Tobacco Tid Bits (World Edition)

ATF agents raid Seneca Falls smoke shop, seize cigarettes, records

The federal government Wednesday entered a dispute between Native American tribes by raiding a Seneca Falls service station operated by the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma.

Activists protest ‘hidden cigarette ads’ on TV show

The petitioners said that the presentation of the residents smoking in the Big Brother house is evidently deliberate. and may constitute hidden and indirect advertising of cigarettes. The Second Channel Authority was asked to request from Keshet all the contracts it signed with the producers and the promoters of the international “Big Brother” concept. so it could be determined whether smoking was listed as one of the components of the show. The authority was also required to obtain and publish the criteria according to which participants are selected.

Duma Sets Maximum Fine for Smoking in Public

"Understandably, smoking a cigarette outside of the smoking area in a restaurant is one thing, while, say, smoking in the hallway of a kindergarten, clinic or at a gas station is entirely different," said Sergei Zheleznyak, a United Russia deputy and head of the Duma's Committee on Health Protection.

Smoking ban called for in Italy when smog levels high

 "We call on mayors across the country to prohibit smoking when smog limits are surpassed," said Codacons in a statement. The group was responding to a report on smog levels in Italy, which it says are dangerously high in many cities. "Citizens can ask for 2,000 euros in damages," said the group, which offered instructions on its website. 

Pro-Tobacco Groups to File Judicial Review Against New Regulation

Putu Oka, the chairman of the Bali chapter of the APTI, said that farmers usually prepare seeds for planting in March, but this year they can’t because they don’t know how many seeds to prepare. 

“There are more than 800 hectares of land in Bali already projected for use as productive tobacco land,” Oka said. 

The tobacco industry, he added, was still observing what the impact of the government regulation would be on the market and whether it would reduce demand or not. 

Academy Keeps Tobacco Scientist Aboard

Xie was elected as a member of the prestigious academy in 2011, but his membership has been questioned by anti-smoking activists and health experts. 

Anti-smoking campaigners say Xie was famous for his studies in refining low-tar cigarettes, which are as harmful as regular cigarettes.

Smoking laws will cost State millions

The lobby group estimates the legislation would result in an additional tax loss to the State of €250m per year, on top of the €570m that is being lost to the illegal tobacco trade, bringing the total loss to €820m per year. 

Smoking in movies: Beware, beware, no one cares

The non-logic behind this move is presumably the hope that a 20-second bhashan will undo the evil effects of watching movie stars looking uber-cool while they blow sexy smoke circles in the air. So the next time we see Kareena smoking on screen, we won’t just be subjected to the running statutory warning each time she lights up — which was 30 percent of Heroine — but also her husky voiceover telling us to do as she says, not as she does.

Doesn’t that make you want to quit? Like right now?

Smokers still puffing away at newly prohibited zones

“I didn’t know about the new bans,” self-employed 35-year-old Loh Puay Meng said at a Woodlands void deck. The new areas have been included as part of an extension of the existing smoking ban, which already covered places such as playgrounds. Smokers are now also banned from lighting up on overhead pedestrian bridges, in outdoor compounds at hospitals or within 5m of bus stops.

Eileen Yap, an assistant manager at the NEA’s central regional office, acknowledged that many members of the public were not yet aware of the new rules.

Hospital sparks outrage with plan for smoking shelter outside cancer ward

“The beautiful main entrance has become a particular problem area with a large number of smokers congregating and at times it has been difficult to keep the area clean.

“We accept this has caused problems for neighbouring residential areas and are working with unions to see what actions can be taken to alleviate this.

“We enforce a blanket ban on staff smoking on our property and staff will not be allowed to use the shelters.”

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is expected to rule on the planning application in the middle of February.

Rep. Greenlick unleashes wave of Nanny State Bills…again

Greenlick wants adults to require doctor’s permission to obtain tobacco by making it a controlled substance (HB 2077). Imagine how long the lines at the local pharmacy will be and how long seniors will have to wait in these lines to get their life preserving medicine because Greenlick’s law will explode prescription requirements and turn our pharmacies into something like an old-style Russian bread line. Then of course he wants to tax tobacco with additional higher taxes (HB 2275) so as to punish any doctor who dares write a permission slip.

Interesting Links

Get over nicotine addiction, turn to dancing instead

EU draft Tobacco Products Directive: who to write to and what to say (a short guide)

Superfoods can make cancer MORE likely, says pioneer of DNA study

'Warm the child but guard the fire': The common sense approach of a 1930s health and safety campaign which is a far cry from today's nanny state

The Commission’s shabby implementation of UN rules for tobacco lobbying


Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear RFID Tracker Loses Lawsuit


Father hires cyber hitmen to curb son’s gaming addiction


Ore. Woman: Boyfriend Choked Her With Dreadlocks

New Years Eve err Eve Or Something

Two sides of the same coin, or Why they banned smoking in bars

 What was wrong with the law proving 50 by 50%? I don't understand. The fact that the law was not observed is a different story. And where is the guarantee that this law will be observed?" Paliychuk wondered. He also points out the first to suffer from this law will be business, not smokers. "Already now restaurant owners complain about outflow of clients. In Poland, for example, two thousand enterprises went bankrupt after the first half a year of operation of such ban. Pretending to fight for waiter's rights, these activists will deprive these very waiters of their jobs," Paliychuk believes. In his opinion, restaurant industry will suffer losses in 2013, while tobacco companies will not even notice the changes. 

Curbs on Smokers Continue to Grow

North Dakota this month banned smoking in most public places. Meanwhile, further curbs are under discussion from Bangor, Maine, to San Francisco, as authorities vow to protect the public from secondhand smoke.
"It's no longer a question of who's going to be next" to ban smoking in public areas, said Cynthia Hallett, executive director of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, a nonprofit group. "It's who's going to be last."

Shareholders File Anti-Smoking Resolutions With Movie Companies

An anti-smoking crusade is being taken to movie companies by shareholders who are filing resolutions asking that movies designed for young people eliminate smoking or have R ratings.

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), one of the leaders of the effort, notes a recent U.S. Surgeon General report that says smoking depicted in movies causes more young people to take up smoking.

Shareholders of several major movie companies have filed resolutions asking that the companies give movies depicting smoking an R rating or eliminate smoking from movies anticipated to get a G, PG, or PG-13 rating.

Can Utah car-smoking ban pass this time around?

For example, it would make smoking in a car where a child is present a secondary offense, meaning police could not pull over drivers just for that. A driver could be ticketed only after being cited for a primary offense. Also, for the first year after enactment, police would be allowed only to issue warnings, not tickets, to violators. And the $45 penalty would be waived if the violator attended a smoking-cessation class.

Even with all its compromises, the bill is important, Arent says, "because having it illegal makes all the difference in the world to people’s action."

Arent says she has lined up medical experts who can testify that smoking in cars with children "is the most dangerous place to smoke with the most dangerous person to have the smoke around."

No place for tobacco smoke in multi-unit housing

Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate exposure of nonsmokers to second-hand smoke. Each year, second-hand smoke is responsible for an estimated 50,000 deaths in the United States.

"The best way to protect the millions of U.S. multi-unit housing residents from exposure to second-hand smoke is by prohibiting smoking in all units and shared areas of their buildings," said Tim McAfee, MD, MPH, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "Not only are smoke-free policies permitted for both public and privately owned multi-unit housing, but they are also favored by most residents and can result in cost savings for multi-unit housing operators."

When the Nanny State Kills

When the governmental nannies tell us that a Big Gulp is just too much Pepsi, that cigarettes must be banned or that fast food is not heart friendly, they tell us they are doing it for our own good. We will be happier if we just give in to their hectoring. Taken to its logical extreme, however, the Nanny State will not tolerate your disobedience. During Prohibition, the Nanny State was a killer.

Boy, Not Making Bombs, Arrested for Having Things Cops Think Could Blow Up (And For Drawings That Spooked a Teacher)

Lest you think it is inherently suspicious a young man would have chemicals or electronic parts, note that his school is, according to a Press of Atlantic City account, "a magnet school with programs focusing on engineering and environmental sciences and specializing in hands-on learning." And his momtold MyFoxPhilly.com that her son had a "passion for collecting old stuff, taking it apart and rebuilding things."

Hmm,still thinking that next year isn't going to be any better.

I have no idea why I think that is.

Merry Christmas *sigh*

Health And Safety Gone Mad

Bans on yo-yos in playgrounds, knives in kitchens and kettles in offices have all been wrongly blamed on workplace safety laws this year, a new report has revealed.

A health and safety "myth-buster" panel set up to expose mis-uses of the law - or just silly decisions - has received scores of complaints from members of the public in 2012.

The panel has now responded to its 100th case, with 38 put down to jobsworths making an excuse for an unpopular decision or simply poor customer service.

Truckers 'should keep a tax toilet log book'

Tax expert Rauhöft suggested that for the system to work, drivers should file what part of a private-company charge was not used on food. But this would mean drivers keeping a "schnitzel book" alongside their toilet log. 

Canada Creates Black Market For E Cigs

Users seek each other out online and arrange discreet meetings to discuss distribution channels. Vendors won’t speak to reporters on the record because they are afraid the government will shut them down. Until recently, it was not unusual for transactions to take place in back alleys; a plastic bag handed over in exchange for a fistful of cash.

The product is not cocaine or marijuana. It is nicotine delivered via electronic cigarettes, which cannot be legally imported or sold in this country, but are widely available south of the border. 

Happy Christmas: Santa censored and exploited as a smoking cessation aid

According to the author, Pamela McColl:

“I edited this poem as studies out of the United States in the 1990s showed that the depiction of cartoon characters smoking influences young children ages 3-7 towards tobacco products,” she said.

Really? I would love to know how many children have started to smoke as a consequence of reading (or being read) a poem about Santa written in 1823.

CANADIAN HORROR FILMMAKER ON TRIAL FOR CORRUPTING MORALS

Filmmaker Frederick Maheux claims Canada's indie horror industry is already feeling the impact of the court case. Maheux made a documentary on Couture in 2009 called ART/CRIME. Since the trial began, the doc has been pulled from distribution on the basis it features clips from Couture's allegedly obscene videos. Maheux called the act "catastrophic" for his own filmmaking livelihood. He also claims, if Couture is found guilty, it could have a similar effect on the country's horror industry at large.

Label alcohol like cigarettes

Given the Government's inability to create sensible laws regarding alcohol advertising and labelling, is it not time to shame individuals in the alcohol industry to make real moves to ensure all alcohol and all advertisements contain clear warnings about drinking during pregnancy and the risks of cancer?

Cartoon face of fatty foods draws call for federal ban

Cartoon characters like the Paddle Pop Lion and Freddo Frog are being used increasingly across media platforms to lure children to unhealthy foods and should be banned, a health organisation has said.

While falling short of calling for ''plain packaging'' on sugary and fatty foods, the Obesity Policy Coalition said the federal government should ban marketers from using cartoon characters and giveaway toys to promote junk and unhealthy foods.

Good grief.

I hope this upcoming year is better than last year but it sure doesn't look like it will be.

Truth And Lies Tid Bits

City moves to restore local rights on tobacco

TAHLEQUAH — Tahlequah city councilors voted unanimously Monday to adopt a resolution restoring local rights when governing tobacco-related laws.

City Attorney Park Medearis said the resolution is non-binding. He and Mayor Jason Nichols said the document has no enforcement powers, but will let the Oklahoma Legislature know the city council supports local rights on tobacco issues.

Val Dobbins, a local advocate, said local rights were lost by cities on this issue in the 1980s. The resolution is standardized, and cities across Oklahoma are being asked to adopt the document.


Cigarette danger ‘exaggerated'

The report, based on surveys conducted annually from 2003 to 2011, shows one in eight of all Victorians in 2011 believed the ill-health effects related to smoking had been overstated.

However, one in four current smokers said they believed the effects were exaggerated.

Teen Hidden Tobacco Study Has Not-So-Hidden Flaw

"The computer simulation the study used does not relate to any real-life scenario because in real life, youth who are interested in smoking will go into a store with the intent to purchase cigarettes," Boston University Department of Community Health Science professor Dr. Michael Siegel told Tobacco E-News. "I don't think there are too many situations where a teen is hanging out in a store sees a display, and suddenly decides to try cigarettes."

Tid Bits

County needs to butt out when it comes to smokers

“I think it’s time for us to get serious about this,” he declared recently.

Well, I think it’s time we got serious about power-drunk politicians who believe they can tell the little people how to live.

Someone ought to remind Supervisor Hyland that there are still a few Americans left who cling to quaint notions about personal freedom. That includes the freedom to engage in stupid, self-destructive acts as long as they are legal.

Last time I checked, we could roller skate down a flight of stairs if we wanted a thrill. We could ingest nothing but Girl Scout cookies until we slipped into a diabetic coma. And we can curl up on the couch every night to watch the latest installment of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” instead of heading to the gym.

None of these dopey activities are any of the government’s business.

If a private employer wants to hire only nonsmokers, vegetarians or teetotalers, fine. The U.S. Constitution was designed to restrain government – not private entities – from stomping all over our rights.

And Here It Comes

Determining the best strategy to reduce the health risks associated with secondhand smoke at home raises complex issues. What should be the government’s role in reducing smoking in private homes or cars, especially when children’s health is at stake? Increasingly, evidence shows a health threat from smoking in an adjacent housing unit, like an apartment, where toxins from secondhand smoke seep through walls, ductwork, windows, and ventilation systems. Should smoke-free laws be extended to include multiunit private housing? Should smoking in a car be banned when children are present?

 

Alternatively, what kind of encouragement would help people voluntarily ban smoking on their own? Given the challenges of adopting a smoke-free home, is there value in supporting families who take a gradual, more incremental approach – starting small, say, by not smoking in front of children or establishing a single smoke-free room – as worthwhile steps on the path to going entirely smoke-free? Or does this confuse the message because only a total ban on secondhand smoke will protect children’s health?

Fewer Smokers Means Higher Taxpayer Costs, Study Finds

A study detailed in the most recent New England Journal of Medicine confirms what opponents of tobacco litigation said all along — the government makes money off of smokers, and could spend more if enough of them quit.

The argument was dismissed as ghoulish at the time, and it still is. But a Congressional Budget Office analysis of the financial impact of a 50-cent-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes shows that while cutting the number of smokers trims government outlays over the short run, the increased longevity and higher end-of-life expenses of non-smokers eventually would cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more from Medicare and Social Security.

Germany's most populous state toughens smoking ban

 It shuts loopholes that allowed customers to light up in establishments that designated themselves smoking bars, in special rooms set aside for smokers or in beer tents, among other things. The center-left state government said the original ban had so many loopholes it didn’t effectively protect nonsmokers.

In future, exceptions will be allowed only for private parties.

Tobacco Tid Bits

Time left to submit views on smoking legislation

A consultation aiming to safeguard children against the exposure to second hand smoke has two weeks left to run.

Hammond and Thornberry on NHS charging smokers and drinkers

A former TV Apprentice contestant found little support for her plan for those said to drink, smoke and eat too much to pay some of their own health care costs.

Conservative Philip Hammond said the NHS being free a the point of need was a "cornerstone" and there was no review planned. He asked: "Where would it stop?"

No Smokers, Please: Should Firms Ban Staff From Smoking?

While the firm’s policy has been in place since 2002, it has recently sparked an intense debate on social media sites about the pros and cons of restrictions on smokers in Japan. Does such an absolute ban infringe excessively on the rights of smokers or is this a progressive approach indicating a future workplace model for corporate Japan?

Do smoking signs make us want to smoke?

NO smoking signs may unconsciously trigger a desire to smoke, new research has found.