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Premium Cigar Association Opposes Proposed Indiana Smoking Ban  

Rep. Charlie Brown just doesn't get it. Legislated smoking bans are not only unnecessary, they are an affront to the personal rights of smokers and non-smokers, alike, and they cost tax revenues and jobs and result in more failed businesses, says the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. . . .

In response to Brown's claims that smoking bans do not hurt revenue at bars and restaurants, McCalla cited the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis regarding the proven negative effects on businesses from legislated smoking bans.

"The Fed has found that, based on impartial data generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, significant employment declines result from forced smoking bans, especially in bars and restaurants due to lost revenues," he said.

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Lily Allen smokes on stage 

Lily Allen flouted the U.K. smoking ban once again during a gig on Friday - despite suffering from a chest infection.

The singer puffed on a cigarette throughout her show at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England as part of her U.K. tour with rapper Dizzee Rascal.

Allen was forced to apologise for her off-key vocals, telling fans she had been struck down with bronchitis.

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Andy Ostroy: The Presidential Cigarettes 

I find the president's failure to quit smoking fascinating. Obama's a man who's seemingly been able to accomplish in life everything he's wanted, demonstrating unwavering discipline, resolve and ambition. . . .

o quit smoking?

Truth be told, I will never be president. I'm just not smart enough . . . .

But, I did quite smoking 18 years ago, and cold turkey no less. So why can't Obama, a guy who seemingly can do anything he sets his mind to?

The answer is simple: cigarettes are the glue that keeps Obama sane. It's his one major vice. It's how Mr. Cool-as-a-Cucumber keeps from losing it. When Obama lights up a butt, it's not just smoke that gets filtered, but an ungodly amount of negativity and stress heaped on him from two wars, a near economic depression, the burden of health care reform and the looming November midterms, where his far-reaching coattails will likely carry his party to success or failure at the polls. So when he exhales that smoke, he's also exhaling the monumental pressures of the job. Honestly, I think without smoking, this guy cracks.

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Larry Miller: Let the President Smoke 

Are we worried about the president being a good role model? Isn't he a pretty good one already? It doesn't matter whether you like his agenda or not, but here's a guy from a single mother who buckles down and works hard, gets the best education in the world, writes books, becomes a senator and a president and a family man? Any kid, black, white or purple, could do far worse than aiming for all of those.

Besides, I'm sure the President's not smoking two packs a day, or one, or a half. I'm guessing the man just goes off for one or two a day, and what's the big deal about that? He's a grown up, he's responsible, he's successful, he's in a job with a lot of pressure... and he's known to be a great athlete and basketball player who "runs it off" anyway.

I'm sorry, but if stepping outside for one or two butts a day relaxes him, I just don't think it's the worst thing in the world.

And speaking of the world, don't the most important people to us all over the globe already smoke like chimneys anyway?

It's always annoyed me anyway that most politicians all over the country use cigarettes as a "smokescreen" to cover all the other problems they won't touch.

No mayor will ever stop gangs, but they'll sure see to it that kids don't smoke. Every high school has a fifty-foot anti-smoking mural that the students paint themselves -- right before they drop out. They'll be killed, but not from smoking. . . .

Let the man smoke.

Hell, if I thought it would do any good, we should all insist the Congress and Supreme Court join him outside, too.

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EDITORIAL: Smoker in chief 

"It is a testament to the power of tobacco addiction that millions of tobacco users have been unable to overcome their dependence and save themselves from its consequences: perpetual worry, unceasing expense, and compromised health," says a federal treatment guideline.

"Indeed, it is difficult to identify any other condition that presents such a mix of lethality, prevalence, and neglect, despite effective and readily available interventions."

As a president, as a parent, and as a role model for millions of Americans, Obama should head to the nearest ashtray and stub out his habit for good.

Our "yes we can" president needs to prove that, yes, he can stop smoking.

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House Speaker Not Crazy About Cigarette Tax 

The speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, told CBS Atlanta News Friday that he's a reformed smoker, but said that has nothing to do with why he's hesitant about supporting a new cigarette tax.

"If you raise taxes, people are going to quit, which is a good thing," Ralston said. "If we're trying to raise revenue, though, I don't think you raise revenue by raising taxes on a product because then people are going to stop using the product, and you're going to have diminishing revenue."

Ralston's lack of support is stalling the bill.

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D.C. Council Legalizes Cigar-Smoking Events 

The Washington D.C., City Council on Tuesday passed an amendment that will exempt hotels from the current smoking ban and allow them to host a special cigar-smoking event once per year.

Introduced by Councilman Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, the Special Event Exemption Emergency Act of 2010, which passed the council vote by a 10-3 margin, contains language outlining how a hotel can gain an exemption.

