http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/businessgeneral.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.csnews.com/csn/cat_management/tobacco/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004076900 http://tobacco.org/news/298788.html "NACS has been working for over 10 years to pass legislation to regulate Internet and mail-order tobacco sales," Beckwith said in a statement. "[That] vote brings us closer to achieving our goal than we have ever been. We will continue to pressure the House to take the final step necessary for passage and enactment." With the passage of the bill out of Congress, convenience store associations and other organizations applauded the action, along with the effort of their lawmakers and members working to pass the bill. "Law-abiding mom-and-pop retailers are especially grateful to Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York, the House sponsor, and Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York for their courageous leadership on this issue of fairness and child health protection," James Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS), said in a statement. "Congress made a sensible choice to have them sold in a controlled environment where there is verifiable compliance with tax, age verification and other laws designed to protect public health." Convenience Store News Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/ProtectingKidsfromTobacco/RegsRestrictingSale/ucm205021.htm http://tobacco.org/news/298755.html On March 19, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will publish a rule that restricts the sale, distribution, and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to protect children and adolescents. The rule is required by the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act and is intended to protect kids by making tobacco products less accessible and attractive to them. As a retailer, you play an important role in protecting children and adolescents from the risks associated with using tobacco products. This is important because every day nearly 4,000 kids try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids become daily smokers. Many of these kids will become addicted before they are old enough to understand the risks and will ultimately die too young of tobacco-related diseases. This is an avoidable personal tragedy for those kids and their families as well as a preventable public health disaster for our country. Retailers are uniquely positioned to reduce underage access to tobacco products by complying with the FDA rule. The FDA Center for Tobacco Products wants to provide you with information and tools to help you comply with the new requirements Food and Drug Administration AskCTP@fda.hhs.gov Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://libn.com/blog/2010/03/12/judge-snuffs-gasoline-retailers-lawsuit/ http://tobacco.org/news/298741.html A Nassau County Supreme Court Judge has thrown out a lawsuit against the state for boosting tobacco taxes paid by retailers. A group of gas station operators sued the state opposing an amended tax law to increase fees for stores selling tobacco from a $100 flat fee to a graduated scale ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 based on the gross sales of all products sold, rather than just tobacco items. The suit was led by the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association, as well as four other trade associations representing about 10,000 retailers statewide. In September, the associations won a temporary restraining order allowing them not to have to pay the new fees until a judge could determine the impact of the changes to the law. But Justice Thomas Feinman ruled on Wednesday that the groups did not have standing in the case and they did not prove that their business would be adversely affected by the new fees. Long Island Business News Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.nacsonline.com/NACS/News/Daily/Pages/ND0318101.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/298732.html “Our industry is one step away from ending a 10-plus-year battle to close loopholes that placed significant competitive disadvantages on convenience retailers,” said NACS Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith. “The PACT Act allows our industry to compete on equal footing for not just the sale of individual products, but for customers.” The Senate bill was authored by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) and the House version was authored by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). Once it is signed into law, the PACT Act will significantly strengthen federal laws that apply to online cigarette sales. National Association of Convenience Stores nacspoll@nacsonline.com (RSS Feed) Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=112880 http://tobacco.org/news/298716.html The Lebanese Syndicate of Advertising Agencies and the International Advertising Association (IAA)) asked the Parliamentary Administration and Justice Commission on Wednesday to take their demands into consideration while discussing a law to limit tobacco smoking. The two associations said the draft law prohibited advertising for tobacco products and this would harm the advertising sector in terms of reducing employment and profits. They added that it would also harm merchants, restaurants, hotels and night clubs that sell tobacco.They then asked the commission to consider alternative steps in combating smoking, such as raising the price of tobacco products first then censoring tobacco advertisements and not abolishing them. They also demanded that they be kept included in all discussions Beirut Daily Star onlineeditor@dailystar.com.lb (The Daily Star) Lebanon Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14698456?nclick_check=1 http://tobacco.org/news/298711.html In a high-profile police crackdown Monday, two tobacco shops in Watsonville were busted for selling cigarettes to minors, a raid that turned up more than just illegal cigarette vending. Illicit knife sales were also uncovered. A week earlier, a little-known county commission was working behind the scenes on legislation that would have targeted just these types of crimes. The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, at its March 8 meeting, proposed an ordinance that would require tobacco retailers to get a license from the county, a program designed to generate money and means to monitor cigarette shops for criminal activity. "This would have increased police presence and given police the opportunity to find out about (the cigarette and knife sales) possibly much earlier," said Natasha Kowalski, a county health educator and coordinator of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission. San Jose Mercury-News kalexander@santacruzsentinel.com (Kurtis Alexander) Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.register-pajaronian.