Tobacco.org

Cigarette Tax Debate  

A proposed state initiative would increase cigarette taxes by 1 dollar a pack to provide more than 500 million dollars a year to prevent and cure cancer. Cigarette tax proposals in California tried before and failed, but the question, will this proposal help or hurt the bottom line...smokers?

Guests: For the Pro-Tax side, Paul Knepprath, an executive with the American Lung Association of California, which underwrote the survey... AND Grant D. Gillham, a Government Affairs Consultant in California for the nation's oldest tobacco company, Lorillard Tobacco Company.

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The Castro Tells the Grim Reaper to Butt Out!  

“BUTT OUT! Ending Tobacco Industry Exploitation of the LGBT Community” will mark the Gay American Smokeout by staging a public spectacle to draw attention to the impact of Big Tobacco on the LGBT community, on Nov. 19 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Harvey Milk Plaza. BUTT OUT!, a local LGBT advocacy group that works against the tobacco companies, and dozens of local concerned citizens dressed in black and wearing skull makeup to represent those who have died from tobacco, will chase out of the Castro the tobacco company’s proxy, the Grim Reaper, standing close to 10-feet tall while wielding a three-foot cigarette. State Senator Mark Leno, who has pledged to refuse campaign donations from tobacco companies, will be speaking at the event.

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LETTER: Lose the cigarettes, gain more customers  

I find it offensive to enter or exit any building that stinks from smoke. Actually, I won't go into a shop or restaurant if I have to endure the odor. Several years ago Beverly Hills had to make the same decision. Business owners were worried that business would be lost to neighboring cities. There was no negative effect on businesses and it is a pleasure to dine smoke free, both inside and out.

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No sanctuaries left for smokers at two Marin hospitals  

Two Marin hospitals have chosen Thursday, the date of the 34th Great American Smokeout, as the day to initiate a total ban on smoking on their campuses.

It has been years since anyone was allowed to smoke inside either Novato Community Hospital or Kentfield Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospital. Beginning Thursday, those two hospitals will begin enforcing a campus-wide ban on smoking that will include property inside and outside buildings, including parking lots and vehicles in parking lots. State law banned smoking from all workplaces in 1995.

To demonstrate that it means business, Novato Community Hospital on Wednesday removed its last refuge for employees and hospital visitors who smoked, a three-sided structure affectionately known as the "smoking shack."

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Nevada City council to review smoking ban, solar farm  

Nevada City council members will review wording for ordinances banning medical marijuana dispensaries and smoking in parks at a meeting today.

Smoking in parks was banned for a six-month trial period after council approval in 2007. A new ordinance would make the ban permanent.

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EDITORIAL: Fresh air for nonsmokers in Palm Desert  

For nonsmokers, few things are more offensive than to walk out of the office door and be greeted by a cloud of cigarette smoke. This became commonplace a few years ago when smoking was banished from most buildings.

On Thursday, the Palm Desert City Council did something about this. It voted to amend its smoking ordinance to rule that smokers must be at least 20 feet away from building entrances.

The Desert Sun applauds the decision. . . .

Thursday is the 34th annual Great American Smokeout. Smokers should quit for a day and visit the Web site www.cancer.org/GreatAmericans for tips on how to quit for good and add years to their lives.

Then they can join us in applauding Palm Desert's new limits on smoking.

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Perata's cigarette tax measure finds First 5 foes  

Fresh out of the gate, a ballot measure to raise cigarette taxes for cancer research proposed by former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata is taking heat from early childhood education advocates who rely on tobacco taxes, too.

Perata -- a 2010 Oakland mayoral candidate -- had hoped this California Cancer Research Act, launched at a news conference Monday, would garner good publicity and widespread public support as a war on Big Tobacco. Instead, some say, it could end up facing united opposition from tobacco companies and the education advocates who warred with them 11 years ago.

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• Dose-dependent Effects of Second-hand Smoke on Vascular Function  

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the vascular effects of brief second-hand smoke exposure on normal healthy individuals. . . .

Despite evidence to suggest that secondhand smoke contributes to adverse cardiovascular outcomes, little is known about the dose-dependent vascular effects of brief secondhand smoke exposure at low doses commonly encountered in the community. This study will investigate the acute vascular effects and dose-dependent biological mechanisms of secondhand smoke on endothelial function and oxidative stress.

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Perata, health groups launch tobacco tax initiative  

Former state Senate President Pro Tem and 2010 Oakland mayoral candidate Don Perata joined cancer research and health advocates Monday to launch a ballot measure that would hike cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack.

"This is the right measure for the right time," Corey Goodman, a UC San Francisco professor and former biotech entrepreneur, said at a news conference in the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, adding the half-billion dollars per year this measure could raise would help move scientific breakthroughs "from the bench to the bedside" to save lives.

Perata said he conceived of the measure while still in the state Senate, well before being treated for prostate cancer earlier this year. He called it "probably the most exhilarating and hopefully the most rewarding thing I will have done in my years in politics."

Money raised would go into a trust fund, with 60 cents of every dollar to fund research on causes, prevention and treatment of cancer and other smoking-related illnesses;

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AUDIO: Feature News Story | Health Advocates Push Ballot Measure To Raise Cigarette Tax For Cancer Research 

Anti-smoking groups are working to get a measure on next year's ballot that would raise the state tax on cigarettes.

The money would help pay for cancer research in California.

Capital Public Radio's Steve Shadley reports...

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• Calif. group pushes for $1 tobacco tax increase for cancer research 

Smokers in California will have to dig much deeper into their pockets to buy a pack of cigarettes next year if a proposed ballot measure passes.

The Californians for a Cure plan is aimed at raising millions of dollars for cancer research, smoking prevention programs and to help bankroll anti-tobacco smuggling efforts. The measure is backed by, among others, cancer research and health advocates.

Their plan calls for a buck increase in the state's excise tax on tobacco, to $1.87 per pack. The money raised would flow into a trust fund. Sixty-cents of the dollar raised from a pack of smokes would to go to fund research on cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.

Under the plan, 20 cents would go to fund smoking cessation and tobacco use prevention programs, 15 cents would go to help fund research facilities, while three pennies would go to fund tobacco smuggling enforcement.

The plan calls for about two percent of the revenue to go for administrative costs.

How the money would be spent would be overseen by a nine-member oversight committee.

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EDITORIAL: Letting smokers smoke 

With a recession and record unemployment in full swing, with furloughs of city employees and the negative effect on their family budgets hanging over the heads; with revenue shortfalls threatening even more cuts; with all these and more, it's no wonder some residents hanker for a good cigar or a toke on a tobacco hookah. . . .

Long Beach was a pioneer in regulating smoking in public and in workplaces, and it appears the city will pioneer restrictions on where smokers can enjoy their habit. Let's hope they don't go that one toke over the line. Without too much more discussion - given the gravity of the economics of city budgeting - it's time to let smokers smoke, without inflicting their nasty habit on the rest of us.

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• S.F. moves to curtail tobacco outlets  

Smokers are huffing and businesses fuming over a controversial new proposal to drastically reduce the number of stores in The City that can sell cigarettes.

Since 2003, retailers hawking tobacco products in San Francisco have had to apply for a special permit. The permitting process helps The City keep track of sellers and crack down on those vending to minors, officials said.

But now there are too many permits citywide -- particularly in low-income neighborhoods -- according to city officials and anti-tobacco advocates, who have created legislation that would greatly reduce the number of stores that sell tobacco.

An initial proposal imposes a cap of 35 permits for each of the 11 supervisor districts -- 385 total in The City. That is a more than a two-thirds reduction from the 1,097 stores currently selling tobacco products citywide.

The proposal would not take away permits from businesses, but it would reduce them through attrition until there are no more than 35 per district. Also, owners would not be able to transfer the permits when they sell their stores, said Janet Clyde, a commissioner in the Office of Small Business.

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Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling: Executive Summary 

States usually cite two major reasons for hiking their cigarette taxes: to decrease smoking, and to increase state tax revenue. Although these two goals can conflict, the "inelastic" nature of the cigarette market often allows policymakers to achieve both aims at once, with modest smoking reductions accompanying net increases in tax revenue.

This outcome may become increasingly difficult to achieve, however. Many states have raised their cigarette taxes significantly in recent years. These increases have likely furthered the growth of two types of cigarette smuggling: "casual" smuggling, in which individual consumers save money by buying their cigarettes in low-tax states or countries, and "commercial" smuggling, in which larger-scale operators buy cigarettes in bulk in a low-tax area and sell them tax-free in high-tax areas. This smuggling undermines both the revenue and health goals of higher cigarette taxes, while producing unintended consequences for individual states and American society as a whole. In this study, the authors consider cigarette smuggling from two angles. First, they employ a statistical model to estimate the degree to which cigarette smuggling occurs in 47 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Second, they review the historical experiences of three states - Michigan, New Jersey and California - known to have problems with cigarette smuggling. . . .

The authors' review of Michigan's, New Jersey's and California's cigarette smuggling experiences suggest that cigarette smugglers can realize large profits: tens of thousands of dollars for a single vanload of cigarettes, and hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single truckload. These sums represent a loss in estimated tax revenues to a state's treasury, but they have produced other unintended consequences, including a variety of crimes:

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Cigarette Taxes and Smuggling: A Statistical Analysis and Historical Review  

In this study, the authors consider cigarette smuggling from two angles. First, they employ a statistical model to estimate the degree to which cigarette smuggling occurs in 47 of the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Second, they review the historical experiences of three states -- Michigan, New Jersey and California -- known to have problems with cigarette smuggling. The author's findings suggest that state policymakers should reassess the value of cigarette taxes as a revenue and public health tool.

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