Man nabbed over fake cigarettes

A man was arrested after police found fake cigarettes in his bakkie in East London on Monday morning, said Eastern Cape police.

The fake cigarettes had an estimated street value of R72 000, said Captain Ernest Sigobe.

The 35-year-old man was arrested at about 6am after being pulled over by police.

“The suspect is due in the East London Magistrate's Court soon on charges of dealing in fake cigarettes,” said Sigobe.

Two arrested for stealing $700 in cigarettes

Kentucky State Police say two women stole $700 worth of cigarettes from a Union County smoke shop. It happened Monday around 8:00 p.m. at "Smoking Joes" near Sturgis. Troopers say they were watching for traffic violations when they saw two women go inside the store.

They say one of them stayed inside while the other made several trips back and forth to a vehicle carrying cartons of cigarettes. When the women left, troopers say they pulled the vehicle over for a minor traffic violation and could not find any receipts for the cartons.

Patsy Hansbrough, 42, of Sturgis and 44-year-old Jacqueline Fox of Hopkinsville were taken to jail. The cigarettes were returned to the store.

Cigarettes main cause of fires in İstanbul, official figures say

The official figures of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Fire Department say some 12,500 of the total number of fires that occurred in İstanbul in the first 11 months of 2011 were caused by cigarettes.
According to the figures, firefighters intervened in 24,691 fires in İstanbul. Among the causes of these fires, cigarettes come first, followed by short circuits with 4,298 incidents. Children playing with fire is listed as the third most frequent cause of fires, followed by the improper use of electrical equipment such as electric stoves and an iron. The number of fires that was caused by children playing with fire stood at 1,487 while the number for incidents caused by the improper use of electrical equipment was 1,037.

The other causes for fires include -- but are not limited to -- the improper use of candles, and gas explosions.

The official data say most fire incidents took place in the months of July, August and September.

The most fires occurred in İstanbul's Pendik district, with 1,320 recorded incidents.

Fires most commonly took place between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., mostly during weekends and public holidays. The number of false reports came in at 3,364.

Fairfax medical marijuana dispensary closes and vacates premises on schedule

The Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the oldest dispensary of its kind in the state, quietly shut down over the weekend, the victim of a federal crackdown.

"They moved out of the premises just before 2 a.m. on Sunday morning," said Peter Goldstone, a Santa Rosa attorney who has represented the Alliance, and its operator, Lynnette Shaw, in an eviction proceeding that was brought by the Alliance's landlord. Shaw could not be reached for comment.

The landlord, Farshid Ezazi of Orinda, initiated the eviction proceeding after Melinda Haag, the San Francisco-based U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, threatened to confiscate the building in which the Alliance operated at 6 School St. in Fairfax. The Fairfax dispensary is among dozens statewide that federal prosecutors say they have targeted due to the dispensaries' proximity to parks, schools and other facilities used by children.

The Marin Wellness Center, a medical marijuana dispensary at 1100 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Kentfield, is also being forced to close by Jan. 1 due to pressure applied to its landlord by federal authorities. A third dispensary, the Green Door Wellness Education Center at 7586 Redwood Blvd. Suite C in Novato, is battling an eviction proceeding brought by its landlord and is awaiting a Marin Superior Court judge's decision after a one-day trial on the eviction last week.

Shaw had previously said that she would seek to continue storing thousands of patients' medical records at the School Street site. She said she had nowhere else to put them. But Goldstone said the records have been removed.
"My understanding is that it is what they call broom-clean, and they've turned over the keys," Goldstone said.

The federal government began the process of confiscating the School Street building on Nov. 18, even though Ezazi had already initiated court action to evict the Marin Alliance. Robert Weems, Ezazi's attorney, said his client filed court papers last week formally acknowledging ownership of the 6 School St. property, a step he had to take if he hopes to retain ownership. Weems said the Marin Alliance's closure should strengthen Ezazi's case.

"We think it is significant that possession has been returned to us," Weems said. Ezazi can now file a motion to dismiss the forfeiture proceeding or opt for a trial, Weems said.

Shaw, who has always shared information freely about the Alliance's long-standing legal battles, stopped responding to questions from the press earlier this month, saying that she was "in great danger" and had to end her relationship with the Alliance, which she helped found.

A message on the Alliance's website announcing the closure states, "We are very sorry to announce that we have shut our doors until we can resolve certain legal issues. The battle is not over, but we must await further court action that will allow us to reopen, hopefully within a month or two. Unfortunately, our owner and director, Lynnette Shaw, finds it best to sever her relationship with Marin Alliance."

Imperial Tobacco joins Australia packaging fight

Global giant Imperial Tobacco has launched a legal challenge against Australia's plain packaging for cigarettes, officials said Wednesday, becoming the third company to contest the plan.
"Imperial Tobacco has filed a challenge which has some similarities to the British American Tobacco (BAT) challenge," a spokeswoman for Australia's High Court told AFP.
Imperial said its challenge, filed Tuesday, would claim that laws passed last month mandating plain packets for tobacco products from December 2012 breached Australia's constitution by infringing intellectual property rights.
Centred on its Peter Stuyvesant brand, Imperial's case will seek a High Court ruling to protect all of its tobacco products, which it says are worth "billions of dollars".
"The High Court of Australia will now determine claims which include the validity of these unprecedented laws," Imperial Tobacco Australia (ITA) manager Melvin Ruigrok said in a statement.
"Unchallenged, the Australian government would otherwise be able to simply take the intellectual property of legal entities."
BAT has filed a similar constitutional challenge but it was not clear whether they would be heard together, the High Court spokeswoman said.
Philip Morris is also suing Canberra over the plan, which will see cigarettes in drab packets with large, graphic health warnings showing diseased body parts and sick babies, while brand imagery and promotional text will be banned.
Ruigrok said Australians were fully aware of smoking's health risks and described the packets as "anything but plain", with official messages to cover at least 75 percent of packet fronts and 90 percent of the back.
"ITA supports tobacco regulation that is reasonable, proportionate and evidence-based," he said, warning of billions of dollars in compensation and legal costs.
"Unfortunately, the Australian government?s plain packaging legislation is none of these things."
Canberra says that tobacco use costs the country more than Aus$30 billion (US$30.8 billion) a year in healthcare and lost productivity and has vowed not to be deterred by the tobacco companies' legal campaigns.
Australia would be the first country to mandate plain packaging, although New Zealand, Canada and Britain have considered a similar approach and are watching developments.

Man pleads guilty to putting lit marijuana pipe to toddler's mouth

A Vermont man who was accused of putting a lit marijuana pipe into a toddler's mouth has been ordered to serve 60 days on a prison work crew.

The Burlington Free Press reports (http://bfpne.ws/sLl0jw) 25-year-old Jonathan Fuller of Concord was scheduled for a jury trial but opted to plead guilty to a felony charge of delivering drugs to a minor and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.
Essex County State's Attorney Vince Illuzzi said Fuller received an overall sentence of one to three years in prison, all suspended but the six months on the work crew and four months of home confinement.

Fuller was accused of putting the pipe to his 2-year-old-daughter's mouth in 2009. Police had received a video recording of the alleged incident.

Cigarette maker tenders unconditional apology

A cigarette manufacturer has placed an unconditional apology to the Tobacco Control Cell for printing attractive advertisements of its cigarette brands in print media and magazines with the commitment to avoid serious violation of the 'The Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places and Protection of Non Smokers' in future.

Sources told Business Recorder here on Wednesday that on November 22, 2011 the Executive Director, Health Services Academy, and in-charge of Federal Tobacco Control Cell ultimately decided to take some enforcement actions against the violators.

The Executive Director issued a formal detailed show-cause notice to the company to explain, within seven days of the receipt of the notice, why they were advertising cigarettes in violation of anti-tobacco rules.
According to sources in Tobacco Control Cell, the company has now submitted its reply to the said show-cause notice to the Cabinet Division and the Health Services Academy.

The said tobacco company has accepted patent illegality and violation of government rules and guidelines, and has also tendered an unconditional apology and given a guarantee that such print media campaigns will not be repeated.
Sources said that the civil society has urged the government to implement the Ordinance 'The Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places and Protection of Non Smokers', and asked to take legal action against the cigarette manufacturer for publishing promotional advertisements in the media.
Sources said that the recent promotional blitz launched by a company by placing attractive advertisements for its cigarette brands in some sections of the print media and magazines has been termed illegal by Tobacco Control Cell working under health services academy.

According to tobacco advertisement guidelines issued by the government, cigarettes ads in the press should not exceed one square inch with 20 percent of its dedicated to health warning, virtually prohibiting such print advertisements.
In spite of the fact that these advertisements ran for two weeks in complete disregard of the law, the relevant authorities had failed to take any action on their own.

It were civil society organisations that brought the relevant authorities out of their slumber and demanded action by the authorities, even threatening taking the matter to the higher courts, if the authorities failed to stop such illegal activities.
Now the civil society awaits the action taken by the Health Services Academy over this illegal promotional campaign and admitted illegality by the multinational tobacco company.

Sources close to the affairs said that the units try to use influence over the Health Services Academy for not taking any action against them.

Efforts are underway to create some form of situation where the matter will be hushed up and forgotten altogether.

This just shows that the relevant authorities do not feel the courage to take any action when a multinational is involved.
Dr Javed Khan, Head of Pulmonary Medicine, Aga Khan Medical College Karachi, and Chairman of National Alliance for Tobacco Control, when contacted, stated that the illegality must not be allowed to be settled by a mere apology, even if unconditional, but strict legal action under the law must be initiated against the management of tobacco companies for such illegal advertisement campaigns which attract the youth.

Smoke signals rise from the Aniston-Theroux camp

In Touch Weekly has a strange story saying Justin Theroux is getting sick of Jennifer Aniston. For one thing, she has stopped smoking because she wants to get pregnant. That made her gain 10 pounds, and now she "complains non-stop about how fat she is," Nameless Insider says.

And "Justin really can't believe how vain Jennifer is."

And this little detail: No sex, she has decreed, except when she's at her most fertile. "Justin has been saying that their love life is more like a science experiment."

Who among us will be surprised to learn that Brooke Mueller, the mother of Charlie Sheen's 2-year-old twins Bob and Max, is in drug trouble again?

She'll be in court Dec. 19 after a cocaine-possessionwith-intent-to-distribute bust in Aspen the other day.

There's also an assault charge, after a hair-pulling brawl with another woman in a nightclub. She's 34.

You're a 48-year-old loser, is who you are: Julian Lennon, 48 and never married, says he hasn't had kids because his father was a terrible dad.

"He was young and didn't know what the hell he was doing," Julian told Record Collector magazine. "That's the reason I haven't had children yet. I didn't want to do the same thing." Still, he says, "I'm not ready. I want to know who I am first."

Sure, Daniel Radcliffe is rich, famous, clever, reasonably good-looking, and by all accounts a nice guy. But appar ently he's not much at house keeping.

The Daily Mail says his main squeeze, Rosie Coker, has given him a deadline to shape up about keeping his place tidy. But you have to wonder how serious she is:

"I have a deadline of two years to be a fully functioning human being around the house," Radcliffe said. "I didn't promise her anything, but I have made it my mission to improve myself. There's certainly progress to be made." Two years?

He lives in New York; she's mainly in England. Before she came for a visit last weekend, he actually got his mom to tidy up his apartment.

He's 21.

You don't know who Elisabetta Canalis has been dating since George Clooney dropped her and you don't care. Me neither.

But the whole world now knows she just dumped the guy, and none too gently - and by "the whole world," I mean readers of Radar Online, which had the item.

He's one Mehcad Brooks, who was in True Blood and now stars on a show called Necessary Roughness on an American cable network, USA.

Anyway, the two had a huge blowup in the lobby of her apartment building in West Hollywood, Radar says. Arguing, then shouting, then she pushed him and screamed, "Just go! Get out of here!" He left.

She went upstairs, returning with "an armful of things, which included a Balenciaga handbag," and dumped it all, ordering the building manager to "tell that (anatomical bad word) to take his (bad word) and never contact me again!"

Smoking ban still broken in the bars

People were smoking in five out of six Paceville bars visited by The Sunday Times last Wednesday night. In one instance, the reporter saw a patron order a drink while lighting up.
And despite figures showing increased police enforcement of the ban, The Sunday Times photographed two police officers sharing soft drinks with a young woman as she smoked openly inside the Bay Street complex on December 2.
Malta was the second EU state to introduce an indoor smoking ban, having done so in April 2004, but there is a widespread perception that the ban is disregarded by many bar and nightclub patrons.
A study published two weeks ago revealed that in contrast to other countries, Malta’s smoking ban has not led to any decrease in hospital admission or mortality rates due to heart disease.
The study’s lead author, cardiologist Robert Xuereb, attributed the disappointing findings to lax enforcement of ban in places of entertainment.
But the president of the General Retailers and Traders Union Hospitality and Leisure Division, Philip Fenech, said that contrary to perception, bars in entertainment hotspots went out of their way to enforce the smoking ban.
“In certain places there is full enforcement of the ban. In fact, reports from certain establishments – especially in Paceville – indicate that police are going in and out too often.”
Mr Fenech conceded, however, that in other areas, enforcement of the smoking ban was “very, very slack”.
Statistics reveal that police have significantly upped efforts to enforce the ban over recent years. In 2004, police charged just 19 people with smoking infractions. Last year, the figure was 2,185.
People found guilty of breaking the smoking ban are slapped with a €233 fine. Establishments where people are caught smoking are also liable to penalties, but an agreement between the GRTU and the authorities protects larger establishments from prosecution, explained Mr Fenech.
“If an establishment is large enough to make it impossible for bar staff to monitor patrons’ behaviour, has clear ‘no smoking’ signage and no ashtrays or smoking provisions, then it will not be considered responsible for a patron smoking.”
This agreement does not apply to smaller establishments where staff could clearly keep an eye on customers, Mr Fenech added.
Part of the blame for the failure of an anti-smoking culture to take root is cultural, said sociologist Albert Bell. “Many northern nations identify much more strongly with the state and see laws as protecting them. We’re a much more family-centred society.”
As a result, Maltese often perceive laws as “foreign and imposed,” said Dr Bell, who heads the university’s department of youth and community studies. “The sense of detachment loosens our moral binds to the law and makes it easier for people to undertake deviant behaviour.”
In a diplomatically-worded statement, the Health Ministry said that while workplaces seemed to comply with the smoking ban, “other areas in the leisure industry” needed to do so too.
In Dr Bell’s opinion, having an effective, well-enforced smoking ban “will take time”.
He drew parallels with seatbelt legislation, which had drawn significant ire when first introduced in the 1990s but was now broadly accepted.
“I would expect the smoking ban to become better enforced over time. It is unrealistic to expect police to somehow monitor every bar’s patrons – a successful ban will only come about through greater auto-regulation and more peer pressure to observe the rules,” Dr Bell said.
Questions sent to the police, as is often the case, remained unanswered.

Smoke Free Ordinance takes center stage at NMB Council meeting

Monday’s North Myrtle Beach City Council meeting was characterized by limited new business and impassioned pleas by both advocates and detractors of the pending smoke free ordinance being proposed for the city of North Myrtle Beach.
On the consent agenda, council unanimously approved the Barefoot Landing Fireworks schedule for the 2012 season, the 29th Annual Winter Run and the 2012 council meeting schedule. Under new business, council also passed a resolution to amend an Easement Agreement between the city and the developer of the Prince PUD to grant an extension of time in which to relocate a beach access-way on the property of the PUD.

Though both new and old business was relatively tame, public comment turned out to be impassioned and somewhat heated as citizens discussed a controversial proposed ordinance by Smoke Free North Myrtle Beach that would prohibit smoking in enclosed public places, city-owned facilities and places of employment.
“Residents from Murrells Inlet to Little River want this ordinance to pass,” one supporter proclaimed Monday evening. “I’ve lost two sisters to lung cancer. This is an addiction that is worse than heroin. This issue is a matter of life and death.”
“No level of smoke is good for the body,” Dr. Nicolas Pennings of North Myrtle Beach stated. “I lost my father at the age of nine from lung cancer. It doesn’t take a lot of smoke to trigger negative effects in the body.”
What was particularly interesting about Monday night’s meeting was the growing presence of an organized opposition to the movement. Over the past few months, assertions by those in support of the smoke free ordinance have become increasing extreme. Supporters have publicly stated that second hand smoke can be more dangerous than directly smoking a cigarette and, as was just mentioned, that addiction to cigarettes is “worse than heroin addiction.” As a result, an opposition movement to the ordinance appears to be forming.
“Smoking is not illegal,” Susan Trexler, a North Myrtle Beach resident who described herself as being in the bar business since 1972, stated. “It’s wrong for anyone to mandate whether or not a business can or cannot allow smoking as long as smoking is legal. It should be the business’ choice.
“I believe if you want to get rid of smoking, then you should fight to make smoking illegal.”

Dispute over tobacco companies' payments settled

Attorney General Marty Jackley announced recently that the participating manufacturers in the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement have released their claims against South Dakota in the diligent enforcement litigation.

South Dakota was one of 12 states and four territories that are deemed uncontested by the major tobacco companies.

The dispute started in 2006 when the participating manufacturers reduced their annual MSA payment to the states. South Dakota’s annual payment is more than $20 million. The participating manufacturers claimed they were entitled to the reduction because the states did not diligently enforce certain statutes relating to other tobacco companies who were not part of the settlement.

As a result, South Dakota and other states sued the participating manufacturers.

“South Dakota has done its due diligence to enforce the tobacco laws arising out of the tobacco settlement agreement,” Jackley said.

“This success is the result of the cooperative efforts of the Department of Revenue and Attorney General’s Office with the full support of our state legislators.”

Tuesday Sector Leaders: Entertainment, Cigarettes & Tobacco Stocks

In trading on Tuesday, entertainment shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.8%. Leading the group were shares of Tudou Holdings Limited Ads , up about 6.3% and shares of Lodgenet Interactive up about 6% on the day.

Also showing relative strength are cigarettes & tobacco shares, up on the day by about 0.7% as a group, led by Star Scientific ( STSI - news - people ) , trading up by about 3.1% and Reynolds American ( RAI - news - people ) , trading up by about 1% on Tuesday.

Armed Robbers Take Cash and Cigarettes

Police are reviewing surveillance video of an armed robbery that took place Monday night at a Salina store. Police were called to Rod's Convenience Store #2, 1339 N. 9th, on Monday night around 10pm after a male clerk was robbed by two men dressed in black.

The suspects, dressed in black clothes and wearing ski masks entered the store at 9:57pm and demanded money from the register. The two fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash and two cartons of Newport cigarettes. The clerk told police one of them flashed a black handgun during the holdup.

The employee also described the two suspects as skinny and short - one standing about 5'8'' tall and the other shorter than that. If you can identify anyone in the video, or have any information concerning who committed this crime, call Crimestoppers at 825-TIPS, text SATIPS to CRIMES (274637), or visit Salina Police Department and follow Crimestoppers link to submit a web tip. You may receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 and you are not required to give your name.

Two packs of cigarettes stolen by man from Convenient Mart

A man gave up prying open a cash register and stole two packs of cigarettes during a burglary at the Convenient Food Mart on Pierce Street early Tuesday morning.
Surveillance video recorded the man smashing the bottom half of a glass door with a hammer at about 5:43 a.m. He crawled through the opening and jumped over the counter.
The man opened two drawers below the counter for keys to the cash register. When he didn’t find any keys, he used what appears to be a chisel and a hammer to pry open the register.
Several attempts were made to open the register without success. The man jumped over the counter and stole two packs of cigarettes from the middle of a rack, the video shows.
Police hope someone can identify the suspect by the video.
The man is described as having a thin build, and wore a blue hooded shirt, a black long coat, blue jeans, gloves and black shoes. He fled through the smashed door and was recorded heading west on the sidewalk in front of the store, police said.

Eight arrested in alleged B.C. tobacco smuggling plot

An investigation into large-scale tobacco smuggling to British Columbia has reached into Ontario, with the arrest of eight suspects accused of running a contraband ring that shipped more than half a million cartons of cigarettes from China to Canada, along with chemicals for the manufacturing of amphetamine and even counterfeit running shoes.
The suspects are alleged to be members of Asian organized crime, the RCMP said Tuesday in announcing their arrests.

The criminal network is accused of being behind two of the largest seizures of contraband cigarettes in B.C., with an estimated value of $8.3-million.

For two years, Canadian law-enforcement agents worked with police in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan to crack down on the group of alleged Asian organized crime.

During that time, the RCMP said, federal agents intercepted 11 shipping containers, seven in Vancouver and four in Toronto, that the gang used to smuggle 583,600 cartons of cigarettes and six tonnes of Phenyl-2-Propanone (P2P), an oily liquid for the illicit production of amphetamines.

Smokers find a way to save on cigarettes

A growing number of smokers are bypassing commercial brands and rolling their own cigarettes, at home or at a specially equipped business location.

Savings are the main draw. Roll-your-own smokers typically use pipe tobacco, which is taxed at a lower rate than tobacco made for cigarettes.

At We Roll in Cape Coral, for example, a 200-cigarette carton costs $27.50, including the 6 percent state sales tax. That’s about half the cost of a carton of brand-name products.

Savings of nearly 50 percent or more are not uncommon at other area stores catering to roll-your-own cigarette customers. The biggest part of the discount comes from roll-your-own operations using pipe tobacco, which is taxed at a much lower rate than cigarette tobacco.

“Some people say they save as much in a month as their car payment,” said Russ Peterson, co-owner of the We Roll Cheap Cigarettes LLC operating in Lee and Collier counties.

In the past two years, Peterson and business partner Lou McQuaid have opened five stores. They expect to open a sixth company-owned store as early as next week east of Fort Myers, near Palm Beach Boulevard and Buckingham Road.

The We Roll in Cape Coral occupies the former WaMu bank branch at the Coral Pointe shopping center. It’s outfitted with popular magazines, a patio table set and additional perky-red chairs for customers waiting to use the rolling machines. Framed portraits of vintage celebrities with cigarettes -- including Audrey Hepburn, Paul Newman, and Lucille Ball -- adorn the walls. Country music plays softly.




http://camelcigarettes.mypressonline.com/
http://tobacco.getenjoyment.net/

Cigarette maker Reynolds American 3Q profit falls about 4 pct on charges; adj. profit up 4 pct

Reynolds American Inc., the nation's second-biggest tobacco company, said Tuesday its third-quarter profit fell nearly 4 per cent on charges related to legal cases and other costs.
But the maker of Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit brand cigarettes said its earnings excluding those items rose nearly 4 per cent as higher prices, productivity gains and selling more of its smokeless tobacco brands that include Grizzly and Kodiak offset cigarette volume declines.
The company remains focused on delivering sustainable growth, "even with a difficult economic and competitive environment," CEO Daniel M. Delen said in a news release.
Reynolds American, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., said its net income fell to $367 million, or 63 cents per share, for the period ended Sept. 30, down from $381 million, or 65 cents per share, a year ago.
Earnings adjusted for the charges related to claims in lawsuits from smokers injured by their cigarette use and other costs were 70 cents per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected 73 cents per share.
Revenue excluding excise taxes slipped about 2 per cent to $2.2 billion from $2.24 billion, but beat analyst estimates of $2.16 billion.
The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 5.7 per cent. Its shares were steady at $39.37 in premarket trading.
Reynolds American said it sold 6.8 per cent fewer cigarettes than last year's quarter. That compares with its estimate of a total industry decline of 6.4 per cent.
U.S. tobacco companies cautioned last quarter that third-quarter cigarette volume comparisons and profitability would be hurt because wholesalers stocked up more than usual in that period last year.
The company sold less than 1 per cent more of its Camel brand and volumes of Pall Mall grew about 2 per cent.
Camel's market share remained stable at 7.9 per cent of the U.S. market, while Pall Mall's market share grew 0.7 percentage points to 8.6 per cent.
The company has promoted Pall Mall as a longer-lasting and more affordable cigarette as smokers weather the weak economy and high unemployment, and has said half the people who try the brand continue using it.
Reynolds American and other tobacco companies are also focusing on cigarette alternatives such as snuff and chewing tobacco for future sales growth as tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma make the cigarette business tougher.
The company sold 7 per cent more of its smokeless tobacco brands and its U.S. market share of the segment grew 1.1 percentage points to 31.6 per cent.
It also tightened its full-year forecast for earnings between $2.63 and $2.68 per share, excluding charges related to legal cases, tax items and other costs.
Analysts expected earnings of $2.65 for the year.
Reynolds American on Tuesday also said its board of directors approved an increase in the quarterly dividend of 3 cents per share, or 5.7 per cent, to 56 cents a share. The new dividend will be paid Jan., 3 to shareholders of record on Dec. 9.

What are the health risks of smokeless tobacco?

Smokeless tobacco has been banned in Minor League Baseball, there are calls to ban it in the majors, and just last week congress made an appeal to players not to use it in the World Series.

In this week's 8 Ways to Prevent Cancer segment, we look at the health risks of chewing tobacco.

It's sometimes perceived as a safer alternative to cigarettes, but there are at least 28 ingredients in smokeless tobacco that cause cancer. There's been a 36 percent increase in use by high school boys since 2003.
Today, 15 percent of all high school boys use it.

"Tobacco has nicotine in it," said Dr. Laura Bierut, a professor of psychology at Washington University School of Medicine and co-director of the outpatient psychiatry clinic. "Whether you smoke tobacco or use smokeless tobacco it is addictive and it's equally addictive regardless of the way you use it."

Addictive and deadly. Lung cancer is less common, but rates of mouth, tongue and esophageal cancer are high.

In fact, pre-cancerous changes can be seen in users long before a tumor appears.

"There's problems with the gums, problems with the teeth," said Dr. Bierut, "so not only is there cancer, but you lose your teeth, you have inflammation of your gums, and it's so important to avoid these types of cancers and problems."

Smokeless tobacco has been linked to baseball for more than 100 years, and in spite of the dangers, there's an on-going debate on whether to ban it from the sport.

In the meantime, appeals to players not to use it, like the one that came at the start of the World Series, are an attempt to send a strong message to young fans.

"Most of these products start being used in the teenaged years," said Dr. Bierut, "so part of the problem is that teenagers are becoming addicted to it, but then it continues on into the 20s and 30s."

Herman Cain Produces Brilliant Tobacco Ad

With Herman Cain leading Mitt Romney 25% to 21% in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, the next step for the Cain campaign is clear — it's past time to release a weird and creepy campaign advertisement to secure the allegiance of uncommitted primary voters.

Mission accomplished. "We've run a campaign like nobody's ever seen," says the man seen loitering outside an office building in the web ad that went viral on Monday. Watch it once, watch it twice, watch it 999 times and don't miss the :40 mark of this 56 second masterpiece…
Despite suggestions to the contrary, the star of the ad is not a registered sex offender who has managed to upload an "unlisted" (only those with a link may see it) Youtube clip to Cain's campaign account without anyone's knowledge. In fact, the smoking man really is Mark Block, chief of staff and chief operating officer for the Cain campaign, and a former Midwestern campaign operative "banned from politics in Wisconsin for three years and forced to pay a $15,000 fine after being accused by the Wisconsin State Elections Board of violating election law" during a 1997 State Supreme Court campaign.

And Herman Cain is probably not just a sophisticated performance artist intent on punking the GOP electorate, but is actually deeply committed to the goal of a more free/more nicotine-addicted America…

From 1996, when he left the pizza company, until 1999, Mr. Cain ran the National Restaurant Association, a once-sleepy trade group that he transformed into a lobbying powerhouse. He allied himself closely with cigarette makers fighting restaurant smoking bans, spoke out against lowering blood-alcohol limits as a way to prevent drunken driving, fought an increase in the minimum wage and opposed a patients' bill of rights — all in keeping with the interests of the industry he represented….

Under Mr. Cain's leadership, the restaurant association opposed higher taxes on cigarettes and the use of federal money to prosecute cigarette makers for fraud — positions that Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said had little to do with the restaurant business.

So maybe this ad is just a subtle piece of pro-tobacco, anti-nanny state advertising, and anyway, no one is talking about the commercial you managed to produce on your smoke break, are they?

Smoking ban is unnecessary

Recently, the Student Health Advisory Committee started a push to ban smoking on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, including outdoor areas. Banning smoking on the Twin Cities campus is a bad idea, and one doesn’t have to be a smoker to oppose it.

First, the policy would be impossible to enforce. The Twin Cities campus is far larger than any of the other University satellite campuses that have banned smoking. Almost any use of the police’s time would be better and more productive than cruising this massive area in search of the odd smoker.

The size of campus would also make it difficult for smokers to get to a place that permitted smoking. Smoking cigarettes is legal — it shouldn’t be unreasonably inconvenient to do so, and one shouldn’t have to leave campus to light up.

The current policy of making smokers stand 25 feet from building entrances is a good compromise. Smokers are out of the way of pedestrians and they have a place to dispose of their cigarette butts. If smoking were banned on campus, people would still smoke, but they’d no longer have designated areas to do so with the ability to dispose of their cigarette butts properly.

Getting a whiff of smoke while walking around campus is an inconvenience, not a public health risk sufficient to ban smoking on the entire campus. Being exposed to the habits of others that one finds distasteful is the cost of living in a diverse society. Everyone not sharing the same habits and behaviors is not something that needs correcting, especially when the system in place already prevents this habit from harming others.

Ohio Supreme Court to hear smoking ban challenge

The Ohio Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a bar owner's challenge to the state's ban on smoking in workplaces.

The ban prohibiting smoking in most indoor, public places was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2006 and took effect in 2007.

The owner of Zeno's Victorian Village in Columbus challenged the law after the tavern was cited for violations and fined $33,000. It argues the law is unconstitutional.

An appeals court upheld enforcement of the law, saying there was overwhelming evidence that Zeno's owners intentionally violated the ban. That decision reversed a lower court's ruling that tossed the violations and said the state health department exceeded its authority by holding Zeno's responsible for the actions of its patrons.

Boise looks at a smoking law, residents react

A packed house at Boise City Hall Tuesday evening as people for and against a smoking ban in bars, parks and other public areas raise their voices.

Public Information Officer for the Boise Mayor’s office Adam Park says the public comment ended a little after 7:30PM Tuesday night.

It was a mixed bag inside the council chambers as some said the Boise city council should not be allowed to take away the rights of smokers. Others said the issue was clearly a public health concern.

Ashlie Meyer works at China Blue, a local bar and is pregnant.

“It’s not a choice when people are smoking around you and somebody doesn’t smoke. It’s like you don’t have a choice when you are behind a bar or behind a desk you have to sit there and you just have to do your job,” says Ashlie Meyer who works at China Blue, a local bar and is pregnant.

Years ago China Blue made the decision to go smoke free.

“There are a lot of people you don’t see besides the customers, beer reps that have to walk into ten or twenty bars at day. Liquor reps that walk into bars, delivery people insurance people, just people that do business with bars,” said Owner of China Blue Ted Challenger.

It was clear at the meeting though, not all bar owners share that same sediment; Gary Sullivan owns a smoking establishment in Boise and gathered petition signatures to back his side.

“There is all kind of smoking bars and all kinds of smoke free bars. We all have the right to choose and that is what this country is about,” said Sullivan.

The proposed smoking ban would prevent smokers from lighting up in bars, city parks and staying 20 feet away from city owned buildings.

The next step in this process will continue next week. Councilors will review the issue again for a “1st reading.” If the council decides to adopt the proposed smoking ordinance it would take effect January of 2012.

Smoking ordinance fails to get support in council

An attempt to write tighter rules for smoking in Macon failed again to get through City Council on Tuesday, and council members said it may not be back for some time.
The ordinance narrowly passed the council in May, but Mayor Robert Reichert vetoed it and backers couldn’t muster the 10 votes necessary to override the veto. Following a public hearing, a revised ordinance came back to the council’s Public Safety Committee, but it didn’t have enough support there to make the full council’s agenda.

Nevertheless, Councilwoman Nancy White -- one of the ordinance’s co-sponsors -- said at Tuesday’s pre-council meeting that she intended to move for a vote on it anyway. It takes eight votes to disagree with the committee’s recommendation.
Just before the regular council meeting, however, ordinance backers took a quick head count of council supporters and chose not to risk defeat.
“We didn’t have a full house, so we decided not to play cards,” White said afterward. Proponents might have had eight votes, but they couldn’t be sure. Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, who strongly supported the previous version, was absent.
No council member made a motion to take up the ordinance. Both White and Councilman Larry Schlesinger, another co-sponsor, said they don’t expect it to return anytime soon.

Even the intent to bring it up drew a strong reaction from opponents. Councilman Charles Jones, one of six council members to oppose the previous ordinance, said he thought abrogating the council’s usual procedure was unfair.
“I think that you have really misled the citizens of Macon by asking to put this on tonight,” he told White in the pre-council meeting.
But Council President James Timley, though he also opposed the earlier ordinance, said the mechanism to change procedure was legitimate.
“There is a maneuver, and that’s legal. That’s in our rules,” Timley said.
The ordinance would have banned smoking inside all bars and restaurants, near business entrances, and near public playgrounds or park seating areas. But unlike the earlier version, it would allow smoking in other parts of outdoor parks and would not have gone into effect unless Bibb County passed a matching ordinance.
Reichert’s veto in May called for some amendments, including collaboration with the county. Had the ordinance made it through the council Tuesday, he likely would have signed it. Just before the meeting, Reichert described the current version as “acceptable.”

Before it was clear that the smoking ordinance would not come up for a final vote, about 40 people waited in council chambers and half a dozen lined up to speak against it. The crowd applauded when Timley announced it wouldn’t be brought to a vote Tuesday night.
The chamber then nearly emptied, and the drama left as well: Councilmen Mike Cranford, Lonnie Miley and Virgil Watkins also filed out before the rest of the meeting was over.
In other business, the council approved all other items up for a vote. Among those was approval of a 75-cent charge on all purchases of prepaid cell phone minutes to fund the local 911 call center. That’s a new tax which the state will collect anyway, starting Jan. 1.
The only way any of that money can remain in the city is through a council resolution to use it for 911 funding.
Council members also voted to accept a $199,656 AmeriCorps grant for the third year of funding a police cadet recruitment program, and ratified the purchase of E-911 equipment for $995,824. The latter purchase already was budgeted, but the revised deal with Motorola will give the city four microwave dishes instead of three, and nine work consoles instead of eight, for the same price, according to city Information Technology Director Stephen Masteller.

Detroit Cannabis Cup attracts 3,000 marijuana fans

Organizers of a 2-day medical-marijuana convention say 3,000 people attended the event in Detroit's Eastern Market.
High Times executive editor Dan Skye told the Detroit Free Press for a story Tuesday ( ) that the Detroit Cannabis Cup was held despite warnings from police that attendees should not smoke marijuana.

High Times, a New York-based magazine, sponsors Cannabis Cups in cities across the country.

The competition was to pick Michigan's best marijuana. Skye said trophies were awarded.

People with medical-marijuana cards were allowed to use marijuana in a "sealed medicating tent" at the event. Skye said police gave out tickets to several people for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Michigan voters approved medical marijuana in 2008, but the law is vague and does not explain how people can get their marijuana.

Large Marijuana Operation Busted

A months-long investigation into marijuana-growing oprerations by the Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcment Team (NET) has yielded six arrests and the seizure of 51 pounds of packaged pot and 319 plants valued at $430,000.

The bust is the second major one in recent days in Lexington County.

In this latest bust, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said on Wednesday the arrests and seizures of marijuana plants and packaged marijuana resulted from an eight-month undercover investigation that NET officers conducted concerning a large-scale, sophisticated indoor marijuana growing operation that was based in homes in western Lexington County.
In each home that was used in the marijuana growing operation, electricity was connected illegally from power poles to the residences, where the illicit electricity was used to power a sophisticated system of grow lights and irrigation equipment.

Arrested in the operation:

Ruben Cabrera, 38, of 3014 Pond Branch Road near Leesville, on charges of trafficking in marijuana and conspiring to manufacture marijuana. Officers seized 36 pounds of marijuana, which was packaged for distribution, in Cabrera’s bedroom at the home. Cabrera had begun construction to operate an indoor marijuana growing operation at the home, officers said.

Officers found the marijuana packaged in 12 bricks that each weighed three pounds, Metts said. The packaged marijuana was stored in a tool bag in a closet in the master bedroom at Cabrera’s home. Officers also found $3,250 in cash that was stored in a woman’s shoe in a second closet in the bedroom. Officers seized the marijuana and cash.

Carlos Hernandez, 60, 237 Hayride Road near Gilbert, on a charge of trafficking in marijuana. Officers found 111 marijuana plants and indoor marijuana growing operations that were set up inside Hernandez’s home as well as one trailer and one shed outside the home, Metts said. Officers seized the marijuana plants and two firearms that officers found in Hernandez’s vehicle.

Juan Manuel Padreda, 47, Osniel Cruz Padreda, 22, of 710 Mackinaw Road near Batesburg, on charges of manufacturing marijuana. Officers found 22 marijuana plants and an indoor marijuana growing operation at a shed outside Juan Padreda’s home, Metts said. Officers seized the marijuana plants and $543 in cash.

Oscar Rodriguez, 44, of 309 Buck Smith Road, Leesville, and Benita Pavon Roman, 47, of 313 Neely Wingard Road, Gilbert, on charges of trafficking in marijuana and manufacturing marijuana.

The pair are alleged with operating out of a home at 518 Hallman Mill Road near Leesville, where officers found 15 pounds of high-grade marijuana that was packaged in one-pound bags for distribution, Metts said. Officers also found 47 marijuana plants and an indoor marijuana growing operation at the residence.

Further, specially trained correctional officers at the county Detention Center who work under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) determined that Rodriguez and Roman entered the United States illegally from Mexico. The correctional officers placed detainers on Rodriguez and Roman, pending further action by ICE.

Those arrested were each being held on Wednesday at the county Detention Center while awaiting bond hearings, Metts said.

In addition to the six arrests, Metts said more arrests could come after searches of two other homes yielded marijuana.

Australia seeks world backing on tobacco legal fight

Australia is confident the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws will soon pass parliament, but the government warned on Thursday that the anti-smoking fight was not over and urged other nations to reject a possible WTO challenge backed by big tobacco.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the minority government was bracing not only for a court challenge to its plan to force cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from 2012, but also an intellectual property dispute at the World Trade Organization.

"A tobacco company themselves can't bring a claim in the WTO. A state has to do that," Roxon told Reuters in an interview.

"I won't be surprised if tobacco companies are out there looking for a country to claim on their behalf, and we urge countries not to do that."

The new laws, expected to easily pass parliament next week with backing from the conservative opposition and Green crossbench senators, are being closely watched by New Zealand, Canada, the European Union and Britain, which are considering similar restrictions.

The legislation is in two parts, one of which mandates that cigarettes can only be sold in plain olive green packaging and another part restricting tobacco company trademarks.

The pathfinding plan has infuriated tobacco firms including Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco, which have threatened a High Court challenge. Tobacco nations like Nicaragua, Kenya and Ukraine also say the measures breach global trade rules.

Despite political unease at home over potential compensation claims that tobacco companies have said could mount to billions of dollars, Roxon has been a passionate advocate for the laws within the Labor government, which has a one-seat buffer with the backing of Green and independent MPs.

Star Scientific Inc. (CIGX): Today's Featured Tobacco Loser

The tobacco industry closed the day up 0.8%. Alliance One International Inc (AOI) were all decliners today within the tobacco industry with Star Scientific Inc (CIGX) being today's featured tobacco loser. Star Scientific Inc fell 24 cents (-10.3%) to $2.57 on average volume. Throughout the day, 2.3 million shares of Star Scientific Inc exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 2.5 million shares.

Star Scientific, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, implementation, and licensing of tobacco curing technology that prevents the formation of carcinogenic toxins present in tobacco and cigarette smoke, primarily the tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA). Star Scientific Inc has a market cap of $272.8 million and is part of the consumer goods sector. Shares are up 19.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

TheStreet Ratings rates Star Scientific as a sell. The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income and feeble growth in its earnings per share.

You can view the full Star Scientific Ratings Report.
On the positive front, were all gainers within the tobacco industry with Philip Morris International Inc (PM) being today's featured tobacco industry winner.

Use our tobacco section to find industry-relevant news.
Or find some new ideas from our top rated stocks lists.
For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the tobacco industry could consider PowerShares Dynamic Food & Beverage (PBJ) while those bearish on the tobacco industry could consider PowerShares DB Agriculture Sht ETN (ADZ).

Youth to Youth kids talk tobacco with FDA

Drug and alcohol prevention advocates traveled to Boston last month to represent Dover Youth to Youth on their tobacco prevention tactics.

Youth to Youth members Kaitlyn Hutchins and Nick Piscitello spoke at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Tobacco Products on how they are reaching out to their community on marlboro tobacco use prevention.

The CTP is responsible for regulation of tobacco products and Youth to Youth Director Dana Mitchell said his students were chosen to represent one of eight groups from across the country. Mitchell said the students were asked for information on their tobacco prevention activities and what suggestions on tobacco control they would have for the FDA in the future. This is the first time students have been invited to such an event. It was held on Sept. 13.

"This meeting was for the youth advocates involved in tobacco control," he said. "They only invited a handful of people."

This opportunity allowed the students to talk with FDA officials about activities in their communities. Youth to Youth has been working hard on public service announcements, educational programs with younger students and going to conventions with students from across the county.

The meeting in Boston included representatives from several youth groups from around the U.S. that worked on the tobacco issue. Students hailed from as far as New Mexico and Nevada.

Anyone fancy a bowl of cigarette soup for lunch?

PARENTS will be given lessons in making cigarette soup in a bid to encourage them to smoke away from their children.

Smokefree North West has joined forces with Barnardo’s to carry out training sessions with staff in Bolton’s children’s centres to highlight the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke, including arsenic, formaldehyde and cadmium.

A kit, complete with cooking pot and fake hazardous liquids, will show parents some of the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke. Of more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, 60 are known to cause cancer as well as other avoidable childhood illnesses.

Parents will then be shown the “cigarette soup”.

Debbie Mellor, deputy head of Oxford Grove Children’s Centre, said: “I was really surprised by the amount of chemicals in cigarettes.

“We all want to protect our children so it's helpful to have all the right facts about how harmful secondhand smoke can really be.” The initiative is the next stage of the Take 7 Steps Out campaign, which asks smokers to take a few steps out of the house when smoking to reduce the dangers of children being exposed to secondhand smoke.

Jan Hutchinson, director of public health at NHS Bolton, said: “It’s important people are aware of the full facts about the amount of harmful toxins in cigar e t t e s. Th e dangers to children are very clear.

“By taking a few short steps outside of the home, parents can take the smoke away from children and protect them from the dangerous substances found in cigarettes.”

Deirdre Lewis, children’s services manager for Barnardo’s in the North West, said: “Using the chemical soup kit helps us equip parents with knowledge in our communities so they can make a positive step to protecting their children’s health.

“We want them now to pass on these messages and get the community talking so that we can prevent many children from suffering unnecessarily.”

Cigarette machines set to be stubbed out

STRICT laws to ban cigarette machines within easy access to members of the public are now being prepared by St Helens Trading Standards Officers.

The law, which comes into force on Saturday, October 1, bans cigarette vending machines from being sited anywhere that they can be accessed by the public.

It was passed following strong lobbying by various groups and the Department of Health, which prompted Trading Standards to conduct checks to see how easy it was for under 18s to obtain tobacco from the machines.

A coordinated Trading Standards North West regional survey found that in more than 60 per cent of cases children were able to buy cigarettes from vending machines without being challenged.

In the most recent checks, St Helens Council’s Trading Standards Officers found that volunteer youngsters were able to purchase tobacco in six out of the ten premises checked.

Councillor Alison Bacon, Cabinet Member for Environmental Protection, said: “It’s well documented that people who start smoking in their early teens are more likely to continue to smoke throughout their adult life.”

Trading Standards Officers will be out checking all public cigarette vending machines are removed once the new law is in force.

Any business requiring any further information on the legal requirements of the law should contact St Helens Trading Standards on 676353.

Virginia's Slim Pickings for Smokes

Xu Bing, one of China's best-known contemporary artists, didn't think it would be hard to get materials for an exhibit about tobacco in a city whose ties to the leaf run long and deep.

His installation opened over the weekend at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It explores the history, culture, and links between the tobacco industries in the U.S. and China. Mr. Xu was optimistic about finding 500,000 cigarettes for a 40-by-15 foot "Tiger Carpet"; a 40-foot-long uncut cigarette to be stretched—and burned—across the length of a reproduction of an ancient Chinese scroll; and 440 pounds of tobacco leaves compressed into a cube, with raised letters reading, "Light as Smoke."

But getting materials wasn't easy, even in a city so steeped in tobacco it once had an annual festival and Tobacco Bowl. Mr. Xu says the complications he faced reflect the very point of his Tobacco Project: to explore the entangled, contradictory relationship people have with one of the world's most widely cultivated nonfood crops, an economic engine that the World Health Organization links to the deaths of more than five million people a year.

"There's both a closeness and a distance," says Mr. Xu, a 1999 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant who has lived and worked both in the U.S. and China and who currently has an installation in New York made from 9/11 dust.

Altria Group Inc., Richmond-based parent company of Philip Morris USA and a major corporate donor to the VMFA, declined to donate cigarettes or other tobacco materials, according to Mr. Xu and museum staff. Altria has committed more than $1 million through 2013 to sponsor museum exhibits, including a recent successful Picasso show, but "we don't support every exhibit that comes to the museum," an Altria spokesman says.

Tickets Issued For Discarded Cigarettes

A crackdown was under way Thursday for those who carelessly discard their cigarettes.
Deputies in Harris County Precinct 4 in Spring are issuing tickets for those who throw a cigarette out of a window.
"You would be surprised how many people out in this area do not realize there is a burn ban that's on," said Mark Herman with Harris County Precinct 4.
The 300 deputy constables in Precinct 4 have been directed to educate violators and issue citations.
"It's not an option. If they see someone flick a cigarette out, they will take action. That is a requirement of state law. They flick a cigarette out, that's considered littering. However, if that cigarette sparks a fire, then it's considered a violation of our burn ban and the consequences for that are more severe," Herman said.
A citation for throwing a cigarette out of a window has a $200 fine. If the cigarette starts a fire, the fine goes up to $500.
Officials said they are hoping to prevent fires with the crackdown.

Fewer people smoking cigarettes

Fewer people in the U.S. are smoking cigarettes now.

And because of that, the Centers for Disease Control says the number of people getting lung cancer is down too.

A report by the CDC shows new lung cancer diagnoses among men fell in 35 states between 1999 and 2008.

And, after years of increasing, the rate among women went down nationwide between 2006 and 2008.

The CDC credits states' efforts to curb smoking such as higher cigarette prices and anti-smoking media campaigns for the drop.

University tobacco advisory committee membership set

The transition to a smoke-free campus progressed Friday when OU President David Boren announced the students, faculty and staff who will serve on the school’s tobacco advisory committee.

Boren selected five students, three faculty members, three staff members and three administrators to the committee, according to a press release. Committee selections were based on faculty and staff recommendations and elected student leaders.

The committee will decide the guidelines and regulations to submit to the OU Board of Regents to make OU a smoke-free campus.

“They will examine all issues including enforcement mechanisms, phase-in procedures and timing, additional resources to help those seeking to stop smoking and many other issues,” Boren said in a press release.

The committee is tasked with making recommendations by the December regents meeting, but if the committee needs to take longer, there is no definite time-limit, according to the press release.

Smoke Signals: How intense should Philly's war on tobacco be?

People who spew tobacco smoke into the air without regard for how what they are doing might affect your health?
Or: Prissy busybodies who give you tedious lectures about the evils of that cherished pleasure in your life, the occasional smoke?
Either way, you might be interested in Smoke Signals. It's a community forum series we at WHYY are launching this week.
It will be a series of dialogues, in four corners of the city, about what you might or might not be willing to support in terms of tobacco policies in Philadelphia.
We're gathering this input on behalf of the city Department of Public Health, which has given us a list of nine possible approaches to tobacco control. The department wants to know which of those measures you might be inclined to support, which oppose - and how fervently.
Some, such as the idea of mandating warning signs about tobacco's health effects at every point of sale, are actively on the table. A hearing on that one was held in the city on Sept. 8.
Some, such as banning smoking in public parks or banning the sale of tobacco near schools, have been tried in other cities and are being studied here.
Some, such as banning smoking in all public housing, are not within the department's purview, but have been discussed in other cities.

PHA calls for plain tobacco packaging

The Public Health Association (PHA) has written to the Prime Minister and Cabinet urging them to follow Australia and legislate for plain packaging on tobacco as soon as possible. The PHA believes the tobacco industry will quickly refocus its marketing efforts on the branding on cigarette packs, now the public display of tobacco products is to be banned.

Dr Keating said delegates to last week's PHA annual conference applauded the government's leadership in legislating to remove tobacco products from retail display.

But Dr Keating said there was also disquiet that the tobacco industry will waste no time in redirecting its investment toward 'in-home' marketing, probably even before the deadline for the dismantling of tobacco displays in retail outlets.

"We don't want the government to lose momentum - plain packaging will help prevent the uptake of smoking particularly by young New Zealanders - avoiding the premature deaths of 5000 of them, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions and saving taxpayers millions.

"It is inevitable New Zealand will introduce the same legislation as Australia at some stage, so there is little point in delay, and much to be gained by acting now.

"Recent New Zealand research1 clearly indicates young people relate very strongly to cigarette packaging.

"There is no doubt branding functions as advertising, and tobacco executives have admitted as much in their internal documents," says the PHA's National Executive Officer Dr Gay Keating.

"Once bought and left lying around people's homes, branded packets colourfully encourage young people to pick up the habit and make it harder for ex-smokers to stay smokefree."

Celebration to recognize faiths united against tobacco in Conway

Smoke Free Horry will sponsor a celebration on Saturday to recognize faith communities who have partnered with the organization for their Faith’s United Against Tobacco (FUAT) campaign.

A press release said the event will be held Saturday, September 10 at 10:45 a.m. at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, which is located at 1501 7th Avenue in Conway, S.C.

The event will feature nationally acclaimed speaker, anti-tobacco activist and former big tobacco manager, La Tanisha Wright, who will present insider knowledge about big tobacco contracts and their practices in minority and low-income communities. Music will be provided by Rejoice 1200’s “Reggie D,” and musical group, Cinseer, will perform during the event.

Wright, along with representatives from Smoke Free Horry, will be available for media interviews beginning at 10 a.m.

In addition, a free health fair will be offered, also beginning at 10:00 a.m. that day.

The FUAT campaign was created to encourage area churches to go smoke free and provides an outline of ways to educate church congregations about the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke. As part of the FUAT campaign, participants are asked to engage in various activities that help educate members about secondhand smoke exposure and smoking. Currently, 34 area worship centers have joined the campaign.

Buy Kent cigarettes online from europe.

Tobacco addiction kills Indian 'Superman'

But with cruel irony his death at the age of 25 this week from tongue cancer -- an apparent result of a heavy chewing tobacco habit since childhood -- just a week after the premiere of his new film, has brought him posthumous fame.

In "Ye Hai Malegaon Ka Superman" (This is Malegaon Superman), Sheikh plays a spoof version of the superhero, fighting an evil "gutkha king" who wants to flood the town with the highly addictive chewing tobacco.

"In the movie he's fighting against smokeless tobacco as Superman but in real life he himself has succumbed to the habit," his doctor Pankaj Chaturvedi, a head and neck cancer surgeon at Mumbai's Tata Memorial Hospital, said.

"He was supposed to be there at the premiere but he could not go. He was very, very sick," he added.

Sheikh's story is depressingly familiar for Indian cancer specialists, increasingly alarmed at a rise in tobacco use in the south Asian country and oral cancer rates among young people.

The slightly built former textile worker first started using gutkha tobacco mix at the age of eight and was consuming between 30 and 40 packets a day until at 18 he was diagnosed with oral sub-mucous fibrosis, which affects the jaw.

The condition later developed into cancer, leading to him having most of his tongue and the glands from both sides of his neck removed.

He also had radiotherapy to stop the disease spreading.
"These patients (with stage four cancer) have almost a 50 percent chance of the disease coming back," said Chaturvedi, an internationally renowned specialist on tobacco-related diseases.

"It happened to Sheikh within six months. His disease came back in his lungs and spread to the rest of his body. Nothing could be done. He was just on pain-relieving drugs."

Tobacco has been chewed for centuries in India, most commonly as "paan" -- betel leaf with tobacco powder, areca nut, slaked lime and catechu (Acacia tree extract) -- or "paan masala", a flavoured variety with or without tobacco.

Ready-made packets of gutkha have become popular in recent years, with sachets selling for as little as two rupees (less than 0.5 US cents) each.

Doctors' concern about gutkha use comes because of its use by people of all ages, particularly children, and from all walks of life and its being advertised as tobacco-free or as a breath freshener.

Gutkha, paan and beedis -- cheap, hand-rolled tobacco leaves -- account for 85 percent of India's tobacco market, with the remainder taken up by packaged cigarettes.

Chaturvedi said India -- the world's second largest consumer of tobacco behind China, with more than 240 million users -- is seeing a rise in oral cancers, whereas in the West rates are declining.

The World Health Organization has said the dramatic increase in oral sub-mucous fibrosis is "a new epidemic, especially among the youth... (that) has been attributed to chewing gutkha and paan masala".

"We're seeing a real surge in various oral cancers among young people, who are getting addicted," said Chaturvedi. "Normally we wouldn't have such cancers in youth. About 30 percent are below 35 years of age.

"It's shocking. That means they're starting at the age of 12 and developing cancers after 10 years' consumption."

"Sheikh was so frustrated with the whole gutkha issue," Chaturvedi said. "He didn't want his children to suffer the same fate.... But through his movie, he wants the message to be spread."

Opium poppies rare in North Coast marijuana gardens

If the poppies found growing at a forested Fort Bragg slaying scene prove to be the opium variety, it will be a rare find on the North Coast and California.

“It's pretty much an anomaly,” said Michelle Gregory, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice.

So far this year, the state Campaign Against Marijuana Production has found and eradicated more than 1.7 million marijuana plants. They've reported zero opium poppies, she said.

About 100 poppies suspected of being opium producers were found Saturday in a rugged, forested area near the Skunk Train line east of Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo, a forest manager, was shot at least twice by a man suspected of growing the poppies, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said. Melo and a companion stumbled onto the poppy garden while searching for a marijuana garden. The companion escaped the gunfire.

The suspect, Aaron Bassler, 35, a native of Fort Bragg with a history of mental illness, remains at large.

The poppies have been sent to a lab for testing.

If they are the opium variety, Papaver somniferum, it will be just the second time a garden of any size has been found in Mendocino County in almost three decades, officials said.

“I've seen two in my history,” said Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb, who's been on the force 28 years.

A few opium poppies occasionally crop up here or there, sometimes around marijuana gardens, he said.

Smallcomb said he is unaware of a rise in opium poppy production in the county.

“If it's a trend, it's something new,” he said.

Cigarette labels go too far

Reading this newspaper might cause paper cuts. Or, for Web users -- WARNING: Reading this page might cause eye strain. We doubt those warnings would cause many readers to stop using Star Press products.

If this sounds silly, then one has to question the efficacy of the government forcing cigarette makers to slap graphic photos on their packages starting in 2012. The Food and Drug Administration has approved nine new warnings to rotate on cigarette packs. They will be printed on the entire top half, front and back, of the packaging. The new warnings also must constitute 20 percent of any cigarette advertising, and will include a number for a stop-smoking hotline.

One warning label is a picture of a corpse with its chest sewed up and the words: "Smoking can kill you." Another label has a picture of a healthy pair of lungs beside a yellow and black pair with a warning that smoking causes fatal lung disease.

Four of the five largest cigarette makers filed a suit last week in federal court, saying the warnings violate their free speech rights.

The companies say the warnings no longer simply convey facts to allow people to make a decision on whether to smoke. Instead, they force companies to advocate for the government to stop smoking -- on a legal product -- more prominently than they display their own brands.

We're not sure corporations have free speech rights like you and me, but we do know the new labeling is silly, smacks of hypocrisy and is a perfect example of the overreach of government regulation.

Man robbed of cash, cigarettes after attack in east Bellingham

A 24-year-old man was beaten and robbed Friday morning, Aug. 26, after another man approached him asking for a cigarette, but then started throwing punches, police said.
The victim, a Whatcom County man who was visiting a friend in the 2100 block of Electric Avenue, stepped outside at about 9 a.m. to smoke a dunhill cigarette, said Bellingham Police spokesman Mark Young. A man then approached him and asked for one of his cigarettes and a light.
When the man got close enough, he started punching the victim, Young said. He then took cash and a pack of cigarettes from the victim.

Kent under fire for scheme’s £24m tobacco investment

Kent County Council has come under fire from campaign groups for investing £24m of its pension fund portfolio in tobacco companies.
The local authority fund invests about £13.5m in the Altria Group; £3.6m in Philip Morris; £3.5m in Imperial Tobacco; and £3.4m in Japan Tobacco - about 1% of its total equity investments.
But FairPensions, a charity that promotes responsible investment by pension funds and fund managers, said Kent's position reflects a common misinterpretation of investors' legal duties that ethical concerns can be easily dismissed by invoking a presumed duty to maximise profit.
It said pension funds are legally bound to defend their members' interests but this does not equate to a duty to pursue profit at any cost.
FairPensions Christine Berry said: "We all have an interest in getting the best possible pension but that isn't the only interest at play. In this case, relevant considerations could include members' ethical concerns or the cost of smoking to the taxpayer."
Kent County Council runs a pension fund on behalf of 350 public bodies in the county. The fund uses external investment managers to undertake investments and the fund has total investments in stocks and shares of £2.35bn.
A KCC spokesman said: "It is the external investment managers who decide which companies to invest in. The direct investments in tobacco companies currently represent 1% of our total equity investments.
"We have a financial responsibility to obtain the best possible return on investments of the pension fund, to keep down costs of the scheme as far as possible for us as an employer and ultimately for Kent taxpayers.
"To meet this responsibility, we do not impose restrictions on the companies that our external investment managers can or cannot invest in. However, we do monitor the activity undertaken by investment managers and, as with all our investment, we work to the UN Principles of Responsible Investment."
However, Action on Smoking and Health - a public health charity that works to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco - said it understands the fiduciary duty of pension fund trustees and that tobacco shares are currently very high, but declining sales, tougher regulation and litigation mean it is not economically sustainable in the long term.
ASH spokesman Martin Dockrell added: "In the context of currently high priced shares, falling sales, increased litigation and legislation it may well be now is the time to take profits from tobacco investments and invest them in something more sustainable for pension fund holders.