Exercise the Right to Exercise Without Smoke

Exercise walks are the foundation for my daily routine. For me, a day without exercise is like a day without water. I need them to release my manic energy, to clear my mind and to improve my overall physical health. Not to be dramatic, but it was my team of doctors who put me on this regime. Essentially, walking is my medicine. For the most part my exercise walks have been less stressful than they were last summer. So far I have had zero incidents with dogs or potential serial killers. They are not doing as much utility work in my neighborhood like they were last year so I don’t have to breath in as many fumes while I walk the 90 degree hills.

 Well, I should rephrase that. I’m not breathing in construction fumes while I walk, but I am breathing in cigarette smoke. I don’t know where she came from, but there is a woman who is ruining my daily walk. She has consistently been walking at the same time as me for the past three weeks now. I don’t mind sharing the public roads with a fellow walker, but this individual is not exercising. I don’t know what her deal is but she walks dressed in work attire. She is constantly chain-smoking cigarettes the entire time while simultaneously screaming on her cell phone. It doesn’t matter how loud I adjust the volume on my iPod, I can still hear her.

 On two separate occasions she actually stopped her phone conversation to try to tag along on my walk. Generally I am a really friendly person who loves to make new friends. However, I cannot stand the smell of cigarette smoke. Especially when I am covered in sweat and breathing extremely hard. I’m also a people-pleaser so I can’t just ask the woman to leave me alone or put out her tobacco stick. It’s against my nature. This inappropriately dressed smoker is causing me quite the pickle, my dear readers. As of last week my new technique was to start talking on my iPhone extremely loud when I began to approach her on the road.

She seems to leave me alone if she thinks I’m taking an important call. So the minute that she’s in my eyesight I place the phone to my ear and start screaming things like, “Sell low. Buy big!” or “Lady Gaga can’t afford me”. I’m not sure what any of that means, but the woman leaves me alone. Sadly the phone trick still doesn’t solve the problem of her chain smoking near me while I’m walking. I think I’m just going to have to start wearing one of those SARS masks. Perhaps I should write a local commissioner about creating an exercise smoking ban? I mean they have them in bars and restaurants. Why not have them where people are exercising as well? Oh right. That whole civil liberty thing, huh? Well, I guess she can exercise her freedom to smoke while I just plain old exercise. Seems fair. Doesn’t it?

Tobacco Bonds Could Go Up in Smoke, Moody’s Says

Three-quarters of the $20 billion tobacco bonds rated by Moody’s Investors Service could go into default if cigarette consumption continues to decline at the current rate, the ratings firm said in a report today. The bonds are sold by states and backed by payments from cigarette manufacturers that flow from a legal settlement in the late 1990s.

The size of those payments will depend on how many cigarettes Big Tobacco actually sells in the future and estimates of that figure are rapidly shrinking because less people are smoking. Declines in cigarette purchases are running between 3% and 4% a year, and unless that rate tapers off, 74% of the bonds Moody’s rates will miss payments, the firm said. Even the drop in consumption slows to between 2% and 3%, one-third of the bonds could default.

Bonds most at risk are those with longer maturities, and those that rank subordinate to other bonds, meaning that they will be paid out later, when declining cigarette sales will have higher cumulative impacts. New Jersey’s benchmark $1.26 billion 5% tobacco bond due 2041 is trading between 77 and 80 cents on the dollar this month, up from about 72 cents at the start of the year, according to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Gary Bettman’s Big Tobacco Playbook

A big problem is brewing on Gary Bettman’s watch: how to deal with an apparent spike in brain trauma among hockey players. The owners hired him in February of 1993 with an agenda that included two goals: one, promote “the product” of hockey to a wider audience, and two, effect a change in the game’s violent image.

 Under his stewardship the NHL has gone from a $400 million business to a $3.3 billion one. Bettman has met the first goal … in part because he hasn’t met the second. Failing to meet that second goal has had consequences. The product he sells, being a permissively violent one, is losing many of its players to central nervous system-related injuries that seem to be direct results of that violence.

 Stripped down to the elements, Bettman is selling a product which presents a significant health risk to those who actually ‘create’ the product, the players. In the 1950s the tobacco industry had a similar problem: faced with rising concerns over the carcinogenic danger of its product to consumers, the industry hired renowned PR firm Hill & Knowlton (H+K) to defend its image in the minds of the public. The tactics pioneered by H+K to defend big tobacco allowed them to make huge sums of money for as long as possible. It doesn’t matter if the product is dangerous to the public or dangerous to those who make it, the tactics remain the same and are so successful that they have been adopted by several industries.
Examples include:
 Aspirin consumers and Reye’s Syndrome
 Makers of Vinyl chloride (PVC) and angiosarcoma of the liver
Makers of chromium 6 and lung cancer
Makers of beta-Naphthylamine and bladder cancer
Makers of benzene and leukemia
Aspartame consumers and cancer
Cell phone users and brain tumors (I’m not saying that aspartame or cell phones cause cancer;

I’m only saying that both the artificial sweetener industry and the cell phone industry are right now employing the big tobacco game plan. The carcinogenic issues are in dispute; the tactics they use to keep it that way are not.) Epidemiologist David Michaels calls it the manufacture of uncertainty. Epidemiologist Devra Davis says the point is to prolong this uncertainty so as to enrich the industry for as long as possible, or until the reality can no longer be denied. So what are some of the plays from the big tobacco playbook and how does it appear that Gary Bettman is using them?

Cigar smokers fuming over new regulations

The consistent growth of a cigar-seeking customer base led Munwar Mohammed, owner of Tobacco City, to rent the space next to his Crystal Lake business for expansion. Now, he’s worried potential cigar regulation might slow that progress. “This comes at a time when we were planning on expanding our humidor. I’m already taking the space next to our store and building a humidor like six times as big as what we have,” Mohammed said. “So this is not good news.”

 As the Federal Drug Administration turns its attention to regulating cigar use under the 2009 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, those in the premium cigar industry are pushing to be left out of the equation. Pending legislation in the House and Senate would amend the act to exempt premium cigars – defined as a cigar that is “wrapped solely in tobacco leaf, contains no filter, and weighs at least 6 pounds per 1,000 count” – from FDA regulation. If the new legislation doesn’t go through, the premium cigar industry could be facing what some would consider devastating regulation.

The FDA could choose to take measures like banning walk-in humidors and self serve displays, banning certain flavors, limiting marketing and advertising, regulating size and shape of cigars, banning the cigars from individual sale and limiting nicotine, according to Cigar Rights of America. Premium cigar smokers and those in the industry argue the larger, more expensive sticks, which account for about 250 million of roughly 7 billion annual cigar sales, are a different issue than your run-of-the-mill Swisher Sweets or filtered mini-cigars.

“People that don’t use them on a regular basis, those are the ones that enjoy the premium cigars,” said Steve Wright of Cary, an occasional cigar smoker. “As oppose to those other ones that are probably everyday usage like cigarettes.” Bill Spann, the CEO of the International Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, said widespread cigar regulation neglects to account for the way premium cigars are smoked. He advocates for a more refined definition of what a premium cigar is, which the legislation in the House and Senate would accomplish. “Our products are enjoyed by adults, they’re celebratory in nature, they’re not addictive. Nobody’s ducking outside for a cigar break,” Spann said. “And frankly, you don’t see a teenager on a corner with a $15 cigar.”

Senior pushed, robbed of cigarettes on Saskatoon street

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A 66-year-old man in Saskatoon is shaken after he was pushed and robbed of his cigarettes on Sunday afternoon, according to city police. Two women, aged 22 and 23, have been charged with robbery with violence in connection with the incident, which Saskatoon police say took place at about 12:46 p.m. CST. Police say the man, who had a cane, was confronted on the 200 block of 33rd Street West, was pushed down and had his cigarettes taken from him.

The man was not injured but he was "emotionally shaken" by the incident, police said in a release. Witnesses told officers they saw two women running westbound in the south alley of 33rd Street West. The pair was arrested a short time later on the same street. A police dog then found the stolen cigarettes in a lane nearby.

Police did not release the names of the two women accused of robbing the man. They are in custody and are expected to appear before a justice of the peace on Tuesday. In the release, police thanked the witnesses "for their involvement in the reporting and apprehension of the persons responsible for this brazen daytime robbery."

Banned driver caught taking mum's car to buy cigarettes

Teen smoking news read on this link: www.tobacco-news.net/category/teens-smoking

RUNNING out of cigarettes landed a Burry Port youngster in court when he was caught driving while disqualified. Benjamin Samuel, 21, of Llys Ashburnham, took his mother's car without consent while she was on holiday and drove it while disqualified to buy more cigarettes, Llanelli magistrates were told last Thursday. He pleaded guilty to both offences, as well as an offence of possessing 2.44 grams of cocaine — which, when questioned by police, he told officers he had at home.

Prosecuting, Gerald Neave said officers were parked in Cliff Terrace on May 19 when their attention was drawn to a black Renault Megane, which immediately turned off the main road on seeing the police car. "PC Saunders illuminated the blue lights and followed the car into the estate," he said. "As the police turned in, they saw the vehicle had turned off the road into a parking area. "The door was flung open and the driver ran away. "Officers immediately recognised him and knew he was disqualified from driving."

Samuel ran out of sight as he fled through gardens to get away, but officers knew his house was only a short distance away, the court heard, and arrived as he walked in. He was arrested on suspicion of driving while disqualified and taking a vehicle without consent, and in interview told officers he had cocaine on his bookcase. "The PC was aware that there were other officers at the address, and asked Sergeant Heulwen Aston if there were drugs in that location," said Mr Neave. "She confirmed there were."

The street value of the powder was estimated to be £122, magistrates were told. Defending, Daniel Griffiths said Samuel was subject to a 20 month community order for driving with excess alcohol, and that there were concerns about the progress made. "The probation officer thinks it's a good idea to adjourn the case to prepare a report as far as sentencing is concerned," he said. The case was adjourned until tomorrow.

Increased VAT on cigarettes to impact ITC

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The Uttar Pradesh Government recently increased state VAT applicable for cigarettes to 50% from 17.5%. The implication of this is likely to impact ITC's performance as UP accounts for around 5% of ITC's cigarette sales in value terms. The Street has varying view on the effect of this on the company's stock price. According to Manoj Menon of Kotak Securities, if the company absorbs this incremental tax, it will impact the company's FY13 EPS by 2%.

The report highlights that in FY2007-08, UP had levied a 33% trade tax on cigarettes when most other states had moved to 12.5% VAT (which was reversed within a few months). According to channel sources, trade channels took advantage of the differential tax in UP thereby limiting the impact on the industry. While the firm's view on ITC's stock remains positive, it sees the strong performance of the stock in the near term as limiting the upside in the stock.

Another equity research firm Espirito Santo Securities has recommended a sell on ITC. According to the firm's latest report on the stock, the risk of tax increases on tobacco has heightened and more states may see tobacco taxation as an easy option. ITC is heavily exposed to several of the states with the greatest fiscal vulnerability.