Tobacco.org

In war on smoking, he's weapon  

A teenager just shy of his 17th birthday and trying to buy cigarettes in a police sting was turned away at several stores until he finally bought a pack of Marlboros at a newly-owned convenience store downtown.

The youthful looking teen, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, bought the $7 pack of cigarettes Friday morning from a clerk about the same age at the Town Market on North Washington Street.

It turns out the clerk was working his first day for his father, and just learned a tough lesson in business.

"I just invested $100,000 in this business, and I'm not going to risk it for a 50-cent profit on a pack of cigarettes," said owner Mahmoud Barq, who opened the store six months ago.

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Tewksbury throws fuel on smoke-ban fire  

If you're a smoker, you better think twice about lighting up anywhere near a school building or school-sponsored event.

School officials and the Board of Health are more serious than ever about enforcing the district's no-smoking policy and are now taking strong measures to expand and enforce the existing policy to curb underage tobacco use and the spread of second-hand smoke.

Voting unanimously last night, the School Committee approved the final draft of a revised policy that will tie monetary penalties with smoking-cessation programs and disciplinary measures that increase with each offense.

The policy will now affect any individual -- regardless of whether they are a student, school employee or visitor -- who enters school property or attends a school event.

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State hails anti-smoking program - Boston Business Journal: 

A state anti-smoking campaign has helped 33,000 smokers who use the state's medicaid program to quit, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Health officials are hailing the development as the first significant drop in smoking rates within that demographic to date.

Since the MassHealth tobacco cessation benefit was established in 2006, the number of MassHealth members who smoke has dropped by 26 percent. In the 12 months prior to the benefit going into effect, the smoking rate among MassHealth members was 38.3 percent, more than twice as high as the rate for the general population.

The percentage fell to 28.3 percent in 2008. Researchers found a smaller decrease in the smoking rate for other low income groups that did not have MassHealth coverage.

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GREELEY: Here’s the point: Make no mistake – smoking is bad for you 

Over 30 years ago, the old Central School in Halifax housed five classrooms of first-, second -, and third-grade students. Different subjects were taught in different classrooms, much like middle and high school. During homeroom one morning, Mrs. Martin told 30 sleepy children something that stands true to this day: "Smoking is bad for you." . . .

Here's the point: Expressed acknowledgment by the proprietor of a business to his employees and customers that smoking will be allowed in the establishment is sufficient information needed for those adults to make the decision as to whether they wish to remain in that establishment. . . .

If people would still walk into the establishment, be they employees or customers, then the problem isn't as big as the government says it is. If fewer people would walk in, then the business would start to fail.

Federal taxes on cigarettes will be raised another 61 cents. Boston is making it illegal to smoke cigars in cigar bars. A restaurant in Halifax spent thousands of dollars to renovate its building to accommodate their patrons who smoke, only to have to move its business to another building after a total smoking ban went into effect.

None of these actions by government allow people who smoke to freely assemble with other people who don't mind when they are smoking.

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Smoking ban would affect businesses in opposite ways  

Summer's a time when families head to Goodies Ice Cream in Danvers Square, sit outside and enjoy a tasty treat.

It's also a time when tempers flare between those eating ice cream and those smoking cigars and cigarettes next door in front of Cigars "R" Us.

A thin metal grate is all that separates outdoor patrons of both businesses, at 46 and 48 Maple St., respectively. The sweet odor of tobacco fills the air while Goodies customers eat.

"It's my favorite place to come and relax with our kids, and it's stinky," Kelly Goddard of Danvers said.

That awkward dynamic is exactly what state Rep. Ted Speliotis is trying to address with a bill that would ban smoking within 25 feet of doors and windows of public buildings, including offices, restaurants and bars.

"The real issue is the ability for people to walk on by and not be harassed by smoke," the Danvers Democrat said.

"People have been complaining and people have asked for help," Speliotis said, "and my constituents have asked for help in this matter."

Not everyone is buying it.

"I think it's not right," said Cigars "R" Us customer Maurizio Cotti of Topsfield. "You can't smoke inside, you can't smoke outside. Why sell cigarettes? ... Where are you going to smoke, in the middle of the street?"

At Goodies with her 3 1/2-year-old niece, Emily, Goddard said she could sympathize, though she supports the ban.

"I was a smoker at one point," she said. "You hate to have people feel like a leper, but you should also be respectful because people don't want to breathe it in. It's dangerous."

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EDITORIAL: Don’t push smokers into neighborhoods  

Rep. Ted Speliotis of Danvers has filed a bill that would ban smoking within 25 feet of entrances and windows of public places. Speliotis said this would better protect the public from secondhand smoke.

But if you push smokers too far away from where they are eating or drinking, you could push them into residential areas, which would be a worse result. . . .

Some bar and restaurant owners are claiming that any more restrictions on their patrons will hurt business, but they always say that. When the law banning indoor smoking in workplaces, including bars and restaurants, was passed five years ago, they claimed it would put some of them out of business. No such thing happened. In fact, there is evidence that it helped businesses because people who avoided smoke were able to go into any bar or restaurant and not worry about smelling like smoke or, worse, breathing in secondhand smoke.

Good businesses should work with their neighbors to make life easier for all concerned. We don’t need any new laws to protect the public in this case. We just need common sense, good business sense and more consideration from smokers.

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Proposed law has smokers feeling put out  

A 2004 statewide ban on indoor smoking sent smokers scurrying into parking lots and out onto sidewalks. A bill recently filed by state Rep. Ted Speliotis D-Danvers would ban smoking within 25 feet of the entrances and windows for public buildings.

On South Main Street, during daylight hours, smokers puff on sidewalks or stand together in the small shaded area next to the Cherry & Webb Building.

"I think it's silly," said Courtney Luti, 23, of Seekonk, a student at nearby Coastal Careers. "I'm not going to walk down the street to smoke a cigarette.

"We get here at 8:30 in the morning and we leave at 2:30, so I don't think that it's fair."

"So we can't smoke anywhere in Fall River?" said Fall River resident Kendra Cabeceiras, 22, smoking a cigarette next to Luti.

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Massachusetts Reaches Tipping Point Says IPCPR and State Tobacconists 

Apparently State Rep. Ted Speliotis doesn't believe Massachusetts has gone far enough to control the lives of its citizens, but the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association and its several dozen members statewide believe that the tipping point of public opinion has been reached against legislated deprivation of their individual rights. Speliotis' bill to essentially ban smoking within 25 feet of windows and entrances of buildings is expected to be reviewed this week at a State House hearing.

People are complaining today that governments at all levels have gone too far by intruding on their lives and taking away more and more of their rights

Well, a smoking ban such as proposed by Speliotis only serves to embolden legislators to deprive more and more people of their rights in an ever widening variety of categories . That's why smokers and non-smokers alike should take a stand against legislated smoking bans of any kind.

What hypocrisy! Many of the same state and federal legislators who vote for smoking bans or over-the-top tax increases on tobacco enjoy cigars and pipes or smoke cigarettes whenever they get a chance.

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Proposal Would Impose Outdoor Smoking Limits 

A new proposal on Beacon Hill could mean changes to where smokers can light up even if they're puffing outside.

Currently in Massachusetts, smokers are prohibited from smoking inside public buildings. The new proposal calls for smokers to stay 25 feet away from a door, window or ventilation system.

Reaction to the proposal is mixed.

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Advocate says war on cigarettes a bid to alienate low-income people 

Smokers cast outdoors to huddle like puffing pariahs would be forced to stand another 25 feet away from workplaces and public buildings under a proposed law.

State Rep. Ted Speliotis' bill will be taken up by the Joint Committee on Public Health at a State House hearing tomorrow morning.

Pro-tobacco advocate Stephen Helfer, 62, an assistant librarian at Harvard Law School and host of "The Smoking Section" on Cambridge Community Television, said yesterday it's government's "progressive effort to alienate and ostracize smokers" that's becoming the real bad habit.

"Smokers are seen somehow as second-class citizens, somehow dirty and unworthy of respect and consideration," said Helfer, who smokes 10 cigarettes a day in addition to a pipe. "Yes, it does hurt my feelings. It makes it difficult for me to socialize. The question is, how far do you go to handicap your fellow citizen?"

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Tobacco Talk: Helping Veterans Kick the Habit  

Richard T. McCarthy, veterans' service officer for the city of North Adams, is all too familiar with the reasons why so many veterans smoke.

A Vietnam-era vet, McCarthy served in the Army Airborne. He told me that, for every hour of training, they'd get a 10-minute break and the order, "Take 10 and light 'em if ya got 'em."

In those days, cigarettes were subsidized by the military. They came in C-rations pack, and free cartons were passed around. Sure enough, many vets first started smoking when they joined the service. Maybe this is one of the reasons veterans still smoke at a higher rate than the general population.

In Massachusetts, veterans smoke at a 33 percent higher rate than other adults the same age. And they pay the price by suffering from more cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases and other illnesses caused by smoking.

Now through June 30, Massachusetts veterans, members of the National Guard and their families who call the state's Quitline at 1-800-Try-to-STOP are eligible for a free four-week supply of nicotine patches and telephone support to help them quit smoking.

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Legislation targets tobacco advertising that targets youth 

Exeter Hospital staff, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and local youths on Monday called for tobacco companies to stop targeting youths.

Shaheen visited Exeter Hospital to spread word of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, legislation she is co-sponsoring that is currently up for debate on the U.S. Senate floor. The legislation would give the Food and Drug Administration legal authority to try to reduce youth smoking by stopping both tobacco advertising that targets children and the sale of tobacco products to minors.

"I think it's great to see something moving in a positive direction," said Cyndi Burke of HealthReach Community Education. Burke said she is a former smoker who has been cigarette-free for six months and whose father died from emphysema and grandfather from lung cancer.

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Smoking reported down 26% among people with Mass. subsidized health insurance program  

The Executive Office of Health and Human Services said last week that about 33,000 MassHealth members have quit smoking since the state's tobacco cessation benefit was established in 2006, according to a recent Department of Public Health survey. That translates to a 26 percent decrease in smoking among MassHealth members, the state said.

MassHealth is the state's Medicaid program that provides health insurance for low-income people, and the tobacco cessation benefit provides medications such as the nicotine patch, gum, lozenge or a pill for a $1 or $3 copay. The program also offers counseling.

"Three out of four smokers say that they want to quit, but the cost of medications that help with cravings is a significant financial barrier to many low-income people," said Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach. "The success of the MassHealth benefit shows that smokers will utilize such a benefit, and they will quit in large numbers with the appropriate supports."

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Sitting List: KATHLEEN DONOVAN & another vs. PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC. 

Tuesday, June 9th 2009, 9:00 AM - Courtroom One, Second Floor, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston . . .

SJC-10409 KATHLEEN DONOVAN & another vs. PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC.

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• SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT for the Commonwealth Case Docket: KATHLEEN DONOVAN & another vs. PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC. SJC-10409 

FUTURE CALENDAR

Tuesday, June 9th 2009, 9:00 AM

Courtroom One, Second Floor, John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston . . .

03/05/2009 #1.1 Does the plaintiffs' suit for medical monitoring, based on the subclinical effects of exposure to cigarette smoke and increased risk of lung cancer, state a cognizable cliam and/or permit a remedy under Massachusetts state law? If the plaintiffs have successfully stated a claim or claims, has the statute or limitations governing those claims expired?

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