http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/about.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2009/11/great_american_smokeout_in_was.html http://tobacco.org/news/292285.html Pictured is an image from last year's Great American Smokeout in downtown Washington. This year's event will be held Nov. 19. WASHINGTON -- November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and the "Great American Smokeout." What a terrific time to draw attention to an ever-increasing issue that faces many New Jersey (and Warren County) residents, says Community Prevention Resources of Warren County, Inc.'s Leeanne Del Prado, Community Partnerships Coordinator for a Tobacco Free NJ. . . . "We, as a community, cannot ignore the statistics nor can we deny the direct correlations to tobacco usage and sickness and death," said Del Prado. "We should commemorate efforts to stop smoking and recognize that lung cancer is fatal sickness in Warren County by supporting a smoke free environment. Your efforts can make a bigger difference than you think." If you or someone you know would like to quit smoking and needs assistance, contact Leeanne Del Prado at Community Prevention Resources of Warren County, Inc. 908-835-1800. For further information about Community Prevention Resources, visit www.communitypreventionresources.org. Warren Reporter Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www2.tricities.com/tri/news/local/consumer/article/ccs_dont_let_your_financial_future_go_up_in_smoke/35367/ http://tobacco.org/news/292284.html The impact of smoking on your health is well documented, but counselors at Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of East Tennessee know that it can also wreak havoc on a person's financial health. Whether it's helping people struggling with credit card debt or trying to avoid foreclosure, counselors find that tobacco use adds a significant amount to monthly household expenditures and they advise consumers to consider reducing or quitting smoking to save money. A pack-a-day smoker spending an average of $5.15 per pack could save $1,879 per year by quitting smoking. These funds could be used to cover living expenses, reduce household debt or start a savings plan. Invested in a basic savings plan paying just 3 percent interest, you would have in excess of $21,000 after 10 years. Over 30 years, that figure climbs to more than $91,000. TriCities.com Herald Courier/WJHL-TV) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2009/nov/06/wenatchee-teens-take-part-in-state-smoking-study/ http://tobacco.org/news/292283.html Wenatchee High School students were part of a teen smoking study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The study, published in mid-October, was the first time researchers proved that one-on-one counseling makes a significant difference in teen smoking rates. “When this study started, despite decades of research and dozens of intervention trials, there was no proven way to reach teens from the general population and recruit them into smoking cessation programs, and there was no proven way to help these teens quit,” said lead researcher Arthur Peterson in a prepared statement. Statewide, more than 2,000 students at 50 high schools participated in the study. Half of the schools, including Wenatchee High School, were control schools. With parental consent, students from the Class of 2005 took a survey about smoking habits and attitudes during their junior year, and again in their senior year. . . . By the end of the study, about 22 percent of the smokers in counseling had stopped smoking for six continuous months, compared to nearly 18 percent of smokers at the control high schools, according to a news release from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Intervention also increased three-month, one-month and seven-day smoking abstinence rates compared to the control group. Wenatchee World schleif@wenatcheeworld.com ( Rachel Schleif World staff writer ) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.alvaradopost.com/articles/2009/11/06/community/doc4af458991560c561402325.txt http://tobacco.org/news/292282.html The 34th Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is scheduled to take place Nov. 19. The purpose of the event is to set aside day to help smokers quit smoking, quit using tobacco products, for at least one day, with the hope they will decide to quit completely. The Great American Smokeout began in 1971 when a Massachusetts resident asked people to give up smoking for a day and to donate the money they would have spent on tobacco to a local high school. The best way to prevent lung cancer is to never start smoking at all. . . . Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Cancer Council encourage all smokers to take part in the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 19 in a step to eventually quit smoking. For more information, contact Rita M. Hodges, county extension agent for family and consumer sciences, 701 S. Interstate 35E, Suite 3, Waxahachie; call 972-825-5175; or e-mail rmhodges@ag.tamu.edu. Alvarado Post rmhodges@ag.tamu.edu (Rita Hodges Extension service ) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters_from_readers/2009-11-07/story/smoking_cessation_programs_can_work http://tobacco.org/news/292281.html I'm writing in response to the editorial, "Secondhand smoke: New study, same message." The Florida Academy of Family Physicians represents 4,000 family physicians, residents in training and medical students. Family physicians are the first line of defense in helping their patients quit smoking. We've known for