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Mr. BUNNING also took a swipe at Mr. BAESLER for an Aug. 10 fund-raiser in Louisville that Mr. CLINTON is to attend. "Tobacco's public enemy No. 1," is how Mr. Bunning referred to the president.

BUNNING also told the crowd that BAESLER is too close to CLINTON, whom he called "public enemy No. 1 when it comes to Kentucky tobacco." Baesler also talked about tobacco, but he blasted Bunning for his close ties to McConnell, who supported ending the federal tobacco program during debate on national tobacco legislation that failed in late spring. Bunning has said he didn't agree with MCCONNELL's stance on the program, but Baesler said Bunning didn't fight for the farmer. "It was Mitch McConnell who put a knife in (Ford's) back," Baesler said. "The question is, where was Jim Bunning? He was over in the corner, whimpering because he didn't want to make Mitch mad."

Indian gambling and tobacco tax take back seat to cutting class size, poll of voters finds. One of the measures Ali's group surveyed, Proposition 10, would raise the tax on cigarettes by 50 cents a pack to finance a variety of smoking prevention and early childhood education programs.

The poll found nearly identical numbers for PROPOSITION 10, the measure written by actor Rob REINER that would raise cigarette taxes by 50 cents a pack to finance early childhood development research and programs. Fifty-four percent were in favor, 32 percent opposed the measure and 14 percent were undecided. Ron Gray, spokesman for the Committee Against Unfair Taxes, said he was encouraged by the results. . . But initiative backers said the numbers for the measure should improve once the public realizes the opposition is headed by anti-tax groups and the tobacco industry. "I don't think that people are clearly aware that the organization that opposes it is fully funded by big tobacco," said Mike Roos, director of the CALIFORNIA CHILDREN AND FAMILIES INITIATIVE.

The House Appropriations Committee also joined its Senate counterpart in preventing the District from entering into a contingent fee contract with a private law firm to bring a civil action -- as most states have done -- against the major tobacco companies. That action will make it impossible for the District to get the legal help to recoup the estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid costs for treating smoking-related illnesses of District residents. Lest we forget, Senate D.C. appropriations subcommittee Chairman Lauch Faircloth and his House counterpart, Rep. Charles Taylor, hail from that great tobacco-producing state, North Carolina.

The RISKY BUSINESS 2 PREVENTION CONFERENCE recently presented several awards to individuals and organizations for exhibiting outstanding commitment to a preventive health service or program in the county. . . Award recipients were: . . . W. Robert FLICKINGER: Taneytown mayor, honored for his sup- port of the Taneytown Cares Smoke Free Youth Project, which gives citations to youths found using tobacco products in the town. . . CARROLL COUNTY GENERAL HOSPITAL: honored for its Healthy Environment plan to eliminate the use of tobacco on the hospital campus, only one of three in the state to do so.

Nearly 20 million fewer packs of cigarettes were sold in Wisconsin in the year ending June 30, in large part due to the largest jump in the state cigarette tax -- 15 cents -- and a quarter-a-pack tobacco industry price increase. The drop in sales translates to a more than 4% drop in cigarette sales. The new figures come on the heels of a government report that offers additional evidence that increased cigarette taxes reduce smoking

THE Tobacco Institute, representing the tobacco industry including farmers and manufacturers, has condemned the cabinet's approval last week of Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma's proposed new law to ban all tobacco advertising and smoking in public places. The institute said the industry was caught off guard by the move as it had seen only an unofficial draft of the bill. "The fact that this bill was put before the cabinet before any stakeholders had handed in their input, confirms that it was never the intention of the health department to involve stakeholders."

The approval of the Tobacco Amendment Bill by Cabinet last week smacked of undemocratic argument and a non-transparent consultative process, the Federated Hospitality Association of SA said on Sunday.

There was a disturbing lack of consistency about the new tobacco legislation introduced by Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma, the Inkatha Freedom Party said on Sunday. IFP spokeswoman Ruth Rabinowitz said while Zuma was making an all out attempt to protect the public from smoking no legislation was being adopted to protect healthy citizens from getting Aids.

The announcement by Cabinet that it had approved the Tobacco Products Amendment Bill was unfortunate and unacceptable, the Food and Allied Workers' Union said in Cape Town on Friday.

The Tobacco Bill appeared to have more to do with the banning of advertising than any genuine concern for the health of smokers, Democratic Party spokesman on health Mike Ellis said on Friday.

The ANC welcomes the approval of draft legislation by cabinet to severely limit smoking in public places, ban all tobacco advertising and impose heavy penalties on violations. The ANC believes that tobacco control policies are an integral part of the government's plan to enhance health education programmes that foster life skills development.

"We find it difficult to reconcile this draconian Bill with the minister's stated aim of addressing the issue of youth smoking. We doubt whether Cabinet and even the minister have been fully informed of the full implications of this draft, which could even be unconstitutional."

Cabinet on Wednesday unanimously approved draft legislation that will allow the minister of health to ban smoking in the workplace and prohibit all tobacco advertising, including promotion through sponsorships. . . The Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill will allow her, by notice in the Government Gazette, to ban smoking in any public place - the definition of which includes a workplace - on pain of a R200 fine. It will end all tobacco advertising, including the use of logos and brand or company names, and the use of logos or names "for the purpose of advertising any organisation service, activity or event".

HEALTH effects of tobacco smoking and atmospheric pollution will become major research at a R10-million UCT Lung Institute to be built at Mowbray. A R7-million gift from a German company, Boehringer Ingelheim, is to pay for the new four-storeyed building in which the University of Cape Town Lung Institute is to be based.

From 6,500 feet these workers for the federal Farm Service Agency take pictures of the land, an image every 17 seconds. Guided by a global satellite navigation system, the planes make precise, 25-mile north-south sweeps at 150 mph. . . Woe to the farmer who reported he planted 75 acres of tobacco and the picture shows 80.

"It looks really bad," said Lasley, who farms about 150 acres of tobacco in the Belews Creek community. "Things are looking pretty tough."

Advertising directly to consumers has contributed to the fast growth of two of Glaxo Wellcome's newer prescription drugs: the herpes treatment Valtrex and the stop-smoking medication Zyban, according to the company's chief executive. . . Cleared for sale by the Food and Drug Administration in May 1997, Zyban already owns 86 percent of the domestic market for prescription drugs in its category. So, expanding U.S. sales of Zyban, which totaled $85 million for the first half of this year, requires expanding the market. That's what Glaxo intends to do by taking its case directly to consumers, urging them that "if you want to stop smoking, go to your doctor and ask about Zyban," . . .

"When it started out, we kind of felt like the government was holding the industry hostage. As time has went on, we feel more like they're holding us as a hostage," said Pat Moore, 48, a tool-and-dye man and union leader at the plant. "We almost feel like you're walking around every day with a gun to your head. It's almost like, `If you're going to pull the trigger, pull it or put the gun down, one of the two,' " he said. The continuing struggle over new laws and taxes to reduce smoking and recover public health costs has largely ignored the 28,000 Americans who work in the nation's cigarette plants.

A British college is to set up a special Santa Claus training course --- and the Father Christmas hopefuls must not smoke or drink on the job. . . "You cannot have Father Christmases drinking or smoking -- I constantly suck breath fresheners," said the tutor, who was interviewed only on condition of anonymity.

A British college is to set up a special Santa Claus training course, and hopefuls must not smoke or drink on the job.

Bennett, a 36-year-old chef, rolled through his Dupont Circle neighborhood yesterday, marking the final leg of a 3,254-mile cross-country trek: a seven-week trip he took with 730 others to raise more than $6.3 million for the American Lung Association. . . She estimated that in the 48 days the cyclists were on the road, more than 27,000 people were diagnosed with lung cancer and 144,000 children started to smoke. The profits from the ride will help fund research, programs for children, anti-smoking campaigns and make more of the association's programs available to the public, Ford said.

[Jacqueline] Shaw didn't feel comfortable just taking money from her sponsors and giving it the American Lung Association, organizers of the first GTE BIG RIDE ACROSS AMERICA. She wanted them to try a smoke-free life for 6 1/2 weeks. . . Shaw and six other North Bay residents are among the 730 bike riders in what is believed to be the largest cross-country cycling event ever. The riders are scheduled to finish the 3,254-mile, 48-day trip from Seattle to Washington, D.C., tomorrow. The ride began June 15

Need any smoker be told that cigarettes are costlier than they used to be? And personal care products too? These are among items in the CPI's "other goods and services," which has risen 5.6 percent in a year. Almost any objective student of inflation will tell you that this evidence does not necessarily indicate a trend -- that these items are more likely to be isolated and even unrelated rather than part of a pattern. . . Still, the evidence suggests there's something out there to watch, that inflation cannot be declared dead, and that Greenspan isn't just tilting at ghosts.

All-star film revues starring everyone from Clara Bow to Fay Wray. . . A short subject, underwritten by Chesterfield cigarettes, made to raise money for a tuberculosis sanitarium. Film lovers who make their way to Orpheum Cinema this week are in for a rare treat, as the tiny Fells Point movie house plays host to a festival of seldom-seen classics and first-rate Hollywood oddities. . . The Orpheum's "Film Collector's Showcase"

Openly, brazenly, people are chewing gum. At work, gyms, restaurants and clubs, gum has become the big cigar of the season. Part of the reason is that smoking is forbidden in many places. But mostly, it's that like a too-large Bazooka gum bubble, the taboo surrounding gum chewing -- that it's tacky, especially in public -- has burst. "Gum chewing is definitely cool," said Ruth Hiller . . . Gum -- either Nicorette or the conventional kind -- is the mouth occupier of choice for smokers who aren't allowed to light up, as well as for former smokers, or hopeful former smokers who are trying not to. "People are chewing gum instead of putting food and cigarettes in their mouths," Ms. Hiller said.

A casting director assembles a hot pack for her directing debut, '200 Cigarettes.'

Q We took the fabric cover off the back of an old wooden folding chair and found a painted cigarette ad. There's a close-up picture of a woman's face and the words "Duke's Cameo Cigarettes." How old is it?

In the realm of good old-fashioned dining and socializing, HENRY SCHIELEIN, president of The Balboa Bay Club, held his annual gentleman's smoker and lobster clambake to a very satisfied contingent of local gents and a few ladies partaking in the good life bayside on the manicured lawns of the BBC. . . Schielein's 50th Anniversary BBC Smoker was as classy as it was fun . . . They call Schielein the "Goodwill Ambassador of the Cigar" . . . The major donation came from restaurateur Helmut Reiss, owner of Rothchild's, Corona Del Mar. Reiss purchased artist MICHAEL BRYAN's rendering of a famous smoker filled with celebrity faces, used by Schielein as the cover of his invitation to puff, for an auction high mark of $3,200. Bravo.

Watch streaming video which looks at how the hospitality industry wants to deal with the issue of second-hand smoke at http://www.newstream.com/98-290.shtml

The hospitality industry recognizes that many people are bothered by second-hand smoke. However, they also believe that the preferences of both smokers and non-smokers can and should be accommodated, and that ventilation technology can be a key component in providing a pleasant and welcoming environment for everyone. Listen to streaming audio containing comments from restaurant owner MICHAEL STERNBERG; and ELLEN MERLO, senior vice president, Corporate Affairs, PHILIP MORRIS USA at http://www.newstream.com/r98-221.shtml

The July 28 rail-trail public meeting in Apex, which you previewed in the July 25 article "Wake County moves to put rail-trail plan back on track," was the best-attended in the history of the development of the American Tobacco Trail. . . . The American Tobacco Trail has become the backbone of a planned 65-mile greenways network connecting Chapel Hill, Durham, Cary and Apex, and the critical western link in the 110-mile Circle the Triangle Trail of the Triangle Greenways Council.

When liberals are told that a couple has been sentenced to jail for forcing a 7-year-old to smoke cigarettes, drink liquor, and have sex with an adult for money, they say: "Cigarettes? That's awful!"

Boston Globe editor Matthew V. Storin yesterday asked for the resignation of 25-year columnist Mike Barnicle, asserting that his ''relationship with his readers and his employers has become untenable'' in the wake of a column on Sunday containing similarities to a book by comedian George Carlin.

Following are eight instances where items from GEORGE CARLIN's 1997 book, ''BRAIN DROPPINGS,'' closely matched items in MIKE BARNICLE's Aug. 2 column: The book: ''I read that a Detroit man and his friend were arrested because they had forced the man's five-year-old son to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and perform oral sex on them. Can you imagine? Cigarettes!'' The column: ''When liberals are told that a couple has been sentenced to jail for forcing a 7-year-old to smoke cigarettes, drink liquor, and have sex with an adult for money, they say: `Cigarettes? That's awful!'''

The Republican leaders, for obvious reasons, want to keep unregulated and unlimited "soft money" flowing into their party coffers. Fortunately, many in the GOP rank and file realize they were elected to do more than get re-elected. They realize that restoring public faith in the political process is a more important matter than keeping the special-interest money flowing. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Christopher SHAYS, R-Conn., and Marty MEEHAN, D-Mass., had been pronounced dead earlier in the session. After staging an amazing comeback (thanks in part to the efforts of Democratic Rep. Scotty BAESLER of Kentucky), it should be approved by the House and sent to the Senate . . . Speaking of which, Republican Sen. Mitch MCCONNELL of Kentucky continues to jealously guard the "soft money" gusher. He tied up an appropriations bill this week by attaching an amendment that would disrupt the Federal Election Commission's efforts to curb unregulated political donations.

President Clinton warned Republican leaders in Congress Monday that he would not accept a "bare-bones budget" for the next fiscal year as partisan wrangling intensified over spending plans. . . But Elizabeth Morra, spokeswoman for the House Appropriations Committee, said Clinton's budget depends on money that would come in from anti-smoking legislation that was never passed by Congress. "Our numbers are never going to match up with the president's," she said. "We had to deal in reality."

Mr. Starr's juggling of his lucrative private practice with the high-stakes investigation of the president has attracted criticism from the White House and others since he took the appointment as independent counsel four years ago. Critics have pointed out, for example, that Mr. Starr privately represented tobacco companies that have tried to undermine White House policy on smoking.

Before heading to Stony Hill, Clinton was addressing a cocktail party for more than 60 people who contributed at least $5,000 each. There, Mrs. Clinton accused Republicans of "poisoning the atmosphere" of politics in hopes of keeping voters away from the polls in the upcoming congressional elections and Clinton said he is so appalled at the thought that Republicans might regain the White House in two years that he would run for a third term if not barred by the Constitution. . . The first lady said GOP tactics have voters believing politics is "all so nasty and yucky and I don't want to be a part of it" by voting. The president accused Republicans of engaging in "a disinformation campaign" on issues from health care to tobacco legislation. "Part of this strategy we're up against is designed to depress the vote," he said.

A judge in Massachusetts has ruled the state can use 39,000 internal tobacco industry documents in its multibillion dollar lawsuit against the cigarette companies. State Attorney General Scott Harshbarger says the so-called "Bliley Documents," surrendered to Congress last year by the major cigarette companies, are a mother lode of legal ammunition that will help "bring 'big tobacco' to justice."

Roughly half the potential jurors needed for Florida's milestone, class-action tobacco lawsuit have been chosen at the start of a fifth week of jury picking, a court spokesman said on Monday. Forty-four people have now passed initial screenings by lawyers, the spokesman said.

Assembly Republican Leader BILL LEONARD, attempting to regain the majority Republicans held briefly two years ago, has collected $746,494. . . Of primary importance to the leaders as they plan for the Nov. 3 election is the amount of money they have left now. Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, has $2,436,928. Leonard, R-Upland, listed $425,615. . . . Leonard's report listed contributions from dozens of individual businesses and groups. His largest was $60,000 from tobacco giant PHILLIP MORRIS Management Corp. of New York. Leonard was the only one of the three who listed a tobacco industry contribution during this reporting period.

It has been one month since Corvallis went "cold turkey" to kick the smoking habit from bars, taverns and restaurants. City Council President Betty Griffith believes it is working pretty well... but there is a sharply-divided public atti tude. Voters will decide in November whether to repeal the ban.

David Egle's habit of bumming cigarettes led to his arrest for building pipe bombs found last month in a Wenatchee federal building and medical clinic. . . The clerk at Rocky's House of Guns -- an ex-cop -- wanted to see some identification to make sure the teenager was old enough to smoke. Egle proudly pulled out his driver's license and got his cigarette. But the clerk, Jerry Monroe, not only remembered Egle's name from that encounter, he also wrote down the license plate number of the young man's 1989 Chevrolet.

"Philip Morris is signaling there's going to be a new deal," said Gary Black, tobacco analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Philip Morris took the lead in raising cigarette prices for the fifth time in 12 months, pressing ahead with the tobacco industry's pattern of paying for a growing number of legal settlements through higher prices. But smokers aren't getting hit as hard in the wallet as it might appear, because price promotions are sweeping through the tobacco industry.

PHILIP MORRIS USA is leading the way in raising the wholesale price of its cigarettes in an effort to increase company revenues as tobacco lawsuit settlements pile up. Philip Morris, LORILLARD Tobacco Co. and R.J. REYNOLDS confirmed Monday they raised their prices $3 per thousand cigarettes, sending the price of Morris' Marlboro, Reynolds' Winston and Lorillard's Kent brands up 6 cents a pack.

They leave the farm at dusk coated with sweat and the black, sticky gum that oozes from tobacco plants. By 7 the next morning, they're back in the fields for another 12 to 14 hours of snapping leaves from stalks. This is the busiest time of year for tobacco farmers and their workers -- for Jose Lopez, Francisco Salas and the Ransoms.

2. Philip Morris (MO) Philip Morris' problems are well known . . . But now a healthy number of analysts are asserting that the stock has taken more punishment than it deserves.

Some flue-cured tobacco growers are delivering their leaf in a new package this year -- 800-pound bales that are starting to replace the burlap-wrapped bundles. It's a pretty big deal for an industry that has deep roots in the culture and economy of south Georgia.

Tesh has produced a special CD to help the Heart Association promote its message of diet, exercise and no smoking. . . Previous artists tapped by Kellogg/AHA to help get the word out with its "For Heart's Sake" effort include country crooners TRISHA YEARWOOD and CLINT BLACK. In addition to being another example of Tesh uniquely marketing his wares to the masses, his link to the program is a personal one. Tesh said both of his late parents had diets that were high in fat and cholesterol, and both were heavy smokers. "When I was growing up, high-fat cooking and eating was the norm," Tesh told Daily Variety. "Today, it's easier than most people think to eat well, exercise and not smoke."

Dr. Leroy Burney, who as surgeon general of the U.S. Public Health Service in the Eisenhower administration was the first federal official publicly to identify smoking as a cause of lung cancer, died Friday at a hospital in Park Ridge, Ill. He was 91.

Dr. LeRoy Edgar Burney, who as surgeon general during the Eisenhower administration made the first federal government statement identifying smoking as a cause of lung cancer, died Friday. He was 91. The statement issued by Burney, who was surgeon general from 1956 to 1961, declared that an "increasing and consistent body of evidence" indicated "excessive cigarette smoking is one of the causative factors in lung cancer."

But the Republican Party, whose leaders engineered the recent attack against antitobacco legislation, have opened themselves to criticism, for example, by accepting more than $1 million from the cigarette maker Philip Morris in the 18 months after Jan. 1, 1997. Several House Democrats portrayed Gingrich's opposition to the bill as a symbol of the influence of big money in politics. "Months of delay, poison pills, death by amendment: The opponents of reform have done everything they can to kill off campaign finance reform and keep the spigots of special interest money flowing," said House Democratic whip David Bonior

"There are difficult, non-economic issues that have to be worked through, and it will take time to do that," said Washington state Attorney General Christine Gregoire, one of the principal negotiators involved in the talks. Ms. Gregoire did not elaborate. But lawyers familiar with the talks said that tobacco producers are concerned that small cigarette companies who do not participate in a settlement accord will gain a competitive advantage. That is because those producers will not be bound by advertising restrictions contained in an agreement and will also be able to undercut larger cigarette makers on price because they will not have to bear the price of a settlement, those lawyers said.

Negotiations between U.S. tobacco companies and state attorneys general have reached an impasse and have recessed indefinitely as the two sides try to develop new ideas for restricting smaller cigarette companies. . . EASLEY said that the sides need time to come up with solutions and that the break isn't because of disagreements over the proposed $196 billion settlement of state lawsuits. The biggest problem is how to make sure cigarette companies not signing the agreement don't take advantage by declining to raise prices and by increasing their advertising.

Negotiations for a national tobacco settlement are at an impasse and no direct talks are expected before next week between cigarette makers and state prosecutors suing over the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses. Negotiations haven't completely broke off, but "we've reached a point where we've run out of ideas on some significant issues," North Carolina State Attorney General Mike Easley said Tuesday.

Colorado Attorney General GALE NORTON said on Monday she was hopeful that states and tobacco companies would succeed in settling lawsuits against the industry, though some issues could still derail the negotiations. "While I think we are coming close to an agreement on major issues, there are still some very difficult issues that may cause the entire negotiations to break down," Norton told reporters. She said the talks would resume in New York "sometime this week."

For the country's antitobacco movement, the outcome is critical. For Harshbarger and the state, the resolution of legal action could have huge consequences. But with all the political advantages it could hold for Harshbarger, a settlement - which could emerge shortly from negotiations scheduled to resume today - also could pose serious political pitfalls.

Recently, Mississippi was listed as one of the five worst places to raise a child. Lawmakers want to correct that. With a healthy sum, millions at a time coming in from giant cigarette makers, one piece of legislation suggests creation of a trust fund. . . Lawmakers will have 20 million in interest next year. It could go for nursing home beds, mental institutions, child health insurance, trauma care and paid for by big tobacco. . . State Treasurer Marshall Bennett says the money spent, needs to be spent wisely. "I know the temptations are great to spend 200 million, 180 million with the needs this state has. But that sort of penny foolish, or pound foolish and penny wise. It's like trying to spend all the money like a drunken sailor on a Saturday night."

In a sign of Howard County's continued drive to enforce its strict anti-smoking law, officials have audited sales at 13 bars and restaurants in the past month to ensure they are properly licensed. The move came amid concerns that some establishments were trying to skirt the law by licensing themselves incorrectly as bars -- instead of restaurants -- which would give them more leeway in allowing smoking.

Eighty-five companies, including such giants as AT&T, Philip Morris and Exxon, paid a total of more than $1 million to help support this week's NATIONAL GOVERNORS' ASSOCIATION conference and the companion conference last winter. Many of them sat in on sessions after spending $12,000 each to be NGA Corporate Fellows with access to the participants, NGA spokeswoman Becky Fleischauer said. At the annual rate of $12,000 each, the companies contributed a total of $1,020,000 to be Corporate Fellows of the NGA. "I guess you could say it's a business investment," said David Pingree, vice president of government relations for the Pennsylvania-based Unisys.

Jean Coutu Group Inc., Canada's second largest drugstore operator, took its fight with the Quebec Order of Pharmacists to Quebec Superior Court yesterday. Jean Coutu is seeking a judicial review of the order's ruling in June that it must halt tobacco product sales from more than 200 Quebec pharmacies immediately.

"The burden already is greater in the developing world than the developed world, and this picture is going to get worse over the next 20 years," said Prof Yusuf, the director of cardiology at McMaster University. . . An ever-intensifying push by tobacco companies in developing nations could mean heart disease will increase far beyond Prof Yusuf's predictions. "The single most important thing we can do in terms of prevention of heart disease is tobacco control," he said. Thanks to better education about the risks of cigarette smoking and the importance of a balanced diet, developed nations could expect to see a continued decrease in heart disease deaths.

THE People's Liberation Army (PLA) officer pushed away his dish of cold duck, lit a cigarette, glanced around the crowded restaurant and began to talk about the worst-kept secret in the Chinese military - the fact that it runs probably the biggest smuggling racket in the world. "I don't believe it can ever be completely stopped," he said. . . . Last Wednesday a military court in Guangzhou sentenced Chen Youwu, a squad commander, to death and sent Luo Yicheng, a political officer, to jail for 10 years for protecting cigarette smugglers. Army prosecutors said the two men had ordered soldiers to fire on customs police during confrontations in the South China Sea.

Suggestions that the public has not been informed about the statistical risks associated with smoking are ludicrous, ROTHMANS tobacco company spokesman Peter Lorrigan says. Mr Lorrigan was replying to Associate Health Minister Tuariki Delamere's demand that tobacco companies tell the Government what they know about the harmful effects of tobacco.

Nine Mairehau High School students who once smoked 15 cigarettes a day have pledged to quit the habit or miss a trip to Whangarei. The students jumped at the chance to support their fellow student Haami Rahui, a finalist in the national MAORI speech contest in Whangarei this month. A precondition was that they all be smoke-free. Kareen Rahui, Haami's mother, said she had promised to bring people to Mairehau to help them achieve their goal. They had been smoke-free for four weeks. Mrs Rahui said that with so many Maoris dying from smoke-related illnesses, she did not want Mairehau students to join those statistics. Sadly, one of the group had already pulled out because he admitted he could not stop smoking, she said.

Associate Health Minister Tuariki Delamere . . . has launched a stinging attack on tobacco with plans to hit smokers in the pocket through another tax rise. He also said he wanted officials to explore any legal action that could be taken against the tobacco industry for pushing its "poison" on to people. The Minister's open hostility came amid Smokefree Coalition research that smoking had fallen 10 per cent since the May tax rise of 50c a packet. "It's my goal to literally destroy (tobacco companies)," he said. "They know full well that smoking is a killer but they are so well versed in the art of deception and exploiting peer pressure to lure teenagers."

Consolidated Cigar Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CIG - news) today reported sales and net income for the second quarter and six months ended July 4, 1998. Net sales for the 1998 second quarter were $69.1 million versus $76.4 million in the comparable period in 1997. Operating income for the second quarter was $18.3 million versus $22.7 million in the second quarter of 1997. Net income was $10.5 million for the quarter versus $13.2 million in the prior year. Diluted net income per share was 34 cents versus 43 cents in the comparable period in 1997.

he Times today continues a new feature, Stock Exchange, in which staff writers JAMES PELTZ and MICHAEL HILTZIK debate the merits of individual stocks and other investments. . . Mike: Philip Morris has been one of the bluest blue chips in the market. But are you having as much trouble putting a value on this company as I am? Jim: Yes, because the ground around this company keeps shifting each day.

Standard Commercial Corp said on Tuesday its revenues fell 3.3 percent in the first quarter to $290.4 million from the year-ago quarter, due to an expected softness in its nontobacco businesses.

Standard Commercial Corporation (NYSE: STW - news) today reported June 30 first quarter earnings of $2.0 million, compared to $1.9 million a year earlier. Basic and diluted earnings per share were $0.16 on average shares outstanding of 12.8 million versus $0.17 on 11.1 million shares outstanding for the June 1997 quarter. Revenues totalled $290.4 million, down 3.3% from $300.3 million last year due to the expected softness in the nontobacco business. Tobacco sales were up 6.3% from the prior year. Overall, tobacco volume was up 26.4%, led by strong performance from the Company's Far Eastern, African, and European operations. Net income for the division improved substantially from the prior year.

Caribbean Cigar Company (Nasdaq: CIGR - news), correcting an earlier news release issued today, noted that the 1-for-8 reverse split of its common stock approved by its Board of Directors will be effective on Aug. 14, 1998, rather than the previously reported date of July 31, 1998.

The BENETTON group owns 60% of 21 Investimenti, and another 15% is held by the SERAGNOLO family of entrepreneurs who produce machine tools for the tobacco industry.

With the prospects for a new AG settlement high, and a continuing paper trail that the courts will not permit class actions in tobacco personal injury cases, we look for further relative multiple expansion as the litigation cloud lifts, and as speculation builds that all companies will separate tobacco from non-tobacco operations

Ignored as never before, smokers are seeking solace from one another, often on the Internet. "I want a baby. I have to quit," one smoker writes. "I have already tried and failed. . . . I am OK for the first 48 hours but then turn into some kind of junkie, looking for old butts to smoke, just about anywhere." . . . "Smokers are outsiders now and we only have each other," said Ro Malacria, a 59-year-old former three-pack-a-day smoker from Santee, Calif. Malacria runs Nosmoke, one of several Internet-support groups for those who want to quit. No longer welcome inside many restaurants and workplaces, huddled outside in office doorways throughout the country to grab a smoke, they also are facing slights in public policy.

For example: -- Among Asian-American men, 18 percent of those with Japanese ancestry are cigarette smokers, compared with 72 percent of Laotians. Japanese Americans tend to be from long-established families, in which several generations have been exposed to America's anti-smoking crusades. Most Laotians are recent immigrants from a war-torn land.

A survey conducted for the National Science Foundation found that 79% of American adults agree or strongly agree that basic scientific research is important and should be sponsored by the federal government. But when asked a series of fundamental science questions, the average score for the 2,000 adults in the survey was only 55% correct, the NSF said in a report released on Wednesday. . . . Among the questions, with the correct answer and the percentage of Americans who got it right: 3. Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. (True) 93%.

Ailing Czech President Vaclav Havel fell "temporarily" into critical condition Tuesday, but doctors said they stabilized him with electroshocks. . . Havel underwent long-planned abdominal surgery to close a colostomy on June 26. But his recovery was complicated by breathing problems and infections. The 61-year-old president, formerly a chain smoker and a veteran of Communist jails, has suffered from chronic bronchitis for years.

Czech President Vaclav Havel, who had emergency surgery on Monday, has battled a series of serious ailments in recent years just as his country has suffered its worst period of post-Communist turmoil. . . He needed an emergency tracheotomy after his lung collapsed overnight. The procedure, while serious, is not expected to be life-threatening.

Japanese are such heavy smokers that airlines have been reluctant to bring in smoking bans on flights to and from that country. But from October 25, Cathay Pacific will include Japan, to make its whole fleet smoke-free. "Our research indicated that a growing number of our passengers on the services to Japan were non-smokers and wished to have non-smoking flights," says Philip Chen, Cathay's chief operating officer.

The Marlboro Man and the late Joe Camel ad campaigns had such a powerful influence on adolescents that they alone can be held directly responsible for encouraging four million kids to experiment with cigarettes over the past decade; at least 600,000 of those kids will eventually die from tobacco-related disease as a result, new research shows. These are the findings of Dr. John Pierce, the Sam M. Walton Professor for Cancer Research at the University of California/San Diego's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. Dr. Pierce recently analyzed data on how preferences among children for tobacco advertising and promotional items are correlated with later smoking behavior, along with data on the number of premature deaths projected for teen smokers attributable to tobacco-related disease.

Sadly for Mr. Clark and his U.S. counterparts, there is a wee problem with the crusade: It's wrong. Not just morally, for trampling on people's rights. It's also empirically wrong. In fact, because smokers tend to die younger, the costs of treating tobacco-related diseases are mitigated . . . Just how disingenuous the concern about "social costs" is can be seen by what governments and activists are not doing (not yet, at least). They are not going after all the other products that result in public health costs. No one has suggested auto makers pay the hospital bills of crash victims. . . No matter what the rhetoric, the anti-smoking crusade wants people not to smoke. If it does so by persuasion, fine. But taxes, penalties, censorship and other coercive means have no place in a society that respects free choice.

NEMERY and PIETTE's tabulation[1] of the publication records of six European scientists who wrote a tobacco industry sponsored report on passive smoking found all of these authors had little to no research records in epidemiology or anything to do with smoking. In 1994, the Tobacco Institute of Australia convened what it called an "independent working party" of "eminently qualified experts" to critically review the research literature on passive smoking [2]. As with the European report, with one exception, the Australian review's authors had next to no track records in any area of epidemiology or tobacco-related research (see table).

Since the cigarette companies' game has been to distract us from the obvious, CDC has had to go to the bother of proving the obvious. A CDC study finds that a sharp increase in cigarette taxes would deeply slash sales, precisely the objective of recently failed legislation that would have used a cigarette tax increase to force up the price. . . An unbought Republican, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, continues trying to find a political opening that would let him bring back his tobacco control bill. He is struggling upstream against a torrent of industry advertising that has managed so far to convince enough folks that a $1.10 tax on cigarettes is somehow a bigger cost than those 400,000 lives and $50 billion in annual medical expenses that we shell out to keep the tobacco companies rich.

Just as it would be no defense to a price-fixing conspiracy that buyers know they are paying too much, so too it is no defense to a quality-fixing conspiracy that buyers know the quality is too low. After all, if automakers conspired to make no car safer than a Yugo, they could not defend themselves by saying that buyers know that cars in general (or Yugos in particular) are unsafe and must regard such risks as outweighed by the benefits of driving. For the conspiracy would be taking away from us the right to choose the safer cars that competition would produce. Likewise, smokers are entitled not to be saddled with a restrained market where all they can buy are Yugo cigarettes. Such short-circuiting of the competitive process is precisely what antitrust law is meant to redress. And just what adherents of the free market should vigorously oppose.

Peter Walsh Household income and expenditure surveys are a less than perfect base for assessing tax regressivity, i.e. tax which takes a higher proportion of income from the poor than from the rich. It is, however, the best base we have. . . Many also favour a hefty increase in tobacco excise. Gambling, smoking and to a less extent drinking beer, are regarded as sins. Taxing them at punitive rates is therefore justified. If they fall disproportionately on the poor, too bad. Puritanical zeal crowds out empathy for the poor. Demands for sin taxes especially on tobacco and cask wine are packaged as health measures. There is no substantial evidence that tobacco demand from the poor is highly elastic.

The Washington County Board agreed Tuesday to move forward with plans to amend its new youth tobacco ordinance, just a month after the ordinance went into effect. Under the proposed revised ordinance, minors would be allowed to sell tobacco products if an employee age 18 or older were on the premises.

The council also voted to postpone a final vote on Duncan's proposal to impose a county tobacco tax and use the proceeds to fund anti-smoking programs for youth.

The following transcript and video clips are of an NBC-affiliate Channel 5 News "Cover Story." [14K] . . . Content: Investigation of claim by Missouri Group Against Smoking Pollution [GASP] that LAMBERT-ST LOUIS AIRPORT's smoking lounges were ineffective at containing tobacco smoke. The claim was based on the results of nicotine vapor tests inside the airport conducted by GASP. The group said the results supported their Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination complaint alleging denial of access for breathing disabled smoke-sensitive individuals.

Tobacco settlement money should be spent in Minnesota and that includes research spending, DFL attorney general candidate Mike Hatch said. Hatch criticized a proposal by Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III to fund national research with part of the state' s $6.1 billion settlement.

The Northeast Tobacco Free Oklahoma Coalition is creating the new, smoke-free dining guide, which should be available by November. "We're not trying to say people can't smoke. We're not trying to take away people's right to smoke, but we are saying that those of us who do not smoke have the right not to breathe second-hand smoke," said Kay Stauss, chairwoman of the Northeast Tobacco Free Oklahoma Coalition, which is compiling the guide.

