Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Park board felt the heat from misguided cigar plan 

Where there was smoke, there was a lot of fire recently when the Somerset County Park Commission floated the idea of reinstituting cigar sales at public county golf courses.

That plan drew the wrath of a host of public officials on the county and municipal levels who rightly noted that the sales would run counter to developing policies designed to reduce and eliminate tobacco use on public property. . . .

This week commissioners reaffirmed the ban on tobacco sales, effectively scuttling their cigar plan.

A HIT for cooler heads prevailing.

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Somerset Park Commission snuffs out cigar plan, pleases freeholders 

BRIDGEWATER -- Freeholder Director Jack Ciattarelli is welcoming an apparent reversal by the Somerset County Park Commission on a recent proposal to sell cigars at five golf courses it manages.

"If that's the case, I think that's a positive development, and I greatly appreciate the park commissioners rethinking their position," Ciattarelli said.

Park commissioners voted during their regular Thursday meeting to reaffirm a previous ban on the sale of tobacco products at its facilities.

Commissioner Paul Consiglio, who introduced the resolution, said the commission has been a leader in promoting healthy lifestyles and the sale of tobacco products would send a mixed signal.

"For the amount of revenue it generates, it's not worth the black eye we would get by showing the people of Somerset County that mixed signal," Consiglio said.

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Gov. Christie's Proposal to Eliminate Funding for Tobacco Prevention Program Will Increase Youth Smoking and Raise Healthcare Costs 

Governor Christie has let down New Jersey's kids and taxpayers with his proposal to eliminate funding for New Jersey's tobacco prevention and cessation program. This proposal will lead to more kids becoming addicted to tobacco, fewer tobacco users getting the help they need to quit, more lives being lost and New Jersey taxpayers paying the bill for higher tobacco-caused health care costs. It is truly penny-wise and pound-foolish budgeting.

First impressions say a great deal, and Governor Christie's first budget is leaving the impression he doesn't care about protecting New Jersey from tobacco or saving taxpayer's money. Steps have to be taken to close the budget deficit, but without funding tobacco prevention and cessation efforts, 7,090 more kids in New Jersey will become addicted adult smokers. This will result in 2,260 premature smoking related deaths, and cost taxpayers $124 million in increased health care spending by the state government.

If the legislature follows the Governor's budget we will save a few million in the short term, pay more in healthcare for years to come and have more people dealing with cancer, emphysema and other smoking related illnesses.

New Jersey this year will collect $968 million from the 1998 tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes. . . .

Governor Christie and the Legislature also have a far better solution to address the budget deficit that will not hurt New Jersey's health -- increase the tobacco tax. Instead of eliminating funding for tobacco prevention, they can raise taxes on other tobacco products to the current level of cigarette taxes, $2.70 per pack. This would bring in $20.8 million in new annual revenue.

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Somerset County won't sell cigars at its golf courses  

The county Parks Commission will not be tempting the golfing public to smoke cigars anytime soon. Yesterday the commission rejected a bid from a cigar vendor and reaffirmed its 2007 policy of not selling tobacco products, according to parks director Raymond A. Brown.

He noted that the one bid received "was not responsive to the request" made by the commission.

"I'm not particularly surprised" by the decision, said Brown, and said resuming cigar sales at the county-owned golf courses was "just one of several things" the commission is considering to deal with a lack of funding.

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Somerset park board reaffirms tobacco ban  

The Somerset County Park Commission Thursday reaffirmed a previous ban on the sale of tobacco products at its facilities, dashing a recent proposal to sell cigars at five golf courses it manages.

Commissioner Paul Consiglio, who introduced the resolution formalizing that position, said the commission has been a leader in promoting healthy lifestyles and the sale of tobacco products would send a mixed signal.

"For the amount of revenue it generates, it's not worth the black eye we would get by showing the people of Somerset County that mixed signal," Consiglio said.

A commission request for bids for cigars and humidors drew criticism this month from officials including Somerset County Freeholder Director Jack Ciattarelli. A March 11 addendum to the original request indicated the commission anticipated selling 2,500 cigars.

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13 more Somerset County officials lit up over cigar sales at county parks 

Elected officials from across Somerset County are calling upon the Somerset County Parks Commission to rescind their request for bids for cigars, and for the entire Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders to condemn the practice of selling cigars at county parks.

Originally released on March 10 by Councilman Phil Kramer of Franklin Township and Councilwoman Maureen Wilson of Raritan Borough, the statement has attracted support from thirteen more officials representing eight municipalities.

"As elected officials in Somerset County, we condemn the practice of our county government selling tobacco products at public parks. The evidence linking tobacco use to many life-threatening illnesses, including cancer, is incontrovertible. In addition, it is well known that tobacco is an extremely addictive drug. It is beyond reason that a governing body would seek to profit from the sale of such a product, and a betrayal of the public trust," reads the statement.

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Somerset County Dems blast cigar proposal 

Fifteen Democratic elected officials in Somerset County are condemning a Somerset County Park Commission proposal to sell cigars at five county golf courses.

Park commissioners may decide to table the proposal during their March 18 regular meeting as the county forms a task force to explore smoke-free policies on county buildings and grounds, Commission President Steven Fuerst has said.

Raritan Councilwoman Maureen Wilson, a registered nurse, and Franklin Councilman Phil Kramer, a doctor, blasted the plans in a joint statement issued on March 10.

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• Somerset park commission may table cigar sales proposal 

The governing board of the Somerset County Park Commission could table a proposal to sell cigars at five golf courses managed by the agency, its president said Thursday.

The potential decision comes as a Somerset County task force is forming to investigate smoke-free policies for county buildings and grounds.

The commission had issued a request for bids for cigars and humidors, with responses due by Tuesday.March 16. Bid specifications indicated the commission wanted to resell the cigars at Green Knoll, Quail Brook, Spooky Brook, Warrenbrook and Neshanic Valley golf courses, with the anticipated expenditure not to exceed $15,000 per season in total. The commission stopped selling cigars in 2007 and doesn't sell cigarettes. . . .

Freeholder Director Jack Ciattarelli, an opponent of selling cigars at the golf courses, said "tabling the policy is not only meaningless, it's also a bit of a cop out."

The task force's job is to formulate possible smoke-free policies, not to make recommendations on whether governmental agencies should sell tobacco, Ciattarelli said.

"Even if the task force were to recommend that smoking be allowed on county golf courses and the freeholders were to endorse that policy, that doesn't license the Park Commission to engage in the retail sale of tobacco," Ciattarelli said. "Smoking tobacco and selling tobacco, obviously, are two distinctly different things."

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EDITORIAL: Park commission should snuff out its own cigar plan 

Which makes it puzzling why the Somerset County Park Commission wants to start selling cigars at its five courses.

Even more bewildering is that the decision to start selling cigars comes after the park commission was criticized in a 2007 independent report for not collecting sales tax on cigars. That caused the park commission to stop selling cigars.

"I think it's a terrible development," Freeholder Director Jack Ciattarelli said about selling cigars at the golf courses. "And the notion of government being in the business of selling tobacco on recreational grounds is awful."

Ciattarelli said he will ask County Counsel Thomas Miller to determine whether it's legally permissible for a governmental agency to sell tobacco products on county-owned property.

But even if it's legal, is it proper? . . .

The park commission has the admirable goal of improving the quality of life for Somerset County residents and it does a very good job working toward that goal. But selling tobacco products is directly contrary to that goal.

Let's hope the park commission scrambles from the rough and gets back on the fairway by rejecting this proposal.

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Surfers skip the waves, clean up beaches  

Three wetsuited surfers bobbed over swells rolling in on the ocean Saturday morning near Pat Snyder, who leaned down to grab another plastic wrapper from the beach and drop it into his bulging trash bag.

Snyder, 24, is a hard-core surfer, and he admitted that he liked the looks of those waves. But he's also a member of the Surfrider Foundation South Jersey Chapter, which scheduled a cleanup project Saturday on Ventnor's beaches along with a group based in the town, the Pickup Posse. . . .

"Every year, cigarette butts are the No. 1 thing we pick up," said Hoffberger - which, he added, explains part of the motivation behind a growing movement to ban smoking on New Jersey's beaches.

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• Philip Morris USA Sues New York and New Jersey Retailers Selling Counterfeit Cigarettes 

Philip Morris USA (PM USA) filed lawsuits today against eight retailers for selling counterfeit versions of the company's Marlboro® brand cigarettes in New York and New Jersey. These lawsuits are part of the company's on-going efforts to stop the sale of counterfeit cigarettes and the unauthorized use of PM USA's trademarks.

"These lawsuits highlight that counterfeit cigarette traffickers continue to operate in the New York metropolitan area," said Joe Murillo, vice president and associate general counsel, Altria Client Services, speaking on behalf of PM USA. "This illegal activity hurts legitimate wholesale and retail businesses and for a number of reasons, including high cigarette excise taxes and New York State's lack of effective cigarette excise tax enforcement, the New York metropolitan area is particularly vulnerable to this activity," said Murillo. . . .

PM USA continues to advocate for comprehensive solutions to New York's complex counterfeit and contraband cigarette issues, including enactment of a law that would impose a deadline on the Department of Tax and Finance to begin tax collection on cigarettes sold to non-tribal members through Native American reservation outlets.

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Toms River house fire that killed family may have been caused by cigarettes in trash 

TOMS RIVER -- A fire that killed three members of a Toms River family, including a 6-year-old girl, may have been caused by the improper disposal of cigarettes, authorities said today.

As fire investigators continue to sift through the rubble of the Pine Hill home owned by Michael and Heather Glynn, authorities have ruled out arson and utility problems such as an electrical short or gas leak, as the cause of the blaze, Ocean County Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford said. . . .

Ford said the fire appears to have started in a plastic trash can in the first-floor den. Given the location of the origin of the blaze and because both adults were smokers, investigators have not dismissed the improper disposal of a cigarette as the cause, Ford said.

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Officials defer action on state smoking ban 

TRENTON -- Legislation that would ban smoking at beaches, amusement parks and racetracks in New Jersey is on hold.

The Senate health committee was expected to vote Thursday to consolidate three bills that would expand restrictions already imposed by some Jersey shore towns.

But the panel instead decided to hold the legislation, and it's not known when a vote may be scheduled.

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Toms River man dies after accidentally burning himself  

A local man who told police he accidentally ignited vodka he spilled on himself early Friday has died as a result of the burn injuries, authorities said.

Paul MacClymont, 40, of Waters Edge Drive, died later Friday at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, Detective James Magovern said. . . .

MacClymont told the officers that about six hours earlier he had been drinking and went to light a cigarette when it burned his hand, Mastronardy said. He dropped the cigarette onto his lap, where it ignited the vodka that he spilled on his legs, he said.

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Legislation would ban smoking on beach  

Beach-going smokers may have to curb their habit outdoors, under proposals Trenton lawmakers discussed Thursday.

Members of a Senate committee on health, human services and senior citizens spent Thursday afternoon debating how a ban on smoking at beaches and parks might work.

They took up the issue as three separate bills arrived in committee. Taken together, the three would block smoking at most beaches, as well as parks and forests and even racetracks.

But legislators ultimately held the bills in order to amend and combine them, as they traded conflicting definitions of what areas might be covered.

Medical experts discussed how banning smoking would reduce second-hand smoke. Dr. Fred Jacobs, former New Jersey health commissioner, representing a coalition of health organizations, told the committee that the research on the dangers of second-hand smoke is "indisputable." The argument for regulating the breezy shoreline the same way as enclosed public spaces are regulated rested on reducing young people's exposure to smoking habits, Jacobs said.

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