Tobacco.org

• State cuts Tobacco Quit Line funding despite tax increases 

Starting Thursday, smokers with health insurance who call the state Quit Line for help kicking their habit will get less help, the result of a 55 percent cut in state funding to smoking cessation and anti-smoking programs.

In spite of soaring state cigarette taxes, the Quit Line's funding was slashed by two-thirds - from $3.7 million a year to $1.2 million - as part of the broad cuts implemented in the 2009-11 budget signed by Gov. Jim Doyle to help solve the state's massive deficit. Total funding for anti-tobacco programs was cut from $15.3 million a year to $6.9 million.

The cuts follow a 75-cent increase in the cigarette tax on Sept. 1 that brought the state tax to $2.52 per pack, and also follows a $1-per-pack increase in 2008 - moves made to help solve budget deficits.

Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of SmokeFree Wisconsin, said more resources are needed by smokers motivated to quit by both the tax increase and a state smoking ban on bars and restaurants going into effect on July 5, 2010.

"When people need the resources most, we'll be least able to help them," Busalacchi said.

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Letter: Smokeless trip  

I recently returned from an eight-day trip to the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn., where smoking in public places is not allowed. It was a delight to enter a restaurant or bar and not be saturated in secondhand smoke.

The fact that every venue we entered was filled to capacity demonstrates that the nonsmoking law didn't hamper any customers from enjoying these places. We made a side trip to Wisconsin but returned to Minnesota to eat when we could not find a restaurant with a nonsmoking regulation.

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Anti-smoking info campaign targets minorities  

A statewide anti-smoking campaign aimed at minorities and those in poverty that highlights the dangers of second-hand smoke has begun.

Dubbed "Everybody Smokes When Anybody Smokes," the campaign will use radio, bus and billboard advertisements to get the message across. And local anti-smoking advocates say they hope it will bolster their ongoing efforts to reach into minority communities to underscore the dangers of smoking.

"There are definitely certain groups that are impacted in different ways," said Mandy Myszka, public health educator for the Marathon County Health Department. "For instance, the lower socio-economic population, the tobacco companies really target them specifically. They can offer them free tobacco products to get them started, for instance."

The state campaign -- promoted by the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, a coalition of community anti-smoking activists and the state Department of Health Services -- will use minority spokespeople to help make the connection with minority groups. For example, Blia Lor, a Hmong woman from Milwaukee, will be featured on billboards.

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Editorial: State did the right thing with smoking ban  

New reviews of recent studies conclude that heart attack rates have fallen 17 percent in communities and states after smoking bans were enacted. It's just further evidence that Wisconsin did the right thing in passing the ban that takes effect next summer. . . .

Smoking ban opponents argue that business owners should have the choice regarding what happens on their private property. But this is not the first law ever passed to regulate public health in those businesses. Making it illegal to poison the air is certainly an appropriate government action.

Next July 1, Wisconsin joins 31 other states that forbid smoking in the workplace, including restaurants and taverns. It's about time.

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Just Ask Us: Does smoking ordinance apply to sidewalks? 

A: Under the city ordinance that took effect in July 2005, every building considered a place of employment must have at least one entrance that is smoke-free. The ordinance defines an entrance as "a doorway and adjacent area which gives direct access to a building from a contiguous street, plaza, sidewalk or parking lot."

St. Mary's Hospital has designated all their entrances as non-smoking, said Steve Sparks, public relations director for the hospital, and that includes the presumably public sidewalk because it leads to the entrance. When you designate a smoke-free entrance, Sparks said, "you are required by the ordinance to allow people to enter without going through a cloud of smoke."

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Lung cancer survivors fight societal stigma 

Lung cancer gets a fraction of the funding that other major cancers do. The federal government spent $1,249 per lung cancer death in 2009 compared with $27,480 per breast cancer death, according to the Lung Cancer Alliance.

Now a Madison group is trying to fight that. The National Lung Cancer Partnership is holding a 5K run/walk Sunday to help support its research, education and awareness programs and encouraging lung cancer victims to tell their stories.

