Tobacco.org

Health officials fret as hookah grows in popularity  

As more hookah lounges open, health officials said they are worried users do not fully understand the risks associated with the pastime.

Cafe Hookah, which is set to open in College Park, Md., this month, will be the second hookah bar in the city. The cafe's owner, 29-year-old Abid Khan, said he chose to open the establishment because the "niche was available."

"I think that it will be unique in the sense that - aside from making money - it's run by young people that actually care about the students," he said.

Hookah tobacco contains many of the same harmful chemicals found in cigarettes and can cause similar long-term health effects, such as mouth cancer, lung cancer and cancer of the trachea, Shell said.

"Hookahs are flavored and put in a nice setting when you are sitting and relaxing ... But that kind of socially attractive setting is really the vehicle for delivering a really potent dose of tobacco and carbon monoxide and other chemicals, too," Shell said.

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Views differ on Broadneck's 'The Pit'  

For years, kids have gathered there before and after school. But after a fight broke out last week, neighbors say these "pit stops" have to stop.

An 18-year-old Cape St. Claire resident was flown to a shock trauma center after being punched by a 15-year-old. He suffered a severe eye injury, Anne Arundel County police said. The victim's father, Jim Cefaratti, said his son is recovering.

Police said they are not pressing charges in the incident. They said the two teens know each other and the fight was instigated by the 18-year-old.

County Police Department spokesman Justin Mulcahy said the department is aware of the existence of the teen hangout and said officers have been in the area this week, since the fight.

"No questionable activity has been observed involving juveniles," he said. . . .

But Broadneck High students this week defended the area as place to socialize with friends and perhaps take a cigarette break.

"I'm sick of the assumptions being made about kids," said LeeAnn Rocksvold, a Broadneck junior. "The problem is, we block traffic. But we move out of the way."

When residents ask them to pick up their empty cigarette packs and coffee cups, the students try to be considerate, said junior Chris Larghi.

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Smokers find ‘vaping’ electronic cigarettes beats tobacco version  

FROSTBURG -- Kirk Valentine was smoking about two packs of cigarettes a day and wishing he could quit when he first learned about "vaping," the term for using an electronic cigarette.

Now he's a "vaper" instead of a smoker -- a big improvement, Valentine and other e-cigarette advocates believe.

"It's more pure. You're not getting all that chemical," said Sue Dicken, who with Valentine purchased supplies last week at The Vapor Room, a new e-cigarette store in Frostburg.

"The smell is gone," Valentine said.

"You don't feel so bad," Dicken said.

"It's cheaper," said Valentine, 42, of McCoole.

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Governor's proposal to raise tobacco sales tax ruffles sellers 

Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposal to raise taxes on tobacco products is causing a lot of huffing and puffing among local sellers.

O'Malley's proposed $35.9 billion budget for fiscal 2013 would raise the 15 percent excise tax on cigars, smokeless tobacco and other noncigarette tobacco items to 70 percent. The proposed tax increase would raise the price of a $1.49 cigar to about $2.20.

Budget analysts project the increase will bring the state an extra $20 million next year, according to published reports.

The governor's proposal isn't sitting well with local retailers.

New taxes on tobacco products will drive more people to neighboring states for their supplies, said Bob Burgess, owner of JBK Associates in Mount Airy.

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Don't go to Ryleigh's cigar social expecting to smoke indoors  

But don't expect to smoke inside the Federal Hill bar, says owner Brian McComas. The event is just that - promotion for the cigar shop and for Jameson whiskey. It's part of the bar's spirits tasting series.

"They hope customers will walk up to the store after our event," McComas says, referring to Cross Street.

Even those bars that received waivers from the ban can't host smokers anymore - the waivers expired last year.

If there is smoking inside, Ryleigh's could face a stiff penalty of at least $500 from a city sanitation inspector.

Smoking at bars and restaurants has been illegal in Baltimore since 2007. Later that year, Governor Martin O'Malley signed a statewide ban, one of the country's most restrictive, making Maryland, at the time, one about 20 states to also enforce anti-smoking laws. Both bans came into effect in 2008.

Since then, smoking bans have come to more and more outdoor venues as well, most recently the Baltimore Farmers' Market.

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Md. Lt. Gov. Brown voices support for increase in tobacco tax 

Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) joined a group of health advocates in Annapolis on Thursday to push for an increase in the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products, which were not affected when lawmakers voted to double the cigarette tax to $2 per pack in 2007.

The tax increase would generate an estimated $19 million for the state, according to the budget Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) proposed last week. Brown was quick to mention the anticipated revenue when he spoke to attendees, including the American Cancer Society, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and MedChi, the state's medical society.

"But that wouldn't be why you're here, but rather to focus on the benefits to health of what we're proposing," Brown said, adding that he would prefer to eventually see no tax revenue from tobacco.

"We are looking forward to the day in Maryland when we live in a tobacco-free world," he said.

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VA Man Arrested in Pocomoke for Transporting Untaxed Cigs  

A New Port News,Virginia man was arrested Wednesday morning in Pocomoke, Maryland for transporting untaxed cigarettes.

Maryland State Police say they stopped 30-year-old Magheifry Cheikh for speeding just after 3 a.m. on northbound Route 13, south of Route 113.

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LETTER: RADU: All tobacco is not equally harmful  

Your recent editorial endorsed a tax increase on tobacco products other than cigarettes, but it was based on some sweeping statements that are not scientifically accurate or credible ("The 'other' tobacco tax," Jan 20).

You stated: "Tobacco is linked to an estimated 6,861 deaths in Maryland each year … the American Lung Association reports." The Lung Association actually reported that smoking caused these deaths. The distinction is critical because your case for raising OTP taxes is based on the presumption that all tobacco products are equally risky: "Experts say all forms of tobacco are considered harmful to human health no matter whether they are smoked, puffed, chewed or otherwise ingested. Smokeless tobacco, for instance, is often linked to oral and esophageal cancer."

In fact, smokeless tobacco use is 98 percent safer than smoking.

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EDITORIAL: The 'other' tobacco tax  

Over the past decade, Maryland has gradually raised its tax on cigarettes to the current $2 per pack, and the results have been striking. Fewer people smoke cigarettes today than before the tax was implemented, and that's particularly true among high school students.

Yet even as lawmakers acted boldly to reduce cigarette use, they foolishly left alone other forms of tobacco, chiefly snuff, chewing tobacco and cigars. So while cigarettes and what's known as "OTP" or Other Tobacco Products were taxed at comparable levels in 1999 (36 cents per pack for cigarettes and 15 percent of wholesale prices for OTP), they are far apart today.

The results have been predictable. Increasing cigarette taxes by 555 percent has done wonders for public health, but leaving the tax applied to cigars and the like unchanged since 1999 has only made those tobacco products more popular. . . .

Whether the revenue from a higher OTP tax helps balance the state budget is unimportant. The state can't continue to give such a big break to tobacco simply because it doesn't come in the form of cigarettes. It's foolish public policy, and it's particularly destructive to those youngsters the industry so obviously wants to hook on its deadly products.

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Butt Out: Frederick to ban smoking in select areas of city parks 

Smokers who frequent Frederick city parks will likely have to avoid lighting up in the playgrounds, at the Baker Park Bandshell, and the Carroll Creek Park amphitheater or risk getting a $25 fine.

The Board of Aldermen, who originally considered a complete smoking ban in city parks, say they want to protect young children from secondhand smoke.

"We are obligated to make playgrounds a safe environment for children," Alderman Karen Young (D) said.

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The secondhand smoke debate hits home 

This week's real estate cover story unpacks a question that's sure to ruffle feathers among property-owning smokers and nonsmokers alike: Should homeowners be allowed to smoke in their home if the secondhand smoke bothers neighbors with whom they share common space?

Maryland resident David Schuman says no. The townhouse owner sued Greenbelt Homes Inc., the company that manages the 1,600-unit townhouse development, complaining that his neighbors' secondhand smoke was creeping into his unit and violating the "nuisance clause" of his mutual ownership contract. In November, a Prince George's County Circuit Court judge ruled against Schuman, saying it was a decision that should be left up to lawmakers. Schuman is appealing the ruling.

Schuman's case is the latest to touch on this murky area of the law that's shaping up differently in cities around the country. Some courts have said secondhand smoke is a nuisance, while others have found that it's simply a condition of living in a community environment that residents have to accept.

A bill that Maryland Del. Ben Kramer is poised to introduce this session could clarify the law locally. The proposed legislation would change the "nuisance statute" of mutual ownership contracts to explicitly include secondhand smoke - which could give homeowners such as Schuman a leg up in litigation

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WEST OCEAN CITY: Flicked butt leads to shoplifting arrest 

WEST OCEAN CITY -- A tossed cigarette butt on Route 50 that ended up hitting a police car led the Worcester County Sheriff's Office to a suspect wanted for shoplifting from the White Marlin Mall.

Around 1 p.m. on Jan. 8, deputies were on the lookout for three people wanted in connection with a reported shoplifting from Carter's clothing store. The suspects were said to be traveling westbound on Route 50 in a black vehicle.

Deputies found the car after the driver, Shannon Ohara Irving, 23, of Frankford, Del., tossed her cigarette out the window. A sheriff's deputy pulled her over when the butt hit his patrol car's windshield.

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Allegany College officials consider campus-wide smoking ban  

Allegany College of Maryland is considering going "smoke free," following in the footsteps of Frostburg State University and other area campuses that have already kicked the habit.

ACM President Cynthia Bambara said Monday that she is appointing a task force to "examine the opportunities and obstacles" associated with a campus-wide smoking ban.

Students and employees have requested that ACM officials address the issue, Bambara said.

"It's not without its challenges in terms of enforcing," Bambara told the Allegany College Board of Trustees during a regular meeting Monday.

"That we do have residence halls also somewhat complicates matters. But we do need to take a look at it."

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WORCESTER: N.Y. man caught transporting cigarettes  

State Police arrested a New York man for traveling with 72 cartons of cigarettes.

Around 9:20 a.m. on Jan. 4, Troopers stopped Albert T. Cole, 73, of Staten Island, for speeding along Route 113 near Route 90. A search of his 2008 Ford Explorer revealed the unstamped, untaxed cigarette cartons, as well as receipts and cigarette ledgers, police said. Cole bought the cigarettes in Virginia and was headed home to New York, police also said.

Cole was arrested State Police and charged by the state Comptroller's Office with possession of unstamped cigarettes.

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LETTER: Maryland cigar tax: Increase in cigar tax would reduce teen use 

In a recent Baltimore Sun article about our proposed tax increase for cigars and smokeless tobacco designed to reduce teen use of these products ("Group pushing tobacco tax says it's a popular idea," Dec. 20), Bill Spann of the cigar industry makes the irrelevant point that teenagers don't smoke expensive cigars. The fact is that according to a study recently released by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 14 percent of children now smoke the kind of inexpensive cigars that the cigar industry has been marketing with kid friendly flavors.

While cigarette smoking among children (and adults) in our state has declined dramatically (double the national average) largely as a result of our recent cigarette tax increases, saving thousands of lives from tobacco caused preventable death, cigar smoking among children has been on the rise in part because we have not increased the tax on these deadly products since 1999. . . .

a poll by OpinionWorks that we recently released showed that 72 percent of Marylanders join us in calling upon the General Assembly to increase the tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco so that it is equivalent to the tax on cigarettes.

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