Email
Password
(Forgot Password?)
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."
Jump to full article »
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.
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.
Have something to say to the studio execs who allow smoking in their movies? Post your video to our wall and be sure to sign our petition.
. . .
2 of 4 videos
Wolverine
1:17 Added on Tuesday
How many children will be exposed to smoking in G, PG and PG-13 movies this summer -- and start smoking because of it? Which studios will produce the most youth-rated films with tobacco imagery?
These are questions that will be answered by a campaign this summer from the American Medical Association (AMA) Alliance, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and the California Youth Advocacy Network. Their Movie Smoking Scorecard campaign, announced today, will include:
-- Mobile billboards that will drive around Los Angeles -- and the major studios -- today and tomorrow. The billboard shows a young girl asking, "Which movie studios will cause me to smoke this summer?" and promotes the campaign's Facebook page.
-- A scorecard that regularly tallies the number of tobacco impressions in this summer's youth-rated blockbusters.
-- Facebook pages that host the scorecard, a petition, Twitter feed and videos of youth commenting on smoking they have personally seen in movies this summer.
-- A letter-writing and petition drive across the country during the blockbuster season.
-- A strategically placed billboard located near -- and naming -- the studio with the worst summer record at the end of September.
The blockbuster season's first example of smoking in a youth-rated film is 20th Century Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," a PG-13 film that has grossed more than $163 million in the U.S. (as of May 24) and has numerous scenes of the main star, actor Hugh Jackman, with a cigar. Another PG-13 blockbuster, "Angels & Demons" by Sony Pictures, includes tobacco imagery and has grossed nearly $82 million in the U.S. as of May 24.
The advocacy arm of the American Medical Association unveiled a summer-long campaign on Wednesday intended to publicly shame movie studios for depicting images of smoking in their mass-appeal movies.
"Which Movie Studios Will Cause the Most Youth to Start Smoking This Summer?" is the name of the effort. Components include a Facebook scorecard, moviesmokingscorecard.com, tallying the number of tobacco images depicted in movies rated G, PG and PG-13 from May to August. The studio found to be the biggest offender will be named on billboards in September.
The American Medical Association Alliance, working with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the California Youth Advocacy Network, will also operate the public Facebook page. The site already includes a video from a group of teenagers complaining about images of smoking in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
"It's incomprehensible for studios to defend their promotion of tobacco products in youth-rated films when you hear from teenagers directly that they are taking notice -- and offense -- to this on-screen promotion," said Sandi Frost, president of the American Medical Association Alliance.
Visitors to the Facebook page will also be encouraged to sign a petition demanding that "gratuitous images of smoking" earn a film an automatic R rating from the Motion Picture Association of America.
Cigarette breaks on the beach here are about to get more complicated.
Already known as the first beach in the continental United States to limit smoking to designated areas -- under a law passed in 2001 -- Belmar now plans to limit those areas even further, the Township Council announced today.
Until now, smokers were allowed to light up within 100 feet of smoking signs that stood every 400 feet along the beach. All told, 20 percent of the beach was set aside for smoking, enough to allow smokers to set up their chairs within the designated areas.
But beginning this beach season, each smoking area will shrink significantly, some to as small as 20 by 30 feet. Smokers will need to walk to the designated areas every time they feel an urge to puff.
And, unlike before, the boundaries of the smoking areas will be delineated by a plastic chain or a rope, to make enforcement easier.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist didn't try to hide his motives when he signed into law a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike Wednesday, reported The Orlando Sentinel. "I view it more as a health issue than a tax issue," said Crist, a Republican who broke with a career-long opposition to tax increases. "Ronald Reagan used to say if you want to kill something, tax it. It wouldn't be bad if we killed smoking." As of July 1, Florida's new cigarette tax is $1.34 per pack. An equivalent increase applies to smokeless and pipe tobacco, but not cigars.
The extra $1 tax is expected to generate more than $900 million a year, to be used to offset Medicaid costs and fund cancer research, said the report.
With the increase, Florida's cigarette tax goes from sixth-lowest in the nation to slightly above the national average of $1.23 a pack, the report added. Florida's neighbors have some of the lowest levies in the nation: Georgia (37 cents), Alabama (42 cents) and South Carolina (7 cents).
David Sutton, a spokesperson for New York City-based Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris, Richmond, Va., told the newspaper that Florida's tax hike would prompt many consumers to seek tax-free ways to buy their smokes, whether on an Indian reservation or the Internet. "Obviously, it's a big hit to our consumers and to retailers as well," he said. "You've got a very difficult economy out there."
Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike Wednesday - the biggest of its kind in Florida history -- saying he hopes to kill the habit that results in thousands of deaths every year.
"I view it more as a health issue than a tax issue," said Crist, a Republican who broke with a career-long opposition to tax increases. " Ronald Reagan used to say if you want to kill something, tax it. It wouldn't be bad if we killed smoking. It would save a lot of lives."
As of July 1, Florida's new cigarette tax is $1.34 per pack. An equivalent increase applies to smokeless and pipe tobacco, but not cigars.
The extra $1 tax is expected to generate more than $900 million a year, to be used to offset Medicaid costs and fund cancer research.
Since rising band The Nunung Cs successfully popularized a soccer-themed song titled "S'pakbola" (soccer) and ended up with a record deal, possibilities have opened up for other over-18s to follow in the same direction.
Earlier this month, the six-crew pop-dangdut band officially signed a contract with cigarette producer PT Djarum Super which had discovered their original song, "Gila Bola Gila Musik" (crazy for soccer, crazy for music), on Facebook.
"S'pakbola" has now become the official song of the Indonesian Super League, Indonesia's top-tier soccer championship.
Customs and Excise officers will investigate the possible involvement of cigarette producers in cases of fake tax stamps that have caused state losses of Rp 1 trillion (about US95 million), an official has said.
Director General of Customs and Excise Anwar Supriadi said on Saturday his side would trace cigarette producers who allegedly used the fake stamps. "It is possible there are big, well-known producers that bought and used the fake stamps."
Anwar said cigarette producers found using fake stamps would be punished under the Criminal Code and have their licenses revoked, meaning that they could no longer produce cigarette legally.