Tobacco.org

Tobacco Farmers To Be Repaid After Receiving Bad Checks  

Two months ago, Jesse Ray Faulkner's Mountain City Burley Warehouse bought $6,000 worth of tobacco from Widener, but paid for it with a bad check, Widener said.

"I just went to the bank to cash it and it was no good," the Washington County farmer said.

Johnson County Sheriff Mike Reece said Widener is among more than 30 other tobacco farmers from Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and Western North Carolina who have spent the last several weeks high and dry.

Faulkner, who is president of the Mountain City Burley Tobacco Warehouse, faces 30 felony counts of writing worthless checks.

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K'taka tobacco growers seek excise duty cut 

Tobacco growers in Karnataka have demanded the Union government to rollback the abnormal hike in excise duty on non-filter cigarettes that would affect the livelihood of 37 lakh farmers in the state.

SM Anantharam, president of Karnataka Tobacco Growers' Forum said, around 70,000 hectares of rain fed lands are covered under tobacco cultivation in the state. In the total 95-100 million kgs of tobacco produced per year, he said around 25-30% of the commodity is lower grade that is procured for non-filter cigarettes.

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Clinical Trial Volunteers Uneasy About Some Financial Ties 

Many volunteers in clinical studies aren't overly concerned if researchers have financial conflicts, but there is some loss of trust, suggests a U.S. study.

"Though peoples' willingness to take part in a hypothetical clinical trial did not suffer substantially based on the types of financial disclosures, and many of our study respondents were still likely to say that they would participate despite researchers' financial interests, we captured a sense of unease about some financial ties -- particularly owning company stock -- that did affects peoples' attitudes and trust in clinical research," Dr. Jeremy Sugarman, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.

"We need to keep this in mind as we determine how best to disclose acceptable financial interests to fully inform potential study participants," Sugarman said.

He and colleagues at Duke University and Wake Forest University sent a description of a hypothetical clinical drug trial to 3,623 adults with asthma or diabetes. Each description included one of five different financial disclosures. . . .

The study was published online April 2 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

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Eagle Valley student takes on big tobacco 

It's a typical Marlboro cigarette magazine ad, says Alex Woods, a sophomore at Eagle Valley High School. He uses the Marlboro Man image in a short movie he produced illustrating what exactly "Big Tobacco" companies are advertising when they're pushing their product.

Woods' video won in the "Big Tobacco" category of the OwnYourC competition, a video contest where students create their own anti-smoking advertisements. The idea is to have them think about what it means to "own their choice" and make better decisions.

After zooming in on the Marlboro Man, and then another magazine ad of a glamorous brunette being offered cigarettes, Woods shows a graphic shot of a diseased pair of lungs, blackened and shriveled, and cancer stricken mouth with black nasty teeth.

He's contrasting what tobacco companies show you, and what can actually happen to people who make a habit of smoking.

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Statewide smoking ban approved 

The hard-fought statewide smoking ban won final approval Tuesday from the Legislature, and Gov. Chet Culver has indicated that he will sign the bill.

The ban covers most public places and places of employment, including bars, restaurants, outdoor sports arenas and entertainment venues, public transit stations or platforms and school grounds.

Exceptions include the gambling floors of casinos, but not casino bars or restaurants.

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Judge: No one gets smoking money for now 

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fais ordered on Thursday, April 10, that the money remain with state Treasurer Richard Cordray and that none of it can "be moved, expended, disbursed, re-appropriated and/or transferred until further notice of this Court."

Fais also scheduled a hearing for a preliminary injunction for April 24.

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Russia looks to kick smoking 

Millions of Russians could be urged to kick their favourite habit as the country’s lawmakers have ratified a global anti-smoking treaty. It boosts health warnings on packets and calls an end to advertising. Half a million Russians die every year from smoke-related diseases.

In Russia, 60% of men and 30% of women smoke.

Russia is the world's third largest producer of tobacco products but unlike other world industry leaders, who export most of what they produce, it consumes the larger part of its tobacco domestically.

The increase of production over recent years has resulted in lots of tobacco-related deaths.

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Editorial: Smoking Ban 

The total smoking ban should give Pennsylvania lawmakers all the more reason to approve a smoke-free law that includes casinos from the start.

The time has come for casinos to kick the habit and make the air safer for gamblers and casino workers.

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EDITORIAL: Less haste, more thought 

We were puzzled that the governor apparently did not include the foundation in discussions about its future. We were shocked by his precipitous response to the group trying to do what it was created to do.

With a little less haste and a little more thought, we believe state leaders can - and should - come up with a way to have both economic stimulus and a viable anti-smoking effort. Ohioans deserve both.

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Russian parliament ratifies anti-smoking global convention 

Russia's lower house of parliament ratified on Friday a global convention against smoking, which the World Health Organization says kills 5 million people across the world annually.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) is designed to make it easier for national governments to implement tobacco controls, including a ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship. Such steps could prevent millions of people from picking up the smoking habit.

"By 2030, tobacco smoking will become one of the strongest factors leading to early deaths," Deputy Health Minister Yury Voronin said speaking at a State Duma session before the ratification.

Voronin urged measures to curb smoking

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Anti-smoking cash locked up 

A Franklin County judge called a timeout yesterday in a tug-of-war between Ohio elected leaders and an anti-smoking foundation whose endowment state officials are trying to tap for a job-generating plan.

Judge David W. Fais of Franklin County Common Pleas Court ordered state Treasurer Richard Cordray not to touch the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation's $270 million endowment for at least two weeks.

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Russia's lower house ratifies WHO anti-smoking convention 

Russia's lower house ratified on Friday the World Health Organization's convention against tobacco, the consumption of which, according to the WHO, kills about 400,000 people per year in Russia alone. The 2003 WHO tobacco control convention, the world's most widely ratified treaty, aims to provide national governments a framework with which to kick the habit.

At the session, the head of Russia's State Duma healthcare committee said the ratio of smokers in Russia is double as high as that of Western Europe.

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ABOUHALKAH: Yes, ban smoking in KC casinos. Here's what Atlantic City did 

Here's what happens when a mayor and City Council with true courage are in charge of laws on smoking: They ban it on the gambling floors of casinos. No, not in KC, in Atlantic City.

Yes, one of the leading gambling hot spots in the nation soon will have smoke-free gaming floors.

Go here for the full report.

Update: Just to show that The Star is not the only "nanny" around, here's the editorial from the Philadelphia Inquirer on the casino smoke-free law.

The Atlantic City action puts to shame the weakness showed by KC Mayor Mark Funkhouser and the City Council. They exempted casinos from the city's current smoking ban.

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A look at smoking in Atlantic City casinos  

Here's a quick look at the history of smoking in Atlantic City casinos:

1978-2007: No restrictions on smoking. Several casinos experiment with non-smoking areas, but most of the floor is fair game for smokers.

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Statewide Smoking Ban has Moderate Public Support 

A new survey finds moderate support for a statewide smoking ban.

Governor Jim Doyle proposed a smoking ban for all workplaces, including bars, taverns, and restaurants.

A survey conducted by Wisconsin Public Television and St. Norbert College found 41 percent support that kind of ban.

Thirty percent oppose it.

Others said they would support a workplace smoking ban if bars are exempt, either completely or with a two-year grace period.

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