http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/OK.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://newsok.com/pact-may-help-settle-oklahoma-tobacco-dispute/article/3282922/?tm=1218636558 http://tobacco.org/news/270058.html A new tobacco compact between Oklahoma and the Lawton-based Comanche Nation may soon affect many tribal tobacco agreements and settle a long-running fight between the state and many of the tribes. Under the compact, tribal smoke shops and retailers can sell cigarettes bearing a 51.5-cent tax stamp, or half of the state's tobacco tax rate. The tribe is required to charge a 15-cent tribal tax per-pack, as well. The combined tax of 66.5 cents is about 20 cents less per pack than those sold at many Tulsa-area tribal stores. The Comanche compact, which went into effect July 1, gives many tribes that have tobacco agreements with the state an opportunity to get out of their current compacts. AP webmaster@newsok.com (The Associated Press) Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.emaxhealth.com/58/23867.html http://tobacco.org/news/270052.html In its first six months, a new insurance benefit to offer more tobacco cessation assistance to state employees has helped an estimated 570 state workers successfully quit using tobacco. The Oklahoma State Department of Health estimates this action has resulted in about $2.2 million in annual savings, or $3,800 per successful quitter, through reduced health care costs and increased employee productivity. The new benefit became effective on Jan. 1 this year when the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board (OSEEGIB) began offering expanded tobacco cessation coverage eMaxHealth Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8837210 http://tobacco.org/news/270038.html The Comanche Nation has agreed to sell cigarettes at its smoke shops with a higher state tax, which will mean more revenue for the state of Oklahoma, while giving less revenue to the Comanche tribe. The compact went into effect on July 1, and requires Comanche smoke shops to sell tobacco with a 51.5-cent tax stamp. The tribe will still be able to sell their tobacco products with lower taxes than non-tribal shops, but with the increase, Oklahoma will see a bigger portion of the revenue generated on tribal land. It may be good for the state, but some smoke shop owners say it isn't good for them. . . . The compact between Oklahoma and the Comanche Nation could change the compacts of other Oklahoma tribes, too. Currently, the state has six different tribal rates - for each tribe. Oklahoma officials say they hope the new compact will settle a long-running battle between the state and its many tribes. KSWO-TV Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://1600kush.com/story.php?id=855&section=1 http://tobacco.org/news/268811.html STILLWATER -- A 19-year-old woman who is accused of delivering drugs, which were allegedly hidden in small balloons, to an inmate at the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, while she was visiting him, has been ordered to appear in court Aug. 4. Cayla D. Watson of Altus was given a court-appointed attorney last week to represent her on the felony charge. She was arrested at the prison by Cushing police on June 28 and freed four days later on $5,000 bail. KUSH 1600  Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/opinion/local_story_188182025.html http://tobacco.org/news/268362.html Congratulations are in order for the hard work Oklahoma State University has done to create a tobacco-free campus. . . . Since marketing to teens has become more difficult for the tobacco industry, greater focus has turned to college students. Unfortunately, these companies have often been successful . . . Tobacco free policies have immediate and important benefits for the public. Exposing students, staff, visitors and children to secondhand smoke imposes a serious health and liability risks. It is time for university leadership and school administrators in our community to establish effective, strong policies that prohibit the use of tobacco products by anyone at any time on both our college and school campuses. Every campus should be a 24-7 tobacco-free campus. Muskogeephoenix.com Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.normantranscript.com/localnews/local_story_187003036 http://tobacco.org/news/268288.html Starting this week, students, faculty and staff on the Stillwater campus of Oklahoma State University will have to go off campus if they want to smoke. Tuesday was the first day of an entirely tobacco-free campus at OSU, but the University of Oklahoma doesn't look to be following suit in the near future. "There has not been a huge outcry (at OU) like there has been at other college campuses," said Kurt Davidson, OU Student Congress chair. The issue of whether OU should go tobacco-free like OSU was brought up in Student Congress in the spring, Davidson said, but it didn't even make it to the formality of a resolution. Norman Transcript Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.stillwater-newspress.com/local/local_story_184153220.html http://tobacco.org/news/268102.html Stillwater News-Press https://s.p6.hostingprod.com/@www.stwnewspress.com (Alaina Zanin) Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://newsok.com/airing-out-state-smoking-ban-likely-to-fly/article/3264683/?tm=1214958374 http://tobacco.org/news/268029.html The trend nationally and in other developed countries is to restrict smoking to a maximum degree, allowing no indoor smoking except in private homes and forcing smokers to leave the office, campus or other places of work, study and recreation before lighting up. In May, a study done by Oklahoma State University researchers said the state's 2005 cigarette tax increase has led to significant reductions in smoking. The WHO report said bans have had the same effect. Smokers are on notice that their options, even in Oklahoma, are going up in smoke. The Oklahoman Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://newsok.com/smoking-moms-to-be-strive-to-go-from-pregnant-pause-to-permanently-smoke-free/article/3263380 http://tobacco.org/news/267989.html The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, which runs the helpline, implemented procedures this spring to help pregnant women quit smoking, and Adams is one of many women to seek the extra help. The helpline offers services to any smoker who wants to quit, but a more intensive program is available for pregnant women because of the damage smoking can do to a fetus, said Tracey Strader, the endowment trust's executive director. The Oklahoman Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://ocolly.com/2008/07/02/osu-students-mixed-on-new-smoking-policy-administration-says-to-%E2%80%98breathe-easy%E2%80%99/ http://tobacco.org/news/267949.html OSU’s controversial tobacco ban has arrived. The ban went into effect yesterday after more than a year of discussion and planning. The Student Government Association, Faculty Council and Staff Advisory Council all recommended the campus tobacco-free. Signs adorned in the orange and black of OSU reading “breathe easy” and “Tobacco Free Campus” appeared on campus buildings as early as Monday and matching stickers adorn the doors to the inside of most buildings. The change makes OSU the first tobacco-free campus in the Big 12. . . . Mathematics professor David Ullrich said he has a condition called ulcerative colitis and that smoking actually helps. “About seven years ago I heard from my doctor that tobacco is actually good for this condition,” Ullrich said. “I started smoking at 45 years old.” Ullrich said he has noticed a positive impact on his body since he started smoking. “My insides are not supposed to look nearly as good as they do, given that I’ve had this condition for such a long time,” Ullrich said. “I’m smoking for my health.” The Daily O'Collegian Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://ocolly.com/2008/07/02/we-still-do-not-agree-with-the-tobacco-ban/ http://tobacco.org/news/267947.html The campus tobacco ban took effect Tuesday. The logic behind the ban has yet to take effect. Also missing in action is a plan to effectively enforce the ban. Oklahoma law states that smoking within 25 feet of public buildings is illegal. How many times have you seen someone smoking exactly 25 feet from a building here on campus? . . . But where the “shelters” are on campus is rather impractical. It’s unrealistic for professors and other staff and faculty to have to go either off campus or all the way across campus to the designated smoking areas. Also, we love the signs they’ve posted around campus: “Breathe easy tobacco free campus” with a snazzy OSU logo. So instead of smoke, we’re breathing in easy? What is easy? If they had taken the time to use correct grammar perhaps they’d be taken seriously. The signs should read: “Breathe easily; tobacco-free campus.” Round No. 1: The smokers and proper grammar. Your move, administration. The Daily O'Collegian Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://newsok.com/with-campus-tobacco-ban-osu-hopes-to-clear-the-air/article/3264364/ http://tobacco.org/news/267911.html Oklahoma State University today becomes the largest campus in the state to ban tobacco. OSU President Burns Hargis said the policy aims to make OSU a clean and healthy environment. "We have enough afflictions that affect the human condition without voluntarily adding to the problem,” he said. "It sets a strong example and a consistent example of our commitment to be a healthy and attractive campus.” OSU's wellness center offers cessation help and, in some cases, medication and nicotine replacement products, to students and employees. The Oklahoman Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.kjrh.com/news/state/story.aspx?content_id=ec03636d-753c-4b25-8e5b-68e0ec838be3 http://tobacco.org/news/267910.html Smokers at Oklahoma State University will have to find somewhere else to light up. A new policy banning the use of all cigarettes, chewing tobacco and snuff on campus went into effect Tuesday, making the Stillwater campus the largest in the state to ban tobacco. A small area of housing on the far northwest side of campus is exempted from the ban, along with some parking lots that are leased to the OSU Posse Club for tailgating before athletic events. AP Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://newsok.com/cigarette-exposure-kills-700-oklahomans-every-year-officials-say./article/3262830 http://tobacco.org/news/267843.html While Oklahomans are now smoking 49.3 million fewer packs of cigarettes than four years ago, the secondhand smoke from those cigarettes causes numerous health hazards and kills about 700 Oklahomans a year, health authorities said Thursday. "We need to make Oklahoma 100 percent smoke-free,” Wes Glinsmann, spokesman for the American Heart Association, said at a state Capitol news conference. Officials there urged state leaders to close loopholes and exemptions on smoking in places such as restaurants, hotels, bars and bingo halls. Nonsmokers outnumber smokers in Oklahoma about 2 million to 650,000, or 3 to 1, according to state Health Department data. The Oklahoman Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://newsok.com/smoking-moms-to-be-strive-to-go-from-pregnant-pause-to-permanently-smoke-free/article/3263380/?tm=1214625662 http://tobacco.org/news/267765.html The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust, which runs the helpline, implemented procedures this spring to help pregnant women quit smoking, and Adams is one of many women to seek the extra help. The helpline offers services to any smoker who wants to quit, but a more intensive program is available for pregnant women because of the damage smoking can do to a fetus, said Tracey Strader, the endowment trust's executive director. Pregnant women receive twice as many phone sessions with a trained quit coach than regular smokers who call in for help. The extra sessions stress the consequences of smoking and quitting permanently – not just while pregnant, Strader said. The Oklahoman Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT