http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/businessgeneral.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/business/local/article/B-FAKE20_20091119-221406/306841/ http://tobacco.org/news/293036.html The Henrico County-based cigarette-maker has monitored retail markets for years to keep fake versions of its brands off store shelves. This year, Philip Morris has sued 27 stores in New York and New Jersey, which are hotspots for the fakes because of high state taxes, a huge port through which the contraband is easily shipped, and criminal organizations that wholesale the counterfeits. For Philip Morris, the stakes are simple. In addition to the lost sales, the company doesn't want smokers buying a pack of Marlboros and thinking they don't taste the same, said company spokesman David Sutton. . . . "The sale of untaxed cigarettes harms legitimate wholesale and retail businesses and costs New York and New Jersey needed tax revenues that could be used to support essential public services," he said. Richmond Times-Dispatch dress@timesdispatch.com (David Ress) Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.thevillager.com/villager_342/gristedeschief.html http://tobacco.org/news/293001.html The freshly remodeled Gristedes supermarket on 25 University Place has expanded its space, adding new sections for beer, hot food, a salad bar, bakery and organic products, all looking like crowd-pleasers beneath Thanksgiving decorations strung above the aisles. But cigarettes are no longer on sale here -- seemingly a sign of the times in this upscale Greenwich Village neighborhood near New York University. "We haven't had them for some time now," said an assistant manager who identified himself only as Thomas. He noted that cigarettes are available at other Gristedes stores in New York (about 20 still carry them), even though he believes the demand is down. The main reason for the decline in tobacco sales, another Gristedes manager said, is that "people know where they can get them elsewhere" for half the price that conventional retailers in New York charge -- upward of $95 per carton, with $4.25 in state and city taxes tacked on. He was alluding to untaxed tobacco sold on Indian reservations, a subject that has bedeviled convenience-store operators and New York governors from Cuomo to Paterson. Led by its Greek-born owner and C.E.O., John Catsimatidis, a longtime New York City mayoral wannabe who smokes an occasional cigar, Gristedes Foods Inc. has claimed in protracted litigation that Indian merchants on two Eastern Long Island reservations are luring away New York customers, and even helping to fund organized crime gangs and terrorist groups like Hezbollah with bulk sales, a charge some politicians dismiss as absurd but others solemnly repeat. . . . Since he cares so much about health, why does he sell any cigarettes at his grocery stores? "There is such a thing as freedom of choice," the mogul replied. "I lecture my wife, who smokes, and tell her, Why don't you just have one or two instead of more? It's like what the Greek philosophers say: Everything in moderation." The Villager lincoln@downtownexpress.com (Mary Reinholz) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.njbiz.com/article.asp?aID=79857 http://tobacco.org/news/293000.html Reyes Grocery Store and Sunny’s Supermarket , in Newark, were among the defendants named in litigation brought by tobacco company Philip Morris USA. NJBIZ editorial@njbiz.com (João-Pierre Ruth ) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://pmusa.com/en/cms/Media/Company_Announcements/2009/Philip_Morris_USA_Sues_Retailers_to_Stop_Counterfeit_Cigarette_Sales.aspx http://tobacco.org/news/292998.html Philip Morris USA (PM USA) filed lawsuits against ten retailers selling counterfeit versions of the company's Marlboro� brand cigarettes in New York and New Jersey. "The New York metropolitan area continues to be a lucrative market for counterfeit and contraband cigarette smugglers," said Joe Murillo, vice president and associate general counsel, Altria Client Services, speaking on behalf of PM USA. "High excise taxes, coupled with New York state's lack of effective tax enforcement, only makes the problem worse," added Murillo. "These lawsuits are the latest in a series of filings by Philip Morris USA aimed at combating the sale of counterfeit cigarettes in New York and New Jersey," said Murillo. Since May 2009, Philip Morris has filed lawsuits against 27 retail locations in New York and New Jersey for selling counterfeit Marlboro� brand cigarettes In addition to violating many trademark laws, counterfeit cigarettes are almost always sold without the appropriate federal and state excise tax. The counterfeit cigarettes purchased from the retailers named in today's suits bore no tax stamp or a counterfeit tax stamp. As a result, the applicable excise taxes were not paid. . . . Eastern District of New York Maria’s Deli Grocery 143-20 101 Avenue, Richmond Hills, NY 11419 Loveras Grocery 996 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 Southern District of New York Aloshe Mini Market 1889 Guerlain Street, Bronx, NY 10461 El Barrio Grocery Deli 39 West 183rd Street, Bronx, NY 10453 Fernandez Grocery Corp. 1665 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029 Philip Morris USA Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/press-releases/business-and-industry/raid-control-expands-to-protect-cigarette-gantries-$1341276$365890.htm http://tobacco.org/news/292996.html Raid-control – the national crime prevention initiative - has expanded its robbery deterrent package to include the protection of tobacco products within cigarette gantries in response to a new crime trend that retailers are experiencing. Criminals are targeting the cigarette gantries within several convenience store chains and demand that the person behind the counter hands over the cigarettes. In some cases the raiders jump the counters and sweep the cigarettes into bin bags before escaping with their haul. Politics.co.uk info@raid-control.org UK Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.coalitiontostopcontrabandtobacco.com/members http://tobacco.org/news/292950.html State and Local Members Altria Client Services Inc. on behalf of Philip Morris USA Inc. and U.S.; Smokeless Tobacco Company Alabama Grocers Association American Beverage Licensees