Tobacco.org

Slice of new jail funds to be used for D.A. building 

Riverside County is dipping into the $300 million set aside for the proposed Whitewater jail, a move that county officials say won't delay the project, despite the district attorney's recent assertion.

The county is opting to use a portion of the money to purchase a $126 million, 10-story building in Riverside, which it will use for the district attorney and other department offices.

The money was set aside in 2007, the county's part of a multi-state tobacco lawsuit settlement. It was touted as the funding for the first phase of the 7,200-bed jail proposed for land along Interstate 10.

The tough economy has limited the money communities get from the state and other sources, forcing many government leaders to find new ways of financing capital projects.

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DODD: New bill forces cigarette companies to play by the rules 

fter several failed attempts to quit an addiction developed before she was old enough to drive, she was diagnosed with lung cancer.

This story repeats itself daily across Connecticut and across the country. Every year another 15,500 Connecticut children, seduced by flashy ads and a carefully manicured image, light up for the first time. More than 4,600 of them will become regular smokers.

Too often, the story ends sadly. . . .

No matter how hard we work at teaching our children of the dangers of smoking, cigarette companies aren't on our side. Nearly 90 percent of smokers start as children. That isn't an accident; that's a business model.

As a father to two young daughters, I find the aggressive marketing of cigarettes to our children deeply troubling. As a senator who has fought for the health and welfare of every child in Connecticut for years, I find it outrageous.

I'm proud we have passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, with broad bipartisan support, and I look forward to President Barack Obama continuing his strong support for family health by signing it. It gives the Food and Drug Administration the ability to regulate tobacco, and how tobacco products are marketed. . . .

protecting children from nicotine addiction takes hard work by parents. As a father and an advocate for Connecticut families, I'm proud that we've taken a major step towards empowering them.

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GREELEY: Here’s the point: Make no mistake – smoking is bad for you 

Over 30 years ago, the old Central School in Halifax housed five classrooms of first-, second -, and third-grade students. Different subjects were taught in different classrooms, much like middle and high school. During homeroom one morning, Mrs. Martin told 30 sleepy children something that stands true to this day: "Smoking is bad for you." . . .

Here's the point: Expressed acknowledgment by the proprietor of a business to his employees and customers that smoking will be allowed in the establishment is sufficient information needed for those adults to make the decision as to whether they wish to remain in that establishment. . . .

If people would still walk into the establishment, be they employees or customers, then the problem isn't as big as the government says it is. If fewer people would walk in, then the business would start to fail.

Federal taxes on cigarettes will be raised another 61 cents. Boston is making it illegal to smoke cigars in cigar bars. A restaurant in Halifax spent thousands of dollars to renovate its building to accommodate their patrons who smoke, only to have to move its business to another building after a total smoking ban went into effect.

None of these actions by government allow people who smoke to freely assemble with other people who don't mind when they are smoking.

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Tobacco tax going up  

Convenience stores and smoke shops are urging Cape Coral residents to stock up on cigarettes and other tobacco products before the state implements a $1 tobacco user fee on July 1.

Perhaps one of the most publicized bills that passed the Florida Legislature this spring, the $1 user fee is levied against standard packs of 20 cigarettes and for other tobacco products - such as pipe or chewing tobacco - the surcharge will be 60 percent of the wholesale price.

The measure is designed to combat teenage smoking and incidences of cancer associated with smoking, yet purveyors of tobacco and habitual smokers aren't looking forward to the fee's effect on their wallets. Local tobacco sellers are especially worried about the extra dollar per pack.

Laura Ring, co-owner of the Cape Smoke Shop on Del Prado Boulevard, said the fee will put the price of cigarettes well over $5 per pack and some regular customers could disappear. . . .

The only tobacco products that aren't under the legislation's umbrella are cigars. According to Deutch, cigars were included in the original legislation but were removed in mid-session because the $2 billion cigar industry is such a large component of the state economy.

There are more cigar companies statewide - a majority in Miami or Tampa - than any other part of the United States. Even though cigars were stricken from the bill, taxing cigarettes will still have the most significant impact on reducing smokers, he said.

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EDITORIAL: What we think: A breather on cigarettes  

It's been decades since America discovered Big Tobacco's dirty little secret: Smokers couldn't get enough of their products because of the highly addictive, and deadly, nicotine packed inside. And those ads, many aimed at hooking new generations of young smokers early, didn't hurt their efforts, either.

Now, decidedly hip to tobacco's insidious and devastating effects, federal and state governments have enacted sweeping measures . . .

The tax has proved a deterrent to many would-be smokers in the many states that have hiked it. Yet it took the tax's promise of raising almost a billion dollars to help close the state's $6 billion deficit to get Florida's lawmakers to boost it -- for the first time in two decades. . . .

We'd rather a heightened tax and other measures that could help wipe out smoking had been motivated by the benefits they'd have on the public's health. That would be impossible, however. This year, the Legislature also raided a state savings account of $700 million that's supposed to fund children's health programs. . . .

But the irony, and symbolism, that the legislation will be signed into law by a president who freely acknowledges he is still struggling with his own efforts to kick the habit demonstrate how stubborn nicotine addiction can be and how critical its eradication is. . . .

Sure, Big Tobacco will make do by steering more of its business to still-avid smokers overseas. But this legislation, once passed, will put far fewer Americans in its clutches.

And for residents of states like Florida, whose lawmakers haven't done their share to snuff out smoking, it'll benefit them all the more.

It'll be banner day, for all Americans, when Mr. Obama signs it.

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Smoking ban would affect businesses in opposite ways  

Summer's a time when families head to Goodies Ice Cream in Danvers Square, sit outside and enjoy a tasty treat.

It's also a time when tempers flare between those eating ice cream and those smoking cigars and cigarettes next door in front of Cigars "R" Us.

A thin metal grate is all that separates outdoor patrons of both businesses, at 46 and 48 Maple St., respectively. The sweet odor of tobacco fills the air while Goodies customers eat.

"It's my favorite place to come and relax with our kids, and it's stinky," Kelly Goddard of Danvers said.

That awkward dynamic is exactly what state Rep. Ted Speliotis is trying to address with a bill that would ban smoking within 25 feet of doors and windows of public buildings, including offices, restaurants and bars.

"The real issue is the ability for people to walk on by and not be harassed by smoke," the Danvers Democrat said.

"People have been complaining and people have asked for help," Speliotis said, "and my constituents have asked for help in this matter."

Not everyone is buying it.

"I think it's not right," said Cigars "R" Us customer Maurizio Cotti of Topsfield. "You can't smoke inside, you can't smoke outside. Why sell cigarettes? ... Where are you going to smoke, in the middle of the street?"

At Goodies with her 3 1/2-year-old niece, Emily, Goddard said she could sympathize, though she supports the ban.

"I was a smoker at one point," she said. "You hate to have people feel like a leper, but you should also be respectful because people don't want to breathe it in. It's dangerous."

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EDITORIAL: Don’t push smokers into neighborhoods  

Rep. Ted Speliotis of Danvers has filed a bill that would ban smoking within 25 feet of entrances and windows of public places. Speliotis said this would better protect the public from secondhand smoke.

But if you push smokers too far away from where they are eating or drinking, you could push them into residential areas, which would be a worse result. . . .

Some bar and restaurant owners are claiming that any more restrictions on their patrons will hurt business, but they always say that. When the law banning indoor smoking in workplaces, including bars and restaurants, was passed five years ago, they claimed it would put some of them out of business. No such thing happened. In fact, there is evidence that it helped businesses because people who avoided smoke were able to go into any bar or restaurant and not worry about smelling like smoke or, worse, breathing in secondhand smoke.

Good businesses should work with their neighbors to make life easier for all concerned. We don’t need any new laws to protect the public in this case. We just need common sense, good business sense and more consideration from smokers.

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BARRON: COMMUNITY COMMENTARY: Smoking ban faces tall hurdles  

In Robert Phipps' letter ("Smoking arguments are absurd, laughable," June 13) responding to Armineh Hovanesian's community commentary ("Anti-smoking campaign is just that," June 6), I think he missed the point. . . .

The proponents of the anti-smoking campaign are winning ground every day in their noble efforts to protect us from ourselves. . . .

California lawmakers in Sacramento are considering an additional increase from 87 cents to $1.50 per pack. This would generate more than a billion dollars a year for the state coffers.

In a state with a deficit budget bordering bankruptcy, that's a lot of "second-hand" smoke that keeps a floundering state slightly above water. . . .

If we could imagine a ban on the sale of tobacco products, how will the lawmakers propose to replace that lost revenue? . . .

But the bottom line is that it is difficult to ban a "behavior" in spite of how detrimental it may be without also banning the very "delivery system" that produces the negative behavior. Even with increasing restrictions, without legislation that makes the sale or use of tobacco illegal, "lighting up" will continue to be profitable.

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Indonesia’s Gudang Garam Names Wonowidjojo as Chief (Update2) 

PT Gudang Garam named Susilo Wonowidjojo president today, as the second-largest cigarette maker in Indonesia battles with British American Tobacco Plc for market share.

Wonowidjojo replaced Djajusman Surjowijono, who resigned in February, Gudang Garam said today in a statement given out to reporters in Kediri, East Java.

The replacement comes as overseas rivals expand in the nation with the largest number of smokers after China and India. Companies including BAT and Philip Morris International Inc. are drawn to a market where tobacco companies are free to woo smokers by advertising and sponsoring sporting events as anti- smoking laws get stricter at home. Gudang Garam’s first-quarter profit more than doubled to a record, helped by cost-cutting.

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Reg Wydeven column: Government puts tighter squeeze on nation's smokers  

One of my favorite comedians is Dennis Leary. When he first came onto the stand-up scene, about half of his act was about his love of smoking.

Dennis would rant about his hatred for condescending people who tried to educate him about the dangers of smoking. . . .

The new law is just the latest blow to the tobacco industry. Ten years ago tobacco manufacturers agreed to pay the states $206 billion for health care costs. Earlier this year, Congress raised the federal cigarette tax to $1.01 a pack, an increase of 62 cents, to fund a health care program for children.

Finally, many American cities and towns, in addition to numerous states, either have or are in the process of limiting or outright banning smoking in public places.

It looks like Dennis Leary's worst nightmare has come true.

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• AUDIO: Talking Tobacco Companies Into FDA Oversight 

The Food and Drug Administration will have regulatory authority over the $89 billion tobacco industry as soon as President Obama puts his signature to a bill passed by Congress. The change took decades to happen -- the industry fought hard to keep the FDA out -- but finally succumbed to changing social norms and the guidance from one in its own ranks. Guest host Alison Stewart speaks with Steve Parrish, a former Altria executive and who pushed the company to support FDA regulation of the tobacco industry, and Dr. David Kessler, who was head of the FDA in the mid-1990s.

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LETTER: Tobacco regulation  

Smoking and other addictions are misunderstood by the public and distorted by those in authority. Any addiction is genetic and hereditary with painful origins. The Food and Drug Administration cannot change a disease. It is not God.

If children see their parents or friends suppressing their inner pain by smoking, this modeling is followed. The family or friends support each others' pain. If they do not stop the emotional pain with smoking, it will be other drugs, prescriptions, gambling, eating, shopping, coffee, chocolate, pop, sex or any other addiction to replace it that you can name. People just substitute one addiction for another.

Addiction was declared a disease in 1995 by the American Medical Association. The current paradigm does not usually address a spiritual answer. I healed seven addictions. I know from my experience stopping smoking was harder than alcohol and some prescription drugs. However, with a daily spiritual program like that found in the 12-step programs, addictions can be arrested.

This is a perfect example of too much government ["Big tobacco finally loses," Opinion, editorial, June 12]. Walking away from the cigarette, alcoholic drink or gambling are all personal choices. Everyone has the right to learn healthy alternatives, receive solutions that work and not be treated like a child.

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KENNEDY: GUEST VIEW: FDA regulation of tobacco products will save lives 

While the federal government stayed on the sidelines, the tobacco industry misled consumers, made false health claims, concealed the lethal contents of their products, made cigarettes even more addictive, and worst of all, deliberately addicted generations of children. The alternative to FDA regulation is more of the same. Allowing this abusive conduct by the tobacco industry to go unchecked would be terribly wrong.

Under the new law, FDA will for the first time have the power and resources it needs to take on this challenge. . . .

Millions of Americans will lead longer, healthier lives -- all because Congress finally summoned the will to say "no" to Big Tobacco.

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EDITORIAL: Feds finally step in to regulate smoking 

The overwhelming passage of a bill empowering the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products is a big deal and, frankly, long overdue. It's going to result not only in fewer Americans starting to smoke, but also fewer health problems for those who won't or can't quit.

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EDITORIAL: Cigarette buts  

Big Tobacco doesn't like this legislation, of course, but if history is any guide, it will be determined, crafty and resourceful in dealing with it. . . .

Inevitably, there will be cries of "nanny society" aimed at this legislation. But nicotine is an addictive drug, and tobacco use has had such a long, huge and detrimental effect on the nation's health and economy that it is reasonable that its products and marketing activities be controlled.

Nefarious activities, such as ingenious efforts to get young people to smoke, and creating false perceptions about the safety of products that cause cancer and heart and lung disease, should not be tolerated by responsible government. This legislation is good government. Were it not for the power and wealth of the tobacco industry, it would likely have been on the books long ago.

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