Tobacco.org

Govt urged to amend tobacco control laws  

Speakers at a workshop in Khulna city on Tuesday urged the government to immediately make amendments to tobacco control laws.

The existing tobacco control laws are not followed properly and even these laws are not enough to control tobacco and tobacco products, they said at the workshop.

Khulna Press Club and Rural Acting Arrangement Centre organised the workshop on ‘amendments to tobacco control laws’ at the auditorium of Press Club.

Chaired by press club president AK Hiru, the workshop was addressed, among others, by deputy civil surgeon Maqsuda Begum, senior journalist Shahabuddin Ahmed, press club general secretary Zakir Hossain, Shahidul Islam Babu of RAAC, Rezaul Karim of NGO Forum, journalist Shah Alam and Mamun Reza.

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Shocking pictures on cigarette packs in Mauritius soon 

New cigarette packs with shocking pictures of some diseases related to tobacco use will soon appear on the Mauritian market, official sources in Port-Louis told PANA Sunday.

These pictures, according to Mauritian Minister of Health, Rajesh Jeetah, represent the various tobacco-related diseases, including oral and lung cancers.

The decision to emblazon cigarette packs with such pictures are consistent with the new legislation on tobacco in force since 1 March 2008, Jeetah said.

"We have adopted a zero tolerance policy on smoking, which affects the health of the population with adverse effects on vital organs such the lung, the heart, the kidney, promoting cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney failure, among others," he added.

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Senecas fight tax with cash in elections 

Seen as cash cows for a cash-starved state government, the Seneca Nation is expanding its latest strategy to block tax collection efforts on its lucrative cigarette operations: The tribe will target, with campaign cash, state politicians who openly oppose the tax-free sales.

The Senecas are launching efforts to help defeat three Senate Republicans whom they call "hostile to the nation's interests" for pushing collection of what lawmakers say could be as much as $1 billion a year in lost cigarette tax revenues by the Indian retail sales.

The lawmakers, two from upstate and one from Brooklyn, challenged the Seneca representatives at a hearing Tuesday in Manhattan called by the Senate Investigations Committee to examine the Paterson administration's policy of not collecting the taxes on tobacco products sold by Indian retailers to non-Indians.

In a letter obtained by The Buffalo News to members of the Senecas' Foreign Relations Committee, J. C. Seneca, the panel's co-chairman, said the lawmakers -- senators Michael Nozzolio, George Winner and Martin Golden -- had "expressed tremendous hostility to our treaty rights and to our immunity from state excise taxes being collected in our territories" during Tuesday's hearing.

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• Display boxes for cigarettes may be illegal ($$) 

Display boxes showing cigarette packets replaced banners and posters at newspaper stands yesterday, as tobacco advertisements disappeared across Hong Kong in the final phase of the cigarette advertising ban.

But the government said the display boxes could be regarded as advertisements and it would consider prosecution. Both vendors and smokers said the ban would not affect how many cigarette packets they bought or sold.

Tobacco advertisements have been banned in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and public spaces since the 1990s, but newspaper stands and hawkers were exempted until yesterday.

In Causeway Bay, large display boxes equipped with spotlights were observed at almost all newspaper stands. Packets of cigarettes were seen revolving inside the boxes.

Ms Chim, a vendor, said tobacco companies helped her renovate the stand by adding the display boxes, and were still paying her about HK$3,000 a month in "advertising fees", even though her posters and banners had disappeared. But display boxes were not advertisements, she said. "It is not an advertisement if there are no words."

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It is not an advertisement if there are no words.
Ms Chim, a vendor who said tobacco companies helped her renovate her stand by adding display boxes, and were still paying her about HK$3,000 a month in "advertising fees"--even though her posters and banners had been taken down as Hong Kong's final phase of its advertising ban took effect.

Tobacco tax hike in 2010 in cards 

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has flagged a tobacco tax increase as a focal point of tax reforms in fiscal 2010.

"Raising the (tobacco) tax is a step in the right direction," Hatoyama said Friday

His remarks came the same day the government's tax commission finished accepting tax reform proposals for fiscal 2010 from government ministries and agencies.

On Sunday, health minister Akira Nagatsuma stressed the need for a hike in the tobacco tax.

"A pack of cigarettes should be priced in the same range as in European countries, partly because of health problems," he said on TV.

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Mutati warns tobacco farmers over exports  

THE Government has warned farmers, merchants and firms exporting raw tobacco of stringent action if they do not regulate themselves.

Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati said the Government would take action on any company exporting unprocessed tobacco if they do not begin to regulate themselves.

“So we call on you for self-regulation to ensure that you do not export unprocessed tobacco. Let us not export to Malawi and Zimbabwe unprocessed tobacco. Let us do the processing in Zambia,” he said.

His Ministry would be discussing with the ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on the measures the Government would take on those exporting unprocessed tobacco.

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Reynolds American to webcast Investor Day presentations Nov. 16 (PDF) 

Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI) will webcast presentations the company will make to the investment community on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

During the webcast, members of the company’s management team will discuss Reynolds American’s performance and plans. . . .

Web Disclosure

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, RAI’s Web site, www.ReynoldsAmerican.com, will be the primary source of publicly disclosed news about RAI and its operating companies. We will use the Web site as our primary means of distributing quarterly earnings and other company news. We encourage investors and others to register at www.ReynoldsAmerican.com to receive alerts when news about the company has been posted.

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Reliability of self reported smoking status by pregnant women for estimating smoking prevalence: a retrospective, cross sectional study (FULL TEXT) 

In conclusion, reliance on self reporting to measure smoking during pregnancy significantly underestimates the number of pregnant smokers in Scotland, with more than 2400 unrecognised pregnant smokers a year who will not be offered smoking cessation services. Reliance on self reporting resulted in twice as many undetected smokers in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas. Overall, these figures call for more accurate methods of identifying pregnant smokers, especially when such data are used to inform policy and provide patient care.

What is already known on this topic

Self reported smoking during pregnancy is known to be an inaccurate method of identifying smokers Self reported smoking in Scotland is used to generate smoking prevalence and, largely, to target smoking cessation services

What this study adds

Reliance on self reported smoking during pregnancy underestimates the true smoking prevalence in Scotland by 17% Each year in Scotland twice as many pregnant smokers from more deprived areas go undetected compared with pregnant smokers in the least deprived areas Reliance on self reporting results in a failure to detect over 2400 pregnant smokers each year in Scotland who are therefore not offered smoking cessation services

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Anti-Smoking Groups Attack the Electronic Cigarette 

What started as a noble cause with lobbying groups like the American Cancer Society, Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights and Mother's Against Drunk Driving, is now morphing into a multi headed monster as they became a victim of their own success. Both have campaigned and succeeded in getting stricter laws on drunk drivers and smoking which most all of us applaud. They don't seem to be satisfied with just protecting the victims any more. They are now taking aim at personal freedom as they move to control your behavior even when your behavior in public or private is not harmful to anyone else. . . .

Several anti-smoking groups are going after this product to be included in bans instead of embracing it as a better product than tobacco cigarettes. These groups may be following the misguided propaganda being put out by special interest organizations that have an allegiance to the big business of pharmaceuticals and tobacco. The electronic cigarette produces no second-hand combustion smoke because there is no combustion. The tobacco companies don't make e cigarettes and probably don't care much for their existence.

This unconscionable behavior from "people who are supposed to care" makes Kyle Newton, owner of eCigarettesChoice.com, take a step back in disbelief. "I lost my mom, her sister and my grandmother to cigarette related deaths within the last six years. I just wished e cigarettes could have been available a long time ago. If I didn't believe in this product, I wouldn't be so adamant about promoting it."

One organization that shows no particular allegiance to special interest money is Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). In their October 2009 briefing, ASH in the United Kingdom released a favorable position on electronic cigarettes which is the exact opposite position taken by a few the control groups in the United States.

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Cigarette Makers: Burning Hot or Up in Smoke? 

Key Points

* Cigarette industry stocks have been trading higher as they represent a safe haven investment and have been reporting higher profits due to strong pricing power.

* Cigarette volumes have been on the decline amid higher prices and anti-smoking advertising campaigns, which has led to a sharp drop in demand.

* New regulations could inhibit new products from quickly entering the market, but help already-established companies maintain their dominance.

* Eventually, lower volumes will take their toll on bottom-line results as price increases cannot be relied on indefinitely to support net income.

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Philip Morris to Outperform Sector, Poll Says  

Cigarette makers are still struggling, with volumes for the sector declining by about 12% on average in the third quarter.

Still, despite disappointing earnings results over the past two weeks, some companies have nonetheless raised their outlooks.

While TheStreet users are doubtful good news for the sector is imminent, they chose Philip Morris International(PM Quote) as having the most potential for lighting up a sales gain first. It nabbed 44.5% of the vote.

Philip Morris International said that selling cigarettes solely overseas has helped bolster its demand in the third-quarter, with volume slipping just 3%.

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Discarded cigarette butts add up to a huge problem for you, Earth  

Dear EarthTalk: Has anyone ever studied the environmental impact of discarded cigarettes? I'm constantly appalled at the number of drivers I see pitching their butts out their car windows.

- Ned Jordan, via e-mail

It's true that littered cigarette butts are a public nuisance, and not just for aesthetic reasons. The filters on cigarettes - four-fifths of all cigarettes have them -- are made of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic that is very slow to degrade in the environment. A typical cigarette butt can take anywhere from 18 months to 10 years to decompose, depending on environmental conditions.

But beyond the plastic, these filters, which are on cigarettes in the first place to absorb contaminants to prevent them from going into the lungs, contain trace amounts of toxins such as cadmium, arsenic and lead. Thus when smokers discard their butts improperly - out the car window or off the end of a pier or onto the sidewalk below - they are essentially tossing these substances into the environment.

Studies done by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and even the tobacco industry itself show that these contaminants can get into soils and waterways, harm or kill living organisms and generally degrade surrounding ecosystems.

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• Anti-smoking laws being violated  

Smokers violating the law of complete ban on tobacco use at work and public places have still continued this practice in the federal capital. Citizens complained that after withdrawal of Statutory Rules and Orders (SRO), all public and work places have become smoke-free, therefore, smokers should not be allowed smoking or using tobacco in any other form in any public place.

They said individuals and offices are clearly violating the ordinance. They said complete implementation of law would help protect the health of non-smokers and make the smokers abiders of the concerned laws.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier, all public and private offices were allowed to designate a separate place for smokers to smoke within office premises with adequate arrangements to protect the health of non-smokers.

However, such permission was being misused

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Hospital snuffs out smoking 

Smokers beware: As of today, Uniontown Hospital is smoke-free and violators may be prosecuted.

"We are going to be completely smoke-free on our entire medical campus, which includes the block the hospital is on and the medical arts building next to us,'' said Paul Bacharach, hospital president and chief executive officer.

The hospital is taking a stricter position by banning smoking inside and outside, especially at its entrances.

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• Pictoral warnings on cigarette packs watered down 

Pictorial warnings on cigarette packets recently introduced by the government are about to be phased out, reports say. It is its a clear attempt to safe guard the interest of the people involved in the tobacco industry and to keep the governmen'ts crucial vote bank intact.

Initially, there were some gruesome pictures that depicted the worse possible effects of tobacco on the human body. These pictures were first notified by the Health Ministry in July 2006 as pictorial warnings for cigarette and gutka packets. But these pictures were shot down by the Group of Ministers (GoM) as 'objectionable'.

Former Union Labour Minister, Oscar Fernandes said, "If we're talking about making the pictures harsher, we may as well shut down the industry. There are several districts in West Bengal where poor bidi workers earn their livelihood from this."

In a meeting of the GoM chaired by Pranab Mukherjee in July 2007, it was decided that the picture of the dead body be replaced with a 'suitable' one.

The minutes of the meeting available with CNN-IBN show that in the GoM, Pranab Mukharjee said, "A number of representations have been received from the bidi industry that employs a large number of workers from the weaker sections of society. The basic issues raised by the bidi industry relate to the size, colour and obnoxious nature of the pictorial warnings. Keeping this is view, the pictorial warnings may be modified."

The GOM also asked the Health Ministry to consult the Ministry of Law and remove the 'skull and cross bone' as a warning sign.

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