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MASSARO: Tobacco tax snuffing cigar habit 

So I was sitting in a leather couch at El Cid’s, watching my cigar smoke drift upward and listening to the guys talk about politics and stuff that really matters in life, like the tobacco tax going up again.

El Cid’s has been a nice place to go to hide. No editors at the old Rocky, may it rest in peace, knew about it. And, by God, the tobacco-less creatures would never venture into North Denver to find it. . . .

Guys talked about finer cigars. Gregg with Three G’s had just become my new best friend because he treated me to a $10 cigar to mark the demise of the old Rocky.

And then the conversation turned bitter, to talk of the new tobacco tax coming up in April.

Back when the Republicans ran the statehouse in the ‘80s, whenever they saw a need to raise taxes, they’d call on Sen. “Sin Tax” Tillie Bishop to carry the hike on tobacco and alcohol. He was from Grand Junction in probably the safest district in the state. So he’d sponsor the increase, it would pass and he would be re-elected to another term.

But now, it's the feds who are raising the tax on tobacco.

Ronaldo Ron said that a can of imported pipe tobacco was being priced out of the market.

"I sell the can for $24,” he said. “The new tax alone is going up an additional $28 a can. My customers can’t afford to buy it.”

And as I looked up at that magnificent handmade ceiling, watching my cigar smoke waft upward, I realized that I would have to kick the habit.

I can do without the cigars. I will miss my visits to El Cid’s. No sense sitting around, sucking on a nicotine lozenge and watching the guys who can afford it continue to puff away.

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Local smoking foes laud new tobacco laws 

Local health officials and anti-smoking advocates are applauding President Barack Obama's signing of new anti-smoking legislation Monday.

But tobacco retailers in Pueblo say their customers are feeling the pinch of a number of new laws that seem to have come all at once.

In March, new taxes were lobbied on cigarettes that added another $10 to the cost of cartons and tripled the price of rolling tobacco, said Debbie McConnell, manager at a Smoker Friendly store on Greenwood Street.

McConnell said her customers are upset that prices have increased so dramatically and so quickly.

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Smoke ... and mirrors 

In order to balance the coming year's budget, which begins July 1, Colorado lawmakers transferred to the general fund $20 million from the reserve created by Amendment 35 for tobacco education and treatment, and $11.8 million from the 1998 national tobacco lawsuit settlement.

What's more, state legislators repealed a 50-year-old sales-tax exemption on cigarettes, a move that's worth about $30 million a year. The sales tax is 2.9 percent.

Under the 1998 agreement, states are able to use the national tobacco lawsuit funds however they see fit.

The settlement between the federal government and tobacco companies provided $206 billion . . .

"We learned this week that we'll receive $249,000 this year - 3.5 percent less than last year," said Char Day, the southwest regional director of the eight-county Lasso Tobacco Coalition.

"We'll find a way to deal with it, but it's so shortsighted," Day said. "There will be increased health-care costs in so many ways when young people take up smoking and adults don't stay quit."

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DU to ban all smoking on campus 

The University of Denver will become Colorado's largest school to ban smoking when it implements a strict new rule on January 1.

A letter to the campus community from Chancellor Robert Coome outlined the ban, which will apply only to smoking, not to smokeless tobacco products.

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Investigators hope to stop 'Nicotine Ninja' 

JEFFERSON COUNTY - He comes at night, he's dressed from head to toe in black, and whenever he breaks into a gas station or convenience store he only seeks out cartons of cigarettes.

So this week investigators decided the incredibly prolific burglar needed a catchy name.

"We're calling him the Nighttime Nicotine Ninja," Jacki Kelley said with only a hint of a smile.

The spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office hopes it will be memorable enough to help frustrated investigators all over the state catch the person or persons responsible for stealing more than $120,000 worth of cigarettes from well over 100 businesses during the last two years.

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Frisco might loosen smoking restrictions for cigar bars  

Embracing the concept of "flexibility," Frisco civic leaders are exploring the possibility of relaxing the just-enacted city ban on indoor smoking in order to accomodate the building of a cigar bar in Frisco Square.

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Cigar bar for Frisco? 

City Council moved a step closer Tuesday night to finding a way for one or more cigar bars to come to Frisco, despite the smoking ban approved a couple years ago.

Four council members and Mayor Maher Maso supported at least considering how to address the needs of a prospective business owner looking at leasing in Frisco Square. Only two, Scott Johnson and Bart Crowder, indicated complete opposition.

Speakers in the city council meeting all supported the prospects for a cigar bar. No one spoke against the idea during general input as no official public hearing was held.

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Woman Who Punched Flight Attendant Back In Jail  

A woman who received probation for punching an airline attendant is being held without bail until a Denver federal judge decides whether new assault allegations means she violated probation and should be sent to prison.

Christina Elizabeth Szele, 36, of Queens, N.Y., faces up to 20 months in prison when she goes before U.S. District Judge John Kane at a hearing that will be scheduled later.

Szele, handcuffed, wearing eyeglasses and an orange jail uniform, did not speak at a hearing Tuesday before a magistrate judge.

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Woman who punched flight attendant back in court 

Christina Elizabeth Szele, a woman who pleaded guilty to punching a flight attendant last year, returned to a federal courtroom in Denver this morning on charges she violated the terms of her probation by assaulting her sister-in-law in a drunken rage.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tafoya ruled Szele must be held without bond pending a formal hearing on the new charges.

Szele, who appeared in an orange jumpsuit, did not contest detention. She also waived a preliminary hearing.

Szele, 36, of Woodside, N.Y., was given a stern warning by U.S. District Judge John Kane to stay out of trouble after he sentenced her to five years of probation in February.

Kane told her to clean up her life and stay away from drugs and alcohol. He also banned her from flying for five years.

But Szele got permission to fly home to New York to take care of some legal matters in March; while there, she was arrested and accused of punching her sister-in-law, Maggie Marko

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Colorado Senate backs sales tax for cigarettes  

The Colorado Senate passed a measure on Monday that would charge state sales tax on cigarettes for the next two years. The tax is 2.9 percent, which would mean an extra 15 cents on a $5 pack of cigarettes.

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Students, animals learn effects of second-hand smoke on pets  

Pets exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to develop various forms of cancer than animals that have not been exposed according to information from Hartshorn Health Center -- an idea that was communicated to CSU dog-owners at Wednesday's seventh annual Stomp, Romp and Wag event.

"We try to reach college students through their pets because they don't have kids," said Megan Vernetti, a graduate student in charge of Health Promotions at Hartshorn.

As students and their dogs traversed the North Lawn of the Hartshorn Health Center, hitting up doggie ice cream booths and relaxing with dog massages and nail trimmings, they learned that pets suffer even when not exposed to smoke directly.

Even if a person smokes outside away from their pets, cigarette residue left on a person's fingers can be transferred to dogs and cats through petting or licking, Vernetti said.

Cigarette residue can also transfer to birds, causing them to pull out their feathers as a result of a disease called contact dermatitis

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SADAR: April is Month of the Young Child 

April is Month of the Young Child and the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County encourages you to join in the efforts to celebrate children and the professionals who care for them.

The Early Childhood Council of Larimer County is partnering with Tobacco Free Larimer County, Safe Kids, childcare centers, and licensed family home providers to communicate the "Always Step Outside" and "Smoke-free, it's the only way to ride" messages. This community-wide effort encourages families throughout the county to pledge to keep homes and cars smoke-free to better protect their children's health. These efforts encourage family members to always step outside to smoke for the health of children.

Smoking in a confined space, like a car or home, is especially dangerous

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Dems eye repeal of cigarette tax break 

House Bill 1342 would repeal the 50-year-old sales-tax exemption for cigarettes. It is the first bill to take advantage of a new opinion by the Legislature's legal department that the General Assembly can repeal a tax credit without asking permission from Colorado voters.

"I think we are in such deep debt right now that now is the time to run that," said one of the sponsors, Democratic Sen. Betty Boyd of Lakewood. "I don't think it was intended to be any sort of test case (on the power to repeal tax breaks)."

The tax exemption on cigarettes is worth about $30 million a year

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Prosecutors drop smoking fine against casino manager  

Prosecutors have dismissed a fine against the general manager of a Cripple Creek casino, now that the establishment has decided to drop its exemption claim from the state smoking ban.

Bronco Billy's court challenge had been scheduled to begin Tuesday, but was dropped after prosecutors agreed to dismiss the fine against general manager Marc Murphy.

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Cigarette tax may spark TABOR fight 

Last Wednesday, the Joint Budget Committee heard a shocking opinion from one of its lawyers, Sharon Eubanks: Because of a March 16 Colorado Supreme Court opinion, state lawmakers could repeal any tax credit they want without a vote of the people.

The voters' power over taxes lies at the heart of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Since 1992, legislators have assumed they had the power to cut taxes, but not raise them.

The same day, Rep. Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver, proposed repealing the 40-year-old sales-tax credit on cigarettes.

But Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, objected Thursday. The six-person Joint Budget Committee must decide unanimously to put its stamp of approval on a bill.

The legal opinion asserted a sweeping power most legislators didn't think they had and many don't want. . . .

Most state legislatures have that power, but in Colorado, it hasn't existed since the 1992 adoption of TABOR.

House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, called it a "dangerous" turn of events.

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