Tobacco.org

• Little Rock Housing Authority makes Cumberland Towers smoke free  

A new year usually means new resolutions for many people. And for the tenants of Little Rock's Cumberland Towers, if it includes quitting smoking, the housing authority is trying to help them. The city announced the no-smoking policy for the apartment complex on Friday.

They say the move is to promote a healthy and productive lifestyle for their tenants but the initiative is not sitting well with some of the community members. A few times since she started smoking 44 years ago, Julie McCoy has tried and tried to quit and as always she's found that it's easier said than done. But a smoking ban by her landlord wasn't exactly what she was expecting to snap her into quitting. "They could have given us a longer notice; which people could have made changes and whatever," McCoy said.

About 28 of her neighbors at Cumberland Towers are smokers. The smoke-free rule, for now, means they have to go 50ft off the property to light up or huddle under a temporary tent until a smoking gazebo is built in three months.

Jump to full article »

Little Rock Housing Authority begins smoking ban at 1 of 3 city-run apartment complexes  

The Little Rock Housing Authority has banned smoking at one of three city-run apartment complexes as part of a plan to make all of its properties smoke-free by 2012.

The ban on smoking at Cumberland Towers in downtown Little Rock began Friday, and similar bans at Parris Towers and Powell Towers will go into effect in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Jump to full article »

LR housing project told to quit smoking ($$) 

A new sign greet residents at the front door of Cumberland Towers on Friday announcing that Little Rock Housing Authority is starting a new smoke free initiative for Cumberland Towers which is the first property in the LRHA to start the new no smoking policy.

Shirley Dorn knows she should stop smoking.

Jump to full article »

VIDEO: NY stores strict with tobacco law  

The State Health Department is giving high marks to stores for strictly enforcing New York's tobacco law.

A new report said 92% of stores that sell tobacco have not been caught selling it to customers under 18.

Jump to full article »

Will The Anti-Smoking Backlash Bring Smoking Back Indoors This Decade?  

as Douglas Quenqua of the New York Times notes, New Yorkers are already ignoring the bans, smoking in establishments where the owners give them the opportunity to . . .

As a non-smoker, I don't miss the smoking option in bars at all. I don't miss the smell of smoke in my hair or on my clothes or the secondhand floating through my lungs. But as much as I hate smoking (ask my dad, who has been dealing with my Ramona Quimby-esque antics to get him to quit since approximately 1987), I'm not sure the bans will last forever, or that anyone should be surprised if they ultimately fail. Cigarettes are really the issue, and as long as people are still buying them (and companies are still making billions off of them), they'll surely find a way to smoke them where they please.

Jump to full article »

VIDEO: Smokers Huffing Over New Cigarette Law  

From now on, any cigarette sold in the state must meet so-called "fire safe" standards, which will stop cigarettes from burning and hopefully prevent fires.

Safety officials are all happy about it, but not all smokers are on board.

"The flavor got less and less and less," said Cecilia, a smoker and employee at Pipe Dreams tobacco shop. "Whatever they saturate it with is terrible."

The cigarettes are marked with "FSC" for Fire Standards Compliant.

Jump to full article »

Fire Safe Cigarettes in South Carolina Starting January 1st 

Whether you buy them by the pack or by the carton, there is a small difference on the box signaling a big change inside.

"They have bands in the paper that cause the cigarette to go out if it's not actually being smoked," Steve Owens of Tobacco World says. "All cigarettes from here on out will be produced with these bands in them."

The new cigarette law went into effect January 1, 2010, orginally passed by the state legislature back in 2008.

Jump to full article »

'Fire-safe' cigarettes required by Florida law today 

A 75-year-old Korean War veteran from Largo calls out desperately to his wife in the next room. His back is on fire and smoke is filling the room. . . .

It's a story all too common for firefighters -- beds, rooms, couches engulfed by the smoldering embers of a dropped cigarette.

A new Florida law aims to end that trend. Starting today, any cigarette sold in the state is required to meet so-called "fire-safe" standards -- a construction that slows down its burn rate and, when not puffed, causes it to self-extinguish.

While smokers may not like the bother of lighting and re-lighting their 3-inch tobacco sticks when they burn out, it's no surprise local fire safety officials welcome the change.

Jump to full article »

VIDEO: New Cigarette Law Going into Effect  

All cigarette manufacturers will start the new year with new guidelines in Michigan. Under legislation approved by Governor Granholm, the companies can only sell fire safe cigarettes to Michigan retailers. The regulations have some people fuming. The shelves at Smokey Joe's tobacco shop are already full of fire safe cigarettes before Michigan's new cigarette law goes into effect, but staff are not happy about the change.

Jump to full article »

NC Restaurants Become Smoke Free On Saturday  

Two new laws designed to help smokers put out their cigarettes are among more than 30 taking effect in North Carolina as the new year begins.

A ban on smoking in the state's restaurants and bars begins early Saturday morning. Smokers could face $50 fines and restaurants $200-a-day penalties for ignoring the law.

Smokers at Buffalo Wild Wings in High Point Friday said they don't mind having to go outside to light up.

Non-smokers said they were looking forward to the clean air when they go out. . . .

On Friday, cigarette makers must sell only "fire-safe" cigarettes, which use a different paper that are more likely to self-extinguish if not actively smoked.

Jump to full article »

Court says Ohio can use $258M in tobacco fund for other purposes  

A state appeals court yesterday said Ohio can confiscate some $258 million in tobacco settlement funds it had initially set aside nearly a decade ago exclusively for anti-smoking programs.

The decision, which continues to protect the funds pending another possible appeal, overturned a Franklin County Common Pleas Court ruling preventing the state from taking the money for other purposes. Gov. Ted Strickland applauded the decision. If allowed to stand, the lower court ruling would have left a gaping hole in the state's current budget.

"Today's unanimous ruling by the 10th District Court of Appeals reaffirms our position that it is within the authority of the governor and general assembly to appropriate and expend state resources in line with the state's funding priorities," he said. "Among those priorities are providing access to children's health care and critical health services for adult Ohioans.''

A three-judge panel of the Columbus-based 10th District Court of Appeals unanimously disagreed with the lower court's contention that the state had created an irrevocable trust that even it could not break

Jump to full article »

Deadline approaches for sale of 'fire safe' cigarettes 

As of Jan. 1, 2010, all cigarettes sold in Texas must be certified fire standard compliant. All FSC cigarettes will be marked near the Universal Product Code with the letters FSC. Any manufacturer, wholesaler/distributor, or retailer who knowingly sells or offers for sale non-FSC cigarettes may be subject to a fine of up to $100 per pack.

Fire standard compliant, or "fire safe," cigarettes are designed to self-extinguish if they are left unattended or not actively being smoked.

Governor Rick Perry signed House Bill 2935 into law in June 2007, which required all cigarettes sold in Texas be certified fire standard compliant by Jan. 1, 2009. Enforcement of the fire-safe cigarette law will begin on Jan. 1, 2010.

Jump to full article »

Smokers fuming over ‘fire-safe’ cigarettes 

Starting Friday, a new law takes effect that will require Michigan cigarette manufacturers to only sell fire-safe cigarettes. The new regulation has many smokers and convenience store owners up in arms. . . .

But local convenience store owners say their customers have been complaining about the new cigarettes.

John and Kristi Archer, owners of Belle Plaza Party Store in Niles, say they have been selling only fire-safe cigarettes since October, and their customers have been griping about the taste.

"They are designed that if you put it in an ash tray it goes out," John said. "But from everything I've heard, everybody's complaining about it."

The Archers say they have lost a little business since the FSC cigarettes were introduced.

Jump to full article »

New cigarette law goes in the books Friday  

Among new laws taking effect in Arkansas on Friday is one that will require retailers in the state to sell only “fire-safe” cigarettes.

According to an article by the Associated Press, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia are among other states putting similar laws on the books.

While companies like Philip Morris USA deny the inclusion of new ingredients in the new fire-safe cigarettes, smokers have found problems with them.

Conway’s Tobacco Superstore manager Kristen Stapleton said several customers have complained. According to Stapleton, customers have left the store unhappily in search of unregulated cigarettes. While the stock still includes some nonregulated cigarettes, all products received after Friday will be compliant.

Jump to full article »

Official: Cigarette lighting started Detroit hotel blaze that killed 2  

The deadly fire that ripped through a residential hotel in Midtown on New Year's Eve was caused by a drunken man who used a lit piece of paper to light a cigarette, Detroit Fire Department officials said Friday.

"He was trying to light his cigarette and chose the wrong way to light it," Fire Capt. Steve Varnas said. "It's ridiculous a place like that is burned. ... He should've been paying attention more."

Investigators said the resident of the Huntington Hotel, on the 100 block of West Alexandrine, had dropped the burning paper onto his sheets about 8:30 p.m. The bed caught fire, and then flames spread down the hall when he opened the door to yell for help.

"He's lucky to be alive," Varnas said. Two other residents died Thursday night, fire officials said.

Varnas said another person is in critical condition at a hospital. One firefighter suffered second-degree burns, and a second one was hospitalized with back pain.

Fire officials also are looking for an elderly wheelchair-bound woman who hasn't been accounted for . . .

Varnas said 49 people lived in the building

Jump to full article »