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As the official sponsor of birthdays, the American Cancer Society marks the 34th Great American Smokeout on November 19 by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By doing so, smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life one that can lead to reducing cancer risk and creating more birthdays.
Researchers say that quitting smoking can increase life expectancy smokers who quit at age 35 gain an average of eight years of life expectancy; those who quit at age 55 gain about five years; and even long term smokers who quit at 65 gain three years . Smokers who want to quit can call the Hawaii Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-784-8669 for tobacco cessation and coaching services that can help increase their chances of quitting for good. . . .
OAHU
American Cancer Society GASO Events
Information and displays will be available for tobacco users who want to learn more information about quitting. Sites are available around the island including the following locations:
- Hawaii Medical Center East: Tuesday, November 17, 10 a.m. 2 p.m. . . .
Smoking prevalence by County
- Kauai, 13.1 percent
- Honolulu, 14.8 percent
- Maui, 16.5 percent
- Hawaii, 18.9 percent
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This year's survey showed illegal sales to minors were down from 11 percent last year to only 6 percent this year.
Hawai'i is below the national average of 9.9 percent.
Cigarette smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in the United States, and 80 percent who smoke, began before the age of 18.
"The tobacco manufactures keep trying to get our children hooked," said Dr. Chiyome Fukino.
Some hopeful news in the fight against illegal tobacco sales to Hawaii's youth - a state survey shows a significant drop in the number of stores selling tobacco products to minors.
This year's survey released by the Hawaii State Department of Health's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division shows the number of tobacco sales to minors has almost been cut in half compared to last year's survey.
Much of the credit goes to some undercover teens. At the capitol on Monday, they displayed the cigarettes from actual packs they bought from stores across the state. Some were even sold, after the teens told the clerks their age.
A Hawaii judge gave a Maui man a probation sentence of one year without cigarettes. KGMB's Jim Mendoza reports.
Specialty tobacco retailers in Hawai'i are bracing for the ignition of a new state law on Wednesday that dramatically increases taxes on cigars, pipe tobacco and smokeless tobacco.
The tax hike, passed by the Legislature in May, will result in state taxes accounting for half or more than half the wholesale price of such tobacco products, with consumers paying for the hike in retail purchases.
The move comes on the heals of a federal tobacco tax increase that took effect in April, and was intended to increase revenue to the state in an effort to help balance its budget.
But the higher taxes are also expected to hurt sales for retailers already suffering in the bad economy by curbing smoking for some consumers or leading them to buy tobacco elsewhere.
"It's going to kill us," said Diane Chow, manager of Kipuka Smoke Shop in Hilo.
A Hawaii judge gave a Maui man a probation sentence of one year without cigarettes.
A prison sentence can take years away from your life, but the sentence of a man in Hawaii could add years to his life. The man pleaded no contest to starting a fire. He flicked a cigarette, which torched the wood-shingle roof of the Wei Wei Bar-B-Q Restaurant. A judge ordered him to do community service, pay to fix the roof and stop smoking for a year. The judge says it will add time to his life, if he gives up the habit permanently.
A man whose flicked cigarette started a fire that burned the roof of a Pukalani restaurant was ordered not to use tobacco for the next year as part of his sentence Friday.
"That means no cigarettes," 2nd Circuit Judge Joel August told 19-year-old Makaio Bachman-Majamay. "That certainly is related to the incident. Perhaps it will add about 10 or 15 years to his life if he stops smoking permanently."
The Makawao resident had pleaded no contest to third-degree criminal property damage, reduced from the original charge of third-degree arson, for the fire July 26, 2008, at Pukalani Terrace Center.
The fire was reported at 8:45 p.m. after Bachman-Majamay shared a cigarette with another man while sitting outside the Wei Wei Bar-B-Q Restaurant at Pukalani Terrace Center, officials reported. Bachman-Majamay reportedly flicked the cigarette onto the shake roof of the restaurant before walking into the Subway restaurant next door, where he was working.
After years of relying on Hawaii and other states to take the lead in combating tobacco, the federal government has entered the battle. A bill signed into law Monday by President Barack Obama gives the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over the deadly substance. Combined with various Hawaii laws, the power could contribute greatly to bringing Big Tobacco under control. . . .
The law also restricts stores and many forms of print advertising to black-and-white text, which tobacco companies contend will interfere with legitimate communication to adults.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that corporate speech can be restricted only if it advances a "substantial government interest" and the rule is "narrowly tailored" to achieve that interest. Congress says the interest is in reducing youth smoking, a valid interest if ever there was one.
This year, however, the Legislature simultaneously raided the tobacco settlement fund and gutted the Hawai'i Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund, which uses money from the tobacco settlement fund to run those anti-smoking programs. Senate Bill 292 diverts 25.5 percent of the settlement fund's money to the General Fund and shrinks the Prevention and Control Trust Fund's share of the settlement fund's money from 12.5 percent to 6.5 percent. SB 884, which raids various special funds to bolster the General Fund, finds that the Tobacco settlement fund has an "excess" of $20 million and appropriates it to the General Fund.
According to Evans, the tobacco settlement fund had already taken a beating from the bad economy: "The trust fund corpus was about 55 million last year, and it's been losing money ever since due to the market. The current balance is about 33 million." Subtract $20 million from that, and then cut 12.5 percent of that to 6.5 percent, and there's not a lot left for anti-smoking programs. . . .
Tracking tobacco money isn't always easy. Reynolds American, formerly RJ Reynolds, usually donates in its own name -- but the world's biggest tobacco peddler, Altria, donates under a host of names, including Altria, Altria Client Services, Altria Corporate Services, Philip Morris USA and UST Public Affairs. At least one company executive has donated in his own name. And the company also hires a whole network of lobbying firms. In Hawai'i, it uses the services of three lobbyists: Celeste Y.K. Nip, Dan Smith, and George A. "Red" Morris. Reynolds uses John Radcliffe to lobby in Hawai'i. Smith made a $2,000 donation to Honolulu councilmember Romy Cachola's unsuccessful bid for the Senate; Cachola's campaign spending report lists Smith as a District Director for Altria in Richmond, Virginia. Morris, Radcliffe and Nip distributed tens of thousands in campaign donations to dozens of candidates during the 2008 election season -- but since they represent multiple clients, it's difficult to say whether the money they pass out is tobacco money or not.
But even without counting Morris's, Radcliffe's and Nip's contributions, Altria, its subsidiaries and officers passed out at least $51,309 to Hawai'i politicians during the 2008 elections, while Reynolds chipped in at least $19,500. . . .
Cigarette paper
Who got how much and from whom
Rep. Henry Aquino
Altria Client Services $1,000
Reynolds American $1,000
A total of 136 stores across Hawai'i have been cited since September for selling tobacco to underage youths.
That amounts to a 13 percent violation rate among the 1,028 stores visited during the sting, the state Health Department said.
Alice Silbanuz, public and professional education coordinator for the department, said that is similar to the rate in previous years, around 12 percent.
Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona said Hawai'i's violation rate is higher than the national average.
think about it. A clean, smoke-free city. No second-hand smoke polluting the lungs of our youth, and fewer deaths every year.
The solution? Ban smoking. It still would be legal to smoke at home. And smokers could still smoke in the designated smoke areas away from others.
So please hear me out. This is an issue to be solved. We can do it. Smokers, please smoke at home. Do not do it in public. Think about it next time you flick your lighter.
Hilo, Hawai'i Big Island smoking cessation provider Kick-the-Nic! will be holding a free Drumming Out the Nic! event at Lincoln Park on Saturday, May 30 from 9-11 a.m. Open to the public, this smoke-free event is co-sponsored by the Hawai'i Tobacco Quitline and is being held in celebration of World No Tobacco Day which is on Sunday, May 31.
Approximately 30 to 40 people are anticipated to participate in this event which will feature drum circle facilitator Marina Clifton, who will lead a group of smokers in a jam session. Drumming has been shown to increase endorphins and other brain chemicals that help people to cope with the withdrawal symptoms of quitting smoking. . . .
Free nicotine patches and gum will be available at the event to curb cravings while people are drumming, and tobacco treatment specialists will also be on hand to assist participants in setting up a quit plan. Treatment specialists that will be at the event are all ex-smokers who have been trained at the Mayo Clinic as specialized quit coaches. Coupons for smoking cessation medications will also be available, as well as other resource materials.
People who would like to quit smoking but cannot attend the event can call Cara Sadira at 557-4838 for a listing of local treatment groups.
Last week the Governor of Hawai'i signed a bill passed by the Hawai'i State Legislature to increase that state's cigarette tax to $2.60 per pack as of July 1. This became the ninety first time a state has raised its tobacco tax since the last time the tax was increased in California back in 1998. That increase was enacted by the voters through passage of the 50 cent tobacco tax increase (Proposition 10) to fund early childhood education. The California State Legislature has not passed a tobacco tax increase since 1993 when it approved a 2-cent increase to fund breast cancer research and early detection. . . .
Smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable death in California. Increasing the tobacco tax has consistently been found to be an effective means to reduce smoking, especially among youth. Studies show that every 10 percent increase in price reduces overall consumption by 3-4 percent and youth smoking by 7 percent. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the $1.50 increase of SB 600 would prevent 361,100 kids from becoming smokers, save 165,600 Californians from premature deaths caused by smoking and save $8.1 billion in long term healthcare costs.
Pipe and cigar smokers along with those who buy snuff and chewing tobacco in Hawaii are getting a four-month, $400,000 state tobacco tax holiday because of an error in a tax law written by the state Legislature.
House Bill 895 was vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle, who said it was filled with technical mistakes. The Legislature overrode the veto, and now some of those mistakes are becoming apparent.
"It contains major technical flaws that defeat the purpose of the legislation and will make it virtually impossible to implement," Lingle wrote in her veto message.
The inadvertent tax holiday was caused by a mistake in the bill that did not specify the tax on tobacco products other than cigarettes during the period from enactment until Sept. 30.
That error, according to legislative researchers, will result in a $400,000 loss in revenue.
But it might not be the only flaw.