http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/VT.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080701/NEWS02/807010351/1003/NEWS02 http://tobacco.org/news/267913.html In an age where almost anything can be purchased with a click of the mouse, there's one thing that, by law, will no longer be available for online purchase beginning today -- tobacco. On the same day the tobacco tax increases 20 cents per pack of cigarettes in Vermont, up to $1.99 per pack, state law has also outlawed the sale of tobacco products over the Internet and other delivery sales as part of Vermont's Act 119. The law is expected to increase state tax revenue, decrease the number of smokers under the age of 18, increase revenue for Vermont retailers and discourage sales from online vendors that illegally fail to collect and pay state, federal or sales taxes, said Assistant Attorney General Christy Mihaly. Times Argus Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/213884-everyone-benefits-from-new-tobacco-law-sorrell-says http://tobacco.org/news/267908.html A new law that will ban the sale of tobacco products over the Internet or phone is "win-win-win," Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said Monday. Sorrell said children will be protected, tax revenue will be earned and state retailers will be supported when the legislation takes affect Tuesday. The law makes non-face-to-face sales of tobacco products illegal. Sorrell said the measure was prompted by Internet vendors that have inadequate or no systems for verifying the age of a buyer, and that also do not pay cigarette and tobacco taxes. Legal NewsLine john@legalnewsline.com (JOHN O'BRIEN) Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880630020 http://tobacco.org/news/267875.html Vermont's new ban on the sale of Internet sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products goes into effect today. It will now be illegal for cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, little cigars or snuff to be ordered or purchased by telephone, mail order or through the Internet and shipped to anyone in Vermont Burlington Free Press Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.vnews.com/06292008/4919565.htm http://tobacco.org/news/267817.html Smokers in Vermont and New Hampshire are bracing for another hit to the pocketbook this year as both states plan on raising taxes on tobacco. But as the tax rates per pack go even higher -- and the number of smokers gradually declines -- tobacco may eventually burn out as a reliable revenue source for cash-strapped states. In Vermont, the tobacco tax rate is slated to rise by 20 cents to $1.99 per pack on July 1, the second-part of a two-step increase in the tobacco tax to help pay for the Catamount Health program. State taxes went up 60 cents per pack in 2006 in Vermont when the Catamount Health program was first passed into law. And Vermont also applies its 6 percent sales tax to tobacco, while New Hampshire has no sales tax. Valley News Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/06/29/vt_nh_cigarette_taxes_headed_up/ http://tobacco.org/news/267816.html Cigarette taxes are on the rise in Vermont and may be in New Hampshire, too, though the Granite State will remain a relative bargain compared to states around it. Vermont's cigarette tax rate climbs by 20 cents to $1.99 per pack effective Tuesday, a jump that follows a 60-cents-per-pack increase in 2006. Both increases were pegged to pay for the state's new Catamount Health insurance program for the until-now uninsured. New Hampshire's cigarette tax, now $1.08 per pack, is slated to jump to $1.33 in October if it doesn't generate at least $48 million in revenues between July and October. AP Sun, 29 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/NEWS03/806080358/1004/NEWS03 http://tobacco.org/news/266606.html When the General Assembly passed a bill to increase the tax on tobacco products in the 2006 session, they instituted a two-step increase -- 60 cents then and 20 cents now. On July 1, the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes in the state will increase from $1.79 a pack to $1.99. The effect the increase will have on the number of Vermont smokers will take years to determine, as research on the effect of the 2006 60-cent increase is still under way. Anti-smoking organizations say increases in tobacco taxes will deter young smokers from picking up the habit and induce longtime smokers to quit. Rutland Herald dawson.raspuzzi@rutlandherald.com ( Dawson Raspuzzi Staff Writer) Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/NEWS04/805200369/0/OPINION http://tobacco.org/news/265755.html Rutland City fire officials said cigarette butts tossed into a trash can Monday morning apparently were still smoldering and ignited a fire later in the afternoon that gutted a River Street home. Fire crews were called to the home of Jeffrey Demania at 98 River St. at 1:34 p.m. where they found smoke trickling from the white, two-story house. Rutland Herald brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com (Brent Curtis and Alan J. Keays Herald Staff) Thu, 22 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080520/NEWS04/805200369/1002/NEWS01 http://tobacco.org/news/265613.html Rutland City fire officials said cigarette butts tossed into a trash can Monday morning apparently were still smoldering and ignited a fire later in the afternoon that gutted a River Street home. Fire crews were called to the home of Jeffrey Demania at 98 River St. at 1:34 p.m. where they found smoke trickling from the white, two-story house. No one was home at the time of the fire and no firefighters were injured battling the blaze. Demania and his 6-year-old daughter who lived in the residence lost most of their belongings. . . . "(The resident) smoked a few cigarettes this morning before he left and disposed of them in a plastic waste can on the left side of the stove," Robillard said. "There had to be some other combustible materials in that waste can and the waste can itself was plastic, that's a fuel, and that's where it started." Rutland Herald brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com (Brent Curtis and Alan J. Keays Herald Staff) Tue, 20 