Tobacco.org

Smoking ban concerns brought to Marion council  

Local tavern owners have asked Mayor Robert Butler and his police department to enforce state smoking bans.

Butler told the Marion City Council Monday that he had been approached about certain taverns which are allowing smoking.

"They are concerned about our enforcement of the no smoking ban," Butler said. He said one tavern in particular is apparently posting smoking hours at the business.

Public safety commissioner Jay Rix said the police department has been monitoring bars for such violations, but will step up efforts in light of the complaints.

Jump to full article »

Businesses cited for allowing smoking 

WOOD RIVER - Health officials are cracking down on Madison County bar owners who continue to allow smokers to light up indoors despite a nearly 2-year-old statewide ban.

A Worden establishment was the first in the county to pay a fine for violating the Smoke Free Illinois Act. The law prohibits smoking at indoor public places, such as bars and restaurants.

The Madison County Health Department would not release the name of the bar that paid the fine. The Telegraph filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act last week and is awaiting a response as to which establishment paid the citation.

During a Health Department Committee meeting in September, Mary Cooper, the county's emergency health manager, confirmed a $250 fine was paid.

Jump to full article »

Hoopeston bar fined under state smoking ban  

One of the first rulings under the state's new administrative review process for smoking ban violations upheld a Vermilion County Health Department fine against the Hoopeston bar, Deano's on Main.

Health department officials cited the business earlier this year when inspectors entered Deano's for a routine food inspection and a customer was smoking inside the business. The health department had received multiple complaints about smoking ban violations at Deano's prior to the inspector's visit, according to health department officials.

Rather than paying the fine, the business requested an administrative hearing handled by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The administrative law judge upheld the $100 fine.

Lori Dean, owner of Deano's, said the law is ridiculous, and 90 percent of her patrons are smokers. The day of the food inspection, she said, there was only one elderly customer smoking a pipe.

Jump to full article »

Worth ban to snuff out smoking lounges 

In January, the Friends Cafe and Lounge in Worth will be history. Likewise for three other smoker-friendly lounges after the Village Board voted last week to expand the state's indoor smoking ban to include establishments in business only to welcome smokers.

Citing federal anti-smoking initiatives, Worth officials concluded that smoking is bad for smokers and secondhand smoke endangers nonsmokers.

But Friends Cafe owner Ala Alsherbini insists the new law is a power play by Worth politicians to extinguish his business for good.

Jump to full article »

E-cigarettes offer nicotine without tobacco, but are they safe?  

No more smoking for Scott Riddle.

Now he vapes.

"Vaping" means he inhales the vapor from an electronic cigarette, a battery-powered device that typically looks like a cigarette, but delivers nicotine without the tobacco and smoke.

Electronic cigarettes, Riddle say, lets him enjoy the pleasures of smoking without its downsides.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations says not so fast. The FDA warns that e-cigs are not safe, has seized some shipments, and is fighting in court to keep the e-cigarettes away from the public.

Following a nationwide crackdown on smoking in public, the dispute over e-cigarettes raises new questions about personal freedom, public health, addictive drugs and government regulation. It also begs the question: could this be the future of smoking? . . .

Dr. Kevin Sherrin, president of the American Association of Public Health Physicians - who is not compensated by e-cigarette makers - says conventional cigarettes are "much more hazardous" than e-cigarettes.

To get more smokers to use them instead of cigarettes, he proposes that e-cigarettes be immediately regulated as tobacco products.

Jump to full article »

Vermilion agency says fine over smoking first in state 

The Vermilion County Health Department says a Hoopeston bar owner is the first in Illinois to be fined for a violation of the state smoking ban.

An administrative law judge upheld the $100 fine in late September against Deano's on Main in Hoopeston for violating the law against indoor smoking in Illinois, according to a release from the county's health department.

The release said a health department worker on a routine inspection last March saw a customer smoking, and that the department had received "multiple complaints from the public" about smoking at the bar. The department issued a violation and fined the bar. The administrative judge upheld that fine.

The Vermilion County department said this is the first successful ruling in the state under the law banning smoking.

Jump to full article »

Illinois: Cigarettes for scholarships 

U.S. and state governments have been working both sides of the tobacco debate for too long.

Stop smoking, we're told, because it adds millions in Medicare and Medicaid treatment. Tax cigarettes to discourage use. Sue tobacco makers for selling an addictive product that leads to the untimely death of its best customers.

But in the same gasping breaths: Count on cigarette taxes to shore up Medicare shortfalls, but divert most of the tax and lawsuit money to general fund uses. Allow smoking as an incentive for casino gambling, another addictive behavior government is relying on for revenue. And now, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is pitching a $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike to save college scholarships.

The Monetary Award Program scholarships are a big, big part of higher education . . .

So a $1 per-pack-tax hike may be a fix this semester. But if every other anti-smoking government program works - and we hope they do - these funds won't sustain the scholarships for long.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: Cigarette tax not way to save student grants 

Of the two proposals on the table for funding grants for Illinois college students, the Republicans plan for another round of tax amnesty makes more sense than nearly doubling the state's tax on cigarettes. . . .

Democrats are touting a dollar-a-pack tax on cigarettes as the savior for MAP. However, such an increase would give Illinois a higher state tobacco tax than any of its surrounding states except Wisconsin, where the tax is $2.52 a pack compared to the proposed $1.98 tax for Illinois.

When county and city taxes are included, the extra dollar would push Chicago ahead of New York City as the city with the highest combined taxes on a pack of cigarettes.

It's plain to see how that would send people near the borders to stores in other states, not only to buy cigarettes but to fill their fuel tanks and buy snacks and other items while they are there. That would potentially decrease revenue, not only from the tobacco tax but also from sales taxes and motor fuel taxes.

In addition, the extra dollar a pack would likely inspire more people to quit smoking - good for individuals' health and overall health care costs, bad for revenue generation - and could cause more people to buy cigarettes over the Internet, smuggle them across the border or even steal them.

Add to this the question of whether a small group of taxpayers - those who still smoke - should be burdened with financing a significant portion of a program that is a general state benefit.

Jump to full article »

EP gives smoking ban more bite  

Puffing in East Peoria now may be subject to more regulations than anywhere else in the state.

With the recent adoption of an amended liquor code that specifically references a ban on smoking in public places, the city conceivably has three laws covering the prohibition.

First is the state's Smoke Free Illinois Act, which beginning Jan. 1, 2008, sought to end smoking in bars, restaurants and all other places open to the public or places of employment.

Second is the city's smoking ordinance, which closely mirrors the state act and was adopted after the state ban was approved. Cities that created individual ordinances to regulate smoking once the ban took effect were allowed, under the state law, to keep 100 percent of the fines for violations, rather than splitting the proceeds with the state.

But the state's law - and thus, ordinances around the state that were adopted verbatim to keep the revenue generated by citations local - initially contained peculiar language that resulted in confused enforcement efforts and legal challenges.

That atmosphere caused East Peoria and other municipalities to attempt a third approach: citing bar owners and bartenders under catch-all provisions in local liquor codes.

Jump to full article »

• Taxes drive tobacco users to Illinois border 

While Ahmad, Mussina and the other Wisconsin merchants suffer financially, the tax increases have significantly boosted the revenue of a cash-strapped state, and probably are deterring a lot of smoking.

The retailers say price increases won't stop smokers, but researchers say otherwise, and the potential savings in health care costs are enormous.

On average, according to University of Illinois at Chicago economist Frank J. Chaloupka, every 10% increase in cigarette prices reduces demand by about 4%.

That would suggest that reduced overall smoking accounts for a significant portion - perhaps more than half - of the decrease in cigarette sales following Wisconsin's tax increases.

There's no data yet on the effects of the most recent increase, which took effect Sept. 1. But tax collections before and after the $10-a-carton boost on Jan. 1, 2008, show a dramatic impact.

From fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2009, revenue to the state nearly doubled, to $551 million. But cigarette sales fell by 19% - from 38.5 million cartons in fiscal 2007 to 31.1 million in fiscal 2009.

That's more than a billion fewer cigarettes sold here, and Chaloupka believes most weren't replaced with smokes bought elsewhere.

Jump to full article »

Worth waves goodbye to hookah bars 

Worth village trustees on Tuesday adopted an ordinance that bans smoking in all businesses starting next year.

Citing health concerns and recent legislation signed by United States President Barack Obama, Worth trustees voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance that will ban smoking indoors at all businesses including smoke shops and hookah lounges. Trustee Lezley Zubaty was absent.

Included in the wording of the ordinance is a plan to phase out hookah bars as business licenses expire.

The “Indoor Clean Air Policy” follows the “Smoke Free Illinois Act” that went into effect January 1, 2008. The statewide smoking ban outlawed smoking at bars and restaurants, but lighting up was still legal at businesses people would go for the sole purpose of smoking, such as tobacco shops and hookah lounges. The village policy is set to take effect January 1, 2010.

Jump to full article »

Chicago smoked out of cigarette-tax revenue 

We walk up to the bulletproof glass at the counter.

"Newports, short," we tell the clerk, sliding payment to him through the slot below. He slides back our cigarettes and a receipt.

The damage: $7.50. Smokers looking for economic relief must love this store. It's a dollar cheaper a pack than most stores in Chicago.

But if you're the deficit-ridden city or Cook County, this store is not your friend. Not when the pack bears no evidence that the 68-cent Chicago tax and the $2 Cook County tax have been paid.

As cigarette taxes have gone up, smokers have been finding ways to avoid them, from driving out of state to buying online.

A Tribune spot-check found that in some cases, local retailers are helping out, selling untaxed cigarettes right off their shelves.

Jump to full article »

SHAMEEM: Tobacco industry's reluctant farewell to flavor  

While the passage of this sweeping legislation is well intentioned in aims of preventing underaged smoking, it is both ambiguous and slightly contradictory in nature. . . .

What the FDA has forgotten is that smoking is a personal choice for those of age and that government regulation of the ability to choose what flavor a citizen smokes is an infringement on one's rights. Anonymous third year biology major at UIC states, "I think it's hypocritical that we ban flavored cigarettes when there's all this talk about legalizing marijuana. There are far bigger problems in regard to smoking and its regulation, and banning all but the most popular flavor seems illogical." . . .

For many non-smokers on campus, myself included, the banning of flavored cigarettes really makes no difference. For legal smokers, it is an infringement upon their right to smoke once legal substances. However, for conscientious citizens who wish to prevent under aged smoking, the FDA's ban is sloppy, vague, and contradictory at best.

Jump to full article »

Local hospitals laud outdoor smoking bans  

John Hamann's infant daughter, born three months premature, was receiving care inside St. John's Hospital one night last week, while Hamann was outside, fuming, as he smoked cigarettes on a public sidewalk several floors below.

"It's already a stressful situation, and it's been kind of hard getting down here to smoke," the 26-year-old Litchfield resident said. "Not being able to smoke makes it that much more stressful. There's not even a spot to go and get dry."

St. John's and several other Springfield-area health-care institutions voluntarily enacted outdoor smoking bans almost four years ago. While visitors who smoke may not be pleased, officials believe the policies are working well.

Few people violate the bans, officials said. A handful of employees have been disciplined for violations, but no one has been fired.

Jump to full article »

• No-smoking strategy: Apartment buildings start bans to draw new renters, keep peace among existing ones 

Warren Nisley liked the "green" features of the new Morgan at Loyola Station in Rogers Park when he was apartment hunting.

The mixed-use building near Loyola University Chicago has 152 apartments, is near public transportation and boasts eco-friendly features such as water-saving fixtures and efforts to improve internal air quality with low-gas-emitting paints and a no-smoking policy for all residents and guests.

The smoke-free environment wasn't the only criterion for deciding to live in the building, but it was part of a package that Nisley, 52, found appealing. . . .

The first no-smoking sections in restaurants appeared 30 years ago. Since then, smoking increasingly has been banned in commercial and public buildings because of concerns about second-hand smoke and a growing consumer demand for better quality air. But in Chicago, smoke-free apartments have been concentrated in smaller, privately owned buildings or privately owned units.

Jennifer Wolf, AMLI Residential's senior vice president for development, said the company chose to prohibit smoking in AMLI 900 to meet requirements to improve internal air quality, among other things, for LEED certification.

Wolf said the project, which opened in November, is on track to be the first new-construction high-rise apartment in Chicago to be LEED-certified, a measure of environmental sensitivity and sustainability.

Jump to full article »