. 10 article about the Year 2000 bug ("2000 Bug: Group Seeks Damages Cap"), you refer to the Association for California Tort Reform as "an influential business lobbying group." Rather, ACTR is a front group for the tobacco, insurance and oil industries that are trying to escape liability for damages their products cause, no matter whom they hurt. In addition to having lobbyists and employees on the ACTR board, tobacco companies have poured tens of thousands of dollars into the tort-reform group and its political-action committee.

With the opening of Holt's Cigar Club, trumpeted as the first such tobacco operation in any indoor sports arena in the U.S., smokers are welcomed back, on two levels.

State Rep. Jordan Tanner says he plans to sponsor a bill next month to require tobacco companies to list the main ingredients on product packaging.

Because of new state and federal requirements and a growing dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the widely used DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), officials are preparing for a different kind of drug war. Already, several Orange County school districts are beginning to assess the continued use of DARE, and many more are gearing up to research alternatives to the expensive and often criticized program.

Dr. Hermann Brenner and others at the University of Ulm examined the associations between smoking, drinking and coffee consumption, and H. pylori infection in 447 patients seen at a general practice for peptic ulcer disease or H. pylori infection. . . The authors also "...found a moderate but not significant increase in the odds of infection among former and current smokers," according to the report in the December 6 issue of the British Medical Journal.

If His Eminence Cardinal Edmund Szoka had his way, the only smoke dispensed in Vatican City would be holy smoke from altar candles and the occasional election of a new pope. The 70-year-old former smoker and former archbishop of Detroit has been named president of the Vatican City State after he spent several years putting the Holy See's cardinal-colored finances in the black. . . . He's the one in charge of everything sold in Vatican shops and museums. And he would like to ban cigarette sales.

Cuba's tobacco industry has produced its target of 100 million cigars for export in 1997, marking recovery of a sector that declined along with the rest of the economy in the early 1990s, officials saidTuesday. President Fidel Castro congratulated tobacco workers in a letter read at a ceremony in Havana marking the 100-million target, state media said. Production last year was around 70 million cigars for export.

The number of deaths due to smoking-related diseases will touch three million by the year 2010 and the incidents of smoking- related diseases will surpass Aids disease if the current trend of promoting cigarette smoking was not curbed, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) has cautioned.

Difficult growing and curing seasons have prompted agriculture officials to change the burley tobacco sales schedule, giving hope to many farmers who still have their leaf hanging in barns. The U.S. secretary of agriculture notified tobacco officials last week that the markets will open a week late after the Christmas break -- Jan. 12 instead of Jan. 5. The markets also will remain open into March rather than closing Feb. 26 as originally scheduled.

The demise of smokin' Joe Camel hasn't snuffed out kids' fascination with lighting up. In fact, a new enemy is emerging: the cigar.

"An expensive cigar is a symbol of influence, sophistication and power, a gift of heads of state, which has found an increasing popularity with new, young and affluent smokers," U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet said Friday. He then granted a preliminary injunction preventing an American company from using the "Cohiba" label on its cigars. Judge Sweet's ruling prevents Global Direct Marketing from selling its cigars with the Cohiba label because General Cigar Co. Inc. already holds the U.S. copyright for the name.

Doctors, an airline, tobacco company executives, even the Little League made this year's list of PR blunders, compiled by Fineman Associates Public Relations. The list, released today, is a collection of some of the year's worst public relations gaffes. The "winners" are: . . 9) Philip Morris Co. So many blunders, such a short list. The tobacco company doozy this summer? Swearing under oath that cigarettes are no more addictive than candy. "If they are behaviorally addictive or habit forming, they are much more like caffeine," James Morgan, president of New York-headquartered Philip Morris said with a straight face in a videotaped lawsuit deposition obtained by "60 Minutes." "Or in my case, Gummi Bears. I love Gummi Bears. And I want Gummi Bears, and I like Gummi Bears, and I eat Gummi Bears, and I don't like it when I don't eat my Gummi Bears, but I'm certainly not addicted to them."

Seven months after saying it would be too costly to ban smoking on flights in the Pacific Rim, Northwest Airlines on Monday expanded its no-smoking policy in the region. "Over the course of the past six months we've seen an additional shift of people who want a smoke-free environment," Northwest spokesman Doug Killian said.

Dutch airline KLM and its U.S. partner Northwest Airlines said on Monday smoking would be banned on almost all of their flights from next year. The only exception to the no-smoking rule will be on intercontinental flights to and from Japan.

In a bold and controversial move in a country where there are almost no limits on smokers, Frankfurt's international airport has announced a ban on smoking in most of its passenger areas as of Jan. 1, 1998.

Every year at this time, the American Academy of Pediatrics, a national organization of children's physicians, suggests New Year's resolutions that adults can make to help keep kids safe and healthy during the holidays and throughout the year. Among them: 1. Help reduce tobacco use among children. If you smoke, quit. If you can't quit, smoke outdoors to protect your child from second-hand smoke.

When O'Brien was a young writer on "Saturday Night Live," he took an apartment sight unseen in a crack-infested section of Williamsburg. "All the street lights had been smashed out to make it easier to buy crack. I don't smoke but I somehow got it into my head that if I smoked I would look mean," Conan recalls in the new issue of Brooklyn Bridge magazine. . . The chivalrous O'Brien got up in the middle of the night to meet his club-hopping female roomies at the subway stop. "We'd see him at the street corner, smoking so he would look super tough. It was incredibly sweet," one remembers.

Cigarette taxes seem to be especially popular . . . Wisconsin's Tommy Thompson recently proposed a five-cent-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes, then gratefully accepted a bigger increase demanded by his state's legislature. . . The result is that today Mr. Engler finds himself locked in battle with a multimillion-dollar cigarette smuggling industry. . . The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank, reports that Michiganders are likening this Stamp Act to the one that provoked the colonies to rise up against tyrant Britain. Alaskan officials had similar experience with their plan to tax cigarettes at a dollar a pack, the highest level in the nation, effective Oct. 1.

Thank goodness three politicians - McCaffrey, Leffler and Queens Republican Michael Abel - declined to be stampeded with the herd. Anyone who thinks removing billboards will stop kids from smoking is living in a dream world. When a TV crew questioned some kids - who were smoking in the streets - about Vallone's bill, they laughed at it. "Peer pressure makes us smoke," said one. The New York Times over the weekend advised Rudy not to sign the bill because it risks trampling on principles of free expression. It's the only time the Times and I have ever agreed. We must be right.

Finally, let's not overlook the class struggle. Some of the big-name players will exploit a provision allowing patrons of retail tobacco shops to fire up. (Sort of like trying on a dress at Nordstrom.) At Trophy's, for example, young swells will stroll with drinks into the cigar room and light up with the practiced insouciance of Gilded Age tycoons. Meanwhile, blue-collar cigarette smokers will stamp in the cold. Smokers deserve a little room to breathe. A warm one. This suffocating law should be stubbed out.

"SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: SMOKING CAUSES HYPOTHERMIA AS WELL AS PREMATURE DEATH." Smoking breaks force you out into the cold during the workday, and soon during happy hour as well: As of January 1, 1998, it will be illegal to smoke inside California drinking establishments. Last call for nicotine?

A federal judge has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to turn over numerous documents, including three that may contain evidence that the company knew nicotine was addictive. Tuesday's ruling by Judge John W. Lungstrum of U.S. District Court affirmed most of a ruling in February by U.S. Magistrate Ronald C. Newman in Topeka. Newman, who said that attorney-client privilege or work-product immunity doctrines protected only part of one of 33 documents, said that three of the documents could contain evidence that RJR knew nicotine was addictive.

Sixty private health and welfare trusts in Washington state have been given a green light to join a class-action suit against the nation's tobacco companies. The trusts, which are seeking reimbursement for costs incurred in treating smoking-related illnesses, can unite because their cases are similar and numerous enough to warrant a class-action suit, U.S. District Judge William Dwyer ruled yesterday.

Smoke fills a pink windpipe. Lung tissue disintegrates. Fleshy cancers grow. It's not the latest horror flick - these are scenes from the state's latest anti-tobacco ads. The three 30-second television spots were created by the National Tobacco Campaign of Australia, intended to scare people away from their cigarettes with special effects. . . The ads finish with an 800-number for the state's "Quitline," which provides advice and referrals to counselors. The spots, scheduled to air today through Jan. 5, are timed to allow people to make quitting a New Year's resolution

Ida Young of Lincoln-Larimer has died from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in her second-floor bedroom. She apparently fell asleep while smoking in bed. Young's 10-year-old granddaughter was downstairs and ran to a neighbor's house when she noticed smoke.

After nearly 30 years, Cubans celebrated Christmas again and while Cardinal Jaime Ortega, addressing a packed Christmas Eve Mass in Havana, welcomed the move as "important for society," some observers wondered whether it might also inch Cuba slightly closer toward an end to the U.S. trade embargo.

From his hilltop farmhouse, Mike Cullinan looks out at his life's work -- a lush vista of irrigated tobacco, citrus and corn that his family created out of virgin bush. In other years, the 61-year-old would be a proud and contented man. He fears, however, that the upcoming harvest may be his last. Cullinan's 4,000-acre farm -- named Xanadu, after the mythical paradise -- is on a list of 1,500 properties, most of them owned by whites, targeted for takeover in Zimbabwe's controversial land reform program.

Foreigners who eat, drink or smoke in public during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan risk deportation, while citizens could lose their jobs, the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry said. All residents of Saudi Arabia -- citizens and foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims -- are prohibited from eating, drinking or smoking in public during Ramadan, which starts with the sighting of the new moon at the end of the month or on Jan. 1.

Cairo's trendy night spots were featuring fleshy, flashy belly-dancing Christmas fantasies -- gala celebrations normally reserved for New Year's Eve. But this year, the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a time when Muslims abstain from food, drink, sex and smoking from dawn to dusk, is expected to begin Dec. 31. So, the party moved up a week.

There are today as many people who have quit smoking as there are people who smoke. As Mr Sullum points out, America's National Survey on Drug Abuse finds that almost three-fourths of respondents had tried smoking, but only about 30% had smoked in the past month. . . Because they are nursing their dudgeon and savouring their victories rather than thinking with care, anti-smokers believe themselves to be upholding liberal social principles when in fact they are traducing them.

