Tobacco.org

McConnell tapped tobacco war chest to fund 9-year lead paint battle 

For nine years prospective federal judge nominee Jack McConnell battled paint makers with boundless powers he received from attorneys general he helped elect.

As he awaits the nomination process, McConnell, of the Motley Rice firm in Providence, continues in his role as Rhode Island Democratic Party treasurer.

Had he been successful in carrying out the mammoth lead paint abatement plan he devised in 1999, and which fell apart last year, McConnell and other lawyers would have shared hundreds of millions in fees, maybe billions.

According to court records, the abatement plan would have bulldozed Rhode Island from end to end. State and federal housing laws and regulations that would forbid entering properties without warrants would have been suspended. . ..

The firm identifies him as negotiator and primary drafter of the master tobacco settlement agreement of 1998.

Whitehouse explained to reporters that the state wouldn't spend any money on lead abatement because Motley Rice had "a big war chest from the tobacco litigation," according to a report in the Providence Journal.

"McConnell brings horses in a big way," Whitehouse said. "He's part of a great firm with very deep pockets."

Jump to full article »

R.I. has highest cigarette tax – by far 

’s official: Rhode Island’s cigarette tax is now the highest levy on smokes in the country by a wide margin, according to new figures released by The Tax Foundation.

Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and lawmakers agreed to raise the state cigarette tax by $1 to $3.46 a pack to help close a state budget shortfall this spring.

That makes Rhode Island’s cigarette tax not only highest in the country but 25 percent more than the next-highest tax, in New York

Jump to full article »

State money up in smoke: R.I. cracks down on illegal cigarette sales  

Now, state taxation and law-enforcement officials are poised to do their part. They are cracking down on the illegal sale of out-of-state cigarettes to make sure that the state collects as much money as possible from smokers who now plunk down some $8.35 for a pack.

"We're working closer with the state police," said David M. Sullivan, state tax administrator. "It's been a constant problem, but with the increase in our cigarette tax," officials are aggressively going after them.

Sullivan and Donald W. Englert, chief revenue agent for the Division of Taxation, said an inspector and two part-time assistants from their office seize an estimated 20 to 30 cartons of cigarettes each month that don't have the Rhode Island excise tax stamp and are being sold illegally from one of the state's 1,200 licensed convenience stores or retail outlets.

The inspectors often work undercover or have a plainclothes state trooper make the buys.

A big problem has been the tax stamp.

Jump to full article »

Two More States Increase Cigarette Tax; Rhode Island up to $3.46 Per Pack; Hawai'i up to $2.60 per pack; California Remains Stuck at $0.87 

Last week the Governor of Hawai'i signed a bill passed by the Hawai'i State Legislature to increase that state's cigarette tax to $2.60 per pack as of July 1. This became the ninety first time a state has raised its tobacco tax since the last time the tax was increased in California back in 1998. That increase was enacted by the voters through passage of the 50 cent tobacco tax increase (Proposition 10) to fund early childhood education. The California State Legislature has not passed a tobacco tax increase since 1993 when it approved a 2-cent increase to fund breast cancer research and early detection. . . .

Smoking remains the single largest cause of preventable death in California. Increasing the tobacco tax has consistently been found to be an effective means to reduce smoking, especially among youth. Studies show that every 10 percent increase in price reduces overall consumption by 3-4 percent and youth smoking by 7 percent. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the $1.50 increase of SB 600 would prevent 361,100 kids from becoming smokers, save 165,600 Californians from premature deaths caused by smoking and save $8.1 billion in long term healthcare costs.

Jump to full article »

• Target 12 Cigarette tax cash going up in smoke 

The Target 12 Investigators uncover tax dollars going up in smoke. We confront cigarette sellers after discovering some may not be honest in paying cigarette taxes.

Target 12 has learned that Rhode Island is losing thousands, potentially millions of dollars to retailers who try and cheat the system and pocket the cash themselves.

Rhode Island raked in more than a hundred million dollars last year. The money was used to pay for things like education and public safety. But now, with the highest cigarette taxes in the country, there's temptation to cheat.

Jump to full article »

• Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Neonatal Behavior: A Large-Scale Community Study  

METHODS. Participants were mothers and infants from the Providence, Rhode Island, cohort of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project enrolled between 1960 and 1966. . . .

CONCLUSIONS. In a large community sample, exposure to maternal smoking was associated with increased irritability and hypertonicity in neonates. Exposure to maternal smoking did not influence neonatal response to respiratory challenge. This study is the largest-scale investigation to date of the effects of maternal smoking (heavy and moderate) on examiner-assessed neonatal behavior. Given the associations between both maternal smoking and infant irritability and later behavioral dysregulation, results have important implications for early identification and intervention with at-risk offspring.

Jump to full article »

R.I.'s cigarette tax –– highest in nation –– will be what kills ya now 

With the typical price for name-brand cigarettes in Rhode Island about to reach about $8.35 a pack — up from $6.50 just nine days ago — many longtime smokers are rethinking the costs to their bank accounts, if not their health.

Some, like LeBlanc, say it’s time to quit. Others, like Jeffrey Mooney, a 38-year-old cook from Providence, have switched to cheaper menthol cigars. They’re not supposed to be inhaled, but at $1.25 a pack, they cost a lot less.

Still others, like Michael Johnson, a self-employed handyman from Providence, say the latest increase in Rhode Island’s cigarette tax won’t make much difference.

“I think it might change how people buy,” he said, noting Internet prices that are lower than those in local stores.

At least 22 states are considering hikes in their cigarette taxes this year, turning to a revenue source that draws complaints from smokers and merchants and praise from people in the health community. . . .

From the early 1980s to 2006, the average nationwide cost of a pack of cigarettes rose from about $1.75 to $4.25. During the same period, consumption dropped from more than 30 billion packs a year to fewer than 20 billion, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

In Rhode Island, the percentage of high school students who smoke dropped from 24.8 percent in 2003, when the state tax was $1.71, to 15.1 percent in 2007, when the tax was $2.46, according to figures from the organization. Meanwhile, tax revenue from all tobacco sales rose from $117.3 million to $136.3 million when the tax increased to $2.46

Jump to full article »

New Report Shows New England States Spending Little on Tobacco Control Despite Receiving $1.8 Billion in Tobacco Funds 

The Presidents/CEO's of four major voluntary health organizations released a report today showing that New England States are not keeping their promise to use a significant portion of funds from the 1998 state tobacco settlement to reduce tobacco's toll on the states' children, families and communities. The report, released during a news conference at the Massachusetts State House, finds that more than 10 years after the settlement, none of the New England states is funding tobacco prevention at levels recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report, titled "SHORT CHANGED: BROKEN PROMISES ON TOBACCO CONTROL PLACE MILLIONS OF KIDS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND AT RISK FOR ADDICTION AND EARLY DEATH," is being released two days before the states receive their next round of multi-million dollar payments from the settlement. The report was compiled by the Washington, DC-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. View the full report.

Jump to full article »

• SHORT CHANGED: BROKEN PROMISES ON TOBACCO CONTROL PLACE MILLIONS OF KIDS ACROSS NEW ENGLAND AT RISK FOR ADDICTION AND EARLY DEATH (PDF) 

Ten years after the November 1998 state tobacco settlement, we find that most of the New England states have failed to keep their promise to use a significant portion of the settlement funds to reduce tobacco’s terrible toll on America’s children, families and communities.

Jump to full article »

• Report: NE states fall short on tobacco prevention 

Health advocates said Monday that New England states have failed to deliver on a pledge to use settlement money from tobacco companies to pay for prevention programs, with most states funding programs at just one fifth of recommended levels.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids released a report detailing how New England states will spend only 2.3 percent of the $1.8 billion in tobacco settlement and tax revenue on tobacco prevention programs this year when these programs save both lives and money by containing health care costs by preventing tobacco-related illness.

"We know for a fact that these programs save lives and reduce health care costs," said Don Gudaitis, CEO of the American Cancer Society's New England Division. "As more and more Americans face a threat of lack of access to health care and lack of access to health insurance, underfunding the most proven way to reduce health care costs is all the more intolerable."

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island are funding tobacco prevention programs at less than 20 percent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations, according to the report.

The report also said Maine and Vermont are the only New England states funding tobacco prevention at half the CDC's recommended levels.

Jump to full article »

RI judge recommended for federal appeals post  

The senators also recommended Jack McConnell, a Providence-based trial lawyer with the Motley Rice LLC law firm, for a judgeship on Rhode Island's U.S. District Court. . . .

McConnell helped negotiate a multibillion-dollar settlement agreement between states and the tobacco industry and has more recently been involved in pressing lawsuits against the lead paint industry.

Jump to full article »

Rhode Island Cigarette Tax Increase Delivers Victory for Kids and Taxpayers; $1 Increase Give State Highest Cigarette Tax in the Nation 

Rhode Island's leaders have taken decisive action to protect the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco use by increasing the state cigarette tax by $1 to $3.46 per pack, making it the highest state cigarette tax in the nation.� Rhode Island is also increasing the tax on most other tobacco products.� Increased tobacco taxes are a win-win-win solution for Rhode Island — a health win that will reduce tobacco use and save lives, a financial win that will raise revenue to help alleviate budget shortfalls, and a political win that polls show is popular with the voters.

The evidence is clear that increasing the cigarette tax is one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking, especially among kids. Studies show that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7 percent and overall cigarette consumption by about 4 percent. Rhode Island can expect the $1 cigarette tax increase to prevent more than 7,300 Rhode Island kids from smoking; spur�3,400 Rhode Island smokers to quit for good; save more than 3,200 Rhode Island residents from future smoking-caused deaths; produce $160 million in long-term health care savings; and raise about $13.3 million a year in new state revenue.

Jump to full article »

RI gov won't veto budget raising cigarette tax 

Rhode Island Governor Don Carcieri will permit a $7.3 billion budget plan to become law, a decision that will raise the state's cigarette tax to the highest in the nation and reduce state funding for cities and towns.

The Republican governor declined to veto the spending plan for the fiscal year ending in June, meaning it will become law Wednesday, according to Carcieri's office. It attempts to close a budget deficit estimated at more than $370 million, or about 11 percent of expected state spending.

Jump to full article »

• Stored gasoline fueled last week’s fatal fire in Cranston 

The fire that killed a 15-year-old boy in a Cranston apartment last week was driven by containers of gasoline stored in his bedroom.

Kyle Mather, a freshman at Cranston High School East, was known as someone who "liked to play with fire" and had been seen starting fires outside, said state Fire Marshal Jack Chartier.

Chartier said it was not known whether Kyle deliberately started the fire that engulfed his bedroom in his family's second-floor apartment at Cranston Commons East, or whether vapors escaping from the three containers of gasoline were ignited accidentally by an open flame, such as a lighter. The boy's mother allowed him to smoke cigarettes, and fire investigators found seven or eight lighters in the charred bedroom, along with the remnants of three gasoline containers.

Jump to full article »

Teen Who Died in Fire Was Storing Containers of Gas in His Room 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Investigators say a high school freshman who died in a fire at his family's Cranston home was storing containers of gasoline in his bedroom.

Kyle Mather, a 15-year-old freshman at Cranston High School East, died in the March 16 fire that was contained to his bedroom.

State Fire Marshal Jack Chartier said on Thursday that Mather "liked to play with fire" and also had several cigarette lighters in his room.

Jump to full article »