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Tennesseans die of cancer at the fifth-worst rate in the nation.
What kills them most frequently is cigarettes, but a powerful mix of misinformation and denial also drives up the death count.
A Tennessean examination that included dozens of interviews with doctors, cancer experts and patients across the state found health professionals frequently encounter people who have ignored symptoms for months or even years before going to a doctor. A lack of urgency or confusion about routine cancer screenings, coupled with misconceptions about treatment and even a fatalistic acceptance of the disease, leads to cancers being diagnosed too late to be treated successfully.
"There's a personal value system, a thought process that says, 'It can't be me,' and an incredibly complicated health system," said Mary Jane Dewey, director of the state Health Department's sole free cancer screening program. "Even people with insurance can't understand their policies."
Lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers are the most commonly diagnosed in the state. In the 2001-05 reporting period, more Tennesseans died from lung cancer — 20,629 victims — than from the other three combined. . . .
But money can be an issue. The Tennessee legislature put $10 million into smoking prevention and cessation programs for the first time for the 2007-08 fiscal year, but then halved that the following year. This year, the state's tobacco control program is running on a $1.5 million budget, all but $300,000 of that from a Centers for Disease Control grant.
The money pays for the state's 1-800-QUIT-NOW line, which matches smokers with counselors to help them quit, and literature.
But anti-smoking advocates look most longingly at the state's $4.8 billion settlement with tobacco companies, which it began receiving in annual payments in 1999. The legislature voted to put the money into the general fund; none into anti-smoking programs. Tennessee has collected $1.9 billion to date.
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Cigarette filters are designed to absorb vapors and particulate matter, many of which are considered harmful to smokers, from mainstream cigarette smoke. Each of the estimated 4.5 trillion cigarettes butts littered each year worldwide, therefore, is a potential point source for environmental pollution. In areas with substantial amounts of cigarette litter, serious environmental hazards may exist as the compounds absorbed from the mainstream smoke are leached out of the butts. Although the compounds and their concentrations in cigarettes and mainstream smoke have been extensively researched, few studies have attempted to identify and quantify the components leached from cigarette butts. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of 12 selected metals leached from cigarette butts and whole cigarettes in aqueous solutions with the initial pH of 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0 ± 0.1. These pH-values were chosen based on the typical pH range of rainfall and were used to investigate the relationship between pH and leaching. Leachates were analyzed 1 day, 7 days, and 34 days after sample addition to assess the relationship between soaking time and leaching. The resulting leachates were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for the following metals: aluminum (Al), barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), strontium (Sr), titanium (Ti), and zinc (Zn). Based on comparisons with drinking-water standards set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Cd and Pb were proposed as the primary toxicants in cigarette litter leachates.
You may have seen recent news reports about Tennessee’s effort to stop the illegal sale of cigarettes that are removed from the pack and sold individually as “loosies.” . . .
Cigarette manufacturers who choose not to participate in the MSA must comply with state law requiring payment into an escrow fund from which the state can seek payment for certain judgments or settlements it obtains against those manufacturers. This year, my office filed suit and obtained a $1.2 million judgment against a Brazilian cigarette manufacturer for failing to make required payments. There are other pending cases against cigarette manufacturers in Canada and Indonesia, a Native American tribe in Oklahoma, and a South Carolina cigarette wholesaler.
The Internet poses another challenge to stopping illegal cigarette sales. My office sued two Internet cigarette vendors for selling cigarettes to Tennesseans in violation of state law. We also negotiated settlements in a number of cases resulting from illegal internet sales.
The effort to crack down on illegal cigarette sales is a team effort. The General Assembly has strengthened laws to discourage sales to minors and ensure that the state is able to collect money owed from cigarette sales. The Departments of Health, Agriculture, and Commerce and Insurance are working with my office in the effort to stop the sale of single cigarettes. The office of the Attorney General has a separate division dedicated to diligent enforcement of the MSA and related laws which works closely with the Department of Revenue.
My office is participating in a new working group on youth tobacco prevention to improve coordination among different agencies, pursue smoking prevention initiatives, and raise awareness of the health risks associated with youth tobacco use. This group will promote the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on November 19, 2009 which is aimed at getting smokers to quit.
Hopefully, these efforts will help to discourage young people from using tobacco, help smokers quit, and take some of the profits out of the illicit cigarette trade.
Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco producer, and Reynolds American Inc. were accused in a consumer lawsuit of fraudulent marketing by claiming “light” cigarettes were less harmful than regular cigarettes.
The suit filed by three Tennessee residents on behalf of smokers who bought “light” or “ultra-light” cigarettes in the state since Jan. 1, 2005, seeks class-action, or group, status.
The tobacco companies “have known for decades that filtered and low-tar cigarettes do not offer a meaningful reduction of risk to smokers,” the plaintiffs said in the complaint, filed in Nashville federal court yesterday. “Their marketing, which emphasized reductions in tar and nicotine, was false and misleading.”
The lawsuit is unsuitable for class-action status because a wide array of individual issues prompt people to choose light cigarettes, Jack Marshall, a spokesman at Philip Morris, said in a telephone interview. . . .
Altria and Reynolds were convicted of violating racketeering laws in August 2006 when U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler found the companies conspired for decades to defraud the public by marketing cigarettes as “light” or “low-tar.” The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington in May upheld the conviction that also bars the companies from labeling the cigarettes as “light.” . . .
The case is Alcorn v. Philip Morris USA Inc., Altria Group Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Reynolds American Inc., 09cv0624, U.S. District Court of Middle Tennessee (Nashville).
A move by the Canadian parliament to keep flavored cigarettes away from children is coming under fire from members of the U.S. Congress amid charges it essentially bans certain tobacco exports to Canada and violates trade laws.
A bill pending in Canada's House of Commons seeks to ban companies from selling tobacco products with cherry, milk and chocolate flavorings amid concerns the ingredients are added to lure children and teens to smoke.
U.S. Senators and Representatives as well as business lobbies say the bill would essentially ban the export of burley tobacco, grown in states such as Kentucky and Tennessee. Burley tobacco contains flavoring ingredients that mask tobacco's harsh taste. The tobacco industry says the flavoring in burley tobacco isn't detectable by smokers and is different from the candy-flavored cigarettes that carry names such as "Twista Lime" and "Chocolate Mocha."
A delegation of Senators and Representatives from Kentucky wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her to help stop the bill, which they see as an "unfair assault" on U.S. tobacco growers, according to a letter the group sent Monday to Clinton.
"This is a delicate situation that merits your attention," the letter says. "The stakes involved for American tobacco growers could not be higher." . . .
Melisa Leclerc, a spokeswoman for Stockwell Day, Canada's Minister of International Trade, said Day is aware of the concerns expressed by U.S. congress members. She said the bill responds to an "important public health objective" of the Canadian government over concerns with tobacco products.
Rowlett voters decided Saturday that the city will become smoke-free after all. With 10 of 12 precincts reporting, 64 percent of voters supported the smoking ban with 34 percent opposing it.
The city council passed the ban by a 4-3 vote in February. It was scheduled to go into effect May 1, but a group of business owners successfully petitioned to have the issue go before the voters. The referendum was the only issue on the Rowlett ballot.
The owners of The Track Grill and Bar helped start the petition. Co-owner Eric Gigon spent eight hours speaking with voters at the polls Saturday, and he said he is disappointed with the outcome but is prepared to accept the new ordinance.
"Ninety percent of the people that voted don't ever come into any of [the establishments that allow smoking], and they dictated the future of our restaurant, so I'm hoping ... that means they're going to lend their support to us now and start coming out," Gigon said.
Smoking in public places in the city of El Lago is no longer legal.
El Lago joins the majority of Bay Area cities which ban smoking in public places after Council approved a no-smoking ordinance Monday night.
The ordinance, passed unanimously, specifies that smoking is banned in restaurants, public facilities, bars, and covered public areas.
Certain designated smoking areas will be created in some public spaces, such as near the city’s swimming pool area, said City Secretary Ann Vernon.
Restaurant outdoor seating areas also are exempt from the ban, she said.
Two of the nation's top tobacco-producing states are weighing whether to raise cigarette taxes to plug budget deficits that have sent politicians scavenging for sources of revenue.
The governors of Virginia and Kentucky have each proposed raising their cigarette taxes -- each currently 30 cents per pack -- to help offset revenue shortfalls of $2.9 billion and $456 million, respectively.
Such a move was once unthinkable in Virginia, where Philip Morris runs the world's largest cigarette plant miles from the state Capitol, and ceiling murals in the rotunda include impressions of the golden-brown tobacco leaf.
"I wouldn't be surprised if all the tobacco-producing states aren't at least considering it before long," said Amy Barkley, who directs advocacy efforts in the major tobacco states for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. . . .
Lawmakers in the six major tobacco states -- North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia -- have historically been more reluctant than other states to turn to their cash crop for extra revenue.
But since 2002, 44 states and the District of Columbia have increased their cigarette taxes. Still, while the average tax nationwide is $1.11 per pack, it is 33.5 cents per pack in tobacco states.
"A while ago some people would have said there's no way there's going to be any tobacco tax increase in any of these states, but there has been and it's been because of these dire budget needs," Barkley said.
That doesn't mean the taxes have had an easy time passing.
Prosecutors say nine people have been sentenced in a black-market tobacco ring in Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and North Carolina involving more than $4.5 million.
The U.S. attorney's office in Nashville said in a statement Wednesday that the last defendant, Ronald D. Bowen of Ayden, N.C., was sentenced to 51 months in prison by a federal judge. He and co-defendant Christopher L. Sutton were found guilty of conspiring to transfer more than $4.5 million in cash to avoid federal reporting requirements. Sutton, who owned two tobacco companies in North Carolina, was sentenced on Nov. 12 to 60 months in prison.
recent federal yield numbers predict a good year for burley, which once ranked among the Volunteer State's most profitable crops.
The burley tobacco produced by Tennessee farmers this year is expected to outperform last year's crop by 22 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If that prediction holds true, it will mark the first time the production of burley -- most commonly used in cigarettes -- has shown a year-over-year increase since 1999.
"It looks like our yield is going to be excellent," said Jonathan Gray, who farms about 5� acres of burley tobacco in northern Sumner County. Like many tobacco farmers, Gray has cut his tobacco production because of falling profit margins -- he raises about half as much now as he did four years ago.
Officials are still assessing the impact of the tripling of Tennessee's cigarette tax as some smokers have begun buying in other states to save money. . . .
Tennessee's cigarette tax increased July 1, 2007, in a move intended to help fund a half-billion dollar plan to improve public schools. Now the tax is higher than that of eight neighboring states.
Three months later, the state also launched a ban on smoking in offices, restaurants and other public places and limited smoking to adult-only businesses, such as bars or smoking lounges.
Tennessee's higher general sales-tax rate and extra 25-cents-per-pack tax over neighboring Georgia has some Chattanooga smokers heading south of the border to buy cigarettes. . . .
Tennessee ranks No. 5 nationally in tobacco use at 24.3 percent, behind Kentucky 28.2 percent, West Virginia 26.9 percent, Oklahoma 25.8 percent and Missouri 24.5 percent, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records show.
"We call it the 'Tennessee trifecta,"' said Pete Fisher, vice president for state issues at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Tennessee's new anti-smoking law prohibits lighting up in enclosed public places. Memphis International Airport officials believe an exemption should be made for its restaurant patrons.
Two restaurants at the airport -- the Blue Note Cafe and Maggie O'Shea's -- have been issued notices of potential violations, and state officials are reviewing whether to pursue enforcement action, according to a report by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, which first reported on the flap.
Smoking is still allowed in over-21 bars, hotels and motels. But airport facilities aren't granted the same exemption because "They are enclosed facilities within an enclosed facility," Carter Garner of the Tennessee Department of Health told the newspaper.
The airport contends that the law would force connecting passengers to go outside to smoke and undergo the hassle of re-entering security checkpoints. Sara Hall, the airport's general counsel, says the bars have "sophisticated ventilation systems" that provide safer air-quality levels than the law requires.
On Monday, the I-Team's Jeremy Finley reported how a lawmaker and some other people were breaking the law behind closed doors by using a conference room and an office as an area to smoke, even though state law prohibits smoking in state buildings.
If an establishment allows someone to smoke on or in its premises the state issues a letter, one of which will be sent to Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville.
It was in McCord's office at the state Legislature that the I-Team spotted someone smoking.
McCord was among the state lawmakers who voted for the smoking ban a couple of years ago.
"It's hypocritical. It's a double standard, and there's no way to justify it," said Drew Johnson of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.
Along with McCord's office, a source also told the I-Team that inside Legislative Plaza, an entire conference room designed for official business had become a room to skirt the smoking law and not get caught. . . .
"Based on your story, we're going to make contact with the appropriate authorities and get assurances that they are going to comply," said Tennessee Department of Labor representative Daniel Bailey.
Following Finley's report, the state will issue McCord a letter telling him to stop allowing smoking in his offices.
NASHVILLE - State Rep. Joe McCord acknowledged Tuesday that he and others have been illegally smoking in his legislative office suite, as reported by a TV station. But he questioned the tactics used by a reporter in discovering a dozen bottles of legal liquor.
In a report aired Monday night, WSMV-TV said the Maryville Republican had a "room set up for smoking" in the War Memorial Building suite he shares with state Rep. Parkey Strader, R-Knoxville, who has been absent recently while undergoing treatment for cancer.
State Rep. Joe McCord, R-Maryville, has run afoul of a law prohibiting smoking in state buildings.
McCord acknowledged Tuesday that he and others had been smoking in his legislative office suite in violation of state law.
"The answer is yes," he said. "People have smoked in my office. That started back in January. Some secretaries asked if they could smoke in the office (instead of going out in the cold). I said, 'That's up to you,' I should have told them no. ... It really doesn't matter what I think of it. That's the provision of the law."
McCord confirmed he had smoked, too.
"I have smoked before," he said. "I don't smoke much, but I have smoked before."