Memphis man second to go to court

GREENVILLE, Miss. (AP) - A Memphis businessman linked to a multistate black-market cigarette operation will be in federal court in Greenville on Nov. 24 to face charges in the investigation, according to court documents.
However, prosecutors have not released any information on charges against Randy Benham and Jerry Burke.
Burke, of Tupelo, will be in the Greenville court that same day.
Documents accuse Burke of flying a plane to traffic the cigarettes and continuing his involvement with the business, even after he sold it to Benham.
Prosecutors allege Benham made it appear the cigarettes were being sold in Mississippi when they were being diverted to other states.
Federal agents raided a Tupelo warehouse owned by Benham in May. They seized thousands of cartons of cigarettes on which no state or federal taxes had been paid.

Just one cigarette harms young arteries

A new study shows that just a few cigarettes a day can harm young arteries. One cigarette was found to increase stiffness in the arteries of 18 to 30 year olds by twenty-five percent.
The findings, presented by Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009, show how tobacco can harm young adults. Dr. Daskalopoulous says “Our results are significant because they suggest that smoking just a few cigarettes a day impacts the health of the arteries. This was revealed very clearly when these young people were placed under physical stress, such as exercise."
Arterial stiffness can leads to high blood pressure, and eventually can lead to heart attack and stroke. When the heart beats and the artery is stiff, the heart has to work harder, eventually causing the it to become larger and less efficient.
The study tested arterial stiffness of young smokers to non-smokers, using a method called method applanation tonometry. The test is similar to a cardiac stress test, but instead of measuring the heart’s response to stress, it measures the response of the arteries to stress. When stressed, the arteries of smokers became stiffer. Conversely, those who did not smoke showed reduced stiffness in the arteries.
Dr. Daskalopoulou explains, "In effect we were measuring the elasticity of arteries under challenge from tobacco." An interesting finding was that the stiffness of arteries in smokers and non-smokers was the same at rest.
"In effect, this means that even light smoking in otherwise young healthy people can damage the arteries, compromising the ability of their bodies to cope with physical stress, such as climbing a set of stairs or running to catch a bus", says Dr. Daskalopoulou. "It seems that this compromise to respond to physical stress occurs first, before the damage of the arteries becomes evident at rest."
The study reinforces the damage that can occur from tobacco smoke and the impact on youth. Just a few cigarettes a day can harm young arteries. The findings are another reason to find a way to stop smoking. Speak with your doctor for medication help to stop smoking. According to the study, it takes few cigarettes to cause the arteries to become stiff, and the effect on youth is noteworty considering the number of young adults who smoke.

Alcohol, cigarettes are much more dangerous than pot

Michael Gimbel is remarkably uninformed about medical marijuana and drugs generally, in spite of his former role as drug czar in Baltimore County.
Alcohol and tobacco are the drugs of death and widespread harm for Americans and very large profits for big American corporations, lawyers, and the prison industry and unions.
There is not a single recorded case of a death due to marijuana overdose, but tens, even hundreds of thousands of Americans die annually due to the legal drugs whose makers profit from so handsomely and then use those profits to keep safer and cheaper alternatives like marijuana off the market. All those profits buy a lot of legislators, drug czars, prisons and power to keep the status quo money machine flowing.
Sure, the present circumstances lead some small operators to game the system with medical marijuana, but it is mostly a benign and harmless chemical compared to what the system makes legal. A large part of the story the media does not tell very well flows out of the abuse of power for economic purposes by those who run the present system.
If Marijuana, alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs were all controlled to the same degree, by similar rules, America and its people would be a vastly healthier, safer and less corrupt country.