Alabama Wholesale Distributors Association American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance – AHGA . . . Pennsylvania Distributors Association School House Strategies Texas Association of Business Virginia Chamber of Commerce Coalition to Stop Contraband Tobacco Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.csnews.com/csn/cat_management/tobacco/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004044303 http://tobacco.org/news/292949.html The Coalition to Stop Contraband Tobacco -- a group made up of several trade associations, public officials and a unit of a major tobacco company, among others -- gathered on Capitol Hill yesterday to urge the Senate to pass S. 1147, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act of 2009. If passed, the legislation will help combat online sales of untaxed cigarette and smokeless tobacco products, and help prevent youth access to tobacco. It closes gaps in current federal laws regulating "remote" or "delivery" sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products, according to the organization. The PACT Act was passed in the House in May, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to discuss the bill today. Some trade association members of the Coalition to Stop Contraband Tobacco include NACS, AWMA, FMI, NATO, NATSO, PMAA and SIGMA. Altria Client Services, a division of Altria Group, is also a member of the coalition on behalf of Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. Convenience Store News Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/866558.html http://tobacco.org/news/292947.html There seem to be two Dr. Alan Blums. One is a tweedy academic — the family medicine professor and director of the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society at the University of Alabama who has devoted his dead-serious career to the prevention of tobacco-induced illnesses. The other is the self-described “Bart Simpson of the anti-smoking movement” — the alter ago who donned a fake pharmacist’s lab coat Wednesday to help set up “Your Cancer and Drug Store,” an exhibition on tobacco advertising that opens today in the Buffalo Museum of Science. . . . The approach reflects a lesson learned in 1977 when Blum, then a Miami hospital intern and nascent anti-smoking crusader, lost a contentious radio talk show debate with a tobacco industry spokesman while the host, Larry King, blew smoke in Blum’s face. Ever since, “I’ve tried to bring some humor and satire to a depressing issue that many people take very seriously,” Blum said. The strategy has included “house calls” to tobacco festivals and “anything else we could do to ridicule the brand names.” Satirical references abound in “Your Cancer and Drug Store,” which was gleaned from a trove of tobacco advertising and promotional materials that Blum started collecting 15 years ago and now fills 2,500 boxes in his Alabama center. He started by buying items distributed by cigarette companies that a Connecticut store owner had accumulated over two decades. “He must’ve thought it had collectible value, but it cost more to ship it [to Alabama] than I paid for it,” Blum said. From the outset his goal was to mount an exhibition that underscored the everyday irony of seeing tobacco products on the shelves of pharmacies that dispense drugs prescribed to combat cancer, heart disease, hypertension and other diseases linked to smoking. “I wanted to do an over-the-top, walk-through exhibit,” he said, citing the role that drugstores have played in keeping America smoking. “I’m not going after individual pharmacies as much as the chains that own them.” . . . By touring “Your Cancer and Drug Store,” he said, “you are looking at origins of cancer just as much as you would by looking through a microscope.” Buffalo News tbuckham@buffnews.com (Tom Buckham News Staff Reporter) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/opinion/editorials/x870218348/Newton-TAB-Editorial-Smoking-ban-a-bad-idea http://tobacco.org/news/292908.html Newton -- This week the Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance disallowing pharmacies from selling tobacco products. We are very disappointed in the vote and in the 18 aldermen who supported the measure, including some who told us privately that they were opposed to such a ban but didn't want to be seen as pro-smoking. We applaud Aldermen Bill Brandel, Jay Harney and Amy Sangiolo for courageously voting against it. . . . If the intended purpose is to make it more difficult for teens to buy cigarettes, it's a noble effort, but it's not going to work. All we've done is taken cigarettes out of a carefully monitored setting where underage smokers are probably least likely to buy cigarettes and deferred the business to gas stations and convenience stores, where underage smokers are more likely to buy cigarettes. With all the substantive problems facing this city, our aldermen should not be getting involved in legislating what stores can and cannot sell. That's not why we elect them. Wicked Local gspector@cnc.com Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3a8abb0c-d31a-11de-af63-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss http://tobacco.org/news/292864.html Smokers may soon be able to break their habit with an injectable vaccine that prevents nicotine in tobacco entering the brain, where it creates a highly addictive sensation of pleasure. The NicVAX vaccine moved closer to the market yesterday after a deal between GlaxoSmithKline and the US biotech company Nabi Pharmaceuticals, which developed the product. GSK will pay $40m (£24m) up front and as much as $500m in the future to Nabiat a time of growing concern over the heavy burden of tobacco-related diseases as one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. The product potentially opens a new front in the tobacco wars, with most existing so-called smoking cessation products and methods failing to prevent many people from returning to their tobacco habits. Financial Times Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.csnews.com/csn/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004043488 http://tobacco.org/news/292844.html State Senator Carl Kruger is working to close the state's deficit as Senate Finance Committee chairman, and recently held a press conference urging Gov. David Paterson