Tobacco.org

Road rage features tobacco chew 

An Augusta man said he had chewing tobacco thrown in his face after he blew his horn at a driver on Wrightsboro Road Thursday night.

The 51-year-old victim said he honked at a woman who was blocking the intersection of Wrightsboro Road and Marks Church Road so that she would move and turn, a Richmond County Sheriff's report said.

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• No Country for Smokers 

While the omnipresent electronic gaming and casinos in Montana don’t appear to be going anywhere, the iconic smokey barrooms of that state are now just a memory. On Oct. 1, Montana became the most recent state to prohibit smoking indoors of all public places. Bars across Montana have scrambled, several news outlets reported, to concoct new ways to provide alternative smoking areas, by putting chairs and heaters in adjacent garages, or even building makeshift “butt huts” outside.

The Wyoming state legislature, meanwhile, has declined to touch the issue, with few indications it might pick it up in the forseable future. Some have suggested the influence of tobacco lobbyists in Cheyenne is to blame. But others, including a state representative involved in the smoking issue in Teton County, say Wyoming legislators are politically hardwired to avoid what they perceive is over-governing, which would include passing a statewide smoking ban. Legislators have decided instead to let individual communities decide whether to implement local smoking bans.

So when the Teton District Board of Health took it upon itself in March to pass a county-wide rule that would prohibit smoking inside public places, with an exception or two, it followed a few other communities that have passed some kind of smoking ban. Cheyenne, Evanston and Green River have adopted smoking rules (yet bars are exempted in Green River), but no other county health board in the state has taken on smoking, according to county attorney Keith Gingery.

A lawsuit filed soon after the vote put the ban on hold, allowing people to keep lighting up in the Virginian, which happens to be the only bar in the valley that has not voluntarily prohibited smoking. The owners of the Virginian Saloon and three other organizations are challenging the ban. . . .

In her decision, Judge Guthrie will weigh whether the smoking ban meets equal protection laws, which state that a law must be evenly applied to everyone. Freudenthal argues the smoking rule should be struck down in part because it forbids employees from smoking in company-owned vehicles. . . .

The judge could rule on the case sometime in the first months of 2010, Gingery said.

Until then, smokers will continue to light up in the Virginian, where, according to some, cigarette smoke is as much a part of the atmosphere as the jukebox, the shake-a-shift and the baskets of free popcorn available at the bar. A smokey bar is an increasingly rare site in America, but it remains to be seen whether its time has come for Jackson Hole. One thing is clear: some form of public smoking ban found today in all but 14 states, including Wyoming, the spark of community bans across the state, and the dominance of voluntary smoke-free policies locally, has spelled out the shift against smoking in general.

“I think some people are already saying ‘Why didn’t we do it here sooner?’” Blue said.

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Which truckers can light up? It's as clear as smoke  

A lit cigarette between the lips of a trucker stopped by police on Highway 401 near Windsor has left a smoke cloud hanging over the issue of where commercial drivers are allowed to smoke. . . .

However, exactly where truckers are – and aren't – allowed to smoke remains as clear as a thick cloud of tobacco smoke.

About all that's apparent is that not all trucks are created equal.

Sgt. Pierre Chamberland of the OPP in Orillia said in an interview that almost all drivers are expected to butt out when driving in Ontario, regardless of who owns the rig or where it operates.

The sole exception would be for drivers employed by the federal government, Chamberland said.

However, an official with the Ontario Truckers Association offered a more nuanced interpretation of the law, as it applies to smoking in rigs operated by Ontario's 160,000 tractor-trailer drivers and 350,000 dump truck drivers.

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Travel smart: Some rentals go smoke-free  

As of Oct. 1, all Avis and Budget cars rented in North America are smoke-free. . . .

Expect other rental companies to watch this move closely. If Avis and Budget get business from the ban, the other companies probably will follow up with bans of their own.

Most airlines have banned smoking on flights, and some major hotel chains ban smoking in rooms.

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Croatian smoking ban reversal could ignite trade 

Smokers on holiday in Croatia can light up again in public from today after the country's smoking ban was overturned.

One in three Croatians smoke and, according to restaurant and cafe owners, so do many of the visitors to the Adriatic coast.

It is hoped the reversal of the ban will lead to busier bars and pubs, which could improve the holiday atmosphere for many tourists in the country.

Morena Tolj, who supports the government's decision, said: "Being a heavy smoker I preferred to stay at home than to go out and abstain."

Last month online magazine In2Town recommended Dubrovnik, in the south of Croatia, as one of the "most beautiful" spots in Europe.

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Cigarette burns hay trailer near Wenatchee  

The Washington State Patrol says an oncoming driver threw a lit cigarette out the window that landed on a passing hay trailer on Highway 28 near the Rock Island Dam east of Wenatchee.

That started a fire in five tons of hay Wednesday closed the highway for an hour-and-a-half.

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Fine reveals smoking laws hazy for truckers 

The fining of an Ontario truck driver for smoking in his rig has sparked questions about discrepancies between provincial and federal smoking laws, and what steps law officials must take in enforcing them.

Essex County Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a truck on Highway 401 near Windsor at about noon on Wednesday after the 48-year-old driver was seen smoking.

Some truckers say it's ridiculous that they can't smoke in their cabs and think their industry is already regulated enough. (Sandy Tymczak/CBC News)

He was fined under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, a 2006 law that prohibits smoking in enclosed workplaces and public areas such as bars and restaurants.

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Ont. man fined $305 for smoking in workplace - his truck 

Ontario's transportation minister was surprised by the first charge laid in the province against a trucker for smoking in his rig but the province's health promotion minister hopes the incident will help convince more people to butt out.

Ontario Provincial Police pulled over a truck on Highway 401 near Windsor on Wednesday when the driver was seen smoking.

Police handed out a $305 ticket because the truck is his workplace and smoking is prohibited at all workplaces in Ontario.

That's the way the law is supposed to work, said Health Promotion Minister Margarett Best.

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Driving instructor wins smoke bid 

A driving instructor has won the right to smoke in her own car.

Lynda Wright successfully challenged a fixed penalty fine issued by Armagh Council. She had been fined twice before and faced paying up to £1,000.

Solicitor Oisin Toner said the fine was overturned because she was on her own in the car on a personal errand.

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• Finland to ban smoking in cars carrying children 

The Finnish government on Thursday unveiled a bill to ban smoking in cars carrying children as well as in places frequented by children.

The government proposed a number of amendments in the Act on Measures to Restrict Tobacco Smoking, including penalties for selling or giving tobacco to children and a ban on the import and possession of tobacco by children.

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• Bus conductors can now fine you for smoking 

On a day when a Mumbai restaurant manager was done to death after he tried to stop drunk customers from smoking inside his establishment, the government said it would rope in bus conductors, railway ticket checkers and health officials to bolster a faltering anti-smoking drive.

Violate the ban on smoking in public places and you will pay Rs 200, according to a health ministry notification. The amount remains the same as the existing fine, just that more people have been empowered not just to stop smokers, but also to fine them.

Simply put, education inspectors, government counsels in courts, panchayati raj officials in villages, policemen above the rank of sub inspector and even bus conductors can fine you.

Since the ban on smoking in public places was imposed on October 2 last year, only 22,275 smokers have been fined: India has an estimated 194 million smokers.

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Motorist Reaching For Cigarette Drives Into Pond  

A motorist veered off a west suburban road into a pond early Thursday after losing control while reaching for a lit cigarette that had fallen inside his car, police said. . . .

The man apparently dropped a lit cigarette while driving, scrambled to pick it up and lost control of his car, ultimately veering off the road into a pond, Wheaton Deputy Police Chief Tom Meloni said.

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• Los Angeles DUI Attorney: Smoking Raises Breathalyzer Results 

Los Angeles DUI attorney Lawrence Taylor, author of the legal textbook Drunk Driving Defense, claims that smokers arrested for DUI may have false high results from breathalyzer tests.

Breath machines don't actually measure alcohol, Taylor says. They are actually designed to detect any compound containing the methyl group in its molecular structure and to assume that it is alcohol. They cannot distinguish the difference between alcohol and, among many other compounds, acetaldehyde.

Acetaldehyde is produced in the liver in small amounts as a by-product in the metabolism of alcohol. Unfortunately, the DUI lawyer says, alcohol moving from the blood into the lungs has been found to metabolize there as well. And scientists have found that acetaldehyde concentrations in the lungs of smokers are greater than for non-smokers - far greater. Translated: smokers arrested for DUI are more likely to have falsely high readings on a breathalyzer. "Origin of Breath Acetaldehyde During Ethanol Oxidation: Effect of Long-Term Cigarette Smoking", 100 Journal of Laboratory Clinical Medicine 908.

The Los Angeles DUI lawyer points to another scientific study that found cigarette smoking can influence absorption by the body of alcohol -- and thus attempts to estimate earlier blood alcohol levels when driving based upon levels when tested. Johnson et al., "Cigarette Smoking and Rate of Gastric Emptying: Effect on Alcohol Absorption", 302 British Medical Journal 20. . . .

With a national reputation and the highest professional ratings, The Law Offices of Lawrence Taylor has specialized in DUI defense exclusively for 29 years.

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Driver distracted by smoking crashes into DOT building in Schenectady  

A Rotterdam woman smashed into the state Department of Transportation Building at 11:42 a.m. Friday. Police said Hannah Johnson, 22, of Rotterdam was making a right turn from State Street onto Broadway. She was trying to light a cigarette when she swerved to avoid a pedestrian crossing the street, police said.

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COOPER: Smokers are being pushed slowly but surely to the fag-end of society 

I HATE smoking - the smoke, the smell, the taste, the damage that it causes to health - and have never smoked apart from a very brief fleeting period over 25 years ago, but I’m starting to get a little bit sorry for smokers.

Not much, but I have some sympathy all the same for some addicts, especially for older folk who can’t kick the habit but who are finding it increasingly expensive to continue or who are restricted in where they can indulge.

Having been driven out of the pubs and restaurants, they may now have reason to fear a campaign of stealth to stop them smoking in their cars or in open spaces and, eventually, in their own homes. There will be nowhere left to go, other than secret locations (something that will be very appealing to some people). This is not necessarily too much of an exaggeration.

In New York this week Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to ban smoking in public parks. . . .

Meanwhile, back home, the Irish Heart Foundation and other health charities that lobby against smoking are demanding that excise duties on a packet of 20 cigarettes be increased . . .

ADULTS who complain that they should be allowed to do what they want in their homes could be told that right exists only where their actions are considered legal. Wait until smoking in the home is declared to be child endangerment.

The most immediate assault though is likely to be on price. However, there is an interesting economic phenomenon at play here. Putting up the taxes on fags should theoretically either increase the revenues for the State or make the price so prohibitive as to reduce consumption. The revenue to the State - upon which it has become addicted itself - should be protected in the overall balance if the reduced sales at the higher prices are taxed at higher rates.

However, it seems that something of a tipping point has been reached. Cigarettes have become so expensive already - even before further price rises - that many people have taken to getting their supplies on the black market where they can buy in volume and at substantial discounts. They are able to do so because of the large amounts of tobacco that can be imported illegally and then sold illegally because of the failure of the authorities adequately to monitor smuggling into the country.

The failure to prevent this has many implications: it deprives the State of useful tax revenue and it also punishes with higher prices those who are willing to purchase their tobacco legally.

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