Tobacco.org

• New law 'offensive' to smokers  

Tough new anti-smoking laws have not filtered down to Cape Town's smokers, who are still puffing away in clubs and pubs.

Amendments to the Tobacco Control Act came into effect on September 4, banning smoking in entertainment areas, including bars, clubs, restaurant patios and walkways, balconies and even in parkades.

The amendments also banned smoking in cars in which children younger than 12 are passengers and put a stop to the sale of products such as sweets and chocolates by cigarette vendors.

While some smokers and restaurant owners claim ignorance of the new laws, others admit that they are aware of the laws and the consequences if caught contravening them.

A snap survey by the Cape Argus showed that many establishments still allow people to puff in walkways and on patios and balconies, while others even allow patrons to smoke indoors.

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• Second-hand smoke testimony banned from fight  

The state judge in charge of deciding whether South Dakota's new smoking ban can be referred to a statewide vote ordered Monday that the American Cancer Society can't call witnesses to testify on the effects of second-hand tobacco smoke.

Circuit Judge Kathleen Trandahl agreed with arguments presented on behalf of four businessmen who led the petition drive last spring to put the ban on the November 2010 ballot.

The cancer society is attempting to show that the ban passed by the Legislature is necessary for the preservation of public health and therefore can't be subject to referendum under a provision of the South Dakota Constitution.

"It is undisputed that the South Dakota Legislature passed HB 1240 without an emergency clause and did not declare HB 1240 to be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health," Judge Trandahl said in her order released Monday.

The judge plans to hear the cancer society's arguments on the public-health issue and the petition sponsors' rebuttals on Nov. 12.

Her decision on whether the ban can be referred will determine in turn whether a trial should proceed on the validity of hundreds of signatures on the referral petitions. The trial would then start later that same day.

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Smoking mums have 'problem kids' 

Smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of having a child with behavioural problems, according to UK and US researchers.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, they say the problems can be evident in children as young as three years old.

They believe smoking in pregnancy may damage the developing structure of the baby's brain.

One expert said it was another strong reason for mothers to give up smoking.

The researchers from the universities of York, Hull and Illinois looked at more than 14,000 mother and child pairs who were taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study.

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Smoking ban, other issues on ballot today  

A partial smoking ban in St. Louis County is one of several area ballot questions to be decided by voters today. The indoor smoking ban would still allow smoking on casino gaming floors and in bars that derive at least 75 percent of their income from alcohol sales. The measure also would effectively apply to the city of St. Louis, because a measure approved by the city Board of Aldermen is dependent on the county vote. Kirkwood voters will decide on a separate smoking ban in that city.

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Smoking lounges on Long Beach council agenda again  

In March, the council instituted a yearlong moratorium on new cigar and hookah lounges so that city staff could refine regulations for the businesses. City health officials and attorneys say they are expecting to have the new ordinance ready this month, but a local smoking opponent is concerned that Uranga's committee meeting may circumvent the health officials' considerations.

Melinda Cotton, of the Coalition for a Smoke-Free Long Beach, said Monday that Uranga's request to have the Economic Development and Finance Committee, of which Uranga is a member, take on the issue appears to be "a total end run" around the Department of Health and Human Services. Uranga calls for the smoking lounge exemptions to go before the committee "for discussion and formulating a recommendation to the City Council," according to the meeting agenda.

"What this appears to do is to put this totally in the hands of the Economic Development and Finance Committee," Cotton said.

Uranga said Monday that isn't the case.

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Delhi University campaign now targets beedi smokers 

The Delhi University Smoke-Free Initiative, after being extended to all DU colleges, has now turned its focus to beedis, as its usage among the youth is increasing.

The primary target of the campaign against beedis, however, would be the non-teaching staff. Beedis were the main agenda in a meeting of nodal officers of the project on October 25.

Every college of the university has a member of the faculty assigned as the nodal officer.

"We'll be targeting karamcharis (workers), who form a significant chunk of the university population. A large number of karamcharis smoke beedis. It has also been noted that rickshaw-pullers, who form the backbone of the DU transport system smoke beedis," said G R Khatri, president, World Lung Foundation (South Asia).

"Nodal officers have been asked to educate smokers that beedis are no less harmful than cigarettes," said Khatri.

"Cutting the source rather than a smoking ban is the aim of the project; and we have been largely successful in doing so. We'll discourage non-teaching staff from smoking on campus," said St Stephen's nodal officer Pankaj Misra.

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• GENERAL ELECTION FOR INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY (PDF) 

ST LOUIS COUNTY

PROPOSITION N

SIMPLE MAJORITY

REQUIRED

Shall the Revised Ordinances of St. Louis County be amended by enacting and adding thereto a prohibition of smoking in enclosed public places in St. Louis County, all as set forth in Exhibit A of Ordinance No. 24,105 on file with the St. Louis County Administrative Director and the St. Louis County Board of Election Commissioners?

YES NO

EXCERPT

CITY OF KIRKWOOD

PROPOSITION 1

SIMPLE MAJORITY

REQUIRED

Shall the city of Kirkwood prohibit smoking in enclosed places of employment and enclosed public places for the purpose of reducing workers and citizens exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke?

YES NO

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Smoking ban headlines ballot in Tuesday's election 

One of the biggest issues on the ballot is Proposition "N," which would enact a limited smoking ban in St. Louis County. If it passes a St. Louis city smoking ban will go into effect.

Another issues on the St. Louis County ballot is Preposition "e-911." If passed, it would create a one-tenth of-a-cent sales tax to improve emergency responder radio communications.

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• State auditor critical of Golden LEAF Foundation 

A foundation that distributes North Carolina's tobacco settlement money broke the law by approving a $15 million grant behind closed doors, State Auditor Beth Wood said Monday.

In a report, Wood accused the Golden LEAF Foundation of repeatedly restricting and delaying her access to records of the foundation's meetings and investments.

That is worrisome, Wood said.

State lawmakers set up Golden LEAF, which stands for the Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation, in 1999 to manage the proceeds of a historic settlement with cigarette makers.

The Rocky Mount-based foundation has received $706.5 million

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Man who died in duplex fire identified  

Olathe authorities have identified James W. Marconet as the man who died in Saturday night's duplex fire.

Marconet, 74, died from injuries he suffered in a fire caused by smoking while using home medical oxygen.

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KSU bans smoking on campus 

Smokers lighting up a cigarette on the King Saud University (KSU) main campus in Riyadh may end up puffing away a fine of SR500. The cash penalty has come as part of the smoke-free university campaign the university launched on Sunday. The new law prohibits smoking on campus at any time, applying to all university students and staff. Smokers found polluting the campus for the first time will be warned in writing and referred to the Anti-smoking Clinic if willing to quit the habit.

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Why Do So Many Baseball Players Chew Tobacco? 

Have baseball players always used smokeless tobacco?

Yes. In the mid-19th century—baseball's formative years—chewing tobacco was enormously popular in the United States. Early ballplayers likely chewed tobacco for the same reasons as other American men, but they soon discovered baseball-specific benefits. It spurs saliva production and lubricates the mouth in the dusty infield environment. When fielding gloves came into vogue in the 1870s and 1880s, players moistened the leather with spit. Pitchers used the juice from a chaw to prepare the notorious spitball, which was widely permitted until 1920.

It's not surprising that chewing tobacco has become identified with baseball. Both pastimes came of age when America was

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• Tokyo considers raising cigarette tax, in threat to Japan Tobacco  

Japan's new administration is considering raising cigarette taxes to European levels to help pay for an ambitious domestic spending plan, in a potential threat to partially state-owned Japan Tobacco Inc.

Shares of Japan Tobacco—the world's third largest cigarette company by sales volume, after Altria Group Inc. of the U.S. and British American Tobacco PLC of the U.K.—fell more than 4% Monday before recovering and ending down 0.9% to 254,300 yen, or $2,824.93.

The sharp moves followed comments Sunday by a top Japanese health official during a television interview that raised the possibility of the tax increase.

"Tobacco poses health problems. It may be necessary to raise [the tobacco tax] to the levels in Europe," said Akira Nagatsuma, minister of health, labor and welfare.

The health ministry already has asked the government's tax panel to increase the tobacco tax as part of tax reforms for fiscal 2010.

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• Smoking while pregnant linked to behavioural problems in children  

Smoking during pregnancy significantly increases the risk of having a child with behavioural problems, according to research published today. Disturbances can manifest themselves in children as young as three years old, the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health claims.

The findings are based on more than 14,000 mother-and-child pairs drawn from the millennium cohort study, a population-based study of children born between 2000 and 2001 whose families are receiving child benefit.

The research was carried out by Professor Kate Pickett, at the department of health sciences at Hull York medical school, University of York.

Mothers, who were categorised as light or heavy smokers, depending on how many cigarettes they smoked every day during pregnancy, were asked to score their children's behaviour.

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Smoking charge questioned for Newport News man  

NEWPORT NEWS - The good news for Jarry K. Ratliff is that he might avoid the $25 fine he faces for smoking in a local McDonald's last week.

The bad news? He still faces armed robbery, abduction and gun charges that could land him in prison for a long time.

Ratliff, 27, a McDonald's employee, was discovered as a fugitive Oct. 26. That came after a Newport News police officer at the drive-through of McDonald's, on Jefferson Avenue in Denbigh, spotted Ratliff lighting up a cigarette inside.

In issuing Ratliff a smoking summons, Officer Matthew Andreoli and Sgt. Daniel Butler ran Ratliff's name through a national database of fugitives, finding he was wanted in an armed robbery outside a Norfolk motel in 2004.

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