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=8525&page=77 http://tobacco.org/news/298676.html Store owner Khalil Rahim will surely get his. And I'm bettin' his stores will soon close for good. But a cigarette smoker is far more likely to die from smoking than from being stabbed or bludgeoned to death by brass knuckles. In fact, smoking kills more people in the United States every year than AIDS, illegal drugs, alcohol, car crashes, suicides and murders combined! (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) According to a 2008 survey by the Santa Cruz County Tobacco Education Coalition, a group dedicated to reducing tobacco sales to minors, underage youth can expect to be successful buying cigarettes in one out of every six local stores. Any 16-year-old kid who is carded and turned away by a responsible retailer won't have far to go to find an irresponsible one sympathetic to his wants. . . . The environment in Rahim's cigarette shops is one youth could relate to. One with pop culture posters, candy, soda pop, chips, marijuana stuff, imitation guns, forbidden toys ... and forbidden cigarettes. Youth are drawn to the sweet and forbidden. To address the concern of sales to youth, the coalition proposes an ordinance, successfully implemented in more than 60 California counties and cities, that has dramatically reduced the number of stores willing to sell cigarettes to minors. It requires sellers to be licensed. The Tobacco Retail License fees would provide resources for sting operations -- like the ones recently visited upon Mr. Rahim's stores. Violators would face fines and suspension or revocation of their licenses. The Santa Cruz County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission unanimously passed a resolution in July urging the board of supervisors to adopt such an ordinance. This month, in support of the coalition's current effort to recruit a supervisor to sponsor the ordinance, the commission unanimously reaffirmed its July resolution. It's time the County of Santa Cruz took action to protect youth from clever tobacco marketers and irresponsible retailers. Watsonville Register-Pajaronian Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2010/03/16/an-anti-tax-ad-with-every-pack-of-cigarettes/ http://tobacco.org/news/298545.html That Phillip Morris USA, the tobacco company, has had radio ads up this week to rally support against a cigarette tax hike being considered by state lawmakers should come as no surprise. But in a new wrinkle aimed at smokers, purchasers of cigarettes in many grocery stores throughout metro Atlanta are being handed a little political ad along with their receipts: That's not the end of the sales pitch. Note that the receipt itself separates out the excise as well as the sales tax on tobacco purchases. One doesn't generally think of a grocery store as a campaign medium in and of itself. You do wonder, though, whether a cigarette ad might clash with all the breast-cancer pink at Kroger. Atlanta Journal-Constitution blogs newstips@ajc.com (Jim Galloway | Political Insider) Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=MO%3AUS&sid=aDwD6ER.R4_Y http://tobacco.org/news/298542.html Swedish Match AB plans to broaden U.S. availability of snus smokeless tobacco and increase marketing to target Wall Street workers and other smokers forced to leave the office to light up. The company aims to double distribution of its General snus to about 1,200 U.S. stores, possibly by the end of the year, Richard Flaherty, president of Stockholm-based Swedish Match’s U.S. sales division, said yesterday in a telephone interview. He wouldn’t disclose projected spending on marketing, which includes handing out samples in New York, Chicago, Washington, Denver and Dallas. “We are going after bankers, Wall Streeters, people who work in offices and take the elevator down and stand out in the cold for cigarettes,” Flaherty, 51, said from Richmond, Virginia, where Swedish Match’s U.S. division is based. “A perfect place for that is in New York, and the big banks.” Bloomberg News cburritt@bloomberg.net (Chris Burritt) Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.suntimes.com/business/2101938,wellness-programs-corporations-031410.article http://tobacco.org/news/298539.html Workplace wellness programs aren't just for large corporations. Mechanical Devices Co. in Bloomington and the Town of Normal are among central Illinois medium-size businesses that have developed wellness programs suited to their employees and are reaping the dividends of healthier, happier workers. . . . In addition to the yearly screenings, Mechanical Devices offered smoking cessation classes in advance of the company going smoke-free throughout its property two years ago. "I got 10 to 15 (employees) to stop smoking and everyone else (other smokers) reduced smoking," Fillingham said. Jackie Felts, a quality control employee, joined the eight-week program in January 2007. The program included weekly meetings, counseling, tips and a nicotine patch to assist with quitting smoking. Felts quit smoking Feb. 13, 2007. AP Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.talkingretail.com/news/independent-news/14560-newsagents-outline-fears-over-shop-crime-and-tobacco-display-ban.html http://tobacco.org/news/298521.html Independent newsagents raised concerns about plans for a tobacco display ban and shop crime when a delegation from the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) visited Northern Ireland. The delegation, including its national president Suleman Khonat, aired their concerns in a meeting SDLP deputy leader Patsy McGlone at a meeting in Stormont. They told the MLA for Mid Ulster that, while they were supportive of efforts to reduce tobacco consumption, especially among young people, they were concerned that banning displays would place a further burden on retailers rather than achieve the target of reducing youth smoking. Talking Retail UK Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Homeowners-Quit-Smoking-and-Save-Pounds-on-their-Insurance-Policies-1132046.htm http://tobacco.org/news/298515.html UK smokers are forking out at least 20% more on home insurance than their non-smoking counterparts, according to leading high street insurance retailer, Swinton. With nearly a third of all house fires caused by smoking and more and more people smoking at home as a result of the smoking ban, smokers are often perceived by home insurance providers as higher risk resulting in more expensive premiums. Steve Chelton, Insurance Development Manager at Swinton said, "Smoking is an expensive habit in itself, but many people do not realise the implications it can have on their household insurance policies. Most insurers will now ask if you are a smoker. British non-smokers could save up to 20% on their house insurance which offers an additional incentive to quit." MarketWire anoushka.done@skvcommunications.co.uk UK Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT http://www.marketwatch.com/story/robbins-umeda-llp-announces-investigation-of-schweitzer-mauduit-international-inc-2010-03-14?reflink=MW_news_stmp http://tobacco.org/news/298431.html Robbins Umeda LLP has commenced an investigation into possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law by certain officers and directors at Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc. ("Schweitzer " or the "Company") /quotes/comstock/13*!swm/quotes/nls/swm (SWM 45.88, +0.89, +1.98%) . Schweitzer manufactures and sells paper and reconstituted tobacco products to the tobacco industry, as well as specialized paper products for use in other applications. The Company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia. Robbins Umeda LLP's investigation concerns whether the Company's directors and officers caused the Company to issue materially false and misleading statements. Specifically, the investigation will determine whether these directors and officers misrepresented the strength of Schweitzer's competitive position in the United States and its ability to withstand European competition. CBS MarketWatch llevi@robbinsumeda.com ( SOURCE: Robbins Umeda LLP) Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.csnews.com/csn/cat_management/tobacco/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004075056 http://tobacco.org/news/298411.html The passage out of the Senate is a "major win" for c-store retailers, according to NACS Senior Vice President of Government Relations Lyle Beckwith. "NACS has been working for over 10 years to pass legislation to regulate Internet and mail-order tobacco sales," Beckwith said in a statement. "Last night's vote brings us closer to achieving our goal than we have ever been. We will continue to pressure the House to take the final step necessary for passage and enactment." The Coalition to Stop Contraband Tobacco, a group of individuals, associations, businesses and other organizations supporting the PACT Act, also applauded the effort. "Passage of the PACT Act is a huge victory for American taxpayers, American small business owners and America's youth," coalition spokesperson, Scott Ramminger, who is also AWMA president and CEO, said in a statement. "We applaud the Senate for its action today and thank Sen. Kohl for his leadership in ensuring that contraband tobacco sales are eliminated." Convenience Store News Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-kelleher_13bus.ART.State.Edition1.3d5045e.html http://tobacco.org/news/298405.html Kelleher has smoked almost his entire adult life. In fact, when he ran Southwest Airlines for 30 years, it was hard to see him without a cigarette. Waving one around always, sometimes with multiple cigarettes burning in different ashtrays around his office, Kelleher was never far from a puff. He smoked in elevators, in front of no-smoking signs. He smoked in his office, in his car, in restaurants - if he was awake, he usually had a cigarette going. . . . The Dallas Morning News talked to Kelleher this week about his decision to give up his signature smokes. Here are some excerpts We've heard you've quit smoking. Is that true? It's true and it's untrue. It depends on the locus with respect to time. I did quit smoking completely, and I have backslid. Did you fall completely off the wagon? Yes, completely. [While off cigarettes,] I also gained 33 pounds. . . . What convinced you to give up smoking last year? I was told that I was losing a lot of lung capacity. Since I spend a lot of my time in the mountains, at heights as high as 7,200, 7,500 feet and many times at 4,000, 5,000 or 6,000, I wanted to be able to continue to do that. I was trying to save my breath, you might say. Did it help improve your lung capacity? It did. I have to confess, it did. Have you lost some of the lung capacity since you resumed smoking? I'm not sure. I'm not smoking nearly as much as I did. It's way back from where I was. But of course, I was way up there. I think I'll probably have a test in a week or so to see what's happening from a capacity standpoint. How many packs were you smoking? I was down to about three when I stopped. And now? Oh, I'm up to about one. We understood you took Chantix? I did. I took a drug to rid myself of a drug. That worked out great. That's what got me off completely. Dallas Morning News tmaxon@dallasnews.com (TERRY MAXON / The Dallas Morning News) Sat, 13 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT