Tobacco.org

• Senate approves bill to ban smoking in bars and casinos  

The Senate overwhelmingly agreed to legislation this morning that would expand Louisiana's smoking ban to include bars and casinos.

The 22-10 vote on Senate Bill 186 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux Jr., D-Livonia, came after lawmakers rejected two attempts to weaken the legislation and sets up a showdown on the House floor, where a similar bill awaits a vote.

Marionneaux said the bill is designed to "put everyone on an equal footing."

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EDITORIAL: Smoking ban compliance must be uniform 

Pennsylvania's smoking ban continues to burn up some smokers, who feel like they've been cast as villains. Even some nonsmokers criticize government for tramping on individual rights.

But nine months after the law went into effect, one thing should be clear: everyone needs to comply. Otherwise, some businesses gain an unfair advantage.

Dan's Boardwalk Tavern on Route 8 in Greene Township is the first Erie County establishment to be cited for violating the statewide smoking ban . . .

Sue Owens, owner of Sue's Mill, decided to go completely smoke-free after receiving a warning. Applying to be exempt required too much paperwork, she said. "Whatever happens, happens. If I lose business because of it, then I don't make it," she said.

That's exactly the point. If the majority of bars and restaurants follow the law and enforce the regulations, they are being penalized when other establishments flout the law.

Kelly Kidd, program director for the Northwest Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Program, said that complaints about violators have dropped from 20 to 30 a day to two or three a week. "People know about the law and what it's about," she said.

Gov. Ed Rendell signed the law that prohibits smoking in most public places on June 13, 2008. Nearly a year later, no one should be in a haze about its requirements.

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BATU Nears 1,000 Trading Days  

BRITISH American Tobacco (BATU) is just six trading days away from hitting its 1,000 trading session. BATU, which has gone through almost all the business cycles and persisted, hit its 994th session on Tuesday.

The tobacco company made loses, the share price went below the initial public offer price and changed management but it is still trading on the bourse.

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What Makes Us Happy?  

Is there a formula--some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation--for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Its contents, as much literature as science, offer profound insight into the human condition--and into the brilliant, complex mind of the study's longtime director, George Vaillant. . . .

Most longitudinal studies die on the vine because funders expect results quickly. W. T. Grant was no exception. . . .

But by the mid-1950s, the study was on life support. The staff, including Clark Heath, who had managed the study for Bock, scattered, and the project fell into the care of a lone Harvard Health Services psychologist, Charles McArthur. He kept it limping along--surveys dwindled to once every two years--in part by asking questions about smoking habits and cigarette-brand preferences, a nod to a new study patron, Philip Morris. One survey asked, "If you never smoked, why didn't you?"

It was a far cry from Galileo.

But as Vaillant points out, longitudinal studies, like wines, improve with age. . . .

But Vaillant has largely played down the distinctions among the samples. For example, while he allows that, in mortality rates, the inner-city men at age 68 to 70 resembled the Terman and Harvard cohorts at 78 to 80, he says that most of the difference can be explained by less education, more obesity, and greater abuse of alcohol and cigarettes. “When these four variables were controlled,” he writes, “their much lower parental social class, IQ, and current income were not important.” But of course those are awfully significant variables to “control.” Vaillant points out that at age 70, the inner-city men who graduated from college were just as healthy as the Harvard men. But only 29 Glueck men did finish college—about 6 percent of the sample.

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Coalition Says Movies Try To Sell You Tasty, Cool Cigarettes  

Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke reports the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the California Youth Advocacy Network and the American Medical Association Alliance have teamed to launch an ad campaign to warn against Hollywood's tendency to shill for the tobacco industry.

It's long been noted that movies tend to go over-the-top by including cigarette smoking scenes, which many industry observers believe are evidence of a wink-and-nod agreement between big studios and tobacco companies, despite the fact that all suspected parties deny there's a connection. Philip Morris USA even has a policy that forbids studios from using their logos and products in films.

The anti-smoking in movies coalition is attempting to call studios out

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• Gombe files N591 billion suit against tobacco companies  

THE Gombe State government has dragged five tobacco companies before the Gombe State High Court on charges that they have been targeting minors with their products in the state in the last 20 years with a view to making them addicts.

In the suit before a high court judge, Abdul Hamed Yusuf, the state government is demanding N591 billion from British American Tobacco (Nigeria) Ltd, International Tobacco Limited, British America Tobacco Plc, British America Tobacco (Investment) Ltd, and Philip Morris International.

