Tobacco.org

The selling of cigarettes and trendy 'coffin nails'  

What is happening in France has occurred on the other health-conscious side of the Atlantic. The scene of a cigarette dangling from the lips of actress Marlene Dietrich harks back to the days of swinging Hollywood in the 1930s. While there still are many smokers in the US, smoking as a cultural practice has more or less become quaint, old-fashioned and no longer so glamorous as was perceived earlier, according to Allan M. Brandt.

In his book "The Cigarette Century," Brandt traces the ups and downs of the US cigarette industry. As a novelty in the early 1990s, cigarettes weren't the favorite of salesmen, for smoking them was then seen as "dirty and indulgent." However, society's perception of cigarettes quickly shifted to the contrary after the smoking fad spread among soldiers during World War I. . . .

While smoking in much of the more health-conscious West is on the wane, it is a grave issue in China, where roughly one in four people lights up -- Chinese smokers now top 350 million.

The fact that the industry is a money-spinner and big employer has so far insulated it from serious measures to discourage smoking. The cigarette and cigarette smoke have so permeated Chinese culture that eliminating the noxious fumes would require not only stricter laws and law enforcement but also a sweeping cultural change.

In China, packs of cigarettes are presented as gifts during festivals and at wedding banquets; offering a cigarette is often the best way to ingratiate oneself with strangers. If cigarettes remain an integral part of China's social fabric, this nation too will be going up in smoke in its "Cigarette Century."

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• PACKET IN / Smoking crackdown turns cigarette packets grey. 

CIGARETTE firms are to be forced to sell every brand in plain GREY packets to make them less attractive to kids.

They will all have to be in identical boxes, with the brand name shown in just plain text above a big health warning, under new government plans.

Ministers want to ditch the glitzy packaging when laws forcing shopkeepers to keep smokes under the counter come in later this year.

And parents could also be banned from lighting up at home or in their cars when travelling with children.

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Churchill cigar sells for £4,500 at auction in Norfolk 

A half-smoked cigar, abandoned when Sir Winston Churchill dashed away to an urgent wartime Cabinet meeting, has sold at auction for £4,500.

The ex-prime minister's cigar, picked up by a member of the 10 Downing Street staff 69 years ago, had been expected to fetch up to £350. . . .

After picking up the stub, Downing Street valet Nellie Goble grabbed a sheet of 10 Downing Street notepaper and scribbled a note to a friend.

She wrote: "To Jack, with all good wishes from Nellie. Just a small souvenir to remind you at some future date of one of the greatest men that ever lived in England."

"Jack" treasured the letter and cigar until his death in 1987 when it passed to his daughter.

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Altria Misses Zacks Estimates 

Altria Group Inc. (MO) has reported strong fourth quarter 2009 results, with earnings of 35 cents per share, up 6.1% compared to the year-earlier quarter. For full fiscal 2009, earnings were up 4.1% year-over-year to $1.54 per share. Altria's adjusted earnings were up 5.4% to 39 cents in the fourth quarter and up 6.1% to $1.75 for full-year 2009 compared to the prior-year periods.

Adjusted earnings, however, marginally missed the quarterly and fiscal Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and two cents, respectively. Profits were primarily driven by the company's growth in the cigarette and cigar businesses, partially offset by a higher interest expense and higher general corporate expenses versus the prior-year period.

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EDITORIAL: Bill to ban smoking must be resuscitated 

The potential death of Brown's bill comes when the Legislature -- in an apparent move to save money -- is poised to eliminate the state's nationally recognized Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation program. The work of the program, which is federally funded, would be shifted to the Department of Health. Fourteen jobs would be eliminated. Shifting duties of the Prevention and Cessation Board to the Health Department could result in the program becoming less successful.

We no longer are in an era where there should be debate as to whether secondhand smoke is harmful. We positively know it is. Those who choose to work in a restaurant or bar shouldn't be subjected to the smoke. Indiana must get on board with the national movement to ban smoking. It is something we can live with.

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EDITORIAL: Botched ban’s broad scope led to its demise  

We encourage those in the community who are 21 and older to experience the smoking and nonsmoking bars in the Greater Lafayette area and choose for themselves what exemptions should be included in a future bill. You had better believe there'll be another one, and we should be aware of whether it's too restricting or not.

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Brown vows to keep up fight to ban smoking  

Rep. Charlie Brown of Gary says he won't give up on his bill to ban smoking statewide, even if his colleagues continue to water it down with amendments.

"Major pieces of legislation you have to do incrementally," Brown said, "and that's the effort here, just to incrementally nudge, cajole Indiana into the 21st century."

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Director of Public Safety scuttled drug sting at Governor's Residence  

When prison investigators and state troopers learned of a plot to smuggle drugs to an honor inmate working at the Governor's Residence this month, they decided to follow what they called "the normal course of action."

Alerted by monitoring another prisoner's phone calls and letters, authorities planned to lay in wait and make an arrest after the drug drop went down at the Bexley mansion during a small dinner party hosted by Gov. Ted Strickland.

Assistant State Prisons Director Ernie Moore, high-level State Highway Patrol investigators and the governor's executive protection unit signed off on the plan.

However, it was scuttled by a directive from Public Safety Director Cathy Collins-Taylor that patrol Superintendent David Dicken supported and in turn relayed to investigators.

Troopers were dispatched to find the courier -- not to make an arrest, but to warn her to not proceed with her assignment in the plot to sneak drugs into the Pickaway Correctional Institution, case records show.

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DAVICH: Smoking mad over statewide smoking ban opposition  

I'm smoking mad about smoking in public places. Are you, too?

More specifically, I'm mad about the looming death of the bill to ban smoking statewide after last week's fiasco in the General Assembly. . . .

"I can't for the life of me figure out some of the members of my own caucus," Brown said in dismay after the proposed amendments.

I can, Charlie. They're bowing down to political pressure and ignoring the majority of their citizens. Yes, I said majority.

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Woman At Center Of Alleged Drug Deal At Governor's Mansion Explains Ordea 

The woman who was informed by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper that she was under investigation for a drug deal told 10 Investigates on Wednesday that she was told she was getting a "lucky ticket."

Troopers were prepared to break up a drug deal involving inmates who were working at the Governor's Mansion in Bexley, but a sting operation to nab the parties involved never transpired, 10 Investigates reported.

In an exclusive interview with 10 Investigates' Paul Aker, Angela Brofford said that she does not know where the Governor's Mansion is located.

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Tamil Nadu: Anbumani urges Karunanidhi to act tough on smoking ban 

Expressing concern over "increasing trend" of smoking in public places and high sales of cigarette in Tamil Nadu, former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Saturday urged Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to strictly implement the ban in the state.

"There is no proper implementation of cigarette ban in the state which is affecting non-smokers, especially women and children. It is a matter of concern that the ban is not being implemented," Dr. Ramadoss, who had introduced the ban on smoking in public places in 2008, said in a statement here.

While the Government Order had clearly laid out measures including penalty for defaulters and placing announcement boards banning smoking in public, the former health minister alleged that the state government had not taken necessary steps in a "full-fledged way". . . .

Dr. Ramadoss rued that Tamil Nadu constituted 10 per cent of national cigarette sales and urged the chief minister to take all efforts to strictly implement the ban.

There was an "increasing trend" of smoking in public places in the state and it had earned the "dubious distinction" of ranking second in sales of cigarette in the country, only after Andhra Pradesh, he added.

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Smoking kills over 273 persons daily in Pakistan  

As many as 273 persons die daily in Pakistan due to smoking-related diseases, and failure of the government to introduce pictorial warnings on cigarette packets is a contributory factor.

The Network (TN) said this in a statement to highlight the failures of the Pakistani government to implement a decision of May 31, 2009, which was to introduce pictorial health warnings to make people understand the hazards of smoking.

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EDITORIAL: Up in smoke 

According to statistics made public at a seminar in Islamabad, up to 273 people die everyday in the country due to diseases caused by smoking. This is no small number. Over a year it multiplies into thousands. Even those who do not themselves smoke can be affected. The NGO that organised the event has been among those highlighting the government's failure to enforce a decision taken in May last year to include pictorial warnings on cigarette packets about the hazards of smoking. Certainly in a country where illiteracy remains rampant, this could help inform people about the dangers of lighting up. But it is also a fact that other forms of tobacco use are growing without any efforts made to check them.

Today, more and more restaurants offer 'shisha' on their menu. . . .

. According to media reports, college and even school children have taken to 'shisha'. This is a trend we need to educate people about. Tobacco, in all its various forms, presents a health hazard. A campaign against it can save lives and raise awareness about the risks.

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• Defying law, smoking continues unchecked at public places  

KANPUR: Are norms regarding smoking in public places being complied with? Not if one went by the findings of non-governmental organisations. Their survey report finds that around 50 per cent of bars and restaurants are not complying with smoke-free laws. The survey was conducted in 211 indoor places in 16 cities of 12 states. It was found that smoking was taking place in 127 out of the 211 places covered during the study period.

Level of fine particles in places where smoking was observed was found to be 32 times higher than the World Health Organisation air quality guideline for particulate matter in indoor places.

At a district-level advocacy workshop on tobacco control organised on Saturday in association with district tobacco control cell, Kanpur, and NGOs from Lucknow and New Delhi to generate awareness on health hazards due to passive smoking, the data presented a clear picture on how the norms were being flouted.

Ashish Pandey, one of the members of the NGO from New Delhi, informed that the study demonstrated gross violation of smoke-free laws in India and provided evidence that indoor smoking caused exposure to harmful levels of air pollution.

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Altria’s Profit Advances, Helped by UST Acquisition (Update3)  

Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco company, said fourth-quarter profit rose 6.8 percent, bolstered by the acquisition of snuff maker UST Inc.

Net income increased to $725 million, or 35 cents a share, from $679 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier, the Richmond, Virginia-based maker of top-selling Marlboro cigarettes said today in a statement. Excluding some items, earnings were 39 cents, compared with analysts’ projection of 40 cents, the average of 10 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Cigarette shipments fell 11 percent and Marlboro’s share of U.S. smokers dropped after Altria increased prices three times last year. The company started selling a wintergreen flavor of UST’s Copenhagen snuff in November, spurring demand for smokeless tobacco.

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