Lewis County Jail inmates are going cold turkey this Christmas. . . Sheriff John McCroskey has tried to make the jail cheaper for the county to operate and a place inmates don't like. He has succeeded: Inmates say they hate the food, the lack of televisions and the ban on smoking. "It's the worst of the worst," said Steve Worden, who is serving two years in the jail for his third drunk-driving conviction. He has spent five of his 53 Christmases in jail. "I wouldn't wish this place on anybody."

Undaunted by the tobacco industry's success in blocking his tobacco additive disclosure law in court, state Sen. Warren Tolman says he's filing a new law to crack down on the industry. Tolman, D-Watertown, is proposing a bill that would require the tobacco industry to disclose the ingredients that are contained in cigarette smoke, not in the cigarettes themselves. His bill also would force the companies to prove that additives are safe when burned and inhaled.

The bluish haze is gone from Freedom Hall's concourses and non-smokers are breathing much cleaner air. The difference was obvious Monday evening at the Louisville-Mississippi basketball game.

The first five Naperville teenagers ticketed under the city's tough new anti-smoking law found no Christmas cheer in court Wednesday, only $100 fines. The teenagers cited for smoking or possessing cigarettes pleaded guilty and opted to pay the fine rather than attend a five-hour anti-smoking class that also carried an $80 registration fee. . . "My parents let me smoke at home. It's my parents' decision, it's not the government's," said a 16-year-old Naperville Central High School student, who declined to give her name.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein filed papers yesterday to begin a statewide initiative effort that would impose a $1-a-pack cigarette tax to pay for a host of education improvements and tougher standards for students and teachers.

The percentage of American adults who smoke has remained virtually unchanged during the 1990s, quashing hopes that smoking rates could be cut sharply by the end of the century, federal health officials said on Wednesday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a 1995 U.S. survey of 17,213 adults found that 24.7 percent of them smoked

The overwhelming number of American smokers want to quit but cannot, according to a major government study. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta reports 70 percent of the nation's 47 million smokers said they wanted to stop, and 45.8 percent had quit for a least a day during the year, before giving in and lighting up again. CDC smoking expert Ralph Carabello told UPI, "Many try to quit but few are successful." Carabello says every year only 2.5 percent of smokers are able to stop permanently.

A special master is a court-appointed judicial officer whose services are used in complex and voluminous civil cases. The master acts as a second pair of eyes and ears for the judge to keep the case proceeding. A special master can, for instance, review individual damage claims in a class-action suit or review scientific data in a technology-related case. In the tobacco case, Mark Gehan holds the title.

Smoking: A pact between the tobacco industry and its foes would have placed severe restrictions on cigarette ads. Caught up in political controversy, the deal--which would have eliminated outdoor advertising and mandated text-only print ads--has yet to take effect. Meanwhile, cigarette ads have gotten slicker as tobacco firms seek to enhance brand images before they are eventually forced to quit advertising.

BAT INDUSTRIES has been forced to reduce its stake in the proposed £25 billion merger between its financial services operations (BAFS) and Zurich, the Swiss insurance company, in an agreement that effectively cuts the value of the holding by £1 billion. . . Analysts claim that Zurich has renogotiated the deal because it was originally deemed to be "too good to be true" for BAT.

After a detailed inquiry, the Commission said that the 'operation doesn't change the current strong position of Swedish Match on the market for matches for resale,

B.A.T Capital Corp.'s $1.9 billion senior debt and $1.5 billion medium- term note program are downgraded to 'A' from 'A+' by Fitch IBCA. Additionally, B.A.T International Finance PLC's 500 million pound sterling eurobond is downgraded to 'A' from 'A+'. . . .The ratings are removed from RatingWatch Evolving where they were placed on Oct. 14, 1997 following the announced of demerger of B.A.T's tobacco and financial services operations. The rating action reflects the material change in the company's business profile and its increased reliance on the U.S. tobacco market. The rating continues to acknowledge the company's solid global market position, strong cash flow generating ability, and the uncertainties surrounding the impact of the proposed comprehensive tobacco settlement.

A tobacco company's public denial that it tried to market cigarettes to minors may be a form of false advertising, says a Superior Court judge. In a ruling Friday, Judge Paul Alvarado broadened San Francisco's suit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to include a claim that the company violated California law when it denied that its now-defunct Joe Camel ads were aimed at minors. State law against false advertising "is not limited to conventional forms of advertising, but instead is sufficiently broad to encompass a wide range of false or misleading statements," . . . Alvarado's ruling allows San Francisco to proceed with the false-advertising claim as part of a suit against seven tobacco companies

California may be ready to impose a smoking ban at bars come Jan. 1, but Pat Martine is determined to go down in flames. "I'm trying to get in as much as I can," says Mr. Martine, as he sits at Arnie Morton's of Chicago, puffing away on his second cigar of the night.

I'd like to see a lot of those people make it into the new year and for many new years to come. Maybe the new law will have absolutely no impact on most smokers. But there may be those who will consider this the straw that broke Joe Camel's back, and they will finally do what they have to do to quit. Like a lot of truly important things in life that require commitment -- marriage, parenthood, watching every episode of the next Ken Burns miniseries on KPBS -- deciding to give up smoking can take a lot of time and effort, but ultimately is wonderfully rewarding. But while you are making that decision, would you mind moving outside with that disgusting, stinky thing? Thanks.

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has voted overwhelmingly to ban outdoor advertising of tobacco products, a city official said Tuesday. At a board meeting Monday, members voted 9-0 with two absences to support the ban, which also would forbid tobacco advertising anywhere visible from a public place, such as a store window. The bill must now pass a second reading Jan. 5 before it is forwarded to Mayor Willie Brown for his signature, the boards clerk's office said. If signed, the ban would go into effect after 30 days.

Community and Health Services Minister Peter McKay said yesterday if hoteliers and others did not phase out smoking the Government would legislate to do it for them. The clampdown has won immediate support from unions, which believe Tasmanian workers, particularly in the hospitality industry, are exposed to an unacceptable passive-smoking risk. Tasmanian Trades and Labor Council secretary Lynne Fitzgerald said hotels and other employers knew the risks to patrons and employees and warned they were leaving themselves open to potentially huge legal claims for passive smoking.

Requests for copies and congratulatory messages have been received from Victoria and Western Australia and groups in Sri Lanka, the United States, New Zealand on the Internet. The Tasmanian law will be discussed at a major meeting in the United Kingdom this week that will advise the Labour Government on new point-of-sale tobacco advertising legislation.

THE average Northern Territorian may be cleaning up his or her act but still smokes and drinks more than any other Australian .. . Territorians drink more in volume than the rest of the country but they boast fewer drinkers on a per capita basis than does the ACT, which has the fewest smokers. . . The bureau's National Health Survey of the States and Territories released yesterday finds the number of smoking Territorians has fallen from 37 per to 28 per cent in the past decade, but they are not quitting as quickly as people in the rest of the country, which has a national average of 23 per cent.

Half of NSW adults have never smoked - the highest of all States, a Bureau of Statistics survey of the nation's health shows. Nationally, more people are giving up smoking, driving down the proportion of adults who smoke to less than a quarter, showing the anti-smoking campaigns were a success. The Professor of Medicine at the University of New South Wales, Professor Judith Whitworth, said the results showed Australia was a world leader in reducing smokers. "Seventy per cent of Australian men smoked at the time of World War II. Now it is well below 30 per cent," she said

Canadian manufacturers produced 4.9 billion cigarettes in November, up 20% from October, but down 8% from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said. January-November output was down 4% from a year earlier. Shipments to domestic and export markets totaled 3.5 billion cigarettes in November, down 2% from October. Export shipments totaled 100 million cigarettes in November, down 7% from October. January-November shipments totaled 43.1 billion cigarettes, down 5% from a year earlier. Statistics Canada said relatively strong production in November built up inventories for the second consecutive month.

Based on the results of a similar program at Washington-based Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, an HMO, Jeddeloh said Medica anticipates a savings "in the ballpark of $21 million a year" in smoking-related costs among its members. But because the effects of smoking are often long term, Jeddeloh said, Medica is unable to predict when it will begin to see the savings. Indeed, the health care industry is unsure which smoking cessation therapies are most cost-effective.

Starting next year, Medica Health Plans will begin paying for nicotine gum and patches, becoming the first HMO in Minnesota to cover treatments to help smokers kick the habit.

For lobbying Congress and such,
You hire a mover and shaker.
If money's no object, get three,
Like Richards and Mitchell and Baker.

Tobacco has money to spare.
So pols who may want to be rich'll
Forget all the people it kills?
Ask Baker and Richards and Mitchell.

As a Republican . . . she argued in 1992 that tobacco companies should not be held liable in court for the ill health of smokers because of the precedent it would set for other businesses. That position was anathema to many Democrats, and is increasingly so to Republicans, as well.

They knew, the author says. According to Kluger, since 1950, when scientific studies began to demonstrate the health hazards of smoking, tobacco companies were aware of the risks but did all they could to mislead the public. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, this book is "guided with discerning literary skill and armed with an abundance of revealing information," Daniel J. Kevles said in the Book Review last year. Order Here

"The Image Business: Shop and Cigar Store Figures in America," an exhibition that opened at the Museum of American Folk Art in November, offered a lesson in the relationship between popular art and stereotype. Now that shop figures are back as art, are we to view them as examples of a native sculptural tradition or as artifacts of an unacceptable ideology?

And Molly Ringwald has bought tomato-leaf perfume from the Artisan Parfumeur collection. This line, Gerstner said, consists of recipes inspired by 17th- and 18th-century perfumers who traveled to the homes of wealthy Parisians with trays of scents, mixing combinations to order. One fragrance, Navigateur, is a mixture of coffee, tobacco and vanilla notes. "A lot of women love to wear Navigateur," Gerstner said. "It's incredibly deep and warm and sensual."

It's the time of year when we find ourselves eating in front of other people a lot. Here are some major etiquette mistakes in dining, from "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Etiquette," by Mary Mitchell (Alpha Books). . . . * Smoking -- wait until the meal is over (and, please, do not use your plate as an ashtray).

Industry: Big tobacco sues all U.S. lung cancer victims for causing mental anguish.

Trent Lott and Newt Gingrich should apologize for trying to give $50 billion in tax breaks to cigarette companies and getting caught.

Macedonia has doubled output of Oriental tobacco to 25,000 tonnes this year after the government opened the tobacco sector to foreign investment. In the past year, the cash-strapped former Yugoslav republic has sold three tobacco processing plants to Greek and US investors. The ex-communist Social Democrat government had offered 16 for privatisation. "More than 40,000 Macedonian families are involved with tobacco production," said Kiro Dokuzovski, Macedonia's agriculture minister. "Given our situation of high unemployment, it is very important to raise output."

AIR passengers are being exposed to dangerous germs and viruses as a result of airlines' efforts to cut costs, according to a senior British Airways pilot. . . The pilot, who cannot be named but has worked for BA for 27 years, contacted The Daily Telegraph because he believes that, with the emergence of a new flu virus in Hong Kong, the public health consequences could be catastrophic.. . The biggest factor in the worsening quality of air was banning smoking on long-haul flights, he said. "In the past the visible air contamination meant that multiple air packs had to be operating or there would be a host of complaints," he said. . . BA denied that there had been any deterioration in air quality since smoking was banned.

Texas teens caught smoking face fines, education courses and community service as the nation's toughest antitobacco policy becomes law Thursday. The law was approved by the state Legislature this year. It allows law-enforcement officers who catch anyone under age 18 smoking, or possessing tobacco products to send those teens to court.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kentucky Associated Press photographer Ed Reinke spent time throughout 1997 documenting the cycle of tobacco farming and its impact in one Kentucky community. This is his report.

It is estimated that millions of Americans will make a resolution to quit smoking or to increase their physical activity in the new year, only a fraction of those people will actually follow through. It's a tradition -- to make a New Year's Resolution that doesn't quite stick.

Here at Jim Hurwitz's shop in Sherman Oaks, as at hundreds of others like it, the redemption of the American male quite possibly is underway. Before joining in the praising, however, you'll have to put health considerations aside for a time, for Hurwitz's place is a tobacco shop. In the last year or two, sales of pipes and pipe tobaccos at his Gus' Smoke Shop on Ventura Boulevard have begun ticking upward. Tobacconists in other parts of the country also report the trend, for the first time this generation.

[E]ven proponents say it is unclear when and in what form the controversial and incredibly complex agreement will emerge from Washington's lobbyist-filled (albeit smoke-free) back rooms. As a result, many cities, municipalities and states aren't waiting for congressional approval of the deal, opting to fashion narrower legislation that emulates portions of the proposed national settlement.

With the new year, a fresh breeze will waft through restaurants across Erie County, courtesy of a tough new set of "no smoking" regulations. Under the new county Health Department laws that go into effect New Year's Day, restaurateurs will have to do a lot more than simply cordon off "smoking" and "nonsmoking" sections. In fact, restaurants will be forced to ban smoking on their premises altogether, unless they offer special smoking rooms with separate ventilation systems.

Easley - Baptist Medical Center will launch its "Commit to Quit Smoking in 1998" campaign on Jan. 1. Officials will begin by banning smoking on hospital grounds

The world's 1 billion Muslims observe Ramadan by abstaining from food, drink, smoking and sex during daylight hours as an act of sacrifice and purification.

Two of the state's top tobacco-case lawyers have been asked to testify before the Senate ethics committee next week, as it investigates Florida's landmark settlement with the cigarette industry. Ethics chairman Sen. Charlie Crist said Sunday that he sent letters to former inspector general Harold Lewis and lawyer Robert Montgomery Friday to request they testify before the Senate Executive Business, Ethics and Elections Committee on Jan. 6.

Norman Murdock and son John were appointed Ohio Special counsel in the tobacco litigation. Where other people fantasized fortunes, Cincinnati lawyer Norman A. Murdock found honor in his appointment as Ohio special counsel in tobacco litigation. . . Where other states' attorneys general sometimes offered private lawyers 25 percent of any winnings, Ohio's Betty Montgomery promised 10 percent or less of whatever Mr. Murdock and his colleagues recover for Medicaid.

Employers worried about loss of productivity and the prospect of being sued by workers who develop smoking-related illnesses are keen to stamp out the habit. Essex County Council in Harlow has told employees they must clock off before taking a smoking break outside the non-smoking building after a study suggested that smokers spent an average of 40 minutes a day on cigarette breaks. Now they have been told to clock in and out and, because they are on flexitime, have to make up the time.

Small businesses are leading the way by paying smokers up to £1 an hour less amid growing concern that employers could face legal action from workers who develop diseases from passive smoking. Some of Britain's biggest companies are also believed to be considering such policies . . The government will fuel the backlash against smokers next year when it unveils plans to ban smoking in public places such as pubs and bars.

THE Royal College of Physicians is calling on the Government to take the same ethical approach over the multi-million pound export trade in tobacco that it has taken over the export of military weapons. In a letter to the Home Secretary, Robin Cook, Professor George Alberti, president of the Royal College said . . . "Tobacco kills roughly half of all those who smoke and is thus as lethal in the long-term as many of the military weapons the Government is keen to prevent from being sold overseas. "We suggest the same approach should be taken to tobacco exports."

A new study finds that adolescent males who experiment with smoking also tend to be more depressed than other boys, and that the girls tend to be more outgoing and sociable. That apparent gender difference has major implications for smoking prevention efforts, says the study in the current issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

I guess it's unconditional love," says Scott, a 55-year-old insurance executive. "I'm not getting anything back from the cigarette." But, of course, she is. . . What she's getting is a relationship -- at once compelling, profound, intimate, yet ultimately mysterious. Though smoke weaves its sinuous way through her life, Scott is uncertain why she continues. Tobacco affects her body and mind, her emotions, her spirit. It has become a passion and curse, all-pervasive, all-consuming, influencing little choices and important decisions and her relationships with others as well as with herself in ways she only dimly grasps.

Deborah Wilson rid her small convenience store of the sinful allure of alcohol and tobacco. Within weeks, she found she was rid of something else: her customers.

In an in-depth profile of the British quintet, VOGUE's Jonathan Van Meter came up with the following list of impressions: . . . 8) They all smoke fiendishly.

It is my understanding that the vendors insisted that the provision for equally tough penalties for the minor purchasing cigarettes be inserted in the bill. The "health" advocates -- including the Heart Association, Lung Association and Cancer Society -- were not in favor of the stiff penalties for minors, but were stuck with that clause in an effort to keep Mike Easley's coalition -- which included the tobacco industry -- intact.

These are the ingredients listed by L&M: Blended tobacco, water, high fructose corn syrup, glycerol, propylene glycol, sucrose, invert sugar, casing flavor, natural and artificial licorice flavor, menthol, artificial milk chocolate, natural chocolate flavor, artificial tobacco flavors, valerian root extract, molasses extract, vanilla extract, vanillin, isovaleric acid, cedarwood oil, phenylacetic acid, patchouli oil, hexanoic acid, vetiver oil, olibanum oil, 3-methylpentanoic acid, denatured ethanol.

A Senate investigation of Florida's battle with Big Tobacco and lawyers' demands for multibillion-dollar fees will resume in January with two star witnesses summoned Saturday: * Bob Montgomery, a Palm Beach trial lawyer who led the state's "dream team" of private attorneys in court last summer and now wants the state to make good on promised fees: 25 percent of an $11.3-billion, 25-year settlement won with cigarette makers. * Harold Lewis, a close friend of Gov. Lawton Chiles and the governor's former inspector general, who oversaw the tobacco lawsuit but resigned when it was revealed Lewis had borrowed money -- more than $24,000, it turned out -- from a lawyer he hired.

[Gene Lowell] Moran, serving a three-year sentence for an Orange County burglary, claims other inmates' cigarettes have caused respiratory problems, rashes and skin lesions. Guards aren't enforcing state no-smoking rules, he claims in a lawsuit filed Dec. 5. . . Moran's suit followed a similar complaint this year by three guards at the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco. . . In a secondhand smoke case brought by a Nevada inmate, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that prisoners are entitled to an environment free of unreasonable health risks. . . Lance Corcoran, vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said the labor group for 17,000 state guards is leaning toward a formal position advocating a tobacco ban in prisons.

In the past, the state attorney general's office issued the Dearborn Police Department a special tobacco license to sell such cigarettes to a North Carolina wholesaler, who ground them up and turned them into generic cigarettes. But then the Attorney General's Office reversed itself and said it shouldn't have allowed Dearborn to sell the cigarettes. . . "We spent a lot of time to get the cigarettes, catalogue them and store them. We even rented a truck to get them here," Police Chief Ronald Deziel said. "Where is the incentive for us to go after untaxed cigarettes and what's the point of them sitting in our property room?" . . [M]any tax cheats have been illegally bringing cigarettes to Michigan from North Carolina and American Indian reservations in New Jersey, where there are no taxes.

[T]he place erupted in applause and 700 heads turned. Fidel Castro himself. He stepped to the stage in those trademark green fatigues and started tossing off one-liners, rhapsodizing about the pleasures of smoking (although he quit a few years ago) and launching into one rambling aside after another. He scarcely mentioned politics, unless you count his reference to President Clinton. "President Clinton likes to smoke, but Hillary does not allow him to," announced Castro. "Well, I think that she doesn't allow him to do that or other things. But"--and here Castro's eyes twinkled cruelly--"I think that once in a while he does one or the other."

The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and other national news organizations had the same question: How did a small-town North Carolina lawyer end up brokering what might turn out to be one of the biggest legal deals in history?

Doctors say former North Carolina governor and U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford has inoperable cancer of the esophagus and liver. Sanford, 79, was scheduled to enter Duke University Medical Center today to begin treatments. . . He has written three books about politics and government, as well as one about how to lead a healthy life. Before writing that book, Sanford gave up smoking an occasional cigar. Doctors say long-term use of tobacco in any form significantly increases the risk of esophageal cancer.

Against Tobacco Industry DETROIT, Dec. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Three workers' health care funds representing 40,000 Michiganders: workers, retirees and family members, today filed a class action lawsuit against the eight major tobacco companies. . . The suit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit. The plaintiff funds are: The Michigan State AFL-CIO Public Employees Health and Welfare Trust Fund of Grand Rapids; The Operating Engineers Local 324 Health Care Fund of Lavonia and the Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 292 Welfare Fund of Troy.

Under new tests required by Massachusetts' first-in-the-nation tobacco disclosure law, five different types of Newport cigarettes were the leaders in terms of nicotine yield among dozens of popular cigarettes. . . Newport 100s filter menthol hard pack and Newport 100s filter menthol soft 25-pack were tied for the lead in the Massachusetts tests. Each produced 2.9 milligrams of nicotine per cigarette, more than three times the amount produced by the mildest cigarettes.

By Tara Mack Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 31, 1997; Page V03 The company that owns all the billboards in Manassas has agreed to stop advertising cigarettes on its signs in the city, City Attorney Robert Bendall said this week. The agreement follows months of negotiations involving the city, the billboard company -- Universal Outdoor Inc. -- and tobacco companies, Bendall said. City Council member Ulysses X. White (R) asked the council last spring to consider outlawing tobacco billboard ads. Bendall said this deal will accomplish the same goal.

The state is tripling the number of spot checks to find stores making illegal sales of tobacco to minors. The Dept. of Health and Hospitals plans 600 unannounced visits to retailers a month, Secretary Bobby Jindal said.

The no-smoking light went on at the Muskogee County-City Detention Facility on Tuesday, two days before schedule. Signs went up in all areas of the jail saying, "No dipping, no chewing, no smoking in this building!!"

Five bills by different lawmakers aimed at keeping young people from smoking have been prepared for the '98 Legislature. The bills range from how close to a church or school cigarettes can be sold to fines for stores and family members who provide cigarettes to youths under 19.

FEWER people died of cancer last year than in any year in the last decade, giving rise to hopes that better treatment may at last be turning the tide against the disease. The fall has been achieved despite the fact that more people are developing cancer, largely because of the growing number of elderly. . . About two-thirds of the drop is accounted for by falls in deaths from lung cancer in men and fewer deaths from breast cancer in women. Men's lung cancer deaths are thought to have fallen because of the drop in smoking - but not by women in whom lung cancer is rising.

A circuit of genes, when broken by exposure to steroid hormones during pregnancy, causes cleft palate in newborn mice, a new study shows. The findings by researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles may lead to a better understanding of how cleft palate occurs in humans. The study results also add to the evidence for a link between the congenital disorder and exposure during pregnancy to risk factors that raise steroid levels in the body, such as smoking, stress, and certain medications.

In its 50th Annual Report on American Industry in the Jan. 12 issue, Forbes magazine reports that this year's overwhelmingly most profitable company is UST, Inc., maker of chawin' terbacky.

Shareholders of TRUE NORTH COMMUNICATIONS INC. voted to acquire closely held BOZELL JACOBS KENYON & ECKHARDT, creating the world's sixth-largest advertising agency and handing a defeat to France's Publicis SA, which was angling for control of True North. . . Both firms have highly regarded interactive-media agencies, which will be housed together as part of the TN Technologies subsidiary of True North. Bozell also owns a gaggle of specialist communications companies including the Bozell Sawyer Miller Group public relations firm, whose Bozell/Eskew consultancy in Washington is working on behalf of the tobacco industry to sell the tobacco settlement agreement to Congress.

According to a just-completed nationwide survey of 1,000 men and women, conducted for The Company Store, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, catalog marketers of bedroom, bath and personal comfort products, 56% feel they should exercise more, 43% said they should eat healthier foods, 36% want to lose weight (while 5% want to put weight on), 29% would like to get more sleep and 21% said they ought to smoke or drink less. . . When asked which resolutions they'd be most likely to keep, only 40% said they'd exercise more, 33% would stick to healthier meals, 25% would lose weight, 18% would get more sleep and 13% would cut back on their smoking or drinking.

The survey finds almost one-fifth of those who intend to make a resolution say their promises concern losing weight. Other popular subjects include spending less money (12 percent), quitting smoking (11 percent) and eating healthier (10 percent).

"But I know some heavy smokers who really must restrain themselves," he said. "My brother, for instance, smokes five packs a day any other time, but he won't smoke during daylight this month. That's the purpose behind fasting--showing self-restraint while you're alone with God. When you restrain yourself from any lusts or desires, it builds confidence in yourself and shows your love of Allah."

We've ruined vice. We've drained it of its pain, its anger, its spiritual interest. We've dragged it out of its subterranean lair and domesticated it, demoting it into trends. It is not an expression of restlessness anymore. It is an expression of rest. . . . But in our pampered, narcissistic culture, vices are affectations, or advertisements for oneself, served up with pretentious argot . . . I will defend the right of Americans to smoke. But I have to say, there is no more appalling sight than a table of complaisant and self-important young men and women blowing smoke from their Robustos and Belicosos. It makes you wonder, as P. G. Wodehouse said, if man really is God's last word. "The only reason they light up a cigar is because their mouths are too small to light up a Porsche."

Ordinance boosts fines against underage smokers, and adults on school grounds By Steve Pardo / The Detroit News The price of smoking just went up for underaged kids -- and in some instances even for adults -- in Armada. A tough anti-tobacco ordinance went into effect today. The ordinance increases the penalty from $50 to $500 for kids under 18 caught using or possessing tobacco products. And the fines also apply to adults caught lighting up on school grounds before 6 p.m.

It's an issue that Minnesota lawyers don't want mentioned at the upcoming tobacco trial: State officials for decades supplied cigarettes to state hospital patients and imprisoned juveniles. Industry lawyers, in response to the state's consumer fraud lawsuit, have collected evidence about the government's long-standing policy of handing out cigarettes in state hospitals and juvenile corrections centers. But lawyers for the Minnesota attorney general filed a motion Monday to exclude that evidence -- calling it an irrelevant sideshow -- when the lawsuit goes to trial next month in St. Paul.

More time is just what Kentucky's tobacco growers got last week when U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that burley tobacco markets here and in eight other states would remain open longer this year so the burley would have time to cure.

A Federal judge has given the green light to a class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry filed on behalf of 60 union health care funds in Washington representing 500,000 Washington blue- collar workers.

Today, AK Media/NW employees began removing one of the first of a total of 279 tobacco advertisements from billboards that belong to the company. All tobacco advertisements on AK Media/NW billboards are scheduled to be permanently removed by January 1, 1998. The company owns a total of 1079 billboards in King County.

KOOL : This campaign for the Kool line of cigarettes sold by the Brown & Williamson Tobacco unit of BAT Industries is one of the most reactionary, out-of-touch sales pitches in years. . . WINSTON : It may be heretical to say anything nice about cigarette advertising, but a cheeky print and outdoor campaign for Winston . . . has helped to increase the somnolent brand's sales for the first time in decades. . . Another sign it's effective: The tobacco giant Philip Morris may be considering a similar product.

Removing those products from her shelves cleared her conscience with God and removed about three-fourths of her sales revenue. She will close the store in mid-January, negotiating a deal with her landlord to exchange a walk-in cooler for about $7,000 in back rent, Wilson said. "I didn't do a business plan or anything, I just followed after my heart," Wilson said. "I believed this was the Lord speaking to me, and that's why I did it," Wilson said.

Austria Tabakwerke AG (R.ATW). the country's 51% state-owned tobacco manufacturer and wholesaler, said Tuesday it is to raise the price of its pipe and chewing tobacco in 1998. The company attributed the move to higher prices for raw tobacco costs and imported manufactured goods, as well as higher domestic manufacturing costs. . . However, a company spokesman told Dow Jones that the price of its cigarettes . . . will stay unchanged.

The R.O.A.R. tour -- Start with the lame acronym, which stood for, uh, Revelations Of Alternative Rhythms. Then there was the tour's sponsor -- that heartwarming youth-market product, Skoal chewing tobacco. And the tour itself, led by sinewy rock elder Iggy Pop and alternative charlatans Sponge, was pathetic, sometimes drawing crowds in the hundreds at outdoor venues with 10,000 seats or more.

Indeed, some critics say there is too much recognition of the cigarette-box style of the biobox. The music released so far in the packaging is geared mostly to younger listeners, who are more likely to buy lower-priced cassettes than CDs. This rankles one antitobacco critic, Stephen Blanket of the American Lung Association in New York, who says he feels the appearance of the bioboxes reinforce "how cool smoking is to teenagers." (Mr. Gottlieb, an ex-smoker, retorts: "Who ever said the boxes were addictive?")

AMONG the more unusual year-end lists is the New York Cigar Lifestyles roster of the top 10 "cigar smokers who've most profoundly affected life here this past year" led by Mayor Giuliani. The quarterly also lists Sen. Al D'Amato and City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, who evidently smokes cigars despite ram-rodding the city's draconian anti-smoking law through his obsequious council. Sean "Puffy" Combs, the rapping CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment, made the list along with Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau and Bear Stearns boss Ace Greenberg, and The Post's talented news editor John Ittner, who is responsible for some of the better headlines that grace our pages.

"Joe Camel, R.I.P," "U.S. States Settle with Liggett on Tobacco," "Tobacco's Crumbling Barricades."

These damning documents . . . depict a cold-eyed determination on the part of tobacco companies to do and say whatever it takes to deceive the public while turning huge profits. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is exactly right when he says that tobacco firms must be made to own up to their sleazy past before they are granted unprecedented legal immunity for their sins. A good start would be to review the testimony that tobacco executives gave under oath to a congressional committee several months ago. If any of these individuals perjured themselves, which appears altogether likely, they should be indicted and brought to trial. Perhaps if some of them went to prison, this would concentrate the minds of their colleagues who are tempted to perpetuate the Big Lie.

The Department of Agriculture announced that tobacco production will be cut by 17 percent next year. That translates to a loss of $200 million to $300 million in North Carolina, most of it coming from the pockets of farmers and those who depend on their business. . . The politicians need not worry. If they keep talking out of both sides of their mouths long enough, there won't be any Eastern North Carolina tobacco farmers to worry about. And then the tobacco companies can buy cheap tobacco overseas and make even more money.

The Big Tobacco trial comes to a sudden and surprising end when the tobacco industry accepts a plea bargain in which it pleads guilty to a reduced charge of selling a pack of Kool Kings to a 17-year-old, and agrees to pay $233 billion to "every lawyer within a radius of 400 miles."

The people I feel most sorry for are the tobacco company executives who agreed to pay smokers $350 billion so they wouldn't sue them. . . My admiration also goes out to such liberal friends as George Mitchell, Ann Richards, Howard Baker and Harry McPherson, who believe that tobacco companies deserve the best defense that money can buy.

"I don't have billions of dollars to do statistics, but I do know this: It gives people a choice," said Chuck Emery, Single Stick founder and executive vice president. Operating out of a small suite of offices in a north Phoenix business park, Single Stick takes in boxfuls of cigarettes made and individually packaged in Virginia and redistributes them to convenience stores throughout the West and Midwest. About 1,200 stores in eight states sell Single Sticks, including Texaco Star Marts, Quik-Marts and some AM-PM, Exxon and Mobil minimarkets in Arizona.