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• Smoking ban hits tax till  

The drive by West Virginia bar owners to protect their businesses from the smoking ban has taken a hit from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., maker of Winston cigarettes.

Kerry "Paco" Ellison, owner of the Blackhawk Saloon in Charleston, took the double blow after resisting the ban for more than a year and becoming prominent statewide in the movement by bar owners.

Reynolds charged Ellison with using an inflatable balloon of a pack of Winston cigarettes to the detriment of the company by promoting "unlawful smoker rights and to encourage patrons of your bar to violate the county's smoking ban."

Ellison told Gazette staff writer Eric Eyre, "It just baffles me that no matter what I do, somebody goes and gets a bigger dog. At this point the fight continues."

But since then, he has had second thoughts about continuing to defy the smoking ban by offering special nights for smoking in the bar. Yet no decision to move the giant Winston sign ballooned at the front of the place, though the lettering has been revised with duct tape.

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• Smoking ban fight faces long odds  

Citing a state law designed to shield businesses from government regulation, a group of bar and restaurant owners is challenging a sweeping city ban on tobacco smoking set to become law Jan. 1.

In a letter to the city's attorney, the Galveston Bar and Tavern Owners Association asked the city to conduct an assessment of how the ordinance would affect its member businesses.

Such an accounting, called a "Takings Impact Assessment," is required under the state's Private Real Property Rights Protection Act, the association argues.

The association wants to negotiate with the city to amend the ordinance, which will prohibit lighting up in bars, restaurants, private clubs and even tobacco shops.

Failing that, the association plans to take its complaint to the Texas attorney general, according to the letter.

But the group has a tough fight ahead trying to prove the ban denies its members economic use of their property, constitutional law experts and observers of legal battles sparked by smoking bans said.

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Galveston bar and restaurants' smoking ban fight faces long odds 

Citing a state law designed to shield businesses from government regulation, a group of bar and restaurant owners is challenging a sweeping city ban on tobacco smoking set to become law Jan. 1.

In a letter to the city's attorney, the Galveston Bar and Tavern Owners Association asked the city to conduct an assessment of how the ordinance would affect its member businesses.

Such an accounting, called a "Takings Impact Assessment," is required under the state's Private Real Property Rights Protection Act, the association argues.

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• Notorious inmates to challenge prison smoking ban 

MONTREAL — Nineteen inmates serving lengthy federal sentences — a who’s who of notorious Quebec killers and gangsters — will argue in court this coming week that a complete smoking ban introduced in federal prisons last year tramples their rights.

Prohibiting smoking violates prisoners’ right to “life, liberty and security of the person” and constitutes “cruel and unusual treatment,” the prisoners argue in a Federal Court action seeking to overturn the ban.

The Correctional Service of Canada decided to outlaw all smoking after discovering that a partial ban, which allowed smoking only outdoors, was being flouted. It is estimated that about three-quarters of federal inmates were smokers before the ban.

“The decision to implement a total smoking ban by (Correctional Service of Canada) management was made to protect the health and safety of staff and offenders,” agency spokeswoman Marilyne Guevremont said, declining further comment because the case is before the courts.

The plaintiffs, who had been smoking an average of two packs a day, include Gerald Matticks, the drug-trafficking leader of Montreal’s West End Gang, Benoit Guimond, a biker who shot a teenager outside a Montreal nightclub, and Daniel Patry, who murdered the puppeteer behind a popular Quebec children’s show. Many of them are serving life sentences for murder, but take away their cigarettes and they become trembling, nervous wrecks, court documents suggest.

“The prisoners have experienced various physical and psychological symptoms related to nicotine deprivation, notably: an increase in stress, in anxiety, in their aggressiveness, in their nervousness,” the action says.

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Croatian smoking ban reversal could ignite trade 

Smokers on holiday in Croatia can light up again in public from today after the country's smoking ban was overturned.

One in three Croatians smoke and, according to restaurant and cafe owners, so do many of the visitors to the Adriatic coast.

It is hoped the reversal of the ban will lead to busier bars and pubs, which could improve the holiday atmosphere for many tourists in the country.

Morena Tolj, who supports the government's decision, said: "Being a heavy smoker I preferred to stay at home than to go out and abstain."

Last month online magazine In2Town recommended Dubrovnik, in the south of Croatia, as one of the "most beautiful" spots in Europe.

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Cops Crack Cape Vincent Smuggling Ring 

During the late evening hours of Tuesday, October 6, 2009, US and Canadian Law Enforcement authorities broke an illegal cigarette smuggling group arresting 5 individuals, seizing over 6,400 cartons of untaxed cigarettes, 2 boats, 4 vehicles, approximately $27,000 in Canadian currency, cocaine and hashish.

Members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Ontario Provincial Police, Kingston Police, New York State Police, US Border Patrol, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Metro Jeff Drug Task Force worked together to surveille an organized group smuggling untaxed cigarettes from the Town of Cape Vincent, NY to Wolfe Island, Ontario, Canada.

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Editorial: Smoking bans extended 

Amherst's Board of Health may once again be a trend-setter in protecting the public from the hazards of smoking in places where people congregate.

In the late 1990s, the board came under fire for banning smoking in bars, then a new frontier for government regulation. But it became clear that Amherst was ahead of the rest of the state. In 2004, smoking was banned in all bars, restaurants and workplaces.

Now, the Board of Health is considering a ban on outdoor smoking within 15 feet of town-owned buildings and in public recreation areas. There has also been discussion of a ban at the swimming area at Puffer's Pond in Amherst and at scheduled events on the town common.

We support their efforts. . . .

Most people don't want to breathe air that's been contaminated by someone else's cigarette smoke. The Board of Health's proposed regulations are not a radical assault on smokers' rights. The board is merely trying to further protect the health of nonsmokers.

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Tobacco companies take advantage of internet loophole 

There are concerns tobacco companies are exploiting the internet by using social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace to sell more cigarettes in clever marketing ploys.

University of Sydney PHD student Becky Freeman says "fan groups" for tobacco companies have been set up on such sites to promote products, encouraging a practice that many are trying to curtail.

She told a conference in Darwin this week the tobacco industry is abusing the internet because the web does not have the same advertising controls as print and television.

"I think what we need to have in Australia is required disclosure from tobacco companies on where they are spending their advertising money," she said.

As these practices come to light, a study by Deakin University has found the economy would be $1 billion better off if the rate of smoking was cut by one third.

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Kaine highlights approaching ban on restaurant smoking 

"It's not a very good condiment."

So, Perly's Restaurant & Deli was a logical place for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to kick off a countdown to Virginia's upcoming ban on smoking in restaurants, which takes effect Dec. 1.

Kaine, accompanied by the state health commissioner, Dr. Karen Remley, crisscrossed the commonwealth yesterday, dropping by eateries to extol the virtues of smoke-free dining.

Twenty-six other states and the District of Columbia already ban smoking in restaurants. In 2006, Kaine issued an executive order prohibiting smoking in state offices.

Currently, 70 percent of Virginia's restaurants are smoke-free.

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Sorry, hookah bar, no smoking 

The College Station City Council decided Thursday not to make an exception to the city's smoking ordinance for a hookah bar.

Hookah Station in the Northgate district had requested an exclusion from the city ordinance that was revised early this year to prohibit smoking in workplaces, bars and bar areas. Exceptions to the ordinance included specialty tobacco stores and actors or actresses participating in a theatrical performance

Attorney Davis Watson, speaking on behalf of Hookah Station, said the smoking ordinance didn't define a specialty tobacco shop. When the store came to the city, its owners were assured that they wouldn't be included in any smoking ordinance, Watson said.

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Tampa man begins building longest cigar 

TAMPA - Wally Reyes wants to reclaim his title as maker of the world's longest cigar.

The longtime Tampa cigar maker has begun rolling a 180-foot cigar that would earn him a Guinness World Record. Reyes plans to finish the nearly block-long cigar during the Cigar Heritage Festival on Nov. 21.

"We are doing it for the love of cigar-making," said Reyes, who is one of five master cigar makers in Ta

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Big Story: Smoke Free  

The no smoking requirements that went into effect at bars, restaurants and casinos across the state on Oct. 1, also apply to most other businesses and work places in the state.

The Montana Clean Indoor Air Act, adopted by the State Legislature in 2005, requires no smoking in enclosed public places including stores, public and private offices, health care facilities, public schools, transportation and business vehicles.

Businesses that haven't already banned customers from smoking are required to post no smoking signs and enforce the no smoking rules inside their buildings. Free "No Smoking" signs and other no smoking materials are available from Smokefree Montana by calling 1-866-787-5247.

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Big Story: Smoke Free  

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Worth waves goodbye to hookah bars 

Worth village trustees on Tuesday adopted an ordinance that bans smoking in all businesses starting next year.

Citing health concerns and recent legislation signed by United States President Barack Obama, Worth trustees voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance that will ban smoking indoors at all businesses including smoke shops and hookah lounges. Trustee Lezley Zubaty was absent.

Included in the wording of the ordinance is a plan to phase out hookah bars as business licenses expire.

The “Indoor Clean Air Policy” follows the “Smoke Free Illinois Act” that went into effect January 1, 2008. The statewide smoking ban outlawed smoking at bars and restaurants, but lighting up was still legal at businesses people would go for the sole purpose of smoking, such as tobacco shops and hookah lounges. The village policy is set to take effect January 1, 2010.

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Singapore Health Promotion Board receives support for proposed amendments to Smoking Act 

The Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB), in partnership with Health Science Authority (HSA), conducted a public consultation exercise, from 3 - 28 August 2009, on proposed amendments to the Smoking (Control of Advertisements and Sale of Tobacco) Act and other smoking control measures.

The public consultation exercise on the proposed changes to the Smoking (Control of Advertisements and Sale of Tobacco) Act received 171 responses. Respondents included individuals, tobacco manufacturers, importers and retailers, healthcare professionals and majority were in support of the proposed changes, with many providing suggestions to enhance smoking control measures.

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