New Mexico Drops a Bill for $1 Cigarette Tax Hike

A bill that would raise cigarette excise taxes in the state by $1 a pack to raise money for education was snuffed last week when a legislative committee voted unanimously against the idea, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. However, two other bills remain that could raise the state's cigarette tax.
The House Business and Industry Committee voted to table House Bill 35, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Brian Egolf, which killed it for this session. Egolf said the legislation would have raised $36 million, earmarked for the public schools.
Health advocates, including the American Cancer Society, supported the bill, along with several labor and religious organizations. Supporters saw the bill as a way to prevent further cuts to education and other state programs as the state faces a $600 million budget shortfall, the report stated.
Opposing the bill were tobacco lobbyists and representatives of several business groups, among them Mark Smith, of the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co.,
"We pay a good wage," he told the newspaper. "We've been in Santa Fe 27 years." Smith claimed the cigarette tax increase would cause the loss of hundreds of jobs statewide in the retail industry.
Other opponents noted that the federal tax on cigarettes went up by 62 cents a pack only last year.
However, there are still two Senate bills that would raise cigarette taxes, but if one or both passed the Senate, they likely would have to go through the same committee that voted down this bill, the report stated.

EU to crack down on cigarette smuggling

Brussels is mobilizing itself to cope with smugglers of cigarettes, which are causing annual losses of around €7 billion. The dam on the road to the EU smuggling will be developed in Poland, where in 2009 authorities seized 750 million cigarettes, which is 100 million more than in the preceding year.
However, this is only the tip of an iceberg as Poland is also the main distribution center of cigarettes floating from the East to the European Union countries. The stakes are high as each successful shipment of a container of cigarettes with 100,000 packs means net earnings of zł.2 million for the smugglers.
"Tobacco products are on the top of the smuggling list in the EU. International gangs see it as more beneficial than drugs.
Profits are comparable, penalties lower, while there is social approval in some countries," said Piotr Dziedzic from the Finance Ministry.

Bihar man shot dead for refusing to pay for cigarette

A shopkeeper shot dead a man after he refused to pay for the cigarettes purchased in Saran district of Bihar, police said Tuesday.
Basudev Singh, in his early 30s, was shot dead by Uday Singh at Sabalpur Diara village in Saran district late Monday.
“After Basudev refused to pay money for the cigarettes bought, Uday and Basudev had a heated argument. Uday then killed Basudev,” a police officer said.
The officer said Uday is absconding.

Renowned Gold Coast Hypnotherapy Specialists to Help 1,000 Gold Coast Smokers Quit in 2010

The buzz continues to swirl as 2009 comes to a close and we hurtle fast towards the New Year 2010. For many, the habit of smoking continues to present financial, health and social concerns that are associated with the use of cigarettes. Even with all of these concerns, many are still addicted to this unhealthy habit that has now been banned in many public places for the safety of those who do not smoke. Many local Gold Coasters will have a remarkable opportunity to end their smoking habit for once and for all in 2010.
My Success Club™ is a well respected Gold Coast hypnotherapy clinic that has taken up the challenge to assist Gold Coast residents by providing the highest quality hypnosis products and services to individuals and organizations in all areas of their professional and personal lives. The Quit Cigarettes in 60 Minutes™ Program is highly regarded as one of the best smoking cessation programs in the world. Dedicated to delivering advanced hypnosis principles with compassion and understanding, My Success Club assists smokers in kicking their habit easily without painful withdrawal symptoms.
Smoking is regarded as disgusting by many people and publicly frowned upon. Cigarettes are packed with cancer-causing ingredients such as tar, formaldehyde, ammonia, nicotine, arsenic and hydrogen cyanide. These habit forming ingredients cause permanent damage to the lungs and negatively affect blood vessels, hormones and the heart, slowly killing smokers from the inside - out. Hypnosis can make quitting easy!
Who is My Success Club™? Director Clinton J. Carter says, “We are a passionate group of professionals that want to help people to transform their lives in 2010. When you can stop smoking, there is a world of opportunities awaiting you. We are here to help put those possibilities within your grasp.” Carter has a special commitment that stems from his desire to help people liberate themselves from nicotine permanently and holds a record of distinction with an amazing success rate of 95.6% to date. The majority of clients have quit in only one hypnosis session.
For the New Year 2010, the club’s aim is to improve the quality of at least one thousand people’s lives by helping them to quit smoking. In support of this challenge, My Success Club™ offers a lifetime guarantee and pain free treatment, making their quite smoking program the only one of its kind available to Goal Coast smokers who are sick of their smoking habit.
My Success Club’s Quit Cigarettes in 60 Minutes Program™ is the answer for those who are looking to make the change and quit cigarettes. In 60 minutes with hypnotherapy a lifelong smoking habit can be completely eradicated. Embracing the idea to quit smoking is easy. Taking that first step is often the most difficult. Those who have tried and failed should consider an approach that works with the My Success Club™ New Year Promotion that is the most successful quit smoking Gold Coast located program offering hypnotherapy and hypnosis for those who want to give up smoking for once and for all.
“My Success Club™ Gold Coast Hypnotherapy Specialists embrace a fundamental desire to help 1000 Gold Coast smokers to extinguish their habit and stop smoking using our hypnosis services for the New Year 2010.” Located at Centrepoint Arcade Business Centre, Level 1, Suite 18a, 3290 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise, Queensland 4217 in Australia, Gold Coast hypnotherapy is administered to achieve safe, effective results in only one session. This Gold Coast hypnosis clinic offers privacy for hypnosis treatments that work. Lifelong smokers have sought out hypnosis and discovered that there is life after cigarettes.
“I am looking forward to helping those who are feeling the pinch of the stigma associated with smoking cigarettes. Our hypnotherapy procedures change lives, one by one, creating happy, healthy, smoke free conditions for those who are ready to give up smoking for good,” Clinton advises and welcomes everyone to visit My Success Club™ and experience the difference of a life without Smoking in 2010 and be one of the happy 1000 soon make smoking a thing of the past.

Herbal Cigarettes No Healthier Than Regular Smokes

It's a generally accepted fact that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health, leading to a number of cigarette alternatives. But those who light up Chinese "herbal" cigarettes thinking they are safer are wrong, researchers say.
"The public needs to be aware that herbal cigarettes do not deliver fewer carcinogens," said lead researcher Stanton A. Glantz, Ph.D., professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine and Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. "We hope our findings will help to dispel the myth that they are a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes; they are not."
Results of the study are published in the December issue ofCancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, which has a special focus on tobacco. The researchers conclude that herbal cigarettes, which combine medicinal herbs with tobacco are just as addictive and no safer than regular cigarettes.
Chinese herbal cigarettes are becoming increasingly more popular in China and elsewhere in the world. Glantz, along with colleagues in China, examined nicotine and carcinogen levels between the two marketed products. They compared 135 people who smoked herbal cigarettes and 143 people who smoked "regular" tobacco cigarettes. The study was conducted in one city in China.
"Levels of carcinogens were correlated with measures of nicotine intake, meaning that the more nicotine smokers took in, the higher the levels of carcinogens they took in," Glantz said.
Forty-seven percent of participants who switched to use of herbal cigarettes did so because herbal cigarettes had a "better taste;" 24 percent switched because of their health concerns and the notion that herbal cigarettes were a healthier alternative. Most participants who switched to herbal cigarettes reported an increase in number of cigarettes smoked per day.
"Adding herbs to the cigarettes would not be expected to affect the nicotine, which is the addictive drug in tobacco, and cancer-causing chemicals in the smoke of cigarettes," said Glantz. "The Chinese tobacco industry should avoid misleading the public when promoting herbal cigarettes as 'safer' products."

14 charged with cigarette smuggling

Federal prosecutors in Alexandria charged 14 people Thursday with paying money or trading guns and drugs to purchase 388,000 cartons of contraband cigarettes intended for sale in New York.
The case in U.S. District Court is the latest to target smugglers who buy truckloads of cigarettes from undercover agents in Virginia and sell them in other states without paying the required cigarette taxes. Federal officials have been cracking down on the practice for years.
The people charged Thursday with trafficking in contraband cigarettes allegedly purchased them in Stafford County. Two people were also charged with agreeing to hire a hit man to kill a man and his wife who were believed to be stealing some of the cigarettes.

Cigarette vending machines banned

A ban on cigarette vending machines is set to become law across the UK, after it cleared its final Commons hurdle on Tuesday night.
MPs approved Lords amendments to the Health Bill, following the surprise agreement in the Commons to the proposal from Labour former minister Ian McCartney last month.
Health Minister Gillian Merron said it was hoped the ban would dissuade young people from smoking, as these were the "new recruits the tobacco industry needs to replace those who die".The measure will come into force in 2011.
Under the initial wording of the Bill, the Government had intended to regulate vending machines more strictly and only impose a ban if that failed to prevent cigarettes being sold to children.
But Mr McCartney's amendment was passed without a vote and Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the will of the House would be respected.
Ms Merron told MPs that vending machines reflected a time when shops closed early and it was difficult to buy cigarettes in the evening.
The ban brought the UK into line with 16 other EU countries, she said.

Students tell tobacco companies to back off

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Red Ribbon program focuses on staying healthy and achieving goals.
The schools use games and other activities to show kids how drugs, alcohol, and tobacco can affect those goals.
Wednesday, the kids at Consolidated Elementary in Vigo County wrote letters to tobacco companies to let them know how they feel about their role in getting kids to smoke.
"They're doing a good job of getting kids addicted. And so we want them to stop targeting kids," student Kelsey Farris said.
"These aren't going to be their customers of the future. Not if we can help it, " school counselor Monica Tener-Smith said.
More Red Ribbon activities are planned for the coming weeks.

Whatever the flavor, it's bad

It's hard to argue with the Food and Drug Administration's decision to ban the sale of flavored cigarettes. To be honest, I always thought cigarettes came in regular and menthol, not chocolate and strawberry.
The legislation passed earlier this year giving the FDA authority over tobacco products authorized it to ban flavored cigarettes, while protecting the kind I got hooked on.
The justification for the ban is that the cigarette companies have been using kiddie flavors, as they've used cartoon characters, to appeal to teenagers. The tobacco industry faces unique challenges - given that so many of its best customers die - which makes recruiting new smokers an economic necessity. And studies have found that 17-year-olds are at least three times more likely to puff on fun-flavored cigarettes than are those over 25.
It sounds like a major step until you read the fine print: The biggest tobacco companies don't even make these cigarettes; the folks who did had pretty much stopped after Congress acted; and the ban doesn't touch menthol, the most popular flavor.
So will banning flavored cigarettes, which made up some 1 percent of the market, stop teens from opening the door to addiction?
I wouldn't bet on it.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in this country. Nearly half a million people die every year from smoking-related illnesses. About 50,000 of those are people whose only exposure to smoke was secondhand.
None of that seems to mean a lot to teens and young adults, especially girls, who start smoking to be cool or lose weight or find something to do with their hands when they're nervous.
I started at 15 and quit at 33. I tremble every time I have a chest X-ray. I lost my best friend to lung cancer, and she didn't smoke. The woman I am closest to is being treated for lung cancer. She didn't smoke.
When I was 15, I didn't worry about getting emphysema or cancer or heart disease. Yet I begged my father to stop smoking; his cough terrified me. He half-tried a few times and stopped smoking in the house, but he never really quit. By the time I started, he'd given up trying. He died at 53.
And that was not, I should add, enough to get me to quit for 10 more years.
Mortality isn't much fun to contemplate. Luckily for them, most young people don't. Even when you lose someone you love to cigarettes, you can convince yourself that it has nothing to do with you. From the perspective of a 20-year-old, 53 looks very far away. Until it isn't.
In a recent speech, President Obama sought to enlist young people in the fight for health-care reform, relying on a University of Michigan study that found that about 40 percent of Americans would lose health-insurance coverage in the next 10 years.
The Joe Wilson wannabe I debated on TV that day kept attacking Obama for using a bad study as a scare tactic. As far as I could tell, the study was fine. The real problem was it wasn't a very good scare tactic: The young - among those most likely to lose insurance when they age off their parents' plan - don't get scared about their health. If they did, you wouldn't need to ban chocolate cigarettes, because no one would be buying them.

Washoe officials predict more budget cuts in 2010-11

Washoe County expects to cut spending in the 2010-11 budget after making severe cuts in the current year.
And it could take more than a decade for county property taxes to return to pre-recession levels because of state property tax limits, officials said.
With home values cut in half, Assistant County Manager David Childs said property taxes are expected to decline significantly in 2010-11 starting in July. But as property values eventually increase, he said property taxes will be slow to recoup because of a 3 percent cap on residential property taxes paid each year.
"So, the county could see a significant decline in property tax revenues that could take over a decade before revenues recover to anything near pre-recession levels," Childs said.
Childs was cited in a report by the International City/County Management Association about how communities are dealing with the recession. Washoe County was among five governments profiled in the report.
"We are hopeful that aggressive cuts made in 2009-10 will minimize the need for draconian cuts in 2010-11. However, it is expected that there will be more cutting that needs to be done."
Loss of property taxes
The county work force shrunk by 500 employees to about 2,690 employees. Since July, 100 workers were laid off and 150 retired early. Raises were eliminated over two years, and workers have agreed to take a 2.5 percent pay cut for most of 2009.
County parks have lost half of their budget, and county libraries are in a similar situation.
Budget Manager Darin Conforti said it's too early to talk about budget cuts for next year, but it is one of several scenarios under study. Without some growth in sales taxes, he expects that the budget will have to be trimmed.
"The harder one is what's going on with sales taxes," he said. "We have had such a sustained decline."
For 2009-10, property taxes are 47.7 percent of revenues, budgeted at $205.7 million. That's up from $196.6 million in the last fiscal year.
Retail sales, cigarette and alcohol taxes and the county's share of motor vehicle registration fees have been in decline for 33 of the past 36 months, including double-digit declines during the past 13 months. They comprise about a third of the county's revenues.
Conforti said county finance officials met with county Assessor Josh Wilson and Treasurer Bill Berrum last week to get earlier estimates for property taxes for next year.
Lower property values and countywide sales taxes also would affect budgets for Reno and Sparks.
Wilson cut residential values 15 percent countywide for the current fiscal year to reflect the tumble in housing prices. Based on initial reappraisals, he said Monday that residential values could be cut another 15 percent for the next fiscal year in July 2010.
Of 171,500 parcels in the county, Wilson said almost half are vacant. New construction is not subject to the tax limits, and commercial properties are under an 8 percent cap. It's too early to speculate on those values, he said.

Cigarette smuggler jailed for £116k operation

A cigarette smuggling man from Sunningdale has been jailed for his part in a £116,000 counterfeit operation.
Michael Ali, 60, of Cross Road, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Leeds Crown Court.
Ali was part of a five-man gang that tried to import cigarettes from Belgium, intended for sale in Yorkshire and the North West.
The gang were foiled by officers from the HM Revenue and Customs after their plan to use a Yorkshire-based textile firm's identity was rumbled.
They had hidden cigarettes among bath and tea towels which were then uncovered by officers as they were being unloaded at a self-storage depot in Pontefract, Yorkshire.
More than half a million Blue Superking cigarettes were found in boxes, thought to be worth an estimated £116,000 in lost excise duty and VAT.
The four other members involved in the smuggling operation were also found guilty of the offence and sentenced to various periods behind bars or durations of community service.
Ali had pleaded guilty to all the charges at Leeds Crown Court on November 3 last year.

Cigarette Thief Sought

Pickens County deputies continue to search for a man who broke into a convenience store and swiped dozens of cartons of cigarettes.
The burglary happened at the Sav-A-Ton at 3790 Calhoun Memorial Highway in Easley at 2:22 a.m. on Aug. 17.
Security video shows a white male in his mid to late 20s, wearing a pink poncho, shorts and a rag wrapped around his forehead.
The burglar also carried a white and green plaid bag that he used to carry the cigarettes.
Deputies say it appeared the man had used a cinder block to break out a plexiglass door, and then crawled through the opening.
Anyone with information on the theft is asked to call the Pickens County Sheriff's Office.