Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Stamp Act: Will this really stop cigarette smuggling rings? 

With low prices and a still-tiny tax on cigarettes, North Carolina is a major source for smuggled cigarettes that find their way to high-tax states like New York. . . .

But applying stamps costs money. Machines that do the stamping cost $80,000 each; wholesalers aren't eager to absorb that cost, especially in a recession. Given the profits in the underground smokes, we wouldn't be surprised to find the smugglers are also excellent stamp counterfeiters too.

In a still-faltering economy, we'd suggest that lawmakers be careful on this one. There needs to be really strong evidence that the stamps will crack the back of smuggling operations before even more costs are imposed on businesses.

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Smuggling both to and from NC causing legislators to consider restoring cigarette tax stamps 

"The cigarette tax evasion stampede is out of control," said Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores. More than half of cigarettes purchased in his state are bought without paying state or local taxes, largely because of out-of-state smuggling and Internet sales.

Catching people with North Carolina contraband is difficult because it's one of three states that don't require tax stamps affixed on every pack being sold.

Interest in restoring the stamps after a 16-year hiatus has been revived as a way to deter smuggling from North Carolina -- and in an ironic change -- into North Carolina. The state now may be the target for cheaper cigarettes from South Carolina, which has a 7-cent-per pack tax and doesn't use stamps. North Carolina's 45-cent tax has grown nine fold since 2005, creating a cross-border difference of $3.80 per carton.

"We've only been at a tax disadvantage since the tax went up in the past couple of years," said Gary Harris with the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers Association.

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AUDIO: Tobacco-free at CPCC comes with help to quit smoking 

A tobacco-free policy has been in place at all campuses of Central Piedmont Community College since the beginning of the year. This means folks on campus won't be allowed to smoke cigarettes or use smokeless tobacco, snuff, dips, pipes and just about anything else that's considered a tobacco product. As part of the change, the college is offering ways for people to kick their smoking habit.

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• NC examining cig stamps again to deter smuggling 

For years, buying low-tax North Carolina cigarettes and selling them on the black market in a high-tax state up north has been an easy way to make big money for criminal enterprises.

Load up a van of Camels or Marlboros and reap a $100,000 profit to sell them if the destination is New York City, which has a $1.50-per-pack excise tax in addition to the $2.75 state cigarette tax.

"The cigarette tax evasion stampede is out of control," said Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores. More than half of cigarettes purchased in his state are bought without paying state or local taxes, largely because of out-of-state smuggling and Internet sales.

Catching people with North Carolina contraband is difficult because it's one of three states that don't require tax stamps affixed on every pack being sold.

Interest in restoring the stamps after a 16-year hiatus has been revived as a way to deter smuggling from North Carolina - and in an ironic change - into North Carolina. The state now may be the target for cheaper cigarettes from South Carolina . . .

"Criminal organizations all over the country exploit variants in state excise taxes and tax stamping laws to generate millions and millions of dollars in illicit profits," said Sandy Sands, a lobbyist representing Philip Morris USA, which wants the stamps restored.

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Pender commissioners seek compromise in smoking ban 

BURGAW - The ability to ban smoking on government facilities has the Pender County commissioners looking for a compromise to satisfy those on each side of the issue.

On Monday, county Health Department Director Dr. Jack Griffith appeared before the board with an ordinance that would ban smoking outside at county facilities and in county vehicles. The only exception would allow smoking to take place on county property in a private vehicle.

The recommendation came from a vote of the Board of Health supporting the ordinance on Jan. 19.

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Pender commissioners seek compromise in smoking ban 

BURGAW - The ability to ban smoking on government facilities has the Pender County commissioners looking for a compromise to satisfy those on each side of the issue.

On Monday, county Health Department Director Dr. Jack Griffith appeared before the board with an ordinance that would ban smoking outside at county facilities and in county vehicles. The only exception would allow smoking to take place on county property in a private vehicle.

The recommendation came from a vote of the Board of Health supporting the ordinance on Jan. 19.

In May, the NC General Assembly approved a bill that allowed local governments to adopt ordinances on smoking that were more restrictive than state law.

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• Tobacco-product maker to expand 

The increasing popularity of roll-your-own tobacco products has given a boost to Commonwealth Brands Inc. at a time when local competitors are cutting back on production and jobs.

The company said yesterday that it is expanding its plant in Reidsville by adding a product line for cigarette tubes, which consumers use as a device for rolling or stuffing tobacco for a less-expensive smoke.

Commonwealth said it will create 35 jobs this year, expanding its local work force to 259 employees. It also will spend $6.7 million on capital improvements.

The company, based in Bowling Green, Ky., makes discount brands USA Gold and Sonoma, as well as cigarette tubes and blended and fine-cut tobaccos. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco Group of England.

Commonwealth has about 3.8 percent of the U.S. market share, said Bill Godshall, the executive director of SmokeFree Pennsylvania.

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• E-Cig Circumvents State Smoking Ban 

Guilford County may have banned smoking from area bars and restaurants at the first of the year, but technology is giving county health officials and other anti-smoking advocates fits. "E-cigs" - also known as "electronic cigarettes" - are becoming the nicotine dispenser of choice now that smoking traditional cigarettes has been declared illegal in most public buildings.

According to Guilford County Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Mary Gillett, the product can cause confusion when bar patrons light up their electronic cigarettes because, while it's not illegal to do so, anti-smokers at bars can get upset with the fact that people are apparently smoking.

Gillett said bar owners can order patrons to put them out - or, rather, turn them off.

"They can do it the same way they can say, 'No shoes, no service,'" she said.

Gillette said that, since the product is relatively new, there are a great deal of questions about the safety of the device and how it compares with cigarettes. . . .

The legislation that banned smoking in most public buildings starting at the first of this year defines "smoking" as, "The use or possession of a lighted cigarette, lighted cigar, lighted pipe, or any other lighted tobacco product." . . .

Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said the law is the law, and he added that, since using electronic cigarettes isn't illegal, it must be legal.

"The law is not supposed to be subjective," Barnes said.

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LETTER: Hookah or no, smoking isn't safe  

David Forbes' Jan. 13 article, "Despite Ban, Hookah Bar Still Smoking," and the accompanying photo, made smoking a hookah (water pipe) look like fun, exotic and safe. The article is full of double-talk. It says the smoking bar features a nontobacco, tea-based "shisha." Then it says "shisha" is a tobacco product. . . .

Smoking a water pipe is not safe. . . .

• Smoking ban has little effect on businesses 

The first month of a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and bars has been pretty much a nonevent, local business operators said yesterday.

Most longtime customers who smoke have either adapted to the restrictions, which went into effect Jan. 2, or chosen to brave the cold weather before or after a meal, the operators say.

On the other hand, the operators say they haven't seen a sizable uptick in business from nonsmokers either, although that could be weather-related as well.

"We may be turning the tables around more quickly since the ban went into place," said Steven Hondos, the owner of the Jimmy the Greek restaurant off University Parkway. The restaurant was successful for years in striking a balance between smokers and nonsmokers.

"The people who smoke, who love our food, are still coming in. They understand this was not our decision, so I haven't sensed any kind of backlash against us.

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Remember When: 1935 tobacco auction closes high 

RCCC seeks tobacco-free campuses 

CONCORD — Rowan-Cabarrus Community College campuses will be tobacco-free, effective Aug. 1. Its board of trustees unanimously approved a new tobacco-free campus policy at its meeting at the Cabarrus Business and Technology Center on Monday.

As a result, all tobacco products, including cigarettes, pipes and chewing tobacco, will be prohibited.

"We want to encourage people to be tobacco-free," said RCCC President Carol Spalding. This conversation has been an ongoing one, though, board members said.

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WF Baptist honored for no-smoking efforts 

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is the first hospital in the state to earn the Gold Star Standard from N.C. Prevention Partners for excellence in its tobacco-cessation programs for employees.

N.C. Prevention Partners works with the state's hospitals and medical centers to enhance tobacco-cessation efforts and available resources.

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LETTER: WHA smoking ban  

WHA is considering a smoking ban for residents. I feel this would be a violation of my constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness. The Glover Plaza resident who filed the complaint has the right to live in a non-smoking environment. Smokers and non-smokers have rights.

Reasonable accomodations should be made for both groups.

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Wilmington Housing Authority board considers ban on smoking 

Responding to a complaint from a resident, the Wilmington Housing Authority plans to look into the possibility of banning smoking in its public housing units.

At the authority's board of commissioners meeting Monday afternoon, board members asked authority staff to compile information about other housing authorities' smoking policies, but stressed that no decisions had been made.

The Wilmington Housing Authority currently doesn't have a policy regulating smoking in its residential buildings.

"We certainly wouldn't be the only housing authority to ban smoking in its units," said Michael Krause, authority chief executive officer. "It's just something that has to be the preference of the board."

A discussion about smoking in units was initiated by a Glover Plaza resident who said smoke wafts into his unit regularly from residents on either side of him, causing him concerns about his health and requiring him to stay most nights at a friend's residence.

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