Ask for a pack of Indian cigarettes in a shop in Imphal, Kohima or Dimapur and the shopkeeper looks askance. Most likely you will get one of the many foreign brands, especially the popular Chinese gaspers like `Win,' `Pine,' and `Congress.' It's almost like being treated a foreigner in one's own country. Though Indian cigarettes are just as good - or bad - the ordinary customer has come to prefer the exotic in everything. Not just cigarettes, but all kinds of `Foreign-made' goods have captured the markets of the entire north eastern region over the years and Indian products relegated to a back seat.

The capital of booming southern China's GUANGDONG province would ban all cigarette ads and product promotions by August 25, the official China Daily reported yesterday. Billboards, bar signs, umbrellas, balloons and other give-aways bearing cigarette brand names would be banned in GUANGZHOU city, complementing a nationwide ban on print and broadcast cigarette advertising.

For some products, like cigarettes, smuggling is the only major way into the country. Because Chinese tobacco imports and sales are officially controlled by a state monopoly, the central government estimates that smuggling accounts for more than 90% of foreign cigarettes sold here -- an estimated $100 million per year of them from Philip Morris alone. A spokesman for Philip Morris in Hong Kong said that while the company may be aware of the smuggling, it doesn't know of specific instances, and won't comment on the potential impact the crackdown might have on the company's sales.

Brazil's leading tobacco company Souza Cruz SA (E.SCZ) inaugurated Thursday a new cigarette factory in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the company said in a written statement. The facility, which has been operating partially since June 1997, has already absorbed investments of $70 million. Souza Cruz, which has 83% of Brazil's cigarette market, expects total investments to reach $580 million.

800-JR Cigar Inc.'s (JRJR) shares slid to a 52-week-low Thursday one day after the company reported second-quarter earnings 6 cents a share below analysts' expectations. A higher New Jersey tobacco tax discouraged cigar sales and contributed to 800-JR Cigar's below-views results.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan GLICKMAN declared South Carolina an agricultural disaster Wednesday, opening up emergency relief to farmers who have watched their crops wilt under scorching summer weather. Glickman, who visited South Carolina last month, said the state's crops were devastated. "Nothing could grow in that parched earth," Glickman said.

Tobacco markets opened throughout southside Virginia, and farmers were busy making deliveries despite the national turmoil surrounding the industry. "We are too busy worrying about getting crop in to worry about politics right now," Harry Lea, vice president of Danville Tobacco Association and a tobacco warehouser, said Tuesday.

ii) BAT Industries Plc will be removed from the UK index following its demerger into British American Tobacco Plc and its financial services activites. The demerged companies, Allied Zurich Plc and British American Tobacco Plc, will be reviewed as possible UK constituents in accordance with Ground Rule 4.1.v, with effect from the first day of trading, which is expected Sept. 7, 1998.

The study was conducted and compiled by Lansing-based Rossman Martin & Associates (RM&A). The study's key findings are: . . 10.9 percent advertised tobacco products, and 4.5 percent were for alcoholic beverages.

THE ALL-STAR ANALYSTS SURVEY for 1998 of The Wall Street Journal, published June 30, listed the wrong people as the No. 5 analysts in two industry categories because of errors by Zacks Investment Research Inc. . . MARC COHEN of GOLDMAN, SACHS & Co. should have been listed as the No. 5 tobacco analyst measured by earnings-estimate accuracy. Mr. Cohen, a five-time All-Star, had an error factor of 0.99. JEFFREY F. OMOHUNDRO of WHEAT FIRST UNION, who was listed as No. 3 in the category, wasn't eligible because he didn't cover the industry as a senior analyst during all of 1997. Accordingly, the analysts who were ranked below him move up one place, and the number of eligible analysts in the category decreases to eight.

The crowd attending Danville tobacco market opening ceremonies yesterday was probably surprised by what it saw at Piedmont-Big Sale Warehouse. Instead of the familiar loose piles of bright leaf tobacco, growers, warehousemen, buyers and others walked among neatly spaced cubes at Harry Lea's Riverside Drive warehouse. "This is something that the United States needed to do to change its marketing system," Lea said.

Loews Corp.'s second-quarter earnings rose nearly fourfold despite an 11% decline in net income at its majority-owned CNA Financial Corp., which also announced layoffs to combat a weak commercial-insurance market. Loews, the New York holding company for Loews Hotels, Lorillard Tobacco, CNA Financial and Bulova, reported net income of $247.2 million, or $2.15 a diluted share, compared with $63.8 million, or 55 cents a diluted share, a year earlier

Cigar Lifestyles is doing a profile of Vikings offensive line coach Mike Tice, the team's resident cigar aficionado. Earlier, quarterback Brad Johnson had politely declined the magazine's request for an interview. Asked how long he has been lighting up, Tice said: "I started before it was chic. I have three humidors . . Blowing no smoke, here are Tice's three favorite brands of stogies:

People who are the sickest often don't know that their smoking, drinking and unhealthy eating are causing their illness. Blacks have the worst nutrition of any ethnic group, despite years of well-meaning public health-education campaigns. Such campaigns often miss the minority communities that most need them. "Bad nutritional habits, the use of tobacco, the lack of physical activity and irresponsible sexual behavior are threatening our health," Satcher, who is black, told the Southern Christian Leadership Conference recently.

Still, there are indications - however faint, however wispy - that the pipe might be making a comeback. The consensus is that cigar smoking has peaked. The speculation is that pipe smoking will benefit. "People are leaving cigars," says Lawrence Samuel, a trends analyst at Iconoculture, a Minneapolis-based marketing firm, "and they're going to go somewhere." The assumption is that smokers who've gotten into the habit of going to tobacconists will continue to do so - but once inside they'll head for the pipe rack rather than the humidor.

Millions of Russians are putting their lives at risk and no one seems to want to stop them. Not the health authorities. Not the government. And certainly not Western tobacco companies, who are loving these Russian risk-takers all the way to the bank. The World Health Organization says that Russia is the world's fourth largest consumer of tobacco. Two-thirds of all men and one-third of its women smoke. And although health experts do not overtly encourage people to smoke, most anti-smoking campaigns that do emerge in Russia are decidedly low key. Any attempt to up the tempo meets with swift opposition.

At one time, African Americans were seeing a decline in smoking. But then the slick advertising campaigns like Joe Camel began taking effect. The kids were brainwashed into thinking smoking was glamorous. For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted minority populations in their advertising. . . Many are poorly educated and face immense cultural barriers. If minority groups are going to be educated about smoking, then the anti-smoking messages must be culturally sensitive and translated into their native languages.

It was at a party, several weeks ago, that I realised how many of my friends smoked. As I glanced round the room I could count only two people, in a crowd of about 50, who didn't have a packet of Marlboro Light or Silk Cut in front of them. . . The fact is my generation smokes because it wants to. We're not at an age where we can see the future - and any threat to our health - as anything more than a vague vision on the horizon that is obscured by a thick haze of cigarette smoke. Which will clear, I have absolutely no doubt, by the time we are ready to take on the responsibility of creating the next generation.

"Sex With You Was So Good That Even the Neighbors Had a Cigarette" -- Carl McAtee, of University Park.

Mitch MCCONNELL, the nation's chief apologist for the "money talks" (and everyone else walks) theory of democracy and soon to be (Gasp!) the senior U.S. senator from this fair commonwealth, says "Elvis will rise" before the Senate again considers legislation to outlaw the "soft money" contributions and "independent" expenditures that have made a mockery of every federal and state attempt at regulating campaign finance. . . BUNNING's opponent in the Senate race, 6th District Democratic Rep. Scotty BAESLER, was the only Kentuckian voting Monday to give government back to the people. As we said, this isn't the single issue in the Baesler-Bunning contest, nor in the six House elections. But all other things being equal, if you're tired of the national disgrace that is "soft money" and "independent" expenditures, if you're tired of an election process -- and a government -- owned and controlled by the wealthy few, Elvis might advise you It's Now or Never.

Philip Morris Document 2025863645 states that "product was supplied" for more than 190 movies during the decade from 1978 to 1988. The shocking, 14-page list of titles peaks in '87 and '88, when the company supplied tobacco for 54 films, including youth fare like "The Dream Team," "Crocodile Dundee," "Robocop," "Die Hard," and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" Fifty films, such as "The Muppet Movie," "Grease" and "Jaws II," were rated PG or G. Philip Morris calls the placements "donations" -- and indeed, no record of payments has been uncovered. On the other hand, if embedded advertising went for free, why did the company pay $350,000 the same year for a role in "License to Kill"?

The congressional bill is aimed at closing a loophole on the only major tobacco product left virtually unchecked by federal law, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and senior member of the House Commerce Committee, where the bill is expected to be referred. . . A spokesman for the cigar industry said yesterday that manufacturers "endorse the goal" of the bill. But Norman F. Sharp, president of the Cigar Association of America, said, "We do not think that legislation is necessary to accomplish that goal." The industry is opposed to under-age smoking and to marketing and advertising aimed at youth, he said. But Sharp added that the industry opposes a federal warning label.

The Alabama Trial Lawyers Association says Alabama's reputation as a "jackpot justice" state for personal injury lawsuits is nonsense. . . The association claims that groups lobbying for limits on jury awards are bankrolled by the tobacco and insurance industries and the Alabama Business Council.

A legislator went to court Wednesday to block Attorney General JAY NIXON's plan to pay private lawyers hundreds of millions of dollars to represent Missouri in its lawsuit against tobacco companies. The legislator - state Sen. PETER KINDER, R-Cape Girardeau - said Nixon had entered into an illegal contract with Thomas Strong, the Springfield lawyer Nixon chose as the state's lead attorney on the tobacco case.

A state lawmaker today said that Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon circumvented the legislative process when he signed a contract to have the Greene County Sheriff become the lead attorney in the state's lawsuit against tobacco companies. Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said he planned to file a lawsuit today in Cole County Circuit Court to have the contract voided. The lawsuit will name Nixon and sheriff Thomas Strong, who's handling the state's tobacco lawsuit, as defendants. "We have no problems with the (tobacco) lawsuit itself," Kinder said at a news conference this morning in St. Louis. "But, this is an illegal scheme to rip off the state of Missouri."

U.S. District Judge Malcolm F. Marsh ruled that individual union smokers could sue tobacco companies to recoup the cost of treating smoking-related injuries but that union trust funds could not. "The lawsuit details an allegedly sordid history of irresponsible corporate management and unchecked greed on the part of the tobacco industry," Marsh wrote. "However compelling these charges may be, there are very sound judicial policy reasons for limiting legal actions to those parties most directly injured by the harmful conduct."

A federal court in Portland today dismissed in entirety a health care reimbursement lawsuit brought on behalf of a purported class of more than 50 labor union funds in Oregon. In his 28-page opinion, U.S. District JUDGE MALCOLM MARSH said the labor funds had no legal basis on which to sue the tobacco industry because the funds had not sustained any direct harm. "To allow plaintiffs to maintain actions that are entirely dependent upon the harm suffered by others threatens chaos for the judicial system, especially where others may (and have) filed their own actions and are capable of recovering a full range of damages, including the medical costs sought here," said the court.

Iowa will continue to move ahead on litigation against the tobacco industry. A hearing in Des Moines yesterday covered a number of issues regarding the industry, from scheduling a trial to efforts by tobacco companies to dismiss the lawsu it. Attorney General Tom Miller says the lawsuit aims at making the companies pay Iowa for treating sick smokers.

At their annual conference in Perth, The Heart Foundation and Cardiac Society called for harsher penalties on people selling cigarettes to children and to increase taxes on tobacco products. "We need to put pressure on the federal and state governments to change the smoking culture," said cardiologist and former Australian Medical Association (AMA) president Dr Keith Woollard.

Five leading health professionals have demanded tough jail terms for shop owners caught illegally selling cigarettes to minors. In a powerful attack on the tobacco industry, they likened cigarettes to heroin and accused illegal sellers of "murder by stealth". Dr David Celermajer from Prince Alfred Hospital said he wanted "draconian measures" enforced - including jail and the cancellation of tobacco sales licences - to stop the sale of cigarettes to under-age youth.

A new tobacco tax is expected to deliver extra revenue to the Government to help fund other tax cuts that are meant to sweeten the 10 per cent GST. Peter Costello confirmed yesterday that the election tax blueprint would be revealed to the public at 4pm next Thursday after a five-hour, budget-style lock-up for the media, business and Opposition.

UDM chairman Bantu Holomisa said the suspension was necessary for proper consultation to take place with labour, the industry and those benefiting from tobacco sponsorship. Holomisa also lashed out at President Nelson Mandela and senior African National Congress officials for "engaging in secret talks" . . "The Bill was passed by Parliament and all of a sudden some people see it fit to intervene when interests of the unnamed Grand Prix sponsor are threatened. "Will Mandela always intervene every time such an event comes under threat. If not, why then this preferential treatment from him?" Holomisa asked.

A complete smoking ban was imposed in all government buildings in the Free State from last Friday, the Free State health department said on Monday. "By declaring government facilities and buildings smoke-free areas, the Free State provincial government indicates that it is serious about environmental tobacco smoke as a health risk," spokeswoman Elke Grobler said in a statement.

President Nelson Mandela is to meet head of Formula One racing Bernie Ecclestone on August 19 to discuss plans for a South African grand prix in the light of the government's proposed crackdown on tobacco sponsorship. Sports Minister Steve Tshwete told a media briefing in Cape Town on Monday that he would also attend the lunch meeting, which was "quite critical" in view of the draft legislation approved by Cabinet last week. However, he emphasised that the ban would be phased in in consultation with sports bodies and sponsors, and that there would be no guillotine.

South Africa officials are convinced the nation will host a Formula One race next season after a six-year absence despite the introduction of a bill banning tobacco advertising, Sports Minister Steve Tshwete said on Monday. "We will have the race," Tshwete said. "We want to clear every hurdle in getting Formula One here." He said BERNIE ECCLESTONE, the boss of the Formula One Constructors Association, had been invited to lunch with him and president NELSON MANDELA on August 19 to clear up any problems stemming from the Tobacco Ammendment Bill.

President Nelson Mandela will meet Formula One racing boss Bernie Ecclestone on to discuss plans for a South African Grand Prix next year. Sports Minister Steve Tshwete said the meeting would be "quite critical" in view of the government's proposed crackdown on tobacco sponsorship.

Clinton is expected in Louisville on Monday to headline a $1,000-a-ticket fund-raising luncheon for Baesler, the Lexington Democrat who's running against U.S. Rep. Jim BUNNING, R-Southgate. The race is a top priority for both national parties. . . . When Clinton visited Carrollton in April to meet with tobacco farmers -- the last time he was in Kentucky -- Baesler flew to Kentucky with him on Air Force One. He also traveled with Clinton in his motorcade. "(Baesler) took that time to really educate and inform the president about the tobacco farmers' needs," Wiseman said. "In terms of it being an issue, I think that's been resolved."

The Republican candidate for attorney general says Democrat JIM DOYLE is wasting money by suing Microsoft and the cigarette companies. LINDA VAN DE WATER says Attorney General Doyle should focus more on police training and the State Crime Lab.

A coalition of health groups is asking San Antonio city council to approve one of the toughest anti smoking laws in the state. The San Antonio Tobacco Health Awareness Coalition says smoking should be banned in all work places... including restaurants and bars

Even if initiative signatures are collected illegally, they can still be valid. That's the ruling of the State Court of Appeals in a case stemming a 1996 petition drive to put a cigarette tax hike on the ballot. After the measure was approved, evidence surfaced that some of the petitioners were not registered voters in Oregon. In such a case, petitioners can be fined... but the Court ruled that there are no provisions to invalidate the signatures.

U-S Border Patrol agents are siting on 100 cases of Cuban cigars they seized at a border checkpoint near San Clemente. Agents found about 40-thousand dollars worth of cigars hidden under the back seat and inside the door panels of a Chevy pickup truck.

The Boston Globe and columnist MIKE BARNICLE found themselves at a standoff Thursday, with the newspaper continuing to demand his resignation and Barnicle declining to provide it. . . Barnicle's flouting of that professional convention in the late 1970s was matched in the mid-1990s by his willingness to flout the convention that there should be no smoking in a no-smoking building. Barnicle said he smoked cigars in his office and welcomed other smokers there.

Boston Globe editor Matthew V. Storin yesterday asked for the resignation of 25-year columnist MIKE BARNICLE, asserting that his "relationship with his readers and his employers has become untenable" in the wake of a column on Sunday containing similarities to a book by comedian George Carlin.

Following are eight instances where items from GEORGE CARLIN's 1997 book, "BRAIN DROPPINGS," closely matched items in MIKE BARNICLE's Aug. 2 column: The book: "I read that a Detroit man and his friend were arrested because they had forced the man's five-year-old son to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and perform oral sex on them. Can you imagine? Cigarettes!" The column: "When liberals are told that a couple has been sentenced to jail for forcing a 7-year-old to smoke cigarettes, drink liquor, and have sex with an adult for money, they say: `Cigarettes? That's awful!"'

Tye relates, for example, how in 1928 American Tobacco Co. asked Bernays to help expand its customer base to women. Rather than promote the qualities of the brand, Bernays sought to alter the image of smoking in women's minds. He staged his own Easter Parade along New York's Fifth Avenue, with 10 socialites smoking what Bernays liked to call "torches of freedom." He enlisted a reputable doctor to testify that smoking was healthy, persuaded hotel restaurants to put cigarettes on the menu alongside desserts, recruited a willing editor from House & Garden to create menus suggesting cigarettes instead of dessert, and even persuaded dance instructor Arthur Murray to say that women should smoke rather than overeat and embarrass themselves on the dance floor.

If the aim of today's media moguls is to make money and control the content and distribution of information, the ambition of their upstart and technologically savvy competitors is to add new and varied voices to a media mix that they argue has become too centralized and stagnant. . . Another journalistic benefit of the Internet: the ability to aggregate news. Gene Borio discovered that cyber asset when his interest in the tobacco debate piqued and he had to dig for in-depth and objective information. "Nobody [in the media] wanted to touch the subject," Borio said. "Until 1994, when the tobacco executives went up [to Congress], you couldn't find anything on tobacco." . . He has funneled donations from users of his site and his personal savings from a former Internet-related job into the venture to give tobacco junkies the quick tobacco-news fix he said he struggled to find in traditional media.

An item in Tuesday's Citizen reported that teenage girls smoke not because of peer pressure but to lose weight. . . But although we realize that girls who won't listen to their parents probably won't listen to us either, we'd like to urge them all to eat healthily.

Of course the tobacco industry lied to them! The first rule of scientific inquiry: Don't believe data supplied by those who have a vested economic interested in the subject. What (credible) scientist would accept evidence from the tobacco industry at face value? Clearly all the ones working for the FDA and the state of Minnesota. . . Raising taxes won't curb smoking, teen or otherwise. . . There's a paradox of smoking. I know it's bad; I don't care. I smoke because I enjoy smoking, not because I'm malicious and not because I've been duped. There will be a price to pay for my habit, but there's a price to pay for everything.

DOUG STANHOPE's day has arrived. . . Riffing about smoking, he laments, "There's no euphoria to smoking. It's not like drinking. You can't smoke somebody pretty."

The House yesterday overwhelmingly approved legislation to stop the flow of unregulated "soft money" to political parties and crack down on attack ads by special interest groups, putting new pressure on hostile Senate Republicans to approve the plan. The 252 to 179 vote, which included the approval of 61 Republicans, came in defiance of Republican leaders who had tried a series of parliamentary maneuvers to derail the bill during a grueling four-month struggle.

Senate Majority Leader Roy Cooper says legislators may still pass a law that would help the state's attorney general sue tobacco companies. Attorney General Mike Easley has said legislators passed a law that prevents him from recovering costs of smoking-related illnesses from tobacco companies. Legislators have refused to change that, but Senator Cooper says "we are open to the prospect. We are going to be here another three to four weeks and I think that, certainly, there is an opportunity to make the change."

The state Ethics Commission is taking a preliminary look at Gov. David Beasley's free travel on corporate jets. But the inquiry doesn't satisfy Democrats such as Tom TURNIPSEED, who is seeking the post of South Carolina attorney general. . . But Mr. Turnipseed is pointing a finger at the attorney general for trips he's taken cross-country negotiating South Carolina's tobacco jackpot. In the beginning Mr. Condon hired seven private attorneys to fight the tobacco powerhouses. Then he laid them off when it was discovered that he had a contract that could have paid them up to $800 million for their work. And Mr. Turnipseed says Mr. Condon isn't working swiftly enough to reactivate the state's tobacco case. And while he waits for Congress to approve a tobacco settlement, billions of dollars are being funnelled to the citizens of states like Mississippi, Florida and Texas. "He's really screwed the whole thing up," Mr. Turnipseed said.

The Indianapolis Bar Association has issued a rare rebuke to the state's highest-ranking lawyer, Attorney General Jeffrey Modisett. In a letter sent this week to Modisett and two newspapers, the bar association takes the attorney general to task for harshly criticizing a local judge who dismissed the state's lawsuit against the tobacco industry. The bar association particularly is upset with Modisett for staging a dramatic news conference at which he crumpled, then tossed aside, a copy of the court order dismissing the case.

Any discussion of cancer prevention still has to start with smoking, which continues to account for about 30 percent of cancer deaths in America. And it's not just the lungs that tobacco attacks, but the mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, head, neck, and colon. "If we took all the other reliably known effects, and added them all up, it probably wouldn't add up to 50 percent of the number of cancer deaths caused by smoking," says Richard Peto, a professor of medical statistics at the University of Oxford . . "Today we're putting perhaps too much emphasis on kids. It's easy politically to say, `Let's try to avoid companies deliberately encouraging kids from getting into smoking.' But that's only part of an appropriate way to reduce deaths from tobacco," Peto says. "Stopping smoking even in middle age you can avoid most of the risk."

Four weeks ago, Plymouth, Pa., population 7,100, erected 30 signs around its Main Street business district warning smokers against discarding their used cigarettes. . . "The real reason for this is (a.) we don't want litter on our streets and (b.) it costs a lot of money to clean up," Plymouth borough administrator Clif Madrack said. . . "We are targeting cigarette butts in the business district because that's what's being tossed there, and when I tell you we get 5,000 butts a week, I'm not exaggerating," Madrack said. "It's horrendous."

David Peck, owner of Lido Cigar Room, said he was been excluded for the third time from next month's Taste of Newport, the annual event sponsored by the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce showcasing local restaurants. . . . Richard Luehrs, chamber president, said the Taste of Newport committee made the decision to limit cigar vendors to one after receiving several complaints from patrons about cigar smoke wafting through the eating areas. Cigar booths have been included in the event for the past two years.

Former state senator GEORGE BACHRACH attacked rival MARJORIE CLAPPROOD yesterday in the 8th Congressional District race for portraying herself as an antitobacco crusader after "being in the pocket of big tobacco for her entire legislative career." Following antitobacco comments by Clapprood in a forum at the Codman Square Health Center on Wednesday night, the Bachrach campaign produced news clips and voting records showing Clapprood voted against some antismoking measures while she was a state representative, and also accepted money from tobacco lobbyists and the Tobacco Institute.

Windows blocked by pyramids of cigarette cartons and signs advertising beer and milk. Poor lighting in the parking lots. No silent alarm systems. Convenience stores are dangerous places under those conditions, Fort Lauderdale police say. They are preparing to crack down, using a 1992 state law that requires convenience stores to be safer.

Some faithful members of Smoke A Cigar Club on North Brand Boulevard are puffing mad. Club members and investors were notified by letter July 27 that the club, opened in August 1996, had shut it doors July 26 and that the owner had filed for bankruptcy.

Michigan residents are streaming into Canada to shop as the value of the Canadian dollar falls. The Canadian "loonie" has set record lows compared to the U- S dollar nearly every day for the last three weeks. A Canadian dollar is now worth just 66 U-S cents. U-S residents can buy up to 200-dollars worth of goods duty free in Canada... but that excludes alcohol and cigarettes.

Europe's ban on cigarette advertising has inspired tobacco companies to develop other ways of keeping their names in the limelight. According to Montecito Journal columnist John Wilcock, BENSON & HEDGES plans to open a chain of coffee shops bearing the company's name. And LUCKY STRIKE is working on a line of clothing.

Inside the White House, a few doors down from the Oval Office, Keith Parrish and 10 other tobacco farmers talked Thursday about the future of tobacco legislation. They had a receptive and powerful audience. As Parrish and other farmers, many from North Carolina, discussed the stresses of modern-day farming, those listening included White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman and eight U.S. congressmen.

Its relationship with Yahoo Inc., the Internet search service, is an example of how Cyrk hopes to expand its business beyond just supplying Happy Meal toys for McDonald's and Marlboro gear to cigarette smokers. . . For much of its history, Cyrk has had to rely heavily on a few giant clients such as McDonald's and Marlboro because only such "megabrands" have the resources to mount big loyalty rewards programs, Rossi says. In 1994, nearly 90 percent of its revenues came from Philip Morris Inc.

Yaqub said that the Championship would provide a good opportunity to the juniors in the squad to get exposure and match competition which will stand them in good stead for the ASIAN JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, also being held in Iran in October. Secondly, the exposure at Tehran will prepare the team for Asian Games in Bangkok in December. "With that end in mind, we have selected quite a few youngsters in the team", said Yaqub while also disclosing that a Kazakhastan junior team will play a seven-match series against Pakistan Juniors at Islamabad, Wah and Peshawar in the third week of September, which will serve as good warm-up for the ASIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP.The series will probably be sponsored by LACKSON TOBACCO and "we will try to get it telecast live".

The women's new image is no accident. It has been carefully cultivated by the Women's Pro Billiard Association. The organization, formed in 1976, became more important in 1991, when the women split from the men's tour over marketing and sponsorship conflicts. At that time, the word "pool" often brought to mind drunken hustlers shooting stick and comparing tattoos in dingy, smoke-filled bars. . . Ewa Mataya Laurance, the former president of the women's association, said the players decided that if the sport was to succeed, it needed a makeover. Drinking, smoking and gambling were outlawed at tournament sites. By the time the New York Classic started in 1993, the dress code demanded silky gowns and evening wear for televised matches.

Hidden Theatre's fifth season will feature four plays -- all area premieres -- that will dig into sex, booze and murder. The Hidden Theatre roster includes the American premiere of CONOR MCPHERSON's "RUM AND VODKA," the 27-year-old Irish playwright's unapologetic look at a young drinker who smokes and sniffs his life away in one weekend. It will close Hidden Theatre's season next August. Co-artistic director Brian Baumgartner will play the lead character.

Current Prices . . . * Kool cigarettes World War II store sign, Kool penguin as sentry carrying rifle, "Keep alert--smoke Kools," 12x18 inches: $135.

Since its beginning in 1994, Children First, a St. Louis Park community initiative, has been a pioneering effort to build stronger support for helping young people succeed. A 1997-98 school year survey of 1,729 students shows encouraging results . . . Where 1993 responses differed from those in 1997-98, the latest mostly indicated positive results. For example, . . . Recent alcohol use dropped to 33 percent from 45 percent; recent smoking, 21 from 28

Tolerance is also missing in talk about tobacco. While smokers and gays may seem like disparate subjects, the reaction to each is similar: a hot-eyed wrath . . . An ex-gay or an ex-smoker is not only a splendid trophy but living proof that there's no zealot like a convert. . . When the AIDS epidemic began to match the toll of lung cancer, the crocodile tears of critics flowed smugly."

Immigrants know firsthand the trials, tribulations and pain suffered in nations that lack the rule of law, a free press, a system of checks and balances and the right to vote. Many came from countries where officials have license to be corrupt. They find it remarkable that we can read in our newspapers about charitable donations made by tobacco companies on behalf of fire safety organizations and laughable that we obsess over what strike them as trivial transgressions.

This spot in the state's long-running anti-smoking campaign warns that impotence could be a side effect of cigarette smoking. . . The Department of Health Services, after all, is working to reduce sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. Yet here is an ad that all but endorses sex with strangers. $+

Sen. Colin Kenny has been travelling around the country for some months now to promote his brainchild - a bill to add a 50c levy to a carton of cigarettes, with all the revenue going to stop youth smoking. .. . I foresee two potential problems - smuggling and a potential backlash from the tobacco companies (like the current ad campaign on American TV deriding a looming cigarette price hike there as a "tax grab" against "working people"). Kenny says his police "sources" say the hike's too small to spark widespread smuggling, and he's likely right. In terms of public health, he's on the side of the angels. The real question will be whether he's on the side of the Liberals.

"A regular consumer of news and news-like programming who believed the broadcast ads by both sides would be seriously misled by the industry," said the study by the ANNENBERG PUBLIC POLICY CENTER of the University of Pennsylvania. Supporters of the tobacco bill, designed to raise the price of cigarettes in an attempt to curb teen smoking, were guilty of hyperbole as well, the study found. One ad says the bill will "stop the killing," which, the study notes "suggests that the tobacco companies are deliberately ending human life."

According to Steve Duchesne, a tobacco industry spokesman with BSMG Worldwide, the tobacco industry reviews its ad strategy on a week-by-week basis, and it will continue to air ads like this one "so long as there are politicians in Washington who are intent on bringing up big-government, big-tax legislation" in regard to tobacco issues. A bipartisan tobacco bill (H.R. 3868) , introduced in May and sponsored by Reps. James HANSEN, R-Utah; Marty MEEHAN, D-Mass.; and Henry WAXMAN, D-Calif., is a good example

• 08/07/98 SPOTLIGHT REPORT: Tobacco Resolution Campaign
  
  Ad Buy Stats
• 08/07/98 1998 POLITICAL ADS: Smoky Memories Video & Script Of "Remember"
  
  A coalition of the five leading U.S. tobacco companies paid for and produced these spots in the "Remember" series, which features American citizens critiquing the tobacco tax now under consideration in Congress.

About 12:30 a.m., the House passed an amendment that would make possession of tobacco or tobacco products by minors in the District a crime. The final vote on the complete bill with amendments came about 12:45 a.m. and passed on a 214 to 206 vote.

Lawyers for the state of California and local governments have reached an agreement that could send $2.8 billion over 25 years to Los Angeles County if state attorneys general settle the current raft of lawsuits against the nation's tobacco companies. The proposed formula, The Times has learned, could also send about $287.5 million to the city of Los Angeles.

In the first deal of its kind, the state has reached an agreement with California cities and counties to share the nearly $18 billion dollars it could receive in a settlement with the tobacco industry, attorneys said Friday.

In a deal that could mean tens of millions of dollars for San Francisco and other Bay Area counties, state Attorney General Dan Lungren has agreed to give half of any cash that California wins in legal action against the tobacco industry to local governments. California becomes the first of the 36 states suing tobacco firms to cut a deal with local governments for dividing any money won in lawsuits or settlements

On Thursday, Commerce Commissioner Dave Gruenes ordered the Eagan-based insurer to hold onto the $160 million payment, the first and largest that the tobacco industry will pay Blue Cross during the next four years, until public hearings can be held in about six weeks to air the company's plans for spending it.

An anti-tobacco group in Ohio is calling attention to a recent Dutch study. The Tobacco-To-21 group wants to see the legal age for buying tobacco products in the state raised from 18 to 21. The Dutch study indicates that smokers are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and dementia as non-smokers. Tobacco-To-21 founder Rob Crane says smoking-related health problems account for 120-BILLION-dollars-a-year in health care costs... and that the cost in Ohio is 15-percent higher than the national average.

An Ohio organization attempting to raise the legal purchasing age for tobacco products is pointing to a recent Dutch study as another reason why the Ohio General Assembly should adopt their plan and pass Senate Bill 221. . . -- which promotes raising the age requirement to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. The group claims SB 221 would help deter the tobacco industry from targeting our nation's youth with extreme unconventional advertising tactics.

ABC News

Deep in southern Indiana, right on the edge of tobacco growing country, a new series of television commercials is causing an uproar among anti-smoking activists--not for what they say, but for what they do not say.

Evansville's local NBC affiliate has pulled an advertisement for TOBACCO ROAD stores after it was advised to do so by its lawyers. But the station is only pulling the ads for less than a week -- the remainder of its contract with the company. The ads, for the Columbus, Ind.-based chain of about 130 convenience stores owned by the Kiel Brothers Oil Co., feature lounge singers, monster movies and even kittens to advertise their stores.

As of Jan 1, 2000, it will be illegal to smoke in any enclosed public place where minors are allowed. . . Council endorsed the motion 4-3 at a meeting Tuesday night. Vermilion, about 200 km east of Edmonton, is the first municipality in northern Alberta to pass such a bylaw. LETHBRIDGE, MACGRATH and PINCHER CREEK will also go smoke-free as of Jan. 1, 2000.

Support is growing for the Food and Allied Workers' Union's call for a summit to discuss the implications of the proposed Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill. A joint statement by the Federated Hoteliers' Association of SA and the Freedom of Commercial Speech Trust said it they join the summit proposed for the end of August.

Although record spring downpours delayed planting for many farmers, growers expanded their total acreage by 10 percent to 15 percent over last year, according to University of Kentucky agricultural economist Will Snell. The crop is expected to approach 500 million pounds, he said, one of the largest the state has produced. "Yield-wise, a lot of farmers are going to be below average. But the acreage is likely to make up for that," Snell said. "We're expecting a very large crop in '98. It will certainly be larger than the demand."

Here's the way the burley crop is shaping up in Central Kentucky:

Loans are limited to farmers who gross less than $2 million annually

Carr-Gottstein's retail operations include 15 food, drug and general merchandise stores called Carrs Quality Centers, 12 smaller stores which operate under different names, 16 Oaken Keg Spirit Shops liquor stores and five tobacco stores called The Great Alaska Tobacco Company.

MARTIN/WILLIAMS ADVERTISING, Minneapolis, and Bloomington-based CNS Inc., maker of Breathe Right nasal strips and BANISH personal smoke deodorizer, said they have agreed to terminate their relationship. Martin/Williams was CNS' agency-of-record for about one year.

Reliant Corporation, a Utah corporation, ("Reliant"), (OTC Bulletin Board: RELT - news) announced today that its shareholders approved the acquisition of Kevin Harrington Enterprises, Inc., a Florida corporation ("Harrington Enterprises") and Cigar Television Network, Inc., a Florida corporation ("Cigar TV").. . . Cigar TV produces "Smokin' Lifestyles," a monthly celebrity-driven video magazine covering the surging cigar industry, hosted by former MTV and E! Entertainment Television personality Downtown Julie Brown and Magnum PI's Larry Manetti. The show is set to debut at 10:30 AM, August 29. . . A preview of the web site is scheduled for this year's Retail Tobacco Dealers of America (RTDA) trade show, being held August 7 through 11, at the 2,800-room Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. CigarNow.com is also scheduled to debut to a worldwide audience on August 29.

Twins' announcer BOB CASEY is coming up on his 3,000th game. . . Casey, 73, will be honored for both his longevity and individuality during a 20-minute ceremony before today's game against the Baltimore Orioles. . . Casey has attempted to make other catch phrases into trademarks: His Noooo-smoking announcement caught the attention of R.J. Reynolds executives, who thought he did it with too much zeal.

Whether offering millions of dollars to restore the Star-Spangled Banner, presenting rare violins or contributing war memorabilia, a potential donor to the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION is getting a cautionary going-over these days. . . In addition, the Smithsonian entertains gifts only from those whose reputations are relatively blemish-free. Right now, for example, it is not accepting any money from manufacturers of guns, alcoholic products or cigarettes. It has also designed a rule to "avoid association with any product that is widely considered to be harmful, especially to children."

In 1957, as surgeon general under President Dwight Eisenhower, he took the controversial step of publicly tying smoking to lung cancer, becoming the first federal official to take a stand. That groundbreaking move reflected Burney's deeply held philosophy. He had a mantra, highly polished from years of use: Prevention is the single most important issue in public health. . . Burney took hits from critics; one in particular galled him. "As a courtesy to the tobacco industry," he wrote of his 1957 statement, "I sent a copy of the press release ... a few days prior to the (news) conference. My courtesy was repaid by their simultaneously releasing a lengthy, harsh rebuttal to the statement. I continue to be surprised by an action of a vested interest which puts profits above human welfare."

According to Steve Duchesne, a tobacco industry spokesman with BSMG Worldwide, the tobacco industry reviews its ad strategy on a week-by-week basis, and it will continue to air ads like this one "so long as there are politicians in Washington who are intent on bringing up big-government, big-tax legislation" in regard to tobacco issues. A bipartisan tobacco bill (H.R. 3868) , introduced in May and sponsored by Reps. James HANSEN, R-Utah; Marty MEEHAN, D-Mass.; and Henry WAXMAN, D-Calif., is a good example

• 08/07/98 SPOTLIGHT REPORT: Tobacco Resolution Campaign
  
  Ad Buy Stats
• 08/07/98 1998 POLITICAL ADS: Smoky Memories Video & Script Of "Remember"
  
  A coalition of the five leading U.S. tobacco companies paid for and produced these spots in the "Remember" series, which features American citizens critiquing the tobacco tax now under consideration in Congress.

SOME stogie-loving members of the exclusive Racquet Club are talking to their lawyers about suing the U.S. Customs for raiding their private humidors and making off with Cuban cigars found therein. The members claim that the feds didn't have search warrants allowing them to break into the humidors and that the seizure of the cheroots was illegal, even under the terms of the Trading With the Enemy Act..

LAURENCE ZIMMERMAN, the US tycoon trying to buy a 49pc stake in Hull telephone company Kingston Communications, has been charged in New York with possessing illegal cigars. The Landtel Communications chairman, who is spearheading the £245m bid, was arrested by FBI agents last week as part of a crackdown on the sale of outlawed Cuban cigars.

"Dragging those people off just for smoking Cubans, it's absurd," said John McFadden, an investment banker who was savoring an Astral cigar and gesturing in the general direction of his companion, Joseph Avantario. "This whole Cuban thing was topic one at lunch today," said Avantario, lighting up another of McFadden's Astrals. "Just about every U.S. senator smokes Cuban cigars. So why not go after them?"

Havanas - illegal in the US since 1960s Senior staff and customers at two exclusive eating places in New York have fallen foul of the trade sanctions imposed on Cuba by the United States. Federal agents raided Manhattan establishments the RACKET AND TENNIS CLUB, and the PATROON restaurant, charging seven people with selling or smoking Havana cigars.

A taste for Cuban cigars ended up forcing four wealthy, high-powered executives to surrender yesterday to federal authorities - who say the men blew up to $1,200 a month on the smuggled stogies. Edward Marron, Laurence Zimmerman, John Steinhardt and Kenneth Joseph were charged in Manhattan federal court with violating the Trading With the Enemy Act by buying the coveted cheroots from a woman smuggler-turned-informant.

So U.S. Customs agents have gone where nobody goes without an invitation. They raided THE RACQUET AND TENNIS CLUB OF NEW YORK. The place on Park Avenue is so posh, if you have to ask who can join it and how much it costs, you don't belong there. On the second floor, in a 10-by-15-foot walk-in humidor, they found boxes and boxes of Cuban cigars. The club's manager, ROBERT GRESSLER, was charged Wednesday with conspiring to violate the Trading With the Enemy Act. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Big Apple bar owners hoping to cash in on the Cuban cigar craze are watching their profits go up in smoke as federal agents crack down on the illegally imported stogies. And four businessmen also are in the hot seat as they surrendered Thursday on charges of buying the cigars, which can top $800 for a box of 25.

"For the better part of a year, Customs officers have been investigating these places for having Cuban cigars on their premises," says Mott. "You wonder how many illegal drugs came into the country while they were wasting their time and the taxpayers' money like this." . . "It's hypocrisy," says Mott. "Half the politicians in Washington and Albany smoke Cubans when they can get them." President CLINTON? "No. Anyone who has tried to give him one has been brushed off."

UP to 20 Irish barmen and waiters are suing publicans because their health has been damaged by passive smoking at work. The bar workers are also taking legal action against tobacco manufacturers following damage to their health ranging from "lung cancer to voice boxes being removed", according to Hugh Ward, the Dublin solicitor who is acting for them. They claim their illnesses were the result of smoke inhalation in the pubs where they worked. "If bar staff want to earn a livelihood, it's very difficult for them to work and avoid the smoke," said Ward. The first case is due before court in November. The cases are being brought on the grounds of infringement of the health and safety at work act. Jim Moloney, whose Mandate union organises bar staff, said: "A minority of employers don't seem to give a damn about their employees. They don't give a damn about the health and safety act. Once the till is ringing they don't care who's affected by the smoky atmosphere."

Those of a similarly dependent temperament will know what he meant, and will greet the FOREST SMOKER'S GUIDE TO SCOTLAND, launched next week, like it was the first B&H after a long haul to Sydney. . . Having surveyed 162 Scottish hotels, 119 restaurants, 108 pubs and a host of tourist attractions on how smoker-friendly they are, Forest presents the results in a book that can be irritatingly monomaniacal (like, don't they have anything else to think about?) but also grimly humorous and agreeably vigilant to the ironies and complexities surrounding the issues of smoker-tolerance

"There's this idea of great Scottish hospitality but so many of the places we visited in the Highlands treated smokers like they were a cross to bear, which is short-sighted, given that a third of their tourist revenue comes from smokers."

Seeking outgoing individuals at least 21 years of age to assist in a nationwide promotion of a major tobacco product. Will drive customized vans, set up kiosks, and conduct promotions at local retail outlets. Full-time position requires Saturday work. Must have valid driver`s license and pass background check and drug screening. Sales/ Promotion exp. ideal, but not required. Excellent training and salary. Call (800) 386-9448. Call 24 hrs. Field Marketing, Inc., Chicago, IL EOE.

Carolina Speedway owner Charles Miller waves to fans on race night from his tobacco field located near the track. . . From his point of view, he's in a win-win situation. If there's no rain on Saturday, that means there'll be racing at Carolina Speedway that night. If the heavens burst and soak Miller Farms, that's good for his crops.

The tobacco market opened two weeks ago, two weeks later than normal. The extreme heat and dry conditions have slowed every part of the tobacco harvest. About half the state's crop has survived unscathed. The other half is looking only slightly damaged.

Tobacco farmers, hoping to head off another steep cut in the amount of tobacco they are allowed to grow, have enlisted some influential North Carolinians to pressure the tobacco companies to buy more of this year's crop. Twice in two weeks, flue-cured tobacco farmers from North Carolina have trekked to Washington. The week before last, they were in SEN. LAUCH FAIRCLOTH's office, meeting with officials from the companies. And last week, they were at the White House, meeting with ERSKINE BOWLES, the chief of staff and a native North Carolinian toying with a run for governor.

Nov. 19, 1493 -- Puerto Rico is discovered by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage and named San Juan. It is later renamed Puerto Rico and the capital named San Juan. . . 1518 -- African slaves arrive to help cultivate sugar, cacao, indigo, tobacco and coffee.

Concealing the fact that American Tobacco Company provided the ideas, organization and backing, he organized a group of society women to light up during the New York Easter Parade in 1929. Pictures of the women lighting their "torches of freedom" made the front pages of papers across the country. What could be more cynical, tying a sales pitch to a political and social movement? Bernays wasn't cynical, however. He thought of it as the tearing down of a taboo, and his methods became standard operating procedure ("You've come a long way, baby"). As early as the 1930s, Bernays learned of studies that implicated smoking in health problems. He urged American Tobacco to fight the allegations aggressively.

Framing smoking as a civil rights issue, he helped convince millions of women to take up the habit.

Real change doesn't come down from on high. It bubbles up from below. The lava theory of political change was ratified yet again, this time in the US House of Representatives, with the passage last week of a campaign finance package that makes Newt Gingrich swoon, and Trent Lott gag. . . It's the prerogative of leadership to try to change the subject, which is why Speaker Gingrich, always a scorched-earth politician, and Lott, the majority leader who owes oily allegiance to oil, tobacco, and other anti-consumer forces, tend to rant about manufactured "wedge" issues like partial-birth abortion, or cracking down on gays or flag-burners. . . Lott's machinations may yet stall the reform in the Senate, where a different version, McCain-Feingold, died despite having 52 senators in favor. Because of Lott's desire to keep corrupt soft money circulating through his own paws, he decreed 60 votes would be needed to choke off debate, and reformers fell short. Meehan said late Friday he has hopes that Senator Alphonse D'Amato, Republican of New York, can be knuckled to switching to the reformers' side. D'Amato is up for reelection this fall, and The New York Times will hammer him relentlessly on this.

The latest impasse in talks between state attorneys general and the nation's largest cigarette companies centers on the problem of how to control tiny tobacco companies that don't sign the proposed comprehensive settlement. . .

The JEFFERSON COUNTY schools hired an advertising agency without a formal contract and then failed to document why no proposals from competitors were sought . . Under the state Open Records Act, The Courier-Journal was able to examine records that show that the school board considered a $200,000 contract with Creative Alliance in 1995, but shelved the proposal when two members questioned the cost. But by 1996, the Louisville business community had come forward and what would eventually be $400,000 in corporate donations -- in addition to $200,000 in school system funds -- began flooding into the school system and into the Jefferson County Public Education Foundation, a private-group that raises money for public-school projects. Of the $400,000 donated by the business community, $200,000 was donated by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. The rest of the corporate funds came from four or five other sources.

BAESLER, the only active tobacco farmer in Congress, has collected at least $23,500 from interest groups with ties to the tobacco industry and nearly $13,000 from individuals with tobacco ties.

One hundred boxes of Cuban cigars that were apparently being smuggled from Mexico for resale in this country were seized yesterday by U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Interstate 5 checkpoint. The cigars, valued at $40,000, were found throughout the cab of an extended 1995 Chevrolet pickup after an agent noticed several boxes behind the passenger seat.

A prison official says illegal drugs and weapons still present the greatest threat to safety in Oregon's prisons. But now that a two-year-old smoking-ban has made tobacco all but illegal... its value has soared. Brad Halverson, who oversees the drug investigation unit, says inmates spend a lot more time getting their hands on contraband tobacco... pushing the cost of some brands to as much as 200-dollars a pack. He says that leaves prisoners spending less effort on smuggling drugs such as marijuana and heroin.

Cambridge health officials are moving closer to creating a new smoking ordinance that will affect virtually every restaurant in the city and increase penalties for tobacco sales to minors. . . A working group composed of representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, restaurant association, and business groups is to begin meeting in September to draw up final plans for the smoking policy, which must be approved by the council.

At its best, his determination to find a way or to make one has seen Harshbarger pioneer approaches, by, for instance, pressing banks to invest in poor urban neighborhoods, demanding more community commitment from nonprofit organizations, helping lead a nationwide fight against big tobacco, or stretching civil rights laws to fight domestic violence. . . In general, Harshbarger has won good grades as an activist attorney general committed to defending the public interest, though some complain that on issues like the tobacco settlement and electric utility deregulation, the rhetoric ended up being stronger than the results.

Rob Reiner is on the phone with an Oscar-winning friend . . "Send me some DOUGH," he clamors cheerfully. "If you got 10, I'll take 10. Whatever you got, I'll take it." She's got it. He takes it. . . Proposition 10, the California Children and Families First Initiative, would raise cigarette taxes by 50 cents a pack to generate an estimated $700 million a year. The money would fund services for families with children under age 5, including prenatal care, stop-smoking programs and domestic violence prevention. The measure is opposed by the Committee Against Unfair Taxes, whose sponsors include a number of tobacco companies. "Mr. Reiner's cause may be very worthwhile, but if it's that worthwhile then all California adults should pay for it, not just smokers," said Tom Lauria of the Tobacco Institute in Washington, D.C.

"The professional bootlegger," says West, "is not as dominant in Calais as he used to be. He's changed to tobacco or cigarettes. Cigarettes have come to the forefront since the Chancellor put that 19p a packet on last year. It's simplicity of business, chiefly. Take a Geordie: in the old days he'd have to jump into a transit van, drive 500 miles at 50 miles an hour, with endless loading and humping at both ends. Now he comes in a lovely car, goes over to Belgium, puts five boxes of tobacco in the boot of his car, puts a few beers on top to make it look like a genuine shopping trip, goes back and makes twice the money."

CHIMPANZEES at a zoo in KwaZulu-Natal are astounding visitors by begging for cigarettes and puffing away at lighted smokes if the animals smoked, a zoo employee replied: "Yes, they do. People throw them cigarettes. If you have cigarettes, you can give them one." But Brian Boswell, the owner of the Natal Zoological Gardens, outside Maritzburg, said the chimpanzees knew they were not allowed to smoke.

PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA, who vowed to quit what he called his last vice -- cigarette smoking -- when he became president, broke his pledge during the weekend. A photograph of Estrada puffing on a cigarette was published on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in its Monday edition. The newspaper said Estrada was relaxing after a hearty lunch in Cotabato City when he took out a cigarette to smoke.

One in four smokers say they know where to get smuggled cigarettes, while almost half believe it makes financial sense to buy contraband, according to the survey. A further 75% of all adult smokers believe soaring taxes are encouraging people to purchase on the black market prompting a sharp rise in smuggling. The survey of 2,500 adult smokers in the UK was commissioned by anti-tax lobby, the Fair Cigarette Tax Campaign. "These figures back up our serious concerns about an increase in tobacco smuggling in the UK," said campaign co-ordinator, Eddie Cassidy.

THE "BRIDGET JONES" generation of hard-drinking young professional women is storing up future health problems, including infertility, doctors are warning. . . . "There are a number of confounding factors and we are not sure which particular factors affect fertility," said Dr Jarvis, who will give the warning tonight on BBC's Watchdog Healthcheck programme. "Women who drink a lot are more likely to smoke and to have unprotected sex, which can lead to sexually transmitted diseases which can affect fertility." Dr Jarvis said Bridget Jones, whose exploits remain high in the paperback best seller lists, was a poor role model. It is not uncommon for Bridget to down the equivalent of a bottle of Chardonnay while smoking ten cigarettes on evenings out which are practically a daily occurrence. Dr Jarvis finds it worrying that the book has struck such a chord with young professional women.

A group of tobacco growers from all areas of Kentucky recently met in Lexington for the purpose of unifying to ensure that Kentucky's tobacco farmers have a voice in current tobacco legislative proposals. As a result, the Kentucky Tobacco Growers Association, Inc. was formed as a cooperative corporation in Kentucky on August 4, 1998.

Standard Commercial Corp. said on Tuesday that its board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share on the common shares of the company.

Our discussion with senior executives suggests that the subpar investment performance of the group over the past 18 months is likely to compel all company boards to take more aggressive stances in accelerating earnings growth and unlocking values through buybacks, dividend hikes, and asset distributions. . . If the Administration files its own Medicare/Medicaid recovery action . . . [it] would have to be filed in federal court (have dismissed 5 of 5 labor union / health care claims). The federal government, unlike the states, shows a clear paper trail of knowledge of tobacco’s risks

Baseball prides itself on being aware of the problem and assisting with a resolution. The fledgling National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP), which educates players and helps them curb or quit their habits, has gained support from the owners and players' union.

These statistics are found in one of the most obscure, and most valuable, publications in Washington, the GREEN BOOK. Published every other year by the House Ways and Means Committee, the 1,492-page tome presents background material and social statistics on most of the nation's entitlement programs. . . And although recent polling data shows that it's on the rise again, cigarette smoking among high school seniors is nowhere near the levels of two decades ago. In 1975, 73.6 percent of high school seniors had smoked. In 1995, the figure was 64.2 percent.

An eleven-year-old boy has died in a house fire in Acworth... and his father remains hospitalized in critical condition. A discarded cigarette apparently sparked the Saturday night fire.

NORTH BERGEN, N.J., Aug. 10 -- A fire that killed four people in a 20-story apartment building here on Sunday afternoon was fueled by an exploding oxygen canister, which intensified the blaze, officials said today. . . Officials said they had received reports that Helen Finley smoked cigarettes and were investigating whether a cigarette started the fire.

F-B-I agents and San Diego Harbor police have arrested a woman accused of causing an uproar on a SOUTHWEST AIRLINES Plane. Forty-two-year-old Amparo Quintero allegedly screamed obscenities when flight attendants opened the plane's restroom door when a smoke alarm went off. Quintero was caught smoking in the restroom, and then reportedly hit another passenger. If convicted of all charges, Quintero could face as much as 20-years in prison.

A San Diego man and a German woman were arrested Wednesday at Bangor International Airport in Maine after they acted belligerently on a CONTINENTAL AIRLINES flight. The woman made what was perceived as a bomb threat, causing the plane to make an unscheduled landing. The incident started a couple hours into Continental Flight 55, which was heading from Paris to Newark, N.J., when Natali Rajak was told she could not smoke her hand-rolled cigarettes. Rajak, a 24-year-old German national attending the Sorbonne in Paris, argued with the flight crew and was threatened with arrest.

Nearly 14,000 adolescents ages 12-17 were interviewed during 1994-96. The question on which the four million estimate is based is, "Have you smoked a cigarette (at least a puff or more) in the past 30 days?" . . The data are important, Kovar says, because the federal government, in tracking the new regulations, won't know what it means if they find a reduction in the proportion of adolescents defined as smokers. If there is a 10 percent reduction, it makes a big difference whether fewer children are taking an experimental puff or fewer teenagers are smoking regularly. The former may never have another cigarette; the latter are definitely risking their health and there is a high probability that they will continue smoking in adulthood.

The CALIFORNIA CIGAR ASSOCIATION and the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS co-hosted a $15-a-head pregame cigar party Friday night to celebrate what CCA president Nick Nikkah referred to as "the perfect melding of two American pastimes: baseball and the enjoyment of a fine cigar." . . Lest the pro-cigar event lead people to the conclusion that the Giants are pro-tobacco, fans at tonight's game will be given flyers educating them about the evils of chewing tobacco. Ten thousand will be handed out.

JOSEPH PILATES called his system of 150 different exercises Contrology, because it trained the mind to control the body. Pilates moved to New York from his native Germany and opened a studio in 1926. Photographs of him in his 70s and 80s show an amazingly fit man who looked half his age. "I drink a quart of liquor a day, plus some beers, and smoke maybe 15 cigars," he claimed in a 1964 New York Herald Tribune story. He was 83 at the time, 5-foot- 8, 170 pounds. He was still able to do a full split, quite a feat in itself, never mind the booze, beer, and cigars.

All is not lost, though. State attorneys general are back in negotiations with the tobacco industry. . . Negotiators should keep their eyes on the target, which is to reduce teen-age smoking. That can be done to some extent by raising the price of cigarettes and regulating advertising so it does not entice young people. It was shameless of members of Congress to oppose the legislation as an onerous tax. It would be a tax only on those who choose to smoke, about 47 million Americans.

If the White House really wanted to strike a blow against teen smoking, it would issue a public call to Hollywood to lay off the portrayal of glamorous smokers in its movies. But then, the White House seems to be helped by its friends in high Hollywood places, and this isn't exactly the time for President Clinton to go making enemies out of friends who might be able to control what shows up on Sunday night television. Fritz Wenzel covers politics for The Blade. Got a political tip? Want to respond? Send email to fritz@theblade.com.

We ran a commentary about some impolite smokers in a restaurant, and it became World War III. We got cards and letters, and most of the response was totally predictable--the non-smokers loved it and the smokers suggested we move to California. And after a careful study of the great smoking debate (at least in the eyes of our readers), the simple conclusion is that this is a complex problem that won't be solved anytime soon. Don't hold your breath for peace in the Middle EastŠ or for any sensible resolution of the tobacco wars.

One day, you might even be enlisted to heal all sorts of illnesses. These researchers say they can help end my obsession for you entirely. Or, if I still desire you, I can enjoy you, free of the damaging baggage of smoking. No cigarette will rule my life. No tobacco conglomerate will entice me to pay any price for a pack of smokes. It'll be just me and you, nicotine, without that buttinsky cancer stick getting in our way. Ah, nicotine!

Most people give up smoking in two distinct stages. First, they give up their cigarettes; then, they give up yours.

The talks . . . have been delayed until at least Aug. 24 . . . Some states want far more than the $196.5 billion they would have received under last year's $368.5 billion agreement, which died in Congress. "The industry can't get away with paying $196 billion," said analyst Gary Black of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., who predicted the companies will agree to about $230 billion.

Democratic Attorney General Candidate JOHN T. DORSEY held a press conference in The Circle on Monday, pledging to fight for the children of Delaware if elected. . . He also said that keeping children away from tobacco is a high priority for him. "Due to the inaction of our current attorney general, Delaware is one of only nine states that has not sued the tobacco companies," he said, adding that since the national settlement with tobacco companies has fallen through, Delaware may not recover the money spent on treating tobacco-related illnesses. He said the real issue with the tobacco settlement is preventing children from smoking.

A candidate for Delaware Attorney General says the first state needs to join the tobacco lawsuit. Democrat JOHN DORSEY says the suit would allow Delaware to get some money from what he calls "big tobacco." He says the tobacco lawsuit is very important for Delaware's children... since the state's teenage smoking rate here is higher than the national average. Dorsey is one of two Democrats hoping to oppose Republican incumbent JANE BRADY in November.

The Horry County Council has passed a resolution requesting Attorney General Charlie Condon to include local farmers in any settlement negotiated with tobacco companies, Horry County Councilman Johnny Shelley said.

A poll commissioned by the Maryland Children's Initiative as part of its campaign to get Maryland lawmakers to raise cigarette taxes by $1.50 a pack shows that 62 percent of Baltimore County voters and 66 percent of Baltimore City's favor the idea. Vincent DeMarco, executive director of the group, unveiled those findings at a news conference yesterday at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The poll, done by the Washington firm of Penn, Schoen and Berland, included 280 likely general election voters in the county and 142 in the city, queried during the week of June 8-16.

Question: What does the anti-tobacco campaign known as the Maryland Children's Initiative have to do with education? Answer: If the legislation is enacted, the schools will get about $100 million a year, most of it to reduce class size across the state.

Tuesday night, Shudde stood in front of more than 100 people at the Barbara Jordan Community Center on the East Side and urged them to press the City Council to approve an antismoking ordinance that would make the city smoke- free. . . The town hall meeting Tuesday was the first in a series the SAN ANTONIO TOBACCO AND HEALTH AWARENESS COALITION plans to hold to raise support for an ordinance, said Dr. Geoffrey Weiss, the coalition's chairman.

The controversial Draft Tobacco Products Amendment Bill is far behind schedule in terms of African National Congress policy, ANC health committee chairman Dr Confidence Moloko said on Tuesday. . . Responding to criticism of the measure, Moloko said Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma was executing ANC policy and not her own when it came to introducing new health policies.

Three interlocking crises undermine the economy. GDP growth has slowed from more than 7% in 1996 to less than 4% last year and no more than 2% this year. To some extent this is externally driven by the fall in commodity prices, especially tobacco, down 30% this year, but also gold and other minerals . . . The fall in the stock market - down 60% in US dollar terms from last year's peak - the collapse of the currency, the sharp decline in investment, and Zimbabwe's disappearance from the radar screens of foreign investors are the result of the administration's inability to manage the economy, and the perceived threat to property rights in the proposed takeover of about 850 commercially owned farms.

HAVING rationalised and restructured its businesses to a large extent, ITC Ltd, has decided to give a special thrust to its international trading businesses. . . The long-term investment plans include Rs 900 crore in tobacco and the cigarette business and another Rs 1,200 crore in hotels. "We will grow the hotels business through the twin route of green field and acquisitions," the chairman said. Apart from these investments, the company is also focusing on crop development to enhance quality and productivity of tobacco farms. Investment of around Rs 375 crore have been planned for leaf processing plants and modern storage facilities.

Laura Lallos, a Morningstar analyst who follows this category of funds, said they are "large-cap, blue-chip-oriented" and that "having a lack of tobacco stocks has helped this year, and there is a leaning toward tech stocks, which passes a lot of the screens, which also helps."

Clear Channel is already moving away from tobacco, the elder Mays said. Cigarette companies buy a lot of billboards, and they want lower rates, he said. "We can replace those at higher prices," he continued, and at the same time avoid being vulnerable to a settlement that could pull all tobacco ads at once. Tobacco has already fallen to No. 3 in billboard spending, after entertainment and business and consumer services, according to Competitive Media Reporting, a data research company.

Pickles with ice cream has officially been replaced as the de rigueur food craving for pregnant women. According to a survey by http://www.babycenter.com, the No. 1 snack craved by 1990s moms-to-be is nachos, followed closely by oranges, steak and mashed potatoes. Other strange cravings included Cheez Whiz sandwiches, ice, cigarette butts and Sara Lee cheesecake smothered with black olives.

With about 25,000 members working in tobacco-related jobs -- including about 5,000 union workers at Philip Morris USA in the Richmond area -- the state organization must tread lightly on smoking policies, union officials said. Leaman said no-smoking areas have been considered in the past, but the design and ventilation of convention rooms prevented taking action. But this year's site, the Williamsburg Lodge, can accommodate smokers and nonsmokers alike, he said.

Gordon B. Hinckley, who is regarded as a living prophet of God by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, addresses 2,500 people at the Corel Centre last night. . . Mormons believe an angel appeared to Mr. Smith, and, among other things, told church members to stay away from alcohol, tobacco, and beverages containing caffeine. "Nobody needs to drink beer. Nobody needs to smoke cigarettes," said Mr. Hinckley, a lively grandfather of 26.

Weaver figures he's batting .500. "I've gone eight days without a smoke," he said. "That's unbelievable. Every day is another victory. I feel like I'm in AA [Alcoholics Anonymous]."

For settling lunch-table arguments and bets, it is hard to beat "THE ECONOMIST POCKET WORLD IN FIGURES 1998" (Wiley, 224 pages, $14.95). . . . . Greece and Japan tie for the dubious distinction of having the highest cigarette consumption in the world (7.4 per capita per day).

Il Buco . . . The menu changes daily, and house rules are contingent on pleasure. Smoking, a regular customer said, is permitted after 11:30 P.M. if no one complains.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) -- There' s a convention coming to the area that Tom Gray of Miles says will be a hot time. It' s the annual get-together of the RATHKAMP MATCHBOOK SOCIETY, and about 350 of its 2, 000 members were set to convene today through Saturday in Moline, Ill.

The same House of Representatives which recently ducked the chance to pass national legislation toughening penalties against companies for targeting tobacco advertising at children has decided instead to penalize children in the District for being taken in by that advertising and doing what Big Tobacco spends billions annually trying to get them to do. . . For the tobacco industry, the District offers the best of both worlds. Blame for smoking addiction is shifted from the industry to its younger victims, even as the D.C. government is prevented from recovering the costs of treating the smoking-related damage that results. Is this a great legislative system or what?

House majority leader Richard Armey, beset by divisions within his own party over the powerful election-year issue of youth smoking, is trying to duck responsibility for House inaction by suggesting that the public has forgotten the matter. . . On the contrary, a national poll taken just three weeks before Armey's remarks found 75 percent in support of a strong national tobacco policy aimed at reducing smoking among teenagers. . . The public will need to keep these facts in mind to withstand the barrage of advertising the cigarette companies have already mounted to give cover to those who voted against tobacco controls. If Congress refuses to act, voters will have plenty to pique their interest in November.

Our latest addition to the "with friends like this, who needs enemies?" file comes from author Jacob Sullum . . . Sollum spells out reasons why he feels the government should not regulate smoking. One of his arguments . . . is that smoking can be bad for your health. His logic: Smokers save the government money because they don't live long enough to collect much Social Security.

The House of Representatives wants to impose on the District one of the more rarely enforced laws in crime fighting: busting kids for smoking. . . Del. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D-D.C.) said smoking policy is a "quintessential local concern" that should be left up to the D.C. Council. She said the measure would impose an "unfunded mandate" on the city because police officers would be diverted from other duties. She added that it was ironic that Congress previously had blocked the District from hiring lawyers to sue tobacco companies for health care costs, as some states are.

The tobacco provision, adopted 283-138, would fine district teenagers as much as $50 for a first violation and $100 upon a second. "We send a clear message ... there are certain behaviors that are not appropriate for children," said GOP REP. BRIAN BILBRAY of California, the chief sponsor. But critics, including the American Lung Association, said the GOP was letting the industry off the hook by ignoring years of advertising aimed at teens.

Four men were arrested on the Ventura Freeway in Oxnard on Wednesday after a robbery at a Port Hueneme cigarette store in which several cartons of cigarettes were stuffed into a bag and hauled out the front door, police said

The 15 second- to fifth-graders, mostly from Olinder Elementary School, helped write the two-act play, a collection of skits, songs and slides telling the dangers of tobacco. Funding to produce the play was provided through a grant to the Olinder Neighborhood Association from the Santa Clara County Health Department with funding from Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax Initiative.

Skip Humphrey's Prying Of $6.1 Billion From Tobacco Firms Raises His Stock Within Minnesota

Democratic congressional candidate TOM HALL accused Rep. KAY GRANGER, ]]R-Fort Worth, of backtracking on campaign promises not to support tobacco subsidies or take tobacco money. To emphasize his point, Hall is sending out a mailer resembling a pack of cigarettes with the question "Why would anyone help tobacco companies sell cigarettes to our kids?" printed across the front. "She tells us she'll vote against things and then goes to Washington and votes in favor of them. That's not telling the truth," Hall said.

SEN. JOHN MARTY, DFL-Roseville, has unsuccessfully pushed stricter lobbying disclosure bills for two years. His most recent measure last February failed to win approval of the Senate Election Committee, on which he serves as chairman. On Wednesday, Marty brought the issue before the committee again -- this time with ammunition fresh from the tobacco wars. At a state Capitol hearing, witnesses from the public interest group Common Cause Minnesota and two anti-smoking groups testified that recent disclosures about tobacco industry influence with labor union lobbyists and lawmakers underscore the need for more disclosure.

The Federal Government is losing tens of millions of dollars in excise every year from illegal tobacco distributors, the Customs Minister, Mr Truss, has admitted. Announcing a crackdown on excise cheats, Mr Truss said excise evasion had become a burgeoning industry in recent years, involving criminal gangs, as excise rates hit $232 for every kilogram.

Customs officers believe the bales of tobacco were purchased on the black market in the northern Victorian tobacco growing area of Myrtleford.... then allegedly manufactured in several factories around Melbourne. The manufactured tobacco was sold illegally through retail outlets. Customs Minister Warren Truss says there's some evidence this operation is connected to major crime syndicates.

Farmers implicated in Australia's biggest illegal tobacco manufacturing operation may not be charged. Customs officers say they have evidence tobacco farmers in Victoria have been selling bales of tobacco to illegal manufacturers for more than twice its market value. Federal police are questioning a number of people following a raid on several Melbourne factories.

The Australian Customs service has uncovered what it believes is an unlicensed tobacco packing and cutting operation, worth an estimated five million dollars in evaded Federal taxes. Customs says the seizure of illegal tobacco at a factory in the southern city of Melbourne is the biggest in the country for a number of years.

EARLY research showed 98% of 1 350 children in Soweto and Johannesburg believed smoking was "bad for you", compared with only 77% two years ago, while 76% recognised cigarette and snuff brand names, the Medical Research Council announced yesterday. "The high recognition rate of the logo (Rothmans) is probably due to its indirect advertising through sports sponsorship," said Thea de Wet, principal researcher of the council's 10-year "Birth to Ten" study.

What Bowles wanted to spend his year on most of all was passage of broad anti-smoking legislation. Coming from a tobacco-growing state, he said, he believed he had special credibility to help Clinton craft a workable compromise. All last spring, there were meetings and phone calls with GOP leaders. But in June the bill died in the Senate. "This is what I believe is the worst of Washington," Bowles fumed at a postmortem news briefing. "I think politics stopped this thing cold."

The president's attorney general, Janet Reno, with the connivance of two right-wing senators (one is Jesse HELMS, tobacco's best friend) and a panel of three right-wing judges, came up with STARR as independent counsel to investigate, originally, Whitewater, and then anything else that might undo two presidential elections. . . Meanwhile, I should not in the least be surprised if yet another "conspiracy," in the name of We the People, were to be set in motion against Starr for his willful and malicious attempt to overthrow two lawful elections reflective of the people's will and if he were to be put promptly on trial for treason against the United States and its people.

The gravity and unfairness of this loss, forced needlessly on Clinton and the country that elected him, are dawning even on some Washingtonians, who seem at last to be catching up with most of us outside the Beltway in viewing this matter sanely. But it's already too late. Clinton's siege muted his voice decisively this year on tobacco legislation and campaign finance reform. Both these bills had flaws, but both advanced the public interest.

Even members of his own party have spoken out against his missionary approach. For example, Rana Waitai is contemptuous of what he calls nico-Nazis. Mr Delamere may therefore have a struggle to get much more than another tobacco-tax increase into law. His aim to eliminate smoking from public places looks unrealistic at present. . . The Ministry of Health says there is some evidence that, among certain groups, there are fewer smokers. So, given the gradually hardening attitudes to it, smoking may eventually diminish without Mr Delamere's extreme measures being required.

REMEMBER tobacco? Democrats vowed that the GOP leadership's defeat of legislation touted as reducing teen smoking would hurt Republicans at the polls. So far, it hasn't. It isn't even stirring voters in tobacco country, where economies would presumably be hurt by anti-smoking bills. Tobacco "hasn't shown up in governors' races [in the South]," says Brad Coker, president of Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research in Columbia, Md.

Philip Morris Cos., the largest U.S. cigarette maker, will pay $115.5 million to settle a New York class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders, according to a regulatory filing. The U.S. District Court in Manhattan first gave preliminary approval to the settlement in June

A group of small cigarette companies, worried that their business could be hurt if major U.S. tobacco companies agree to settle state lawsuits, are threatening legal action of their own.

Buoyed by recent court victories and the demise of tough, anti-smoking legislation in Congress, the tobacco industry finds itself in a surprisingly strong position as it seeks to settle three dozen multibillion-dollar lawsuits filed by state attorneys general. Helpful legal developments, ideal timing, and even the composition of the team negotiating for state attorneys general all seem to be working in the industry's favor. As a consequence, the nation's major cigarette companies are "flexing their muscles" in the negotiations--resisting demands for public health concessions, including limits on where and how they can market their products.

The decision by 4th District Judge DANIEL EISMANN still leaves seven tobacco companies and one trade group as defendants in the state's suit for what has been estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars. . . Eismann dismissed as defendants THE TOBACCO INSTITUTE, B.A.T. INDUSTRIES p.l.c, RJR NABISCO HOLDING CORP. and RJR NABISCO INC.

A tobacco company asked a trial judge Friday to throw out a landmark $1 million award to the family of a dead smoker, arguing the judge had no authority to enter judgment before a dispute over the location of the trial was resolved.

A Florida appeals court ruled Thursday that a landmark case against the tobacco industry was held in the wrong county, but stopped short of saying the mistake is cause for overturning a $1 million judgment against the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.

Assuming the verdict is reversed and a new trial ordered, the industry would be back to never having lost a trial — a fact that would not be lost on Wilner, or the Florida Supreme Court in reviewing the extent of current litigation pending in deciding whether to decertify the Engle class action in 1999

Several legal experts said the decision effectively wiped out the June 10 verdict, which had marked the first time punitive damages were awarded against a tobacco company in a traditional smoker's suit. But Brown & Williamson was more cautious, saying only that it believes the decision, along with another recent appellate-court victory in a similar case, gave the trial court in Jacksonville little choice but to grant it a new trial in Palm Beach County.

Brown & Williamson touted the opinion as grounds for a mistrial or new trial. But Norwood "Woody" Wilner, the attorney for Maddox's widow and daughter, said the opinion just means further proceedings would take place in Palm Beach County. "Our position is that it is sent to West Palm Beach with the verdict intact," Wilner said. "Time will tell."

"The appeals court has found that it was an error to hold the trial in Jacksonville," said Tom Bezanson, attorney for Brown & Williamson. "We think this decision, coupled with the recent Carter decision, clearly entitles B&W to a new trial in Palm Beach County," he said.

A state appeals court reversed a $1 million landmark liability verdict against the tobacco industry Thursday, ruling that the judge should have held the trial in Palm Beach County where the dead man's relatives live. . . The Jacksonville trial judge failed to grant a change of venue requested by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. in the suit brought by the widow and daughter of Roland Maddox, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee ruled.

The Legislature should set the correct attorney fees in the state' s tobacco settlement, and $440 million headed for a Minneapolis law firm should be put in trust until that occurs, a GOP lawyer' s lawsuit says. Stephen Young filed the lawsuit Thursday in Hennepin County District Court, contending Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III' s fee contract with the ROBINS, KAPLAN, MILLER & CIRESI law firm was a violation of the legal separation of powers requirement. . . Lead attorney Michael Ciresi also called it " frivolous" and " blatantly political." " We' ll seek attorneys fees from them for this frivolous action, " he said.

"This is a very important constitutional issue of separation of powers," said Sen. TOM NEUVILLE, R-Northfield, who brought the suit along with ROGER CONANT, a Sunfish Lake financial consultant and GOP contributor. "The proper fees are up to the Legislature." Humphrey spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg replied: "It's a politically motivated and frivolous lawsuit that we believe will be thrown out of court. The public should question the motives of anyone who brings a lawsuit that puts money back into the pockets of the tobacco industry."

Trigon will lose a claims processing fee worth more than $200,000 per year when Philip Morris switches its dental plan Oct. 1. Philip Morris has chosen Delta Dental Plan of Virginia, a Roanoke-based nonprofit corporation with such local clients as Reynolds Metals Co. and the counties of Henrico and Chesterfield.

EXPLANATION OF CYCLE OF NICOTINE ADDICTION . . . When a person stops smoking, Dopamine actually decreases; the smoker no longer feels pleasure and begins craving another cigarette. Noradrenaline activity also drops and withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, frustration and anger set in. So a smoker lights up another cigarette to feel the pleasure and relieve withdrawal symptoms, continuing their cycle of addition. Zyban helps break the cycle of addiction by working on the brain's own chemistry.

Wire reports Smoking may sabotage your muscle-building efforts in a variety of ways, says Dr. Edward Laskowski, who directs the Sports Medicine Center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. . . First, the nicotine found in tobacco constricts blood vessels throughout the body, decreasing blood flow to your muscles. . . Second, research shows that smokers have significantly fewer slow-twitch muscle fibers than non-smokers, which also contributes to early muscle fatigue . . . Finally, a smoker has less lung power for fat-burning aerobic exercises

The discovery of a key missing link in how cancer cells are developed was announced Wednesday by a university research team. . . . "Damage to DNA normally gets repaired and we didn't have a clue as to why some cancer cells develop in some people and in others it doesn't," said Dr. Randy Johnston, director of the Southern Alberta Cancer Research Centre. . . . the research team, headed by Dr. Patrick Lee, has discovered another protein that activates p53. When the second protein is missing, that may trigger cancer. "The identity of the messenger has not been identified until now, and it is a protein called DNA-PK," said Lee.

The Russian government has not considered a rise of alcohol and tobacco excises, Russian Prime Minister Sergei KIRIYENKO told correspondents on Tuesday in response to an Itar-Tass question. "We have not learnt to normally collect taxes, which we introduced before, and actively stop the illegal production and selling of those goods, " the premier noted.

The price slump of Burley tobacco on the international markets has hit the major planter, the northern Nampula Province of Mozambique, according to the local authorities.

The controversial Tobacco Products Control Amendment Act was likely to slash tobacco consumption and effect the economy positively, the University of Cape Town's economics of tobacco control project said on Wednesday. "Stronger tobacco control polices do not jeopardise output and employment but instead are beneficial to the economy," project head Professor Iraj Abedian said in a statement. . . The researchers calculated that if cigarette buying had stopped in 1995, 50,000 new jobs would have been created if the cash was spent in a way that resembled ex-smokers' expenditure patterns as alternative expenditure patterns were more labour-intensive.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) said that tobacco advertising must abide by the relevant stipulations of the Advertising Law, the China Daily reported today. . . But, he said, many local governments have tried to ban nearly all cigarette ads in direct contradiction with the law, spurred by a yearly National Sanitary Metropolis appraisal. . . Experts said many local governments want both a reputation as a clean city and the profits from selling space for cigarette ads. Big profits to be made from cigarette ads tempt local officials to skirt the law by selling even more space than legal. That inconsistent application of the law must stop, Dong said

Smoking was always common in Eastern Europe but rarely associated with glamour. Now billboards in post-communist cities call on consumers to "fire the night," "taste the freedom" and "test the West." If you fail to grab the opportunity, the opportunity will grab you, says Anastasiya Zanuda, a Ukrainian journalist. "My 14-year-old sister was invited to fill out a Marlboro competition entry form on the street, even though she was in her school uniform. She didn't win the trip to the States, but Philip Morris sent her a Marlboro travel bag."

Philip Morris Cos.' (MO) domestic tobacco operations will record additional pretax charges of $103 million from an agreement regarding advances for plaintiffs' attorney fees and the 1998 impact of the "most favored nation" provision of a prior litigation settlement with the state of Texas. . . In a press release Friday, Philip Morris said the added charge reduces its reported second quarter earnings by $63 million to $1.7 billion. The charges also cut earnings per share by 2 cents a basic share to 72 cents and 3 cents a diluted share to 71 cents.

Second quarter 1998 revenues were $111.3 million, compared to revenues of $96.6 million in the second quarter of 1997. The Company recorded operating income of $12.9 million in the 1998 second quarter compared to operating income of $5.9 million in 1997. Net loss was $14.8 million in the 1998 second quarter, compared to net loss of $14.0 million in the 1997 period. Net loss applicable to common shares in the 1998 second quarter was $0.72 per share, compared to a net loss of $0.77 per share, in the second quarter of 1997.

French tobacco company Seita SA (F.STA) said Friday that its sales grew 5.3% in the first half to FRF9.36 billion compared with FRF8.89 billion a year earlier, due to the consolidation of new assets and to an improved performance at its distribution business.

Effective January 1, 1997, all assets and liabilities of Premier Tobacco Industries Limited (PTI) were merged with those of Lakson Tobacco Company Limited (LTC).

They didn't stammer or fidget -- much. Instead, they held their papers close enough to be able to read them but not so close they covered their faces, and read aloud about why people shouldn't smoke. All the while, SALLY BAKER smiled and nodded to the trio assembled on her stage. Baker, a Berkeley resident, is the creator, producer and director of "Wee Poets," a local access half-hour television show that airs on six channels on TCI in the Bay Area. . . "Wee Poets" is funded with a combination of grants, individual donations and sponsors such as the TOBACCO PREVENTION PROJECT and BAY AREA BLACK UNITED FUND.

WHEN SHE WAS in college in the early 1980s, ROBIN KIAM cringed whenever she saw her father, Victor, on television hawking Remington shavers with that famous line, "I liked it so much, I bought the company." . . During a recent marketing meeting, the Kiams are a study in contrasts. Chain-smoking Mr. Kiam, in an attention-grabbing yellow shirt, enjoys talking and often goes off on tangents. . . Mr. Kiam steps out for a call in a cloud of cigarette smoke. Ms. Kiam waves her hand in front of her face and explains, "I tried to make this a no-smoking office. I lost."

Object: Collection of 278 cigars in a handmade, champagne-box humidor Estimate: $2,000 to $2,750 Sold for/Buyer: $2,587.50/Anonymous

When Castro quit smoking cigars a few years ago, many here speculated it was surely because of lung cancer. Based on an interview with an exile leader who cited "confidential sources," El Nuevo Herald reported in another front-page article in 1996 that Castro had undergone surgery and chemotherapy for "extensive lung cancer," and that he had six months to two years to live. In an interview last week, the leader, Arturo Cobo, said he still believed his source, whose identity he said he could not disclose for security reasons because the person is in Cuba. "There's still a month left," Cobo said. "Let's see what happens."

In terms of the Fighting Irish's reputation the case has been costly. . . The testimony included the following contentions: . . -- That Moore and the offensive coordinator then, Dave Roberts, nearly got into a fistfight over Moore's chain smoking before a 1995 game against Washington.

(PHILADELPHIA)--Careless smoking is being blamed for a fire that killed three children in Philadelphia's East Germantown neighborhood. The blaze took the lives of three of Natalie Holcomb's seven children... aged six, five and nine-months. A smoldering cigarette ignited flames on a couch outside the home, and then quickly spread through the house. Thirty-eight-year-old Robert Woods is fighting for his life after trying to save the children from the flames.

A 42-year-old Prince William County man was killed Wednesday night in a town house fire that officials say was ignited when the man fell asleep holding a lit cigarette. Investigators said Loren Dale Carlisle was pronounced dead at Prince William Hospital after firefighters responded to the blaze in the 8200 block of Vernon Street shortly before 11 p.m. Investigators said a preliminary assessment was that death was cause by smoke inhalation. Officials said Carlisle's home did not have working smoke detectors.

Medford firefighters credit a newly replaced smoke detector battery for allowing a couple the time they needed to escape their home safely... and stop a fire before it caused extensive damage yesterday morning. . . . The cause of the blaze is thought to be careless cigarette smoking, but an investigation is ongoing.

No doubt some extremely lucrative grants from tobacco firms are still available for any scientists who are willing to sacrifice their professional reputations on full-blown examinations of Oreo fatality rates. . . Trying to confuse the public is something the tobacco industry has been doing for a very long time. This is an industry that is constantly demanding open, honest debate while doing everything it can to ensure that such discussions are crippled by ignorance, junk science, secrecy and the antithesis of openness.

This fall, Republicans may me-too the Democrats to death. . . Democrats, McInturff goes on, "want to paint us as the pro-tobacco, pro-HMO, anti-minimum wage and anti-Social Security party." That being the case, he says, Republicans need to pass an HMO bill of rights and a "limited tobacco and drug bill" and "not engage in a substantive debate on the future of Social Security." . . McInturff's theory also acknowledges up front that there is real "juice" in the health care and tobacco issues.

Then there is the proposed hike in tobacco taxes, supposedly held at bay by the tobacco companies. Thank God for special interests. No tax socks it to the lower half like the cigarette tax. Multiply $1.10 per pack times 365 days in a year, and you arrive at a proposed tax burden of more than $1,000 a year for a three-pack-a-day family..

Viagra is the emblem of our fin-de-millennium drug culture. . . The same ad industry that is making the anti-drug spots speaks out of the other side of its mouth by pushing grown-up-sanctioned drugs like alcohol and nicotine, not to mention an exponentially increasing number of prescription pharmaceuticals. A drug culture is a drug culture is a drug culture, whether the illicitly obtained gateway high of choice for a teen-ager is marijuana or any legal, heavily promoted medicine that's perceived as life style enhancing, no matter what its side effects or long-term consequences.

So it might come as no surprise that when the Food and Drug Administration set out to determine whether it could regulate nicotine as a drug, its first big break came from a tobacco industry informant. He called himself DEEP COUGH. To this day, his identity remains a secret. Deep Cough surfaced at the food and drug agency in January 1994. A former manager at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., he had been taken to the agency by CLIFF DOUGLAS, a lawyer and advocate of controls on tobacco. In conference calls and meetings, Douglas said on Friday, Deep Cough described for agency officials the steps that tobacco companies took to control the precise levels of nicotine in cigarettes. It was, at the time, an explosive disclosure.

Friday's federal appeals court ruling limiting FDA tobacco regulation will have little immediate effect in Minnesota, which has its own laws restricting youth access to tobacco. But the decision does raise a question -- whether the FDA will continue to offer grants to state agencies to enforce federal tobacco regulations that have been struck down.

Imagine negotiating a $368.5 billion dollar agreement only to see it go up in smoke. . . Gregoire shares with us what she learned about negotiations and provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of one of the most talked-about negotiations ever.

"Why would national interest groups have an interest in state party politics? They're not trying to influence the state elected officials: They're trying to influence the minority leader of the Senate," said Paul Hendrie, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group. In 1997, two tobacco companies, UST Corp. and RJR Nabisco Inc., gave a combined $12,500. Miller Brewing Co.'s PAC., entirely funded through Miller's parent, tobacco giant Philip Morris Cos. Inc., donated another $5,000. At the time, Congress was working on a settlement with the tobacco industry that would free it from many lawsuits in return for new taxes and regulations.

Sharing an office with a chain smoker caused a Middletown physical education teacher's tonsillar cancer, entitling him to disability benefits, a worker's compensation judge has ruled. . . "I am satisfied ... that the next logical step in the evolution of the known effects of second hand smoke has been reached," Boyle wrote. "That is, I am satisfied that [the petitioner] has proven even beyond the preponderance of credible evidence that [his] tonsillar cancer was caused by his exposure to second-hand smoke during the twenty-six years that he shared an office with a co-employee who was a chain-smoker." Boyle awarded Donald Magaw $45,000 in temporary disability benefits and also ordered the Middletown Board of Education to pay outstanding medical bills, provide future treatment and restore sick time that Magaw had used up.

Mr Average may smoke but he is more likely to be a non-smoker. Which is a good thing, considering that as a male he is more likely to die from lung or throat cancer than Ms Average, where tobacco smoking is a major factor. . . Does Mr or Ms "A" sound like someone you know? . . . If not, well lies, damn lies and statistics. Compiled from figures supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

This lays down, inter alia, that, without prejudice to Directive 89/552/EEC, all forms of advertising and sponsorship of products made, even partly, from tobacco will be banned in the Community. This will not, however, stop Member States from allowing a brand name, already used in good faith both for tobacco products and for other goods or services by undertakings prior to 30 July 1998, to be used for the advertising of those other goods or services, provided the conditions laid down in this Directive are met.

A Health and Welfare Ministry panel on smoking [The Committee on Tobacco Control for the 21st Century] Friday cited a need to stop minors smoking, to segregate smokers from nonsmokers and to extend information to the public on the health effects of tobacco. But it failed to give specific measures on how to achieve these goals . . . Talks had been thwarted from the beginning, with bickering over the number of pro- and antismoking members on the panel.

Philip Morris, RJR Tobacco and the like are bringing their promotions to bars in the Tampa Bay area, and their presence has been stronger since the state cracked down on cigarette advertising last year. Bars may be their last hope.

MAC BAILEY was so fed up with the way big tobacco companies were treating him that in 1994 the fourth-generation Virginia farmer and his son started making and selling their own cigarettes. This year, Mac and Steven Bailey, working out of the converted red brick schoolhouse where Mac went to elementary school, expect to sell 190 million BAILEY'S cigarettes in six states, charging just over half what Marlboro does for a pack. Their S&M BRANDS, based in tiny Keysville, Va., is one of an array of small U.S. companies trying to grab little pieces of the $45-billion cigarette market with brands like Gunsmoke, Main Street, Malibu, Medallion and Smokin Joes.

Tobacco, widely known for its hazardous qualities in cigarettes, is gaining a new, improved reputation. Plant genetics experts such as Cramer have shown that tobacco can serve as the host for genetically engineered substances with huge potential in medicine, food processing and industry. The state legislature has backed Tech's research with a two-year, $754,000 grant to try out different strains of "transgenic tobacco" at research stations at Blackstone and Glade Springs in Southwest Virginia.

For two months, she's been living an Old Testament tribulation in miniature as clouds of the insects swarm around her farmhouse on N.C. 86 a few miles north of Hillsborough. They have destroyed her hay fields, left only stalks where her broccoli once stood, stripped her holly trees and day lilies, and even attacked the tobacco crop on a small field she leases to a farmer. "He said he's never seen them even try to eat tobacco before," she said Friday, surveying her ruined garden, and swatting half-heartedly as a steady rain of insects pelted her. "The first time he sprayed, there were so many 'hopper bodies that the field stank."

There are those who believe that it can be no accident that the cigar craze of recent years has coincided with the bull market of the century. The craze began in New York and saw cigar smoking become ultra-fashionable, especially among young women. Barrie Coughlan, the manager of Walter Thurgood, the City's favourite cigar shop for nearly 100 years, said yesterday the craze had subsided but was by no means over.

The beginning of the end of the cigar fad, or maybe just a glut. Whatever the reason, US cigar companies' profits are going up in smoke.

Every law that affects the food and drug industry is included in FDLI's Compilation of Food and Drug Laws. In three volumes, you'll get more then 1600 pages of food and drug laws that have been passed since the Food and Drugs Act of 1906.

The ruling reaffirms the long-held position of the tobacco industry that the FDA has no authority to regulate tobacco products. Watch streaming video which examines the ruling at http://www.newstream.com/98-299.shtml

The Solicitor General has today authorized the filing of a petition in the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit seeking rehearing en banc of the three-judge panel?s decision regarding FDA regulation of tobacco products. I am firmly committed to the FDA?s rule and its role in protecting our children from tobacco. . . . If the leadership in Congress would act responsibly, it would enact bipartisan comprehensive tobacco legislation to confirm the FDA's authority and take this matter out of the courtroom.

The chances of changing the smoking habits of America, which had never looked brighter just three months ago, suffered yet another huge setback yesterday, dealt by a federal appeals court panel.

The government is asking a full 14-judge 4th Circuit panel to review the case or request the same of the Supreme Court. Given that the ruling was split 2-1, the likelihood of getting a court to at least reopen the case is high, said David Logan, a law professor at Wake Forest University who has closely followed tobacco's courtroom battles. . . Regardless of how the courts ultimately rule, Congress could sidestep the legal issues and expand the FDA's jurisdiction to include tobacco, Logan said. "This is a great victory for the tobacco industry. Whether it's one that will stand up ... I hesitate to guess," Logan said. "I thought Judge Osteen's analysis was pretty good."

"This case is about who has the power to make this type of major policy decision," wrote Judge Emory H. Widener Jr. in an often blistering opinion joined by Judge James Michael. "Neither federal agencies nor the courts can substitute their policy judgments for those of Congress." One judge, Kenneth K. Hall, wrote a dissent.

"This has got to be a wake-up call for the public health community and the Clinton administration," said Black. "Congress said no to passing tough tobacco regulations, the courts said no. So they have one more shot at this and it's through the settlement with the attorneys general." . . . "After years of considering an array of evidence, much of it only recently brought to light, the FDA decided to regulate a product that is estimated to cause some 400,000 deaths a year," wrote Judge Hall in his dissent. "Inasmuch as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are responsible for illness and death on a vast scale, FDA regulations aimed at curbing tobacco use by children cannot possibly be contrary to the general intent of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act to protect the public health," he said.

"A faithful application of the statutory language would lead to a ban on tobacco products -- a result not intended by Congress," wrote the court.

"I think that history will reflect that June 20 was a golden opportunity for major reform," Ms. Gregoire said. Some leading public health advocates like Dr. David Kessler, the former commissioner of the F.D.A., had argued that the tobacco regulations agreed to by industry negotiators last year were inadequate. On Friday, Kessler, now the dean of the Yale University Medical School, said he remained convinced that the courts would eventually uphold the agency. "Everything that we learned from our investigation points to the fact that nicotine is an addictive drug and nothing in this opinion changes that," said Kessler. "Nicotine fits the statutory definition of a drug."

Dealt another setback in his attempt to regulate teen smoking, President Clinton is appealing again to Congress to "act responsibly" and enact bipartisan tobacco legislation. . . The Clinton administration said it will appeal by asking for a rehearing in front of the full appeals court. The regulations will remain in effect until the appeal is heard.

The Justice Department quickly announced that it would ask the full 14-member court to review the decision. . . White House spokesman Mike McCurry said that given today's ruling, "Congress should get on with passing legislation that would give the FDA" authority over tobacco. He said President Clinton is "fully committed" to winning a regulatory role for the FDA. Some said today's ruling, on top of a string of other court rulings favorable to the tobacco industry could force the Clinton administration and public health advocates to make more compromises than before, making legislation more likely.

"We do not dispute in this case that Congress has charged the FDA with protecting the public health and that tobacco products present serious health risks for the public," Judges H. Emory Widener and Blane Michael ruled. But the FDA regulations went too far, the ruling said. . . "In the 60 years following the passage of of the act (in 1938), the FDA has repeatedly informed Congress that cigarettes marketed without therapeutic claims do not fit within the scope of the Act," the court said.

"We are thus of the opinion that Congress did not intend to delegate jurisdiction over tobacco products to the FDA. Accordingly, the decision of the district court is reversed," the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said.

"It was not unexpected through the judicial process that the tobacco industry would win at least one ruling," said Congressman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. "But ultimately, when it goes to the Supreme Court, I am confident the court will affirm the FDA's jurisdiction over tobacco products," the outspoken Waxman said.

We are pleased by the court's ruling that the FDA does not have authority to regulate tobacco products, and that the agency's 1996 tobacco rule is invalid. The industry remains firmly committed to taking meaningful steps to reduce underage tobacco use.

Today's decision by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for Big Tobacco's lawyers over America's families and their children.

"This ruling is outrageous in light of the tobacco industry's incriminating internal documents detailing their knowledge of the addictive nature of tobacco," said M. Cass Wheeler, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. "It is a travesty that products like orange juice are more heavily regulated by the federal government than tobacco."

"The American Cancer Society is confident that the Supreme Court will reverse the decision," said Linda Crawford, ACS national vice president for state and federal government relations. "In the meantime, we will continue to encourage Congress to pass to control the content of tobacco products, their labeling, marketing and advertising as well as other measures designed to prohibit our children from becoming addicted."

Tobacco foes said Sunday that they're hoping the Supreme Court and a more sympathetic Congress next year will do what an appeals court Friday refused to do: affirm the Food and Drug Administration's authority to regulate tobacco products. Within hours of the ruling against the FDA by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Justice Department announced it would ask for a rehearing of the decision by the full court. It has 45 days to file a petition.

Now comes word that the dog days of August led to a tabling of the talks. Maybe it's not just the weather. King Solomon himself would have a hard time putting this deal together.

But that settlement, which also called for restrictions on tobacco advertising and a price hike to discourage teen smoking, fell apart in the Senate. Now the administration is examining its alternatives, administration officials said Monday. "We're looking at the merits of the suit, the strengths, the weaknesses, the kind of data we need, the kind of legal arguments we would make," said one White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The White House, frustrated by the collapse of anti-smoking legislation, is giving serious consideration to a strategy aimed at extracting massive monetary damages from cigarette-makers by filing a lawsuit on behalf of the government's Medicare program. Top White House officials are said to be eager to go forward with a Medicare lawsuit if they can overcome concerns among some administration attorneys, primarily within the Justice Department, about its chances for success, say lawyers close to the discussions. Scruggs and Moore want to assemble a team of top attorneys to handle the Medicare case for the federal government. They argue that the threat of having to defend potentially ruinous lawsuits is the only way to get cigarette-makers to accept a comprehensive package of marketing restrictions and other measures to reduce teen-age smoking. . . Another supporter of such a lawsuit is Laurence Tribe, a scholar in constitutional law who has looked closely at the legal issues involved at the request of officials in Washington.

A $2.2 billion lawsuit filed by the Arizona Attorney General's Office against major tobacco companies for the taxpayers' costs of medical care to smokers. KAITES introduced unsuccessful legislation to cap fees at $1 million for the state's contract lawyers. Their contingency-fee contract under WOODS could net them an estimated $381 million from the tobacco companies.

Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. has asked a Florida court to set aside a $1 million judgment and order a new trial in a product liability lawsuit filed by the family of a dead smoker, a lawyer for the company said Monday. The cigarette maker based its motion, filed Friday with the Circuit Court in Duval County, Florida, on a ruling issued last week by the state's First District Court of Appeal, which said the trial judge improperly refused to move the trial venue.

As the smoke clears from Florida's campaign against tobacco billboards, at least a few happy marketers are smiling. AmSouth Bank, for one, says its new marketing campaign this summer got a boost from obtaining a few prime billboard spots previously used by tobacco companies. . . . "They had excellent locations," Mock said. "They had what I would consider the very best the market had to offer in terms of circulation."

When prisoners began lighting up dried banana peels and smuggled tobacco rolled in the pages of a Bible, Greene County jail administrator David Lange decided it was time to snuff out the jail's smoking ban. . . "We've had some complain of chest pains after quitting," he said. "Others have nervous disorders and they get Valium. . . Lange said the prison has paid at least $50 for each prisoner's visit to the doctor and any needed prescribed medication. "I'm fine if we never had a smoking program," said Lange, a non-smoker. "But I'm looking at the economics. Taxpayers are paying for this." . . "These guys have 24 hours a day to be creative"

Actually, Kevin Kroner and Daniel Crivellaro are representatives of the city's Public Health Commission, and they're on a good-will mission to try to help Boston's 2,600-plus eating and drinking establishments comply with the city's smoking restrictions that go into effect Sept. 30. Smoking will be banned in all restaurants that don't serve alcohol, such as sub shops and fast-food establishments. There are more than 1,000 such establishments in Boston. Some confusion arises, however, because smoking will still be permitted in the bar sections of restaurants and in bars whose primary function is to serve alcohol, even if they also serve food.

REV. JESSE BROWN, founder of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS FOR POSITIVE IMAGERY (NAAPI), is in Nebraska this week to participate in the tobacco control campaigns of several local tobacco control groups. Brown was closely involved in the successful campaign in Philadelphia to stop the introduction of Uptown, a brand of cigarettes marketed towards the black community. While in Nebraska . . . Brown suggests that African-American communities file class-action lawsuits against the tobacco industry

"Havasu's definitely a tourist town and we've had a lot of people from California say they're fed up with the ordinances there," Felke said. "They like to come to Arizona to get away from the restrictions." . . Felke is the chairman of the Lake Havasu Tourism Bureau Board of Directors, but the bureau hasn't taken a stand on the initiatives, said Bonnie Barsness, the bureau's president. Still, she says, the town could suffer if California smokers passed it up as a vacation spot in favor of places that let them smoke.

WITH THE SIX children of his son John, Jr., Rockefeller suffered much less anguish, for they were brought up under their father's unswerving discipline. In his desire to have a shining, spotless family and cleanse the Rockefeller name, Junior became a hard and often unforgiving parent. . . Junior offered his children a $2,500 reward if they did not smoke before age twenty-one, and for Babs he tossed in a car as well, yet she started to sneak cigarettes at fifteen. After inhaling a single cigarette in October 1922, Babs, nineteen, sat down and wrote to her father as if confessing to some monstrous crime: "This is going to be the hardest letter I have ever had to write. . . . I've smoked, thereby losing my car. Mama told me to take it up to Tarrytown tomorrow and put it away." When Babs brazenly continued to smoke, Junior volunteered to double her allowance if she abstained in the future. Even after she set her bed ablaze while smoking in bed, she still was not cured of the habit, and Junior was horrified when she added a taste for bootleg liqu or.

Listen to him a few minutes, and you'll understand why people want to help him. . . . Although he's eligible for scholarship money, Keon is hedging his bets by trying to raise extra money on his own -- with help from a few friends. "I believe it's one of the greatest needs in the black community," Keon said of raising money for those who want to go to college. "I believe too many of us spend too much on liquor and cigarettes." It sounds as if the youth has just challenged his elders to be more conscious of how they spend their money. Could black America, indeed, send an entire generation of its youth through college with the money we spend on booze and cigarettes? Wouldn't it be nice if we gave it a try?

I wanted to bring to your attention a page of the N.C. Division of Aging Web site that profiles information on North Carolina's baby boomers at mid-life. The address is: http://www.state.nc.us/DHR/DOA/boom.htm . . . * Nearly 4 in 10 do not exercise, more than 3 in 10 are overweight, and almost 3 in 10 boomers smoke.

"Outlook for Tobacco Makes RJR a Bargain Hunter's Dream" [Street View, June 23] is a perfect example of something that makes sense from a purely business standpoint but is totally amoral. . . Perhaps John Dorfman, the writer, might be a little more nauseated at this kind of business deal if he had lost a parent or a friend to lung cancer, or if he saw his kids start smoking because it's the cool thing to do. . . Shame on Dorfman for this amoral and irresponsible piece, and shame on The Times for publishing it.

The proposed Costa Mesa ordinance that would require stores to place cigarettes behind their counters is coming up for a City Council vote at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Go and let your city representatives know what you think. I will be with you in spirit and have already written my letter of support. If you can't make the meeting, write or call. . . . .

Dear Ann: I just figured out that I have spent $17,000 on cigarettes since I began smoking at age 15. And what have I bought? Emphysema, which will keep me tethered to an oxygen tank for the rest of my life. Was the pleasure of inhaling worth it? Not by a long shot.

Eighth Congressional District candidate GEORGE BACHRACH, who has accused rival MARJORIE CLAPPROOD of "being in the pocket of big tobacco" during her legislative career, is lining his own pockets with profits and dividends from the tobacco industry. Bachrach is invested in Fidelity and other mutual funds that antitobacco leaders, including the American Medical Association, say socially responsible investors should shun because they contain tobacco stocks.

The mainland has raised the consumption tax on imported cigarettes to 50 per cent from 40 per cent as of July 1. The State Council also adjusted the tax on domestic cigarettes, creating three categories based on quality with rates of 50 per cent, 40 per cent and 25 per cent, the China Securities newspaper said yesterday.

Local cigarette companies, which are already feeling the squeeze from a lower-than-expected future growth, have been voicing their concerns to the authorities on the rise of illegal tobacco trade in the Malaysian market. The local tobacco industry has been adversely affected by the rampant smuggling activity which is believed to constitute between 10% and 15% of the total cigarette market annually.

An analyst told Star Business that looking at the present situation, there is no doubt that the government would have to source for income from the tobacco and brewery industries to compensate the lower taxes from other sectors. However, some parties feel that the tax hike would only result in the increasing sale of contraband cigarettes in the local market.

A survey by Gallup found that 48 per cent of non-smoking workers believe that smokers do less work than they do themselves, while only 15 per cent of smokers think this is the case. Some 38 per cent thought that a change to pay or hours would be an appropriate solution. Of the 16- to 24-year-olds interviewed, nearly half thought that pay should be docked. More than half of the respondents to the survey, commissioned by Nicorette, thought that people smoking outside their place of work created a bad impression of the company.

Even among smokers, 27 per cent voted for their own pay to be cut. Gallup, which conducted the survey of 2,000 workers for Nicorette, makers of nicotine chewing gum, admitted the finding was unexpected.

The new £48 million Sadler's Wells will be the first major theatre in London to ban members of the audience from smoking anywhere in the building - even in the bars. Only the artists, and in particular dancers, who are noted for their need for nicotine, will be allowed to light up, and only then in a specially designated room called the "hell-hole" or "sin-bin".

European Parliament written question No E-0105/98 by Marjo Matikainen-Kallstrom (PPE) asking the Commission to justify the fact that it does not classify tobacco smoke as a carcinogenic substance. The Commission's reply states that it agrees that there is convincing scientific evidence that there is an increased risk of cancer and other diseases for people systematically exposed to tobacco smoke.

THE Western Australian Government yesterday launched a policy guide for schools aimed at reducing drug abuse among young people. The strategy is part of the government's School Drug Education Project, a drug education curriculum which targets both students and parents. . . "The intervention procedures are designed to address alcohol, tobacco and other drug-related problems to ensure the health and wellbeing of our young people," Mrs Parker said.

Indonesia listed cigarette producer PT B.A.T Indonesia (BTI) announced Tuesday that during the first six months of the year, it booked IDR15.2 billion in losses compared with a IDR21 billion net profit in the corresponding period a year before.

RJR NABISCO Holdings Corp., the No. 2 U.S. cigarette-maker, said yesterday that it would spend $120 million to expand a plant in Russia, one of its main overseas markets that has been plagued by slower cigarette sales. The company's plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, will become its second-largest factory once the expansion is complete. Its largest plant is in Tobaccoville.

On August 17, 1998, R.J. Reynolds International launched its expanded production facilities at the RJR-PETRO tobacco factory in St. Petersburg. . . . The company allocated an additional US $120 million especially for this project, bringing the total amount of its investment in Russia to over US $400 million. The expansion of the production facilities will become one of the most significant and large-scale undertakings by R.J. Reynolds since the beginning of its operations in Russia. VLADIMIR YAKOVLEV, Governor of St. Petersburg and STEVEN GOLDSTONE, RJR Nabisco Chairman and CEO led the launching ceremony.

British tobacco company Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is downgraded to neutral from accumulate on an intermediate basis by London brokerage Merrill Lynch Tuesday. The long-term rating, above 12 months, remains unchanged at accumulate.

The DOMINI 400 lost 0.46% for the month, while the S&P 500 slipped 1.06%. The Domini 400 continues to lead the S&P 500 in year-to-date returns. Through the end of July, the Domini 400 gained 18.36% so far this year, while the S&P 500 returned 16.49% . . . The Domini 400 is a market-weighted index of 400 companies that meet social and ethical screens devised by Kinder Lydenberg & Domini, a Cambridge, Mass.-based investment-research firm. The screens sift out companies in the alcohol, tobacco, military and nuclear industries, as well as those with poor employee-relations records.

"I think everybody is tired of catching flak every time they light a cigarette," said Aggie Cavender, co-owner of The Cigarette Store. "This is so they can smoke without having anybody say anything from the smoke from the cigarette."

An experiment in high-tech smoking starts today in Richmond as PHILIP MORRIS USA launches its battery-powered "cigarette smoking system" that claims to reduce smoke, ashes and odor. Philip Morris officials say the product, called the ACCORD, will be distributed at 20 tobacco retail outlets to study consumer reaction in the first retail sales of the product. Its retail price is expected to be $35 to $40 for a kit that includes a "puff-activated lighter"

Cigarrera La Moderna, the Mexican subsidiary of BAT Industries, announced that it will be increasing its prices on average 12.8 percent this Friday. The company explained that the rise is in line with inflation, and that it does not expect a fall in sales as a result of the move. In 1997, La Moderna reduced the prices of its cigarettes by 30 percent, in answer to increased competition from the black market.

The Argentinean Banco Nacion has appointed the tobacco major Nobleza= Piccardo to distribute US$10mil worth of credit to 3,000 tobacco farmers.

About 1,700 people were evacuated and 29 flights were suspended yesterday when an X-ray machine detected what appeared to be a gun in a man's luggage. It was the second such incident this month at Los Angeles International Airport. The weapon later was found to be a gun-shaped cigarette lighter, said Bruce Nelson of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Ministries have flourished in such states as Florida, where convicts can ask to be placed in Christian cell blocks, which don't allow swearing or smoking and have Bible studies and support groups.

Well, I do take pretty good care of myself. Let's see, some things--I stopped smoking about 25 years ago. Q: How'd you do that? A: Well, you see, if you're compulsive, you have to do things completely. You have to give it up absolutely and you have to do this kind of self-psychoanalysis where you say, "How can I possibly want a cigarette? I don't smoke."

Humphrey Bogart, though almost never a drag, remains the best form of secondhand smoke. . . He grabbed onto toughness as a raft -- on a sea of drink. Drinking corrugated his voice, shaped his personality (good and bad), savaged all but the last of four marriages, finally (with smoking) ended him, via cancer. The date (Jan. 14, 1957) was a sad shock for those of us already Bogart-bitten, but led to the Bogart cult that was soon big in Europe and then America in the '60s.

The film portrays a show plagued by backroom politics and depicts Wallace and executive producer Don Hewitt as egomaniacs who cave in to corporate pressure, according to the Aug. 22 edition of TV Guide. . . Wallace, who is played by Christopher Plummer in the film, strongly objects to Hollywood's version of the story and says he was unfairly depicted as a prima donna who didn't fight to save the piece.

Among the fellas looking on were Mobile lawyers Dom Soto and David Nihart plus Tony Burrell, a Baldwin County actor playing the role of a tobacco attorney. Folks who fancy the Hollywood set as all glamour would have been surprised to see the hard work behind the glitz. A rain-soaked Mann ("Heat," "Last of The Mohicans") - armed with an espresso - offered tips to actors and cameramen as they repeated takes of a shot of attorneys entering the courthouse while being barraged by reporters.

The film - about CBS' infamous 1995 decision to kill a major interview with a tobacco-industry whistleblower - portrays Wallace and "60 Minutes" boss Don Hewitt as "profane egomaniacs who cave in to corporate pressure," according to a TV Guide report. The magazine says it obtained a copy of the script of the as-yet-untitled movie.

REDSKINS fans will be able to buy cigars at games this season. GEORGETOWN TOBACCO will open a store to sell stogies inside the stadium when the Skins play their home opener against San Francisco on Sept. 14. In addition, cigars will be sold at stadium bars and restaurants and delivered to the 208 private luxury boxes at JACK KENT COOKE STADIUM. Only one problem: Smoking is not allowed in the stands.

Tobacco farmers, who now see the handwriting on the wall, are desperately looking for profitable new crops such as hemp. . . Ironically, U.S. farmers can grow an addictive drug crop, tobacco, while growing hemp (a nondrug crop) is banned due to a flawed federal policy. American farmers and manufacturers are thus hamstrung, while our foreign counterparts profit by supplying hemp to a growing marketplace. In the long run, market forces--not outdated policies--will prevail.

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.2 percent last month and inflation is running at a scant 1.5 percent annual rate so far this year, compared with 1.7 percent for all of last year, the Labor Department said Tuesday. . . Tobacco costs jumped 2.6 percent and were up 12.9 percent for the year. "Smoking consumers continue to pay for lawsuit settlements to protect them from themselves," said economist David Orr of First Union Corp.

Victory Stogies: South Carolina's Clemson University, bowing to NCAA rules on tobacco use, ends its tradition of giving football players cigars after big wins.

Tobacco giant Philip Morris Cos. and its subsidiaries spent about $263,000 lobbying state legislators this year on issues that included campaign financing, an Associated Press review found. Philip Morris itself spent about $137,733 lobbying the Legislature, according to state Ethics Board reports reviewed Wednesday by the AP.

Dozens of volunteers -- families and corporations alike -- have responded to pleas from the United Way and the Volunteer Center of Waukesha County to do odd jobs for agencies during this week's Day of Caring. . . Among the agencies still looking for volunteers are: The Waukesha County Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, which is looking for at least 10 volunteers to visit tobacco retailers in the community to see whether the retailers are displaying signs warning patrons that they do not sell tobacco products to minors. The volunteers will hand out letters from the agency commending them for their efforts if they find the signs displayed.

Anyone who has tried to quit smoking probably has a story or two about earnest efforts and false starts. Getting this community to give up its cigarettes has been just as difficult. Tonight, Councilman Gerry Porter is proposing to ban cigarette vending machines in Wayne. It's his second attempt.

Visitors to the IOWA STATE FAIR today will get a bonus for making a "no-smoking" pledge at the fairgrounds. Officials with the TOBACCO FREE IOWA PROGRAM say visitors who promise not to smoke will get a pass good for discounts at a number of Iowa businesses. Officials say they hope to get 40-thousand no-smoking pledges today.

Organizers of a new political action committee announced Tuesday that they hope to raise $100,000 this fall to help elect anti-smoking candidates . . . Vukelich said the committee will solicit donations from health care professionals and lawyers. . . The PAC, labeled Minnesotans for Tobacco-Free Children, was established by Mark Vukelich and Mary Ellen Imdieke. . . Vukelich said he hoped the PAC plans to support Humphrey and four incumbent legislators who are running for re-election. They are Reps. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope; Kevin Goodno, R-Moorhead; Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul; and Peggy Leppik, R-Golden Valley.

Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci took aim at the tobacco industry again Tuesday, proposing new health regulations that would require cigarette makers to determine and disclose the presence of toxins in cigarette smoke. . . The new proposal would require tobacco companies to conduct and pay for annual tests to determine the presence of toxic substances in both primary and second-hand tobacco smoke. The companies would have to disclose their findings to the Department of Public Health, which would make the data public. Before it can be implemented, the proposal first faces a public hearing next month, said Ilene Hoffer, a spokeswoman for Cellucci. The Public Health Council then would vote on the rules at its next monthly meeting, probably in October.

Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci described the proposed disclosure regulations Tuesday prior to a meeting of the Massachusetts Public Health Council. "The public's right to know should trump any claim from the tobacco companies that this might be privileged information," Cellucci said.

The tobacco industry would have to disclose the toxic substances emitted in smoke under new regulations being proposed by Massachusetts. Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci has scheduled a news conference today to detail the proposed rules at the Massachusetts Public Health Council. The council would have to hold public hearings before the proposals could be implemented

In an attempt to bypass the tobacco industry's legal fight against the state's ground-breaking ingredient disclosure law, Acting Governor PAUL CELLUCCI will today propose regulations requiring cigarette makers to publicly reveal toxins in cigarette smoke, administration sources said. Administration officials said Cellucci will unveil his plan, which would mark a new national front against the embattled industry, at a morning meeting of the Massachusetts Public Health Council.

The local advertising regulatory agency in GUANGZHOU, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, has said it is willing to ban all outdoor cigarette ads for two months, China Daily reports. The Guangzhou Administration for Industry and Commerce has offered the temporary ban as a compromise with the municipal government which recently issued a ban of all public cigarette and tobacco advertising, to be put into effect August 25. It was unclear if the municipal government accepted the compromise, China Daily says in its report.

THE trade in smuggled cigarettes and tobacco from the continent is costing retailers in the North-East £140 million a year in lost sales. Law enforcement agencies yesterday launched a new campaign aimed at smokers who buy contraband tobacco. Crimestoppers is distributing 20,000 posters and 100,000 stickers to local independent retailers, wholesalers and vending machine operators. They bear the message "You've got to shop them to stop them".

CIGARROS LA TABACALERA MEXICANA SA said Wednesday it raised cigarette prices in Mexico an average of 12%, following a similar move by its archrival.

"I don't know of any time they've shut down the market after they've opened," said Warren Price, executive director of the federal Farm Service Agency in Pittsylvania County. The federally run bright tobacco auctions, which generally operate Mondays through Thursdays, expect to reopen Monday. Price said he'd been told by the owners of Danville's six tobacco warehouses that they would close for the day because of a leaf shortage caused by a late harvest of Virginia's No. 1 cash crop.

The company allocated an additional US $120 million especially for this project, bringing the total amount of its investment in Russia to over US $400 million.

Alvin Lindsay grows tobacco on 32 hectares south of Aylmer. Despite the sporadic dry and wet spells this season, he said his crops look good. "It's been erratic the way the water has been coming down. But most tobacco farmers are equipped with irrigation." Lindsay began harvesting his crop three weeks ago and said he's about a week ahead this season. "The crop is more mature this season, which should give a better quality product in the end."

The government is investigating reports that a Taiwanese trading company has trademarked two popular Thai cigarette brands: Krong Thip and Sai Fon (Falling Rain). The case is a first for the THAILAND TOBACCO MONOPOLY, according to managing director Ong-art Champoontha. He said the TTM had marketed its products without problems in other countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Burma. Mr Ong-art said the case originated when CHIA LI FORT ENTERPRISE Co, the Taiwanese distributor of TTM cigarettes, was asked to pay a royalty to Kanten International Trading Co if it wanted to handle Krong Thip and Sai Fon.

The cigarette company British American Tobacco Zimbabwe has declared a Z$0,18c interim dividend after reporting "depressed" results, although gross turnover grew from Z$127,4m in the year to June last year to Z$181,6m in June this year. "This is particularly disappointing when viewed in the context of such positive underlying factors as the continued growth of domestic brands by 8%, significant growth in regional export markets of 43%, and the return to Zimbabwe of international brands after a 23-year absence."

British Airways will issue hooligan passengers soccer-style yellow warning cards to combat "air rage," the airline said Wednesday. The notices warning offenders they face arrest on touchdown unless they cease their disruptive behavior will be issued from Sept. 1. British Airways said the crackdown, triggered by a 400 percent rise in air rage incidents in the past three years, was aimed at drunk and abusive passengers and passengers breaking the worldwide smoking ban on flights.

LEMONT, Ill. (AP) -- Two bar-owning brothers say they'll stop sponsoring Little League teams to avoid dealing with the legal battle over a player who refuses to wear their lounge's name. . . Little League Baseball International has no policy barring sponsorship by businesses that sell alcohol or tobacco products, as long as liquor or tobacco is not specifically mentioned on team uniforms.

Dorff's own drug of choice is Camel Lights. He smoked four of them during a 45-minute interview. "Look, I know smoking is bad for you," he says. "I'm going to quit, but I think I still have the teenage sensibility and I want to enjoy it for at least a few more years." He turns very serious. "I have to quit for my voice. I don't want to sound like . . . you know." It's no coincidence that Deacon Frost [in "BLADE"] smokes, too. "I always liked it that Kiefer Sutherland smokes (in the Joel Schumacher vampire film "The Lost Boys"). It's a nice touch: vampires feeding on blood, obviously there's a nicotine element in certain vampires."

Authorities say Morrison, of Logan, was thrown more than 100 feet when a 3-ton storage tank containing about 800 gallons of crude oil, exploded Friday . . . "They were probably just riding around," Mrs. Morrison said. "He smoked, and they probably figured he climbed up there and lit a cigarette or flicked a lighter. . . "These well sites, not just here but all over the state, are party havens for the kids," he said. "They go out there and do their smoking and drinking and watching the stars." . . In July 1997, two Muskingum County teens were killed when an oil tank exploded, hurling their bodies more than 200 feet. . . . Stewart said that the Muskingum County blast, which is believed to have been linked to smoking, was horrific.

so much of "Any Day Now," a new Lifetime drama series that has its premiere Tuesday night at 9, strains credibility, embraces stereotype and generally falls short of expectations. . . Mary Elizabeth (Annie Potts) is still in Birmingham, smoking cigarettes, handing out Happy Meals to her troubled children rather than cooking, and getting fed up with her unemployed, beer-drinking husband. . . This could be the beginning of an interesting portrait of a friendship that survived tumultuous times, but the two personable stars have a lot of earnest, obvious dialogue to deal with.

But gaining public backing this time is likely to be far more difficult because of his weakened position, said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland. "I think Clinton has lost the moral high ground," Hoekstra said. "When he goes on television now, people will be skeptical. They will be much more open to a second opinion than just taking him at face value. People just don't trust him anymore." Other major issues in which Clinton would normally depend upon public support are health care reform, tobacco legislation curbing teen-age smoking, Social Security reform, and fast track trade legislation.

Boston's 24 building inspectors are in the business of averting disaster, so it makes sense for the city's Inspectional Services Department to make respiratory disease hazards in people's homes its business. . . Residents will be advised that some triggers of asthma - especially cigarette smoke, pet hair, and strong perfumes - are within their control and are not the fault of landlords.

This decision will be appealed and ultimately will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. But Congress surely knows that eventually the formulation of a national tobacco policy--including whether the FDA has the power to regulate tobacco--belongs on Capitol Hill and not in the courts. . . . If the nation truly wants a national tobacco policy to discourage teenagers from smoking, Congress will have to take this on again, and learn from the mistakes of the past.

It's apparent that attempts at sarcasm are lost on tobacco officials, so we'll say for the record that U.S. District Judge William Osteen is no doubt an upstanding member of the legal community with a solid reputation as a lawyer, U.S. attorney and federal judge. The same can't be said for members of the tobacco elite, who paid more than $156,000 to 13 scientists to write letters and manuscripts to influential publications like the `Journal of the American Medical Association' and `The Wall Street Journal' criticizing the 1993 EPA report that concluded that secondhand smoke does contribute to the risk of lung cancer. . . Which makes all the more ironic the last line of the communication that criticized this newspaper: "Distorting the scientific process to support a preconceived, politically motivated, public policy agenda is a reprehensible violation of the public trust." Isn't it, though.

Unfortunately, lawmakers, looking to flex their muscles and obviously eyeing upcoming elections, ignored the agreement and instead tried to impose tougher penalties. The support of the tobacco companies for a settlement evaporated amid congressional chaos. . . We agree with McCain. Congress needs to pass legislation regarding tobacco use. The sooner the better. Failure to do so because of pettiness not only portrays Congress in a poor light but puts millions of youths at risk.

• OUR VIEW: Let FDA regulate tobacco
  
  Tobacco companies are now declaring victory in their fight against government regulation. In reality, though, the court decision is the latest - and most pointed - reminder that federal legislation still is needed to keep tobacco away from children and teens. Without it, there's no guarantee the FDA can continue its work. Is that a victory for Big Tobacco? Only if Congress won't act.
• OPPOSING VIEW: FDA rules won't help Jacob Sullum
  
  it may be fruitless to note that the Constitution does not authorize Congress to regulate intrastate sales of tobacco. Nevertheless, it is true. And what Congress is not empowered to do it surely may not delegate to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Such old-fashioned concerns aside, the sort of regulations the FDA has proposed would not make much of a dent in underage smoking. Every state already forbids cigarette sales to minors.

The 2-to-1 decision . . . was so close and the dissenting judge offered such strong counter arguments that a review by the full, 11-member court is in order. . . The judges' reasoning ignores a wealth of information about the content and health effects of cigarettes that has been made public in the past few decades . . . "Inasmuch as cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are responsible for illness and death on a vast scale, FDA regulations at curbing tobacco use by children cannot possibly be contrary to the general intent of the FDA to protect public health," Hall wrote. If Congress had been doing its job, it would have passed some form of tobacco legislation by now that would have included a definition and boundaries of FDA authority over tobacco. . . Congress still needs to act

The three-judge panel acknowledged that Congress has given the FDA the responsibility to protect the public's health and that tobacco products pose serious health risks. But the judges concluded that Congress had never given the FDA legal authority to regulate tobacco products or advertising. . . It's time that both parties return to the table and hammer out bipartisan legislation that addresses the deadly problem of tobacco.

While the two judges did not dispute the FDA's right to protect the public's health -- nor did they dispute that tobacco products are dangerous -- they decided, oddly, that the FDA had gone too far. . . The Clinton administration will appeal the 4th Court ruling, but the best way to cut teen smoking is for Congress to make the FDA rules law, as progressive states such as Texas have done.

Two courses of action must now be pursued. The Clinton administration should seek to have the appeals court panel's ruling overturned, by the full 4th Circuit or by the Supreme Court. And Congress at long last should move forcefully to regulate tobacco. . . The next Congress will fail its responsibilities if it does not place high on its agenda legislation to regulate tobacco and to require restitution for the harm it has done.

He's been the hapless fool in an ongoing farce. But there's time to make his mark on the issues of the day. . . Clinton, revitalized by his reelection, was pushing ahead on what he interpreted as a mandate to shore up the middle class with health care reform, an expansion of the guarantee of free education through college and an attempt to do something about gun control and the attraction of tobacco to youth. Instead, he has been mired in a sexual farce, and conservatives who could not defeat Clinton on a principled basis are able to undermine him on issues from tobacco to Social Security reform with this voyeuristic line of attack.

It's time now for the first Democratic President since F.D.R. to be elected for a second term to actually begin his second term. That means Mr. Clinton has got to give up this crazy notion that his primary political role is to be Al Gore's campaign manager for the year 2000 election and instead to start fulfilling his own agenda, whether it's Social Security reform, education reform, child-care reform, campaign finance reform, tobacco legislation or expansion of free trade -- all of which will require his stepping on some traditional Democratic constituencies. The President talks a good game on many of these issues, but he has yet to really put his shoulder to the wheel behind most of t hem or to put them in concrete legislative form.

Smoking is also linked to growth problems in the fetus. Yet a pregnant woman who lights up a cigarette or drinks martinis at the Saturday night cocktail party is not likely to be arrested and sent to prison for child abuse. Why the double standard? Part of the explanation is that drug abuse is a marker for a whole range of other problems that put a woman and her pregnancy at risk.

Since the cigarette companies' game has been to distract us from the obvious, CDC has had to go to the bother of proving the obvious. A CDC study finds that a sharp increase in cigarette taxes would deeply slash sales . . . Of course, if the industry cared about working people it would stop selling them poison . . . The only reason the CDC study counts as news is its currency. We've known for years that smoking is price-sensitive with many of tobacco's customers. . . An unbought Republican, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, . . . is struggling upstream against a torrent of industry advertising that has managed so far to persuade enough folks that a $1.10 tax on cigarettes is somehow a bigger cost than those 400,000 lives and $50 billion in annual medical expenses we shell out to keep the tobacco companies rich.

I took one cigarette and put it in my shirt pocket. Every time I had the urge, I reached for the weed, said, "Look, buddy, I'm bigger than you are!" and put it back in my pocket. That did it. And after I quit, everything in my life was better.

But the battle over tobacco is far from over. Too many of us have lost people we love to illnesses linked to smoking. Too many of us are repulsed by transparent efforts to addict young people to cigarettes. Too many of us resent the influence tobacco companies exert on federal, state and local legislators and the untouchable status they enjoy with government regulators. Millions of us enjoy the non-smoking rules, are relieved not to be assaulted by the stale stink of old smoke when we board a plane, appreciate having workplaces and restaurants with clearer air. Our cultural tolerance for smoking and indoor air pollution has changed. Despite the tobacco industry's recent victories, it shouldn't count on winning the long-term war.

The tobacco industry is seeking a new ally in the fight to protect cigarette secrets: the main trade group for criminal lawyers. Big tobacco has asked the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS to write a "friend-of-the-court" brief for use in future legal appeals to support the industry's argument that courts have been too cavalier in ordering disclosure of internal industry documents that allegedly show tobacco lawyers helping clients commit fraud or other crimes.

A federal appeals court in New Orleans has issued a ruling in an asbestos case that could make it harder for ailing smokers and other injury victims to pursue class-action lawsuits. The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected an approach under which plaintiffs' lawyers in a Tyler, Texas, case would have been allowed to present evidence against asbestos-products makers based on a random sampling of victims, and then extrapolate from those victims to measure the damages owed to thousands of other plaintiffs with similar claims.

While tobacco stocks have rarely moved on favorable asbestos rulings, investors should consider Cimino in the context of the growing paper trail of favorable tobacco rulings at the state level (PA, MO, NY, DC, PR), Cimino's potential impact on Engle, and that other courts reviewing tobacco class actions will increasingly reject the concept of bifurcated trials with separate phases for common and individual issues, when individual causation and damages must be flushed out separately for each class member.

The state may lose $1.8 million in federal funds for treatment and prevention of drug and alcohol abuse because the Health Department missed a grant application deadline. . . Democratic gubernatorial candidate Myrth York released information about the grant problems to the media Wednesday, saying loss of the money would be "disastrous." York said loss of the money would be Almond's fault and would hurt efforts to curtail childhood smoking. In fact, only a small portion of the grant money goes toward tobacco prevention and none goes toward treatment for tobacco abuse, said Health Director Dr. Patricia Nolan. Donna Shalala, secretary of the federal Health and Human Services Department, will make a final decision on the grant, possibly this week.

The Livingston County Board of Supervisors voted 12 to 5 yesterday to ban smoking in restaurants and limit it in bars, bowling alleys and workplaces. The code will become effective a year from adoption. . . . Monroe County's law, also effective next year, bans smoking in restaurants, bowling alley scoring areas and bingo halls.

DAN PAGE, a North Carolina state senator trying to unseat Rep. BOBBY R. ETHERIDGE (D), is using the commercial to tie his opponent to President Clinton and the array of allegations against the administration. . . "And who stands with Bill Clinton even now? Liberal Bob Etheridge. . . Applauding Clinton's values, not ours. . . . Mike Davis, a spokesman for Etheridge . . . said Etheridge has supported the president on many issues, but fought him bitterly on tobacco legislation.

"What's there to apologize for?" wonders retired tobacco farmer BILL PFEFFER, puffing on a pipe at the 17th annual event. "Tobacco is a legal product. "I know smoking is bad for you," admits the 73-year-old president of the OHIO TOBACCO GROWERS ASSOCIATION. "But I've been smoking 55 years and it hasn't killed me yet. "Anyway, if you don't drink beer, you can still go to a beer festival. So, even if you don't smoke, you can still come to the Tobacco Festival and we'll treat you like friends."

Seventy-thousand people are expected to attend the annual Tobacco Festival along the Ohio River in RIPLEY this weekend. Bill Pfeffer (PEFF-er) is the president of the Ohio Tobacco Growers Association. He says tobacco contributes 57-Million do llars to Ohio's economy. Pfeffer says most tobacco farmers realize their crops may be harmful to people... but no one is forcing Americans to light up.

Missouri Republican Party Director JOHN HANCOCK said today that when former St. Louis Mayor FREEMAN BOSLEY Jr. endorsed JAY NIXON for the Senate, Bosley was repaying Nixon for awarding Bosley's law firm a piece of the state's tobacco litigation case. Hancock said the black community opposed Nixon because it distrusted him. Hancock said Nixon had bought the endorsement of Bosley, who is black, "with hard, cold cash" from the expected proceeds of the tobacco case.

Former Mayor FREEMAN BOSLEY JR. and a prominent African-American clergyman endorsed Democrat JAY NIXON for U.S. Senate on Wednesday. Their endorsements are the first sign of a possible thaw in Nixon's conflict with many African-American leaders . . . Bosley and the Rev. B.T. RICE called for party unity among African-Americans . . . Bosley and Rice met at the law firm where Bosley works, Caldwell, Hughes & Singleton. That firm is one of four in line to profit in Missouri's lawsuit against tobacco companies. . . . Nixon's leadership in suing the tobacco companies won Rice over, Rice said.

St. Paul City Council President Dan Bostrom on Wednesday asked for a ban on new currency exchanges, pawnshops, secondhand stores and tobacco shops in the city while a study of possible new zoning requirements for those establishments is completed. Bostrom introduced the resolution at the City Council meeting under suspension of the rules, without prior notice to some of his colleagues. . . The measure would impose a one-year moratorium on expansion and relocation of the four types of businesses, as well as on opening new ones. . . Bostrom said the study would look at the impact of currency exchanges, pawnshops, secondhand stores and tobacco shops in residential neighborhoods. It might lead to additional restrictions on how far such establishments must be from homes.

From Newport to the Ventura County line, using the beach as a marketing tool has become as hot as the sand on an August afternoon. Advertisers stick their names on trash cans or lifeguard towers, gaining exposure to millions of beachgoers. . . City Manager John Jalili said Santa Monicans would likely place more restrictions on corporate sponsors than other cities. He said liquor or cigarette companies, along with companies known for "environmental degradation" would most likely not make the cut with City Council or residents. Similar concerns are taken into consideration for the Los Angeles County beaches in the South Bay, Crane said. "I have a very small staff," she said. "It takes a very aggressive sales team to get out there and beat the bushes, but we're still cautious about who we choose." The typical beach ad is public service-oriented and family-focused, Crane said. "We prohibit alcohol and tobacco advertising . . .our sponsors seem to recognize the fact that the beaches are a family environment."

Customs officers believe they have smashed a smuggled-cigarette storage centre in Fo Tan, after the seizure of 2.1 million cigarettes yesterday. A senior Customs officer said the cigarettes, with an estimated value of $2.73 million, had a duty potential of $1.61 million.

The Nigerian government has banned smoking in all government offices and premises, where the selling and display of tobacco products are also prohibited. . . The circular dated July 31 was addressed to all service chiefs, the police, all the ministries and parastatals as well as state governments, according to Wednesday's Daily Times, a major national newspaper in Nigeria. . . A research by the Federal Ministry of Health estimates that there are about 4.2 million smokers among Nigeria's 120 million population.

Shares of U.K. tobacco companies have climbed sharply in the past couple of months, bucking a downward market trend and outperforming other stocks viewed as defensive plays. Tobacco shares' own defensive qualities have combined with expectation of continued, steady earnings growth and an easing of litigation concerns to spark investor interest. Some onlookers say tobacco issues may be nearing their peak, but analysts argue that they'll serve as a safe haven for investors in coming months.

"It seems what they've done is come up with something that is right out of teenage fantasies," says David Sweanor, senior legal counsel with Canada's Non-Smokers Rights' Association. "It's poking fun at authority, it's associating cigarettes with sex, and, from a marketing standpoint, I think it's brilliant. From a public health standpoint, it's quite disastrous."

Shares of U.K. tobacco companies have climbed sharply in the past couple of months, bucking a downward market trend and outperforming other stocks viewed as defensive plays.

TOBACCO major ITC Ltd is set to significantly hike its cigarette manufacturing capacity. After mulling over its expansion proposal for eight even months, the industry ministry on Tuesday cleared the proposal which would allow ITC to nearly treble the capacity of its Kidderpore (Calcutta) unit from 4.8 billion to 12.25 billion cigarettes. The ministerial okay to ITC's proposal comes at a time when a number of health and welfare associations, as well as the ministry of health, have expressed concern over government allowing enhanced production capacities to cigarette manufacturing units.

Integrated Healthcare Inc. (ITHC) cancelled its merger with Alec Bradley Cigars after determining the deal probably wouldn't receive shareholder approval. In a press release Wednesday, Integrated Healthcare said it believed shareholders were "concerned with the acquisition of a company in the tobacco field."

MILLIONAIRE FAN: Gordon's victory at the Brickyard 400, worth a $1 million bonus from series sponsor R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., means the company also will give $1 million to a fan. Reynolds has drawn the names of the five finalists, and the five will attend the Southern 500 on Sept. 6 in Darlington, S.C., where Gordon will draw the name of the winner before the race.

The top ranks of the World Health Organisation look dramatically different since DR GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND swept into office on 21 July, writes Adrea Mach . . . DR JIE CHEN: non-communicable diseases . . . Our cluster is the smallest, with a biennial budget of $6m and only 30 to 40 people, including the antitobacco programme and the cancer programme. . . She has already conducted economic analyses of deaths due to smoking, and China will be used as a pilot study in the antitobacco campaign. "Economic development depends on health," Dr Chen asserted. "We need external relations, both for funding and for educating the public and raising awareness."

The late comedian's family sued a cigar store chain Thursday, accusing it of using an image of "The Honeymooners" star without permission. But an owner of the Royal Cigar Society International said it removed the image of Gleason with a cigar in his hand as soon as the family asked. . . Gleason's relatives accuse the cigar chain of ignoring the request, which they first made last June. Sheman contends the chain removed an image of Gleason and several other cigar-smoking stars after receiving notices from an attorney.

In Louis Begley's beautifully crafted fourth novel "About Schmidt" (six tapes, nine hours, purchase $49, rental $13.50), George Guidall presents a sensitive, convincing audio performance with just the right touch of dry humor and sarcasm. . . The not-very-likable Schmidt is lonely, feels useless and is at odds with his only daughter, Charlotte. She is a "smug, overworked yuppie" too busy to spend time with him because she is always "explaining to the public why tobacco companies are really a misunderstood group of good guys manufacturing a fine, useful product."

URL: www.members.home.net/fsevera/index.html -- PROPRIETOR: Frank Severa, 62, from Dublin. . . -- MISSION: To spread the news about innovative or offbeat sites and help cut back on search time for others. Severa said he makes sure the sites are all appropriate for kids. . . . -- SAMPLE: From Severa's review of "Rob's Holmespage" at www.monmouth.com/~rflemen -- "Two subjects that always create good feedback for our page are Sherlock Holmes and pipe and cigar smoking. Would you believe that we were lucky enough to find a site that combines them?

At least the swinging "rats," as they were known in their heyday -- Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop -- are depicted accurately in terms of their outward style. Their manly joie de vivre and enviable excesses are apparent, from the politically incorrect jokes to the endless cigarettes, booze and broads.

SAM SHEPARD and JUDY DAVIS have signed to star for cable's A&E network in "DASH AND LILLY," which marks KATHY BATES' feature-length directorial debut. . . It will tell the story of the tumultuous 30-year relationship between the hard-drinking, chain-smoking HAMMETT and HELLMAN, who serve up witty bon mots as they battle personal demons, literary triumphs, numerous infidelities and the bittersweet price of Broadway and Hollywood success.

A street was revamped into a New Orleans French Quarter setting for Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino, who worked a scene for "Man of the People," a film that uses the tobacco litigation in its plot.

Pacino worked late into the night Tuesday on his new movie about a former cigarette company vice president who turns against the tobacco industry.

They easily bought marijuana on the street around Hastings, then -- somewhat shyly -- entered the Cannabis Cafe, a marijuana mecca for many West Coast Americans. While one friend picked at a green salad mixed with a few hemp seeds, Adam took out a joint and, somewhat uneasily, lit it. Soon he relaxed. "It's a good environment, 'cause you can't smoke cigarettes, you can only smoke marijuana," he said. "You don't have the smokey bar atmosphere, just a pleasant smell."

We believe the three-judge panel will be reversed on appeal to the full Fourth Circuit Court -- or, if not there, then before the Supreme Court. But even if we're wrong about that, a remedy exists. It requires only political fortitude and common decency. That remedy lies in Congress, which with simple bipartisan legislation can remove all doubt about whether it wants the FDA to regulate tobacco. If the members are as attentive to the voters' desires as they always claim to be, that's what they will do.

Industry lawyers and other apologists blame the defeat on opponents of the trade-off, for seeking conditions more onerous than the industry could be expected to bear. They say the new court decision proves they were right to seek more concessional legislation. But that's the kind of cave-in that only a lawyer richly paid to cut a deal would call good policy. If FDA regulation does in fact require fresh legislation, surely that's not an argument that in other important respects the legislation ought to be weak. This is a product that kills. The Clinton administration was right to push as no other of either party has before to regulate it, and to insist that Congress endorse the regulation. The Supreme Court should overturn this court decision, but Congress could save it the trouble if the Republican majority would muster the will.

The decision, which reverses a Federal district judge in North Carolina, ignores the broad authority granted to the agency to protect the public from unsafe drugs and devices. A sensible reading of the law would put tobacco within the agency's purview. . . The two-member majority of the appeals court panel found this long-held stance an indication that such authority had never been granted by Congress. But that reasoning does not take into account increasingly clear evidence that nicotine is an addictive drug. . . But Congress can resolve the legal battle by explicitly granting the agency authority to regulate tobacco. It goes against reason that the F.D.A. should have no power to protect children from the leading preventable cause of death in this country.

But the opinion delivered Friday is a welcome rebuff to this president's routine abuse of regulatory power. . . It is all well and good that eliminating smoking ranks near the top of the Clinton agenda. But the White House has repeatedly resorted to regulation to achieve tobacco restrictions that it failed to win from Congress. . . The failure of Congress to crack down on tobacco products appears to reflect the nation's ambivalence about smoking. Citizens are well aware of the health consequences of smoking, but they also are mindful that government nannyism creates more problems than it cures. . . Americans face a far greater risk from a president who defies the U.S. Constitution.

Lost in the whoop-de-do over the presidential romance of the century is the revelation that Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man are alive and well and serving on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. . . The ruling means that it is now up to Congress to grant the FDA the power to regulate tobacco. And what about today's children? They will be adults before Congress acts.

Domestically, budget questions must be resolved; children are killing children; the tobacco deal has fallen apart; and as usual, matters of race always lie beneath the surface. Through all this, the nation obsesses with the President's private life. . . It is time to set aside our preoccupation with foolish things and for the Congress together with the President to deal with those matters that count.

The law is the law. Perjury is perjury. . . Unless, of course, you're testifying about tobacco. Five years ago, seven top executives of the nation's largest tobacco firms appeared before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and stated -- under oath -- that they believed nicotine was not addictive. The merchants of death also swore -- under oath -- that they "weren't sure" whether cigarette smoking causes disease. . . With Clinton, we're talking about misleading people over some hanky-panky with an intern. With the other guys, it's misinformation about a product that kills 435,000 Americans a year. . . The truth is, if members of Congress treated Clinton the way they treat Joe Camel, . . . they'd pulverize anybody who tried to stop them. Sort of the way they killed Sen. JOHN MCCAIN's plan . . . Arizona's other senator, JON KYL, who piously has stated that he, too, was "offended" by Clinton's speech, was among those who voted to kill McCain's plan. Hypocrisy, like nicotine, is addictive.

This provision -- an amendment to the appropriations bill for the District of Columbia -- would punish kids in Washington, D.C., for possession of tobacco products. Yet, this amendment would do nothing to hold responsible the tobacco companies that market their products to children. It also fails to address the fact that over 40 percent of retailers in D.C. still sell to kids. The amendment is remarkably similar to a key provision of the House Republican Leadership plan that, as outlined, would do little to reduce tobacco use among kids. This is a perfect of example of how Congress has been focusing on paper-tiger solutions while failing to enact the policies that every public health organization in the country has said are critical to reducing tobacco use among kids.

Nebraska on Friday became the 41st state to sue the tobacco industry to recover millions spent treating sick smokers. . . On Thursday, a Circuit Court judge in Honolulu ruled that Hawaii can proceed with its lawsuit seeking $1 billion in medical reimbursements from the tobacco industry. Judge Kevin Chang rejected the industry's request to dismiss the lawsuit. The case is expected to go to trial next year.

"The governor has raised $4.5 million in this campaign, so whatever the total is, it's a very small percentage of what we've raised to fund this statewide campaign," said Dean Pagani, the spokesman. "There's absolutely no indication that money he's received from tobacco interests, or any other interests, influenced decision-making," Pagani said.

The Connecticut Citizen Action Group, which has been a frequent critic of Rowland, said the Governor's acceptance of tobacco money also drew into question his other positions on tobacco, including his refusal to ask Connecticut's Treasurer to divest the state of tobacco stocks even as it pursues a lawsuit against tobacco companies to recover the costs of treating tobacco-related illnesses. "So far, Governor Rowland has put his support behind the money, and not on the side of public health or children's health," Susan D. Haviland, a spokeswoman for the group, said at a news conference held Thursday in the Governor's empty parking space at the Capitol.

In the billboard above it, three smiling black models heft heaping platters of hamburgers and corn, their picnic made ever so more enjoyable by NEWPORT cigarettes. You won't find this billboard duo on the interstates, or in the suburbs. Instead, they are on the side of a beat-up building in Hartford's North End, a stone's throw from a row of houses and the Gospel Lighthouse Apostolic Church.

Gerard PORTER said he pulled his proposed legislation at Wednesday's council meeting partly because anti-smoking groups say getting rid of the machines does little to stop smoking. Instead, Porter and Councilmen Chris MCINTYRE and Michael KRAUS will craft an ordinance that would outlaw smoking in public places. The three meet next week to begin researching smoke-free laws.

Maryland's students are joining the twice-failed fight to increase the cigarette tax to help keep kids from smoking. . . The students will begin their campaign with a news conference today in Upper Marlboro with supporters and lawmakers who have signed a pledge to support the cause. "It is appalling that any legislator would not support the Maryland Children's Initiative to protect children from this deadly drug," Thomas said.

Sign on a table at a Republican barbecue dinner Monday night in Greenville: "Mr. Tobacco Farmer -- Send Bill Clinton a message. Join the Republican Party. It takes 60 seconds." Below the sign was a form to allow people to change their party registration.

State health officials, who usually discourage people from smoking, have argued that San Jose does not have the right to enforce a smoking ban at the Westgate Rehab and Specialty Care Center. "On the face of it, it would be a good thing if all nursing home residents chose not to smoke," said Ken August, a spokesman for the California Department of Health Services. "But for nursing home residents, a nursing home is their home . . . and we're also responsible for protecting the rights of nursing home residents." But the 6th District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that state law does not preempt a city's ability to ban smoking in nursing homes.

One-third of Swiss between 15 and 74 smoke, and the proportion is staying stable in contrast to a decline in other European countries, according to a Swiss government report released Thursday. The study of the social costs of smoking was carried out by the University of Neuchatel for the country's health ministry.

And it's not just shampoos and toothpaste. Chewing-tobacco companies like Pan Parag pioneered the use of sachets, since their customers had always bought small quantities at a time. Instead of getting a chew from unhygienic street-corner vendors, now customers can buy one in a flashy sachet. Some companies that make pan masala (a mixture of tobacco and betel nut that lasts longer and takes some of the harshness from the tobacco) sell almost all their production as sachets.

The NATIONAL TOBACCO ENTERPRISE of Ethiopia warned Thursday that all cigarettes intercepted while being smuggled into the country have been found expired and hazardous for health.

The State Government has planned anti-addiction and anti-leprosy campaigns in the State from October 2, Gandhi Jayanti Day, with educative programmes beginning from August 22. Mr. Bhat said socla activists cancer experts and he would answer questions on television from students and teachers in the district headquarters in the State, on the evils of tobacco and liquor addiction. He said there were around 50,000 cancer patients in the State and a substantial number of them suffered from oral cancer, apparently caused by chewing of tobacco and "gutkha". An anti-addiction rally would be taken out in Ahmedabad on the Gandhi Jayanti Day to educate the people about the dangers of tobacco and liquor addiction.

A dry spell that has held Virginia in its grip for much of the summer is imperiling some crops and has forced a rare closing of the Danville tobacco market, agricultural experts said. "It's been very harsh on some farmers who have had little to no rain in months," said Jim Lawson, deputy state statistician with the Virginia Department of Agriculture.

Dean Sims has resigned as general manager of the British American Tobacco-owned trade marketing diversification company Work Investment Company (WIC) to join another part of the BAT empire. The move puts a question mark over BAT's multi-million pound commitment to its trademark diversification programme.

Imperial Tobacco has applied for an injunction to stop arch-rival Gallaher from selling a hand-rolling tobacco with the same name as one of its brands ­ even though the Imperial product is not sold under the Drum name in the UK. The Imperial brand Drum is understood to be the third most popular hand-rolling tobacco because of the scale of illegal imports. Cheaper prices on the Continent have led to an increase in tobacco smuggling. Gallaher has registered the name Drum as a UK trademark, after launching its own version of the brand earlier this year (MW July 16).

The leap can be expensive and complicated. And although many experts say overall humidor quality has improved in recent years, deciding what to buy remains as much of an art as it is a science. With the wide variety of humidors available, "It's a personalized type of purchase," says Tom Favelli, owner of Key West (Florida) Havana Cigar.

Shares in Egypt's EASTERN TOBACCO may be poised to rise after the monopoly cigarette producer raised prices and made product changes intended to tighten its grip on the nation's smokers, analysts said on Wednesday. "The stock has great potential, and at this level it is recommended as a buy," said Rana Adawy, head of research at Intercapital Securities.

I hereby confess to having a veritable quagmire of politically incorrect vices. I smoke, I drink, I don't exercise, I eat red meat and I still smother my baked potato with sour cream and real butter. I do these things because I know the genetic limits of my family tree. We die young. That's it. Case closed. I'm simply helping to expedite God's will. . . . "Ian," he'd say, while blowing the perfect smoke ring, as only God could. "It's not how long, or how short a human life is, it's how one lives that life that matters. One can eat vegetables until they're blue in the face and still not make it into Heaven. One can refrain from smoking and still get smoked. So relax!

Years ago, my immigrant Lebanese father was hooked on Pall Malls and smoked two-to-three packs a day in the coffeehouse while playing cards, at the factory and at home. . . For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted minority populations in advertising. Many minorities face burdens. For some, it's having to work in low-paying jobs and live in poor neighborhoods. Many are poorly educated and face immense cultural barriers. If minority groups are going to be educated about smoking, then the anti-smoking messages must be culturally sensitive and translated into their native languages. Six years ago, after a long battle with heart disease and lung problems, my father died. . . . Perhaps the tobacco giants can take comfort in knowing their children may grow up to be replacement smokers.

If Mr. Starr brought a fraction of the zeal to bear on the tobacco industry that he has on a private relationship between consenting adults, what public benefits might result!

As Mr. Elhauge suggests, the free market may well have produced better information and safer cigarettes, but the market was not free. It was, and continues to be, a captive of government regulators and political activists who believe that consumers are unable to evaluate advertisement claims with a healthy dose of skepticism. We should remember that the next time someone suggests a ban on truthful information in advertising.

MARK SCHWICKERATH (R), an attorney battling incumbent TOM MILLER (D) in the Iowa attorney general race, said Miller has taken the state on "uncertain, questionable legal adventures." Miller has abandoned pursuing the tobacco industry's research of candy cigarette use, but he is still trying to negotiate a settlement for the state with cigarette makers. Schwickerath, who was nominated at the state convention, said he will focus on Iowa's crime and drug problems.

A Circuit Court judge has given the state a go-ahead on a lawsuit against tobacco companies that could net $3 billion for the state treasury for reimbursement of medical costs related to smoking. This is the first time that every count of such a lawsuit in any state has survived tobacco companies' motion to strike the complaint. In Indiana, a judge recently threw out the state's lawsuit. Attorney General Margery Bronster said she was "ecstatic" with the ruling by Circuit Judge Kevin Chang for "upholding citizens' rights" and making the tobacco industry responsible for alleged wrongs such as targeting children.

A Circuit Court judge has ruled that Hawaii can proceed with its lawsuit seeking $1 billion in medical reimbursements from the tobacco industry. The rulings were issued Thursday by Circuit Court Judge Kevin Chang on the tobacco companies' motion to strike the complaint. . . Attorney General MARGERY BRONSTER said she expected the trial to begin Sept. 7, 1999. Chang's ruling means every count cited by the state will go to trial. . . "The tobacco industry should take serious note of this key ruling in the Hawaii tobacco case," said RONALD L. MOTLEY, the state's national trial counsel. "Hawaii has a full range of causes of action that will enable the truth about the tobacco industry's misconduct to be shown, and ensure full recovery to the state for its tobacco-related health care costs," he said.

State attorneys can question a former tobacco company lawyer about an alleged industry conspiracy to abandon research into a "safer" cigarette, a judge ruled Friday. Lawyer Lawrence G. Meyer has indicated he would testify that other tobacco companies threatened to retaliate against Liggett Group if the Durham, N.C.-based firm didn't stop work on its "XA" project to develop a safer cigarette, according to court documents. . . King County Superior Court Judge George A. Finkle's ruling Friday cleared the way for testimony by Meyer and two former tobacco researchers. He blocked the state's attempt to question several others, including Liggett chief Bennett Lebow.

The state can move ahead with its $50 billion lawsuit against the tobacco industry, a court ruled Friday. A Superior Court in New Brunswick decided that the state has the right to sue tobacco companies to recoup money spent on smoking-related illnesses of Medicaid patients.

After seven weeks of plodding jury selection, attorneys on both sides asked Friday to drop candidates who have tentatively qualified to hear a case brought by sick Florida smokers against the tobacco industry. Industry attorneys want to discard six people who have out-of-state relatives with smoking-related illnesses. . . Attorneys for the smokers, in turn, asked to remove 13 prospective jurors who during individual questioning have expressed bias against smokers, or for cigarette makers.

Rival lawyers in Florida's landmark class-action lawsuit against cigarette makers have agreed on 67 potential jurors, out of 120 needed, after seven weeks of jury selection, a court official said on Friday.

THIRTY-EIGHT members of Parliament have, in a signed representation to the prime minister, Mr A B Vajpayee, questioned the "reasons for delay" in clearing the application of Rothmans Pall Mall (International) Ltd to set up a 100-per cent subsidiary in India. The letter addressed to the Prime Minister was written by the Lok Sabha representative from Guntur, Mr Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, on August 4, 1998. . . They stated in their communique that "due to lack of competition from international companies, the farmers of And-hra Pra-desh have not been able to get better returns on their tobacco produce. As you are aware, currently there is only one company which is buying from the farmers and we believe because of no competition for the said company, they have been able to manipulate prices in their favour, depriving the farmers of our state their due share."

The Freedom of Commercial Speech Trust has warned that the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill contains drafting weaknesses which may open it to legal challenge. The trust, representing the media, marketing and advertising industries in South Africa, has lodged a formal response to the Bill with the Health Department.

Saudi Arabia will ban some foreign publications that carry cigarette advertising to be distributed in the kingdom, a Saudi-based newspaper said Thursday. The English-language daily ARAB NEWS quoted Information Ministry officials as saying the ban covered magazines and papers aimed at young people and women, particularly those that dealt with sports, social and cultural issues.

Southern Maryland tobacco farms are also feeling the brunt of the drought. The board reported that half of the tobacco harvest in Calvert County stands to be ruined by the lack of rain. In Charles County, the loss is projected at 40 percent; in St. Mary's County, at 30 percent.

"I wouldn't pay $45 for one," Genia Tench of Henrico County said of Philip Morris USA's new Accord "cigarette smoking system" sold for the first time this week in local tobacco stores. But other smokers were eager to ignite the new product. "We were sold out by noon," Aggie Cavender, co-owner of The Cigarette Store . . . Mateen Quraishi, owner of Tobacco Town, said Accord seems to appeal to customers who like cigarettes with low tar and nicotine levels, a segment known as "ultra lights." "If you smoke a full flavor, regular Marlboro, it's not for you."

Retailers and analysts expect the premium cigar industry will shake off a seven-year slump this year, thanks in part to a strengthening tobacco industry in Connecticut. A robust supply of cigars has finally landed on the shelves of smoke shops, though the lingering threat of a crop-deforming disease called blue mold could diminish future stocks.

• HIGHLIGHTS: Cigarette Use
  
  • In 1997, an estimated 64 million Americans reported smoking tobacco within 30 days prior to the interview. This represents a rate of 30 percent and the rate did not change between 1996 and 1997.
  • An estimated 20 percent of youth age 12-17 (4.5 million) were current smokers in 1997. There was no significant change in this rate between 1996 and 1997 and the smoking rate for this group has remained relatively stable since 1988.
  • For youth age 12-13 there was a significant increase in the rate of current use of cigarettes from 7.3 percent in 1996 to 9.7 percent in 1997. 230
• 08/22/98 TOBACCO USE Age, Race/Ethnicity, Gender, Region/Urbanicity, Education
• TRENDS IN INITIATION: Cigarettes
  
  • An estimated 3.3 million people tried their first cigarette in 1995 (1996 estimate not available). The rate of initiation among youth age 12-17 continued to increase from 1991 to 1995.
  • An estimated 1.9 million people began smoking on a daily basis in 1996, and the rate of youth initiation of daily smoking increased somewhat from 1991 to 1996. The average age at which people started smoking daily has been declining somewhat since 1993, although the change is not statistically significant.
• Alcohol and Cigarette Use Surveys
• [There are too many relevant tables to list here.]

And finally, that is a powerful reason why I have tried to do as much as possible to curb youth use of tobacco --because as today's survey also shows, teen smokers are about 12 times as likely to use illegal drugs as those who don?t smoke. But our efforts depend on all Americans -- parents, teachers, coaches, and clergy -- taking responsibility and talking to our children about the dangers of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

Illicit drug use among those from 12 to 17 years old rose to 11.4 percent in 1997 from 9 percent in 1996. During the same period, marijuana use in that age group increased to 9.4 percent from 7.1 percent, according to the NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY ON DRUG ABUSE conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Officials surveyed 24,505 individuals. . . Cigarette use among the nation's youth also increased in 1997. Among those age 12 to 13, cigarette use increased to 9.7 percent in 1997 from 7.3 percent. Alcohol use among children has remained relatively stable since 1992, according to the survey. However, drug use among youths was higher with those who were currently using cigarettes and alcohol.

Teens are more likely to use illegal drugs if they already use cigarettes and alcohol. . . About 4.5 million young people ages 12 to 17 had used cigarettes within the past month. There was a significant increase among 12- to 13-year-olds, growing from 7.3 percent in 1996 to 9.7 percent last year.

The current survey also found that one out of five young people aged 12 to 17, or roughly 20% used alcohol, a number that has remained stable since 1992, and 19.9% used cigarettes in the past month in 1997, a 2.5% increase since 1996. . . Children aged 12 to 17 who smoked cigarettes were 12 times more to use drugs and 23 times as likely to drink heavily as nonsmokers.

"This is so humiliating. I did my best. When I went to my second audition with (director) Larry Kasdan (for the film "MUMFORD"), he'd seen `Next Stop, Wonderland' and he said, `Why are you smoking in that? I hate fake smoking! What are you doing with that cigarette? I thought it looked stupid!' " One wonders why Brad Anderson, the director of "NEXT STOP, WONDERLAND," didn't just let Davis play the character as a nonsmoker. "But it wasn't a big deal. He asked me to do it. I didn't know it looked fake. I didn't know I was a bad smoker. . . I got serious egg on my face with this smoking thing. I feel like a failure."

He is a man with no vices, at least none to which he will admit. He does not smoke, take drugs, gamble or drink - alcohol or coffee. He would actually quite like to smoke, he says - smoking would fit the carefully crafted image - but he fears that any intoxicants might interfere with his "focus".

HUGH Craig Harvey, who has died aged 73, was was blown up four times in five hours, but continued fighting on foot with a Bren gun and then a pistol, in an action at St Odilienberg, Holland, in 1945; he was awarded an immediate MC. . . He detested bureaucrats and would take up the cudgels against injustice or maladministration. He would not tolerate what he saw as nannying by the state, and had his first cigarette for 25 years on National No Smoking Day.

Q. I presume that there are several types of tobacco plant. We have been given some 4ft tall with red flowers. Which will they be? - Mr. K. Kellaway, Bath. A. The usual tobacco plant, Nicotiana x sanderae, comes in shades of white, green, pink and even brick red, which I find most unappealing. At 4ft your plants could perhaps be Nicotiana tabacum var. macrophylla, a form of commercial tobacco which has red flowers. The leaves can be a foot long - some cigar.

Folk art" is a term that includes more and more types of collectibles and art. . . Chip-carved wooden pieces, tin-can figures and even pieces of commercial work such as carousel horses and cigar-store Indians were considered folk art. Today the term has become so general that a new term has appeared: "Outsider art" refers to a new incarnation of untrained art. . . Even folded cigarette -pack purses and figures made from bottle caps are sold as folk art.

You wrote "a speed reader like me." Isn't "a speed reader like I" correct? . . . When she uses "am" in her hypothetical example she adds a verb. That transforms "like" into a conjunction. (Oh no!) This can infuriate other prescriptivists. To them, she is condoning the slogan for a cigarette that "tastes good like a cigarette should."

Lawyers for both sides plan to meet this week to try to negotiate a settlement, but neither side expects to stay out of court. Both sides say the stakes are too high now that the possibility of a national settlement with tobacco companies has fizzled.

All businesses selling tobacco products are required by federal law to verify the age of tobacco customers who are under 27. To help merchants do this, a card with tips for checking age is available free from the County Health Department's Learn to Live cancer prevention program. Information: 410-222-7979.

The Maryland Association of Student Councils formally lent its support yesterday to a campaign to raise the state's cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack. The tax now is 36 cents per pack. . . The campaign yesterday released polling data that showed that 76 percent of Prince George's voters support the increase. Statewide, 69 percent of voters back the raise.

His 10,000-acre Coharie Farms (he has 75 percent ownership) is dominated by his cattle operation, although he grew corn, soybeans and tobacco before his election to the Senate. He now leases the 143,814-pound tobacco quota that he owns or co-owns to area farmers.

Should cigarettes be taxed more? Should smokers have a right to sue the tobacco companies? The candidates differ on those and other questions. Blanche LINCOLN of Horseshoe Lake is the Democratic nominee, Fay BOOZMAN of Rogers is the Republican nominee, and Charley HEFFLEY of Dover is the Reform nominee.

MUMBAI: The festival season is on in Mumbai. After the celebration of Gokulasthami, comes the mother of all festivals, Ganesh Chaturthi, while the high-decibel Navratri is around the corner. The latter two festivals -- intensely personal, religious and ritualistic -- were brought out of the privacy of homes and onto the streets several decades ago to awaken a positive national and social sentiment among the people of Maharashtra. . . . Added Mr Sarnobat, "We want the festivities to be people's festivals, to be safe, environment friendly and a means of bringing people together. This is why the advertisements of tobacco and cigarettes were stopped by us."

Well, sometimes. Scientists are finding out that the much-maligned leaf is a useful genetic 'factory' for the economical production of new antibiotics, enzymes and even cancer drugs.

From the charred remnants of a 1991 downtown fire, to the smoldering end of Ernesto Rabasa's freshly rolled corona today, the story of one of Sacramento's landmark businesses is a tale of ashes. In this story, which began more than 60 years ago when Murray's Garcia Y Vega smoke shop opened on J Street, ashes have marked the time, brought destruction, inspiration and refuge from a Communist regime.

From August through January, though, none of this matters. Wearing soiled work jeans and old shirts, the four men toil in the tobacco fields. They are among several thousand Mexicans who arrive in Kentucky around this time of year. After a long day, their sweat-drenched skin is flecked with dust. This might be the end of the story, except that these particular migrants are also something else: The trusted employees of Elvis, Richard and Jenny Turner, who know they couldn't grow tobacco without them.

State attorneys general, in formal talks with tobacco marketers that could resume as soon as next week, are demanding an end to merchandise giveaways and elimination of all outdoor signs as the price of any new accord. The Federal Trade Commission this year reported tobacco companies in 1996 spent $544 million to give away merchandise not attached to packages; another $1.3 billion was spent on merchandise or coupons attached to cigarette packs.

State health officials, who usually discourage people from smoking, have argued that the city does not have the right to enforce a smoking ban at the Westgate Rehab and Specialty Care Center in San Jose. . . But the 6th District Court of Appeal court ruled Aug. 18 that state law does not pre-empt a city's authority to ban smoking in nursing homes. In passing a 1994 law prohibiting smoking in workplaces, the Legislature allowed cities to approve bans more restrictive than the state's, the court said.

A study released last month by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that [U.S. Rep. Bob ] Borski was far from alone in taking an expensive trip paid by an outside group. . . Borski also spent three days in November 1996 at the posh Phoenician resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. - ringing up a $4,985 tab picked up by the industry-supported Tobacco Industry Labor Management Committee. The purpose of the trip was to "discuss legislative issues affecting the tobacco industry," according to Borski's travel disclosure form filed with Congress.

DAVID BLUDWORTH . . ., who wants to use the Attorney General's Office to coordinate statewide law enforcement efforts, downplays the accomplishment of state officials who negotiated the tobacco settlement. Considering that Chiles shoved through a law that stripped cigarette makers of their traditional court defenses, he said, "I could have litigated that case."

California's two biggest outdoor advertising firms have agreed to post free anti-smoking billboards throughout the state to settle claims they ran cigarette ads too close to schools. ELLER MEDIA CO. and OUTDOOR SYSTEMS ADVERTISING, billboard companies headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., agreed to donate 500 "billboard months" of advertising space to carry anti-smoking messages targeted at young people.

The Privatisation Agency named Dresdner Kleinwort Benson (Germany/UK) and CAIB (Austria) as advisers on the sale of Bulgartabak, the national tobacco company. Nomura (Japan) had originally been given the mandate, only for the government to take it away last month.

The Italian government has issued a decree to convert its tobacco monopoly into a joint-stock company, which will then be sold to private investors. The government said in the decree last week that the monopoly will be first turned into a unit with separate accounting from the states or "ente pubblico economico." The unit, called Ente Tabacchi Italiani, must be then turned into "one or more" joint-stock companies "not before 12 months and no later than 24 months after the setting up of the board of directors." Counting the permitted delays, the whole process should take about two and a half years.

Ciudad del Este, on Paraguay's border with Brazil and Argentina, has been a smugglers paradise for decades. But an influx of gangsters and terrorists now makes it a symbol of the globalization of crime. . . At rows of cigarette stands, vendors wrap boxes in waterproof plastic and strap them onto smugglers' backs. Backpackers hurry toward Brazil on the crowded two-lane bridge over the Parana River, as brazen and numerous as illegal crossers at the U.S. border. . . The same pack of cigarettes costs $1 in Paraguay and $1.80 in Brazil. Paraguay imports enough cigarettes a year for every man, woman and child in the population of 5.5 million to smoke a carton a week. To avoid taxes, all manner of goods are exported to Paraguay and spirited back into Brazil.

Cigars are the status symbol success story of the '90s - GRAEME KLOPPER goes puff, puff and away . . . I LOVE the smell of cigars in the morning. . . . Despite the best efforts of PC police around the world - including our own minister of health - cigar smoking is at the crest of a tidal wave of popularity. . . It's an appealing world to get lost in - a blend of glamour, power, money, machismo, success and just a dash of revolutionary spice. And cigars, as with other obsessions such as collecting wine, are a whole world unto themselves. There are hundreds of years of tradition to be respected and observed with every puff.

In 1884 a doctor (signing himself "Medicus") wrote to The Times about the "marked increase" in malignant throat diseases. More letters followed, referring to the effect of smoking on the throat. More than one pondered on the effect of Egyptian cigarettes. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES Sir,-I am satisfied that the conclusions arrived at by "Medicus" in your issue of the 21st are sound deductions from facts. I myself was two years ago a great smoker of a most popular brand of Egyptian cigarettes, and I gradually developed a throat that puzzled me and puzzled others, and which we did not for a long time connect with cigarette smoking

RETURN TO PARADISE (R) . . . Captivating, stark, finely crafted. Sex/Nudity:7 scenes with sexual situations, often with partial nudity. Violence: 4 scenes. Profanity: 73 swearwords and oaths. Drugs: 4 scenes with alcohol, 3 with drugs, and 8 with cigarettes.

"You can count on it," he said, and smiled. He was a kind and sweet 19-year-old student at Suffolk University and had consoled her through the breakup with a boyfriend who was also one of his best friends. . . Will's only vice, it seemed, was that he smoked too much, and he had a cigarette in his hand when she left, ignoring her pleas to put it out or give it to her so she could. . . fire investigators concluded the fire was caused by a cigarette on the bed and that smoke detectors might certainly have saved Will's life.

To get the full effect of The Rat Pack: . . 3. Fire up a Camel cigarette and watch the smoke ooze from its tip like a vaporous belly dancer. . . The values of Las Vegas -- glitz, glamour, fame and dough -- gradually were insinuating themselves into the gray, staid world of government, the way cigarette smoke coils under a closed door.

One of the myths that has been promoted by opponents of tobacco sponsorship is that there are high-profile companies waiting in line to sponsor a popular event such as the Canadian Open. . . . Moffatt said it's unlikely Tennis Canada will find a sponsor that can support the tournament in the style to which it has become accustomed.

"What really gets to me is when I'm at the movies or something, and I need to dip," he said. "I'm with my wife and kids and away from the baseball field and there I go dipping. That's really frustrating. That lets me know how bad of a habit it is." Blowers is not alone. A sizable portion of professional baseball players chew or dip tobacco.

On a recent birthday, my mother gave me a smoke detector. With it was a nice card. Under the Hallmark greeting was her handwritten note: "I hope you will install this in such a way that you can take it with you the next time you move. Love, Mother." . . . My chances of dying in bed become even greater in her mind because she suspects that I am smoking cigarettes there. My mother fears that I will die by mattress fire touched off by a cigarette. . . From "Fourteen Types of Ambiguity" by William Koon.

"When I checked into a hotel recently, the only room available was smoking-allowed," writes Henry Maroni of Springfield. "Sure enough, when I unlocked the door, out wafted the smell of cigarette smoke. Before sleeping, I ate an orange, and as I peeled it, that wonderful citrus smell gave me an idea. I took the peels over to the heating and air conditioning unit, gave them a twist to release the juices, and placed them on top. The air blowing past the peels made an instant room deodorizer!"

BRITISH AIRWAYS, a very civilized way to fly across the Atlantic, is giving notice it will no longer tolerate "air rage." Beginning Sept. 1, the airline is warning potential offenders that they face arrest on landing unless they cease their unacceptable behavior. The crackdown is triggered by a 400 percent rise in "air rage" incidents globally the last three years, and is specifically targeted at drunk and abusive passengers and those breaking the airline's worldwide smoking ban. . . Last year, there were some 200 incidents, most related to the airline's smoking ban, a policy British Airways said it has no plans to change.

In his new book, "A History of the American People" (HarperCollins, 1998), the conservative British historian Paul Johnson contends that the so-called Ohio Gang, a group of Ohioans selling government favors from a K Street office in Washington, "had nothing to do with Harding." . . Johnson concludes that Harding deserves the sort of reputation that he enjoyed in his lifetime -- as "the kind of president American people of all classes love -- kind, genial, decent, ordinary, human, one of them." Furthermore, he notes: "As Thomas Edison put it, 'Harding is all right -- any man who chews tobacco is all right."'

Woody Stephens, one of the country's legendary horse trainers, died yesterday in a Florida health-care center of complications from emphysema. . . Stephens saddled the winners of five consecutive Belmont Stakes from 1982 to 1986 . . . Stephens lived his life off the track -- often with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other . . . But Stephens gasped for breath and carried a portable respirator the final years of his life. Engaging reporters outside his barn at Belmont Park before last year's Belmont Stakes, Stephens said he wished he had never started smoking.

Dick Pardy is pumped about starting a new season at the Opera House in Lexington. But this season is a little different from his last 21. Pardy, who oversees the Opera House for the Lexington Center Corp., spent much of the 1997-98 season in the hospital and at home battling lung cancer, which at one point threatened to take his life. . . Although he quit about eight years ago, Pardy, 57, attributes his lung cancer to more than 30 years of smoking.

The current ad campaign for KOOL cigarettes annoys me. Actually, ads for any cigarette annoy me -- why not just have ad campaigns for heroin? -- but these Kool ads are about as uncool as it gets. They feature a beautiful woman, usually already linked to a male, gazing longingly in the direction of another man who is holding a pack of Kool cigarettes in his hand. The message here is either that any man who carries Kool cigarettes is irresistible or these women are so desperately nicotine-addicted they can't keep their eyes off a pack of cigarettes. There may indeed be some women whose addiction has gone that far, but having smoked a few packs of Kools decades ago, I can attest that they do not draw women to you like a magnet. All they do is kill you.

Sir, Your report "Eastern Europeans fall for appeal of western cigarettes" (August 11) is noteworthy to us because of what it does not say and the impression it leaves with your readers. . . . While recognising that all elements of society must play an active role in preventing youth from smoking - not just tobacco companies but parents, educators and retailers as well - Philip Morris is doing its part. . . Philip Morris's position on under-age smoking is clear: we don't want kids to smoke. We are actively involved in eastern Europe, and around the world, in campaigns to discourage young people from smoking and we take every measure to ensure that our advertising, marketing and promotions are directed only to adults.

Other readers have called in with their comments and criticisms. Last week, they sounded some familiar themes: . . Every time a columnist takes off after the tobacco industry or an elected official who accepts donations from tobacco interests, or we run a health-related story about the dangers of smoking, some sharp-eyed reader will take us to task. Last week, Wally Klandrud, of Glendale, caught what he considers some poor judgment, even hypocrisy. "Wednesday's Food Section, Page FD3 was devoted to kids' food . . . and a half-page ad for smoking," he said via e-mail. "There ought to be a policy of not placing tobacco ads on the same page dedicated to young people. We are trying to stop them from smoking, not encouraging them."

Starr's persistent use of strong-arm tactics to extract sworn statements from cajoled witnesses from Arkansas to Washington is well known. His concurrent defense of outright lies on behalf of the tobacco industry (an obstruction of justice?), suggests that the American public may do well to demand an investigation of the investigator.

CELLUCCI says he wants to ensure that every child has access to quality health care. But remember when he staunchly opposed legislation - in the form of a tobacco excise tax - that would have provided just that coverage? Perhaps he lost that page of his photo album. . . . Scott HARSHBARGER . . . has mostly run biographical spots . . . But tucked into the video wallpaper is this claim: "I decided to use the law to help people - and I have. Against the criminals, the polluters, tobacco companies ...." That may be stretching it, given the industry-friendly electric utility deregulation and tobacco deals Harshbarger has cut.

The contention by plaintiffs' lawyer Einer Elhauge ["Foul Smoke," op-ed, Aug. 4] that the tobacco industry has conspired to prevent "safer tobacco products" from reaching the market ignores the fact that the U.S. tobacco industry has a long, documented history of efforts to respond to calls from the public health community and others regarding cigarette design. The article also ignores and obscures the hypocrisy of the anti-smoking movement, which has simultaneously encouraged manufacturers to try to develop "safer cigarettes" while throwing roadblocks in the industry's path every step of the way -- often simply as a result of changing political whims. . . As a result of these efforts, average "tar" and nicotine yields of U.S. cigarettes have been reduced by more than 60 percent during the past 40 years. . . if Americans believe that adults should be allowed the continued freedom to smoke if they choose, then the government and public health communities should come to terms with this issue. They should help to achieve consensus on what represents progress as far as cigarettes are concerned. --

The Ohio Chapter of the American Cancer Society... with the help of some teenage volunteers... will be collecting signatures from people in Central Ohio today. In Madison County volunteers will ask people to sign a tobacco legislation petition to be forwarded to Ohio Congresswoman DEB PRYCE. . . The group wants tougher laws against tobacco advertising... and the implementing of new programs to help people quit smoking... or never pick up the habit in the first place.

State Attorney General JOHN KNOX WALKUP says he won't seek a full, eight-year term when his time in office is up next week. . . Walkup's office has been criticized by state lawmakers for not joining other states in suing the tobacco industry.

(KINGSPORT) -- A Sullivan County middle school principal says students cannot wear some popular NASCAR T-shirts to class any more because they display tobacco symbols. Clyde Groseclose says he has nothing against NASCAR driver Jeff Gordan, only against his sponsor's message.

Milwaukee city officials will consider delaying a city ordinance banning outside cigarette advertising in a meeting next Tuesday, according to anti-smoking advocates. In a meeting this past week, several city officials met to discuss delaying the enforcement of an outdoor tobacco advertising ban in light of a possible lawsuit, according to Bonnie Sumner, a tobacco control activist who was at the meeting.

The city passed an ordinance this April that not only prevents the use of tobacco inside city buildings, but also in the city's existing parks. Protestors say this ban on smoking takes away their freedom of choice. The ban includes cigarettes, cigars, and chewing tobacco in all city buildings and parks. A group of protestors called the Lindale Area Tobacco Users Group is launching a petition drive and have even set up a website opposing the ban.

Morgan Stanley analysts said Tuesday they have initiated coverage of soon-to-be listed tobacco concern British American Tobacco with a strong buy recommendation. Dealings in the tobacco group are expected to begin on September 8, following the completion of B.A.T Industries PLC (BTI) split into two separately-listed companies - British American Tobacco and Allied Zurich.

Cigarette maker PT Gudang Garam (P.GGR), one of Indonesia's few healthy companies, reported a sparkling 26% jump in net profit Tuesday which bodes well for the rest of the year, analysts said.

Indonesian cigarette giant PT Gudang Garam (P.GGR) Tuesday announced a 26% jump in first half net profit to 517.1 billion rupiah ($1=IDR11,525), against IDR410.7 billion.

Eye Technology Inc. (EYTC), parent of Star Tobacco and Pharmaceuticals Inc.,established a pilot plant to remove nitrosamines from leaf tobacco in an effort to produce less harmful tobacco products. In a press release Tuesday, Star said it signed an exclusive 15-year agreement with the Amana Co. for equipment to be used in the process.

EYE TECHNOLOGY Inc. is the parent corporation of STAR TOBACCO AND PHARMACEUTICALS INC. ("Star"). Revenues are generated primarily from the manufacture and sale of discount cigarettes, however, the principal focus of Star is the continuing development of technology to eliminate the formation in tobacco of nitrosamines, the most abundant and powerful carcinogen in tobacco and tobacco smoke and the development of less harmful tobacco products

The chime that hangs from the door to The Cigar Room in Fort Lee has been awfully quiet recently. Cigar sales have dropped 40 percent since Jan. 1, when the wholesale tax on non-cigarette tobacco goods doubled from 24 percent to 48 percent, said owner William Flores. "The tax has really hurt my business and other cigar shops in Jersey," he said. "People now go to mail order or just hop over to New York to get their cigars"

Philip Morris Cos.' directors are expected to hold off on raising the company's dividend, disappointing shareholders who want the world's largest cigarette company to use its burgeoning cash flow to reward investors.

Austria Tabakwerke AG (R.ATW), Austria's dominant tobacco wholesaler and producer, confirmed Tuesday its Tobaccoland unit will cooperate with German distributor Lekkerland GmbH. Tabak didn't specify the nature of the cooperation but said in a statement that further information will be available Thursday at a press conference when it will release its first-half results.

Sri Lanka's Ceylon Tobacco Co. (P.CET) said Tuesday its net profit dropped 7.4% to LKR230.4 million for the first half ended June 30, from LKR250.8 million in the year-earlier period.

Dimon Inc. (DMN - news), the world's second-largest leaf tobacco dealer, said on Monday its quarterly operating income fell 69 percent because of the impact of the Asian economic crisis and an oversupply of crops.

DIMON Incorporated (NYSE: DMN) announced today net income for its fourth quarter ended June 30, 1998 of $1.6 million, or $.04 diluted earnings per share. Net income for the year ended on the same date was $43.6 million, or $0.98 per diluted share.

Health promotion professionals and consumers interested in wellness products and services soon will be able to narrow their Internet search at WELLNESS JUNCTION'S SUPPLIER MART. Wellness Junction's comprehensive Web site ( http://www.wellnessjunction.com ), which debuted last month, already provides a content-rich source of information for industry professionals and consumers interested in a variety of wellness-related issues, from nutrition, fitness and smoking cessation . . . The Supplier Mart feature will include a directory of consultants and other program vendors, as well as fitness products, periodicals and more. "Wellness Junction's mission is to become the one place on the Web people will need to go for their wellness information, and the Supplier Mart is another step closer in that direction," said Robert K. Jenkins, president of Health Resources Publishing, which developed the Wellness Junction site.

Operated by the nonprofit Foundation for National Progress, Mother Jones doesn't solicit ads from tobacco companies, Harris said. After all, the book was among the first to detail, in 1979, how tobacco can be as addictive as some illegal narcotics, and continued its crusade in May 1996 by investigating the industry's political influence. "We really exist to do investigative reporting," Harris said. "That is fairly expensive, and it does tend to run you afoul of the advertising constituencies."

King is a compulsive workaholic who, without fail, produces 11 pages of copy a day -- no more, no less. "I like to keep the work hot. When I work on it, I want to work on it until I am done." He drinks gallons of tea -- "a lot more caffeine when I work since I quit smoking. This job is hell without cigarettes. It is much easier when you are smoking."

Young tomboy Mary Elizabeth and cautious Rene (played by Mae Middleton and Shari Dyon Perry in flashbacks) once were inseparable; the grown-up pair have to find a way to confront the rift between them and the choices they've made. The big themes are there, but so are the little touches: We see the girls swoon over the idea of their brassieres, dispatch bullies and swipe cigarettes.

Christopher Dobbyn, 55, who operated a used-book store and consignment shop in Graysonville, died Aug. 15 in a fire at his place of business, which also was his home. The Maryland state fire marshal's office said the fire was caused by careless smoking

Today, we will use this space for an act of public service for the tobacco industry. It is an honor to be of help to a business that has done so much to benefit our wheezing world and fill its coffers and coffins. . . It is at this point that we allow Big Tobacco's mouthpieces to sleep in as we repeat their predictable responses. "The study is inconclusive." . . So, to all of you pregnant women who smoke, we say: "Eat, smoke and be reckless, and watch your children suffer."

Reintroduce the tobacco bill without the tax increase. The cigarette companies have so focused on the tax hike as their basis for opposing the bill that without the taxes to attack, they would have little ability to mobilize public sentiment against the legislation. It would likely pass easily. If it went down, it would be just the kind of issue Democrats need to stay alive in 1998.

They came before the City Council armed with teen smoking statistics and a list of reasons they believe Costa Mesa's elected officials should ban self-service tobacco displays in the city. But the council didn't agree with the four Costa Mesa teens who led the campaign. "It was disappointing, but at the same time, we have a lot of motivation to bring this back up," said Eva Varma, one of the four. Better luck next time.

Even so, the Republicans and Democrats of Capitol Hill have more in common with each other than with the public they came to Washington to serve. Here are some of the ways: 1. They are slaves to money. . . Tobacco interests weren't bashful about unregulated soft money, either, and the industry's contributions shifted when power inside the Congress shifted. In the 1993-1994 election cycle, tobacco contributions were split about evenly between Republicans and Democrats. This election cycle, tobacco interests sent nearly four times as much money to Republican lawmakers than to Democratic ones. Tobacco legislation died in the Senate in June.

Hollywood cliches don't die, they come to Sky Bar for artificial respiration. . . Everyone smokes. Maybe not everyone, but if you're not smoking, you need a written excuse from your doctor. The cigarette is clamped between the first two fingers, which are extended, and the wrist is bent back. Etiquette calls for the smoker to hold the cigarette away from his/her companion, in the face of an adjoining stra nger.

The federal government is launching its most ambitious and most expensive advertising campaign ever, expanding on the memorable anti-drug commercial equating a frying egg to a brain on drugs. . . "Parents love DARE. It takes the onus off parents," Ullman said. That concern was echoed by Greg Wolfe, a consultant with the California Department of Education who evaluates anti-drug programs in the state's Healthy Kids Office. "I'm pro-prevention and any initiative by the federal government to enhance what we're trying to do is welcome," Wolfe said. "But there is limited effect to a media approach alone. "For example, what never seems to get adequately addressed in these ads are alcohol and tobacco use and abuse, two of the largest problems facing kids and society; so it's a limited campaign," Wolfe said. "The bottom line is we keep putting a Band-Aid over a very large wound.

Many news organizations have the cigar story, but grayer heads either insist on waiting for more evidence, or spike it on the grounds that it's too kinky for general audiences. Fox News' David Shuster ended up reporting last Monday that Clinton was hit with "an unexpected line of questioning" during his testimony. Clinton's lawyer David Kendall confirmed the president refused to answer some questions he deemed too "intrusive."

A MAN, a woman, a cigar - it was all too much for the American media yesterday. The big news organisations were said to be in possession of details of an alleged daytime sex session involving President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky in his private study off the Oval Office. But while they ignored the episode, the details were published on a brash website that was the first to go public with the Lewinsky story last January. According to the website, the media are still trying to reconstruct the sex session that reportedly took place while Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, was waiting to meet the President.

**Warning: Contains Graphic Description** In a bizarre daytime sex session, that occurred just off the Oval Office in the White House, President Clinton watched as intern Monica Lewinsky reportedly masturbated with his cigar. It has been learned that several major news organizations have confirmed the shocking episode and are now struggling to find ways to report the full Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton grossout. . . According to multiple sources close to the case, President Clinton allegedly masturbated as Lewinsky performed the sex show with his cigar in a small room off the Oval Office. It is not clear if Clinton or Lewinsky kept the cigar, or if Lewinsky testified on the specifics of the encounter before a federal grand jury this week.

Lawrence E. Lewy, of Annandale, claims his wife, Miriam Loss Lewy, developed lung cancer and died of the disease after smoking cigarettes manufactured by Philip Morris Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. between 1940 and 1996, according to the 11-page suit filed last week in Fairfax County Circuit Court. . . Lewy alleges in his suit that the three companies intentionally deceived his wife of 49 years about smoking and health, failed to give "adequate" warnings about adverse health risks and hid and misrepresented their knowledge about health risks. Lewy also alleges in the suit that the companies negligently tested, researched, sold, promoted and advertised the cigarettes they manufactured. He claims the firms sold "unsafe" and "defective" cigarettes in that they caused addiction.

A proposed class-action lawsuit for underage Utah smokers will be litigated in federal court, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson decided Tuesday. . . tobacco companies transferred the case to federal court, arguing potential aggregate damages -- including a requested punitive award -- greatly exceed $75,000.

Polls show the governor's office slipping away from the Democratic Party. Chances of regaining control in the state Legislature look nil. That's why Attorney General Bob Butterworth appears to be the Democrats' most formidable candidate this election season. . . . The tobacco settlement may be Butterworth's greatest achievement, but the protracted disagreement over attorney fees has cast a shroud over it. He says the matter will be settled before January, but it has provided fuel for his opponents who say he botched the contract.

Officials in Dane County are looking at a plan to ban smoking at the Henry Villas Zoo. Supporters of the plan say smoking should not be allowed at a facility that caters to children. The county board will have to approve any ban on smoking at the county-owned zoo.

Republican CARLA STOVALL . . . has retained her former law firm, Entz & Chanay of Topeka, to act as local counsel in the state's lawsuit against the major tobacco companies. She said she selected her former law firm because it is a leading expert on Medicaid reimbursement and also because it holds her "utmost trust in protecting the interests of Kansas taxpayers." . . . Stovall also engaged the law firms of Scruggs, Millette, Lawson, Bozeman & Dent of Pascagoula, Miss., and Ness, Motley, Loadholt, Richardson & Poole of Charleston, S.C., to represent the state. [Dan] Lykins also said he wouldn't use out-of-state firms for such cases. He said he would use in-house assistant attorneys general, as other states have done in their suits against the tobacco companies.

A proposal to restrict smoking in public places in Missoula is the topic of public hearings next month. . . Many business owners say it should be up to them... not the government... to set smoking policy in their businesses. Missoula City-County Health Department Director Ellen Leahy calls the ordinance a work in progress. It can be amended after people have a chance to comment.

All Pakistan WHO No Smoking Body Building Contest - Mr Pakistan 1998 will be held here on Friday. The event has been organised by Pakistan Amateur Body Builders' Guild and sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to a press release around 100 body builders from all the four provinces are participating in the competition.

Today's leaders are rarely portrayed smoking. They illustrate their common touch, instead, by their prowess at karaoke ­ President Jiang Zemin favouring the Elvis Presley ballad Love Me Tender. This is not accidental. For China is developing into a battleground between unbridled economic opportunism and newly emerging environmental and health anxieties. High on the list of those anxieties is the fact that China is by far the world's largest tobacco market

Tony Maguire, a spokesman for British American Tobacco which has a 40 per cent market share, said Mr Delamere had bypassed the normal consultation process and introduced a measure that had failed in Australia. . . "This is just a publicity stunt for the John Delamere party rather than a serious approach to the issues that matter to the company and industry, such as youth smoking," Mr Maguire said. "We believe we have constructive and sensible solutions to address those problems. "This is only a simplistic approach and a failed solution from Australia which is likely to go the same way. "All the research shows that and he knows that."

A tougher regulatory regime was approved by the Government yesterday. Cigarette companies will be required to print health warnings such as Smoking Kills, almost twice as large as currently. Larger, more detailed warnings will also feature on the back and sides of the packets. In a significant change on the previous policy, cigarette companies will have to print warnings in distinctive black and white, rather than the same colours as the rest of the pack.

LABOR will establish a $250 million annual tobacco tax trust fund to trump the Howard Government on public hospital spending as part of its multi-billion-dollar election tax package to be launched tomorrow. In a move aimed at the majority of Australians who still rely on the public health system, Kim Beazley will announce that the proceeds of the fund, based on a tax on cigarettes, will be devoted entirely to funding public hospitals.

Smoke and trade talk will fill the air 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at the North American Society of Pipe Collectors' 1998 Swap/Sell Pipe Show at the Holiday Inn on the Lane.

US healthcare insurance group Blue Cross and Blue Shield, one of the groups fighting through the courts for compensation for smokers, has written to BAT Industries warning that it will oppose the £35bn merger of the group's financial services operations with Zurich Insurance of Switzerland. Blue Cross, which is pursuing BAT Industries' US cigarette producer, Brown & Williamson, for damages, told BAT's solicitors Herbert Smith it is sending representatives to oppose the deal when it comes up for approval in the High Court next Wednesday. . . Blue Cross and Blue Shield, one of the leading US healthcare groups, fears the deal will complicate its attempts to secure compensation for policyholders suffering from smoking-related diseases.

Increased availability of smuggled and illicit cigarettes in Sri Lanka is eroding profits of Ceylon Tobacco Co Ltd, analysts said on Wednesday. . . Sri Lanka's monopoly cigarette maker said on Wednesday net profit for the six months to June 30 slipped to 232.41 million rupees ($3.56 million) from 250.85 million in the same period a year ago. Ceylon Tobacco Co (CTC) said in a statement exports in the first half of 1998 rose by 32 percent. Domestic sales increased by just under five percent due to the increasing presence of illegally manufactured cigarettes and smuggled international brands in Sri Lanka.

RELIANT INTERACTIVE MEDIA CORP. . . has announced a promotional agreement with Hollywood veteran actor Mickey Rooney. Rooney will help promote the company's cigar-related web site, CigarNow.com , through trade show appearances and Internet celebrity chats, as well as allowing the use of his likeness on the company's web site. In addition, CigarNow.com will offer the actor's signature series cigars, dubbed "The World's Greatest Cigar," on its on-line shopping site.

Daniel Blumenthal Started Selling Cigars At 86th Street And Broadway On Manhattan's West Side in 1953 with $1,500 in his pocket. Two years ago he sold his business to GENERAL CIGAR HOLDINGS Inc., for $91 million in cash. "I hated to sell and so did my partner, but my father always said, `You can never lose money taking a profit,'

Below the surface of this marketing headache lies a mildly effective coming-of-age saga that could speak to today's girls, and to "Boomer" survivors of the period depicted. . . . Amidst nostalgic cliches -- the usual uptight parents, requisite bonding over cigarettes and expected '60s tunes -- "Strike!" airs numerous female concerns that are rarely viewed onscreen.

But once we decide, for whatever reasons, to quit, researchers say it doesn't take long for our bodies to heal. . . By now, say the researchers, I should have more energy, cough less and walk easier. All of which is true. All of which means nothing when you want a cigarette. I know exactly when and where this latest I-want-to-smoke seed was planted. It was a comment by an old friend . . . he said he'd quit seven years ago. But just recently, he'd started to have one, occasionally, at a party, at a ballgame. It was going well, he said. That, of course, is any ex-smoker's dream, to have one once in a while.

Most of the money didn't go to Lott's re-election campaign -he won't run again until 2000. Instead, $92,500 of the $99,500 he raised from health-related political action committees between April and June went to his own PAC, -the New Republican Majority Fund, which the Mississippi senator uses to aid other Republican candidates, and thereby to help ensure he remains majority leader. . . Between April and June, while the Senate was debating legislation to curb teen smoking, the tobacco industry and its lobbyists contributed $36,250 to Lott's PAC. Senate Republicans killed an anti-tobacco bill in June.

But Gephardt stressed a different ambition in a speech before Minnesota Democrats: to become House Speaker. "We are going to win the House back in 1998," he vowed. If that happens, he said, "you are going to see a very different attitude in this country" toward education, health care, tobacco legislation and Social Security.

LAWRENCE G. MEYER, an important outside adviser to Liggett in the 1970s and 1980s, is preparing to testify in the state of Washington's tobacco trial next month that Liggett believed that the major companies would retaliate if it continued work on the development of a safer cigarette. . . An attorney for Mr. Meyer has also met with federal prosecutors to discuss what assistance his client can provide in the U.S. Justice Department's continuing criminal investigation of the industry, people familiar with the investigation say.

Of all the accusations being hurled at tobacco companies, none is more damning than the charge that they colluded to squelch development of "safer" cigarettes, fixating on avoiding legal liability rather than customers' welfare. . . In the first case of an industry lawyer cooperating with antitobacco plaintiffs, LAWRENCE G. MEYER, former outside counsel to Liggett, has agreed to testify for the state of Washington at its trial, scheduled to start Sept. 14. His testimony is sure to rekindle a 20-year-old mystery concerning the death of the "XA" project, which involved the blending of a catalyst with tobacco to neutralize cancer-causing compounds in the smoke.

A thief broke into a Costco store over the weekend after cutting a hole in the roof and stole almost $21,000 in cigarettes, police said.

An ongoing investigation of illegal cigarette trafficking has resulted in the arrest of a New York man along Interstate 81 in Franklin County. The defendant is charged with transporting 1,683 cartons of cigarettes with Virginia tax stamps, with an estimated street value of $33,474.

State Attorney General MIKE EASLEY objects to elements of legislation dealing with a possible tobacco settlement. . . Part of the Senate bill could hurt Easley in negotiations with the companies "in a way that no other state has hampered their attorney general," Hampton Dellinger, the special counsel to Easley, said Tuesday. He declined to specify the wording that could present a problem.

Attorney General MIKE EASLEY has reservations about a bill that would set up a special fund for any tobacco-settlement money North Carolina receives and let the General Assembly decide how that money would be spent, and his reservations are holding up the bill in the state Senate.

When Utah Attorney JAN GRAHAM looks back on her career, she'll be happy if she sees two marks in the "win" category. One for her campaign against domestic violence, she said, and one against big tobacco. During a conference of law enforcement officials, educators and community leaders Tuesday, she lobbed a fresh grenade into the tobacco companies' barracks. "Tobacco reform is not a blip-on-the-screen issue," Graham told those gathered at the annual summit of the Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Committee. "It is the most serious public health crisis of our day."

Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth and Democratic challenger Steve Owens verbally punched, jabbed and slashed each other Wednesday during their first debate in what promises to be a bloody sequel to the candidates' 1996 battle. . . This year, Owens is trying to gain traction with the tobacco issue, repeating the accusations he made in 1996 that Hayworth is beholden to that industry. But Hayworth countered by noting he has stopped taking contributions from the tobacco industry and has gained a 100 percent anti-tobacco rating from the public-interest group Public Citizen. He said he could not support McCain's tobacco legislation because the proposed tax increase on cigarettes was too high.

St. Paul City Council Member Dan Bostrom wants to temporarily ban new pawnshops, currency exchanges and tobacco shops while city officials consider tougher regulations to keep those businesses out of residential neighborhoods.

More than 100 black churches in the Twin Cities have banded together to ensure that candidates for public office address issues that concern the black community and that black people vote in the elections. . . The coalition also is promoting more availability of home ownership for blacks, better access to health care and spending a portion of the tobacco settlement on helping the black community.

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., the No. 2 U.S. cigarette maker, will replace MCI Communications Corp. in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, Standard & Poor's Corp. said. MCI, the No. 2 long-distance phone company, is being acquired by WorldCom Inc., which is already in the S&P 500. . .

The new quarterly payout of $0.44 per share, up from $0.40 per share, is payable on October 13, 1998 to stockholders of record as of September 15, 1998. "The dividend increase we announced today reflects our continuing commitment to improving shareholder value," said Geoffrey C. Bible, chairman of the board and chief executive officer. "I am gratified that the Board has seen fit to reward our shareholders' patience with today's dividend increase."

Abstract: The invention relates to a packaging system for hand made cigarettes using loose tobacco and pre-made, filter tipped cigarette tubes.

The management of Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) is at a turning point. While aggressively taking over firms in nontobacco businesses, the fourth-largest cigarette maker in the world has started withdrawing from unprofitable fields. Amid a severe downturn, however, it is uncertain if the partially privatized firm's diversification efforts will succeed.

10:06 a.m. Aug 27, 1998 Eastern By Julia Ferguson VIENNA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Tobacco group AUSTRIA TABAK on Thursday posted strong first-half earnings that beat even the most optimistic forecasts and announced a merger that will make it the biggest tobacco and food wholesaler in Germany. The group will merge its German wholesaling subsidiary TOBACCOLAND DEUTSCHLAND with German food wholesaler LEKKERLAND to create a wholesaler with combined turnover of around 63 billion schillings and a workforce of 4,000.

AUSTRIA TABAKWERKE AG (R.ATW) Austria's dominant tobacco wholesaler and producer, announced Thursday a rise in its 1998 first-half net profit to ATS1.02 billion from ATS408 million last year.

The co-authors of Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul have announced "Kids Have Soul!" the nation's largest-ever booksigning event. Throughout the day on Saturday, September 19, 99 story contributors at over 129 bookstores in 29 states will read their stories from Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul and sign books. This unique event is being held to raise awareness and funds for the eight children's charities benefiting from proceeds from Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul: The Children's Miracle Network, Kick Drugs Out of America Foundation, Little Miss African American, The Homeless Education/Liaison Project of Santa Barbara County, Kids Konnected, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Childhelp USA, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

You may not know EDWARD BERNAYS, but he certainly knew you. Probably no other person, dead or alive, has influenced the American public so much, yet is known by so few. Unlike his famous uncle, Sigmund Freud, Bernays is unlikely to be mentioned in schoolbooks. Yet his influence over Americans' daily habits and thoughts in the 20th century is profound. . . Did you take up smoking to stay slim, ladies? Bernays thought up that concept.

THE FATHER OF SPIN: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations. . . SELLING CULTURE: Magazines, Markets, and Class at the Turn of the Century. . . SIGNS AND WONDERS: The Spectacular Marketing of America. . . The ad men who taught Young the business already had in their arsenal virtually every weapon now used in the war to win and influence consumers: logos, spokescharacters, packaging, image ads, celebrity endorsements, contests, testimonials, staged events, word-of-mouth, licensing, cross-promotions, social causes, interactivity and consumer research. The essential principles and tools of selling national brands emerged whole with the brands themselves in the late 19th century. Since then, advertising and its media vehicles have wildly proliferated, and marketing has been forced to adapt to its own ubiquity. But, as three new histories of marketing show, it hasn't developed. It just grows.

Switching positions and mounting an all-out successful effort to kill anti-smoking legislation, the tobacco industry paid its chief lobbyists $7.1 million during the first half of 1998. The money went to the heavyweight law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand -- whose ranks include former Senate Majority Leaders George Mitchell and Bob Dole, former Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen and former Govs. James J. Blanchard of Michigan and Ann Richards of Texas. The amount was reported as part of Verner Liipfert's midyear lobbying disclosure filed with the Secretary of the Senate. The report represented just a portion of the money the tobacco industry spent on lobbying during the first half of 1998.

A judge's ruling allows the state to continue seeking millions of dollars from the tobacco industry for the costs of treating sick smokers, the Ohio attorney general's office said. "The heart of our lawsuit remains," spokesman CHRIS DAVEY told The Associated Press. . . Franklin County Common Pleas JUDGE NODINE MILLER allowed racketeering and conspiracy complaints against tobacco companies to move forward, but ruled on Friday against six other claims, Davey said. The claims thrown out included allegations that the companies violated consumer protection and antitrust laws, he said.

While the renegade rift seems driven more by corporate egos than industry economics, we see some benefit to what is shaping up as a classic good cop/bad cop routine, where the split among the industry titans serves to keep the 46 politically-motivated attorneys general from becoming unrealistic in their demands for money and/or additional marketing restrictions. . . we side with Philip Morris and Lorillard on the renegade allocation issue, for the simple reason that it would result in far greater pricing stability. Ultimately, we expect RJR and BAT to recognize this, and come back to the bargaining table

The companies that have walked away are Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., a unit of B.A.T Industries Plc; R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a unit of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. and United States Tobacco Co., a unit of UST Inc. A spokesman for the Washington State attorney's general office said that lawyers for Philip Morris Cos Inc. and Lorillard Tobacco Co., a unit of Loews Corp., will participate in the talks when they begin Thursday morning in New York.

Olson said the companies were concerned about cigarette marketing and restrictions proposed by state officials. But one lawyer familiar with the talks described the company's stance as a bargaining posture, and others held out the possibility that the two companies might soon join the talks. Still, the decision by R.J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson may be less a sign of industry dissension than a feeling on the part of producers that time and momentum is on their side, and that a toughened stance will result in a cheaper deal.

RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., which owns R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. won't participate for now. An analyst said that they were divided over how to control smaller companies from grabbing market share once the major cigarette-makers raise prices about 35 cents a pack to pay for an agreement.

The talks resume Thursday after a three-week recess. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. and BROWN & WILLIAMSON TOBACCO CORP. will skip the newest round of talks aimed at settling more than three dozen lawsuits by states seeking to recover Medicaid funds spent treating sick smokers, according to a spokesman for the lead state negotiator. "Apparently, we're down to negotiations with two companies," Fred Olson, a spokesman for Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday.

THAILAND wants help from TAIPEI to curb a Taiwanese company that has registered the trademarks of Thai products for sale in its domestic market. Thailand's trade and economic office in Taipei has found that KANTEN INTERNATIONAL TRADING CO owned trademarks to several Thai goods in addition to the popular KRONG THIP and SAI FON cigarette brands.

A SUPERVISOR at a firm with a strict no-smoking policy has been sacked for allegedly lighting a cigarette in his car as he left at the end of a night shift. A video camera at the factory - which supplies printed wrapping materials to the tobacco industry - recorded a flash of light in the car.

GUIDELINES to end the blocking of adoption on grounds of a couple's race, culture, age or smoking habits are unveiled by the Government today. . . But these factors should not be allowed to stop what may be the child's best chance of a happy and secure future, it says. Paul Boateng, the health minister, who is responsible for children's services, said . . . "Some local authorities still refuse to place children for adoption because one of the prospective parents is 40-plus, or is deemed the wrong colour, or smokes, or because of the belief that the family must be kept together no matter what, even at the expense of the child's best interests."

A Labor Government would restore the Medicare surcharge that financed the gun buy-back and adopt the Government's planned tobacco-excise changes to raise an extra $500million a year for public hospitals. The 0.2per cent increase in the Medicare levy would apply only to those earning more than $50,000 and would raise $185million in 1999 and $200million in 2000-01.

MALAYSIAN TOBACCO COMPANY BHD (MTC) has turned in a 24% increase in group pre-tax profit to RM13.7mil for the first half-year ended June 30 on the back of a 5.7% rise in group turnover to RM263.4mil. MTC chief executive officer Russell Cameron said the stronger growth in pre-tax profit against turnover was mainly due to the timing of the company's activities in line with the marketing strategies for its key brands -- BENSON & HEDGES and KENT.

LESTER BROWN, President of the Washington D.C. based WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE research group that tracks emerging global problems and trends affecting the world economy and environment, told the Offshore Northern Seas conference that oil companies must prepare for a post-automobile urban economy. . . "The image of U.S. oil companies is of an industry pursuing a disinformation campaign, rather like the tobacco industry hiring out people to testify about the lack of proof that smoking causes cancer," Brown said. The oil industry believes the link between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change has yet to be established by scientists. Brown pointed out that tobacco companies had finally agreed to offer $368 billion to state and federal authorities to protect them from lawsuits.

Zimbabwe's tobacco farmers are set to reap the benefits of an ailing currency as the 1998 selling season tails off, officials said on Friday. But the better than expected earnings will be offset by higher input costs from imported inflation due to the weak Zimbabwe dollar and high local interest rates, the officials added.

The last year was a very rewarding one for your company. It closed with another set of new performance records. . . . The calibration provided in the WTO timetable is a challenging and compelling agenda for Indian industry. If I were to set out a single key priority for Indian companies, it would be : To rapidly reposition the companies for extreme competitive preparedness and support their successful transition from an era of regulation and protection, to the fully globalised market of the 21st Century.

The Centre on Thursday allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment in cigarette-manufacturing, clearing the decks for the entry of multinational companies.

The high-priced segment of the Indian cigarette industry is expected to witness fierce competition, after the Indian government yesterday said it will allow 100 percent foreign equity in tobacco companies. . . The entry of foreign companies will also squeeze the market for nearly 2 billion cigarettes smuggled into the country each year, as smokers will be able to get their favorite foreign brands from Indian-based companies, analysts said. Some street vendors are concerned. "-- including brands such as Camel, Seven Stars and Benson & Hedges -- from a kiosk in Connaught Place, in central Delhi. . . Analysts say that the potential for growth in the Indian cigarette market is huge as Indian smokers to switch from local leaf smokes called "bidis," to cigarettes, and affluent smokers switching to costlier cigarettes.

Tobacco related diseases claim the lives of more than four million people in the world every year, the regional representative of the World Health Organisation Rufaro Chatora, said in Nairobi Friday. . . Chatora, who was speaking during an awards ceremony for smokers who had sucessfully quit the habit, said . . "The gains in terms of revenue are much lower compared to medical costs in the long term," he said. "Companies come up with advertisments that mislead the youth into believing that those who smoke are sportsmen and stars in life in order to market the products."

Heart disease rates are falling in many countries around the world, however there are an increasing number of women smokers in some regions of the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). An increase in smokers among females aged 35 to 64 was seen in some parts of Russia, Poland, Spain, Belgium and Germany, according to Dr. Ingrid Martin, the responsible officer for cardiovascular disease at the WHO in Geneva. Heart disease declined in most countries, but increased in Eastern European regions and China.

Volume: Volume 29, No. 3 Issue: Autumn 1998 Pages: pp. 578-595 Abstract: Using data from the 1979 and 1987 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we test whether smokers alter their smoking habits in the face of higher taxes. Smokers in high-tax states are more likely to smoke cigarettes higher in tar and nicotine. Although taxes reduce the number of cigarettes consumed per day among remaining smokers, total daily tar and nicotine intake is unaffected. Young smokers, aged 18-24, are much more responsive to changes in taxes than are older smokers, and their total daily tar and nicotine intake actually increases after a tax hike. We illustrate that tax-induced compensating behavior may eliminate some health benefits generated by reduced smoking participation. A more appropriate tax might be based on the tar and nicotine content of cigarettes.

The list below reflects the most closely followed news stories of the past decade. On each occasion, respondents were asked if they were following the story "very closely", fairly closely, not too closely or not at all closely." The numbers that follow show the percentage of people who said they were following the story in question "very closely." When utilizing this list, it is particularly important to note the month and year in which the question was asked, since attention to the same story changes over time. Percent followed very closely:
• 20% The debate in Washington over legislation to regulate the tobacco industry (April 98)
• 20% A Legal Settlement in Which the Liggett Tobacco Company Admitted That Cigarettes Are Addictive (April 97)
• 20% Investigations and Lawsuits Being Brought Against Tobacco Companies (March 96)

It was as long ago as 1992 that an authoritative report from the Department of Health concluded that advertising has the effect of increasing consumption and that the introduction of advertising bans produced reductions in smoking.10 The previous lack of concerted effort at intergovernmental level in western Europe on the important issue of tobacco advertising has been disheartening for many health professionals and has been an obstacle to those activists seeking to build concerted action. While it is important to develop a comprehensive international strategy for tobacco control, the next big battleground for anti-tobacco campaigners is likely to be in the area of non-smokers' rights. The publication in late 1997 of conclusive research evidence highlighting the powerful causal relation between environmental tobacco smoke and ischaemic heart disease and lung cancer indicates that the further restriction of smoking in indoor environments should be a major public health priority.

Yet another example of the baseball-memorabilia field's card of cards, a circa-1910 Honus Wagner, is headed for the auction block. A Honus Wagner baseball card in near-mint to mint condition sold for $640,500 in 1996. This one, with rounded corners, could bring $350,000 at auction. Christie's International PLC is expected to announce next week that it will sell a T-206 tobacco card of the Pittsburgh Pirate Nov. 3. The company estimates the rare card will sell for $350,000 to $400,000. . .

The heart of the cigarette city's historic tobacco district went up in flames Thursday as winds from Hurricane Bonnie whipped a small fire into an inferno that destroyed three buildings. Flames leapt as high as six and seven stories from the old No. 256 tobacco complex, which had once been the center of the tobacco empire R.J. Reynolds started in 1892.

Firefighters had the fire under control by about 8 p.m. Thursday, more than 10 hours after the fire began. But they stayed on the scene Friday until they were certain the fire would not be rekindled.

A massive fire Thursday tore a hole in the heart of this cigarette city's past, leveling a cluster of century-old tobacco buildings at the core of a hoped-for downtown revival. . . "It's a whole lot of history going up in smoke," said Percy Payne, an RJR forklift operator who spent 20 years at the downtown plant before the cigarette manufacturer closed operations there about a decade ago. "This brings back a lot of memories." Known as factory No. 256, the six-story, brownstone brick building where the blaze started was built in 1891 to make plug chewing tobacco, the first edifice of the RJR empire. Ironically, the building then had a state-of-the-art sprinkler system that was the envy of its time. The adjoining buildings were added in the early 20th century to manufacture cigarettes.

Joe Garagiola knows baseball. And he knows he wants the spitter eliminated from the game. That didn't stop the Stars' Chris Prieto from smoking on the field Thursday night as Las Vegas defeated the Tacoma Rainiers 11-4 at Cashman Field.

A U.S. appeals court ruled yesterday that a federal judge in Maryland was too lenient in 1995 when he declined to impose a prison sentence on BRUCE C. BEREANO . . . The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond issued its opinion nearly four years after Bereano was convicted for overbilling clients by $16,000 and using his employees and relatives to funnel that money to political candidates.

Specifically, groups like the American Lung Association want to know just how much of a presence the tobacco industry will have at the big event. It's been a concern ever since Bozeman tried to steer the rodeo back to the Gallatin Valley. Allen Yarnell "From day one we knew this was a serious concern," said MSU Vice President Allen Yarnell, Thursday. "We hold this a serious concernŠ so yes­ I think that folks ought to be concerned about how tobacco is treated in terms of CNFR coming back." The newspaper ad asked MSU not to loosen its policy banning tobacco advertising on campus.

The midway may be smokin' but the carnies won't be. For the first time in the Nevada State Fair's 124-year history, carnival workers are being prohibited from smoking on the job. "The workers don't like it. The public likes it," said Sam Johnston, president of Sam Johnston's Midway of Fun based in Sacramento. "Parents hate to see someone pick up their child on a ride with a cigarette dangling out of their mouth," he said. "The old, traditional roustabout carnival just doesn't work anymore."

Federal agents seized hundreds of cartons of cigarettes, three vehicles and two assault rifles Thursday during a raid on two tribal smoke shops in northern Oklahoma and two distributors in Kansas as part of a ongoing crackdown on the sale of contraband tobacco products. Steve Steele, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said . . . the seizures were the culmination of a two-year investigation into smoke shops that continued to sell cigarettes to nontribal members without paying state taxes.

City officials are considering not enforcing an impending ban on most tobacco billboards because they fear paying damages if they lose an expected lawsuit challenging the measure. Discussions on the matter, which accelerated this week, have angered the anti-smoking groups that pushed for the ban, which is to take effect Sept. 25. Nevertheless, Common Council leaders, the city attorney and the mayor's office are weighing the impact of an almost certain legal challenge to the ban -- something that has happened in virtually every city that has passed similar measures.

This community of 3,800 is best known for its marsh and the honking of geese. But what's creating somewhat of a squawk at freshmen orientation is a stricter dress code, reports WISC-TV. . . Also, students better read their clothes before they pick them out in the morning. If you show up with a shirt on that has anything to do with sex, alcohol, tobacco or harassment of others you're in trouble.

Says It's Time That The Tobacco Industry Starts Saving Children's Lives Rather Than Destroying Them-- San Diego appearance offers opportunity for in-person interview

But a volunteer group of medical workers is hoping to change that. They are teaching formerly drug-addicted children the basics of hygiene and first aid and sending them back into the slums as "young doctors." India's streets are home to an estimated 18 million children. Drug abuse, alcoholism and smoking are rampant among the homeless adolescents. Vijay Singh Chouhan was addicted to tobacco and drugs since childhood but changed his ways after attending the workshop.

The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. MOHAMED ALI BAZGAR has said that cigarette smoking is a first step towards drug addiction and promotion of smoking through sports activities and particularly by using the popular sportsmen and key players is even more painful. In a message to the ALL PAKISTAN WHO NO SMOKING BODY BUILDING CONTEST Mr Pakistan 1998, he said the cigarette manufacturers have really played a trick of selling poison through role models and popular sports like cricket. It is really sad that despite the fact that smoking is killer, Pakistan Television keeps on showing captivating cigarette advertisements

Where there's smoke, there's advertising. But not if the health minister has anything to do with it. Brenda Atkinson reports

Health Minister Nkosazana ZUMA on Friday granted a three-week extension to the submissions deadline for the controversial TOBACCO PRODUCTS CONTROL AMENDMENT BILL. . . However, it was reported earlier that the FOOD AND ALLIED WORKERS UNION (FAWU) considered three weeks not long enough for proper consultation and impact studies to be conducted.

A labour, sport and business group on Thursday threatened to apply for an urgent court order forcing Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma to withdraw the Tobacco Products Control Amendments Bill because it was unconstitutional. The announcement followed a meeting against the Bill in Midrand hosted by the Food and Allied Workers' Union. The Bill is due to be tabled in Parliament on Monday. Public relations executive Derrick Dickens, representing the group, said they would go to court as early as Friday if they got backing from three unions: Fawu, the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers' Union, and a smaller union, called the SA Workers' Union.

The FREEDOM OF COMMERCIAL SPEECH TRUST on Thursday expressed concern that the economic impact of the proposed ban on tobacco advertising had not been fully assessed by government.

A JOINT business, labour and sports committee is to launch an urgent court interdict against the health department in order to challenging the proposed Tobacco Products Amendment Bill which would ban tobacco advertising. The group includes three Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) affiliates and the Freedom of Commercial Speech Trust, representing the media, marketing and advertising industry. It will also seek an urgent meeting with Deputy President Thabo Mbeki to discuss the bill.

Tobacco companies should consider their opposition to the Tobacco Products Bill and not delay the legislation by using stalling tactics, national assembly health committee chairman Dr Abe Nkomo said on Wednesday. "It's time the tobacco industry stopped playing games," he said after a High Court hearing brought by the tobacco industry to appeal against the process followed in preparing the bill.

The tobacco industry's fight to delay impending controls on smoking and tobacco advertising was postponed in the Cape High Court until Wednesday. . . Tuesday's postponement came after legal representatives of both parties said they were not ready to proceed.

The tobacco industry has asked the high court to instruct Health Minister Nkosazana ZUMA to hand over to the industry all the information her department took into account when drafting the Tobacco Products Control Amendment Bill. The urgent court application, filed on Thursday and scheduled for a hearing today, was only the beginning of a fight the industry intended putting up against government over the bill, sources said.

RJR NABISCO Holdings Corp., the No. 2 U.S. tobacco company, and BROOKE GROUP Ltd. are raising cigarette prices in Russia to compensate for the lower value of the ruble. Both are building plants in Russia in the hope they'll benefit once the economy turns around. "To the extent that people have to smoke, it's a necessity, not a luxury," said Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Gary Black.

Ironically, after reports of shortages of dollars all week, there now seems to be a shortage of rubles. And some shops were doing brisk business. At a wholesale market, people snapped up cigarettes priced at around 8 rubles a pack - up from 6.50 rubles a few days ago. Those same cigarettes can still fetch 11 or 12 rubles when they are resold at metro stations farther from the center.

At Moscow's Kiev railway station wholesale market, where street peddlers stock up on cigarettes and sweets, prices have usually mirrored the daily exchange rate almost perfectly. On Wednesday most stalls were shut. The few that were open were charging about 30 percent more than last week and running down their inventory. But the price hikes were already enough to cause worry among their clients, mainly retired women who stand in metro stations selling cigarettes for extra cash. "They will kill us. It's that simple," said one woman who did not give her name. "Winston for six. I've been selling them for 5.50 and here they are already six. They will kill us all."

There is nothing simple about agriculture, though. Many of these farmers, like Savage, have been fighting a losing battle not just with the weather but with black shank, a disease that attacks the root system of tobacco plants until it kills the entire stalk. The farmers could go after the leaves that hung onto their stalks through Bonnie, but that will be difficult if not impossible. Because the plants are leaning so severely, the machinery used to strip them will not work.

Sweeting estimated his losses at up to $175,000. It is the second time in three years that hurricanes have wiped out his tobacco. Bertha and Fran did the job in 1996. "Three hurricanes' eyes have passed over this field," Shaw said. Sweeting, who is 37, has farmed for about 20 years. His father, whom he farmed with, died last year. "This poor fellow has really had a tough time," Hunt said.

BLADEN . . . State officials estimated crop losses at 60 percent for corn; 20 percent for cotton; 20 percent for tobacco; . . . COLUMBUS . . . 30 to 35 percent of the tobacco destroyed.

During his inspection trip Friday, Hunt saw evidence of severe agricultural damage in the tobacco fields of Don Sweeting, an Onslow County farmer. Stalks had been snapped, and tobacco leaves were "burnt" brown by saltwater blown off the ocean, Sweeting said. . . Because much of the tobacco crop in Eastern North Carolina was already in the curing barns, the chief concern for farmers was propping up the plants still in the field to ready them for harvest, she said.

In Duplin County, for example, 25 percent of the tobacco crop was destroyed.

First it was the drought... and now a hurricane. Agriculture officials say Bonnie caught the most valuable part of the tobacco crop in the field. Damage reports say the leaves have been stripped off much of the tobacco. Congressman BOBBY ETHERIDGE says the state's congressional delegation will move to get all the funds that may be available to help farmers.

Hurricane Bonnie ripped apart tobacco leaves as it whirled through the Cape Fear region, bringing bigger losses for farmers in an already disappointing year. In Cumberland County, farmers lost 10 percent to 15 percent of crops still in the field, said Henry Thomason, director of the county Farm Service Agency. Leaves growing this late in the year are usually the best. "I have seen some tobacco that looked like it was shredded," Thomason said. "The wind just stripped the leaves."

Preliminary reports indicated that tobacco took a beating in Johnston, Wilson, Onslow, Harnett and Bladen counties. Five counties -- Cumberland, Columbus, Harnett, Wake and Wilson -- requested inmate labor to help straighten tobacco plants bent by high winds. "In general, we're probably likely to experience more damage from wind than we are from water," said Jim Dunphy, professor of crop science at N.C. State University.

Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham said there were early reports of damage to tobacco. "This is the best tobacco of the season. There are a lot of reports of leaves being stripped off or torn up," he said. Dexter Jackson of Mount Olive said he lost 75 percent of his 150-acre crop. "This storm hurt tobacco farmers worse than Fran did," Jackson said.

"It's right in the midst of harvest, particularly corn," said North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner JAMES A. GRAHAM. His office also arranged the delivery of generators for the state's tobacco farmers, who were caught with much of their crop in curing barns. The tobacco industry suffered when Fran knocked out power to curing barns in 1996, Mr. Graham said.

And neither the wind nor water is good for tobacco, Knight said, because a heavy storm can cause stalks to lie down. That makes it impossible to harvest the crops by machine even if the plant survives.

"The three biggest crops that we're vulnerable on now are corn, cotton and soybeans," said Jim Knight, director of public information for the state Agriculture Department. "The way this storm is approaching, with the size and the coverage of the winds, we stand to have a lot of crops knocked down. Any tobacco that's remaining in the field will be susceptible because of the large leaves. We need some rainfall, but we don't need to get hammered." About 60 percent of the tobacco crop is still in the field, Knight said.

Steven Schueth, president of the SOCIAL INVESTMENT FORUM, said at the end of the second quarter that 23 of the 42 funds tracked by the forum had earned top ratings from either MORNINGSTAR Inc. of Chicago or LIPPER Analytical Services Inc. of Summit, N.J. . . Amy Domini, founder and manager of the DOMINI SOCIAL INDEX TRUST, cited investment gurus Benjamin Graham and David Dodd as saying the single most important financial asset of a company is the quality of management. . . Laura Lallos, a Morningstar analyst who follows this category of funds, said such funds are "large-cap, blue-chip-oriented" and that "having a lack of tobacco stocks has helped this year"

Kids Stuff publishes three catalogs with an emphasis on children's hard goods products (that is, products not primarily made from fabrics) from prenatal to age 3. . . Ironically, Kids Stuff was developed by its parent company, DUNCAN HILL INC. of Canton -- a company formed in 1977 to develop and market a designer line of smoking pipes, tobacco and accessories. And that portion of Duncan Hill, now called the HAVANA GROUP, is also publicly traded as an over-the-counter stock.

DAVID BERGSTEDT is what you might call a vocational vagabond. . . Bergstedt is founder and chairman of HUMIDI-PAK INC., which -- with the help of a couple of retired General Mills technical wizards -- has come up with a product that can regulate the humidity inside a cigar humidor for months at a time.

But if ordinary citizens had somebody to help them craft the letter, print it out, find the correct address and mail it out or fax it off, well, then they might be disposed to write more often. Civics meets modern technology -- that's the whole premise behind PinPoint Communications Group Inc. . . PinPoint remains apolitical on most issues, Wright says, but the firm has made exceptions. After working for a tobacco client early in the company's history, PinPoint steered away from that business, Wright says. He found tobacco was too harmful to children, he says, and now the company counts among its clients an anti-tobacco group, NATIONAL CENTER FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS.

A fire apparently started by a cigarette destroyed a northeast-side home yesterday. The fire apparently started on the patio, where the occupants had been smoking cigarettes at about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, and spread to the inside, Good said.

Marilyn Harris' characterization of the public-relations industry is unfair and inaccurate. . . she contends that "truthfulness is rarely even on the radar screen" in PR. This is a gross distortion. We advise our clients that rule No.1 of media relations is to tell the truth. Ours is not the only PR agency to have resigned accounts or declined business from companies that want professional liars, not professional communicators.false stories.

"If you were 18 or 19 years old, you could pick up a habit big time," said Blecker, who started smoking in Vietnam and quit several years later. "They were free in the field, and back in the PX they were very, very cheap." The military discontinued the practice in 1975, eight years after the U.S. surgeon general issued a report saying smoking was the principal cause of lung cancer. "Sure, a lot of veterans have (medical) conditions as a result of that practice," said VA spokesman Ken McKinnon, "but the VA's position is that the government cannot be held responsible for all the sins of smoking."

These are some of the people, companies and political action committees that have contributed large amounts to Sen. THOMAS L. BROMWELL's re-election campaign. . . Bromwell has been able to tap into givers on virtually every side of every power struggle or turf battle before the committee -- HMOs, doctors, chiropractors, surgical outpatient centers, nursing homes and pharmacies. . . At least $8,500 came from tobacco distributors and manufacturers. Those industries found a valuable ally in Bromwell on the last day of this year's session, when his threat to stage a filibuster killed a bill that would have banned coin-operated cigarette vending machines in most public places.

The tobacco settlement may be BUTTERWORTH's greatest achievement, but the protracted disagreement over attorney fees has cast a shroud over it. He says the matter will be settled before January, but it has provided fuel for his opponents who say he botched the contract.

HUBERT HUMPHREY III: OK, early polls in the past have been way off in primary races. But a 4-1 lead, at least, over everyone else seems solid. Humphrey has universal name recognition, very high favorability measures, and he's coming off a colossal victory over the tobacco companies.

Attorney General HUBERT HUMPHREY III took credit for a $6.1 billion windfall due the state -- "a little settlement with tobacco," he called it -- that will bring an additional $900 million in the next budget period and billions of dollars more in later years. Humphrey, like most of the candidates, is promising more than $1 billion in tax cuts in the next budget period.

Retailers are being urged to shop smugglers in a new campaign against bootlegging. The Crimestoppers initiative coincides with figures showing that sales of tobacco and alcohol smuggled into Britain - mostly through the Channel ports - cost retailers a staggering £3 billion in lost sales in the last 12 months. The campaign is aiming to encourage more shopkeepers to report crime through the confidential Crimestoppers telephone line including smuggling, shoplifting and assaults on staff. It is being backed by the Tobacco Alliance which represents 26,000 independent retailers in the fight against smuggled cigarettes.

Bootlegging of alcohol and tobacco has cost independent retailers more than £3 billion in the past 12 months, according to a new survey. Nine out of 10 independent store owners surveyed have seen their business hit by bootlegging in the last year, the study found. The problem has cost the average retailer £1,293 a week, a total of £67,236 a year, according to the Independent Retail News/Booker bootlegging survey of more than 500 independent retailers.

Their parents should be delighted. Some members of the STRAIGHT EDGE, one of America's fastest-growing youth movements, even avoid casual sex, saving all their energy for rock concerts and vegetarian food. An increasingly militant wing has come to dominate the movement, however, to the extent that Straight Edgers are accused of trying to impose their moral standards on others by regularly beating up strangers who drink or smoke.

For 25 years, DR. FREDERIC GRANNIS watched cigarette smokers parade through his office with an unending string of lung diseases. Things weren't changing. So he decided to start his own Web site to educate people about the dangers of the habit. . . The Lung Cancer and Cigarette Smoking Web Page can be visited at: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/lungcancer

Garbus hid copies of the Pentagon Papers in his garage. He worked with Cesar Chavez in the early days of the grape boycott. He defended Native Americans against charges resulting from their battle with the FBI at Wounded Knee, S.D. Garbus was also ROBERT REDFORD's attorney in the actor's successful attack on the Lorillard tobacco company's REDFORD cigarette--"fresh as the wind."

Sure, the leaders get plenty of attention, but it's Rodriguez who casts a Pied Piper spell over a crowd that trails the golfer from the first tee box to the 18th green. . . "They come out here to see a show, I give them a show," Rodriguez said . . . He is also prone to turn to the crowd and puff on his cigar as his partners are getting ready to tee off . . . And Rodriguez is convinced the shots he calls "the fountain of youth" are working. . . And it's all part of his new regime, which includes hiring a personal trainer and giving up cigarettes.

Veteran actors Mel Brooks and Cloris Leachman were honored Saturday with Emmys in a non-televised prelude to the Sept. 13 awards ceremony. . . Hairstyling For A Series: "TRACEY TAKES ON ...: SMOKING," HBO.

Lady luck is a flighty gal. So flighty, in fact, that some people will drive any number of miles to find her. . . The 3-year-old Par-A-Dice riverboat casino is just over the bridge from downtown Peoria. . . . The more than 1,000 slots -- the most of any of Illinois' riverboats -- take up most of the real estate . . . Non-smokers may resent the relatively small sections located on various areas on the boat; no deck is completely smoke-free.

The pressures on young people in this society are enormous. Only if we put some money (the tobacco companies' money) into creative, community solutions are we going to make a dent in the tobacco use among young people, many of whom see the weed as a way of countering parental pressures, peer pressures, image pressures and all the rest.

Tobacco is a vile killer but, in the absence of any concrete proof that the sponsorship of such events contributes to tobacco usage, the government would be better off tackling far more serious aspects of the smoking issue. . . But the government could put tobacco where it belongs, behind lock and key with other drugs. Taking cigarettes out of drug stores isn't the answer. They should be doled out by a pharmacist like any restricted drug to adults with a note from their physicians certifying them as addicts. The government should be doing more to educate youngsters about the dangers of tobacco and should put some teeth into enforcing the existing laws regarding sales of cigarettes to minors. Increased taxes could serve as an inducement for some people to quit, and a deterrent to people who haven't started smoking.

MY fearless forecast today is that the two most annoying fads I know of - cigar smoking and cell phones - have run their course. If you look at some of the poseurs puffing on stogies these days and listen to the inanities uttered by cell-phone wielders in bad suits, you know it's over.

Caryl Rivers Here's where the cigarette companies come in. They could, as their ads against the tobacco bill proclaim, "Stand up for working people." The companies can take the billions that under the original legislation they would have handed over to the government in tax revenue and set up a vast network of comfortable, well-appointed, smoking-allowed rooms all over America's inner cities, where mothers could drop off their children as they go to their brand new jobs lifting crates in food pantries.

Jane Henney, nominated to become the first female head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will on Wednesday face what could be the last major hurdle to her confirmation by the U.S. Senate. . . She's sure to endure comprehensive questioning since little is known about her views on controversial topics such as tobacco, which former commissioner David Kessler took up as a pet issue. . . . Asked, for instance, "Do you believe that cigarettes should be regulated as drug-delivery devices?" Henney answered, "FDA's authority to regulate tobacco products is currently before the courts. If I am confirmed as commissioner, I would obviously abide by any final judicial or congressional action." She took the same tack with other questions about tobacco.

What follows is a special supplemental issue of the Food and Drug Law Journal based on presentations and commentary from the April 9, 1998, Conference on Tobacco Dependence: Innovative Regulatory Approaches to Reduce Death and Disease convened by the Georgetown University Center for Drug Development Science and The Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI). This forum provided the opportunity for the expression of multiple viewpoints on this timely topic

• A Note From the Editor-in-Chief
• Treatment of Tobacco Dependence: Innovative Regulatory Approaches to Reduce Death and Disease: Preface
• Federal Regulation of Tobacco Products and Products That Treat Tobacco Dependence: Are the Playing Fields Level?
• Tobacco Product Regulation: Context and Issues
• Tobacco-Dependence Medications: Public Health and Regulatory Issues
• Conference on Tobacco Dependence: Innovative Regulatory Approaches to Reduce Death and Disease: Selected Excerpts From Conference Proceedings

Massachusetts' move this weekend to bail out of the multi-state tobacco litigation settlement talks was seen on Wall Street as part political ploy by an attorney general aspiring to be governor and part show of confidence in the state's home-field advantage

Washington state's attorney general, CHRISTINE GREGOIRE, who has been leading the government side in the talks, said Monday that Massachusetts' decision to withdraw was premature and shouldn't affect the talks. "We made more progress last week than we have had over the course of the past month," she said

But yesterday, as news of his sudden departure spread, some analysts said Harshbarger's decision to abandon negotiations could have an equally serious impact nationwide, potentially unraveling multistate tobacco talks that have been going on for months. "This will spell the end fairly quickly," said Richard A. Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor who has assisted in some state tobacco talks. "He could serve the role of Hubert Humphrey," said John F. Banzhaf, a Washington-based antismoking advocate, referring to the Minnesota attorney general who forced a staggering $6.6 billion settlement with tobacco companies earlier this year. "He could prevent a sellout to the tobacco industry."

"Unless Big Tobacco shows me they are willing to take more responsibility for protecting our children and improving public health, I am not interested in returning to negotiations with them," Harshbarger said.

After completing another round of talks in New York on Friday, Harshbarger said he decided to walk away and focus instead on winning a potential multibillion-dollar settlement for Massachusetts in state court. He is expected to announce today that he has ordered his tobacco litigation team from the table and directed it to focus on the state's civil suit in state Superior Court.

Litigation settlement talks between state attorneys general and two tobacco companies recessed Friday morning with two major players staying away from the table due to monetary disputes between manufacturers, according to analysts.

Litigation settlement talks between state attorneys general and two tobacco companies recessed Friday morning due to concerns that Hurricane Bonnie would affect air travel out of New York. A spokesman for Washington State Attorney General Christine Gregoire said she felt the negotiators had made good progress and that talks are expected to resume next week in New York.

The family of a smoker that won the largest verdict against a cigarette company has asked a Florida appeals court to withdraw, reconsider or clarify a ruling this month that jeopardized their victory. The estate of Roland Maddox asked Florida's First District Court of Appeal to change its Aug. 13 ruling that reversed the trial court's refusal to move the case to another county. "This court overlooked, or apparently was unaware of, the fact that a trial had been concluded and a verdict returned" by the time it reversed the denial of the pretrial motion by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Maddox estate attorneys wrote in their motion for a rehearing.

When the Utah Legislature earmarked $250,000 for anti-tobacco education, it did not require partisan credit. But State Health Deptartment officials seem to think that was the intent. . . The Utah official he has featured in the campaign is ATTORNEY GENERAL JAN GRAHAM -- a Democrat. Crowell was asked recently by the Health Department if he could feature a Republican in the campaign, say, LT. GOV. OLENE WALKER. That idea was scrapped after a few minutes. Officials remembered the junket Walker went on not long ago that was funded by tobacco interests.

A 52-year-old Darien man is free on 250 thousand dollars bond after federal investigators accused him of leading an operation that smuggled illegal cigars and steroids from Cuba. Andrzej (AND-ray) Moszynski allegedly worked with an unidentified woman from New York to make money by selling the cigars and steroids to businesses and people there

Although probably 90 percent of cigarette butts thrown from a window will burn out without sparking a fire, Foster said, "it's that other 5 or 10 percent that does get in an area of dead grass, and does start a fire and put a home or business in danger and us [firefighters] who have to fight it." David Harper, 43, who cleans and maintains the roadside along a stretch of Belknap Street at Northeast 28th Street in Haltom City, said people tossing cigarette butts out of their cars make one of the biggest messes he encounters. "They do it constantly, even when I am right there cleaning," said Harper, who estimates that he visits the site once a week. "There must be a million of those cigarettes out there."

Smoking is back on the table in Arlington Heights, or more specifically, an anti-smoking ban in restaurants and bars is slated to come up before the Arlington Heights Village Board again. . . But no matter how passionate you may be on this touchy issue, each side has valid points. This is the kind of problem that would try the wisdom of Solomon, but cutting the room in half isn't going to work, which is sort of what is done now. . . Because of all the debate that has surrounded the issue, there will be no further comments taken on the matter at the coming Village Board meeting, slated for Sept. 8.

For Rob Reiner, yesterday was a day of stumping for a cause close to his heart -- raising money to help kids by urging the crowd at the Horton Grand Hotel to pass Proposition 10, the cigarette-tax initiative on the November ballot.

Chuck Emery . . . was a businessman in Phoenix, and he had an idea. Sell cigarettes, but sell them one at a time, in a plastic tube, for 39 cents a butt. . . More than a thousand stores in eight states later, he was right. . . The Department of Revenue last month gave Emery and his company, SINGLE STICK, permission to sell single cigarettes . . . Foes call them "kiddie packs" . . . Single Stick . . . devised a way of using lasers to imprint tax stamps on single cigarette packages. As long as the tax is paid, that's not illegal.

To do so, Uzbekistan encourages foreign investors, even if it keeps a close watch over their activities. B.A.T Industries PLC of Britain built a $230 million cigarette factory in Samarkand . . . When it signed on, the company didn't expect it would be a problem to convert local revenue into dollars to buy tobacco and packaging paper from abroad. Now, to convert its local revenues into hard currency, B.A.T must get special permission. "It's a long, slow, bureaucratic, process where the rules change every five minutes," says Steve Rae, the production director at the modern, B.A.T cigarette plant . . . "The return on our investment in the first five years is less than we thought it would be."

TAXI drivers are to be given powers to ban smokers from their cabs. Ministers have agreed in principle to introduce legislation to allow licensed cabbies to designate their taxis as no smoking vehicles on health grounds. . . It follows a sustained campaign by cabbies, who receive many complaints from passengers about the lingering smell of smoke. Those who take up the right will be entitled to display a sign on the outside of their vehicle, similar to the yellow light used to indicate that they are available for hire.

The devaluation of the kwacha, apparently the result of falling tobacco earnings and a weaker rand and Zimbabwe dollar, has generated controversy in the business community.

The cigarettes are a favorite among the scores of contraband items that flow from the free trade zones of nearby Aruba and Panama through this isolated desert peninsula and into Colombia's flourishing black market. . . As banks increase their ability to detect money laundering, the cartels are turning to this smuggling network as part of an increasingly sophisticated system of moving their drug profits back into Colombia. . . As a result of the explosion in contraband goods, local tobacco companies are going bankrupt

In the lucrative underground trade, no cigarette is more popular than the U.S.-made Marlboro, manufactured by PHILIP MORRIS INC. Colombian officials and critics of the tobacco industry say the Marlboro case illustrates how goods are used for contraband in ways companies could and should be aware of and try to halt. . . Critics of the tobacco industry, however, said Philip Morris should be aware that most of its exports to free trade zones in Panama and Aruba ended up as contraband in Colombia. A particular red flag, according to the critics, is the fact that, until earlier this year, the MANSUR family in Aruba was the principal buyer and distributor of Marlboro cigarettes there.

The continuing economic and political chaos in Russia -- while certainly no help -- is not seen by Wall Street as doing much more to damage to Big Tobacco's already weakening profit outlook. . . PHILIP MORRIS COS. Inc., the world's largest tobacco company and maker of the top-selling Marlboro brand, and its top rival, RJR NABISCO HOLDINGS Corp., parent of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., already were expected to turn in their weakest performances in years in 1998. Russia, however, is only a small part of their problems, although Reynolds faces more exposure than Morris, they said.

DCGR International Holdings, Inc. (OTC BB:DCGR) has announced a 1-for-30 reverse split of its common stock, which was approved by its board of directors, to take effect on September 11, 1998. DCGR International Holdings, Inc. has three divisions, a premium cigar company, a gourmet food company and a health care company.

Imasco Ltd. has reached an agreement to sell its food distribution business based in North Carolina to MBM Corp., for an undisclosed sum, the Montreal company announced Monday. The unit, part of FAST FOOD MERCHANDISERS Inc., was the supplier to Imasco's U.S. hamburger and chicken restaurant chain Hardee's Food Systems, sold last year.

Cash on hand built up over the past year by a multiple of 15, leaving more than $4.61 billion in reserve. When publicly traded companies have that much money, they're expected to give some of it back to investors. . . Despite the cash infusion, Philip Morris' honchos had gotten gun-shy about flaunting all that wealth. You might do the same if you had the kind of year they'd had:

Even as the 30 stocks making up the Dow Jones industrial average have been pummeled over the past month, one company has managed to stand out: Philip Morris Cos. Since July 17, when the Dow hit its high of 9,337.97, shares of Philip Morris Cos. have risen 5 percent, jumping from $39.62 1/2 to Monday's close of $41.56 1/4.

Spain's former state-owned tobacco company Tabacalera said on Monday its first half net profit rose almost 39 percent, boosted by higher prices. Turnover rose 20 percent to 202.32 billion pesetas ($1.3 billion) and net profit climbed to 11.15 billion pesetas from 8.04 billion.

Philip Morris has implemented a new distribution structure in order to lift its sales in Brazil

After a successful first tour, The House of Sandeman, makers of fine Port for over 200 years, and H. Upmann Cigars, the flagship brand of Consolidated Cigar Corporation, one of the world's most prominent manufacturers of fine, handmade cigars, will team up again to present a series of training seminars for restaurateurs and waitstaff. "For seven generations, my family has enjoyed the combination of an excellent Port and cigar as the grand finale to a special meal," said George Sandeman, Chairman of the House of Sandeman (www.sandeman.com). " Now, this innovative course, The Grande Finale, will demonstrate how restaurants can offer this tradition to their guests."

A long chapter in French industrial history comes to an end today with the closure of Seita's cigarette plant at Châteauroux, in central France, after 140 years. The factory has fallen victim to the pronounced decline in dark tobacco consumption in France, as French smokers move to the pale tobacco favoured by most international brands.

The Board of Directors of DIMON Incorporated (NYSE: DMN - news), at its meeting held August 28, 1998, declared a quarterly dividend of $.17 per share. The dividend is payable on September 15, 1998, to shareholders of record on September 8, 1998.

An elderly woman has burned to death after her clothes caught fire. Investigators say 68-year-old Evelyn Belskie of Glen Burnie was apparently smoking and collapsed on her sofa as she tried to put out the flames.

Despite Bernays's intellectual brilliance, it is ultimately impossible to ignore the guile and cynicism at the heart of his business. A nonsmoker, Bernays persuaded thousands to take up the habit even as he was badgering his wife to quit. While reaping large profits for his artfully concealed client, American Tobacco, and enormous fees for himself, he persuaded the press to downplay or ignore early evidence of tobacco's health hazards, evidence that he himself believed to be true.

Editor's note: Tobacco curls through Florida like a plume of smoke. On a single day last week, Times photographers traveled throughout the state to find out how far. These pictures, taken last Tuesday, show some of what they saw. . . Like an oversized but clever neighborhood bully, tobacco shouldered aside our doubts and moved into our lives. For a long time, we never knew what hit us. At one point we were sculpting leafy tributes to tobacco -- that revered native American plant -- on columns holding up the Capitol dome in Washington.

Getting Smoked: The tobacco industry is facing increasing attacks that it stifled development of a "safer" cigarette. "Tobacco companies actually tried hard to develop a safer cigarette, but their efforts failed when they couldn't agree on what flavor to make its candy center." (Joshua Sostrin)

"The problem with a hotline would be that, to give a ticket, the police officer obviously has to observe the violation," according to Steve Kohler, a spokesman in Sacramento for the California Highway Patrol. "Just hearing about it secondhand isn't enough under the law." Too bad. If there was a phone number to report trashy scofflaws, we'd use it all the time.

With such ads, analysts and political consultants assert, the industry is straying close to the line separating legitimate issue advocacy from political advertising. "It's remarkable how clearly political" the recent ad is, says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania and author of a study on tobacco advertising. "This ad is telling people to consider voting against candidates who supported the bill." . . "It's more than a coincidence that the top spending happens to be in states where Senate races are the closest and members voted to kill the tobacco bill," says Matthew Myers, executive vice president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. The tobacco industry won't say how it chooses where to concentrate its advertising.

Senate Majority Leader TRENT LOTT Monday predicted the Justice Department will find no basis for allegations by an anti-smoking group that some Republicans killed tobacco legislation in exchange for promises of improper campaign support from the cigarette industry. "I assume they'll (Justice) take a look at it. That's their responsibility. And they will see that there's nothing to it," Lott told a news conference.

"The tobacco industry is brilliant. They're whole goal is to get people off-message," said Linda Crawford, national vice president for federal and state relations at the American Cancer Society. "We're not talking about a tax policy. We are talking about a program that gets our children to not get smoking." A tobacco tax is the one proven way to prevent more children from starting to smoke, she said. But if lawmakers try to extract a large settlement again, the tobacco industry will be ready with their ads. "It's been a week by week decision process," Williams said.

Just before the vote that killed the bill in the Senate, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reportedly told his fellow Republicans that the industry was promising to run ads on behalf of GOP senators. McConnell told the Wall Street Journal that the ads "would be generally helpful to people who decided to kill this bill as a big tax increase on working Americans." "It's illegal for a corporation to make campaign contributions to a candidate," said Matthew Myers, executive vice president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the umbrella anti-tobacco lobbying group. "What changes these from issue ads [which are legal] is that the industry promised if the senators voted to kill the bill, they would run the advertising. Rarely is a link between a contribution and a vote so clear." A spokesman for McConnell said last week that the senator had not received any promise from the tobacco industry, but assured the senators of the industry's support on his perception that the industry would be "tenacious."

Justice Department spokesman Michael Gordon yesterday would say only that "we're reviewing the concerns Senator Daschle has raised." But other officials, who asked not to be identified, said the department was reviewing the matter as it would any complaint from a member of Congress and that it had not reached criminal investigation status.

The Justice Department is looking into allegations that Senate Republicans traded their votes for promises by the tobacco industry to finance advertising campaigns.

The JUSTICE DEPARTMENT'S criminal division is investigating allegations that Senate Republicans and the tobacco industry violated federal law by illegally colluding to torpedo anti-smoking legislation in June. The department quietly informed Senate Democratic Leader TOM DASCHLE on Aug. 17 that it would examine whether the industry and Senate Republicans engaged in an illegal quid pro quo: political advertising in exchange for votes. "The allegation that tobacco companies may have promised favorable political advertising in exchange for a senator's vote on specific legislation raises concerns under the bribery and gratuity statutes," wrote ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL L. ANTHONY SUTIN. "The criminal division is presently examining this allegation to determine whether any further investigation is warranted."

The government has announced that it has filed a multimillion-dollar suit against 18 U.S. tobacco growers for damage inflicted on the health of thousands of Panamanians. In a news conference Thursday, Health Minister Aida de Rivera said the suit was filed Tuesday in Louisiana by four U.S. lawyers representing the Panamanian government. Panama sued multinational companies, which were not named, to establish a precedent and to repair the damage to health of Panamanians from tobacco consumption in the past years, the minister said.