years that smoking is harmful, not only to the smokers' health, but it also negatively affects the health of the public. Family members, coworkers, friends or anyone else who comes in contact with the tobacco smoke can be adversely affected. Florida implemented a statewide smoking ban on indoor workplaces seven years ago. It is an important step to protect the public's health, but it's not enough. We also need to do more to help smokers quit. According to the Florida Adult Tobacco Survey, almost half of Florida smokers report they've tried to quit smoking in the past year, and nearly 60 percent say they plan to quit within the next six months. However, without smoking cessation counseling and treatment, only 5 percent will succeed at overcoming their addiction. . . . Smokers should know that there is help available and that they don't have to quit on their own. The implications of not helping smokers quit not only affects smokers, but nonsmokers, too. Florida Times-Union letters@jacksonville.com (TAD P. FISHER, executive vice president, Florida Academy of Family Physicians ) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20091107/VIEWPOINTS03/911070309/1120/Protect-anti-smoking-funds http://tobacco.org/news/292280.html The New York State Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program is a highly successful, world-class tobacco prevention effort that saves lives and prevents kids from smoking. As a result, youth smoking rates in the state were the lowest on record at 14.7 percent. The Tobacco Control budget has been cut by 20 percent within the past year. Research and experience demonstrates that reducing funding to state tobacco-control programs can quickly slow or reverse gains. According to research, the 20 percent budget cut will result in a 1.3 percent increase in youth smoking rates, which means an estimated 16,000 more New York youth will grow up to become addicted adult smokers. Maintaining funding for tobacco control is a wise and effective instrument in the health of New York. Let's work to keep our next generation smoke-free. Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/nov/06/free-service-helps-smokers-quit-reaches-milestone/ http://tobacco.org/news/292279.html SAN DIEGO -- A free phone service designed to help Californians quit smoking has received its 500,000 call. The UCSD-based help line has been in operation since 1992. The California Smokers' Helpline offers self-help materials, and referrals to smoking cessation programs throughout the state. KPBS TV/FM Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.stlbeacon.org/beacon_roundtable/november_05_2009 http://tobacco.org/news/292277.html Posted 5:50 p.m. Fri., Nov. 6 - In this week's Beacon Roundtable, Dick Weiss, Mary Delach Leonard, Elia Powers and Dale Singer sit down to talk about the passage of the smoking ban in St. Louis County St. Louis Beacon Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.vanvoice.com/article/20275-medical or small business http://tobacco.org/news/292276.html Michael Dresden holds high expectations for Washington’s marijuana trade. Dresden’s vision is to use local, sustainable and highly taxed micro-crops of marijuana to eliminate the state’s deficit and fight international terrorism. Despite Dresden’s lofty goals, many may view the twenty-something Vancouver resident as a simple drug dealer with delusions of grandeur. Dresden, whose name and date of birth varied on each of the six Washington state ID cards he presented during a recent interview, uses a straight forward business model. Dresden collects what he describes as “surplus” marijuana from state licensed medical marijuana growers and distributes it to recreational cannabis users at a sizable mark up. . . . Dresden’s greatest business fear is a tobacco industry take-over of the marijuana trade. “Sooner or later, the tobacco industry will get tired of its dwindling profits and will use its entire army of lobbyists to control the marijuana trade” Dresden stated. Dresden fears tobacco companies will lobby for laws and regulation that give exclusive marijuana grow rights to mega-corporations. “I think what will happen is that congress will place so-called ‘safe-guards’ in a future legalization [of marijuana] bill that really just give large international corporations a monopoly of marijuana.” Dresden’s concerns of a tobacco industry takeover have been around for decades and gained credibility when a 1976 document surfaced during a 1990’s lawsuit against the tobacco industry. A 1976 confidential tobacco industry forecast prepared by Forecasting International, Ltd for Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation made direct references to national trends in recreational marijuana use and the tobacco industry’s ability to offer marijuana as a retail product. “[Marijuana] also has important implications for the tobacco industry in terms of an alternative product line. [Tobacco industries] have the land to grow it, the machines to roll it and package it [and] the distribution to market it… Estimates indicate that the market in legalized marijuana might be as high as $10 billion annually." the report stated. . . . Dresden believes a tobacco industry changeover to marijuana would pose insurmountable competition for Northwest marijuana growers. “When the tobacco industry starts to switch over to marijuana, it will use the same locations, equipment and tactics that is has used for tobacco… Southern states will get the employment and tax benefits and the traditional Northwest trade will be destroyed.” Dresden stated. Dresden’s concerns also include product quality