to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on Native American reservations to non-Native Americans. "We have to ask everybody to share both the benefits and the burdens of being a New Yorker," Kruger was quoted saying at a press conference, by the New York Daily News. "Part of being a New Yorker is paying taxes that are assessed upon you." He added: "Today is the day that we draw the line in the sand, and I say that we should collect before we cut. We should collect the taxes due before we cut the services. While we negotiate we should be collecting. Anything short of that is denying the rule of law." Kruger was joined Democratic Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., according to the report. By collecting the cigarette taxes, the state's general fund could see a "cash infusion" of $135 million in December and $1.6 billion a year, according to Kruger. Following the press conference, the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) President James Calvin voiced his support of Kruger's efforts. Convenience Store News Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/organizations-call-on-us-senate-to-pass-legislation-preventing-tax-evading-online-cigarette-trafficking-70305827.html http://tobacco.org/news/292837.html Representatives of law enforcement groups, public health organizations and trade associations today gathered on Capitol Hill to urge the Senate to pass S. 1147, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act of 2009 (PACT Act). This legislation will help combat online cigarette sales that have robbed hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues from the states and that undermine state laws that prevent youth access to tobacco products. This bill closes gaps in current federal laws regulating "remote" or "delivery" sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products. These organizations were joined by Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), advocates of combating illegal cigarette sales. Numerous stakeholders have worked with Sen. Kohl through the years to pass the PACT Act, which was passed in the House of Representatives this May. "The PACT Act will strengthen our tobacco laws to ensure that law enforcement has the tools they need to investigate and prosecute cigarette traffickers, said Sen. Kohl. "Each day we delay its passage, terrorists and criminals raise more money, states lose significant amounts of tax revenue, and kids have easy access to tobacco products sold over the internet." "We must crack down on the illegal sale of tobacco, which gives terrorists and criminals the ability to raise more money," said Rep. Weiner. " . . . Organizations represented at the press conference included the National Association of Convenience Stores, American Wholesale Marketers Association, National Black Police Association Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and American Legislative Exchange Council. PR Newswire Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/news/x1755556985/Newton-aldermen-snuff-out-tobacco-in-pharmacies http://tobacco.org/news/292825.html The Board of Aldermen approved a ban forbidding pharmacies from selling tobacco products in the city by a wide margin Monday night. The measure passed without discussion. In an 18-3 vote, members approved the ban, which supporters said was intended to prevent those in the public health business from selling cigarettes and other tobacco items. Aldermen Bill Brandel, Amy Sangiolo and Jay Harney cast the only nay votes against the ban. Supporters of the proposal said at a previous meeting that pharmacies should not sell cigarettes because they also sell medicine -- including medication for people trying to quit smoking. Wicked Local gspector@cnc.com (John Hilliard/Staff Writer Wicked Local Newton ) Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/11/16/11757756-sun.html http://tobacco.org/news/292798.html Some of the money earned from the sale of black market smokes is fuelling firearm and drug smuggling by organized crime, an expert says. About $2 billion in tax revenue goes up in smoke as a result of the sale of illegal smokes, according to a report by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council. About 13 billion illegal cigarettes are sold in Canada each year. "People think selling contraband cigarettes is a victimless crime and no one gets hurt. Yes, it deprives us of tax dollars, but it is money that is pumped back into organized crime," said Gary Grant, a former Toronto cop, who heads the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco. "Organized criminals are lining their pockets with sales from illegal cigarettes to traffic their weapons and drugs," he added yesterday. NCACT recently conducted a study, which found 30% of the cigarette butts collected around high schools were from illegal smokes. Toronto Sun kevin.connor@sunmedia.ca ( KEVIN CONNOR, SUN MEDIA) Canada Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://behavioralhealthcentral.com/index.php/20091117134168/Clinical-News/nabiglaxosmithkline-deal-reignites-confidence-in-nicotine-vaccine-approach.html http://tobacco.org/news/292758.html In securing GlaxoSmithKline's signature, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals has gained the perfect Big Pharma partner to support its NicVAX program. Although Phase III development remains Nabi's responsibility, it provides a timely boost to the validity of the approach, following the recent set-back experienced by Novartis and Cytos with their own nicotine vaccine, NIC-002. Under a global option and licensing agreement, GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay Nabi an upfront non-refundable fee of $40m for NicVAX, an investigational vaccine for the treatment of nicotine addiction and the prevention of smoking relapse, while also receiving an option to develop a second-generation nicotine vaccine using Nabi's intellectual property. Nabi will continue to be responsible for the costs of the Phase III development, while upon successful completion, GSK will take responsibility for further development and commercialization of NicVAX. In a move away from traditional nicotine replacement and agonist therapies, nicotine vaccines are the most prevalent drug class in the late-stage nicotine dependence pipeline. A Behavioral Health Central Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT