Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Pioneer Editorial: Invest $10 a person for better health 

Investing just $10 a person could eventually make great gains in improving the health of Americans and in cutting health care costs by more than $16 billion a year, according to a new analysis by the non-profit Trust for America’s Health and a team of public-health research groups.

The investment would be used to teach Americans better health habits, according to an Associated Press report Thursday on the analysis. Our $2 trillion a year health care bill is fueled by obesity stemming from poor nutrition and inactivity and by smoking. They contribute to chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes and lung diseases.

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Cigarette butts cited in fire trend  

When Mike Post showed up Monday morning at the fire scene in East St. Cloud, he saw something that he thinks is becoming way too common.

The city's fire marshal saw cigarette butts overflowing from a plastic ice cream bucket of sand and water. A discarded butt caught fire, aided by the other butts, and burned until a fire was raging on a second-story balcony at 1323 Second St. NE.

"If they would not have been home today, it would have been a major fire. The fire was well on its way to intruding into the building, and it would not have gone out," Post said.

Monday's fire was the fourth since April, and third in the past 17 days, in which careless disposal of smoking materials was cited as the cause. . . .

The issue has not gone unnoticed by the people who own and manage the apartment units in St. Cloud.

"It is a problem," said Lisa Marvin, president of the Central Minnesota Multi-Housing Association. "Particularly, we see the problem with balconies and decks."

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Cigarette butts cited in fire trend  

The city's fire marshal saw cigarette butts overflowing from a plastic ice cream bucket of sand and water. A discarded butt caught fire, aided by the other butts, and burned until a fire was raging on a second-story balcony at 1323 Second St. NE.

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After party, sleeping guest's cigarette starts fire 

Residents of a house on Fifth Avenue East woke early Friday morning to find a 22-year-old guest from a keg party had fallen asleep on a couch with a lit cigarette, causing the couch and parts of the ceiling to catch fire, according to the Duluth Fire Department.

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Duluth Hillside Fire Caused By Careless Smoking  

A cigarette is to blame for a fire at a Duluth Hillside residence early Friday morning.

Duluth fire crews were dispatched to 726 N. 5th Ave. E. on a report of a couch on fire in the building's basement. . . .

A 22 year old male guest of the renters said he fell asleep on the couch while smoking a cigarette.

The $130,000 structure suffered an estimated $5,000 dollars in damage, including melted wiring in the basement ceiling.

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Smoking Ruled As Cause Of Crystal Fire 

A Minnesota family that was trying to cool off on a hot night lost their home Monday evening.

According to the West Metro Fire-Rescue District, improper disposal of smoking material started a fire at a home on the 3400 block of Louisiana Avenue in Crystal.

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Olmsted board vows to enforce smoking ban at fair 

Olmsted County commissioners are not flinching at plans to publicize and enforce a smoking ban at the Olmsted County Fair in Rochester.

This is the first year in which the entire fairgrounds will be off-limits to smoking. The county's Smoke-free Workplace ordinance took effect on Oct. 1 last year, after last year's fair.

The local law prohibits smoking in parks and other recreation areas when they're being used by children.

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Duluth Downtown Council to get grants for cigarette butt survey 

The council recently received $3,000 in grants from the Keep America Beautiful organization. The Lincoln Park Business District also received a $1,500 grant.

The councils?TM) neon green-shirted Clean and Safe Team crews will begin surveying cigarette butts on the streets today in Canal Park, counting how many are out there as part of the grant requirements.

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Campaigns seek to crack down on cigarette litter in St. Cloud 

City maintenance crews try to sweep downtown St. Cloud at least twice a week and have installed ashtray urns in the downtown parking ramp. But what isn't caught by sweepers is carried into sewer and storm systems, which lead into the Mississippi River, Kaeter said.

"That's extreme pollution," Kaeter said.

Area organizations, such as the St. Cloud Downtown Council and St. Cloud Technical College, launched cigarette litter prevention programs this year. The council was awarded a $1,500 grant last month for an educational campaign and to buy portable ash trays and receptacles for downtown.

They want to educate smokers to dispose of their butts instead of snuffing them out on the street.

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In Smoke-Free Minnesota, Five Former Smokers Share Their Struggles With Fighting Addiction 

In smoke-free Minnesota, five Minnesotans who personally struggled to go smoke-free are sharing their stories, from the time they started smoking to their state of physical and emotional well-being today. Their inspiring stories will be showcased in ClearWay Minnesota's traveling photo essay exhibit today at the IDS Crystal Court in Minneapolis.

The exhibit celebrates the efforts of Minnesotans who used QUITPLAN(R) Services, ClearWay Minnesota's free, professional stop-smoking programs that have helped more than 12,000 Minnesotans successfully quit tobacco since 2001.

Those visiting the exhibit will also have an opportunity see how their own faces could become wrinkled and discolored if they smoked for years. ClearWay Minnesota will be providing free demonstrations of age-progression software for visitors to experience.

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Rude traveling salespeople evicted from Minn. hotel  

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) -- About 40 traveling salespeople were thrown out of a hotel for "very, very rude behavior," a motel manager said.

The salespeople, mostly in their mid-20s, were peddling cleaning supplies, but they sure left behind a mess, said Derek Crockett, front desk manager at the AmericInn Lodge & Suites.

Crockett's staff began getting complaints about the guests less than two hours after they checked in Monday night. The guests were drinking, partying and smoking in nonsmoking rooms, he said.

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Minnesota Teens Gather to Send Message: They Will Not Be Tobacco Industry’s Targets  

Today more than 100 Minnesota teens will gather in St. Paul to air the tobacco industrys dirty laundry in Mears Park. A public awareness display hanging -- 1,200 t-shirts on laundry lines -- was constructed in protest of the tobacco industrys continued success in addicting young people. Teens will unveil the display at a youth rally in the park.

The display wraps up a three-day youth leadership summit organized by Catalyst -- a group of teen leaders dedicated to making their voices heard on public health issues. Youth joined together at the University of Minnesota, June 11-13 to construct the moving display, which represent the 1,200 people who die everyday in the U.S. from tobacco and secondhand smoke.

In addition to calling attention to the number of lives lost to tobacco, Catalyst youth hope their display will send a powerful message to the public and the tobacco industry: Minnesotas teens refuse to be targets of the tobacco industry, and they will not be the replacement customers to fill the shirts of those who have died.

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Share the Air Happy About Smoking Ban Approval 

With 61% of voters approving a total smoking ban in Fargo, anti-smoking groups say they’re satisfied with the results.

Starting July 1st, smoking will be prohibited in all indoor workplaces in Fargo.

The Share the Air group has been working toward the ban over the last several months.

With a total smoking ban already in effect in Minnesota, anti-smoking advocates say it will make things a little more fair.

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CLEARING THE AIR 

While few, if any, establishments have been driven out of business by the ban, its effect is still noted - even if it wasn't what was expected.

At the Iron Rail Saloon in downtown Brainerd, manager Brandon Soderlund said downtown Brainerd bars braced for the worst after the ban went into effect.

The first month of the ban proved those initial fears to be true as sales dropped. After that, however, things picked back up, he said, because customers didn't want to stay at home to have a cigarette and a drink. . . .

Soderlund noted some smokers also have seen the benefit.

"Some have started to come around and they'll say one of two things - that it helped them cut down on smoking quite a bit or that it's nice to not have to go home and throw their clothes in the washing machine right away," he said.

"Overall, it's been a little bit of an inconvenience to a few people but they deal with it and for the most part it's been positive. We can't make everyone happy, anyway."

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State taking Garrison bar to court 

The state is taking the Bird's Nest in Garrison to court over the bar's use of a theatrical performance as a means to get around the state's smoking ban.

The Minnesota Department of Health announced Tuesday it had served a summons and complaint against Roberta J. "Birdie" Johnson, owner of the Bird's Nest, stating the bar and restaurant has been in violation of the Freedom to Breathe Act by allowing customers to smoke inside while claiming they are actors in a play with a script that calls for smoking. The civil action was to be filed in Crow Wing County District Court.

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