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Final IA Smoking Ban 

Iowa lawmakers expect to release their final version of the smoking ban bill this Monday.

Members of the House and Senate met this afternoon to continue working on the smoking ban. Together, they formed a committee to reconcile the differences of the House and Senate bills on the ban.

Many lawmakers are anxious to see what changes will be made by the committee.

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Key Iowa Democrat predicts smoking ban "likely" 

The top Democrat in the Iowa Senate says public attitudes about smoking have changed and if the 2008 Iowa Legislature doesn't enact a ban on smoking in most public places in Iowa, it will happen in 2009. Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says compromise on the issue is "likely" yet this year. "I believe this issue has reached a tipping point. I think it's, in fact, past the tipping point," Gronstal says. "I think if we don't pass something this year, next year we will come back and we will pass something much tougher than anything we're considering this year."

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Elkhart passes smoking ban; is county-wide ban next?  

Lighting up in Elkhart will soon be a thing of the past. The City Council passed a smoking ordinance Thursday. It bans smoking in any enclosed public places, like restaurants and some businesses. Goshen passed a similar ban last April. Many wonder if a county-wide ban is next.

Nappanee would also have to pass its own ban before the county would consider it. That’s a promise one county commissioner made to proponents. But a smoking ban in Nappanee is not likely to happen anytime soon.

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Anti-smoking group blasts Strickland move 

Anti-smoking forces struck back Friday, April 4, blasting Gov. Ted Strickland, House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, and Senate President Bill Harris, R-Ashland, for trying to grab $230 million for a proposed $1.57 billion economic stimulus program.

The board of trustees of the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation voted to transfer $190 million from the endowment to one or all of three groups equally -- the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Legacy Foundation and the Ohio Hospital Association for Health Communities Foundation.

They also voted to ask Attorney General Marc Dann to appoint a special legal counsel to determine if the plan by Strickland and the two legislative leaders is legal.

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Megapolis Will Control 70% of Russian Cigarette Sales  

After the contract expires with the last regional distributor for JTI in May, Megapolis will become the sole distributor for that company. Combined with its contracts with other tobacco companies, that will give Megapolis control about 73 percent of the tobacco sales in Russia. The total Russian cigarette market is valued at $12.2 billion. Megapolis already has sales agreements with JTI in all regions of Russia except Nizhny Novgorod.

Megapolis is also the exclusive distributor of Philip Morris International, Gallaher Liggett-Ducat, Imperial Tobacco and Altadis. It is also a distributor of beer and snack foods. Its turnover in 2007 was $5.5 billion.

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Panel votes $1 per pack cigarette tax hike 

The House Revenue Committee, chaired by state Rep. John J. Binienda, yesterday voted to advance legislation to impose an additional $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes, eliminate two corporate tax loopholes, and phase in a 2.5 percent cut in the state's corporate income tax rate.

The tax bill is expected to be voted on by the House next week, in advance of its review of the state's 2009 budget.

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• Showdown over tobacco money  

In stunning act of defiance, the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation board voted today to move $190 million in an attempt to thwart Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to raid the anti-tobacco fund to pay for a jobs program.

The board authorized the transfer to one or more outside tobacco-prevention groups, two days after Strickland announced a $1.5 billion economic stimulus plan that called for taking most of the foundation's $270 million endowment. The foundation board also voted to ask the Ohio attorney general to appoint special counsel to represent it in the money fight.

The foundation said in a prepared statement that draining the endowment "will jeopardize health services that are saving Ohioans' lives."

"This move would create open season for the tobacco industry to sell its products to our children and, as a result, thousands of Ohioans will be victimized and die prematurely."

The foundation said it would give the money to one or three organization in equal parts: the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the American Legacy Foundation and the Ohio Hospital Association for Healthy Communities Foundation. . . .

Strickland's office said in a statement Friday, "The governor believes the tobacco foundation has played an important role in reducing tobacco use but we've seen that policy changes have had an effect as well. The foundation will have $40 million with which to continue its mission and to attract private contributions to match and support its ongoing work."

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Anti-tobacco group votes to keep $190 million away from Gov. Strickland 

In a move to protect it from the governor and General Assembly, the organization behind Ohio's anti-tobacco efforts today voted to transfer $190 million from its trust fund to three non-profit organizations.

The Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation, however, refused to promptly answer questions as to how quickly the transfer would take place or whether it had already occurred.

"The foundation supports job creation in Ohio. We don't believe people have to give their lives to do it,'' said Dr. David Rummel, chairman of the foundation board.

The board also voted to ask Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann to appoint outside counsel to represent the foundation as it determines whether the state has the legal right to take back money it has already given to the foundation.

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• Tobacco prevention foundation tells state to keep hands off money 

The Legislature and administration of Gov. Ted Strickland were essentially told to "go to hell" by the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation in a battle over hundreds of millions of dollars.

Republican legislative leaders and the Democratic governor earlier this week said they would spend $230 million of the foundation's $270 million endowment as part of an economic stimulus package. The foundation's board of trustees, however, voted today to transfer $190 million of its endowment to up to three organizations to carry out the foundation's mission, essentially making the money inaccessible to state government.

"The foundation supports job creation in Ohio," said board Chairman David Rummel. "We don't believe people have to give their lives to do it."

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Area high schoolers lead in fight against youth tobacco use | 

Area high school students kicked butts Wednesday when they became leaders in the fight against youth tobacco use. During the 13th annual Kick Butts Day, students gathered in front of E.C. Glass High School for a press conference followed by a cigarette butt cleanup.

"Smoking is a big problem and we're trying to solve it," said Brookville High School junior Genelle Smith, while holding a sign emblazoned with the message: "Keep your butt in your car, the Earth is not your ash tray."

The day, spearheaded by Centra Health, is a national event created to raise awareness about the harms of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, especially among teens. It also called attention to continued tobacco marketing and sales to teens.

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"Double Whammy" Gene Could Help Reduce Smoking // But Three Studies Emphasize It's Much Better Not to Start 

"These studies provide even stronger proof that nicotine is a drug which causes physiological addiction in the same way as heroin or cocaine, and that the addiction can be even stronger than with these and other illegal drugs.

The fact that some 60% of the population has at least one copy of this double whammy gene is consistent with the view that nicotine in addictive to over 60% of the population, but not to everyone," says Professor John Banzhaf of ASH.

These studies may one day open the door to more effective smoking cessation programs, which today have an abysmal success rate.

On the other hand, since quitting involves overcoming both a physiological addiction to nicotine and a psychological habituation to using cigarettes in many every-day stressful-and-otherwise situations, even major improvements in the addictive component will have only a limited impact, says Banzhaf, noting that smokers who are given nicotine replacement therapy in the form of gums and pills still have major problems giving up smoking.

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Barbeque Capital "Kicking Butts" 

April 2 is Kick Butts Day in North Carolina and in an effort to encourage more people to quit smoking, four Lexington restaurants are going smoke-free.

Davidson County Health officials are working with restaurants in the "World Capital of Barbecue" as part of a smoke-free dining campaign, to offer a healthier environment in the county for employees and customers.

In a news release Tim Myers of John Wayne's Barbecue said he surveyed his adult customers to ask their opinion about going smoke-free, and 80 percent supported the idea. Myers says going smoke-free is a tough business decision, but one that makes sense for those with asthma, other health problems, and families with children.

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BENNETT: BE WELL COLUMN: Dispelling the myths about secondhand smoke  

In light of the controversy over a no smoking policy here at USU, maybe now is as good a time as any to dispel some of the myths and rumors about what secondhand smoke is and what it isn't. Myth #1: Secondhand smoke is not dangerous. The Truth: Secondhand smoke (SHS) is a complex mixture of gases and particles emitted from a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe tip.

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Growers feeling choked 

Tobacco farmers tore a page out of the MPs playbook yesterday and "crossed the floor" to a new political party.

Nearly 150 growers gathered outside the Simcoe office of local MP Diane Finley to express their displeasure over the absence of a buyout program for tobacco quota.

Done there, they crossed Queensway West to the office of Eric Hoskins, the Liberal candidate in Haldimand-Norfolk in the next federal election, where many took out Liberal party memberships.

Brian Baswick of Delhi, spokesperson for the protesters, ripped up his Finley lawn sign and left it with Finley's staff. He signed Liberal membership papers across the Queensway.

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Farmers protest at Finley's office  

Angry farmers descended on MP Diane Finley’s constituency office to protest after being denied a tobacco buyout.

About 100 farmers gathered in the parking lot in Simcoe yesterday, talked to staff in Finley’s office and then went across the street to take out Liberal memberships with Dr. Eric Hoskins, the federal Liberal candidate.

Brian Baswick, a long-time Conservative supporter, was one of the organizers of the gathering. Baswick returned the Finley signs he had on his front lawn for the last two elections along with campaign mail asking for donations.

"I feel disillusioned, betrayed, and in fact, I feel lied to," he said.

Baswick said Finley, who as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is the senior Conservative from the tobacco belt, and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz both stated the Conservatives would do better than Liberals in helping tobacco farmers. Representatives of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board were told Monday there was no new money for tobacco

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