http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/editorial.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/051508/opi_278971468.shtml http://tobacco.org/news/265379.html The state of Florida's budget is under pressure. Health care costs are rising, especially the Medicaid program for low-income residents. New sources of income are needed. Yet, there is a source that can not only provide revenue relief, but help make the state's citizens healthier at the same time. It is a cigarette tax. And unlike most taxes, this one is supported by a majority of Floridians . . . Florida sells more cigarettes than any other state. And it has one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the nation. That results in well-documented illnesses in the state's residents, as reported by the Health Florida Alliance: - "Tobacco is the single most preventable cause of death in the country, causing over 440,000 deaths in the nation annually." - Heart disease, cancer and emphysema are among the diseases linked to smoking. Florida Times-Union Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.leader-vindicator.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19688246&BRD=2758&PAG=461&dept_id=572980&rfi=6 http://tobacco.org/news/265377.html A no-smoking bill was pushed into limbo Monday by Gov. Ed Rendell's veto threat. . . . Yes, restaurants are privately owned. But in "dry" areas, restaurants cannot serve alcoholic beverages unless they take advantage of loopholes in liquor-license laws, e.g., resort licenses. We think the Legislature ought to allow local governments to enact limitations on smoking in businesses that are open to the public - but not on strictly private entities, or within private property such as homes or vehicles. That is pretty much in tune with what is, or ought to be, the status with regard to alcohol. Dubois Courier-Express Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20080514_Editorial__Smoking_Restrictions.html http://tobacco.org/news/265366.html It's a good thing Gov. Rendell threatened to veto a weak statewide smoke-free law that would undercut the strong antismoking health measure already in place in Philadelphia. In doing so, Rendell stood up for the best smoke-free law that Pennsylvania likely will ever see - one that protects 1.4 million Philadelphians and countless visitors to the state's largest city. . . . As the legislature has fiddled for months over a smoke-free law, it has become clear that the General Assembly leaders' main interest is doing the bidding of cigarette companies - not protecting public health. They've even tried to justify lax, one-size-fits-all statewide standards on grounds that smokers would be confused if one town had tougher rules than the next. That's absurd. Of course, there's an easy way to pass a real statewide smoke-law: Just copy the city's law. The governor has sounded the alarm. Now, Mayor Nutter should join him and others like Sen. Vincent J. Fumo (D., Phila.) in rallying the city's Harrisburg delegation to not only protect Philadelphia's smoke-free law, but make it the state model. Philadelphia Inquirer Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19687209&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=418218&rfi=6 http://tobacco.org/news/265325.html Before state lawmakers decided to cloud the issue in behalf of very narrow special interests, the vast majority of Pennsylvanians already had made clear their position on a comprehensive smoking ban in public places. At the time the state took up the issue, more than half of Pennsylvanians already lived in jurisdictions with comprehensive indoor smoking bans. Now, a few members of a House/Senate conference committee just can't bring themselves to do the right thing as they cling to their positions in favor of the casino, tavern and tobacco industries. . . . Since the lawmakers can't bring themselves to do the right thing, they should simply pass a bill allowing local governments to enact bans. Then, when the vast majority of Pennsylvanians again are under the smoking bans that they overwhelmingly desire, the Legislature can make it universal, joining most of the civilized world. Scranton Times-Tribune delivery@timesshamrock.com (submitting your comment, you acknowledge that you have read) Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://news.guelphmercury.com/Opinions/article/327108 http://tobacco.org/news/265308.html Provisions that have been in place since the Smoke-Free Ontario Act was first enacted two years ago -- including the banning of countertop displays and requirements that vendors ask for ID from prospective buyers younger than 25 -- have gone a significant way to reducing the number of young smokers. The complete ban of tobacco displays is a logical next step in the process. And greater scrutiny of convenience and grocery stores, gas bars and other outlets that sell cigarettes, to ensure that are keeping them out of the hands of those under 19, would be a healthy way to complete the process. Guelph Mercury website@guelphmercury.com Canada Tue, 13 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/OPINION01/805150318/-1/OPINION http://tobacco.org/news/265303.html Erie County needs enabling legislation that would make it possible to pass a smoking ban such as the one it did pass in December 2006, but was later ruled unconstitutional by Erie County Common Pleas Judge John A. Bozza. It now looks like the earliest Erie County could pass a ban would be 2009. The Legislature's refusal to stand up for Pennsylvanians' health and welfare by passing a legitimate smoking ban is sad. Perhaps lawmakers will come to their senses on this issue. If not, we need to start over with new smoking-ban legislation. We can't let this go. Erie Times-News Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://opinion.people.com.cn/GB/7236799.html http://tobacco.org/news/265288.html 据中国新闻社5月11日报道，目前中国有烟民3.5亿人，居世界之首，被动吸烟者5.4亿人，每年与烟草有关的疾病死亡人数达到100万，如果不加控烟，这个数字在未来10年内将增加到220万. 人民网, People.com.cn China Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/OPINION01/805120319/1014/OPINION http://tobacco.org/news/265271.html Twenty-eight states have workplace smoking bans. Anti-smoking advocates have pushed Michigan to join that trend for more than 10 years. It's time state lawmakers took this important step toward protecting Michigan residents' health. Port Huron Times Herald Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mlive.com/saginawnews/opinion/index.ssf/2008/05/editorial_ban_on_smoking_good.html http://tobacco.org/news/265270.html Apparently Michigan's politicians have figured it out too -- they have way more non-smoking constituents than vice-versa. They'll have to see if those voters will back them on a sister issue likely to come up soon -- banning pharmacies from selling tobacco products. So, public health trumps smokers' rights -- to say nothing of the offensive odor cigars and cigarettes create -- although smokers still can take it outside, or inside their homes. This is good legislation. It makes sense. And when it becomes law, smokers just will have to adapt. Michigan Live thenews@thesaginawnews.com (The Saginaw News) Tue, 13 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-menthol14-2008may14,0,1261443.story http://tobacco.org/news/265240.html The industry maintains that menthol carries no proven health risk. But that's a red herring. No one is accusing strawberry or pineapple flavoring of causing cancer either, but removing them will make smoking less palatable to some. For whatever reason, menthol makes cigarettes more palatable for blacks. And that is a real risk. As a former official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the New York Times: "Menthol induces smoking in the African American community and subsequently serves as a direct link to African American death and disease." What we're asking for is honesty: The next time the anti-smoking lobby, Philip Morris and certain legislators say this legislation is needed to protect our children, they should have the decency to put the word "our" in quotations. Los Angeles Times Wed, 14 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.nypost.com/seven/05112008/postopinion/editorials/one_less_buttlegger_110283.htm http://tobacco.org/news/265211.html Federal prosecutors on Long Island notched a small victory over New York's booming illicit cigarette trade earlier this month, winning the conviction of black-market kingpin Rodney Morrison on racketeering conspiracy and weapons charges. Morrison, who's looking at up to 30 years in prison, turned an estimated profit of $35 million per month running the Peace Pipe Smoke Shop on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation. Yet, astounding as that number is, it barely scratches the surface of a trade that's long been one of New York's biggest - and most deadly - public-policy embarrassments. . . . The report cites law-enforcement investigations that have linked the illicit tobacco trade directly to funding for al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas - to the tune of millions of dollars a year. And New York's tribal smoke shops - abetted by complicit wholesalers and an absentee government - are among the smugglers' major suppliers. New York Post Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080511/OPINION/805110313/1002/NEWS01 http://tobacco.org/news/265206.html Despite a misguided veto threat from Gov. Mark Sanford, a long-awaited cigarette tax hike is within reach this year. The next week will prove a critical test for legislative leadership: State House and Senate leaders must rally support for a cigarette tax increase that can overcome Sanford's pledged veto. . . . Gov. Mark Sanford has said that he doesn't want to raise the cigarette tax without lowering another tax. But it makes far more sense to dedicate cigarette tax revenues to health care, rather than using those revenues to offset another tax. The most important goal is for lawmakers to approve a substantial cigarette tax in some form this year. A secondary goal should be for lawmakers to muster adequate support for a veto-proof tax hike dedicated to health care. Greenville News Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.islandpacket.com/opinion/story/493382.html http://tobacco.org/news/265195.html The S.C. General Assembly should not let another year go by without increasing the state's lowest in the country cigarette tax. The 7-cents-per-pack tax has not been raised in 31 years. That's a lifetime of opportunity missed to discourage smoking and raise money to help pay for health care costs. The Senate's 33-11 vote Wednesday to raise the tax by 50 cents a pack is good news, but the proposal faces a tough battle in the House and with Gov. Mark Sanford. . . . Expanding Medicaid coverage and helping low-income workers get access to health insurance will cost us. But we think a cigarette tax is a good way to pay for it, and the benefits -- including fewer young people becoming smokers and fewer smoking-related health problems -- offset the costs. Island Packet Fri, 09 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/may/12/health_care_right_reason_cigarette_tax_i40565/ http://tobacco.org/news/265189.html The S.C. Senate's approval of a 50-cent cigarette tax increase last week envisions more funding to tobacco cessation programs and more support for low-income health care. The tax also is expected to diminish cigarette consumption among thousands of young people by raising the cost of smoking. That in itself is a good argument for increasing the tax. . . . There's little doubt that the cigarette tax bill is headed to a House-Senate conference committee, and conferees should pay particular attention to legitimate concerns on the cost of increasing the level of Medicaid eligibility. The public health value of imposing the additional tax, which would be about half the national average, says conferees shouldn't go home without a plan. Charleston Post & Courier barbara@postandcourier.com Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.heraldonline.com/opinions/story/546979.html http://tobacco.org/news/265186.html The state Senate has passed an eminently sensible bill to raise the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack. We hope Gov. Mark Sanford's meddling won't derail the plan. . . . If the governor requires a tit-for-tat tax cut for raising the cigarette tax cut, why not simply declare the grocery sales tax cut as the offsetting tax cut? What the state can't afford to do is pass on the opportunity to provide health care to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents while preventing teens from taking up a habit that eventually is likely to kill them. Rock Hill Herald Fri, 09 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT