Tobacco.org

• Yukon butting out: MLAs pass smoking ban 

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 * 12:06 PM CT

CBC News

Yukon legislators have passed the Smoke-Free Places Act, making it the last Canadian province and territory to bring in anti-smoking legislation but only the second to ban smoking in vehicles with minors inside.

MLAs hailed the act, which also bans smoking in public places, as being one of the most progressive anti-smoking laws in the country. It will become law on May 15.

"We have been able to rise above party politics, partisan rhetoric, and find a common ground that is going to be a benefit for the people of this territory," NDP leader Todd Hardy, who introduced the act as a private member's bill last spring, said after the 16-1 vote Tuesday afternoon.

The act makes it illegal for Yukoners to light up in all public places, including restaurants, bars, correctional centres, schools, community centres, and tents used for special events.

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NSW will be the world toughest's state for smokers 

NSW is set to become one of the world's toughest states for smokers with a move to ban all tobacco vending machines and move cigarettes out of sight in shops.

The radical anti-smoking package also proposes a ban on smoking in cars with children and slapping restrictions on under-age employees selling smokes.

The proposals are outlined in a discussion paper released today by NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who said the package was designed to protect children.

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Smoking ban not an easy choice  

Rosie's Restaurant eliminated smoking from inside its walls, but deciding to clear the air is not easy for some businesses.

"It was a scary move to make, but we haven't regretted it," said Sue Senft, who has owned Rosie's with her husband, Pat, for nine years.

Pennsylvania has not yet followed the examples other states have set in banning smoking from places such as restaurants and bars, and it has become known as the "ashtray of the Northeast coast," said Jennifer Hobbs, tobacco-cessation education counselor at Gettysburg Hospital.

Rosie's, in New Oxford, self-imposed an indoor smoking ban about three or four years ago, said Senft, who noticed the physical effects smoking had on the restaurant.

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Smoking made Gemma Arterton get through steamy sex-scenes 

New Bond babe Gemma Arterton has revealed that filming sex scenes with actor Mackenzie Crook in their latest flick Three and Out was so petrifying that they had to turn to smoking to get through it.

The actress, who is currently filming the new Bond film Quantum of Solace, said that she was so petrified during the filming that the duo had to go for a fag in between shots.

"It was petrifying. I think it's one of the hardest things I've ever done. It was my first love scene so it was terrifying. We both got through it by smoking away in between each take," The Sun quoted Gemma, as saying.

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Teens sought to produce play about smoking 

RUMFORD - Talk about hard work and commitment. River Valley area teens are being sought to write, design and produce an educational play about smoking in just under a year.

Writers, singers, dancers, musicians, actors, poets, songwriters and theatrical technicians are needed, in addition to students interested in marketing, graphic design and advertising, according to Steve Casey of the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition.

The coalition will conduct an informational meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 24, in the community room at the Rumford Public Library.

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LETTTER: Cigarette tax hike will drive smokers elsewhere 

I'm a store owner who is extremely concerned about the effect a cigarette tax increase will have on my business and my employees. If the cigarette tax is raised, smokers will go elsewhere, and my sales go with them.

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Smoking in cab costs taxi driver John £200 in fines  

A SOUTH Wales taxi driver fined after council officials spotted him smoking in his cab has criticised their "Big Brother" attitude.

John Colcomb of Henllys, Trebanog, Rhondda, received two fixed-penalty notices for smoking in a work vehicle and throwing the cigarette butt onto the highway. He is believed to be one of the first cabbies in Wales to be prosecuted under the new smoking ban law introduced last year.

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LETTER: Smoking is a crime  

Smoking around kids, especially in a small place like a car, will increase the health hazards for kids. Smoking tobacco remains the primary cause of many preventable diseases and has negative health impacts on people of all ages. It is known that children breathe faster than adults which explains why they are more susceptible to the health hazards of smoking. According to Health Canada, parents who smoke increase the chances that their children will develop asthma. This is why the proposed law is very important to protect children. It is a positive step forward that makes everyone hopeful of banning not only smoking but the production of all tobacco products.

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San Carlos condo smoking debate is still burning  

A smoldering controversy regarding smoking in a San Carlos condominium complex has reignited, months after one resident took the homeowners association to court over the issue and lost.

Susie Parano, 55, and Jane Clusin, her friend and fellow Brittan Heights condominium complex resident, took their smoking complaints to their homeowners association last week by submitting a petition against allowing residents to smoke inside their units and on their balconies and patios.

The two women said the petition forwarded to the homeowners association board Wednesday was signed by about half of the residents in the more than 400-unit complex. However, the board did not take any action.

Parano lost a small claims case against the homeowners association last November in which she sought $7,500 in damages that she said was caused by her downstairs neighbor Oleg Gitin's smoking.

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Penitentiary readies for smoking ban 

PRINCE ALBERT -- The Saskatchewan Penitentiary is prepared for a total smoking ban, says a Corrections Services Canada spokesperson.

Wendy Tippett said Initial Emergency Response teams are getting ready to deal with any tensions that might arise among inmates after the ban -- which would disallow smoking anywhere near a federal correctional facility, including outside such a building -- takes effect April 30.

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Radical anti-smoking laws looming 

NSW is to become Australia's toughest state for smokers, with a move to ban all cigarette vending machines, put cigarettes out of sight in shops and crack down on underage smokers.

The radical anti-smoking package also proposes a ban on smoking in cars carrying children and slapping restrictions on underage employees selling smokes.

The proposals are outlined in a discussion paper released today by Premier Morris Iemma, who said the package would protect children: "Right now, children walk into shops and are confronted with a wall of cigarettes, displayed right next to sweets, chips and other children's treats. Children are more influenced by tobacco marketing than adults."

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Residents want to keep fireworks, ban smoking 

If the results of a community-wide survey empower Unified Govern-ment Commissioners, Kansas City, Kan., residents could expect to be asked to approve a smoking ban ordinance and a quarter-cent sales tax soon.

The survey, administered by the UG's Research Division, was sent out to 3,500 KCK addresses in mid-January. Subtracting those sent to bad addresses and vacant lots, 2,739 were eventually delivered, and 775 surveys ultimately returned, a response rate of 28.3 percent.

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Richland to consider smoking ban 

Richland County Council will consider a smoking ban to protect the health of people who work at bars and restaurants.

Tuesday, a council committee agreed to put the issue on the council's May 6 agenda at the urging of Councilman Joe McEachern.

McEachern said he would like for Columbia and Richland County to end up with consistent laws.

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Obesity, smoking cuts many US women's life expectancy: study 

Life expectancy has declined for many women in the United States, largely due to smoking-related diseases and obesity, a study published Tuesday showed.

Nearly one in five US women saw the number of years they are expected to live decline or hold steady, starting in the 1980s, showed the joint study by the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington.

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PEKIN: Union claims smoking ban alters working conditions 

PEKIN - A proposed smoking ban on all Tazewell County-owned property has a local union ready to renegotiate a labor contract, saying the ban alters working conditions.

"We want to make sure our members don't lose a right that they've had," said Julie Young, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3404, which represents 84 employees in Tazewell County.

Young said the union has sent the county a demand of bargain letter, which claims the ban would be a change in established working conditions and requires renegotiation.

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