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Virginia Restaurants Urged to Go Completely Smoke-Free After Major Report 

Health advocates are calling on all Virginia restaurants and other workplaces to go completely smoke-free following the release of a landmark report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) that concluded smoke-free laws reduce the number of heart attacks and save lives.

The IOM report, released Thursday, also found that there is conclusive evidence that secondhand smoke causes heart disease and heart attacks, and there is compelling evidence that even relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke may cause heart attacks. The IOM is one of the most prestigious scientific authorities in the U.S. and part of the National Academy of Sciences.

Virginia, on December 1, will implement a new law that restricts smoking, but allows restaurants to have separately ventilated smoking rooms. Health advocates said the IOM report underscores why restaurants should go completely smoke-free, rather than creating smoking rooms, so they do not put the health of any employees or customers at risk by subjecting them to hazardous secondhand smoke.

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• POUR HOUSE, INC. v. OHIO DEPT. OF HEALTH  

{¶20} Appellee argues on appeal that R.C. 3794.02(A) contemplates a burden shifting analysis. Appellee contends that once it proves that smoking has occurred, the burden shifts to the proprietor to prove it did not permit smoking2500much like an affirmative defense. We disagree. Appellee must prove each of the elements of a smoking violation. Ohio Adm.Code 3701-52-08(E) (requiring findings of smoking violations to be supported by preponderance of the evidence). Permitting smoking is an element of the smoking violation, not an affirmative defense.

{¶21} Because the trial court erred in interpreting R.C. 3794.02(A), we sustain Pour House's first and second assignments of error. This disposition renders the Pour House's third assignment of error moot. App.R. 12(A)(1)(c).

{¶22} Having sustained the Pour House's first and second assignments of error, we reverse the judgment of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. We remand this matter to the trial court with instructions to remand it to Lucas County to determine whether or not Pour House violated R.C. 3794.02(A) under the standard set forth in this decision.

Judgment reversed and cause remanded with instructions.

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• Toledo bar wins smoking case 

Bar owners who try to keep their customers from smoking can't be penalized under the state's anti-smoking law just because a patron disobeys, an appeals court ruled yesterday.

The Franklin County Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's decision that a Toledo bar violated the statewide smoking ban because an inspector observed a lit cigarette in a mint tin.

The bartender at the Pour House, 4301 Bennett Rd., said she told the patron that he couldn't smoke inside, and the man left with the cigarette still smoldering.

A Lucas County inspector, operating on a tip about smoking at the bar in early 2008, found the lit cigarette and cited the business for violating the 2006 smoking ban. The bar was fined $500.

Attorneys for the Pour House said it and other bars shouldn't be punished for violating the smoking ban when they try to prevent customers from smoking.

The three-judge appeals court agreed.

"Without evidence that the proprietor permitted smoking, there is no basis for finding the proprietor violated the statute," Judge William A. Klatt wrote.

The Ohio Licensed Beverage Association hailed the ruling.

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Appeals Court Overturns $500 Fine Against Tavern For Violating Ohio's Anti-Smoking Law ($$) 

A state appeals court Thursday overturned a $500 fine imposed against the owner of a Toledo bar and grill for violating Ohio's ban on smoking in public places because authorities too strictly interpreted the law.

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• ACT govt cracks down on smoking outdoors  

Smokers will be banned from lighting up in outdoor areas where food and drinks are served under new laws being proposed by the ACT government.

It will force smokers to move at least two metres away from eating and drinking areas if they want a cigarette.

The move - mirroring similar measures in Queensland and Tasmania - is about ensuring a smoke-free workplace for waiters and waitresses, the ACT government says.

But Health Minister Katy Gallagher concedes businesses have a tough time ahead should the laws be passed.

Under the draft laws, any outdoor area where food or drinks are served must remain smoke-free, with restaurants, cafes, clubs and pubs - not the smokers - facing fines if they don't toe the line.

Ms Gallagher said she expected opposition from industry groups, but maintained no worker should be exposed to smoke in their workplace.

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• Is cigarette smoke a problem at Disneyland?  

Villains apparently aren't the only ones fuming in the Halloween character area at Disneyland, according to two guests.

The cigarette smoke from a nearby smoking area reportedly is wafting over, making some guests and employees smolder.

Two guests told Around Disney that they made complaints at Disneyland City Hall about problems with cigarette smoke as they waited in line in the villain-character area near it's a small world ride.

One of the guests, Robert Laird, editor of a Web site for annual passholders, told Around Disney that he has talked to about a dozen employees, as well as other guests, who have had similar problems.

But Suzi Brown, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, said Disneyland has received no complaints about the smoking issue in the character area, so officials have no plans to change anything.

"I really think this is an isolated instance," Brown said.

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Flavoured Cigarettes, Sensation Seeking, and Adolescents' Perceptions of Cigarette Brands 

Results: Across hedonic belief, brand attitude, and trial intention measures, there were interactions between package descriptor condition and sensation seeking. These interactions revealed that among high (but not low) sensation seekers, exposure to cigarette packages including flavor descriptors led to more favorable brand impressions than did exposure to packages with traditional descriptors.

Conclusions: Among high sensation seeking youth, the appeal of cigarette brands is enhanced through the use of flavors and associated descriptions on product packaging.

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• CSU research finds flavored cigarettes preferable 

Two CSU marketing professors released a two-year-long study last week that they say proves flavored cigarettes are more marketable to high school students in the Southeast and Central United States than traditional tobacco products.

Their findings come just weeks after a federal law passed the legislature banning flavored cigarettes.

The study, conducted by professors Kathleen Kelly and Ken Manning, was funded by a $100,000 grant from an organization that funds studies on American health care issues and took place over the last two years.

The research canvassed a group of 253 high school students with the average age of 16 and exposed them to three different brands and packaging of cherry flavored cigarettes, the flavor the students selected as most appealing.

According to the study, after viewing each pack, the subjects were asked to answer a series of questions about the stimuli.

Kelly's idea to conduct this research came from an article on flavored cigarettes she read in The Wall Street Journal that said the target consumer of the product weren't new smokers but current smokers.

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• GCC will not increase tariffs on cigarettes 

At a time when anti-smoking campaigners are calling for an increase in cigarette duty to discourage smokers, a source at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said there would be no increase in cigarette tariffs.

The source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the GCC is committed to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and that this commitment does not allow GCC countries to increase cigarette duty by over 100 percent, which is already implemented. “In order to increase it, we have to be involved in negotiation with more than 120 member countries of the WTO,” he said.

He added that a meeting of GCC ministries of finance, custom and health is to be held next month to discuss the issue.

Newspapers in the Kingdom recently reported a SR1 increase on packets of cigarette, an increase of 20 percent. Asa’ad Jawhar, an analyst, said the slight increase would not stop smokers from buying cigarettes.

“The price is not high enough to discourage smokers from buying cigarettes. If we compare the prices of cigarettes in the Kingdom with European countries and the United States, we will find that our prices are 50 percent cheaper than the price in EU countries and the US. In Italy, for example, the price of a pack of cigarettes is the equivalent of SR23,” he said.

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• Health officials to help enforce smoking ban 

Public health officers will be involved in the enforcement of smoking regulations across the country.

Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo said that already, 80 public health officers have been trained as public health prosecutors to strengthen their capacity to enforce the Tobacco Control Act (2007) among other public health statutes.

Mrs Mugo added that a continuing programme has been launched for tobacco enforcers and public health officers, police officers, among others, are involved.

She said that the training would ensure that all towns in the country are free from tobacco smoke.

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• Researchers find teens Ont. and Que. buying more black market cigarettes 

The latest study of cigarette butts collected around high schools in Ontario and Quebec suggests more teens are buying their smokes on the black market, prompting a call to make tobacco possession illegal for those under age 19.

The study commissioned by the Canadian Convenience Stores Association and the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, released Wednesday, found 30 per cent of butts gathered near Ontario high schools were contraband, up from 26 per cent last year.

The numbers were even higher in Quebec, where 45 per cent of the cigarette butts collected near high schools were contraband, up nine percentage points from 2008.

The figures for both provinces are the highest recorded since the studies near school yards were first done in 2007, said coalition spokesman Gary Grant, a retired Toronto police officer.

"One out of every three high school kids in Ontario who is smoking is choosing to buy his cigarettes from, basically, a criminal," Grant said in an interview. . . .

Grant said when one of the first charges was laid last year against an Ontario motorist for smoking with a minor in the car, the teenage passenger got out and lit a cigarette while the driver was getting a ticket for exposing the youngster to second-hand smoke. . . .

The RCMP say most of the illegal cigarettes sold are smuggled into Canada though the Akwesasne reserve, which straddles the Canada-U.S. border near Cornwall, Ont.

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• Witness and Evidence Prepared For Tobacco Lawsuit 

Lawmakers and government officials in the Health Department have been accused of conspiracy in the missing tobacco regulation in the recently approved Health Law.

An advocacy group consisting health expert, consumers rights activists, and the anti-corruption watchdog, Indonesia Corruption Watch held a press conference on Friday at the Indonesia Corruption Watch office, to announce that they have witness and evidence for their accusation in response to the "unintentional nature" of the crime by the legislative and the executive branch.

"It is already known who were involved and there are evidence for that," said Kartono Muhammad a health expert with the Coalition Against Corruption on Health Law.

A legal representative for the group, David Tobing, said he could not disclose the names yet to prevent allegation that the group is accusing certain people without legal procedure. He added that not all the members of the parliament were willing to be involved in the scandal, and said the witness had in his/her possession the written instruction to remove section 2 in article 113 which regulate tobacco in different form of substances.

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Tobacco companies scoping younger crowd with social networking, smokeless products  

Tobacco companies have started advertising on social networking Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco executive who operates the nonprofit organization Smoke-Free Kids, said while it is hard to tell how successful the Web site advertising is, it has to make sense for the companies.

Tobacco company marketing strategies - Social networking sites such as Facebook - Camel Orbs, tobacco and nicotine pellets - Camel Strips, comparable to breath strips - Camel Sticks, similar to toothpicks

“It’s happening — we haven’t been able to quantify it,” Wigand said. “They wouldn’t be doing it if they weren’t reaching somebody. They don’t do things without studying it for a while.” . . .

Social networking Web sites are not the only way tobacco companies are marketing to youth.

Camel cigarettes designed smokeless products intended to be a gateway to cigarettes, Wigand said.

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UPDATE 3-Cytos anti-smoking vaccine flops; shares drop 

Cytos Biotechnology's (CYTN.S) anti-smoking vaccine missed its main target in a mid-stage study, making it highly unlikely the product will reach the market and slamming the Swiss group's shares.

The Swiss start-up drug discovery group, which does not yet generate sales of its own products, will now probably miss out on a milestone payment by partner Novartis (NOVN.VX) and analysts said it would struggle to finance itself and pay debt.

"We see the company's prospects not only built on shaky scientific ground, as we have discussed it repeatedly over the past years, but also its financial foundation appears very fragile," said Olav Zilian, analyst at Swiss brokerage Helvea. . . .

Novartis bought the rights to the Cytos NIC002 anti-smoking vaccine in 2007 in a deal valued up to 600 million francs, including an upfront payment of 35 million francs, with further payments contingent on development milestones.

The vaccine aims to help smokers kick the habit by preventing nicotine from entering the brain, depriving them of the satisfaction many associate with smoking.

Novartis has now informed Cytos that the vaccine failed to show a statistically significant difference in continuous abstinence from smoking determined from weeks eight to 12 after start of treatment, compared with a placebo.

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Smoking Ban Supporters Hope County Jumps On Bandwagon  

A Madison County group hopes Indianapolis' efforts to broaden its smoking ban will light a fire under city and county officials.

Healthy, Tobacco-Free Madison County Executive Director Karesa Knight-Wilkerson said that although a smoking ban failed in Anderson two years ago, the proposal could get new life.

"I don't think it's that they don't care, I just think that the right people haven't gotten to the elected officials yet," she said.

Wilkerson said she thinks that the addition of the Hoosier Park casino to the community is a major stumbling block to the city embracing smoking restrictions.

Owners of Lucy's, a mom and pop restaurant on the outskirts of Anderson, said they aren't ready for a ban either.

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