Tobacco.org

Public place smoking 

We know many people don’t want to breathe second-hand smoke, dislike the smell of tobacco smoke and avoid smoky places. That’s why we support restrictions on smoking in indoor public places including offices, restaurants and bars. . . .

Air filtration systems can also make a room more comfortable, although they too cannot completely remove the smoke. They do offer a relatively inexpensive alternative where built-in fresh air ventilation systems are less feasible, perhaps because of the size and complexity of a building.

For example, in Rome’s Fiumicino airport, British American Tobacco has provided comfortable enclosed smoking lounges with air filtration to demonstrate what can be done. Feedback from smokers has been very good.

Many of our companies also support a Respecting Choices campaign which aims to help the hospitality industry accommodate all its customers in restaurants, convention centres, cafes, bars, clubs and hotels, and involves technical analysis of ventilation and owners allocating flexible smoking and non-smoking areas.

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E Cigarette Users: Help Save The Electronic Cigarette In The UK 

Ban it, regulate it or make it a restricted medicine?

These are the choices the UK Government is mulling over.

And it is asking for YOUR HELP in making the decision.

If you enjoy the electronic cigarette, or simply think that people should have a right to enjoy nicotine without having to inhale chemicals, carcinogens and tar, you can let the government know.

Click here to share your views and help save the electronic cigarette:

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Pro & Con: Is the Supreme Court’s ruling on campaigns bad for democracy? 

NYC Pensions Press Companies to Disclose Political Spending  

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- New York City pension funds are pressing as many as 15 companies including Bank of America Corp. and Humana Inc. to disclose campaign contributions as the U.S. Supreme Court ends a ban on corporate political spending.

The city's public advocate, Bill de Blasio, is encouraging other pension funds to follow New York's lead and file investor proxy resolutions calling for companies to report their campaign contributions and political spending. Five city pension funds had already submitted resolutions with the companies ahead of last week's Supreme Court decision, de Blasio said in a statement yesterday. . . .

The New York City Comptroller's office withdrew a proxy resolution for one of the 15 companies, Altria Group Inc., after "productive conversations" with executives at the tobacco producer, according to a company spokesman, Bill Phelps.

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CARNEY: Obama's SOTU talk on special interests -- and his record 

"To close that credibility gap we must take action on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue to end the outsized influence of lobbyists; to do our work openly"

Obama's call to "do our work openly" would represent a change of procedure in many ways. We didn't know about a July deal on health-care reform between White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and top drug lobbyist Billy Tauzin until the LA Times reported on it, thanks to Tauzin's talking outside of school.

Also, "work[ing] openly" wouldn't be how I would describe Obama's claim that "today, despite decades of lobbying and advertising by the tobacco industry, we passed a law" that had the full support of Philip Morris--by far the number one tobacco lobbying power and number one tobacco company.

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New Mexico Drops a Bill for $1 Cigarette Tax Hike 

A bill that would raise cigarette excise taxes in the state by $1 a pack to raise money for education was snuffed last week when a legislative committee voted unanimously against the idea, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. However, two other bills remain that could raise the state's cigarette tax.

The House Business and Industry Committee voted to table House Bill 35, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Brian Egolf, which killed it for this session. Egolf said the legislation would have raised $36 million, earmarked for the public schools.

Health advocates, including the American Cancer Society, supported the bill, along with several labor and religious organizations. Supporters saw the bill as a way to prevent further cuts to education and other state programs as the state faces a $600 million budget shortfall, the report stated.

Opposing the bill were tobacco lobbyists and representatives of several business groups, among them Mark Smith, of the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co.,

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• U.K. Fight Over Cigarette Packaging 

British American Tobacco PLC warned Sunday that the U.K. government faces a "huge fight" from the tobacco industry if it moves ahead with plans under consideration that would only allow cigarettes to be sold in plain, unbranded packages.

A spokeswoman said the government measures, due to be announced in a Monday speech by Health Secretary Andy Burnham, would encourage criminals to mass produce fake products since there would be no way for a purchaser to differentiate one brand from another, resulting in the "perverse outcome" of cigarettes becoming more accessible to young people.

Mr. Burnham is to lay out the government's "tobacco control strategy" Monday--a series of measures designed to half the number of smokers in the U.K. by 2020, to around 10% from 21%.

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Remarks by the President at GOP House Issues Conference  

I think your constituents would want to know that despite the fact it doesn't get a lot of attention, you and I have actually worked together on a number of occasions. There have been times where we've acted in a bipartisan fashion. And I want to thank you and your Democratic colleagues for reaching across the aisle. . . .

Some of you joined us in stopping tobacco companies from targeting kids, expanding opportunities for young people to serve our country, and helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes. . . .

In terms of lobbyists, I can stand here unequivocally and say that there has not been an administration who was tougher on making sure that lobbyists weren't participating in the administration than any administration that's come before us.

Now, what we did was, if there were lobbyists who were on boards and commissions that were carryovers and their term hadn't been completed, we didn't kick them off. We simply said that moving forward any time a new slot opens, they're being replaced.

So we've actually been very consistent in making sure that we are eliminating the impact of lobbyists, day in, day out, on how this administration operates. There have been a handful of waivers where somebody is highly skilled -- for example, a doctor who ran Tobacco-Free Kids technically is a registered lobbyist; on the other end, has more experience than anybody in figuring out how kids don't get hooked on cigarettes.

So there have been a couple of instances like that, but generally we've been very consistent on that front.

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• Former Justice O’Connor Sees Ill in Election Finance Ruling  

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor did not sound happy on Tuesday about the Supreme Court's big campaign finance decision last week. It repudiated a major part of a ruling Justice O'Connor helped write before her retirement from the court in 2006, and it complicated her recent efforts to do away with judicial elections.

"Gosh," she said, "I step away for a couple of years and there's no telling what's going to happen."

Justice O'Connor criticized the recent decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, only obliquely, reminding the audience that she had been among the authors of McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, the 2003 decision that was overruled in large part on Thursday. . . .

"These two cases," Justice O'Connor said, referring to Citizens United and Caperton, "should be a warning to states that still choose their judges by popular election."

Then she sketched out what the future might hold.

"We can anticipate that labor unions and trial lawyers, for instance, might have the financial means to win one particular state judicial election," she said. "And maybe tobacco firms and energy companies have enough to win the next one.

"And if both sides unleash their campaign spending monies without restrictions, then I think mutually-assured destruction is the most likely outcome."

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Gosh. I step away for a couple of years and there's no telling what's going to happen.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, on the Citizen's United verdict.

These two cases [Citizens United and Caperton] should be a warning to states that still choose their judges by popular election. We can anticipate that labor unions and trial lawyers, for instance, might have the financial means to win one particular state judicial election. And maybe tobacco firms and energy companies have enough to win the next one. And if both sides unleash their campaign spending monies without restrictions, then I think mutually-assured destruction is the most likely outcome.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, assuming lawyers and unions can match the firepower of corporations.

• Rebecca Abrahams: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Assault on Justice 

It's no secret that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the chief lobbying firm for big business and the Republican Party, pouring millions of dollars into advertising to debunk climate change and oppose national healthcare reform. But the U.S. Chamber's biggest and less known area of influence is its involvement in state and federal elections. According to SourceWatch, the Chamber has an aggressive strategy to reign in "activist judges and attorneys general," and challenge anti-business measures in court, taking a lead role in tort reform and supporting pro-tort reform candidates.

The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent nearly $35 million on the 2008 election in support of pro-business candidates, almost exclusively Republicans.

Attorney and Columbia Law School Professor Scott Horton has chronicled the Chamber's involvement in elections across the country. . . .

Public Citizen President Robert Weissman says the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has appointed itself the guardian of the most extremist positions held by big business: . . .

'We plan to build a grass-roots business organization so strong that when it bites you in the butt, you bleed,' Chamber President Tom Donohue said."

Nowhere is the Chamber's campaign to defeat anti-business candidates better exemplified than in the state of Mississippi. Its strategy -- take down plaintiff attorneys who fund Democratic campaigns with tobacco litigation settlement awards.

In Mississippi, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce led this war against Judge Oliver Diaz and attorney Paul Minor. . . .

Coincidentally, Barbour's lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers, (BGR) lists Phillip Morris as one of their top clients and in 1997 alone, BGR was paid $1.7 million from the "big four" tobacco companies. . . .

Papantonio suggests President Obama follow Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1937 lead and wage war on the U.S. Supreme Court. One thing is clear, the High Court's unprecedented decision to kill the McCain Feingold Act and overturn political campaign finance limits paves the way for big corporations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to control elections and the entire judiciary system.

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Non-smokers to cough up a protest for campaign 

The next time you are enjoying a smoke near your office building, don’t be surprised if someone around you starts coughing noisily and, perhaps, deliberately too.

A group of NGOs have started a new campaign — ‘Khaasi Sunao, Sutta Bhujhao’ (Cough aloud, stub out cigarette) — to encourage non-smokers to get proactive about their right to breathe clean air.

“We want non-smokers to register their protest by coughing aloud and also educate smokers about the law that bans smoking in public places,” said Dr Surendra Shastri from Tata Memorial Hospital, which is actively involved with the NGOs who run the ‘Smokefree Mumbai’ campaign.

He added that teaser advertisements regarding the ‘Khaasi...’ campaign would be up on BEST buses and billboards soon.

The NGOs have tied up with Seth GS Medical College (attached to KEM Hospital) to reach out to youth and doctors.

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• 'Threat to corner shop' as MSPs vote to ban cigarette displays 

CORNER shops across Scotland could struggle to stay in business after MSPs voted to ban cigarette displays, it was claimed last night.

The ban is part of a package of measures being brought in to try to stop young people from taking up smoking. MSPs also increased the minimum smoking age from 16 to 18 and outlawed cigarette vending machines.

The display ban will come into force in 2011 for large shops and 2013 for small shops.

It was passed by 103 votes to 14, with only the Conservatives voting against, despite lobbying by retailers and the tobacco industry.

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• Senecas threaten to target Gillibrand 

The Seneca Nation of Indians is threatening to spend $250,000 against Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand this year because of her support for legislation that would ban the mailing of cigarettes.

The Seneca Nation Foreign Relations Committee last week unanimously passed a resolution recommending that the Tribal Council set aside that money for "voter education and outreach." The council will consider the request Feb. 13.

The move came on the recommendation of J. C. Seneca, a leading tobacco entrepreneur and co-chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

"I propose that $250,000 be appropriated for a 'get out the vote' effort to educate and mobilize the thousands of workers, contractors, vendors and their families who are tied to the Nation's $1.1 billion economy as to why Senator Gillibrand is harmful to the Seneca Nation and all of Western New York," Seneca wrote in a Jan. 14 letter to the committee.

The Senecas are threatening to target Gillibrand, D-N. Y.,because of her support of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, a bill that the Senate could consider that would ban the U. S. Postal Service from mailing cigarettes.

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Letter: Why let cigar bars be legal during ban?  

Residents of assisted living will be able to have a special smoking room, which I agree with. Why take these elderly people outside for a cigarette in the winter, where they might catch pneumonia?

Now for cigar bars. Only cigar bars in existence before June 3, 2009, will be legal. So, you can't start a new one. Only cigars and pipes are allowed. Not cigarettes. Why? Because the wealthy big shots, lawyers and legislators like to sit around and enjoy a cigar and a cocktail while they figure out how to (cheat) the working people out of another tax dollar and another freedom. . . .

I smell something rotten in Madison, and it's not Oscar Meyer's meat-packing plant. I'll bet you can guess where most cigar bars are located.

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Barton: Tax tobacco, not teachers  

The second reason that teachers are wearing targets is medical.

Lawmakers lack backbones.

Georgia could plug about a fifth of its budget gap by raising the tax on cigarettes from 37 cents per pack to $1.37. The additional $400 million that supporters say the tax would generate in its first year would blunt the cost-cutting pain.

As a side benefit, it would indirectly reduce Medicaid costs, too.

People who puff away and hack their lungs out rack up an estimated $2 billion in medical costs annually. Paying an extra buck a pack would be more incentive to quit.

Sadly, most lawmakers can't see through the smoke or one inch past the next election.

They oppose any tax hike - even one that polls show enjoys popular support. Besides, key leaders in Atlanta who were bought by tobacco lobbyists apparently stay bought. . . .

Of course, collecting $400 million from smokers who suck it in would eliminate the need for more teacher furloughs. Sadly, Georgia's lawmakers would rather tax teachers, not tobacco.

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