News 2011-11-22 17:34:00 More than a third of businesses that officials recently checked in southwest North Dakota sold discount cigarette online to minors, according to information released by the Southwestern District Health Unit on Friday.We were very, very surprised when we saw the results, said Tammy Hovet, Tobacco Prevention and Control project coordinator for SWDHU.Twenty-two of 63 businesses checked in eight counties sold online cigarettes to minors in September and October, she said. The data shows a sharp spike in illegal sales, since a check of 65 businesses in the same counties in June turned up eight.Were frustrated with the increase and we are looking into what to do to improve this, Hovet said. Something needs to be done.All the businesses have training manuals spelling out how to determine if somebody is a minor, she said.In addition, the check showed employees at seven businesses asked for the minors identification, which showed their true age, and then sold tobacco to them anyway.Were finding that they actually look at the IDs and they believe that if they look at the IDs that theyre doing their job, Hovet said. You actually have to look at the ID and read that they arent old enough to be sold tobacco.An employee of Creative Energy in South Heart, which failed the check, did not ask the minor for identification. Galen Teichert, general manager, said employees are trained to ask.If they look like theyre young — 27 and below — we should be trying to card them, Teichert said.He is unsure why the employee didnt follow training.We did talk to a couple of retailers who did sell and a couple of them said right now its so hard to hire employees and it seems like theyre constantly changing, too, Hovet said.Theyre just falling through and not getting the training that they need because theyre hiring them so quickly.Beach Food Center Manager Jim Kary said he was unaware the business failed the check.Weve failed one or two in the past, he said. The problem is with our younger kids, the school kids that work for us, sometimes they have a hard time reading the ID.Not every county had failures, Hovet said.Adams County did great, Hovet said. There were four businesses checked and nobody sold in Adams County.The one Slope County business checked also passed, she said.SWDHU conducts the checks by having a person younger than 18 try to purchase tobacco while an adult waits outside the business, Hovet said.They must show their identification if asked, she said. While conducting the compliance checks they have to dress how they would normally. They dont attempt to make themselves look older.If asked, the minor is supposed to give their actual age, Hovet said.However, the minor who purchased tobacco at the Regent Co-op falsely told the clerk they were 20, she said. The clerk did not check identification.Once the information about sales is compiled, it is up to each community to decide how to enforce regulations, Hovet said.Managers at several of the businesses who failed checks declined comment or were unavailable for comment Friday.Please see our print edition for a list of the businesses failing the tobacco compliance checks. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • CigarettesPro.com Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/region___s_illegal_tobacco_sales_spike.html 2011-11-20 17:33:00 There is a certain irony to it, some have said.Smokers in Alexandria will have to leave local discount cigarettes stores to light up the products they just bought there.At least 25 feet from the stores to be exact, starting Jan. 1 after the Alexandria City Council passed an ordinance Oct. 4 banning smoking cigarettes in businesses previously exempt from state and local smoking cigarettes bans, including bars and buy cigarettes stores.And some tobacco users are not happy.They think the City Council way overstepped their boundaries, said Vonne Neal, owner of Alexandrias Smoke Shop. With all the problems the city has, this is what theyre focusing on?Across the Red River, Bill Bailey, owner of Smokers Paradise in Pineville, has also begun to hear complaints from his customers. Baileys store might not fall directly under the effects of the new ordinance, but his customers who live or work in Alexandria will.If you cant consume the product at the place you buy it, thats the irony of the situation, Bailey said.Several customers have expressed indignation about the new smoking cigarettes ban in Alexandria, calling it discrimination, Neal said. They feel they are being beat on and treated as second-class citizens because of their choice to use a legal product like tobacco.If you fish, how would you feel if somebody told you you cant fish Monday through Friday at all? Landon Anders of Pineville asked. You can only fish Saturday from 12-2 p.m. Thats just stupid. Its your choice to do it.The new ordinance aims to protect people who do not smoke cigarettes but still breathe in secondhand smoke cigarettes in bars they frequent or where they work, officials said.One way to ensure people who do not like the idea of breathing secondhand smoke cigarettes can avoid doing so is to not go to places where they know people are smoking cigarettes, such as bars and casinos, Neal said.In regards to employees who do not smoke cigarettes but work in smoke-friendly environments, the decision whether to ban smoking cigarettes for the health of employees should be up to the business owner to decide and not elected officials, Neal said.And after voters approved a constitutional amendment on Oct. 22, smokers will now pay even more.The amendment, which came from Senate Bill 53, began as a plan to stream money from the states settlement with the tobacco industry into funding for the states Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS, which provides tuition costs for Louisiana students who qualify.By the time the bill appeared on the ballot Oct. 22 as an amendment, it also stood to cement the status of a temporary 4-cent tax hike on tobacco products into a permanent tax.Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed earlier this year a separate bill aiming to make the tax permanent, but the newly re-elected governor did strongly support funding for the states tuition program.Now were funding kids in school with tobacco products, Bailey said. That doesnt make a lot of sense to me.The ordinance passed on Oct. 4 has sparked some new interest in e-cigarettes, Bailey said. These products produce a water vapor rather than tobacco smoke, allowing smokers to use them in areas where officials have banned traditional cigarettes.Theres been a ton of renewed interest in that product, Bailey said. That is directly related to the smoking cigarettes ban.The city of Alexandrias new policy is among a growing list of restrictions on smokers.For example, Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria recently announced that starting July 1, 2012, the hospital will prohibit the use of tobacco products by employees while on their shifts, including when they are on breaks. The hospital also will not allow employees to work if their clothing smells like smoke. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/alexandria_tobacco_users_are_unhappy_with_new_law.html 2011-11-09 22:03:00 All of Southern Universitys campuses will ban cigarettes store starting in January, the Southern Board of Supervisors decided.The move makes Southern the first college system in Louisiana to ban all cigarettes products. Nicholls State University became the first public college in Louisiana to become tobacco free at the beginning of this calendar year.Southern University System President Ronald Mason Jr. said the new policy is about promoting healthy lifestyles and setting a quality standard for all of higher education.Were going to look at it as the beginning of a cultural change, Mason said.The ban will affect the main Southern academic campuses in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport, the Southern University Law Center and the Southern University Agricultural Center.The LSU Health Sciences Center medical school in Shreveport is the only LSU System unit that forbids smoking cigarettes - a policy that went into effect last year.While no colleges in Louisiana allow smoking cigarettes indoors, the new decision by Southern bans tobacco anywhere on the campus, including in parking lots.Penalties could range from verbal warnings to student expulsion, according to the new policy.Mason said the policies will be phased in without the intent of seriously punishing students or visitors. He said the emphasis will start with educating people through campus police, residence halls and student services and grow from there.Student and employee opinions on the campuses are decidedly mixed.Southern freshman Murrisha Rudison, of Baton Rouge, said she welcomes the change, especially because she suffers from allergic reactions to smoke.It hurts my chest when I walk by it, Rudison said. Its bad for their health and everyone elses. Secondhand smoke cigarettes kills.But Southern law professor Maurice Franks, who does not smoke, said he sees the ban as an infringement of peoples personal freedoms, even if the ban is legal.Smoking outdoors is mostly only a health hazard for the people choosing to smoke cigarettes because secondhand smoke cigarettes is less of an issue outside, Franks said. People should have the right to make their own decisions, he said.It seems to me theyre trying to protect people against themselves, Franks said. It (the institution) really has no place protecting me from me ￉ Its a matter of government getting too intrusive in peoples lives.Smoker and Southern sophomore Theo Jones, of Franklin, also said Southern is taking away his rights. He said he will protest the new policy and that others should join in.Well do whatever we have to, Jones said.Mason argued Southern is not stopping anyone from smoking cigarettes.They have their rights to do it, just not on the Southern campuses, Mason said.As for the flagship LSU campus, there are no plans to ban tobacco, but the LSU Faculty Senate is studying the issue.LSU Chancellor Michael Martin said he may support toughened policies, but not necessarily an outright ban. He added that he is awaiting the faculty report.Its my view that the best we can do is remove or minimize ￔnegative externalities but that enforcement would be highly problematic, Martin said in an email response. Game days could be especially challenging.LSU allows smoking cigarettes outdoors, except within 25 feet of public doorways.As for Southern and other historically black colleges, Earl Benjamin, manager of community programs for the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, said the tobacco ban is a huge opportunity to nurture those who are not nurtured.Benjamin noted that young blacks are marketed to more by tobacco companies and they are also exposed to more secondhand smoke cigarettes than the general population.The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living has partnered for years with the Southern AgCenter.Mason credited Southern Board Chairman Darren Mire, of New Orleans, with making the initial push for the tobacco ban.Mire said he has enjoyed smoking cigarettes cigars on campus, but he is more than happy to quit.When asked if Southern could suffer by losing donations from tobacco companies, Mire said, Weve received more money from Tobacco-Free Living than from tobacco companies. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount-Cigarettes-Planet.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/southern_board_bans_tobacco.html 2011-10-18 17:28:00 Little cigars, which are taking increasing space on area tobacco-shop shelves, are shaped and smoked just like cigarettes. But because New Jersey taxes them differently, they cost nearly one-third the price.Over the past several years, increased state and federal taxes have helped turn some smokers on to less-taxed cigarettes store products, local shop owners and anti-smoking cigarettes groups say.New Jersey has a $2.70 tax per cigarette pack, and the federal government has a $1.01 excise tax it enacted two years ago.That sixth-highest cigarette tax in the country may entice more smokers to quit or prevent others from starting, said Karen Blumenfeld, executive director of Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy, a New Jersey-based anti-smoking cigarettes group. But inconsistencies in taxes among various cigarettes online products cause some smokers to simply switch products, she said.We are lagging, as are many other states, with the other types of tobacco products. The industry has caught on to the fact that theres this loophole with regard to other smoked tobacco products, and theyre cheaper, said Blumenfeld, who wants a uniform pricing that would tax all tobacco products as cigarettes.New Jersey collected nearly $742 million in cigarette taxes last year. That was a 4 percent drop, or $33.1 million less, compared to 2008, state Treasury Department data show.Yet revenue from other tobacco products — such as cigars, little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, and roll-your-own — shot up 26 percent in that time, generating $3.7 million more from lower tax rates.The state has a wholesale tax on these products that is 30 percent of the price the wholesaler pays the manufacturer, Treasury spokesman Bill Quinn said.If I had to buy online cigarettes for seven, eight dollars, Id consider quitting, said Dave Schubiger, 52, of Barnegat Township, who bought a 10-pack carton of little cigars for about $22. Had they been cigarettes, it would have cost him nearly $75.Price is a big thing; plus, I like them, he said.In New Jersey, little cigars in particular have been targeted by proposed legislation that seeks to tax them the same as cigarettes.The additional tax will make little cigars less appealing to current cigarette smokers seeking a cheaper alternative, reads the proposed bill sponsored by state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex, Passaic.The Office of Legislative Services estimated in 2010 that the bill would increase tax revenue from $6 million to nearly $9 million. The office estimated more than 5 million packs of little cigars were sold in fiscal year 2010.But rising taxes will not stop people from smoking cigarettes, although future increases may hurt New Jersey businesses that are being undercut by other states that have lower tobacco taxes and, likewise, cheaper tobacco, said Jeff Melchiondo Sr., owner of Tobacco Road in Barnegat.The tobacco shop Melchiondo runs with his son sells cigars, pipe tobacco, cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco and little cigars.Whether discount cigarette online are selling for $2 a pack or $8, people will still smoke cigarettes — that may put more weight on the roll-your-own market if that is not taxed any more. The little-cigar smoker may go back to roll-your-own instead, he said.Roll-your-own cheap cigarette online have been popular, but that tobacco is taxed more heavily than pipe tobacco, which can be used instead. Roll-your-own tobacco has a federal tax of $1.55 per 1-ounce pouch. Pipe tobacco, on the other hand, has a federal tax of about 18 cents per 1-ounce pouch.Nationally, nearly 3.6 billion fewer discount cigarettes were manufactured from January to July than last year, a 2 percent drop, data from the federal Department of Treasurys Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau show.Meanwhile, pipe-tobacco manufacturing picked up substantially — by about 5.7 million pounds, or about 44 percent.Bob Tyjewski, manager at Smokers Haven in Galloway Township, has seen roll-your-own-cigarette sales double in the past few years. The shop keeps roll-your-own tobacco and pipe tobacco together on a shelf.Going to roll-your-own is an economic move, not because you got tired of what your Marlboro tastes like. Its a matter of nickels and dimes, he said.Tyjewski said he is losing business to other states. New Jersey is behind only New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Washington, and Rhode Island in the highest cigarette taxes.Pennsylvania and Delawares cigarette tax is $1.60 a pack.Tyjewski has even seen the reverse — he has regular New York clients heading to Atlantic City who buy cartons of cigarettes. New Yorks cigarette tax is the highest in the nation, at $4.35 per pack. They save $16.50 in state taxes per carton.The government, they dont want you to smoke, but you can bet they spent that tax money, he said.Absecon resident Bharat Patel, manager of Northfield News and Tobacco in Northfield, said little cigars and roll-your-own have increased significantly in the past few years due primarily to the price of cigarettes.In New Jersey, about 14 percent of the adult population — about 1 million people — are smokers, data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. The national median is about 18 percent.At Tobacco Road, little cigars come in two brands: Cheyenne and 1839. They come in full flavor, light, menthol, cherry, peach and others.Little cigars are more profitable for Tobacco Road to sell than buy cigarette online which, unlike little cigars, are available nearly everywhere and have low profit margins in order to compete, Melchiondo said.Now, the shop sells as many packs of little cigars as they do cigarettes, he said.People will still buy them as long as theyre reasonable enough. If these go up to 3 or 4 dollars a pack, then theyll go back to buying the roll-your-own stuff, probably, he said As long as there are savings involved, I think a market will still be there. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/new_jersey_considers_new_taxes_on_non_cigarette_tobacco_products.html 2011-09-10 12:46:00 Quitting smoking cigarettes just got a little easier. For a limited time, the California Smokers Helpline is sending callers from Nevada County free nicotine patches. Eligible cigarettes store users who call 1-800-NO-BUTTS and enroll in the free telephone-based cessation program will receive a free two-week starter kit of patches, while supplies last.The patches are an FDA-approved treatment proven to help smokers kick the habit. They release nicotine into the bloodstream through the skin, reducing withdrawal symptoms and slowly weaning smokers off nicotine. Nevada County was one of 34 counties in California selected to participate in this program. All 34 counties have an adult smoking cigarettes prevalence rate of 14 percent or higher, according to the 2008 California Tobacco Survey; the rate is 16 percent in Nevada County. In comparison, the 2010 statewide adult smoking cigarettes rate is 11.9 percent. This new program is part of a nationwide effort called Communities Putting Prevention to Work, which aims to improve health and lower medical costs by preventing disease, such as those caused by cheap cigarettes use. The free patches will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis to those who call 1-800-NO-BUTTS . Callers to the Smokers Helpline may receive free one-on-one support from a trained cessation counselor and a self-help booklet. It is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The Helpline has specialized services for pregnant smokers, discount cigarette online chewers and teens. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/free_patches_for_smokers.html 2011-09-09 12:45:00 California taxpayers subsidize major motion pictures that depict smoking cigarettes, which promotes the unhealthy habit and undermines efforts to keep young people from lighting up, according to UCSF researchers.In a report published Tuesday in PLoS Medicine, the researchers say the state and other governments may be violating their own health policies and goals when they subsidize or offer tax credits to makers of movies that directly or indirectly promote smoking cigarettes.We have a situation where governments today are now spending taxpayer money to sell discount cigarette online to kids, said study co-author Stanton Glantz, a UCSF professor of medicine and director of the Smoke Free Movies Project, which is based at the university.UCSF released the information at the same time California is considering extending the film subsides that began in 2009. AB1069, which would authorize $500 million in subsidies for another five years, is scheduled to be heard Thursday in the state Senate Appropriations Committee.U.S. movies with smoking cigarettes are toxic to kids. They are a major - if not the leading - factor in kids now being recruited to smoke, said Jonathan Polansky, a UCSF consultant and co-author of the article.About 70 percent of all PG-13 movies subsidized under Californias program depict smoking cigarettes, the researchers found. UCSF officials also cited previous studies from other researchers that estimate exposure to onscreen smoking cigarettes accounts for 44 percent of all adolescent smokers.The California Film Commission, which administers the states Film and Television Tax Credit Program, said the 2009 law requires the group to base eligibility for the credit on the production type, not the content, said Amy Lemisch, the commissions director.A report by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. found Californias Film and Television Tax Credit generated $3.8 billion in economic activity, more than 20,000 jobs and more than $200 million in additional tax revenue in its first two years.UCSF researchers said no taxpayer money should be used to subsidize films that feature smoking cigarettes.Any changes to AB1069 would have to be proposed by lawmakers. Ben Golombek, spokesman for Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Sylmar (Los Angeles County), who wrote the bill, said his office received a letter last week from the American Heart Association concerned about the issue and no amendments to the bill have been proposed.Its very, very late in legislative progress to be raising an issue like this, Golombek said. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • CigarettesOn.Com Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/films_subsidized_by_state_promote_smoking.html 2011-08-29 12:03:00 As an ex-smoker who enjoyed the habit for many years and quit cold turkey (no patches, counseling or hand-holding) over seven years ago, I feel comfortable commenting on some recent happenings in the war against smokers.It is an insult to the intelligence of the average person to present the current television commercial showing a convenience store clerk reading a book, chewing gum and generally appearing incompetent (it is also an insult against every real convenience store workers competence!) informing a customer (who appears unable to walk and chew gum at the same time) what his share of the cost of smoking cigarettes is while buying a slumpy. This ad is certainly a tie for Worst TV Commercial with the old anti-smoking cigarettes commercial portraying a barmaid who hated her job and her customers! This commercial portrays a convenience store clerk who would be terminated by her employer before the end of her first day on the job with the attitude displayed in this commercial.If local tobacco-free coalitions, local district health units and the state Health Department are really sincere in wanting to reduce threats to our health and well-being, they should: Admit that those of the older generation who still smoke cigarettes are doomed, stop hounding them and leave them be in peace. Admit government cannot legislate or attempt to enforce certain moral/ health issues (look at the abject failure of Prohibition 1920-33). Research the problem being faced in many states (such as New York) where bootleg online cigarettes are being brought in by the semi-load to avoid local/state taxes. We dont need this in North Dakota. Quit wasting the taxpayers money (the cigarettes for sale settlement money belongs to the residentss of North Dakota) on the current plethora of radio, television, billboards and print copy that insult our intelligence. The only people benefiting from these commercials are the advertising agencies that make them and the media that runs/prints them. Begin to reduce the anti-smoking cigarettes staff in the county and state buildings around North Dakota. It appears that they almost are beginning to outnumber beleaguered smokers.If we seriously want to benefit the health and well-being of North Dakota residents, then all of the money saved by implementing steps three and four should be given to local schools (public and private) to implement a long-term educational program for K-12 on the dangers of smoking cigarettes. These educational programs could also include some other issues important to young people, including the dangers of using mobile devices and/or texting while driving, suntanning booths and proper diets. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/smoking_tv_ads_insulting.html 2011-08-28 12:00:00 Revenue from Kentuckys cigarette tax is in free-fall, but more Kentuckians kicking the unhealthy habit isnt the only reason for the decline. State officials say more and more people are turning to cheaper alternatives — little cigars and roll-your-own online cigarettes — that arent covered by the states 60-cent-a-pack tax.The little cigars look much like cheap cigarettes but are wrapped in brown paper. They cost about $1.25 a pack, compared to about $3.25 for the cheapest pack of cigarettes.The move to small cigars and roll-your-own cigarettes online is a national trend. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that states have lost $5 billion a year because people are using alternatives that have no state retail cigarette tax.In Kentucky, state budget officials are predicting a 17.2 percent decline in revenue from the cigarette tax this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Last fiscal year, the state collected $262.4 million from cigarette taxes, down nearly 6 percent from 2010.Its difficult to say how much of the decline is related directly to cheaper alternatives, but revenue officials say the loss from self-rolled discount cigarette online and small cigars is possibly in the millions of dollars.When the legislature agreed to double the cigarette tax in 2009, the move was applauded by health advocates as a way to encourage more people to quit. It also bolstered the states cash-strapped budget.At first, cigarette tax revenue increased. But in June 2010, revenue from the tax began to dip.At the same time, the state Department of Revenue, which collects tobacco-related taxes, saw retailers devote more shelf space to pipe cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco, said Richard Dobson, director of sales and excise taxes for the revenue department.We started looking at inventories, Dobson said. The amount of product that is used for roll-your-own is increasing.The department also observed more large, roll-your-own machines in cigarettes store shops and smoking cigarettes stores. Dobson said the state estimates there are 20 or 30 commercial-size roll-your-own cigarette machines in the state.People can buy pipe tobacco, which is taxed even less than roll-your-own tobacco, and put it into a machine at a retailer. The end result is a pack of buy cigarettes for a fraction of the cost of prepackaged cigarettes, said Greg Harkenrider, deputy director in the Office of the State Budget Director.Several states have begun putting pressure on the makers of small cigars and roll-your-own cigarette machines.Arkansas became the first state to outlaw the machines in April. And there are several pending lawsuits regarding roll-your-own cigarettes.The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which oversees federal taxes on tobacco and alcohol, recently ruled that retail establishments with roll-your-own machines must pay the same federal manufacturing tax as cigarette manufacturers. That ruling is being challenged in the courts, Dobson said.If the ruling is upheld, retailers also would pay into an escrow account that is part of the national tobacco settlement between the states and cigarette manufacturers.Those who use roll-your-own machines have an unfair commercial advantage over cigarette manufacturers, said Ken Garcia, a spokesman for Phillip Morris USA, one of the nations largest manufacturers of cigarettes.We believe these products should be taxed the same as packaged cigarettes, he said.Giving people an incentive to switch to lower-cost tobacco has no public policy benefit, he said.Dale Ferguson, who owns Fayette Cigar Store in downtown Lexington, said he wasnt convinced that roll-your-own buy cigarette online and small cigars are causing declining revenue.Before Kentucky raised its cigarette tax, it had one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the Midwest. Stores on Kentuckys borders were selling a lot of cigarettes to people from other states.Its doubtful those stores are selling as many cigarettes, Ferguson said, which could account for some of the decrease.Im not sure if I agree with their conclusions, he said.Regardless, financially struggling states probably will take a fresh look soon at revamping their cigarette taxes, said Sujit CanagaRetna, senior fiscal analyst for the Council on State Governments.Since 2001, 47 states have raised cigarette taxes a combined 105 times. Such sin taxes are the easiest type to pass, CanagaRetna said.I think by early next year when state legislatures go into session, youll see more states look at this issue, he said. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/more_smokers_avoiding_taxes.html 2011-07-29 11:04:00 The city has teamed up with state public health leaders to join a national advertising campaign aimed at convincing smokers to toss out their butts.The Dear Me campaign encourages smokers to write letters to themselves about their reasons for wanting to quit. Writers will be entered into a contest to win a video camera and record their quitting attempts, and to have a chance for their story to be featured in a Dear Me ad, said Lisa Bujno, chief of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services bureau of population health and community services.Its just a way to get down on paper how you feel about your smoking cigarettes and things you want to say to yourself about quitting, Bujno said. I think theres been some evidence that this is an effective method to motivating people to actually act on quitting.About 64 percent of New Hampshire smokers want to quit, according to the latest version of the National Adult Tobacco Survey.Nashuas and Manchesters departments of health partnered with the DHHS on the campaign in New Hampshire.In Nashua, health department staff members are working with the Nashua Transit System to place ads inside city buses, and television ads could run on local cable channels, said Kerran Vigroux, director of the citys Department of Public Health and Community Services.The project is part of the citys participation in the Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, which is run by Corinn Demekoski, Vigroux said.The Dear Me campaign is a program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has been run in a number of other states, Bujno said. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/dear_me_campaign_aims_to_stamp_out_smoking.html 2011-07-28 11:03:00 A former member of the St. Louis County Council and several restaurant owners appealed to the council Tuesday night to revoke exemptions from the smoking cigarettes ban that have been granted to 153 establishments.Former council member Barbara Fraser, of University City, cited a recent American Cancer Society study that showed 72 percent of county residents would favor a law that prohibits smoking cigarettes in all indoor public places.Fraser is now chairwoman of the anti-smoking cigarettes group Tobacco Free St. Louis.I implore you to remove the exemptions, she said. Why? Because secondhand smoke cigarettes causes cancer, heart disease and serious lung ailments.The county ban was passed by 65 percent of the voters in November 2009.County establishments can continue to allow smoking cigarettes if their revenue from food does not exceed 25 percent of their combined food-alcohol revenue.The ban also exempts gambling floors at casinos.Several restaurant owners whose businesses are abiding by the ban said they have lost revenue to those with exemptions.Im being discriminated against because Im following the law, Marty Ginsburg, owner of the Sports Page restaurant in Chesterfield, told the council. If we can follow the law, the other 153 can as well.The council took no action on the request. However, Council Chairman Steve Stenger has repeatedly said he favors removing all exemptions.In other council business, a bill was introduced to authorize a contract not to exceed $779,688 with Cole and Associates Inc., a civil engineering, planning and surveying firm based in Sunset Hills, to prepare a plan to ensure that the countys intersections and sidewalks comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.David Wrone, spokesman for the countys Department of Highways and Traffic, said the firm will survey about 5,000 intersections and hundreds of miles of sidewalks to identify any areas that do not comply with the ADA.If approved, the work would begin in September and be completed in about 15 months. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/st__louis_county_council_is_urged_to_end_smoking_ban_exemptions.html 2011-07-27 11:03:00 Local premium cigar store owners who are small-business members of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association are urging St. Louis County leaders to maintain their exemptions from the current smoking cigarettes ban.The Council is not required to give notice on amending a current law. Nonetheless, word got out that an amendment was being considered and proponents of both sides were represented at Tuesday nights Council meeting.Its too late to save all the businesses that were hurt, the scores of jobs that were lost, and the hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes that wont be collected due to enactment of the current smoking cigarettes ban. But only less than 200 establishments fall within the exemptions to that law and, because of the nature of their businesses, they should be allowed to remain exempt, said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR.McCalla said that prohibitionists outrageous claims regarding the alleged negative health effects of secondhand smoke cigarettes based on junk science are to blame for misleading the public and causing the economic and other unnecessary challenges to the sale of legal tobacco products.The levels of secondhand smoke cigarettes that might cause potential issues to interior air quality are 25,000 times higher than might be found in normal restaurants and bars where smoking cigarettes is permitted. Thats not just us saying that. Its the Occupational Safety and Health Administration – OSHA – a division of the United States Department of Labor, which set these standards, McCalla said.Some business establishments which are forced to comply with the ban feel that those exempt should be bound by the same restrictions.We firmly believe that there should be establishments for smokers and others for non-smokers. However, it should be up to the business owners to determine whether or not their establishments are smoke cigarettes free or not. Just because one business owner is forced by law to do so doesnt mean another business should be forced to do so, as well, McCalla pointed out.We are urging out members and their customers to notify their council representatives to tell them that the smoking cigarettes ban is damaging enough to local businesses and that removal of the handful of exemptions that remain is adding insult to injury, he said. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/st__louis_county_cigar_store_owners_seek_to_maintain_exemptions.html 2011-07-26 11:02:00 Its now been nearly two months since the citys voter-approved smoking cigarettes ban went into effect.Opponents originally claimed the law would be bad for business. However, some evidence suggests the ban has yet to make a negative impact on the local economy.Ruthies Bar, on Commercial Street, originally filed a lawsuit in hopes of blocking the law from taking effect June 11. Weeks later, the business admits sales have only been down slightly. People are adjusting a little bit better than what they predicted in the beginning, said bartender Becki Schnarr.Patton Alley Pub said it saw a slight dip in sales at first, but its now seeing more customers than before.We have actually got a little bit more business from people who would typically not have come out on a smoky, late weekend night, said floor manager Jana Cunningham.Many places have retained customers with the help of patios and decks for the smokers.Really, it boiled down to there is nowhere else really to go. I mean, you can only sit at home and barbeque for so long before you are ready to go out and have someone bring you beer, said Cunningham.The smoking cigarettes ban also applied to tobacco shops. Those retailers are still hoping for an exemption. However, changes to the law cant be made by city leaders until October. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • CigarettesOn.Com Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/smoking_ban_may_not_be_happening_in_springfield.html 2011-07-25 10:50:00 Since Ohio voters passed a no-smoking cigarettes ban for bars and restaurants in 2007, the number of complaints and incidents in Athens County has seen a steady decline.Nevertheless, the state of Ohio is taking a new approach toward punishing establishments that allow smoking cigarettes by threatening to deny renewal of liquor licenses based on unpaid smoking cigarettes-ban fines.Earlier this month, a liquor-license renewal was denied for a Cincinnati-area bar called Pegs Pub, which owed approximately $55,900 in fines for 18 violations plus interest.In Athens, no bar has come close to that number of fines. Figures provided by Athens City-County Health Department Director Chuck Hammer show that the number of smoking cigarettes-ban incidents have declined since the ban went into effect.In 2007, after voters approved the smoking cigarettes ban in May, 39 complaints were issued between that time and December, Hammer said. Nine warning letters were sent out, and no fines were issued.In the first full year of the ban, 2008, the department received 41 complaints, sent out 12 warning letters and issued six fines. Those numbers dropped to 29 complaints in 2009, eight warning letters and four fines. And then in 2010, it dropped again to 25 complaints and four warning letters, but six fines.So far, in 2011, the department has fielded 20 complaints, sent five warning letters and has not issued any fines.Ohio Liquor Control spokesperson Matt Mullins has said that his agency is working closely with the Ohio Health Department and the Ohio Attorney Generals office to deny liquor-permit renewals to any businesses with repeated violations and unpaid fines.Hammer said that some unpaid fines do remain in Athens County, but wouldnt say which businesses are involved.I do have a couple places that have been found in violation, and theyve been given a warning letter. And then theyve been found in violation again and given a fine. And they havent paid the fine, he said. We dont levy fines through here. Thats all done through the Ohio Department of Health. And if the fines arent paid, I think its turned over to the Ohio attorney general for collection.Hammer said that the most serious repercussions from the law arise from the fines.I guess you can smoke cigarettes all you want in these places if you can afford it, he said. Ive had people tell me that they dont think that its right for me to be coming in there. And I tell them, I dont really care if you smoke cigarettes or not. You can smoke cigarettes as much as you can afford. Because it does carry a fine.He said he believes that if fines are paid, then the state cant take punitive action such as denying a liquor-license renewal.Weve had a lot of really good cooperation, he said. I think people understand around here the value of the law and the workings of it.During the battle over Ohios two-year budget, which went into effect July 1, at one point the funds for enforcing the smoking cigarettes ban were stripped away, but Hammer said that those funds eventually got restored.He said that the smoke-free workplace law will continue to be enforced locally. The Athens City-County Departments gets about $120 per investigation from the state, he said.What that consists of is, whenever a complaint is called in to the state toll-free number, they accept that and forward it down to us, he said. And we look at that complaint and do an investigation within a certain timeframe to be compensated for that.After a first complaint, if a violation is found, he said, the business receives a letter of warning. Subsequent violations within two years of that letter of warning can escalate to successively higher fines.Weve had a few of those, but generally speaking, after a warning or a couple of findings the businesses are compliant with the regulations, he said.Hammer said its not uncommon to get complaints and then no violations are found.Often these complaints are based on a misunderstanding of the law, he said, such as patrons complaining about smokers standing outside of a business or in an open-air patio.That may not be a violation of the law depending on the circumstance, he said. We look at it and we carefully follow the requirements of the law. Sometimes we find the complaint doesnt refer to an actual violation. People may be smoking cigarettes but it might not be in a restricted area.Fines start at $100 and go up from there, getting larger with subsequent violations, he said.Hammer said that when he does an investigation, he personally has to find a violation of the law.That could be lack of posting of a sign, or smoking cigarettes in a prohibited area, but the investigator has to find the violation, he said. So a lot of times people might say they were smoking cigarettes someplace but we dont find an ashtray or any evidence that there was a smoking cigarettes violation. So we just dismiss it then. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/no_smoking_crackdown_no_risk_to_bars_in_athens.html 2011-07-24 10:48:00 With one unanimous vote, smoke cigarettes on school campuses could come to an end in Ohio.The Ohio Board of Education voted unanimously this month to recommend school campuses -- including parking lots and athletic facilities -- be tobacco free.School districts have the option to adopt or reject the recommendation that covers all forms of tobacco.State law already prohibits smoking cigarettes inside school buildings, but the surrounding campuses are not automatically smoke-free areas.At least half of the school campuses in Crawford County are smoke cigarettes free.For the other schools, the proposal is a tricky one.It is going to be difficult to enforce, new Bucyrus Superintendent Kevin Kimmel said. We hire auxiliary police staff to monitor some of our more major events, so part of their job will have to be this, along with crowd control. Most of those people walk outside the building and they cant go out there all the time.Wynford Superintendent Steve Mohr agrees.We have it in place now, but we dont enforce it as strictly as we should, Mohr said. We really need to be more vigilant about it.As for his staff, Mohr said non-smoking cigarettes rules are strictly enforced.The issue is mostly athletic events, Mohr said. We have never had an issue with a teacher. We are going to have to be more proactive than reactive. We will have to hang more signs and make more announcements.But signs and announcements may not be enough on larger campuses, that include all property owned by the district, including parking lots.I think this is a great step forward, Galion Superintendent Kathy Jenney said. We are smoke cigarettes free, but this adds the next phase. A lot of people are using smokeless products. Those are harder to detect, but they do just as much damage.(At games) it can be harder to police. We try with signage, and when we go out and talk to people they are usually pretty good about it. We updated in 2008 and included all outside areas in the policy.But what happens if someone gets caught using a tobacco product where it is not allowed?There arent any penalties I know of, Kimmel said.You walk outside between basketball games, or at half time, and people are around the corner smoking cigarettes, Kimmel said. When you ask them to stop, normally they do. At some of our minor events, though, we are going to have to ask whatever athletic administrator we have to monitor it. But it is going to be hard to enforce.Districts allow teachers to leave the school campus to smoke.All of our staff, by union contract, are entitled to duty-free times when they can leave the grounds. If (smoking cigarettes) is what they need to spend their time doing, they can do that, Jenney said. I am old enough to remember smoking cigarettes lounges in the schools. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/smoking_proposal_would_be_hard_for_districts_to_enforce.html 2011-07-23 10:47:00 The deal that ended the government shutdown in Minnesota was terrible both in how it was negotiated and in what it produced. While initially all parties who negotiated it described it as bad, increasingly they are defending it, seeking to find beauty in its ugliness. Yet lets call this effort what it is—putting lipstick on a pig!A Bad Budget ProcessThe government is shutdown. Barricades block access to the capitol. The legislature is suspended. The press and public are barred from observing negotiations. The opposition is kept in the dark. Once a deal is struck and the legislature is allowed to meet the public is given little notice about their deliberations which take place in the dark of the night. Members are restricted in their debate; they have no time to read the bills. They are told to vote for the bills and ordered to be finished by dawn. Sound like politics in a dictatorship or former communist country? Welcome to Minnesota.From the week before the shutdown to the ugly end last Wednesday, Minnesota was a model in anti-democratic politics that violated all accepted norms of transparency, openness, and accountability. The Republican leadership and Governor Mark Dayton insisted on secrecy to allow for candidate debate, demonstrating hostility to democracy, a contempt for process, and an indifference to open government. What they did is possibly also illegal, violating Minnesota Statutes §13.D, the Open Meetings Law. Were a local government to have done what the legislature and the governor did it would violate the law. The process was bad.And A Bad Budget DealBut did the ends justify the means? Did the bad process produce a good result? Except for the delirious who have to salvage something out of it, no one likes the deal struck. But there are two types of dislikes. One is where everyone has to give but the final product is good for the state. The other is where everyone gives and it is bad for the state. The deal struck is the latter.The budget deal is bad for Minnesota. Nothing was done to address the long term structural deficit the state faces; it is more budget gimmicks. K-12 faces more shifts and possibly borrowing from schools that never gets repaid. Minnesotas competitive economic edge has historically resided in its highly educated workforce. Yet the budget deal sacrifices long term welfare and economic good for the state, continuing a repeated raiding of education money that questions how much of a priority Minnesota really places on schools.The tobacco settlement money gets robbed, diverting it from the stated purpose to address health costs and education surrounding smoking cigarettes. The borrowing here off the tobacco money means increased debt for the state. Thus, Minnesota continues to borrow and shift debt to the future in ways similar to what federal government has done for years. It is no different than paying off one credit card with another. In 2013 Minnesota will be back to the same place it is now. Minnesota is effectively deficit spending but budget tricks and borrowing hide that reality.In short, long term problems and needed investments are sacrificed to end the current shutdown crisis. The governor and the legislature shut Minnesota government down to reach this deal? Given how bad it was, maybe it would have been better to continue the shutdown.The Leadership CrisisBut why such a bad deal? One can point to political gridlock, dueling claims of political mandates, ideological polarization, and a host of other issues. But ultimately the blame comes down to a lack of leadership among the three principals–Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers, and Governor Dayton.But why the lack of leadership? One answer is that all are inexperienced. None of them had ever been responsible for moving a budget through the legislature. For Koch and Zellers, they are new leaders heading up caucuses for the first time in years in the majority, composed of many new members and rookie committee chairs. They were not up to the job. For Dayton, the lack of leadership was surprising given his resume. Yet his experience in executive positions is distant, his relationship with the DFL party has always been fragile, and this was his first time shepherding a budget through the legislature.Terrific, Minnesotas political leadership this year were rookies and JVs.So here is the leadership deficit: If this is the best deal Dayton, Koch, and Zellers can negotiate, with a process that was undemocratic and possibly illegal, then that questions their ability to lead the state and their parties. The three should have never let Minnesota get to this place. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • CigarettesHouse.Com Tobacco News    • CigarettesPro.com Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/the_minnesota_budget_deal.html 2011-07-22 16:01:00 Lately, Mississippi has taken great strides toward cleaner, smoke-free air. With more local smoke-free air laws passed than any other state, Mississippi is pushing away from its past reputation of poor health. Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, a national non-profit organization, awarded Mississippi Smoke-free Air advocates and Mississippi cities first place in the Smokefree Indoor Air Challenge for 2010. This honor is assigned to the state with the most local smoke-free air policies. The University of Mississippi has aided in the process as well by establishing designated tobacco-use areas around campus, where smokers can have a cigarette without exposing other non-smokers to secondhand smoke. Human Resource Management major John Brooks feels the designated smoking cigarettes areas have improved the campus. Having people smoking cigarettes cigarettes online nearby doesnt necessarily bother me, but I do believe the designated smoking cigarettes areas are appreciated by many students and faculty, he said. Currently, there are 40 cities in Mississippi with smoke-free air ordinances. Twenty-four cities had smoke-free air policies in 2009 and in 2010, 13 of the states cities passed smoke-free ordinances. Mississippi State health officer Mary Currier explained that 78 percent of Mississippi voters support smoke-free air policies. The goal of smoke-free air is catching on across the nation and over 454 cities and counties across the United States have placed local smoke-free policies including bars, places of work and restaurants. Although Mississippi has come a long way in protecting the public from secondhand smoke, there are still establishments like restaurants and casinos whose employees are constantly exposed to secondhand smoke. In an article for the Laurel Leader-Call, Emily Wilson, field coordinator for South Mississippi, said one survey from Mississippi State University revealed that more employees and smokers would favor an indoor ban on smoking cigarettes than would oppose. Wilson also mentioned the $264 million dollars spent on the treatment of tobacco-related diseases and the negative impact it has on the economy. Furthermore, she added that businesses lose close to $1.4 billion in lost productivity due to smoking cigarettes each year. While larger cities like Jackson, Hattiesburg, Oxford, Starkville, Tupelo and parts of Gulfport have gone smoke cigarettes free, 80 percent of Mississippi is not covered by these ordinances, according to Wilson, which does not help out rural Mississippi. University Judicial Council member Scott Wallace has seen improvements on campus due to the designated tobacco areas.We used to have a problem on campus with people smoking cigarettes by building entrances, said Wallace, who is also the assistant dean of students. People who were bothered by or allergic to smoke cigarettes would have to pass these smokers on the way into the building. Approximately 30 other states and Washington, D.C., have comprehensive state ordinances currently and with time, more states may join. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/mississippi_promotes_smoke_free_air.html 2011-07-21 15:59:00 Hundreds of bars, restaurants and stores across Minnesota are running out of beer and alcohol and others may soon run out of cigarettes store -- a subtle and largely unforeseen consequence of a state government shutdown.In the days leading up to the shutdown, thousands of outlets scrambled to renew their state-issued liquor purchasing cards. Many of them did not make it.Now, with no end in sight to the shutdown, they face a summer of fast-dwindling alcohol supplies and a bottom line that looks increasingly bleak.Its going to cripple our industry, said Frank Ball, executive director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, which represents thousands of liquor retailers in the state.The Ugly Mug, a popular bar near Target Field, doesnt have enough beer to get through the baseball season.Our inventories are diminishing rapidly over the next month, owner Erik Forsberg said. He was among a cluster of bar and restaurant owners who appealed Tuesday to a court-appointed special master to be allowed to continue buying alcohol during the shutdown. When [the Twins are] back on Thursday and people cant get Budweiser and they cant get whatever, theyre just going to go somewhere else.Come Labor Day, cigarette smokers will be in the same bind.The state has stopped issuing the tax stamps that distributors must glue to the bottom of every pack before its sold for retail.When Ross Amundson, owner of M. Amundson Cigar & Candy Company in Bloomington, saw the shutdown coming, he shelled out more than $2 million to buy tax stamps that he hopes will last until mid-August. But with no legislative agreement in sight, hes worried about what comes next.Weve been in business for 70 years, Amundson said. My family started it. And all of a sudden this whole thing is going to screw us over? What happens to these retailers that we cover?Tom Briant, executive director of the Minnesota Wholesale Marketers Association, said that in September is when we would expect to see a shortage of buy cigarette online begin.Problem will spreadOf the roughly 10,000 establishments that sell liquor in Minnesota, most of those who needed to renew their buyer purchasing cards managed to do so before the July 1 shutdown started. About 300 were caught with cards that expired on June 30 and no way to renew the permits.That number will grow to 425 by the end of the month, according to state officials, and grow as more cards expire at random intervals.Its definitely going to get worse, said Jim Arlt, director of alcohol and gambling enforcement for the Department of Public Safety. There will be more and more businesses affected. The alcohol regulation side of Arlts office was laid off during the shutdown.Trevor Berg, owner of Hoss All American Liquors in Walker, Minn., says his card expires this weekend. He plans to stockpile as much as he can before then, hoping it will last until mid-August -- or until the budget stalemate ends.This is going to treadmill across the whole state the longer they hold out, Berg said, referring to the Republican legislative leaders and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. Its going to hit every bar and restaurant that needs a liquor license.Surdyks and Haskells, two of the largest liquor store operations in the Twin Cities, said they will not be affected until their cards expire later this year.On top of those businesses with expired Buyers Cards, another 116 cannot buy new liquor because they owe delinquent taxes. They cannot be removed from the tax delinquency list until after the shutdown.Briant said that commerce in online cigarettes would end, essentially if the impasse continues. The impact on retailers, he said, could be devastating.Turning up the heatThe state also would stand to lose millions of dollars in taxes that come through alcohol and cigarette sales, further diminishing already anemic revenues.Sen. John Howe, R-Red Wing, is concerned enough that on Tuesday he even advocated for Dayton using his executive powers to allow alcohol sales to continue.The governor keeps insisting he wants more revenue, but if he doesnt instruct his administration to address this issue, hell be chasing revenue out of the state, Howe said in a statement. Howe said Dayton could use his executive authority to order that the cards remain valid until the shutdown is resolved.Meanwhile, budget negotiations on Tuesday remained at a standstill. No meetings transpired, and no offers were traded. Dayton left St. Paul to press his case for more revenue in St. Cloud, while Republican lawmakers dodged questions about whether they were going to present their first budget offer since the shutdown began.The biggest frustration Im having is that it doesnt seem like theres any progress, said Forsberg, owner of Ugly Mug. Nobody seems to be talking to each other. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/one_by_one__bars_get_tapped_out.html 2011-07-20 15:56:00 Area bars and restaurants that continue to violate the state smoking cigarettes ban and fail to pay their fines could put their liquor licenses at risk in the future when they are up for renewal.Until now, the Ohio Division of Liquor Control never used smoking cigarettes-ban violations and unpaid fines as criteria when evaluating renewal requests for liquor licenses. But come the next renewal period in June 2012, under a new state initiative, local businesses who flout the smoking cigarettes ban law may find themselves in trouble.No local businesses owe nearly as much as Pegs Pub, a Hamilton County bar that racked up nearly $56,000 in fines. However, the Fraternal Order of Eagles in New Carlisle owes $3,750, Kinslers Cafe on East Main Street and Sidetrax Bar on West Main Street both owe around $1,700, and Cedar Pub on West Main Street owes $1,200, according to the Clark County Combined Health District.So far, health officials have been unable to truly curb repeat offenders, especially since its so difficult to charge businesses with a violation in the first place.Clark County has done 571 investigations between 2007, when the ban was first enacted, through March of this year, according to the health district. Only 32 of them yielded fines.After a complaint is filed, if we go in and dont see the violation happening, we cant do anything, said Dan Chatfield, county director of environmental health.Charles Patterson, Clark County health commissioner, said enforcing the smoking cigarettes-ban actually costs the health district money.In 2010, they spent about $2,300, double the fines that were collected that year.We spend the extra money to make sure we have the healthiest environment we can, Patterson said.In recent months, the Department of Health, the attorney generals office and Liquor Control discussed strategies to try to force the worst violators of the smoking cigarettes ban to either comply with the law or face serious punishment, House said.The Department of Health sent Liquor Control a certified affidavit listing the fines Pegs Pub owed, and the division used its authority to reject the pending permit renewal, said Matt Mullins, spokesman for the Division of Liquor Control.Liquor renewals for this part of the state were on June 1.Mullins said Liquor Control plans to continue to work with the Department of Health and attorney generals office to pursue action against establishments with repeated smoking cigarettes violations and large amounts of unpaid fines.House said the liquor licenses of businesses that owe a few thousand dollars and have few violations are not in danger. But some businesses across the Miami Valley owe substantial sums.From 2007 through March, the Clark County Combined Health District had issued 32 smoking cigarettes fines worth almost $24,000 to local businesses, but owners have only paid about $8,800.About 30 businesses in Ohio owe at least $15,000 or more in smoking cigarettes violation fines, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.That does not include pending fines or costs from the attorney generals office.Including Pegs Pub and the Miami Valley Sports Bar, only nine businesses in the state owe $30,000 or more. Three businesses owe more than $50,000.As of July 5, businesses owed $2.5 million in fines, but only paid $1.77 million, according to the state health department.Local health officials stress that the goal isnt about the money, its about health.The important thing is that we do anything we can to reduce employee exposure to second-hand smoke cigarettes ... Its about making sure folks follow the law and were providing a safe environment for our citizens, Patterson said.He added that the top causes of death in Clark County are heart disease and cancer, both of which can be caused by smoking cigarettes and second-hand smoke.Really I wish there was a way (to enforce the law) without fines, Patterson said. We choose to enforce it in Clark County to make it a healthier place.But Phil Craig, executive director of the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, which represents about 1,000 permit holders, said his organization is reaching out to Liquor Control, the attorney generals office and other agencies to find a better process that works.I am hopeful that we will have some fruitful discussions in the future and come (out) with a better process, he said.Owners of some of the local businesses with the largest accumulations of unpaid fines were unavailable for comment on Wednesday. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/bars_put_liquor_license_at_risk_if_smoking_fines_pile_up.html 2011-07-19 15:55:00 The conclusions drawn by the authors of a recent study conducted by the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department that links indoor smoking cigarettes bans to a decrease in hospital admissions for heart attacks flies in the face of logic, said a Boston University professor and smoking cigarettes policy blogger.The most interesting thing is that the study doesnt conclude what it actually finds, said Dr. Michael Siegel, professor of Community Health Sciences at Boston University School of Public Health.Siegel, author of the blog The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary, posted a review earlier this month of the Kanawha County study.In June, researchers with the Health Department and the West Virginia University Prevention Research Center linked a 37 percent decline in the heart attack hospitalization rate from 2000 to 2008 to a countywide smoking cigarettes ban in the study, Clean Indoor Air Regulation and Incidence of Hospital Admissions for Acute Coronary Syndrome in Kanawha County, West Virginia.The study was published in the online medical journal Preventing Chronic Disease and also was posted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Chronic Disease Public Health Research, Practice and Policy website.The only major change that took place during the studys time period from 2000 to 2008 was the countys revision of its smoking cigarettes ban in 2004 to remove smoking cigarettes sections in all restaurants and most work places, Siegel said in an interview with the Gazette last week.The study and the results show there was a consistent decline in heart attacks during that entire period, Siegel said. It was gradually going down, and it just continued going down at the same rate [after the start of the 2004 smoking cigarettes ban].What I would have to conclude from this data is that the smoking cigarettes ban would seem to have no effect in the rate of heart attack admissions in the county.Siegel instead attributes the steady decline to improvements in preventive care, medication and technology to treat heart disease.If you look almost anywhere in the United States during this time period, heart disease is declining, Siegel said. If they would have found anything other than a decline, I would have been shocked, because thats the general trend everywhere.The authors of the study -- Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, Anita Ray of county Health Department and Robert Anderson and Juhua Luo of WVUs Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center -- were unavailable for comment Friday.The aim of the study, as stated by the authors published report, was to monitor the rate of heart attack admissions during an eight-year period in a community with existing clean indoor air regulations.Kanawha County in 1995 implemented its clean indoor air regulation that banned smoking cigarettes in most public places, including retail stores, elevators, restrooms, public transportation systems, waiting areas and public meeting areas, such as school buildings.The ordinance exempted bars and allowed restaurants to designate up to half of their seating as smoking cigarettes sections.In 2000, the ordinance was modified to increase penalties for violations, and revised again in 2004 to remove smoking cigarettes sections in restaurants and other public indoor areas.Siegel argues the 1995 ordinance that allowed designated smoking cigarettes sections was not strong enough to protect the public from the hazards of secondhand smoke.Even if someone was to make the argument that this 50 percent smoking cigarettes ordinance had an effect on heart attacks, [you would] have to go back to data before 1995 to see the rate before the ordinance was put in effect, Siegel said.If heart disease from 1990 to 1995 had been going up, and then from 1995 to 2008 it was going down, that might be a different story. But they dont go back to 1990, so how can they possibly draw a conclusion from the effect of the ordinance? he said.The authors of the study do state in their findings that no significant changes were recorded between, before and after the removal of smoking cigarettes areas in restaurants, in 2004.The heart attack admission rate steadily dropped by about 6 percent a year among women, nonsmokers and people without diabetes, according to the study.Although this decline may not be conclusively linked directly to the [Clean Indoor Air Regulation], a significant benefit in the rate of [Acute Coronary Syndrome] admissions for male smokers occurred after the regulations were strengthened in 2004 to remove all smoking cigarettes areas from restaurants, the authors of the study state in the report.Following the 2004 changes, heart attack admissions among male smokers decreased by about 7 percent a year, from 842 patients admitted to Kanawha County hospitals in 2004 to 664 reported in 2000. Prior to 2004, no changes over time were recorded in this population segment, the report states.I do want to emphasize that the rationale for passing smoking cigarettes bans doesnt hinge on whether or not it decreases the rate of heart disease, Siegel said. Even if there is no immediate decline in heart attacks, that doesnt mean they should repeal the whole thing.Siegel does not question that secondhand smoke cigarettes increases a persons risk of developing heart disease by up to 30 percent but said the Kanawha County report tries to draw a conclusion too soon.It can take decades for a smoker or a person exposed to secondhand smoke cigarettes to develop heart disease, he said.Do I think smoking cigarettes bans will eventually result in a decline in heart attacks? Absolutely, Siegel said. If you reduce that exposure over time, you are going to reduce the number of heart attacks. But are you going to see it over four years?Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in West Virginia, according to the American Heart Association.West Virginia is tied with Kentucky for the nations highest smoking cigarettes rate, at about 26.5 percent, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Charleston was ranked first and Huntington third on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Indexs list of cities with the highest proportion of smokers. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/smoking_policy_blogger_questions_study_on_kanawha_ban.html 2011-07-18 14:32:00 Head tipped back, Husam Al Saffar watched smoke cigarettes billow from his open mouth. Upward the clouds curled, tracing a scented trail of strawberries and tobacco.The 28-year-old San Jose man puffed again on his pipe, which drew from the base of a bubbling hookah. Then he passed it to his friends, who were sprawled atop pillows and nodding to hip-hop music.The evening was off to a familiar start at Cairo Nights, one of several hookah lounges that offer San Franciscans a honeyed, fruit-soaked taste of the Middle East.But these establishments could soon go up in smoke.Public health department officials are threatening to shut down hookah lounges, whose owners, they say, have refused to obey state and local laws that ban indoor smoking cigarettes, despite mailed and in-person warnings over the past year.advertisement | your ad hereThe noose is starting to tighten on the estimated 17 hookah lounges operating in the city. The owners of Cafe Chanta, Cairo Nights, Kan Zaman, Marrakech Moroccan Restaurant and Dream Hookah Lounge are scheduled to appear in public hearings before the department starting this week.If hookah doesnt come off the menu, these places could face fines of up to $500 and eventual closure - and the city is willing to take the matter to court, said Janine Young, senior environmental health inspector for the health department.I get phone calls from people who choose not to smoke, but they smell smoke, she said. I get phone calls from people who have respiratory problems. I get phone calls from people who have small children.But those who run the local hookah lounges say they find the rules bewildering and will resist to the end. At risk, they say, is an essential aspect of the citys nightlife and ethnic customs.You come here to smoke, said Khaled Hegazy, who runs Cairo Nights at 829 Geary St. If you dont want to smoke, stay away.Its just really relaxingOn a recent evening, the yellow walls of Cairo Nights pulsated with the percussion of reggaeton beats. Candles and a wide-screen television threw shafts of light over woven rugs and round tables. Young urbanites, professionals and Middle Easterners, their faces obscured by shadows, chattered and sucked in lungfuls of citrus-tinged smoke.The musics great. I like the atmosphere. Theres a lot of people, said Anthony Farnsworth, 20, of Santa Rosa, who had gathered with friends for a few rounds of lemon mint- and sex-on-the-beach-flavored hookah. Its just really relaxing.Since the 1990s, the city and state have prohibited smoking cigarettes inside enclosed workplaces, including restaurants, bars and taverns. But because the policy did not specifically say whether hookah lounges fell into those categories, some continued operating as usual.In March 2010, the Board of Supervisors amended the citys antismoking cigarettes law. Smoking was banned in restaurants, which were defined as businesses with permits to serve food.Lounges denied exemptionMost of the citys hookah lounges fall under that umbrella - even if they serve hookah and food at different times, or dont serve food and drinks at all but still hold the permits, Young said. Some are also considered in violation because they are under apartments, putting those residents at risk of breathing secondhand smoke.Last year, four hookah lounges requested exemptions from the law. All were denied, Young said.The smoking cigarettes ban means no new hookah lounges can open. Over the past two years, the city has turned down 200 people interested in setting up shop, according to the Office of Small Business.Hookahs are thought to derive from pipe-smoking cigarettes practices in Turkey, India and the Middle East as far back as the 17th century. Crafted as often ornate structures of glass, metal and brass, hookahs heat up tobacco smoke, then filter it through cold water.Businesses and promoters of local nightlife have accused the city government of waging a war on fun. Ted Strawser, who founded the San Francisco Party Party to protest what he saw as the suburbanization of the city, said the crackdown on hookah lounges sounded misdirected.Are these things really a risk? he said. Give me a break.Hookah lounges may be able to stay open if they dump the smoking cigarettes and convert to, say, simply food and drinks. But some worry they wont be able to make the switch.Bara Nassr, who owns Old Jerusalem Cafe in the Inner Sunset, said hookah drives 75 percent of his business. People are smoking cigarettes cigarettes, he said. Ban that first and kick Philip Morris out of business first. Then come after the small people.Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored last years ordinance that clarified the antismoking cigarettes law, said he purposely refrained from mentioning hookah lounges.We had some sensitivity to small businesses, he said, but if they are not following state law, it is the responsibility of the Department of Public Health to figure out ways for them to comply.Reminder of home in IraqThe possibility of closures alarmed Al Saffar, who was recently relaxing at Cairo Nights after a days work at Frys Home Electronics. Hookah is a warm reminder of home - the Muslim country of Iraq.We dont have bars, he said. We go to hookah lounges and have discussions about sports, news, whatevers happening in our countries.And with that, he exhaled. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/s_f__health_officials_seek_closure.html 2011-07-17 13:59:00 California health officials say smoking cigarettes rates in the state are down to 11.9 percent, a new low. And the latest figures make it only the second state so far to achieve a federal target of reducing adult smoking cigarettes rates to 12 percent by 2020 so far. Utah got there first, in case you were wondering.Across the nation, 1 in 5 Americans still smokes. And federal health officials say more than half of all children are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke, setting them up for future harm from cancer, heart disease and a variety of other ailments.In California, health officials estimate that 1 million lives have been spared and more than $86 billion have been saved in care for tobacco-related illness over the past two decades. Officials say the credit goes to aggressive antismoking cigarettes campaigns and health promotion in the state. California has always been in the forefront, says Colleen Stevens, who heads the Tobacco Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health. Back in 1988 California taxpayers agreed to put a 25 cent tax on every pack of cigarettes. No one had ever done this before, says Stevens. The money was earmarked to pay for medical care for tobacco related illness. But it also funds tobacco research and tobacco control programs both in schools and local communities.Today the California state tax on a pack of buy cigarettes is 87 cents. Thats quite a bit lower than the $2 in taxes charged by many other states. But California has reaped the benefits of other interventions over time, says Stevens. In addition to the tax, California became the first state in the nation to ban smoking cigarettes at indoor work sites and restaurants in 1995 and then in bars in 1998, which was absolutely unheard of at the time, says Stevens.Many people thought mandating smoke-free environments in bars just went too far, Stevens says. But today, she points to a whole generation of 30- somethings who have never been to a smoky bar. Its expected now, she says, that you can go to a bar and have a glass of wine and not come out smelling like smoke! It all adds up to a social norm where tobacco is simply not acceptable.The decline in smoking cigarettes in 2010 was found among all races, including African Americans, Hispanics and Asians. Smoking among high school students decreased, and rates for both men and women declined across the board.Unfortunately, men still smoke cigarettes more than women, as do African American men and women and Hispanic men. The most significant decrease occurred among adults ages 25 to 44.The health benefits are apparent and dramatic. Stevens says lung cancer rates are going down three times faster in California than in any other state. And California is the only state, she adds, where lung cancer rates are actually going down among women. Rates of heart disease and other tobacco related illnesses have also declined. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount-Cigarettes-Planet.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/smoking_in_california_hits_record_low.html 2011-07-16 13:58:00 Even as the Capistrano Council prepares to weigh whether handguns should be allowed in parks, two prominent residents are calling for a ban on smoking cigarettes in the citys open spaces.At the City Councils July 5 meeting, residents Ilse Byrnes and Jan Siegel said they were disturbed by cigarette smoke cigarettes at the citys July 4 celebration at the Sports Park. The two, working in a booth highlighting the citys 50th anniversary, said they were surprised the city does not ban smoking cigarettes in parks -- and that it should.Dana Point and San Clemente, two neighboring cities, ban smoking cigarettes in city parks.Byrnes and Siegel made their remarks during the public comments section of the meeting, so the council could not act upon it. That was, however, the same meeting where Councilman Derek Reeve suggested the city should lift its ban on handguns in city parks.Reeve, an attorney elected to the City Council in December, said state law allows residents to openly carry an unloaded handgun, and that he did not thing the city should be more restrictive than the state.Capistranos current ban applies only to parks. The council is scheduled to take up that issue at its July 19 meeting.It was unclear whether the request to ban smoking cigarettes in parks would come back before the council, but the request comes as the state announces cigarette smoking cigarettes has hit an all-time low among California residents.California Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ron Chapman said in a July 13 announcement that 11.9 percent of the states adults smoked last year, down from 13.1 percent in 2009. The statistics, Chapman said in the release, make California one of only two states to reach the federal Healthy People 2020 target of reducing the adult smoking cigarettes prevalence rate to 12 percent.Smoking among high school students decreased from 14.6 percent in 2008 to 13.8 percent in 2010, while middle school student smoking cigarettes decreased from 6.0 percent in 2008 to 4.8 percent in 2010.Although men continue to smoke cigarettes at higher rates than women – 14.4 percent and 9.4 percent respectively – both groups have shown declines since 2009 when 15.6 percent of men and 10.7 percent of women smoked. In addition, smoking cigarettes rates declined among all age groups. The most significant decrease occurred among adults ages 25 to 44, which fell from 15.2 percent in 2009 to 13.1 percent in 2010.The California Tobacco Control Program was established by the Tobacco Tax and Health Promotion Act of 1988. The act, approved by California voters, instituted a 25-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes and earmarked 5 cents of that tax to fund Californias tobacco control efforts. These efforts include funding local health departments and community organizations, a media campaign and tobacco-related evaluation and surveillance. Health officials say it is estimated Californias tobacco control efforts have saved more than 1 million lives and $86 billion in health care costs Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Best-Buy-Cigarettes.Com Tobacco News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/residents_call_for_smoking_ban_in_capistrano_parks.html 2011-07-15 13:55:00 Californias percentage of smoking cigarettes adults has fallen to its lowest point in history, dropping below 12 percent last year, according to data released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Health.That makes California the second state to meet a federal goal of having fewer than 12 percent of smoking cigarettes adults by 2020. Utah was the first to meet the target.The percentage of California adults who smoke cigarettes had hovered around 13 percent for the past four years before dropping to 11.9 percent last year, said Colleen Stevens, chief of the Tobacco Control Program, a cigarette-tax-funded program that voters established 1988.What Im most proud of is California lung cancer rates are going down three times faster than the rest of the United States, which is directly tied to how Californians are smoking cigarettes less, Stevens said.The study, which analyzed data from about 43,000 adults and students, also found a decrease in smoking cigarettes rates among young adults, minority populations and high school and middle school students.The number of smokers age 18 to 24 has dropped from 22.4 percent in 2001 to 12.3 in 2010, Stevens said.That young adults are smoking cigarettes less is significant, said Thomas Dailey, chief pulmonologist at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara. About 93 percent of todays adult smokers started before the age of 18, he said.Tobacco companies need to recruit children to become addicted because so many adult consumers are dying, Dailey said.He added that the Food and Drug Administrations decision to put graphic warnings on cigarette packs next year will cause children and young adults to smoke cigarettes even less.Although the study is positive, Dailey said, the future of Californias health will require further reductions in smoking cigarettes levels.We still have 12 percent of the population - 1 in 8 people - still smoking cigarettes, Dailey said. Weve got our work cut out for us. To paraphrase George Bush, no smoker should be left behind. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • CigarettesPro.com Tobacco News    • CigarettesOn.Com Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/less_than_12__of_californians_were_smokers_in_2010.html 2011-07-14 13:52:00 A mini tax revolt by smokers is sweeping across the nation as the price of smokes keeps soaring.Its a big movement back east and has now come to California. Its the roll your own revolution.Business is booming at Yuba Citys Roll Your Own tobacco shop. Customers are happy. Regular customer Gary G-Man Jackson quips, Roll your own. You cant beat it.Heres how it works. Customers buy loose pipe tobacco and cigarette tubes, then put them into a $30,.000 dollar cigarette making machine. In seconds, the machine automatically spits out finished cigarettes, about four to six cartons an hour.For Jackson its all about saving money.Down at the grocery store, you pay $54 a carton, he said. You pay $24.99 here. Thats half price.And, says fellow customer Phil, For the cheaper price, you still get a premium cigarette.Customer Nancy Howard adds, Things are tight and when you have to work for room and board, you get cheap things everywhere. The cheaper the better.Tom and Christine Oakes, owners of the Roll Your Own Tobacco Shop, are at the heart of a battle over taxes and whether the shop is or is not a highly taxable cigarette factory.Were not considered a factory because your renting our machines, co-owner Christine Oakes said.But the U.S. Treasury Department ruled last September that it was cigarette manufacturing. Therefore, in the Departments opinion, the Roll Your Own Tobacco Shop is subject to the same taxes as the likes of RJ Reynolds and Phillip Morris pay. That would be a $1.01 per pack and most of the taxes are used to finance health insurance for impoverished children.However, a Federal Court has put a temporary injunction on taxing these roll your own operations. This issue: is it fair taxation or just another desperate government attempt to get more money?Customer Phil Carson said, You cant price an addiction out of the market.Shop owner Oakes added, The people need the product and its kind of hard if you cant quit smoking cigarettes.As much as people object to smoking cigarettes, the fact of the matter is that its a legal product. More and more people are saying smoking cigarettes now costs so much money, they just have to roll their own.The Roll Your Own movement is growing.Ive already told them, they need to get another machine because Ive come in here when theres people settin, waitin, for over an hour, Jackson said.Meanwhile, over at Vacavilles Tobacco Leaf Shop, the rolling your own goes one step further according to employee Sherif Amin who said they sell pipe tobacco, cigarette tobacco and tobacco leaves.Pipe tobacco, used in most roll your own shops, is taxed at one ninth of cigarette tobacco. Tobacco leaves are not considered tobacco products until theyre shredded and are not federally taxed. Customers make their cheap cigarettes here as well, Amin said.We sell our tobacco leaves to the customers the customers buy it and use our shredders, he said. Then, its the customers job to turn them to cigarettes.Customers do that by using small, manual machines the shop purchases for $500. For his customers, Amin said its also about the price.It makes sense to roll your own and save two thirds of the amount that youre gonna pay in a store, he said.Both shops said most customers have very little money.Older customers like between 60 and 70 years old thats mainly my clientele, Amin said.Christine Oakes of Yuba Citys Roll Your Own Tobacco Shop said her main customers are low income, fixed incomes and homeless.Anti-smokers rail against these and all tobacco shops. They complain that many customers will end up with serious health problems taxpayers fund, money that should come from the smokers themselves.Until there is a final ruling on if and how Roll Your Own smoke cigarettes shops are taxed, this is how many smokers are getting cheaper cigarettes.The alternative, bootlegging, where criminals profit and the government gets nothing. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • CigarettesBox.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/locals_joins_the_roll_your_own_revolution.html 2011-07-13 13:51:00 Californias adult smoking cigarettes rate hit a record low last year, 11.9 percent, state health officials announced this week. While smoking cigarettes prevalence has fallen across the board, the number masks big disparities among demographic groups.The states analysis [PDF] shows smoking cigarettes prevalence by sex, age, school grade and four ethnic groups - white, African American, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander. But the states own research in recent years has revealed wide variations in smoking cigarettes rates among and within Asian ethnic groups; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations; and people on active military duty. The disparities underscore the challenges of combating tobacco use in different communities.Take for example African Americans, who have the highest smoking cigarettes rate of the four ethnic groups represented. More than 18 percent of African American men and nearly 15 percent of women were smokers last year. For African American women, smoking cigarettes prevalence has remained relatively flat for the past five years.This is something we are really struggling with, said Colleen Stevens, chief of the California Tobacco Control Program. I dont think we can clearly say we have all the answers, either to the cause of why its happening or the absolute solution.Research has shown that there is more advertising of tobacco products in African American communities, Stevens said. A recent study by Stanford University found that menthol cheap cigarettes were marketed in a predatory manner to African American high schoolers in California.Stevens said the state is working with community leaders and conducting focus groups to figure out how best to decrease smoking cigarettes among African Americans.At the other end of the spectrum are Asian/Pacific Islanders. Four percent of Asian/Pacific Islander women and 8.4 percent of men smoked last year - the lowest rates of any ethnic group. But those numbers obscure variations among specific ethnicities and generational differences.Several years ago, after receiving a bump in funding, the program conducted smoking cigarettes surveys of several specific populations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults; active military personnel; and Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Chinese and Korean adults.We really felt we didnt have a good handle on male, female, one Asian group to another, Stevens said. We really tried to figure out where the need was.The results revealed huge disparities. Smoking prevalence among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians was nearly double that of the general population in 2002. LGBT women, specifically, smoked at a rate of 32.5 percent, compared with 11.9 percent for adult women generally.Similarly, the smoking cigarettes rate among Californians actively serving in the military was 33.8 percent in 2002 - well above the 15.4 percent rate among the general population.While about 12 percent of all Asian/Pacific Islanders smoked in 2002, surveys showed that as many as 41 percent of Korean men ages 18 to 24 were smokers, and assimilation affected Korean men and women differently.Korean men, the longer theyre in this country, the better their English, the lower they smoke. Korean women come in smoking cigarettes very low; the longer theyre in this country ... it starts to creep up. Its a social norm that pulls people, Stevens said.Indeed, 36.1 percent of Korean men who spent less than 10 percent of their lives in the United States smoked, the survey showed. By the time they had spent 75 to 100 percent of their lives in the country, smoking cigarettes prevalence dropped to 31.1 percent.Korean women, on the other hand, have a smoking cigarettes rate of 0 percent when theyve been in the country less than 10 percent of their lives. Among those who had been in the U.S. 75 to 100 percent of their lives, smoking cigarettes prevalence is 13.2 percent.Perceptions of and attitudes toward smoking cigarettes also varied substantially among different groups. Whereas 98.3 percent of Vietnamese men who smoked said they believed smoking cigarettes harmed their own health, less than 80 percent of Korean smokers strongly agreed with this statement, and about 16 percent slightly agreed.Aggregating demographic groups is troubling - especially for populations where the rate is higher, said S. Alecia Sanchez, director of state legislative advocacy for the American Cancer Society. Were very concerned about that because these people are gambling with their health in a way we know is really dangerous.Understanding and targeting disparities in smoking cigarettes prevalence requires more resources, Sanchez said. The American Cancer Society is sponsoring the California Cancer Research Act, which would increase the tax on each pack of cigarettes from 87 cents to $1.87. The initiative has qualified for the next statewide ballot.A majority of the revenue - $855 million in its first year, decreasing about 3 percent thereafter - would support research of tobacco-related disease and cancer. Funding for the California Tobacco Control Program would increase by three times, Sanchez said.Since 1988, when California voters approved a 25-cent tax on tobacco products through Proposition 99, the proportion of adults who smoke cigarettes has dropped 49 percent. A nickel from each pack of cigarettes online has funded the states tobacco control efforts.A lot of progress thats happened in the state of California has been a result of how that money was invested, Stevens said. But there are still 3.6 million smokers in California alone. ... So even though our overall prevalence is marvelously low compared to everybody else, we still know we have a lot of work to do.California is the second state, behind Utah, to reach a federal target of reducing the adult smoking cigarettes rate to 12 percent by 2020. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount-Cigarettes-Planet.Com Cigarettes News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/california_s_low_smoking_rate_masks_ethnic_disparities.html 2011-07-12 13:50:00 A federal judge on Friday found that the city of San Francisco has a right to ban tobacco sales in stores with pharmacies even if the pharmacy is not the stores main business.U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken dismissed a suit filed by grocery chain Safeway Inc. against the city that argued grocery stores had a constitutional right to sell cigarettes.Wilken wrote that the city was acting within its rightful authority. The purpose of the ... ordinance, to promote the public health by preventing people from becoming addicted to tobacco and by helping those already addicted to stop smoking cigarettes, is legitimate and even compelling, she wrote.The first version of the ordinance, passed in 2008, had contained an exemption for grocery stores and so-called big-box stores with pharmacies under the same roof.After a California appellate court determined that the exemption for grocery and big box stores violated constitutional equal protection guarantees, the citys Board of Supervisors passed an amendment last year removing the exemption.That more recent version of the ban led to Safeways suit, which Wilken dismissed with prejudice, meaning the company could not file an amended version of its complaint.Those who operate pharmacies have chosen to participate in our health care delivery system, and that should not include the delivery of cigarettes, said San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who sought the dismissal.Safeway officials said they did not yet have a chance to review the ruling. We are disappointed in the decision, said Susan Houghton, the companys director of public and government affairs. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/judge_dismisses_safeway_suit_against_san_francisco_ban_on_tobacco_in_stores_with_pharmacies.html 2011-07-11 13:49:00 The city of San Franciscos pioneering ban on tobacco sales by pharmacies has survived its latest challenge, a constitutional lawsuit by the Safeway grocery store chain.U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of Oakland Friday dismissed a lawsuit in which Pleasanton-based Safeway Inc. claimed the measure was an unconstitutional restriction on its right to conduct a lawful business.Wilken wrote that the current version of the law is a reasonable and permissible use of the citys power to pass laws to protect the public.The protection of a vested property right in a business permit generally must yield to the states concern for the public health and safety and its authority to legislate for the protection of the public, Wilken wrote.The law banning the sales of discount cigarette online and other tobacco products by pharmacies was originally enacted by the Board of Supervisors in 2008 and was the first of its kind in the nation.The boards rationale was that because pharmacies provide health-related services, they should not be allowed to give consumers tacit approval for disease-causing cheap cigarettes by selling the products.In its initial form, the ordinance exempted from the ban so-called big box stores that contain pharmacies, such as Safeway grocery stores and large discount retailers.But the Board of Supervisors amended the law to eliminate that exemption last year after Walgreen Co. won a state court lawsuit that claimed the law discriminated against stores that operate primarily as pharmacies.Safeway, which has 10 grocery stores containing pharmacies in San Francisco, then filed its federal lawsuit in February.Safeway spokeswoman Susan Houghton said company officials had not yet seen the ruling and would not be able to comment until next week on whether they plan to appeal.Were certainly disappointed, Houghton said. We will have to read the ruling and evaluate our next steps.San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, whose office defended the law, said, Those who operate pharmacies have chosen to participate in our health care delivery system, and that should not include the delivery of cigarettes.I am grateful that Judge Wilken rejected the argument that Safeway ... has a constitutional right to sell addictive tobacco products, Herrera said.In addition to the lawsuits by Safeway and Walgreen, a third challenge was filed in 2008 by Philip Morris USA Inc., the nations largest tobacco company.That lawsuit, filed in federal court and assigned to Wilken, claimed the ban violated Philip Morriss right of free speech by curtailing the companys advertising and displays in drugstores.But Wilken and a federal appeals court both rejected that claim, saying that the ban regulates only conduct -- the sale of online cigarettes -- and not speech about cigarettes. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Online Cigarettes Tobacco News    • CigarettesOn.Com Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/u_s__judge_dismisses_safeway_challenge_to_ban_drugstore_tobacco_sales.html 2011-07-10 00:11:00 The Oregon Senate has voted to curb the growth of hookah lounges.The Senate voted 18-11 to approve the bill Thursday after emotional debate from lawmakers who lost relatives to smoking cigarettes-related illnesses.The measure would require that new hookah lounges have no more than four seats.Lawmakers who support tough regulations on smoking cigarettes were torn on the bill because of recent changes made to it. Some fear it would allow a rush of new smoking cigarettes establishments to open soon.The disputed changes allow cigar shops to operate in spaces that share walls with other businesses as long as they have independent ventilation. They also extend the time for potential hookah lounges and to apply for a permit before the stricter rules take effect. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cigarettes Online News    • Discount Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/oregon_senate_votes_to_curb_hookah_lounges.html 2011-07-09 00:10:00 A Hogansburg woman admitted Friday in U.S. District Court, Utica, that she structured $2.6 million in cash deposits at banks to avoid having to report the deposits as required under federal law.Rosalie A. Jacobs, 62, operator of Jacobs Tobacco on the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to structure currency transactions in violation of U.S. Code. She is expected to be sentenced Dec. 9 to five years probation and a year of home confinement and be ordered to forfeit $2,634,190.According to a prepared statement by Richard S. Hartunian, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, Mrs. Jacobs admitted that she conspired with others to structure a series of cash deposits in less than $10,000 increments to avoid having to fill out a currency transaction report required under federal code.During a 13-month period, she ran Jacobs Tobacco and received payments for tobacco products in American currency. She was aware that any cash deposit in excess of $10,000 would trigger the reporting requirement, so either she or one of her employees would package cash in separate bags at the business, with each deposit being less than $10,000. The money then would be deposited in Massena at Seacomm Federal Credit Union and Community Bank.Mrs. Jacobss son, Alan R. Jacobs, 36, also of Hogansburg, is awaiting sentencing on a conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with the drug-related robbery of Daniel P. Simonds, who was shot to death in May 2008 at his town of Stockholm home.Mr. Jacobs is expected to be sentenced Sept. 23 to 20 years in prison and be ordered to forfeit $666,467. He also faces up to five years of additional supervision upon his release from prison and up to a $250,000 fine.According to Mr. Hartunians statement, Mr. Jacobs took part in the robbery conspiracy while on release pending sentencing for another case in which he had pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute between 700 and 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/woman_admits_violating_currency_rules.html 2011-07-08 00:09:00 Less than an hour before a contentious City Council meeting regarding a downtown Stanley tavern that has allowed patrons to violate the states indoor smoking cigarettes ban, a lit cigarette was in an ashtray in front of a patron seated at the bar.Despite the defiance, on Tuesday night the council approved renewing four of the taverns licenses. But council members said stiffer penalties might be needed to convince the owner of the Twilite Zone, 309 N. Broadway St., to prohibit smoking cigarettes in the business.The council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the bars licenses to sell cigarettes, play recorded music, and have a jukebox and arcade machines. The licenses expired Thursday, and the council decided not to renew them until after bar owner Sue Kiraly spoke to the council about how she plans to resolve complaints of smoking cigarettes in the tavern.Mayor David Jankoski earlier said he was informed that the way the state law was written, the city couldnt take away Kiralys liquor license, but the other four licenses could be revoked. The state ban, which took effect a year ago, prohibits smoking cigarettes in any indoor workplace, including taverns and restaurants.Patrons and the bar itself have received several citations, police Chief Roy Fredrickson said, and other taverns have complained because customers are allowed to smoke cigarettes at the Twilite Zone.On Tuesday, Kiraly disputed a claim that she sold ashtrays to customers to pay for smoking cigarettes citations, and she said Fredrickson overstated the number of citations issued in her tavern.Barry Bilderbach, Kiralys fiancé, questioned why the bar was being singled out.Are we doing something so detrimental to the city of Stanley? Bilderbach asked.Its the law, Jankoski replied.Bilderbach answered, Its against the law. We realize that. But a lot of things happen against the law.A Twilite Zone bartender, who did not give her name, spoke to the council, saying she doesnt have the power to throw out a larger individual who is smoking cigarettes, and the cigarette is out by the time an officer would be called to the bar.Jankoski said the city doesnt want to pull licenses; it just wants compliance of a state law.You are the ones who run the facility, and its your responsibility to follow (the law), Jankoski told Bilderbach and Kiraly.Councilman Jody Halterman said he has concerns that violations will continue and asked about the councils options if the bar continues to receive citations.Councilwoman Jeanne Gates, while voting to return the four licenses, said some cities are passing ordinances that set the fine higher than the $100 citation provided in the state law.Councilman Howard Duckett said that might be worth considering if violations continue.We will definitely have to watch it, Duckett said. It sounds like it will come up again.Earlier Tuesday evening, before the council meeting, five people were gathered in the tavern, watching TV. None of the arcade games or the jukebox was being played.Kiraly estimates that not having the licenses for five days - which included Independence Day weekend - cost her $2,500 in sales. Kiraly has owned the tavern for nine years and previously has not had problems with police, she said.We never sold cheap cigarettes to minors, she said. We never sold alcohol to minors. Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:    • Cheap Cigarettes News    • CigarettesPro.com Tobacco News    • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News http://www.cigaretteson.net/tobacco-news/stanley_bar_told_to_obey_state_smoking_law.html