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Norquist asks Mass. lawmakers to reject tax hikes  

Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist called on Massachusetts lawmakers to reject what he termed "lifestyle tax increases" proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick, saying hikes in taxes on tobacco products and soda would hurt the state's economy while doing little to encourage healthier habits.

Norquist, a Massachusetts native who heads Americans for Tax Reform, recently sent a pair of letters to members of the state House of Representatives and Senate, who will be considering the proposed tax increases as part of a $32 billion state budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

"As you work through the budget process, I encourage you to focus on cutting the fat in government, rather than trying to control the personal choices of your constituents through misguided lifestyle taxes," he wrote.

Patrick has proposed hiking the cigarette tax 50 cents from $2.51 to $3.01 per pack and doubling taxes on smokeless tobacco, cigars and other tobacco products. The increase is expected to generate $73 million in revenue that would be used to help offset the cost of a recent ruling by the state's high court that legal, non-citizen immigrants are eligible to enroll in Commonwealth Care, the state's subsidized health insurance plan.

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MWCC Looks to Enforce Smoking Policy 

This past year Salem State, Northern Essex Community College, Bristol Community College and some of the other statewide community colleges went to a totally smoke free policy. The Mount is not a smoke free campus, even though as one enters the main gates a large sign reads that it is. Why is this and what’s being done about the current policies?

In September 2011 President Daniel Asquino and Ann McDonald, the Executive Vice President of Mount Wachusett Community College, were joined by the director of Human Resources and the Chief of Police to discuss implementing a bona fide smoke free campus policy. Some of the signs on campus read that this is a smoke free campus, but in reality it currently is not.

The subject of a smoke free college is now being formally reevaluated. Ann McDonald, the Executive Vice President of Mount Wachusett Community College, and others are working on reviewing the MWCC smoking policy. This executive team is negotiating with employees and the faculty union, with an eye towards implementing a change beginning the fall 2012 school year.

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Former Ashland Police officer wants smoking complaint reopened  

A former Ashland Police officer said yesterday that he has asked the department to re-open a 2009 complaint that accuses union president Greg Fawkes with smoking a cigar, a fireable offense. . . .

The complaint against Fawkes, which was filed by retired Ashland officer Charles Garbarino and is accompanied by photos, alleges that Fawkes and other officers smoked cigars at a Hyannis clambake on May 27, 2009.

Under Massachusetts General Law (Chapter 41, Section 101a), police officers and firefighters hired after 1988 may be fired for smoking any type of tobacco product.

Garbarino said yesterday that he resubmitted a request to Police Chief Scott Rohmer on Jan. 31 that the 2009 complaint be re-opened.

"This problem that's going on now could have been taken care of in 2009," Garbarino said.

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No punishment for cigarette violations in Ashland  

Two local gas stations that sold cigarettes to minors last year faced the Board of Health Tuesday night, but left with virtually no punishment for the violations.

That is because the Board of Health only two weeks ago found out that the Marathon Mobil on West Union Street and Shell Station on Union Street sold cigarettes to minors in September.

"I just wish we had known in September," Board of Health Chairman Leslie Githens said.

The board two weeks ago learned the results of a federal Food and Drug Administration sting operation, members said Tuesday night.

As a result, officials missed the 10-day window to fine the gas stations.

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Saugus board hears e-cigarettes backer 

An advocate for electronic cigarettes spoke to the Saugus Board of Health Monday night, to plead her case that e-cigarettes should not be banned for public use.

Karen Carey of the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association, said she had been a pack-a-day smoker for 36 years before finally quitting after trying an e-cigarette.

"Overnight I became a non-smoker," said Carey. "I have not smoked a cigarette since Aug. 7, 2010, which is the day I bought my first e-cigarette kit. Now whenever someone lights a cigarette I want to leave the room."

An e-cigarette is a nicotine delivery product that reproduces the act of smoking, but the user inhales a mist from a small vial of heated "e-liquid," placed in cigarette-shaped device.

