Tobacco.org

• STILL SMOKING 

Louisiana's 40-acre tobacco trade seems a speck on the agricultural map.

Even at its height in 1922, farmers planted just 1,100 acres of Louisiana's only breed of tobacco, known as perique. Its home in Grand Point, a remote outpost in St. James Parish, is too small to merit its own ZIP code.

Yet perique has achieved fame as far afield as Europe and Asia among connoisseurs who prize the plant's pungent, fruity taste.

"I kind of equate that product with a cognac," said Mike Little, vice president of operations for Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., which has become perique's biggest customer. "It's a little sweeter and heavier in the way it smokes."

For all its charms, perique has struggled to survive as tobacco farmers nationwide have slowed production of the plant now synonymous with cancer and corporate corruption. But perique has staged a surprising comeback since 2005, with the state's seven tobacco farms nearly doubling the crop's footprint and tripling production to more than 58,000 pounds last year.

Santa Fe started using the leaf in a special blend of its Natural American Spirit cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco pouches. . . .

Located in two barns along historic River Road in Convent, L.A. Poche has been the parish's main perique processor since the 1930s.

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EDITORIAL: Future up in smoke 

Progress in preventing teen smoking has stalled in the United States, according to new federal data, and the result could be more adults with smoking-related illnesses in the future. . . .

"One in five kids is still smoking," said Terry Pechacek of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Another generation is continuing on with a huge rate of tobacco use into adulthood."

He points to cuts in state anti-smoking campaigns that were paid for with tobacco lawsuit settlement money. If stalled progress in smoking prevention can be linked to declining anti-smoking efforts, as he suggests, that's a strong argument for restoring those programs.

Clearly, something was working during the seven years when teen smoking dropped. Their younger sisters and brothers need to hear the same message.

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• Smokers, tobacco firms to meet in court again  

Attorneys for Louisiana smokers and the nation's biggest tobacco companies will square off in a hearing today on a case that made headlines in 2004 when a Civil District Court jury ruled that the firms should pay $519 million to help Louisianians kick the smoking habit for conspiring to mislead the public about tobacco's effects.

Retired Civil District Judge Richard Ganucheau, who presided over the trial that led to the jury's verdict, scheduled the hearing to help him decide where the two sides in the case stand in light of a state appeals court's move last fall to slash the jury award to $279 million.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruling, which the state and U.S. Supreme Courts have let stand, also limited participation in the smoking cessation programs the jury ordered to people whose claims for such assistance accrued before Sept. 1, 1988, the effective date of the Louisiana products liability act.

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• La. judge to rehash tobacco case 

Attorneys for Louisiana smokers and the nation's biggest tobacco companies will square off in a June 30 hearing on a case that made headlines in 2004 when a Civil District Court jury ruled that for conspiring to mislead the public about tobacco's effects, the firms should pay $519 million to help Louisianians kick the smoking habit.

Retired Civil District Judge Richard Ganucheau, who presided over the trial that led to the jury's verdict, scheduled the hearing to help him decide where the two sides in the case stand in light of a state appeals court's move last fall to slash the jury award by more than half, to $279 million.

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruling, which the state and U.S. Supreme Courts have let stand, also limited participation in the smoking cessation programs the jury ordered to people whose claims for such assistance accrued before Sept. 1, 1988, the effective date of the Louisiana products liability act.

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Senate panel blocks bid to toughen restrictions on smoking 

Representative Walker Hines' bill would prohibit smoking a cigarette, cigar or pipe while a child younger than 16 is present -- up from the current prohibition that covers children 13 and younger. . . .

The Senate Transportation Committee voted 3-2 to block the House-backed bill (House Bill 1021) from reaching the full Senate.

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Smokeless tobacco ban wins support  

Smokeless tobacco chewers took one on the chin Monday when the House voted 62-19 to ban tobacco products in the House chamber and offices.

Smoking is already banned in the State Capitol, including the House and Senate chambers.

Rep. Karen Peterson, D-New Orleans, offered the resolution that spells out the new ban on House property. . . .

One of the few protesters was Rep. Sam Little, R-Bastrop, who described himself as a tobacco chewer.

"Do you want to drive me crazy?" Little asked Peterson.

Another tobacco chewer who has drawn notice is Gov. Bobby Jindal's chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, who sometimes totes a cup with him while watching House proceedings.

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• Smoking How much will it end up costing you? 

Smokers aren't the only ones who feel the costs of smoking.

"Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure cost the state of Louisiana $3 billion per year in health care costs and lost productivity," says Carrie Broussard of the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living.

TFL estimated in 2005 that of the $1.47 billion in health care costs directly caused by smoking in Louisiana, $663 million was covered by the taxpayer-funded state Medicaid program. Louisiana residents' total state and federal tax burden used to address problems caused by smoking averaged out to $626 per household. And those numbers aren't including health-care costs caused by secondhand smoke, cigar and pipe smoking or chewing tobacco.

You probably don't even want to think about the non-health-related costs: not just lost productivity, but property losses in fires caused by smoking (over $500 million -- not to mention more than 1000 deaths -- across the country each year) and cleaning and maintenance costs made necessary by tobacco smoke and cigarette litter (around $4 billion nationwide just for commercial establishments). . . .

Occasional smokers are often college students -- a 2007 report by the American College Health Association found that while only 10 percent of students smoke regularly, 30 perent smoke intermittently. And with tobacco companies facing increasing criticism for aiming advertisements at children, they've started targeting the 18-to-24-year-old demographic -- partly by advertising aggressively in environments where college-age intermittent smokers are most likely to indulge, such as bars and nightclubs.

"Intermittent smokers usually believe that they can stop smoking at any time and often think that they will quit after college," says David, but they're usually wrong. . . .

Today, in her work as development director with the Acadiana Arts Council, Moss makes it a priority to work to promote smoke-free venues where Acadiana residents can go to hear musical performances without worrying about secondhand smoke exposure.

Interested in joining the fight? Consider getting involved with the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network (acscan.org) or the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (tobaccofreeliving.org)

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Regular legislative session: Bill regulates smoking at nursing homes 

Legislators are cracking down on smoking around the elderly.

A House committee passed a bill to stop smokers from lighting up in common areas of nursing homes.

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State works to curb smoking  

The state is seeking project proposals to help curb tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure among 18-24 year olds.

The Department of Health and Hospitals' Tobacco Control Program will fund three $30,000 grants to organizations for projects that target the age group.

Interested organizations must submit a letter of intent by April 22 and grant applications are due May 23.

Proposed projects should address tobacco-related disparities such as prevalence of tobacco use, second-hand smoke exposure, relapse rates, access to prevention and cessation programs and tobacco industry marketing.

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Capital Area agency to ban tobacco use  

Capital Area Human Services District-operated facilities will be tobacco-free workplaces beginning May 1, the agency announced Friday.

Capital Area oversees state mental health and addictive behavior programs in the East Baton Rouge areas.

The idea is to promote a healthier environment for clients, staff and visitors to the agency's buildings, the agency's Executive Director Jan Kasofsky said in a news release. Tobacco use of any kind will not be allowed anywhere on the grounds of Capital Area-operated facilities.

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Tobacco use age may rise to 21 

The youngest member of the state Legislature proposed a bill to raise the age of legal tobacco use from 18 to 21 years old.

If House Bill 240 passes in the 2008 Regular Session, it will be illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to buy or possess any tobacco products.

Walker Hines, D-New Orleans, said he proposed House Bill 240 to reduce health care costs for the state and prolong the lives of Louisiana residents.

Louisiana would be the first state to change the age to 21 if the bill passes.

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Lafayette Parish Youth Fights Youth Tobacco Use on Kick Butts Day  

On April 2, 2008, young people from TTYL (Teens Targeting Youth of Louisiana) are joining thousands of kids across the country who are taking part in Kick Butts Day (KBD), a nationwide initiative that makes youth leaders in the effort to stop youth tobacco use. As part of the Kick Butts Day Celebration, Lafayette and Carencro, High students are educating fellow peers on the harmful effects of tobacco use. The students will set up a memorial for the 1200 people that lose their lives each day to tobacco as well as a shoe display to show how many students at their school will be affected by tobacco use.

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HALL: Yes, Yes, Yes, We Know Second Hand Smoke is Bad  

Apparently a lot of people die from second hand smoke in Louisiana. New work from New Orleans-based agency Trumpet for the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living is approaching the dangers of smoking by highlighting the dangers of second hand smoke. . . .

While we can't fault the campaign for it's effort, we can't seem to get excited about it either. It seems all these "don't smoke" and "second hand smoke is bad" efforts just blur together after a while and become as innocuous as a laundry detergent ad.

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New no-smoking bill targets bars that serve food  

Smokers could no longer light up in bars that serve food if a Baton Rouge-area lawmaker gets his way.

State Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Grosse Tete, said Wednesday he wants to close the “loophole” in the 2006 Louisiana Clean Indoor Air Act, which he also sponsored.

The Louisiana Restaurant Association opposed the law’s passage, arguing that restaurants would be put at a disadvantage because they would be subject to the no-smoking ban while bars that serve some food would be exempt.

Marionneaux said the playing field should be evened to create a healthier environment. That, he said, is his aim in proposing Senate Bill 185.

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Legislators try to restrict smoking 

A rookie lawmaker from New Orleans has filed legislation designed to keep cigarettes and other tobacco products out of the hands of anyone younger than 21.

Rep. Walker Hines, D-New Orleans, has filed House Bill 240 that would raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21. Hines, at 24 the youngest member of the Legislature, said he wants to "reduce smoking in social, settings" especially among teens and young adults.

He said three states have already raised the age for buying tobacco to 21.

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