It is one of several class action suits filed by some states and the Federal Government against tobacco companies operating in the country. . . .

The case has been adjourned to July 2, 2009 to allow the plaintiff serve all the parties in the suit.

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Health groups renew anti-smoking campaign with Hollywood  

Despite a decline in teenage smoking rates, a coalition of health groups has renewed a campaign to discourage Hollywood from making movies with characters who smoke.

Beginning today, a mobile billboard featuring a teenage girl asking, "Which movie studios will cause me to smoke this summer?" will be driven around the Los Angeles area.

Young people also will be encouraged to use social networking sites like Facebook to voice their opinions on films made by Paramount, Disney Pictures, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros.

The campaign was launched Wednesday by the American Medical Association Alliance, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the California Youth Advocacy Network.

The coalition plans to keep a tally of tobacco-related images in this summer's movies, including "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," a PG-13 rated film that shows the character portrayed by Hugh Jackman smoking a cigar.

"I'm willing to bet not one child would have enjoyed that movie any less if he hadn't been smoking," said Sandra Frost, President of the 27,000-member AMA Alliance. . . .

Both Fielding and Martinez agreed such films a "Good Night and Good Luck," a biopic depicting the 1953 clash between Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, is allowed because of its historical context.

But Fielding also praised films such as "Star Trek" for its smoke-free purity.

Martinez also said the MPAA is a member of Hollywood Unfiltered, which educates the industry of all the health consequences of smoking, and last year, major motion picture studios announced that they would be including anti-smoking public service announcements on youth-rated DVDs.

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I'm willing to bet not one child would have enjoyed that movie any less if he [Wolverine] hadn't been smoking.
Sandra Frost, President of the 27,000-member AMA Alliance, on "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

Dubai Chamber supports No Tobacco Campaign  

In support of the World No Tobacco Day on May 31 and the No Tobacco campaign, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry - in association with the Ministry of Health, Dubai Healthcare City and Ex-Health - organised a workplace seminar at its premises recently. Dubai Chamber also announced its sponsorship of the Quit & Win competition which is part of this intiaitive.

The workplace seminar included: a skit play by students from Delhi Private School, Sharjah; a presentation from the Ministry of Health and Dubai Healthcare City; health check ups from doctors; the launch of a pledge and competitions to encourage and support employees who wish to quit smoking.

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Labor Board Overrules Campus-Smoking Ban at 14 Pennsylvania Universities  

Pennsylvania’s Labor Relations Board last week overturned a new policy that had banned smoking -- both indoors and outside -- across the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, The Patriot-News, a Harrisburg newspaper, reported. The labor board, reversing a ruling by a hearing examiner, said that government and other public-sector employers, including colleges and schools, had no authority to prohibit smoking without negotiating the matter with, and gaining the consent of, their unions.

Last September the system's chancellor, John Cavanaugh, informed the 14 universities that a new state law banning smoking in public places would apply to their campuses as well, including outdoors. The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties objected to the new policy and filed a grievance.

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• EU launches new anti-smoking ads 

The European Union is launching a new anti-smoking campaign to alert Europeans over the dangers of lighting up.

EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou says a third of the EU's 500 million inhabitants are smokers and should be encouraged to quit.

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Teens share a 'Kernel of Truth'  

Area teens involved in Madison County's Reality Check wanted to share a message about the impact of smoking in films rated G, PG, and PG-13 and came up with an idea to give out free popcorn to people who went to the Hamilton Theater on Friday, May 8.

The popcorn boxes shared what they called a "Kernel of Truth" about the effects of smoking in movies. The message on each box stated that, according to multiple studies done by Dartmouth and Harvard University, "52 percent of all new smokers start because of smoking in movies." The box also said "Get smoking out of kid-rated films, because smoking in movies kills in real life."

Over a 150 moviegoers showed their support by leaving their movie stub with the Reality Check Leaders. The teens plan on collecting movie stubs over the summer and combining them with other Reality Check Chapters across the state and similar groups across the country. When 60,000 movie stubs are collected they will be sent to the movie industry with a letter that states community support for their effort and that the movie industry can save 60,000 lives a year if they would just rate all new movies with smoking in them "R."

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PEYSER: NEW YORKERS UNHAPPY ABOUT DUMB IDEA TO CLOSE TIMES SQUARE TO TRAFFIC  

As I wandered through Times Square, I was struck by how few people actually sat on the flimsy furniture that littered the streets like a going-out-of-business sale. . . .

Soon it was clear why maybe half the chairs were in use. The people using the cheapo furniture, including tourists and office workers who sneaked out for a minute, stunk up the atmosphere with fumes from their Rothmans and Marlboros -- a kick in the pants to a mayor who has practically turned smokers into outlaws.

I spied a group of fit, tanned men smoking up a lung, and immediately determined they were from Europe.

"It's very, very inviting," said Bertjam Van Der Molen, a tourist from Holland.

"We have a four-hour layover in Newark," he said. "Enough time to come over here" -- and stink us out.

"It's terrible," said Joe Miller, who carried his earthly possessions in plastic bags.

"I live in the streets. People smoke in the shelters! I can't stand it."

I'm with you, man.

A boneheaded idea, all around.

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Texas Legislature Passes Massive Smokeless and Other Tobacco Tax That Allows 'Marlboro Man' and 'Copenhagen Man' to Benefit 

The Texas Senate voted 29-2 to pass a $100 million tax increase on smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products. HB 2154, while being a laudable program to fund rural doctor programs and changes in the business franchise tax, relies on an enormous tax on smokeless and other tobacco products, such as pipe tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco to help fund the legislation. The Texas House voted on a similar measure by a vote of 79-61 after much contentious debate. This issue has been debated over the past three legislative sessions and is largely viewed as an internal tobacco industry fight between industry giant, Philip Morris (now Altria), and the smallest companies says National Tobacco, headquartered in Louisville, KY.

"It is unfortunate that the Texas Senate, with little debate and what appears to be little understanding of the real market, passed a large tax increase on the small companies that compete with the 'Marlboro(R) Man' and 'Copenhagen(R) Man,' not realizing such a tax hike will do little to sustain these programs going forward," says Ron Tully, Vice President of National Tobacco. "This new tax is a huge gift to the same tobacco company that was sued in the late 1990's by the State of Texas, and the same company that recently lost an Appeal in the US Department of Justice case, for deceptive trade practices."

This bill changes the methodology of how smokeless tobacco is taxed, from being a tax on the manufacturer's list price to being a tax based on the weight of tobacco in the final retail package. . . .

Interestingly Philip Morris has managed to maintain an exemption from this new weight-based tax for its popular Black and Mild(R) cigar products. Texas will now have the unpopular distinction of being among only a few of the 50 states that have elected to switch to a punitive weight-based tax on many tobacco products."

"When doctors who have historically opposed smoking, stand with Philip Morris, you know it has got to be a bad deal for someone. If Philip Morris is supporting a tax on the tobacco industry, you also know it must be a good deal for them and the brands they sell. And it is," Tully says.

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When doctors who have historically opposed smoking, stand with Philip Morris, you know it has got to be a bad deal for someone. If Philip Morris is supporting a tax on the tobacco industry, you also know it must be a good deal for them and the brands they sell. And it is.
Ron Tully, Vice President of National Tobacco, on Texas' new tax on raw tobacco products.

Partagas to Award $10K for the Ultimate Cigar Cave 

Beginning at high noon on May 26, 2009, Partagas(R), the legendary brand of handcrafted Dominican cigars will team up with pro football defensive tackle and network TV football analyst Tony Siragusa to find the cigar smoker who demonstrates the greatest need for a place of their own to enjoy the pleasure of a fine cigar and award him or her with $10,000 to create the ultimate Partagas Cigar Cave right in their home.

In the contest's website, Siragusa reaches out to cigar smokers who are relegated to enjoying their cigar in dark, dingy basements or forced out in the cold garage and makes them an offer they can't refuse. In his call to entry, Siragusa connects with cigar smoking brethren by appealing to their need for their very own, in-home cigar cave.

Consumers of legal smoking age who purchase a special four-pack of best selling, full bodied Partagas Black Label cigars at cigar shops throughout the U.S. between May 26 and July 31, 2009 will receive a redemption code

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Arizona Shows More Than a 20% Drop in Smoking Rates 

New information from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2008, shows that the rate of smoking among adults in Arizona has dropped significantly -- more than four percentage points representing a 20.7 percent decrease in prevalence equating to 170,000 Arizonans who quit smoking since 2007. The rate of smoking in one year dropped from 19.8 percent to 15.7 percent.

Bill Pfeifer, TRUST Commission Chairman said, "This is a historic drop in smoking prevalence for Arizona."

This decrease, the single largest decline in tobacco use in any state in the U.S. during the past year, moves Arizona from ranking 26th in the nation for smoking prevalence to 7th.

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