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Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) Presents at Citi Investment Research Asia Tobacco Field Trip 

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE / Euronext Paris: PM) announces that Frederic de Wilde, President of Philip Morris Japan, will provide investors with a review of Japan's cigarette market dynamics at the Citi Investment Research Asia Tobacco Field Trip in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, March 8, and that Roman Militsyn, Managing Director of Philip Morris Korea, will provide a similar review of South Korea's cigarette market dynamics on Wednesday, March 10, in Seoul, South Korea.

The presentations may contain projections of future results and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

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DTA Smoking Ordinance Goes Into Effect Sunday 

Starting Sunday people riding buses with the DTA will no longer be able to smoke in bus shelters or transit hubs.

That's when Duluth's new ordinance on the prohibition of smoking inside or within 15 feet of a bus shelter will take effect. The No Smoking Ordinance applies to all city bus shelters and transit hubs including those at UMD and Lake Superior College.

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Candler, St. Joseph's recruiting volunteers to lobby cigarette tax hike 

Candler Hospital is mobilizing its corps of volunteers to lobby an almost-captive audience - patients - to support raising state cigarette taxes.

Paul Hinchey, president and CEO of the company that runs Candler and St. Joseph's hospitals, is giving volunteers $1 bills to attach to their badges.

The crisp new singles represent the amount by which the hospitals want the state to raise the per-pack levy, now 37 cents.

The idea is for the volunteers - about 50 showed up for a meeting Wednesday - to wear the bills as they mingle with patients and visitors.

"I'm hoping that some of them will ask you, 'What is that?"' Hinchey said.

Armed with sheets of facts, figures and talking points aired at the meeting, they can respond, Hinchey said.

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Peterson: Higher cigarette taxes will raise money, boost health 

I read with interest the Feb. 16 opinion column written by John Heavener of the Georgia Retail Association ("Hiking tobacco tax won't help") and I would like to clear the air on some of his statements.

His assertion that higher taxes on tobacco products fail to produce projected revenues is untrue.

In Georgia, since raising the cigarette tax by 23 cents in 2003-04, revenues jumped from $80 million to $216 million and have remained a consistent, reliable stream of revenue for the state.

Other states that have raised their cigarette tax report the same results.

Mr. Heavener's statement that increasing tobacco taxes does not make people quit, that they just do their shopping in another state, is also inaccurate.

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Costrini: Hike tobacco tax, save lives  

I am responding to two recent guest columns regarding Georgia's tobacco tax.

The first by John Heavener, president of the Georgia Retail Association, stated that raising tobacco taxes would not help. The prompt reply by Russ Peterson, an advocate of the American Cancer Society, provided an excellent rebuttal. . . .

In addition to direct health care costs, such as is seen in the care of chronic obstructive airways disease and lung cancer, secondary healthcare costs are phenomenal. This would include the contribution of smoking to systemic vascular disease including coronary artery disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease. Of course other cancers are modified by smoking.

Smoking contributes to the cost of unreimbursed health care and the cost of funded health care programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid. I have not included the nonmedical costs of tobacco, such as lost work productivity ($97 billion per year). Smoking contributes to higher insurance premiums as well. . . .

It's time for all of us to quit smoking and to stop supporting this killer habit. One way to do this is through a painful tax on tobacco. This tax should go directly to health-care support.

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Cancer war’s local front 

MOULTRIE -- Kicking the tobacco habit and shedding some pounds produce benefits beyond cutting the risks of a heart attack or stroke. They also could dramatically reduce the risk of dying of cancer.

Of the more than 562,340 cancer deaths in the United States last year, one-third are the results of tobacco use and an equal amount are attributable to being overweight, Dr. Phillip Roberts, director of the Phoebe Cancer Center told Moultrie Rotary Club members Tuesday.

The high percentage of Southwest Georgians who are obese or overweight and/or use tobacco also are reflected in the cancer deaths. The U.S. average in 2009 was 186.9 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to 193.7 in Colquitt County and 201.9 percent in Dougherty County. Georgia's rate for 2009 was 193 deaths per 100,000 population.

"The extent to which our cancer rates are higher has more to do with our lifestyles than your health care systems," Roberts said. Last year in Georgia there were 14,970 cancer deaths. Of those 4,660 were from lung cancer

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American Cancer Society supports GA tobacco tax 

The ACS held a press conference to announce their formal support for Georgia legislation requiring a $1 tax on tobacco products

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Evansville Considers Smoking Ban as Statewide Ban Dies 

Karla Sneegas is the executive director of Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation.

For the third year in a row, she's watching a statewide smoking ban die in Indianapolis. . . .

Last year Vanderburgh County considered extending its smoking ban to cover all bars and restaurants.

But that measure failed.

Commissioners wanted a combined city-county plan.

Now, the Evansville City Council will look at the same extension Vanderburgh County didn't pass, though Casino Aztar won't be a part of the ban, if it goes through.

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