Regina Vidaver, the group's executive director, said this lack of funding indicates that society values the life of somebody with breast cancer more than the life of somebody with lung cancer.

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TOYCEN: Implications of the campus-wide smoking ban  

Under new rules at Lawrence, people are no longer allowed to smoke within the "academic necklace" of campus. Although it is completely acceptable to pass this rule -- Lawrence is private property -- there are some implications that need to be brought to attention.

First, the biggest problem with the ban is that short of someone vigilantly patrolling the affected areas and accosting individuals who break the rules, very little can be done in the way of enforcement. . . .

Several of my friends -- we were drinking a lot -- were perplexed when I disagreed with the ban. My friends countered that it did not affect me, so why should I care? I don't smoke cigarettes. But at the same time, there are many people at Lawrence who choose not to drink and thus have to put up with damage done to Lawrence because of alcohol; I'm sure there are a number of people on this campus who teetotal and would have no qualms with ridding Lawrence of alcohol.

At this point, an alcohol ban is impossible. A smoking ban was feasible because it affected a minority, and a majority has no problem with it. A freedom is a freedom, and one that existed before no longer does. People should consider this no matter what their vice is.

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WISNIEWSKI: Cigarette tax trades rights to halt deficit 

Over the last two years, Wisconsin smokers saw a dramatic increase in the taxing of tobacco and cigarette. As part of efforts to fill state deficits, Gov. Jim Doyle approved a large amount of legislation over the last five years to increase the price of cigarettes to boost state revenue and promote a healthier Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin state budget has fallen deeply into the red this year, but taxing cigarettes will not help bring it back in to the black. By taxing cigarettes, the government is abridging the rights of citizens rather than accepting their fiscal responsibility. . . .

The government cannot simply tax a good without thinking of the possible complications that come with that tax, especially if it infringes on citizens rights. Passing increases on taxes for goods that people enjoy simply to fill deficit issues created by government officials who could not balance the budget is illogical and unjust to the citizens.

Citizens should not have to pay more out of pocket for the mistakes made by irresponsible spending by the government. This is not merely an issue of taxing cigarettes, but taxing and scapegoating a good in order to justify poor planning.

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Media struggle with anonymous online comments  

Getting named the local paper's Person of the Year was supposed to be an honor for small-town politician Dean Zuleger. But the award only enraged many townspeople.

Readers anonymously flooded the Wausau Daily Herald's Web site with comments bashing Zuleger's salary, his management style, his weight. One person suggested his third chin should have been nominated. . . .

Zuleger, administrator of the Wausau suburb of Weston, demanded to know who was saying all those nasty things about him, and the paper did something unusual: It handed over one critic's e-mail address. The politician then sent a letter on official stationery telling the commenter, businessman Paul Klocko, to stop the personal attacks and "come out from behind the cloak" and meet him.

The episode has added fuel to the debate over anonymity on the Internet and how far readers who aren't willing to use their names should be allowed to go.

The paper has since apologized for turning over the address, and its corporate parent, Gannett Co., has clarified its policies on anonymous speech. The paper will now release information only if ordered by a court or if a comment contains a threat of imminent harm.

Lawsuits have been popping up across the country involving anonymous online speech. . . .

Before and after the Person of the Year award, "juanmoore" called Zuleger a "little Hitler" . . . and bashed him for his support of a smoking ban and his management style.

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Tobacco harvest smelling sweet this year  

Deerfield - Shafts of sunlight filtered through the roof and sides of a century-old barn as workers hung wooden slats holding large fragrant leaves.

The leaves were bright green, the color of money, which in a sense is just what they are.

Wisconsin's tobacco harvest is under way.

Though tobacco is a tiny portion of the state's multibillion-dollar agriculture industry, the plants that will eventually end up in pouches of Red Man flourished under the cool, dry skies in south-central Wisconsin this summer.

"This is the best tobacco crop I've ever seen," said Dennis Lund, whose family has grown tobacco since the '80s.

That's the 1880s. . . .

While this year's harvest was excellent, some farmers worry about the effects of recent steep increases in state and federal tobacco taxes. Wisconsin's cigarette tax increased 75 cents last week to $2.52 per pack, making it the fifth highest in the country, while the federal tax jumped 62 cents, to $1.01 a pack, in April.

None of Wisconsin's tobacco is used for cigarettes. It's all made into chewing tobacco, which also saw an increase in state taxes to 100% of the manufacturer's wholesale price.

Fischer said it's too early to tell how farmers here will be affected by tobacco tax increases.

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LETTER: Michael Gershon: Yet another tax on Wisconsinites 

Well congratulations to the state Legislature for slapping another tax on us, one of the highest taxed states in the country. Due to the we're-not-happy-until-everybody-does-what-we want pressure from the radical non-smoking groups, smokers now have to shell out more bucks for their tobacco products.

But, in the end, who really pays? . . .

Now the kicker. Who exactly pays for these smokes? Answer: You do! You, the taxpayer! You, the city council member! You, the state legislator! You, the anti-smoking campaign zealot! You, the average employed citizen already paying exorbitant taxes. So what has this big anti-smoking campaign accomplished? Putting the higher cigarette taxes coming right out of your pocket. As for the notion more teens will quit smoking because supposedly they won't be able to afford it, any teen working has a 100 percent disposable income. . . .

Oh, and one more thing, nonsmoking taxpayer. Those food stamps paid for by your taxes: There are some stamp recipients who sell their allotment each month to some unscrupulous characters for 40-50 cents on the dollar! What do they do with that money? You guessed it. They buy tobacco and alcohol, which can't be purchased with stamps

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Letter: Smoking decline may soon falter 

In recent months tobacco issues have been in the news. Wisconsin is finally going smoke-free and the cigarette tax will be going up by 75 cents in September.

Despite these significant public health victories in reducing the burden of tobacco, Legislature and the governor approved a nearly 55% cut to tobacco prevention and control funds. . . .

This is not just a program of dollars and sense. It has helped people quit, stopped youth from ever starting, and preserved our right to breathe clean, smoke-free air.

We need to fund this program adequately. The health of our state depends on it.

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Smokers fume over new tax hike 

Wisconsin’s cigarette tax went up 75 cents a pack on Tuesday.

It’s now the fifth highest in the nation and the most expensive among neighboring states. Let’s leave out the epithets and just say the new tax has people upset.

Todd Ferch was purchasing a pouch of loose tobacco at Book World when he stopped to comment.

“It must be time to quit. Smoking is just too expensive. I roll my own,” he said.

Local retailers said they are hearing from customers peeved about the hike.

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Hike makes state’s cigarette tax fifth highest in country  

Wisconsin became the state with the fifth highest cigarette tax in the nation after a new 75-cent tax was instituted Tuesday.

A new 75-cent tax on cigarettes went into effect Tuesday, raising the total Wisconsin cigarette tax to $2.52 per pack, the fifth highest state tax on cigarettes in the nation.

The tax increase is expected to reduce the number of smokers in Wisconsin and deter minors from taking up the habit.

Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said the tax increase in conjunction with the statewide smoking ban will reduce secondhand smoke and discourage minors from sharing cigarettes with friends.

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Confiscation of illegal cigarettes plummets  

Madison -- The number of illegal cigarettes confiscated in Wisconsin plummeted to 763 packs in the fiscal year that ended June 30 after soaring after a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase in January 2008.

In the months surrounding the 2008 increase, the state Department of Revenue confiscated 12,040 packs of cigarettes that lacked the required Wisconsin tax stamp.

Confiscation numbers vary from year to year based on market and enforcement activity, said Department of Revenue spokeswoman Jessica Iverson. Ahead of the tax increase in 2008, revenue agents were working to educate retailers about the increase and check existing inventories for the tax stamp, she said.

"Because we had such a wide presence out in the field leading up to the cigarette tax increase, our agents do shift focus to other enforcement activities," Iverson said.

The number of cigarettes confiscated this fiscal year could jump again with another tax increase on the horizon.

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