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CASC Stamps Out Smoking On Campus  

Carl Albert State College regents unanimously voted Tuesday to make the campus 100 percent tobacco free.

The policy will take effect Aug. 1.

CASC Vice President of Student Affairs Leah McLaughlin originally presented the regents with a policy that would ban only smoking and leave other forms of tobacco unrestricted.

However, the regents decided to amend the policy to include all forms of tobacco.

“It would be very easy to change it to tobacco-free,” McLaughlin said, adding that the student government, which originally pushed for the policy change, would support the change.

The faculty and staff at CASC were also supportive of the original smoke-free policy, McLaughlin said.

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Stamp Out Smoking announces Big Pitch Film Festival 

Stamp Out Smoking has announced its ninth annual drama contest, which has been officially renamed as, "The Big Pitch Film Festival."

The contest invites students to film, star in and produce their own TV commercials. All middle, junior and high school students in Arkansas are eligible to create a 27-second commercial that expresses their creativity and showcases their talent while promoting a tobacco-free lifestyle.

Students will compete for the opportunity to win exciting prizes for themselves, and money to buy new video equipment for their schools. This contest is an essential tool to educate Arkansas youth about the dangers of tobacco use.

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New forms of tobacco on market discussed at CODE meeting  

With more people being aware of the dangers of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, tobacco companies have adapted by adding new products or more eye appealing designed packages, Knight explained.

There are tobacco products that are in the form of sticks that dissolve in the users mouth, dissolvable strips and dissolvable "orbs" that are designed like Tic-Tacs. There are also pouches sold that are placed in the mouth that allows the user to absorb the nicotine without having to spit like traditional smokeless tobacco.

Not only are there more ways for nicotine to be absorbed the packaging is becoming more pleasing to the eye, taking a bubble gum wrapper type of look, Knight said.

Knight said tobacco companies have taken to college campuses and sponsored parties with a parting gift being a pack of cigarettes.

"They are also marketing to women and teen girls portraying smoking as glamorous," Knight said. Now, even in a certain brand, a purse pack can be found with 20 small cigarettes. Nicotine continues to be highly addictive and is known as one of the hardest addictions to break, Knight explained.

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Smokers use high-tech tools to stop smoking 

The American Lung Association found that six of 10 smokers take multiple attempts to kick the habit for good, so many resolve to quit on New Year's Day. Some even use smartphones to track their progress, but Dr. Andrea Bounds says people should do whatever they can to quit.

"We don't care how you do it. We just want you to stop," Bounds said.

Bounds supports smokers trying to quit in 2012, but kicking the habit is easier said than done.

"Most people who smoke, it seems like, want to quit," she said, "so it's very common for us to hear people come into the office and ask how we can help them to stop smoking."

Bounds says she and other physicians at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro can offer several solutions. Over-the-counter or prescription medications are available, but she has seen the economy act as a big deterrent recently.

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Arkansas hunting for shop to oversee anti-smoking effort  

The Arkansas Department of Health is seeking a firm to coordinate media, health communications, and public education activities for its Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program. The initiative has a budget of $1.3 million.

The winning firm will be tasked with creating a campaign to educate adults and youth about tobacco prevention and cessation, encouraging them to quit or never start using tobacco. RFPs are due Jan. 20, 2012, and selection is expected to take place by February 24, according to the RFP.

Work on the account will begin July 1. The winning firm will have a year-long contract, with a renewal option for an additional six years.

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Last 2 sentenced in tobacco-tax plot ($$) 

A three-year investigation into a complicated scheme hatched by tobacco wholesalers to evade paying hefty state excise taxes on tobacco products other than cigarettes came to an end last week with the sentencings of the last two defendants.

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• Supreme Court Won't Butt Into Tobacco Settlement Case ($$) 

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected General Tobacco's request that it review a refusal by Arkansas' highest court to stay a dispute over the 1998 master settlement agreement between states and tobacco companies in favor of arbitration.

In a petition for certiorari filed in August, Vibo Corp., doing business as General Tobacco, had asked the court to vacate and remand a Supreme Court of Arkansas ruling in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, which came down after the...

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• General Tobacco Seeks Supreme Court Review 

Earlier this month, General Tobacco requested that the United States Supreme Court review a decision from the Arkansas Supreme Court that General Tobacco must pay Arkansas $2.45 million under the Master Settlement Agreement. The State's response to General Tobacco's request for review is due early next month.

General Tobacco argues in its request for review that the Federal Arbitration Act required the State courts to honor the requirement contained in the MSA to arbitrate the parties' dispute.

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Chaffee Fire Caused By Cigarette Dropped By National Guardsman 

FORT SMITH, Ark. -- A group of Kentucky National Guard soldiers were training at the base when they decided to investigate claims of ghosts in Fort Chaffee.

Investigators say that, while touring the historic property, one of the soldiers was smoking a cigarette, which ignited the fire.

911 tapes show how unexpected the fire was for the soldiers.

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No More Smoking With Kids In Cars 

It is already illegal to smoke with kids under six in the car but a new law takes it a step further. The new Arkansas law says police can ticket you for smoking in the car with a child 14 and under.

Benton County resident Elaine Smith says childhood memories have helped her form an opinion on a new law that aims to protect children from second hand smoke in cars. "My dad used to smoke in the car I remember it did cause me to get sick when I was a child," said Smith.

She says she wouldn't want others to get sick like she did. Officials with The Lowell Rogers Chamber of Commerce say they support the law. "That's because the concentration of smoke in vehicles can be anywhere from 10 to 100 percent times that of bars and in homes just because of the confined area. so this is real important for the health of children," said Chamber Spokeswoman Jennifer Haile.

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New Smoking Law, Among Others, Hard to Enforce 

But a new law banning smoking in cars with kids 14 years-old and under, adds to a list of offenses that aren't quite as overt.

"Well if it's a small child then its obvious, or if you see a child in a car seat," says Augustine.

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New Laws To Kick In This Week  

Also taking effect Wednesday is Act 811, which makes it illegal to smoke in a vehicle if a child under age 14 is a passenger. Current law bans smoking in a vehicle if a child under 6 is present. A violation is punishable by a $25 fine. A violation is a primary offense, meaning police can stop a vehicle for that offense alone. . . .

◗ Act 198 prohibits the sale of tobaccoless snuff to people under age 18.

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Arkansas recognizes laws to protect workers and children from secondhand smoke exposure  

This year will mark the fifth anniversary of legislation aimed at creating smoke-free environments in businesses and vehicles transporting children. Wednesday, July 27 at 10 a.m. at the State Capitol, second floor Rotunda, the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas (CTFA) and its partners will join with legislators and public health advocates to celebrate the institution of Acts 8 and 13, as well as commemorate Act 811 of 2011, the new law that expands the current smoke-free cars law.

Act 8 of 2006, commonly referenced as the Arkansas Clean Indoor Air Act, and prohibits smoking in certain indoor areas to protect workers from the dangers of exposure to secondhand smoke on the job. It is this act that also comes with exemptions that CTFA would like to see lawmakers make more stringent. Act 13 of 2006, known as the “Arkansas Protection for Secondhand Smoke for Children Act” prohibits smoking in all motor vehicles where a child of less than 6 years and weighing less than sixty pounds and be properly restrained in a child passenger safety seat. Effective July 27, Act 13 will be expanded by a new smoke-free cars law, Act 811 of 2011.

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Ark. Ban On Smoking In Cars With Kids Toughened 

Lighting up in your car could land you in hot water in Arkansas. Governor Mike Beebe signed a law to keep drivers from smoking while a child is in the car. Health experts say second-hand smoke is much more concentrated in a car than in a home or a bar.

abc24.com found smokers and non-smokers alike who are all in favor of this new law.

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State provides $150K from tobacco money to each of 3 Arkansas schools for health centers 

The Arkansas Education Department says three schools in the state will get $150,000 each next school year to pay for school-based health centers.

A news release Friday said the money will go to Cross County Elementary, Magazine Elementary and Acorn Elementary in the Ouachita (WASH'-uh-taw) School District. . . .

Jerri Clark of the Education Department said the centers will offer more services than a school nurse and will focus on preventive care, screenings, education outreach and checkups.

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