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EDITORIAL: Addicted at an early age 

Meanwhile, federal, state and local officials should also be looking at ways to keep other gateways to addiction out of youngsters' reach. Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's push to restrict the sales of "alcopops" - sugary alcoholic beverages that are now as widely available as beer - met an inexcusable veto from Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2008. Although the governor has subsequently come around on the issue, the legislature has remained unable to enact restrictions. That should be a priority when the General Assembly returns.

Similarly, Baltimore and state officials have long struggled to restrict the single sales of so-called "little cigars" or cigarillos, products that are taxed and sold as if they were premium cigars instead of the glorified cigarettes they actually are. (The industry defines cigars and cigarillos as smokables wrapped in tobacco, whereas cigarettes are wrapped in paper. But both pose health hazards comparable to cigarettes.)

Mayor Sheila Dixon was able to enact regulations requiring vendors to sell "little cigars" in packs of five or more - an effort aimed at making them less accessible to kids attracted by their low price. But the change that would really matter - taxing them like cigarettes - has gotten nowhere in Annapolis. Lawmakers should take heart from the FDA's ruling on flavored cigarettes and try again next year. For while opponents of such restrictions may be right that adults should be able to make their own decisions about smoking (even decisions that are bad for them), that argument fails when it comes to products that, intentionally or not, are calibrated to lure vulnerable youngsters into a lifetime of addiction.

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VIDEO: Rockville's Assault on Smokers Continues  

A unanimous vote by the Rockville City Council Monday night changed the city's smoking policy so that smoking is now banned 40 feet away from playgrounds at city parks. The policy change now makes Rockville one of the strictest local municipalities when it comes to restricting smoking.

Smoking is banned in restaurants, bars and nightclubs in Maryland. In Rockville, smoking also is banned at city pools, playing fields and dog parks.

No fines or penalties will be enforced as it is a change in policy, not a new law.

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Rockville City Parks Now Smoke Free 

Rockville City playgrounds are now officially smoke free. Monday evening, the City Council unanimously ruled in favor of a new Recreation and Parks Department policy that creates a smoke free, 40-foot perimeter around all city owned playgrounds. . . .

No one opposed the smoking ban, but some residents requested broader language to include all Rockville city parks.

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• Rockville Sets Distance Rule for Smoking at City Playgrounds  

"We're really not asking them to go too far out of their way," said Burt Hall, Rockville's director of recreation and parks.

The city council voted Monday night to ban lighting up near playgrounds in city parks. Rockville's park advisory board had unanimously endorsed the plan, which sprang from a few complaints.

Even tighter rules may be on the way. Some residents had pushed for a total ban on smoking in parks, a concept also floated Monday by a top health official in New York City. That idea was not voted on Monday, but most on the council said they would be open to considering a broader ban later.

"We're supposed to be outdoors being healthy, not smoking or spreading secondhand smoke to others," Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann said.

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Spending on Annapolis Lobbyists Holds Up During Recession  

Lobbyists in Annapolis collectively made $24.7 million during the six-month period that included this year's 90-day legislative session, according to figures compiled by the State Ethics Commission. . . .

The new numbers out of Maryland provide some of the firmest evidence to date that State House lobbying appears to be a largely recession-proof business. Figures from Virginia have yet to be released, but veteran lobbyists in Richmond say they noticed no significant drop-off in activity during a session that featured battles between moneyed interests over a ban on smoking in restaurants and regulations affecting payday lenders and energy companies.

"I'm not aware of any dilution," said Charles J. Davis III, whose clients in Richmond include tobacco companies and health-care interests.

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Officials: Cigarette Caused Fatal Fire 

The Maryland fire marshal's office says a cigarette caused a fatal fire in Easton in June.

The fire on June 3 claimed the life of Stacey Blake. The one-alarm blaze in the apartment building caused about $100,000 in damage.

Fire officials say Blake had been smoking in the rear bedroom and apparently dropped a cigarette in a closet

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Joshua Sharfstein 

Current Position: Food and Drug Administration Principal Deputy Commissioner (since March 2009) . . .

After his fellowship, Sharfstein went to Washington, D.C., where from 2001 until the end of 2005 he was an investigator and health-policy adviser on the House Government Reform and Oversight committee, led by Rep. Waxman. He worked on projects related to scientific integrity, HIV/AIDS, FDA oversight, public health preparedness and other health topics, according to his official biography. He also worked toward giving the FDA authority to regulate the tobacco industry, a favorite Waxman cause. "

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The Roots of Public Health Activism: A Grandmother's Tale 

Yesterday we told you about the drive by the FDA's new deputy, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, to get antibiotics banned from animal feed as a way of protecting the drugs' potency in people.

That's just the latest in a long string of activist moves by Sharfstein, who took on the AMA and campaign contributions as a Harvard med student, and stood up to drugmakers and Big Tobacco (among others) as the health commissioner of Baltimore.

Today we have a better sense of where that deep streak of feistiness comes from -- stretching back at least three generations.

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• BORGER: How My Cul-de Sac Became a College's Ashtray  

My street lies at the heart of a neighborhood problem that has mired the mayor and city council of Rockville and threatens to draw in state Sen. Jennie Forehand and even Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. Unfortunately, the problem has no easy solution.

For more than 40 years, my quiet cul-de-sac lived at peace with the Rockville campus of Montgomery College, while hosting a small pedestrian opening to a parking lot on that campus. In August 2008, Montgomery College enacted a campus-wide anti-tobacco policy. Suddenly, our street was flooded with smokers and loiterers. Large groups of people gathered to smoke in the cul-de-sac for hours each day.

The area quickly became a living ashtray . . .

My immediate neighbors and I would prefer that the college's fence remain closed because closure has eradicated a host of problems, some of which had been growing as the campus grew.

However, given the vocal nature and greater numbers of area residents opposed to the fence closure, the mayor and council of Rockville no longer support Montgomery College's decision to close the entryway. Most recently, they have decided to approach Montgomery College with a proposal that would require reopening the fence

I understand that for elected officials there are no easy answers, because votes matter. But no one would want what happened on my street to happen on his or her street. Ultimately, the fence belongs to Montgomery College, and it must act in accordance with its mission. Hopefully, that mission includes protecting its immediate neighbors from the harm even a well-intended policy can do.

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Maryland Notebook: Secrets of Grass-Roots Organizer's Success 

Most Annapolis insiders know Vinnie DeMarco as an indefatigable advocate for universal health care, beloved by progressive Democrats and dismissed by conservatives. As executive director of the nonprofit Maryland Citizens Health Initiative, he's a familiar face to reporters: a friendly nudge, always looking for publicity for his causes.

Now comes a book by Michael Pertschuk, a consumer advocate and a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, that immortalizes DeMarco and his story as a template for successful grass-roots organizing.

"The DeMarco Factor: Transforming Public Will Into Political Power," scheduled to be published in the spring by Vanderbilt University Press, chronicles DeMarco's successful campaigns against the National Rifle Association, the tobacco lobby, Wal-Mart and the health-care industry.

Pertschuk explains how DeMarco, a former leader of the Maryland Young Democrats, has, since the 1980s, organized broad coalitions of health policy advocates, unions, churches and faith communities and even some business interests to help defeat the state's gun and tobacco lobbies with tougher gun control laws and higher cigarette taxes.

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Hookah lounges are growing in Baltimore area  

Two hookah bars, El Basha on East Baltimore Street and the iLounge on North Charles Street, have opened this year in Baltimore, and two more have opened in Towson over the last few years.

Click to see a full size version of the slideshow

The secret to the growing success of hookah is the timeless demographic for trendy nightlife -- college students.

"They think it's cool," said Mohammed Jadoo, co-owner of Arabian Nights. "A lot of people these days are finding out about it, and they've started liking it." . . .

However, there are always risks associated with smoking, even if it's tobacco-free.

"Any time that you're inhaling smoke into your lungs, there's an inherent risk there," said Michelle Bernth of the American Lung Association. "It's not right to think that just because you're smoking something natural, it's OK. Any time that you're inhaling smoke directly into the soft tissue of your lungs, you're putting yourself at risk."

Despite the risks, hookah is growing in popularity among college students.

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CARDIN: Congress Takes Important Step to Regulate Tobacco Products 

As a co-sponsor of the Family, Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, H.R. 1256, I believe that this is one of the most important public health steps we can take to improve the health of Americans and to try and prevent a new generation of nicotine addicts. Today, more than 400,000 Americans and 6,800 Marylanders die each year from tobacco use. For every Marylander who dies from smoking, approximately 20 more suffer serious tobacco-caused health problems. . . .

At a recent press conference on the bill, I was shocked at the number of tobacco products targeted to young smokers. I saw dissolvable tobacco that looked like candy and packs of cigarettes with bright colors that were meant to attract young girls. In Maryland, more than one in seven high school students smoke cigarettes, and each year, 22,000 Maryland children try cigarettes for the first time. Of these, 6,600 become addicted to cigarettes each year.

Too many Americans have suffered the consequences of their addition to tobacco. Too many families have watched as relatives have died from lung cancer or other diseases associated with tobacco. It’s time to stop the marketing of tobacco that is intended to create a new generation of smokers.

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Cigarette caused fatal Bethesda town house fire 

A town house fire that killed two people in Bethesda was started by a cigarette, Montgomery County fire officials said. William Purcell, 79, and his wife, Patricia, 64, died at their home on Arizona Circle on Sunday night. William Purcell, in invalid, may have been smoking in bed, said fire department spokesman Pete Piringer. The couple's daughter, who also lived at the town house, tried to wake her parents but was driven out by the fire, Piringer said.

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• High-Stakes Tobacco-Patent Lawsuit Heads To Jury Next Week  

The fortunes of aspiring tobacco company Star Scientific Inc. (STSI) could hinge on a high-stakes patent-infringement case that goes to a federal jury in Baltimore next week.

Star, a small tobacco company with a big patent claim, says it has invented a method of curing tobacco that prevents the formation of certain cancer-causing toxins.

The Virginia-based company sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a unit of Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), alleging that the nation's second-biggest tobacco company encouraged its tobacco farmers to practice Star's patented curing method. . . .

After several years of pre-trial legal wrangling, a patent-infringement trial began May 18. Closing arguments are likely to wrap up Monday, and then the case will be submitted to the jury for deliberations.

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Cigar shop owner to run for alderman  

Joe Cohen, owner of a downtown cigar and British goods shop, will run for a seat on Frederick 's Board of Aldermen.

The newly minted American citizen uttered his oath of allegiance only a month ago during Frederick 's Pangaea festival, but said he is ready to address the issues of a city he has called home for almost 10 years.

"I have always been interested in politics even before I came to this country," said Cohen, a native of Manchester, England.

Cohen, 69, is running as a Republican.

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