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Public housing smoking ban considered 

A new law could mean the end of smoking within public housing in Stillwater.

Congress passed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act earlier this year, and President Barack Obama signed the bill this summer.

Stillwater Public Housing Authority Executive Director L. Glen Redding said he will draft a revised policy for review and vote by the authority no later than February. The updated policy could go into affect as early as March, he said.

The authority has banned smoking in public housing common areas since 1985, he said, and this proposal would extend the ban to individual homes.

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• Judge tosses evidence in Kan. tobacco trafficking  

WICHITA, Kan. -- A federal judge has tossed out key evidence in the case against a Kansas tobacco wholesaler and his business associates who are accused of trying to avoid paying $25 million in cigarette taxes to Oklahoma and Indian tribes.

U.S. District Judge Monti Belot ruled Thursday that a Kansas Highway Patrol officer had no reason to suspect that the driver of a U-Haul van that was found to be loaded with cigarettes was violating any laws, and the search was therefore illegal.

"The officer testified that he was curious, and that does not rise to the level required by the Constitution," said Jack Focht, the attorney representing the driver of the van, Danny Davis.

It is unclear what impact the barred evidence will have on the prosecution's case.

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• Supreme Court rules in tobacco dispute  

The state Supreme Court has dismissed an injunction had barred state collection of cigarette taxes from tobacco stores licensed by the Osage Nation.

Justices last week ruled that a lower court didn't have jurisdiction to stop the Oklahoma Tax Commission from collecting 86 cents per pack from the tribe's licensed tobacco retailers.

The justices noted that a tobacco compact between the parties required any disputes be resolved through binding arbitration.

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Tobacco settlement grant transferred from SOCAG to Health Department  

Jackson County Commissioners held their regular meeting on at 10 a.m. Tuesday in the Commissioners’ Office in the Jackson County Courthouse. The minutes for the Sept. 14, Sept. 21, and Sept. 29 meetings , reports and blanket purchase orders were all approved.

The Jackson County Treasurer, Janet S. Wright introduced an item for consideration. This was the reinvestment or liquidation of a $500,000 certificate of deposit (CD) that was due on Sept. 30. With interest rates low everywhere right now, the commissioners voted to keep the money invested in a local bank, in a CD with an interest of rate of 1.1%. These funds are for the Sales Tax Revolving Fund.

Holly Grace Campbell, director of ACMI House was ill so Rick Crouch, public relations coordinator of Southwest Oklahoma Community Action Group, Inc. (SOCAG) was present to give information on the client-load of ACMI House. He said that ACMI house holds between 10-13 females and it is almost always full. Males in need of housing for domestic abuse are provided temporary housing in motel rooms. Domestic abuse, according to Crouch, is a much bigger problem than he thought it was.

In light of the serious nature of domestic violence, the commissioners approved a proclamation for “Domestic Violence Awareness Month” be recognized in October.

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Activist remembered for his work against tobacco 

He wanted to make a difference.

Those who knew him -- and many who met him for only a short time -- say he did.

For years, Jack Vogle spoke to students, not only in McAlester but across Oklahoma and even into Arkansas, about the dangers of smoking cigarettes and using tobacco.

"He wanted to prevent the young people from smoking, so what happened to him wouldn't happen to them," said Vogle's wife, Fredonia Vogle.

Jack Vogle died Sunday at his home following a long battle with cancer

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Oklahoma smokers willing to try to quit, diet concurrently 

Oklahomans are willing to tackle giving up smoking and losing weight at the same time, according to preliminary results of a survey of smokers using the state's tobacco help line.

"People have weight concerns related to quitting smoking, but they're still willing to call and get help," said Laura Beebe, director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center, which conducted the study. "People do want to address both of those concerns at the same time."

Beebe gave results Thursday to the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund's board of directors, which helped fund the study.

"In the past there's been some mixed literature that had said, 'No, if you're going to treat people for tobacco addiction don't address weight control,'" Beebe said.

The average weight gain after a person quits smoking is five to 10 pounds, Beebe said.

"We find now obesity is more of a problem in the general population and weight gain after smoking is also inching up there," Beebe said.

Results are still being developed from the 18-month study, Beebe said. Follow-up work was completed in June.

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UCO to host presentation from tobacco ‘whistleblower’ 

University of Central Oklahoma will host Dr. Victor DeNoble, one of the first researchers to help "blow the whistle" on the tobacco industry, at 10 a.m. Sept. 14 in Constitution Hall in Central's Nigh University Center.

DeNoble will present "Inside the Dark Side: The Science Behind Tobacco, The Truth Behind Lies" detailing his experience while working in, being let go by and testifying against the tobacco industry.

"We are thrilled to have a scientist of this magnitude come to raise awareness about the ill effects of tobacco use, and to promote tobacco use prevention," said Danielle Dill, assistant director for Health Services at Central.

"With Central going tobacco-free July 1, 2010, we are excited to partner with likeminded organizations, like the Oklahoma County Tobacco Use Prevention Coalition, to bring in Dr. DeNoble."

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Tobacco whistleblower to visit UCO 

Victor DeNoble, one of the first researchers to help blow the whistle on the tobacco industry, will be a featured speaker at University of Central Oklahoma.

DeNoble will detail his experience working for and testifying against the tobacco industry in his presentation "Inside the Dark Side: The Science Behind Tobacco, The Truth Behind Lies," at 10 a.m. Monday in Constitution Hall in the Nigh University Center.

After receiving his doctorate in experimental psychology, DeNoble began working as a researcher for the Phillip Morris Tobacco Company.

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• Donate unused cigarettes to science 

For smokers trying to quit their habit, that "last" cigarette is usually the final one in the pack.

To an addict, cigarettes are so valued that not finishing the pack would be downright wasteful, said Oklahoma State University researcher Jared Dempsey.

Even those who have quit but relapse and buy a pack are likely to smoke the entire thing, further derailing their cessation.

His solution? Donate those unused cigarettes to science.

Dempsey and his research team will use the cigarettes to help others stop smoking and to help understand the impact of visual cues on an addict's brain.

Dempsey will use some of the cigarettes in photographs of smokers and smoking that scientists across that world can use when testing brain reaction to positive and negative stimuli. . . .

The cessation treatment Dempsey advocates is called brand fading. Smokers are weaned off cigarettes by lowering nicotine levels, by only smoking brands they don't like and with nicotine patches.

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Judge Dismisses Suit Against Oklahoma Tax Commission  

TULSA, Okla. -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Tax Commission and tax commissioners filed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation after the commission seized what it called contraband cigarettes from tribal delivery trucks, reported The Tulsa World.

In his decision issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern of the Tulsa, Okla.-based Northern District of Oklahoma granted the OTC's motion to dismiss the seizure case because the commission's "sovereign immunity" exempts it from suit, said the report.

He also granted the OTC commissioners' motions to dismiss because, under the tribe's arguments, the tribal entity does not constitute a "person" who can bring suit.

The tribe filed the suit in May after the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, working with the Oklahoma Tax Commission, stopped three different tribal vehicles, and seized a total of about $100,000 worth of tobacco out of two of the vehicles.

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EDITORIAL: State prevails in tobacco battle  

THE Oklahoma Tax Commission was understandably pleased this week to see a federal judge dismiss a lawsuit that had been filed against the agency by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

The tribe had filed the lawsuit in May, after three of its delivery trucks were stopped by the highway patrol. Working with the Tax Commission, troopers confiscated roughly $100,000 worth of tobacco.

The tribe wanted the cigarettes returned. The Tax Commission said they were illegal to sell in Oklahoma because they didn't have tax stamps and weren't among the smokes listed on the state's Master Settlement Agreement roster. . . .

The federal judge in Tulsa had asked the commission to discontinue any Creek truck seizures until the case was decided. A commission spokeswoman isn't saying whether those seizures will now resume. Law-abiding Oklahomans no doubt hope they will.

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• Cherokee council sustains veto of tobacco rebates 

The Tribal Council sustained Principal Chief Chad Smith's veto of an act that would have provided monthly tax rebates to Cherokee Nation-licensed border smoke shops during an Aug. 10 meeting at the Tribal Complex.

By a 9-8 vote, the act didn't get the required two-thirds majority to override Smith's veto.

Sponsored by Dist. 9 Tribal Councilor Chuck Hoskin, the act would have protected the "viability of Cherokee Nation licensed smoke shops that are designated as a 'border' smoke shop" by giving the shops a monthly rebate.

According to the act, border shops would have received $1.50 back from the tribe for each carton of cigarettes sold. The rebate would have been in effect for 18 months or until a neighboring state's tax rate increased, the act states.

Border shops are tribally licensed smoke shops located within 20 miles of the Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas state lines. Border shop owners have said they have lost business under the tribe's current tobacco compact with the state, which raised cigarette prices at those locations by 61 cents per pack.

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• Officials worry illegal tobacco sales too high 

Although illegal sales of tobacco to minors nationally are at historic lows, some state officials fear that Oklahoma sales might have risen enough to trigger the loss of $7 million in federal funds used to treat substance abuse.

“We are on pace to go over the threshold this year if nothing improves,” said Jessica Hawkins, director of prevention services for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Last year, 18.1 percent of Oklahoma retailers were found to have sold tobacco to minors, up from 12.5 percent the previous year, she said.

The next reporting period for these sales ends Sept. 30. The agency must submit its report in December, Hawkins said. . . .

On Tuesday, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released a report lauding all 50 states and the District of Columbia for reducing illegal sales of tobacco to minors below that 20-percent threshold.

The late Oklahoma congressman Mike Synar was author of the 1993 amendment that requires states to maintain a compliance rate of at least 80 percent on illegal tobacco sales to minors to keep the federal block grant funding. . . .

But Jim Hughes, assistant director for the Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission, said the state’s compliance rate appears to be higher this year.

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Cigarette causes apartment fire, injures firefighter Monday 

BROKEN ARROW - A discarded cigarette caused a fire that damaged an apartment building and injured a firefighter Monday afternoon, authorities said.

The blaze started on a second-story balcony at the Apple Creek Apartments, in the 4500 block of South Elm Place, just after 2 p.m., Battalion Chief Jerry Stroup said.

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• Tulsa World: Judge dismisses state tax agency from tribal suit 

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma Tax Commission and tax commissioners filed by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation after the commission seized what it calls contraband cigarettes from tribal delivery trucks.

In his decision issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Terence Kern of the Tulsa-based Northern District of Oklahoma granted the OTC's motion to dismiss the seizure case because the commission's "sovereign immunity" exempts it from suit.

He also granted the OTC commissioners' motions to dismiss because, under the tribe's arguments, the tribal entity does not constitute a "person" who can bring suit.

The tribe filed the suit in May after the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, working with the Oklahoma Tax Commission, stopped three different tribal vehicles, and seized a total of about $100,000 worth of tobacco out of two of the vehicles. The third vehicle did not have any tobacco in it.

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