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080417/NEWS02/804170339/1003/NEWS02 http://tobacco.org/news/263886.html The state's smoking-cessation efforts are being consolidated into the Vermont Quit Network, which plans a statewide mailing to Vermonters this week in hopes of reaching the 18 percent of adults who smoke. The free services include a toll-free Vermont Quit Line -- 1-800-QUIT-NOW, hospital-based smoking cessation programs for individuals or groups and online and self-help resources. An estimated 87,000 Vermont adults smoke, and about half try to quit each year, the Health Department said Wednesday. Times Argus webmaster@timesargus.com Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080417/NEWS02/804170339 http://tobacco.org/news/263672.html The state's smoking-cessation efforts are being consolidated into the Vermont Quit Network, which plans a statewide mailing to Vermonters this week in hopes of reaching the 18 percent of adults who smoke. The free services include a toll-free Vermont Quit Line -- 1-800-QUIT-NOW, hospital-based smoking cessation programs for individuals or groups and online and self-help resources. Times Argus webmaster@timesargus.com Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20080324&Category=OPINION&ArtNo=80324034&SectionCat=&Template=printart http://tobacco.org/news/261958.html Research, including that of the surgeon general of the United States, the President's Cancer Panel, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Cancer Institute, has demonstrated that comprehensive state tobacco use prevention and treatment programs, sustained over time, can achieve substantial reductions in tobacco use. We know what works. Now is not the time to reduce funding for Vermont's tobacco use prevention and treatment program. Now is the time to appropriate an additional $5.2 million, for a total of $10.4 million (just 25 percent of our payments from the tobacco companies) to fight the leading killer and disease agent in Vermont. Vermonters deserve nothing less. Burlington Free Press Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/letters/wb/151722 http://tobacco.org/news/260287.html Vermont banned smoking in restaurants many years ago, and in bars in 2004. I have heard many arguments both for and against smoking in public places, many of which focus around personal rights. I fully back Gov. Tim Kaine in his proposed smoking ban. Coming from a state that already has similar bans, I want to say that people do get used to it and are able to smoke outside the bars and restaurants. Roanoke Times & World News presstours@roanoke.com (SARAH WILLIAMS) Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/02/04/vfw_ordered_to_quit_allowing_people_to_smoke/ http://tobacco.org/news/259218.html MONTPELIER, Vt.--A VFW post that had defied Vermont's ban on smoking in public places has been ordered to stop allowing people to light up inside. Caledonia Superior Court Judge Thomas Zonay ruled Thursday that the law -- which was amended in 2005 to include buildings owned by social and fraternal organizations -- prohibits smoking at the VFW in Lyndonville and ordered its officials to stop allowing it and to eject anyone who refuses to comply. He found the VFW post to be in violation for allowing smoking in its bar area, despite the ban. The state sued on behalf of Health Commissioner Sharon Moffatt, saying it was a public area and therefore subject to the ban. AP Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.libraries.vermont.gov/supct/current/op2006-360.html http://tobacco.org/news/259066.html Since the granting of an exemption by one settling state will automatically lead to the reallocation of its allocated portion of the NPM adjustment to all other non-exempt settling states, each governmental signatory has its own self-interest at stake in the outcome of this issue, which is necessarily in conflict with every other state. Such a result defeats the whole purpose of having a Master Settlement Agreement. The mechanism of submitting disputes involving the decisions of the Independent Auditor to a neutral panel of competent arbitrators, who are guided by one clearly articulated set of rules that apply universally in a process where all parties can fully and effectively participate, obviates this problem and ensures fairness for all parties to the MSA. To hold otherwise is contrary to both the spirit and the plain language of the Master Settlement Agreement. Id. We agree. Even if the State’s fear that a single arbitration panel will be unable to adequately address the specifics of each state’s case proves to be true, that fear is not a basis for denying arbitration here. How the arbitrators pursue their determination of diligent enforcement is a separate issue from whether arbitration is required by the MSA. Such problems, if they do materialize, may be raised in a post-arbitration motion to vacate or modify the award pursuant to § 16(a)(3) of the FAA. The order compelling arbitration and dismissing the suit is affirmed. Vermont Department of Libraries Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/02/01/vt_supreme_court_orders_arbitration_in_state_complaint/ http://tobacco.org/news/259065.html A dispute over how much the state of Vermont gets under a 1998 settlement with tobacco companies should be resolved through arbitration, not the courts, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday. In a victory for the tobacco companies, the court -- upholding a Chittenden County court's ruling -- said an arbitration clause in the 1998 agreement between them and 52 states and territories covers Vermont's complaint about payments and that it should be resolved through arbitration. "We wanted to litigate it here in Vermont, and the court said `No, you essentially agreed to arbitration under the agreement,'" said state Attorney General William Sorrell. . . . The tobacco companies contend that none of the states diligently enforced their "qualifying statutes." . . . "In all likelihood, there'll either be a national arbitration proceeding or a bunch of states will combine and demand the arbibtrations to go forward. We'll be one that says we want it convened as soon as possible," Sorrell said. AP Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT