Tobacco.org

When Cigarette Ads Had Balls 

In five years, will you be a wheezing, blackened mess? Or--conversely--will you have five more years of tobacco byproducts in your lungs? Well. You have to admire their "Lie big or lie dead" attitude. Click to enlarge. [Copyranter]

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COTTLE: No Exit 

A few feet from his maroon-flocked podium sits Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York, former fellow with the conservative Hudson Institute, and longtime scourge of health care reform. A constitutional scholar by training, McCaughey (pronounced "McCoy") blazed to fame in 1994 as the person who drove a stake through the heart of Hillarycare, with a detailed (and, as it turned out, false) takedown of the plan published in this very magazine.

Fifteen years later, she has reemerged for an encore, penning op-eds and making the TV and radio rounds to issue apocalyptic warnings about the horrors lurking in the fine print of Obamacare. Pick an inflammatory, misleading rumor that has sprung up in this debate, and chances are McCaughey had a hand in springing it. . . .

With the help of a friend on the board of the Manhattan Institute, Betsy landed a fellowship at the conservative think tank, with a mandate to write about electoral reform and the legal system. Instead, in early 1994, she published a scathing vivisection of the Clinton health care plan in The New Republic. Touting her academic experience, McCaughey painted herself as a dispassionate truth-seeker who felt an obligation to read the entire 1,342-page bill (something few lawmakers were willing to do) and flag its malignancies for the rest of us. To emphasize how judicious her research was, McCaughey sprinkled her article with page numbers, directing readers to the exact subsections and footnotes of the text on which her criticisms were based. But, while McCaughey's reading may have been uncommonly thorough, it was also fundamentally incorrect--or grossly dishonest, depending on your view of her (and of a recent Rolling Stone article exposing her consultations with Big Tobacco during the writing). . . .

Palin, of course, hawks homespun wisdom, faith, and common sense, in contrast to McCaughey's figures and footnotes. But both women have an uncanny ability to shovel their toxic nonsense with nary a blink, tremor, or break in those dazzling smiles. People of goodwill and honest counsel don't stand a chance.

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Chronicler of cool  

Los Angeles photographer Phil Stern turns 90 tomorrow. That's his photo of Frank Sinatra lighting JFK's smoke.

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The Butt Stops Here  

As Montana bars dealt with their first smoke-free weekend since the state's indoor smoking ban went into effect, ingenuity ruled. In Missoula, according to a great piece by Michael Moore in the Missoulian, the Rhino Bar gave smokers their very own place to light up: a Butt Hutt, created by Dave Golden of Well Done Welding and Jim Bell, a general contractor. Moore describes the hut as a 4-by-8-foot "metal smoking dugout" in the alley behind the Rhino in Missoula. . . .

Other bars will almost certainly be devising plans and smoking spots of their own in the coming months. (NewWest.net would love to hear about the solutions you're seeing out there.)

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• N.J. prevails in lawsuit against out-of-state tobacco seller Red Jacket  

The state government has prevailed on all counts of a lawsuit it filed a year ago charging New-York-based cigarette seller Red Jacket Tobacco with illegal business practices related to the advertising and sale, by mail order, of "tax free" cigarettes in New Jersey, Attorney General Anne Milgram announced Monday.

In a decision issued by state Superior Court Judge Maria M. Sypek, Red Jacket and its owner, Lesley A. Hoag, were ordered to pay more than $760,000 in penalties, costs and fees requested by the state Division of Consumer Affairs and the state Division of Taxation.

Sypek found that Red Jacket violated state laws by selling cigarettes in New Jersey without a license, and by selling cigarettes not listed in the New Jersey Tobacco Manufacturer's Directory.

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NJ judge fines NY firm for illegal tobacco sales 

A New Jersey judge has imposed more than $760,000 in penalties and fees against a New York-based tobacco seller that offered mail-order, "tax-free" cigarettes to New Jersey consumers.

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced the ruling in the state's lawsuit against Salamanca, N.Y.-based Red Jacket Tobacco on Monday.

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• The Truth About American Legacy 

The American Legacy Foundation is a rare example of a public charity being born with a silver spoon. Even before it began operating in 1999, the foundation was bequeathed more than $1 billion from the settlement of a massive lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of 46 states against the country's major tobacco companies. . . .

For the first few years, it seemed a great success. The foundation rolled out hard-hitting and ubiquitous advertising, known as "the truth" campaign. . . .

Then the magic stopped working so well. Since 2003, teen smoking rates have hovered around 22 percent, even as adult smoking has continued to dwindle (to under 20 percent now). After the final really big tobacco payment of $307.9 million came that year (under the Master Settlement), "the truth" campaign continued on a much smaller scale.

But despite spending less on those ads, awarding fewer grants for anti-smoking programs and seeing all the tobacco company contributions end last year, the foundation itself grew wealthier. As expenditures for its primary missions fell, two budget items kept growing: investment fees and salary costs, especially for top executives. . . .

While most nonprofits invest to protect their funds, the Legacy Foundation has pursued an aggressive investment strategy that includes hedge funds, foreign stocks (sometimes accompanied by currency exchange losses), interest rate swaps, two office buildings in downtown Washington and other investments.

Some observers say Legacy is trying too hard to perpetuate itself and the cause would be better served if it spent more of its endowment, which stood at $1.156 billion at the end of fiscal 2008.

The American Legacy Foundation says President Cheryl Healton's salary of $570,000 in 2008 (plus benefits) is about the same as the median for others in large philanthropic endeavors. . . .

(For a more complete rundown of the foundation's annual budget and spending, see the pie charts on these pages.) . . .

The foundation is phasing out its grant program for small innovative programs, for anti-smoking programs in rural areas and among minority groups, and for research. It has spent about $150 million on these grants during its existence.

As for media strategies: Despite embracing social media such as Facebook and YouTube, the ubiquity of the foundation's ads has faded. None has gone viral on the Web. The foundation has attracted fewer than 200 Facebook fans.

Meanwhile, tobacco companies lay out about $41 million a day for advertising.

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• Supreme Court rules in tobacco dispute  

The state Supreme Court has dismissed an injunction had barred state collection of cigarette taxes from tobacco stores licensed by the Osage Nation.

Justices last week ruled that a lower court didn't have jurisdiction to stop the Oklahoma Tax Commission from collecting 86 cents per pack from the tribe's licensed tobacco retailers.

The justices noted that a tobacco compact between the parties required any disputes be resolved through binding arbitration.

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• Cuba slashes tobacco acreage amid flagging demand 

Cash-short Cuba is slashing the amount of land devoted to growing its famous tobacco by more than 30 percent as the global recession and worldwide spread of smoking bans bite into sales of the country's prized cigars.

Demand for Cuba's cigars fell 3 percent in 2008 and earlier was reported down 15 percent in 2009 because of the recession and the smoking bans adopted in a growing number of places as a public health measure.

Cuba's National Statistics Office, in a report posted on its web page (www.one.cu), said land to be planted with tobacco for next year's crop had dropped to 49,000 acres, down from 70,000 acres, which was in turn less than 2008.

It said the coming crop was expected to be 22,500 tons, down from a planned 26,800 tons.

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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Smokers decry ban on flavors 

Business owners and smokers, many of them still fuming over recent anti-smoking ordinances, are denouncing a recent federal prohibition affecting cigarettes with fruit, candy or clove flavors. . . .

Despite accounting for only a small segment of the market, shop owners, clerks and smokers said they view the prohibition as the first significant step taken by the agency since assuming jurisdiction over the tobacco industry -- with more steps likely to come.

"What's next?" said Cindy Johnson, 26, a longtime smoker of Djarum cigarettes, imported from Indonesia by Kretek International.

The Van Nuys student said she stopped off at her neighborhood market to load up, and plans on adding to her stockpile in the coming days as stores empty their shelves.

To circumvent the rules and satisfy customers like Johnson, Kretek released filtered cigars similar in size to cigarettes and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry. . . .

Hanni Piuo, owner of the Smoke Shop at 101 N. Victory Blvd., scanned a wall of tobacco products including cigarettes, cigars and rolling papers -- about half of which is dedicated to flavors from strawberry and grape, to coconut and cherry. The ban also includes tobacco products defined as cigarettes, even though they may not be labeled as such.

"It's going to be bad, man," he said Monday. "It's not fair to let me smoke what you want. If I like cherry, why is that your business?"

Piuo has already received an earful from his 200 to 300 daily customers.

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BAT cigarettes to cost more today 

BRITISH American Tobacco Malaysia has revised its cigarette prices following an announcement made by the government last week to increase 1 sen per stick in excise on cigarettes.

The new cigarette prices, which will be effective today, are as follows:-

1) Dunhill Fine Cut 20s range RM 10.00

2) Dunhill 20s range RM 9.30

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Schools taking steps to curb young student smokers  

Over 300 colleges already have smoke-free campuses, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, and many more permit it in very limited areas on campus.

SU has tried to curb the impact that smoking has on non-smokers. The school has an official policy on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, which prohibits smoking in campus buildings, and has a $2,000 fine for any person who does not abide by these rules.

In contrast, the State University of New York at Buffalo has implemented a smoking ban on the whole campus. Currently, smoking is only permitted in parking lots more than 100 feet from campus buildings, but starting August 2010 the campus will be 100 percent smoke free.

These campuses report on their Web sites that they have set up services to help students quit smoking so that the bans will be easier to endure. The bans are meant to stop people under the age of 24 from smoking,

This has also become a goal for the whole country.

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Up in Smoke: What Is The Future For The Global Tobacco Industry? 

Globally the cigarette manufacturing industry continues to battle a four-pronged assault on its growth prospects. Rising consumer health consciousness has hit smoking rates in developed and emerging markets alike, putting the breaks on global industry growth rates. An increasingly mainstream and dogmatic anti-smoking lobby has also served to dent sales, helping to drive through prohibitive legislation and raise awarenessof the dangers of smoking.

Ongoing government tax hikes-an increasingly accepted form of revenue-raising given the number of health-conscious consumers turning their backs on smoking-are similarly proving an enemy to the industry, as is the still-strong illegalt rade for tobacco products.

Facing up to the challenges of a so-called 'dying industry'has led to rapid industry consolidation, with the big three-Philip Morris International, BritishAmerican Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International-controlling around 45% of the global cigarette market. Presently, however, these giants, and their smaller local peers, are having to deal with a new challenge in addition to the aforementioned daily hurdles-a consumer-confidence crippling global recession. In 2009, BMI is forecasting a global economic contraction of 2.5%.

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Tobacco suit on hold  

Ontario is taking a stand against big tobacco companies, but both the Saskatchewan and Alberta governments are taking a wait-and-see approach.

In late September, the Ontario government launched a $50 billion lawsuit against big tobacco companies to recover past and ongoing health care costs linked with tobacco-related illness, but governments on both sides of the border say they aren’t going to make any decisions just yet.

The Saskatchewan government has had legislation in place since 2006 to pursue litigation, but has not taken steps because of the costs associated with pursuing a lawsuit.

“Now that Ontario is pursuing action, we’ve seen B.C. step forward, we’ll be reviewing our options to determine if we are going to head in that same direction,” said

Karen Hill, communications co-ordinator with Saskatchewan Health.

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The Real Meaning of the FDA's Anti E-Cigarette Report 

On February this year, the FDA got sued by two of the most popular E-cigarette companies in the US- Njoy & Smoking everywhere. They sued for seizing and sending back product stocks shipped from China. FDA didn't want the products enter the. WHY?! FDA, like other federal offices is not driven only by the public's benefits, there are many other factors than that. Their excuse was the fact the Electronic cigarette is still under inquiry, by this fact alone- IT'S ILLEGAL for the FDA to stop and seize shipments in the US border but yet- It's in their power to do so as ridiculous as it is. That was the sue case.

The FDA have completed these days a preliminary test on 19 kinds of E-cigarette cartridges of Njoy & Smoking everywhere (rings a bell...) They have found ONLY 1 CARTRIDGE that contains Diethylene glycol "in very low levels". Same Diethylene glycol is found in tobacco cigarette in high levels, It's A humectants mixed in the tobacco to keep it moist. Watch Dr. Sanjai Gupta, Chief medical correspondent on CNN interview:here! . . .

A list of honorable Doctors and researchers have challenged the FDA to provide the full quantitative data of the study upon which the FDA has based the warning Against the Electronic cigarette. The doctors (listed below) has the justified suspicion that the FDA is trying to present the Electronic as a drug and legalize it & by that- to eliminate maybe the only chance of the tobacco smokers for a rehabilitation. Doctors and researchers of the Group: Dr. Michael Siegel of the Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. Joel Nitzkin of the AAPHP Tobacco Control Task Force, Dr. Brad Rodu, Endowed Chair, Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University of Louisville . . .

"It is absurd to take the electronic cigarettes out of the market when the tobacco ones have been shown to be killing millions every year" Dr. Michael Siegel of the Boston University School of Public Health . . .

For more information and interviews, see contact details of all personalities mentioned here: http://www.thesmartsmokers.com/news.html

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