Tobacco.org

Portland smokers to get fined for tossing cigarette butts  

In the spring, Portland's Downtown District, with help from the city, will launch a campaign touting the environmental and aesthetic reasons not to litter cigarette butts. The campaign, to be funded with a $1,000 grant from the national nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, will include signs on trash cans throughout the city and outreach through social media.

The sight of cigarette butts, seemingly everywhere, is one of the most common complaints from tourists who visit Portland.

City officials hope the threat of a $100 fine will get smokers to kick the habit of flicking their butts on the ground.

Jump to full article »

Toss a cigarette butt in Portland, get a $100 fine  

The City Council on Monday night unanimously passed an amendment to the litter ordinance clarifying that dropping cigarette butts on city property — including streets, sidewalks, parks, alleys and gutters — is littering and can be fined accordingly.

The move came about in response to concerns expressed by members of Portland’s Downtown District and its executive director, Jan Beitzer.

“She said the No. 1 complaint she gets from visitors and businesspeople is the prevalence of cigarette butts in the downtown,” Councilor John Anton told his fellow councilors Monday night.

Anton said studies have shown a third of all garbage nationally consists of cigarette butts, and pointed out that the city of San Francisco has put a 20-cent surcharge on each pack of cigarettes sold to cover the costs of cleanup.

Jump to full article »

University of Maine at Farmington second system campus to implement tobacco ban  

The University of Maine at Farmington’s smoking ban, similar to the University of Maine’s, officially took effect on Jan. 1.

The ban, which resulted from work done by the UMF Tobacco Task Force, is currently going through a trial period similar to what was done at UMaine last year before the ban became mandatory at the start of this semester.

“It’s still in what we like to call the warning stage,” said Dwight Cram, a public safety officer at UMF. “So far we have only had a couple of complaints.”

The entire campus is now considered a no-smoking area, including athletic fields and parking lots.

Jump to full article »

O'ROURKE: If poor folks want to smoke, let them 

On January 1, 2012, Maine became the first state to ban smoking in all low-income public housing. Twelve thousand poor people faced their New Year's Day hangover without the solace of a Marlboro to accompany their aspirin and coffee.

This, of course, was good. Just ask the high-minded, right-thinking progressive elites . . .

The elites who denounce poverty despise the poor. . . .

The high-minded, right-thinking progressive elite would then be poor people, working crap jobs. And what a mess they'd make of it! Imagine elites manning the drive-through window at Burger King, giving customers all-lettuce, all-pickle Whoppers without buns, cheese, or burger patties to combat obesity. Or at the 7-11 making change for a twenty the way the Federal Reserve does. "Wait a minute, I've got to go in the back and print some fives." Or convening a yard care seminar and producing a 200-page white paper on sustainable grass maintenance instead of mowing your lawn. Or panhandling in the manner of the U.S. government, "Hey, Buddy, can you spare $787 billion so's a guy can get a stimulus package?"

Life would be hell if the high-minded, right-thinking progressive elite wasn't elite anymore. We'd better quit smoking.

Jump to full article »

Tobacco use report card for Maine shows slide 

Maine's latest report card on tobacco use shows a continuing slide in the state's grades.

The American Lung Association of Maine, whose report card is being released Thursday, gives Maine an A for protecting people from secondhand smoke and a B for helping smokers quit.

But Maine gets a C for not raising its cigarette tax

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: Stop-smoking programs pay quick dividends 

We've always known that smoking cessation programs pay their way, but the benefits were always thought to come slowly and over time.

Still, employers, insurers and government agencies have all pushed cessation as a way to eventually save money.

But a new study says there is only one thing wrong about this assumption: The savings are nearly immediate.

The study, conducted by George Washington University of the Massachusetts' Medicaid program, found that every dollar invested in smoking cessation counseling, drugs and treatment returned $3 of savings in the first 16 months.

That's an incredible rate of return, and suggests states should be doing even more to get Medicaid enrollees off tobacco. . . .

Nationally, smoking-related illnesses are estimated to cost Medicaid about $50 billion a year.

While the temptation must be great to cut across the board, Maine's lawmakers should look elsewhere for cuts.

Smoking cessation programs within Medicaid almost certainly save the state more money than they cost.

Jump to full article »

No smoking on city property 

AUGUSTA -- City councilors banned smoking and all other forms of tobacco use on all city property, indoors and outdoors, Thursday. . . .

Councilors approved the tobacco use ban unanimously.

The new tobacco ordinance bans the use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars and all other forms of tobacco on all city grounds, other than areas which will be designated for smoking outside some city buildings.

Councilors said the dangers of second-hand smoke have been well-documented, in addition to the unpleasantness

Jump to full article »

Dexter man tried to steal cigarette rolling machine, police say  

A Dexter man was arrested Friday after police say he tried to steal a Top-O-Matic cigarette machine from a local convenience store.

James Henry Beal Jr., 52, is facing a misdemeanor charge of theft after he tried to walk out of the Dexter Variety store on Route 7 with the cigarette machine, which is valued at $51.39, Dexter Police Chief Jim Emerson said Tuesday.

Jump to full article »

Rolling cigarettes leads to arrest of Kenduskeag man  

A Kenduskeag man who refused to stop rolling cigarettes was taken to jail early Wednesday after he was asked repeatedly to leave a Moosehead Boulevard residence, Bangor police Sgt. Paul Edwards said.

“He was fighting with someone in the house … over cigarettes” and police were called at around 12:15 a.m., the sergeant said.

Police asked Christopher Beayon, 20, to leave and he agreed to but asked to roll up a cigarette beforehand, Edwards said.

“He had one of those cigarette machines” and started rolling cigarettes, the sergeant said. After he had completed rolling a cigarette or two, the officers told him it was time to go but he just kept rolling up smokes.

Jump to full article »

Health advocates criticize Governor for shifting tobacco funds 

Governor LePage looks to shift money away from prevention programs, much to the dismay of health advocates.

The Governor is proposing to shift $29 million dollars in tobacco settlement money as a way to get matching federal dollars.

"We've got a medicaid program that's simply unsustainable and what we want to do is take $29 million for the Fund for Healthy Maine and be able to leverage that with matching federal dollars", said the Governor's Spokesperson Adrienne Bennett.

She says Maine will only be eligible to receive those matching federal dollars if its shifts the money out of that fund.

Jump to full article »

City may ban tobacco use on its property  

A proposed ban on smoking and other forms of tobacco use on all city property, even outdoors, goes before city councilors on Thursday.

The new tobacco ordinance is up for the first of two readings by city councilors at their meeting, which is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at City Center.

The ban would apply to all city parks and athletic fields and, except for designated smoking areas, the outdoor areas surrounding all city buildings. Violators of the proposed new ban could be subject to a $50 fine. Before that, though, city parks staff or police would warn violators to stop, officials said.

"The reality of it is we do not have tobacco cops out on the streets, watching people," said Leif Dahlin, the city's community services director.

Jump to full article »

IN RE: LIGHT CIGARETTES MARKETING SALES PRACTICES LITIGATION  

The Plaintiffs brought class actions on behalf of purchasers of light cigarettes manufactured by Philip Morris USA, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc. (the Defendants). On September 10, 2009, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) transferred the actions to this Court for [*4] centralization under 28 U.S.C. § 1407. MDL Transfer Order (Docket # 1). After transfer, each side agreed to submit two test cases to determine issues involving class certification. Minute Entry (Docket # 28); Status Conference Transcript at 28-42 (Docket # 29). The Plaintiffs picked California and Washington, D.C. and the Defendants Illinois and Maine. Notice/Correspondence (Docket # 47, 108). On November 24, 2010, the Court issued an Order concluding that common issues did not predominate and it denied class certification for all four classes. Order on Pls.' Mot. for Class Certification (Docket # 255). In April 2011, the Court ordered Plaintiffs to notify the Court by May 16, 2011 as to whether they intended to proceed with the pending action and whether they objected to the extension of the Court's class certification order to their case. Order (Docket # 277). A number of Plaintiffs elected to request dismissal of their claims. Report to Ct. Requesting Dismissal of Claims Without Prejudice (Docket # 280, 283, 286); Order of Dismissal (Docket # 295); Order (Docket # 305).

Some Plaintiffs, however, preferred to continue with their civil actions, requested remand, and objected to the [*5] extension of the class certification order to their cases. . . .

III. CONCLUSION

The Court GRANTS the Plaintiffs' Notice of Intent to Proceed and Objection to Extension of Class Certification Order Dated Nov. 24, 2010 (Docket # 279); Notice [*14] of Motion for Suggestion of Remand (Docket # 282); Notice of Intent to Proceed and Objection to Extension of Class Certification Order Dated Nov. 24, 2010 (Docket # 284, 285); Plaintiff's Motion That the Court Suggest Remand (Docket # 292); Plaintiffs' Notice of Intent to Proceed and Objection to the Extension of This Court's Order on Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification to Their Case Together with Plaintiffs' Request for a Suggestion of Remand (Docket # 293). The Court DENIES the Defendants' Motion for Leave to File Surreply in Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion for Suggestion of Remand and in Support of Extending the Court's Order Denying Class Certification (Docket # 312) and their request for oral argument (Docket # 299).

Jump to full article »

• Philip Morris Can't Kill Light Cigarettes Suits At MDL Level ($$) 

A Maine federal judge on Monday ruled that multidistrict litigation accusing Philip Morris USA Inc. of deceiving customers about tar and nicotine levels in its light cigarettes should come to an end, suggesting that the remaining four suits in the MDL be remanded to Ohio and other states.

Philip Morris had fought the order. The tobacco company asked U.S. District Judge John Woodcock instead to deny the cases class certification by extending to them a November 2010 order in which he denied certification to four test cases in the MDL.

But Judge Woodcock declined to extend his class certification order to the four remaining cases. . . .

“From this court’s perspective, the light cigarettes litigation has reached the point where this court’s continued oversight of the pretrial proceedings is no longer justified," he said. "There are only four remaining cases, and in each, the plaintiffs reasonably claim that the class certification issues present case-specific questions unique to the state law of their respective jurisdictions. The court concludes that the efficiencies of consolidated handling of pretrial matters have reached the point of diminishing returns.”

Jump to full article »

UMF plans tobacco ban, following UMaine’s lead 

As the University of Maine prepares to usher in the final stage of its tobacco-free policy in January by requiring full compliance through enforcement, the idea has been floated by one UMaine administrator to implement similar policies at other University of Maine System campuses.

Lauri Sidelko, director of UMaine’s Alcohol and Drug Education Program, which helps facilitate UMaine’s tobacco-free policy, recently addressed the board of trustees on the possibility of instituting a similar ban for other campuses within the system.

“I spoke to the board of trustees about a system-wide ban,” Sidelko said. “I don’t consider it a ban — it’s a policy change.”

However, according to Peggy Markson, system spokeswoman, there are no plans for a system-wide smoking ban.

Jump to full article »

With UMaine set to begin enforcing tobacco ban, USM is still in discussion about a similar policy 

With the University of Maine beginning to enforce its tobacco-free campus in January, other campuses like USM could follow with similar bans.

The Faculty Senate voted against the proposal to ban all tobacco products on campus at USM last May, but the issue is still on the table.

“I think eventually all the campuses will follow suit, but each campus is individual in how they make those decisions,” said USM Health Promotion Manager Suzanne Roy who heads the Tobacco Policy Committee.

Roy and the committee of about 14 faculty, staff and students will meet Jan. 4

Jump to full article »