The Board of Health has been meeting with Joyce Redford of the North Shore/Cape Ann Tobacco Alcohol Policy Program to update its tobacco policy to include e-cigarettes. If passed, the new policy would ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors under 18 and ban them from being used in public.

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• Gov. Patrick, anti-tobacco lobby refute Norquist’s claims on taxes 

Grover Norquist, the national anti-tax advocate whose no-new-taxes pledges have infuriated the left and captivated the right, trained fire on Gov. Deval Patrick this week, calling his recently unveiled proposal to raise the state cigarette tax a job-killer and as likely to worsen smoking problems as it is to solve them.

"A particularly misguided aspect of the governor's executive budget is the bevy of lifestyle tax increases that will adversely impact the state's economy, hurt small businesses, and frankly, serve as a unnecessary annoyance that Bay State residents will remember as they head to the voting booths later this year," Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, wrote in a recent letter to Bay State lawmakers.

Patrick batted back the assertion Monday, telling reporters that his tax proposals are sound and well-supported by Massachusetts residents.

"I know of Grover's longstanding opposition to any tax and how much evidence there is to refute claims just like that," he said before a State House meeting with legislative leaders. "We've made these proposals before. We're making them now because they're reasonable, they're very popular among the general public and they help us deal with the cost of public health and other kinds of services that people need."

Patrick's gentle rebuke of Norquist comes six months after the governor blasted him in a Washington Post op-ed, calling him "the brain and able spokesman for the radical right" and labeling his anti-tax pledge a "gimmick."

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Mass. smokers cough up more for pack of cigarettes under proposed tax hike 

Bay State residents would have to pay an extra 50 cents in taxes for cigarettes under Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal that would help generate $260 million in revenue for the Commonwealth’s new budget.

Massachusetts currently has a $2.51 tax on each pack of cigarettes, so the proposed law would increase the tax to $3.01. The last tax hike came in 2008 when the Legislature increased the tax from $1.51 to $2.51 per pack.

Senate President Therese Murray, who would help determine if a cigarette tax increase passes once initiated, declined to comment to The Daily Free Press on Monday.

“The Senate can’t initiate a tax,” she said in an interview with The Boston Herald. “We’ll see what the House does as they prepare their budget.”

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Cigarette rolling machine controversy 

A controversial new machine is popping up in Bay State stores and it helps smokers roll their own cigarettes and makes lighting up a whole lot cheaper.

A pack of cigarettes goes for nearly $10, with roughly $2.50 in state taxes. The new "roll your own" machines eliminate the state tax. A carton of hand-rolled cigarettes costs one-third of the price of manufactured ones.

People FOX 25 spoke to stand on both sides of the issue.

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Tobacco ban in Pittsfield may broaden  

City health officials are considering a ban on tobacco sales at stores with pharmacies, one of several proposals aimed at keeping youths from buying cigarettes and other tobacco-related products.

The Board of Health is reviewing the potential revisions to its tobacco control regulations, put forth by Tri-Town Health Department director James J. Wilusz. The board will further discuss the changes at its March meeting and eventually at a public hearing before taking a vote, according to Dr. Philip Adamo, chairman of the five-member panel.

Tri-Town, the primary public health agency for Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge, administers the state-funded, local tobacco awareness program to nine other communities, including Pittsfield, North Adams and Great Barrington. Aside from Pittsfield and North Adams, the four other municipalities will formally receive the proposed revisions to their tobacco regulations over the next two months, according to Wilusz.

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Plastic Surgeon Cautions Against Smoking Before Surgery - 

Concerned about studies that indicate a link between smoking and complications during and after breast augmentation, Boston, MA area plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Tantillo is urging women to kick their cigarette habits prior to surgical procedures. He's so concerned, in fact, that he's using Facebook to spread the word about the connection between smoking and surgical complications.

"Despite so many studies showing the risks of smoking, it's still a widespread habit," Dr. Tantillo says. "Many people do not even know about the potential affect it can have on surgery. To help spread the word on the risks of smoking when it comes to surgical procedures, I decided to use my Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/MichaelTantilloMD?v=wall) to call attention to an ABC News report on the correlation between cigarettes and surgical complications.

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Davis Malm Congratulates Michael D. Weisman on Lawyers Weekly "2011 Lawyer of the Year" Honor 

The Boston law firm of Davis, Malm & D'Agostine, P.C. is pleased to announce that Michael D. Weisman has been named a "2011 Lawyer of the Year" by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, the leading legal publication in the state. Mr. Weisman was recognized in the January 2 edition for his representation of Marie Evans in the precedent-setting case of Evans v. Lorillard Tobacco Company. Ms. Evans, an African American woman who smoked for 40 years, died of lung cancer in 2002. At the age of nine, she began receiving free cigarettes handed out by Lorillard Tobacco Company at a Roxbury playground. Mr. Weisman and his team at Davis Malm won a landmark victory of $152 million (later reduced to $116 million plus interest) for the estate of Marie Evans and her son, Willie Evans. This was the largest award in Massachusetts and third largest in the country in 2010.

In 2011, the Court also ruled that Lorillard violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (Chapter 93A) and entered a judgment of attorneys' fees and costs in excess of $2 million. The judgment noted the "exemplary skill, advocacy, and work ethic" of the plaintiff's attorneys.

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HCC students respond to smoking ban  

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - The air will soon be a little clearer at Holyoke Community College. College President, William Messner announced the school will be a smoke free campus starting August 13. On that day, smoking will no longer be permitted in any building or outdoor area on the 135 acre campus.

HCC will also provide resources and education for students who want to quit smoking but students say the transition may be difficult. "I think most people will be upset with it but I'm excited to see how it goes about changing," said Justin Mateos.

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KIRBY: Ten years later, we're healthier  

Ten years ago, one of the hottest issues in the Attleboro area was smoke bans.

The Norton Board of Health led the way, voting 10 years ago next month to become the area's first community to ban the use of tobacco in workplaces, bars and restaurants. Wrentham, Norfolk, Plainville and North Attleboro followed suit later in the year.

Other communities, including Attleboro, took a slightly different approach, prohibiting children from entering a restaurant where smoking was allowed.

Smoke bans seemed like a radical idea at the time. . . .

But common sense won out. There really is no way to escape the cloud of second-hand cigarette smoke. More and more communities prohibited smoking until, in July 2004, Massachusetts ended the patchwork enforcement by imposing a statewide ban on smoking. . . .

In retrospect, why were there such protests? How could the public have not seen that smoking should not be allowed in public? We're never going back on this issue.

And this is not just a Massachusetts thing. As of the end of 2011, 27 states encompassing roughly half of America's population of more than 300 million people had complete smoking bans. Nearly 80 percent of Americans live in states with at least some smoking restrictions.

In my view, this is one of our society's greatest signs of progress. While I still see too much smoking - especially among young people - tobacco use in general is down, and illnesses related to second-hand smoke are diminishing.

Ten years later, we are healthier.

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Proposed state budget aims to smoke out aid through 'sin taxes'  

Cigarettes, soda and candy are again the target of proposed tax increases.

If the fiscal 2013 budget proposed last week by Gov. Deval Patrick is approved, cigarettes, soda, candy, cigars and smokeless tobacco would all be taxed at higher levels.

In Fall River, many smokers said the tax increase of 50 cents per pack -- a so-called sin tax -- would at least make them think of cutting back or switching to a cheaper brand, if not offer another incentive to quit altogether.

"It would irritate me to the point where I might just quit," said 18-year-old Rebecca Roderiques, who bought a pack of Pyramid cigarettes -- the cheapest offered at Sunny's Convenience on North Main Street -- for $5.65 a pack.

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Editorial: Smoke-free decision a breath of fresh air for HCC campus -- and there's no butts about it 

Hip, hip hooray for Holyoke Community College for expanding its ban on smoking to outside walkways and courtyards.

As the spring semester got under way this week, HCC President William F. Messner announced smoking will be banned everywhere on campus beginning Aug. 13.

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