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Approaching smoke-free 

Efforts to ban indoor, public smoking exist in all the states bordering West Virginia, but the approaches differ depending on rulings by the individual high courts as to what can be done to limit smokers from lighting up.

And activists in Kentucky, with the highest smoking rate in the nation at 28.6 percent, look to West Virginia, with the second-highest rate of 25.7 percent, for ideas.

"We're really having success at the local level, really great," said Amy Barkley, based in Louisville, Ky., and director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in the tobacco states and the mid-Atlantic. "West Virginia is kind of a pioneer in the region for local, smoke-free ordinances. That's the model."

Last week, Marion County became the 18th of West Virginia's 55 counties to impose a complete ban on indoor, public smoking

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SCHWALBE: Empower the FDA to regulate tobacco 

Philip Morris' support reflects its beliefs that regulation would not threaten its dominant share of the market and that regulation would put a heavier burden on its competitors. Philip Morris also uses menthol flavoring not banned by the legislation, while R.J. Reynolds uses the kid-catching candy flavorings the legislation forbids.

Both of North Carolina's senators, Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole, recipients of a combined $132,700 in contributions from Reynolds over the last five years ($21,500 for Dole, $111,200 for Burr), oppose the bill. In doing so, they may serve the interests of one segment of the tobacco industry, but they fail to represent the views of most North Carolinians.

National polls show that two-thirds of Americans favor FDA regulation of tobacco. . . .

FDA authority to regulate tobacco would help reduce these costs.

Some of North Carolina's elected leaders agree (U.S. Rep. David Price co-sponsored the bill). Others are still in thrall to corporate interests that put profits ahead of public health. Urging our representatives in Congress to support FDA regulation of tobacco products is a way to tell them that it's time for change, even in tobacco country.

(Michael Schwalbe is a professor of sociology at N.C. State University. He is writing a book about people whose lives have been changed by tobacco-related disease.)

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Growers seek Pakistan Tobacco Board abolition 

Anjuman-e-Kasht-karan-e-Tobacco NWFP President Ikramullah Khan while seeking immediate abolishment of the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) Saturday urged the central and NWFP governments to redress the grievances of the tobacco growers.

"Tobacco growers have been suffering from the negligence of the previous governments for the last eight years," he told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club.

Regarding Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB), he said a new board be formed in consultation with the four registered associations of the farming community as it had been done previously. He also underlined the need for filling the post of chairman of the board by appointing a technocrat from the private sector. He regretted that traditionally a retired army general or a senior bureaucrat occupies the post, which is not a pragmatic approach.

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LETTER: Why cry foul over tobacco-funded research?  

"Tobacco funded Mass. researchers," as a desperate attempt by your paper to sensationalize and distort the facts.

Philip Morris is likened to the Mafia, yet the last I checked, cigarettes are legal . . .

The MIT researcher said that his funding had no strings attached, nor did any of the other examples. In an era when our federal government can barely spell the word science, I fail to see the rationale for an investigator turning down grants of this kind.

In fact, isn't this what we would all want Philip Morris to do with its profits?

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Kim won't approve smoking ban 

Mayor Harry Kim has no intention of signing off on a bill approved by the Hawaii County Council recently that bans smoking at all county parks and recreation facilities.

The only question remaining is whether Kim will veto the bill or simply not sign off on it.

Kim said he has until Monday to make a decision on the bill and that he will not give it his stamp of approval via a signature.

With that in mind, the other two options for him include vetoing the bill or doing nothing.

By doing nothing, which not signing means the bill, the ban will go into effect, only without Kim's blessing.

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Big Island mayor won't OK smoking ban at county parks  

Mayor Harry Kim says he will not sign off on a proposal to ban smoking at Big Island beach parks and recreation facilities.

Kim has until Monday to either veto the bill, which was approved by the Hawai'i County Council, or allow it to become law without his signature.

O'ahu's Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve and the Big Island's Kahalu'u Beach Park are already smoke-free, but the bill would be the first islandwide park smoking ban in the state.

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Edwardsville to ban smoking at public parks 

Edwardsville Borough is the first community in Luzerne County to ban smoking at public parks.

The borough, in partnership with Steps to a HealthierPA Luzerne County, will post signs banning smoking on Monday at Veteran's Memorial Park, on Main Street, at an event scheduled for 4:30 p.m., according to a statement issued by Steps to a HealthierPA.

Steps to a HealthierPA Luzerne County was formed in 2004

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EDITORIAL: Lawmakers waffle on smoking ban 

There is no hurry. That's the disturbing message that a bipartisan conference committee of Pennsylvania lawmakers delivered last week on the subject of a statewide smoking ban. They are so wrong, and impatience for a ban seems to grow by the minute.

Rep. Ron Miller, R-York, said he needs the extra time to work on an amendment regarding requirements for ventilation equipment that will clear smoke out of a bar or club.

Hello? The same Surgeon General's report that concluded secondhand smoke can have deadly effects also concluded there is virtually no ventilation system that can effectively clear a room or a building of cigarette smoke. . . .

one conference committee member, state Rep. Bob Belfanti, D-Northumberland County, a leading proponent of smokers' rights. "This is still the United States of America, with a capital USA, and I do believe that everyone has rights," he told the Harrisburg newspaper.

Smokers' rights, huh? The whole trouble with the "rights" argument is that it clashes with the "rights" of the nonsmoking majority.

That's why 15 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont -- plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico prohibit smoking in almost all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

It's time for Gov. Ed Rendell to once again lay down the law to the lawmakers. He should threaten to veto any measure that includes exceptions beyond private clubs and some floors of casinos. That's bad enough.

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EDITORIAL: Smoking is bad; people who smoke aren't 

In the end, we have to grudgingly withhold opposition to a bigger cigarette tax. On balance, the arguments in its favor are just a little stronger than those against it.

Sorry, smokers. You'll just have to face the fact, if you haven't already, that our elected officials and the people who vote them in don't want you to smoke. It's not good for you, and its not good for us.

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ABOUHALKAH: Uh, yes, secondhand smoke is dangerous, Mr. Diebel 

By many accounts, Curt Diebel runs a nice tobacco shop on the Country Club Plaza. But he sure isn't a medical expert, judging by his comments in today's Kansas City Star.

He questions "unsubstantiated claims regarding secondhand smoke." Diebel wants Kansas Citians to reject a strong smoking ban next Tuesday.

"Unsubstantiated?" Sure, there are still people sticking their heads in the sand about the harmful effects of smoking and secondhand smoke (such as people who make their living off the habit).

But absent these conspiracy theorists -- and you can search on the Web for them -- the genuine, medical conclusions are clear:

Secondhand smoke is harmful to people, including people who don't smoke.

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Why smoking ban leaves sport gasping 

While any measures to cut smoking will save the community more than any losses of grants to amateur clubs, a rise in poker machine tax two months after the smoking ban has come as a double whammy.

The combined effects of the downturn in poker machine takings from the smokers and the increase in tax on gambling revenue from September 1 have seriously eroded funds to community projects.

The chairman of Clubs NSW, Peter Newell, says: "Most clubs have been outlaying 70 per cent above the statutory CDSE requirement, but there has been a significant tightening of the belt.

"The discretionary extra spend is evaporating."

Grants from Sydney leagues clubs to their NRL clubs will inevitably decline, affecting their competitiveness against Queensland teams, Melbourne Storm and the New Zealand Warriors.

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EDITORIAL: West Pittston leads way to smoke-free community 

IT'S AS REFRESHING as a whiff of fresh air in a smoke-filled room to see a small Luzerne County town take on a major threat to society's health.

West Pittston Borough Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to ban smoking in all borough public parks at all times. . . .

West Pittston has displayed the courage to fulfill the most basic governmental function: Protecting the health, safety and welfare of its constituents.

Unfortunately, not all municipal leaders take that approach when the opportunity arises.

Last week Hazleton City Council needlessly bypassed a similar opportunity by defeating a proposal that would have banned smoking at the city's municipal airport terminal.

We hope municipalities won't let similar opportunities to improve citizens' health go up in smoke.

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• Japan Tobacco, Battling Poison Dumplings, Scraps Sale (Update4) 

Japan Tobacco Inc. and Nissin Food Products Co. scrapped a $500 million merger of their frozen food units after the cigarette company was accused of selling poisoned China-made dumplings that sickened at least 10 Japanese.

Japan Tobacco scrapped an agreement to sell 49 percent in Katokichi Co. to the instant-noodle maker and then combine their frozen-food units, the three companies said through releases to the Tokyo Stock Exchange today.

Police and health officials from Japan and China are investigating the Chinese plant that produced the dumplings for clues on how the pesticide contaminated the products. The retreat from the merger is a blow to Japan Tobacco's plan to expand food sales and reduce its reliance on revenue from cigarettes in Japan, where the percentage of men that smoke has fallen by half during the past 40 years.

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Russia Has First Post - Soviet Baby Boom 

Putin recently called for raising life expectancy to 75 by the year 2020 -- a staggering increase.

Andreev of the Max Planck Institute said it was possible, but would need new curbs on alcohol and tobacco, better medical services, and other initiatives requiring both money and ''political will.''

''These will not be popular measures,'' he predicted.

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EDITORIAL: Big choke: Legislators flop on achieving a smoking ban 

Lawmakers in Harrisburg keep blowing smoke in the faces of Pennsylvanians.

Leaders of the House and Senate repeatedly have claimed a comprehensive indoor smoking ban is on the front burner for action, but legislators keep finding ways to turn off the heat. . . .

The leaders who delivered this do-nothing conference committee have dropped a toxic cloud on the state -- one that will delay, obstruct and in the end accomplish little for public health. That's how it looks today.

If progress-challenged Pennsylvania doesn't end up with a modern, effective smoking ban, then it will be time for voters to clean House (and the Senate) if we can't clean the air.

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