and environmental impact. “Look at what large corporations did to tobacco, the additives, the genetic modification, the use of environmentally harmful fertilizers and pesticides; do we really want them to be in charge of future marijuana farms?” Dresden asked rhetorically. The idea of switching over tobacco farms to hemp or marijuana has gained momentum in the face of declining tobacco sales and the current economic recession. Vancouver Voice Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.pr.com/press-release/191149 http://tobacco.org/news/292273.html In an effort to reduce the impact of unsightly litter gracing Atlantic Avenue, the Atlantic City Special Improvement District (ACSID), in conjunction with Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB), has implemented the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program along a designated portion of Atlantic Avenue between North Carolina and Kentucky avenues. The ACSID secured a $500 grant from KAB and provided an extra $765 towards the purchase of six (6) 4.5 gallon steel outdoor cigarette urns. Heavy duty, weather-resistant and fire-safe, these urns come complete with a three-sided message center that will allow for point-of-display advertising of the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program along Atlantic Avenue. PR Worldwide, Inc. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20091107/ALTOONA01/91105033/-1/GETPUBLISHED03wp-rss2.php http://tobacco.org/news/292272.html Copper Creek Golf Club in Pleasant Hill has been hit with a 30-day suspension of its retail cigarette/tobacco permit. “We’ve received a letter from the attorney general’s office stating that the Copper Creek golf course clubhouse had a second violation for selling tobacco to minors,” Joni Haag, city clerk and finance director, said at the Oct. 27 meeting of the Pleasant Hill City Council. “Rather than paying a $1,500 fine, they would rather serve a 30-day suspension, which is their privilege.” The suspension will run from Nov. 15 to Dec. 14. Copper Creek Golf Club’s second violation occurred in late June. Des Moines Register Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/225411 http://tobacco.org/news/292271.html Cigarettes seem to be the target in an increasing number of thefts as the prices and taxes on them rise. The Super Val U break-in is one of at least three reported thefts of multiple cartons being investigated in the New River Valley in the last month. One pack of brand-name cigarettes can cost more than $5 at Super Val U, including a federal tax of $1.01 and a state tax of 30 cents per pack. A carton can cost more than $50. Still, that's cheap when compared with prices in most states. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Virginia's statewide cigarette tax is the second lowest in the country. New York City residents pay the highest cigarette taxes, with state and local taxes adding up to $4.25 to a pack. Roanoke Times & World News presstours@roanoke.com (Shawna Morrison) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.state-journal.com/news/article/4704697 http://tobacco.org/news/292269.html Frankfort Regional Medical Center is going tobacco free - outdoors and in. In conjunction with the American Cancer Society's 34th Great American Smokeout Challenge on Nov. 19, the local medical center is creating a tobacco free environment. Administrators and medical staff believe the move is vital to promoting the health of patients, visitors, employees, volunteers, medical staff and others, according to a news release. Tobacco use of any kind will not be permitted: Frankfort State Journal Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091107/NEWS/911070319/-1/NEWSMAP http://tobacco.org/news/292267.html Voters at Monday's annual town meeting could make all of Falmouth's 11 town beaches smoke-free if they approve a recommendation from Beach Supt. Donald Hoffer and the Falmouth Beach Committee. If it passes, Falmouth will become the third Cape town, in addition to Barnstable and Yarmouth, to ban tobacco products from all public beaches, Hoffer said. "Cigarette butts and filters end up in the sand, thousands of them every year, and they're not biodegradable," Hoffer said. "We'd be ridding the beaches of noxious debris." The warrant article -- one of 32 voters will decide on Monday -- stemmed from a unanimous 5-0 vote from the beach committee and simply states "the use of smoking materials on the public beaches of Falmouth is prohibited." Cape Cod Times agouveia@capecodonline.com (Aaron Gouveia) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bradenton.com/living/story/1836015.html http://tobacco.org/news/292266.html For those who find traditional church a little stifling, Sunday morning services at Cork's Cigar Bar at 425 Old Main St. in downtown Bradenton could be just the place to get a good shot of Christianity. It's called the Church of the Faithful Few, and when the preaching is over, attendees can hang around and enjoy a cold one and a smoke, no questions asked. "We do things a little different here," said Jim "Cork" Miller, co-owner of Cork's. "We're not judgmental." Church of the Faithful Few was started by the Rev. John Rogers, the father of an acquaintance of Miller's. Rogers got the idea for Church of the Faithful Few after a near-fatal motorcycle accident in New Hampshire. At the time, Rogers was with the International Evangelists for Heaven's Saints, a motorcycle ministry started by former Hell's Angel Charles "Barry" Mayson. Bradenton Herald /personas?plckUserId=@Nyx.Key (WENDY DAHLE) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT