Tobacco.org

RUBEL: Where there's smoke, there's an angry do-gooder  

The New Mexico Senate last week passed an expansion to the state's smoking ban that prohibits people from smoking in their own vehicles if they have children as passengers.

"Small children are not in a position to object when someone is smoking in a vehicle in which they are passengers," said Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque, chairwoman of the Senate Conservation Committee and sponsor of the bill. . . .

this is a really bad bill. It adds to the Dee Johnson Indoor Air Act, passed in 2007, which already prohibits smoking in just about any public building except those with craps tables and slot machines.

After all, where's the fun in gambling away the family paycheck if you can't chain-smoke at the same time? . . .

Can't the same arguments used to pass this bill also be made to prohibit smoking in the home if children are present? Will it be long before the government has cigarette smoke sensors in every home and a smoking police to haul off those miscreants who dare light up in their own living room?

No group in America these days, save for perhaps Wall Street CEOs, is more ostracized than smokers. I've never been one, but have many friends who are. I even work with a few here at the Sun-News. And they're not so horrible. Really.

Here's the rub. When you outlaw common, everyday activities, you make outlaws of common, everyday people.

Jump to full article »

Local lawmakers oppose second-hand smoke bill  

A bill that would ban adults from smoking in cars with minors has drawn opposition from local Republican lawmakers.

The state Senate on Wednesday voted in favor of the proposed law, introduced by Bernadette Sanchez, D-Albuquerque. The bill heads to the House.

Sens. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, and Steve Neville, R-Aztec, voted against the measure. The Senate supported the bill in a 26-12 vote.

Neville said the law would violate personal freedoms. Neville would rather see parents take responsibility by not exposing secondhand smoke to children.

Jump to full article »

NM bill outlaws smoking in vehicles with kids  

The state Senate has voted to outlaw smoking in vehicles when children 12 or under are present.

The legislation went to the House on Wednesday on a vote of 26-12, over the objections of lawmakers who complained it was overreaching.

"At what point do free people say ... thou shalt not tell me any more what to do?" said Sen. William Sharer, a Farmington Republican.

The proposal would expand the New Mexico law that already bans smoking in most offices, restaurants, bars, buses, taxis and other indoor public places.

Jump to full article »

Smoking ban may expand to vehicles 

Smoking a cigarette in a car when children are along for the ride may soon be illegal in New Mexico.

A bill that would expand New Mexico's indoor smoking ban is now half-way to becoming law.

The fines would be the same as they are for businesses that let people smoke inside, starting at $100 and topping off at $300 for repeat offenders.

The well-known dangers of second-hand smoke propelled the bill through the Senate after a lively debate.

Jump to full article »

Cigarette tax hike gets nod from public  

Anti-tobacco advocates say they have one way to help the state solve its budget crisis and help prevent smoking: raise the tobacco tax in the state by $1 a pack.

The idea could bring in $29.7 million in the first year.

Although a bill has yet to be introduced this session to raise the tax, there already is public support.

A survey released Thursday by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids found that 76 percent of the registered voters polled support a proposal to raise the tax by $1. Seventy-nine percent supported an increase of 60 cents per pack.

Fifty-seven percent of smokers surveyed said they would support the $1 increase. The current tax per pack is 91 cents.

The survey by Research and Polling Inc. also showed that 64 percent of those support raising the cigarette tax

Jump to full article »

Poll: Majority in NM favor higher cigarette tax 

SANTA FE, N.M. - Three out of four New Mexicans favor a $1-a-pack increase in the state's cigarette tax to pay for anti-smoking programs and help eliminate a $450 million budget deficit, according to a poll released Thursday.

About 76 percent of likely voters support an increase in the cigarette tax from its current level, 91 cents, to $1.91 a pack, according to the poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Jump to full article »

Second native tobacco company searched 

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - - Investigators are looking into another New Mexico cigarette distributor with Native American connections.

State agents searched the Hemi Group's warehouse in northeast Albuquerque on Aug. 20.

The Hemi Group is owned by members of the Jemez pueblo and sells tobacco online.

Jump to full article »

State underspends on tabacco (sic) prevention  

Ten years after the November 1998 state tobacco settlement, the state ranks 11th in the nation in funding programs to protect young people from tobacco, according to a national report released by a coalition of public health organizations.

New Mexico currently spends $10.5 million a year on tobacco prevention programs, which is 44.9 percent of the $23.4 million recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Other key findings for New Mexico include:

• The tobacco companies spend $48 million a year on marketing in New Mexico. This is almost five times what the state spends on tobacco prevention.

Jump to full article »

Surprising Results on Smoking Research Hispanic Versus White Female Smokers  

The nation's first scientific study on the relationship between smoking and respiratory disease among Hispanic versus non-Hispanic white (NHW) women revealed that NHW women smokers were at greater risk of developing airflow obstruction and diminished lung function than Hispanic women who smoke - a surprising finding given that many diseases more adversely affect ethnic minorities. Smoking-related respiratory diseases are a major cause of death among all women.

The objective was to evaluate the risk of airflow obstruction and to assess lung function among Hispanic and NHW female smokers in a New Mexican group of participants.

Lead investigators at Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) - in collaboration with the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the University of Southern California, Los Angeles - conducted the study, which was financed by the Tobacco Settlement Commission of New Mexico.

Jump to full article »

• New Mexico appeals court revives smoking lawsuit 

The New Mexico Court of Appeals has revived a class-action lawsuit against several cigarette-makers over allegations of a price-fixing conspiracy.

The ruling Tuesday overturned a 2006 decision by a Santa Fe County District Court against New Mexico consumers who brought the damage lawsuit against tobacco companies, including Philip Morris Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Jump to full article »

• ROMERO v. PHILIP MORRIS INC., et. al. (PDF) 

To summarize, Plaintiffs have come forward with evidence that during the class period the tobacco industry exhibited an unprecedented degree of parallelism, beginning with the July 1993 consolidation of what had previously been ten price tiers into two price tiers, and continuing through twelve in-tandem increases in the prices of both premium and discount cigarettes. This multi-variable, multi-price-tier parallelism goes well beyond the price leadership within a single-tier market demonstrated by the cigarette industry prior to the introduction of generic cigarettes.

Further, the parallelism in the present case involves parallelism among market tiers which formerly had been in vigorous competition, resulting in a significant differential between the list prices of the cheapest cigarettes and the most expensive cigarettes. . . .

We hold merely that Plaintiffs’ evidence allows a reasonable factfinder to reject conscious parallelism as a plausible explanation, thereby leaving the competing inference of conspiracy as the most likely explanation for the parallelism proven by Plaintiffs.

Lorillard & Liggett

{46} In its answer brief, Lorillard points out that Plaintiffs’ expert, Dr. Leffler, testified during his deposition that he was unaware of any conduct by Lorillard during the class period that was not “completely consistent with conscious parallelism.” . . . In view of Dr. Leffler’s concessions, we conclude that Plaintiffs have not satisfied their burden under Matsushita of coming forward with evidence that would allow a reasonable juror to exclude lawful conscious parallelism as the most likely explanation for Lorillard’s and Liggett’s adoption of parallel price increases. Accordingly, we affirm the grant of summary judgment as to these two Defendants. We reverse the summary judgment in favor of Defendants Philip Morris, Brown & Williamson, and R.J. Reynolds.

Jump to full article »

• NM court revives case against cigarette makers 

The state Court of Appeals has revived a class-action lawsuit against several cigarette makers for allegedly engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy.

Today's ruling overturned a 2006 decision by a Santa Fe County district court against New Mexico consumers who brought the damage lawsuit against tobacco companies, including Philip Morris Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Jump to full article »

Smoker fights ban to higher court 

Stephen Brown was so opposed to New Mexico's ban on smoking in public places that he got himself cited for lighting up in a Catron County bar just minutes after the new law took effect.

He has been battling it ever since.

He lost the most recent round in the state Court of Appeals last week and plans to ask the state Supreme Court to review the decision.

Brown, of Reserve, recalls that he and his wife were the only customers at Uncle Bill's Bar when he lit up a cigarette just after midnight on June 15, 2007.

Jump to full article »

• New Mexico man loses round in smoking ban fight  

Stephen Brown was so opposed to New Mexico's ban on smoking in public places that he got himself cited for lighting up in a Catron County bar just minutes after the new law took effect.

He has been battling it ever since - so far to no avail. He lost the most recent round in the state Court of Appeals last week.

"I guess next is the (state) Supreme Court," Brown said.

Brown, a disabled veteran who worked as a cook before he retired, lives in Reserve in southwestern New Mexico. He recalls that he and his wife were the only customers at Uncle Bill's Bar when he lit up a cigarette just after midnight on June 15, 2007.

"I had to have my wife call the sheriff so he'd send a deputy down and issue me a ticket," Brown said. . . .

His legal argument is that the exemptions in the law - including for casinos, cigar bars, private clubs and designated hotel and motel rooms - violate a section of the state constitution that prohibits giving some persons or businesses rights or privileges not accorded to others.

"Our challenge is to the exemption scheme," said Brown's lawyer, Amavalise Jaramillo of Belen.

The argument hasn't swayed judges in district court - where Brown appealed from magistrate court - or in the Court of Appeals, which said on Sept. 16 that the exemptions are reasonable.

Jaramillo plans to ask the state Supreme Court to review the appeals court's decision. The high court could take the case or not.

Jump to full article »

• Court rules against New Mexico in tobacco settlement payment dispute 

New Mexico is subject to nationwide arbitration in a dispute over whether tobacco companies can reduce their payments to states under a 1998 settlement with the industry, the state Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

The decision was a setback for New Mexico which had wanted a state judge to decide the matter or have it arbitrated in the state.

The Court of Appeals concluded that the tobacco settlement required the payment dispute to be handled by a single, nationwide arbitration panel, which is to be made up of three former federal judges.

Jump to full article »