Tobacco.org

Calendar: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 

11-cv-1482: R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY et al v. UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION et al

Judge Leon

11:00AM

Courtroom 18 - 6th Floor

Motion Hearing

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• Law firm's fee dispute with ex-client goes up in smoke 

Describing the decision as a "close case," a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit over legal fees brought by law firm Thompson Hine against an electronic cigarettes distributor.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington on Jan. 6 dismissed the action brought by Thompson Hine for about $500,000 in fees against Smoking Everywhere, a Weston, Fla.-based importer and distributor of electronic cigarettes. . . .

Thompson Hine, a 350-attorney firm with four locations in Ohio and other offices in New York and Washington, alleged that Smoking Everywhere breached its duty to pay the firm $480,000 for representing it in federal and state regulation disputes over the distribution of e-cigarettes. The law firm also alleged that Smoking Everywhere's Chief Executive Officer Elicko Taieb orchestrated the company's fraudulent transfer of revenues and assets to evade payment.

Berman tossed the suit on jurisdictional grounds, ruling that Thompson was unable to establish that Smoking Everywhere and Taieb had minimum contacts with the D.C. court.

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Local Advocates Mark Great American Smokeout by Urging the District to Pass Strong Tobacco Control Legislation 

The DC Tobacco Free Coalition (DCTFC) and partners are marking the 36th Great American Smokeout today by calling on Mayor Vincent Gray and the City Council to protect the health of District residents by restoring local funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

"Despite major advances in the past few years in the effort to ensure smoke-free workplaces and to discourage smoking through higher tobacco taxes, we've seen funding for proven programs dwindle even though they help smokers quit," said Peter Fisher, Chair of the DCTFC Policy Committee and Vice President, State Issues at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Now is not the time to back down on tobacco control. Since the Coalition's inception in 2005 we have successfully reduced local smoking rates and the District must continue this positive trend. Failing to fund critical life-saving tobacco prevention and cessation programs is not an option."

The Coalition is working closely with members of the DC City Council to ensure that tobacco use is addressed through a comprehensive approach which will build upon the 2007 comprehensive smoke-free legislation and the current $2.50 per pack cigarette excise tax by increasing local funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.

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• Smoke-free federal buildings bill closes smoking loophole  

A new bill would ban smoking in and near all federal buildings, closing a loophole that exempted many federal buildings from a 2008 directive.

Last week, Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) introduced the "Smoke-Free Federal Buildings Act which bans smoking within 25 feet of all federal buildings owned, leased or leased for use by an executive agency.

"Exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health issue that drives up health care costs for all of us," Davis said in a release. "Federal workers should be able to work in a healthy, smoke-free environment."

Davis' press secretary told Government Executive she decided to introduce the bill after President Barack Obama declined to issue an executive order in 2009.

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Anti-tobacco groups praise bill to ban smoking in federal buildings 

A bill to widen current smoking restrictions to cover all federal buildings was introduced this month by Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif., after President Obama declined her request in 2009 to enact the policy through executive order, Davis press secretary Aaron Hunter told Government Executive.

The legislation is being hailed by anti-tobacco groups as "long overdue."

Davis' Smoke-Free Federal Buildings Act (H.R. 3382) would prohibit smoking in and 25 feet around all facilities owned or leased by the federal government nationwide while also barring designated smoking sections.

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• Bill would ban smoking at federal buildings  

A California Democrat wants to ban smoking in and outside all federal buildings across the country, reigniting a years-long attempt to ban smokers from lighting up on, near and in sight of federal property.

The bill, introduced late Friday by Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.), would ban smoking in and 25 feet around all properties owned or leased by the federal government. Smoking areas -- located inside or just outside some federal properties -- also would be shuttered.

"Exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious health issue that drives up health care costs for all of us," Davis said in a statement announcing her bill. "Federal workers should be able to work in a healthy, smoke-free environment."

Efforts to ban smoking at federal buildings have a long, complex history . . .

If passed, Davis's bill would apply only to executive branch properties and not congressional office buildings, meaning smokers, including House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and other lawmakers, could still use the balcony off the Speaker's Lobby and other Capitol Hill locales to light up. Each federal agency head would be left to enforce the new law, according to Davis's office. The law would not apply at the White House, whose primary resident, President Obama, was recently declared "tobacco free" by his doctors.

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• The Newseum Will Offer Free Admission to Military Families on Veterans Day Weekend  

Free admission for veterans and their families is made possible by Altria Group.

About Altria

Altria Group is a Fortune 200 company that owns the premier tobacco companies in the United States, Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company and John Middleton, all headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Their premium brands include Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & Mild. Altria also owns Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, one of the country's top premium wine producers, and Philip Morris Capital Corporation, an investment company; and has a continuing economic and voting interest in SABMiller.

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Alyssa Rosenthal: A breath of fresh, clean air  

Media Credit: Alyssa Rosenthal

When I walk out of Gelman Library, I first heave a sigh of relief. Then I let out a small gag.

As smoke fills my lungs, I have, even momentarily, felt as though I was sucking down a cigarette.

While I don’t have anything against smokers, I do not want to be threatened with secondhand smoke every time I want to take a stroll or get to class. As it is, the University does not give non-smokers the choice to inhale. The University needs to implement a stricter policy that regulates smoking and makes its anti-smoking campaign more public. . . .

The University’s response to smoking on campus is passive, at best. It does not regulate where students can smoke or actively work to lessen the secondhand smoke, so many non-smokers still inhale. GW’s “Be a Quitter!” campaign simply provides resources for those students who, on their own, seek to kick their habits. . . .

It’s time to take a breath and take a stand. It is not only the University’s fault that smoking has gotten carried away. As students and residents in this environment, an anti-smoking campaign that benefits us is essential.

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• After Tobacco: What Would Happen if Americans Stopped Smoking? 

To coincide with a new book recently released by Columbia University Press titled, After Tobacco: What Would Happen if Americans Stopped Smoking?, public health experts will discuss what the nation might look like if and when smoking rates plummet to historic lows. Our panel of experts will consider the social and economic impact of reducing smoking rates and what it will take to reach current national public health goals.

WHY: Over the last ten years, policymakers and public health advocates have taken great - and sometimes controversial - measures to help fight the tobacco epidemic that kills more than 400,000 people every year in the United States. Higher cigarette taxes, expanded clean air laws, smoking cessation and prevention campaigns and programs, new federal regulatory authority over tobacco as well as reduced harm products have potential consequences and benefits for all Americans. Until recently, no study has responded to these concerns by capturing the impact of tobacco control across the nation.

WHO:

* Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse

* Dr. Jed E. Rose, Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, Duke University Medical Center . . .

The panel will be available via webcast at www.legacyforhealth.org or www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=82819 starting at 12:25 p.m. prior to program start.

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Cigar Wrap Suit to Move Forward 

A federal judge is allowing a tobacco company to challenge a law that bans the sales of cigar wrappers in the District of Columbia.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins agreed with Louisville, Ky.-based National Tobacco Co. last week that the law lacks a clear penalty provision and is allowing the lawsuit to proceed.

National filed the lawsuit in February, and said the company had a "direct injury" from the law, which is aimed at making it more difficult for kids to get materials that can be used to smoke marijuana.

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Judge Rules Cigar Wrapper Manufacturer Can Sue D.C. Over Ban 

A Washington federal judge ruled (PDF) Wednesday afternoon that the manufacturer of Zig-Zag brand cigar wrappers can sue the District of Columbia over a new ban on wrapper sales, but denied the company's request for a preliminary injunction.

U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins found that while Kentucky-based National Tobacco Co., LP had standing to sue, he expressed doubts about the company's ability to survive a motion for summary judgment. He dismissed several claims, including an allegation that the law conflicted with federal law, but allowed others dealing with the structure of the statute to stand.

National Tobacco sued the District in mid-February in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming that the city had passed an unlawful ban on the sale of cigar wrappers that was in conflict with federal law.

The Prohibition Against Selling Tobacco Products to Minors Amendment Act of 2010 doesn’t define cigar wrappers as drug paraphernalia when sold at a specialty store. In another section of the law, however, the city bans the sale of cigar wrappers outright.

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• Judge keeps alive lawsuit by Ky. tobacco company challenging DC law banning cigar wrapper sale 

The Kentucky-based National Tobacco Company sued the city in February, arguing that a 2010 law banning the sale of wrapping papers used to roll cigars was vague and unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins on Wednesday agreed that the law lacks a clear penalty provision and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.

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EDITORIAL: The Tobacco Companies Just Keep Trying  

The new suit challenges the specific graphic warning labels chosen by the F.D.A. in June to best illustrate the dangers. The suit contends that the federal government cannot force manufacturers to cede half of the package to a message that warns people not to buy the product without infringing on the companies' First Amendment rights.

The district court in Washington, a pioneer in exposing the history of deceitful and harmful behavior by the tobacco industry, should reject this latest effort to evade tobacco regulation that is needed to protect public health.

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Editors’ Picks: Cigars 

With strict smoking laws in the area, it can be tough to find a place to have a stogie and a drink.

Morton's, The Steakhouse - Downtown

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D.C. Council set to narrow smoking-ban exemption  

A few weeks back, I detailed how the D.C. Council, in the course of passing the yearly budget, botched its effort to carve out an exception in the city's indoor smoking ban for a particular fundraiser.

What had been presented as a one-night exemption for the big-deal "Fight Night" fundraiser for philanthropist Joe Robert's Fight for Children charity was instead a license for any of the city's 79 liquor-licensed hotels to fill rooms with smoke once a year.

On Tuesday, the council will attempt a fix.

Draft legislation circulated this week will specify that the language should apply only to a "special charity boxing event which benefits children's charities and permits cigar smoking." Furthermore, only hotels with a "ballroom or special event catering space with an occupancy of 500 or more persons" would be eligible to host such an event.

Anti-smoking activists aren't satisfied.

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