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Muskegon County smoking ban takes effect Nov. 9  

A smoking ban covering businesses across Muskegon County is less than two weeks from going into effect, and county officials say they're working with business owners to help bring them into compliance before the deadline.

Ken Kraus, director of Public Health-Muskegon County, said the smoking ban covers all indoor businesses, except bars and restaurants, and it goes into effect Nov. 9. Kraus said he has been fielding periodic calls from business owners wanting to comply.

When county commissioners discussed the ban this summer, few people spoke in opposition. But dozens of residents and government officials encouraged the board to approve the regulations.

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G.L. students get serious about dangers of smoking  

the Grand Ledge students want to emphasize the realities of smoking.

"Smoking is really bad, and it will kill you eventually," said Trevor Spitzley, 13. "I hope that kids who learn the dangers of smoking will tell their parents, and then their parents will tell their friends, and hopefully it'll start a chain reaction to inspire people to stop smoking and quit chewing tobacco."

Trevor on Friday wore a T-shirt he designed with a no smoking sign and the words, "Each day 3,000 kids smoke their first cigarette."

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Rep. Lori works on smoking ban 

State Rep. Matt Lori is working with a bipartisan group of House lawmakers to figure out a new strategy for getting a smoking ban signed into law.

Earlier this year, the House approved legislation to ban smoking in most public places, including bars and restaurants, but that plan has since stalled in the Senate because it exempts casino gambling floors, cigar bars and tobacco shops from the proposed ban.

Senate leaders have repeatedly said they will only support a total ban, so as not to create an unfair competitive advantage for some businesses over others. Last year, the Senate approved a total smoking ban, but that plan fell six votes short in the House.

"It seems pretty clear the Senate is only willing to support a total ban, no exemptions, and I think we have enough support for a total ban in the House, so that's the direction I think we are going to go," said Lori, of Constantine.

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Commissioners OK partial smoking ban 

Traverse City commissioners banned smoking at beaches, picnic shelters and playground areas, but stopped short of a total smoking ban in city parks.

Commissioners decided in a 6-1 vote in favor of a smoking ban "in park buildings, shelters and designated swimming and beach areas in city parks that have waterfront or playground areas." The ban takes effect Oct. 29 and violators could be asked to stop smoking, expelled from the park or ticketed.

Commissioner Ralph Soffredine said it was a move in the right direction, but wanted a more restrictive measure to ban all tobacco in city parks.

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Tobacco companies scoping younger crowd with social networking, smokeless products  

Tobacco companies have started advertising on social networking Web sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco executive who operates the nonprofit organization Smoke-Free Kids, said while it is hard to tell how successful the Web site advertising is, it has to make sense for the companies.

Tobacco company marketing strategies - Social networking sites such as Facebook - Camel Orbs, tobacco and nicotine pellets - Camel Strips, comparable to breath strips - Camel Sticks, similar to toothpicks

“It’s happening — we haven’t been able to quantify it,” Wigand said. “They wouldn’t be doing it if they weren’t reaching somebody. They don’t do things without studying it for a while.” . . .

Social networking Web sites are not the only way tobacco companies are marketing to youth.

Camel cigarettes designed smokeless products intended to be a gateway to cigarettes, Wigand said.

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Traverse City Commissioners to decide park smoking ban 

The City Commission continues to look at a proposed ordinance that would ban smoking in city parks.

We're told the main reasons for the ban are to prevent unwanted second hand smoke and keep city property free of cigarette butts.

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Man dies in Madison Heights garage fire  

A 53-year-old grandfather was killed Tuesday when a fire started in his room in the garage at his daughter's Madison Heights home, a fire official said today.

Madison Heights Fire Marshal Chris McCracken said he didn't yet have the man's name, but that his death has been ruled accidental. . . .

He also said the fire could have been caused by a cigarette because the man was known to be a heavy smoker who sometimes fell asleep with his cigarette still lit.

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Northern Express Weekly is northern Michigan's largest weekly newspaper, Traverse City, distributed in 13 counties throughout the northwestern lower peninsula of Michigan. 

For 31 years Mike Nolan has been selling tobacco in downtown Traverse City. Nolan’s Tobacconists have enjoyed success over the years because Mike understands the business better than most (he is president of the cigar store industry association for 38 stores in Michigan) and he even has been a trendsetter in establishing the first cigar dinner in the country over 20 years ago (documented by Cigar Aficionado, which credits Nolan and restaurateur Jim Milliman for starting the trend).

As Michigan nears a smoking ban in public buildings, Nolan knows he had to do something if he wants to keep his business a success. So he is launching Nolan’s Cigar Lounge.

“Most of the proposed legislation will allow for established tobacco shops to have a lounge for their patrons to smoke,” said Nolan. “It is something I have talked about doing for a long time anyway, but with legislation looming in Michigan, I figured I better get it down now.” . . .\ \ FUNDRAISER UP IN SMOKE?

The popular cigar dinner movement started by Nolan may also be snuffed out with the new legislation. Nolan, along with the Ancient Order of Hibernians started the Father Fred Foundation Annual Cigar Dinner 15 years ago. The dinner accounts for raising 22 percent of the Foundation’s annual operating budget and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to date, and it may be in jeopardy when a smoking ban is passed.

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Battery-powered cigarettes catch on with consumers  

Users say e-cigarettes curb tobacco smoking, though there's no proof they do, and the industry's leading trade group has set rules for its members saying the products should not be sold as smoking-cessation tools.

The other appeal of e-cigarettes is that they are odorless, letting smokers get around tobacco bans in workplaces, restaurants, malls and some bars.

Those benefits apparently are enough to keep consumer interest high in e-cigarettes, despite warnings in July by the federal Food and Drug Administration, which said they contained some cancer-causing materials.

The products are banned or restricted for sale and promotion in many countries.

The FDA warning initially dampened business but "we've started to pick up the pace," said Travis Walker, who runs an Internet-based business, Vaporstix.com, from his Flint-area home. Other Michigan vendors report similar upticks.

Walker said he fills about 500 orders a month, from a $49.95 starter kit to cappuccino, apple and strawberry flavorings added to the product for minty, fruity, coffee and other tastes, for $9.95 each.

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Bay City businesses upset with federal ban on flavored cigarettes  

Timothy Socier owns Timothy's Fine Tobaccos in downtown Bay City. He was forced to remove clove cigarettes from this store after the government ban went into effect on Tuesday.

"They were a very small part of the business," Socier said. "My big frustration is that the federal government is involved in my business."

Other small businesses expressed similar views, saying the ban won't necessarily hurt the bottom line, but is another example of government interfering with business. Socier said he received notice of the ban two weeks ago, forcing him to sell the soon-to-be banned inventory at a significant discount.

"Eventually (the government) is going to put me out of business," said Socier.

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Rochelle Riley: Taking loss on tobacco sales is everyone's gain  

It has been eight months since Jim Hiller decided that his chain of Michigan grocery stores would stop selling cigarettes.

The good news is that he's still receiving honors.

The good news is that Hiller's Markets will survive.

There is no bad news.

Friday morning, the Tri-Community Coalition honored Hiller, the company's CEO, with a Power of One award, named for the national speaking tour I'm on to encourage people to find individual, personal ways to help their communities.

"We felt that Hiller's used that power of one to make a change," said Judy Rubin, the coalition's executive director. . . .

Hiller's has done just fine without the cigarettes.

And Hiller, who also promotes Michigan goods with special labels in his stores, has gained new fans.

I'm one.

It's not enough these days to just ignore hazards that result in millions of dollars in health care costs.

Sometimes, you have to take a stand.

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Feds get guilty plea in '04 Mich. cigarette heist  

YPSILANTI, Mich. - A man accused of conspiring to hijack a truck in Ypsilanti with $175,000 in cigarettes has pleaded guilty.

Lee Newberry wasn't involved in the actual heist, and the Belleville man says he didn't make a dime off the robbery. But he told a judge Monday he's guilty because he conducted surveillance on trucks belongin

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Affirmations launches LGBT statewide tobacco-free coalition 

Affirmations has partnered with Tobacco Free Michigan to establish a statewide coalition of LGBT and ally organizations that will focus on statewide tobacco use and secondhand smoke in the LGBT community.

Tobacco Free Michigan is a network of more than 200 organizations aimed at reducing the harmful effects of tobacco use and second hand smoke in the state of Michigan. It is funded by the Michigan Department of Community Health.

Affirmations is metro Detroit's LGBT community center, located in Ferndale. It offers programming, workshops and fun events for local LGBTs and allies.

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Bill O'Brien: Lobbyists impact smoking debate 

Michigan, where entrenched special interests have full access to, and much sway over, the full-time legislature. Alcohol and restaurant lobbies are two of the oldest and most-established special interests at the state Capitol, and they vehemently oppose smoking restrictions that could impact their businesses. The pro-smoking crowd employs well-paid professionals with full-time access to full-time legislators and their staffs. They're armed with food and drink, campaign cash, endorsements and other weaponry that's much more persuasive than the public's more-limited fare of letters, e-mails and rare face-to-face encounters with politicians.

Many members of the anti-smoking effort are people with other jobs, families and outside interests. Their involvement in the smoking debate might be driven by the loss of a family member or loved one to smoking-related illness, but most don't do it for a living. And in this debate, they're up against pros who know how to make state politicians smile.

So while there's strength in numbers -- most people don't want smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants -- there's plenty of punch among special interests who want to maintain the status quo.

What followed was another Capitol classic. Lawmakers from both parties finally "agreed" that a smoking ban in public places is desirable. But they couldn't reach consensus on "exemptions" from the law. . . .

A smoking ban eventually will come about, but likely not until the state's tourism lobby realizes that out-of-state travelers are turned off by Michigan's smoke-choked bars and restaurants. Then the public health portion of the argument will overtake the current and inane "property rights" debate.

Twenty years from now, Michigan residents will look back on the smoking debate and wonder what took so long to slay this killer.

By then, the obstructionists will have moved on to other issues, and the public will wonder what's holding up progress there, too.

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Traverse City May Ban Smoking In Parks  

Traverse City may ban cigarettes and other tobacco products at city beaches, playgrounds and all parkland.

Monday night the City Commission talked about the possible ban. No vote was taken. It's a recommendation of the city Parks and Recreation Commission, and promoted by an area anti-tobacco coalition.

A draft law is being written for City Commissioners to consider.

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