No buts! Syrian president bans smoking in public

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria's president on Monday issued a decree banning smoking in public places, joining an anti-smoking trend already under way in other Arab countries.
The ban also includes a rare restriction in the Arab world: limiting places where Syrians can indulge in the hubbly bubbly — water pipes known locally as argileh.
President Bashar Assad's decree, which will to into effect in six months, bans smoking in restaurants, cafes, cinemas, theaters, schools, official functions and on public transport. Offenders will be fined 2,000 Syrian pounds — about $45.
Syria had taken steps before to try to restrict smoking, including a 1996 decree issued by Assad's late father, Hafez, that banned smoking in government institutions, hospitals and at the airport.
But the ban was often flouted and not strictly enforced. The younger Assad recently issued a law that banned the sale of tobacco to those under the age of 18.
Monday's decree is a much more sweeping measure reflecting Syria's desire to join other Arab countries struggling to control smoking with bans and anti-smoking campaigns.
Such laws are not easily enforced in the tobacco-loving Arab world, where people light up in offices, universities, taxis and even hospitals and where smoking has long been a social imperative and a rite of passage for young men. Packs can cost as little as 50 cents.
The decree issued by Assad, a British-trained eye doctor, also bans the favorite Mideast pastime — smoking water pipes — except in well-ventilated and designated areas. Also outlawed are tobacco advertising and the sale and import of sweets and toys modeled after tobacco products.
Health Minister Rida Saeed said authorities were working on campaigns that explain to the public "the health hazards of smoking and the environmental, economic and social vices of smoking."
Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates — and most recently Iraq — have imposed similar restrictions on smoking, but the bans vary in scope and enforcement.
Emirates authorities have banned smoking in public places and indoors, including water pipe smoking in certain places such as restaurants in residential neighborhoods.
Last year, Egypt, one of the top 15 smoking countries in the world, launched a campaign of visual warnings about tobacco's dangers, including a requirement that cigarette labels carry images of the effects of smoking.
Iraq's government in August unveiled sweeping curbs on smoking after parliament ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which requires governments to fight smoking.
Turkey banned indoor smoking earlier this year, leading a man to shoot a restaurant owner to death after being asked to put out his cigarette.

FDA bans flavored cigarettes to fight smoking by youths

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned flavored cigarettes last week in an attempt to stop teenagers and young adults from becoming dependent on tobacco.
One of the FDA's first acts under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, a new law expanding the administration's right to regulate the tobacco industry, was to ban flavored tobacco Tuesday. This includes tobacco with a fruit or candy flavor, as well as clove cigarettes.
Menthol is excluded from the ban, but in a statement by the FDA, officials said they are looking for ways to regulate other tobacco products.
The new law also requires tobacco companies to post larger warning labels on packs of cigarettes and gives the FDA the power to demand lower amounts of nicotine and to control the type of advertisements on cigarettes.
Flavored tobacco was banned nationwide after the FDA found that teen smoking is often linked to it. According to a study cited by the administration, 17-year-olds are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes than smokers over 25.
"Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh. "FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."
Earlier this year the Lee County Health Department spearheaded the Tobacco Free Lee initiative, one that plans to cut tobacco use in the county. Currently, 20 percent of adults in the county smoke and the amount of youth using tobacco is higher than the state average.
In a behavioral risk survey given to Lee County students, 5.7 percent in middle school and 18.4 percent in high school said they have smoked in the last 30 days. Statewide, the amount is 5 percent for middle school and 14.5 percent for high school.
Women are also more likely than men to smoke in Lee County, 22.6 percent of women compared to 16.4 percent of men.
Major tobacco companies, including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Inc. and other smaller companies, have filed a lawsuit against the FDA claiming that restrictions in the law are violating their First Amendment rights. Not every company sells flavored tobacco, but those that do are poised to lose millions of dollars.
Earlier this year the Florida Legislature issued a $1 tax on cigarette packs to not only raise funding for health programs, but to curb younger smokers from developing a dangerous habit. This also includes a 60 percent surcharge on wholesale tobacco.

Smoking Kills And E Cigarettes Could Save Smokers Lives

With smoking being one of the leading causes of death in the United States and around the world, people have been looking for a healthier alternative for years now. While some try to quit with patches, gums, pills, and other methods such as hypnosis, there are a number of people who are now switching over to a product called the e-cigarette.

Tobacco cigarettes emit around 4,000 chemicals and many of them are known to cause cancer, including formaldehyde, arsenic, benzene, and Polonium-210, but e-cigarettes contain only a few ingredients and by removing the tar, some health officials say that they could be safer than tobacco by 100 times.

E-cigarettes come with many different conveniences, including the fact that a user no longer has to wonder where to put their cigarette out, whether they are out in public or in a private home. Since they do not burn, e-cigarettes do not have to be put out. Cigarettes are one of the biggest causes of wildfires around the world and the mass use of e-cigarettes would remove that risk.

E-cigarettes also do not pose a risk of setting yourself or a piece of furniture on fire if you fall asleep with it in your hand. In fact, most users have reported that the nicotine craving is eliminated with only a few drags and because it can be set down anywhere, such as a desk or side table, most users actually forget it's there when they become pre-occupied with work, TV, or other things. Some have claimed that this actually has resulted in them smoking less during the day, because the craving is eliminated so quickly and they can pick up the e-cigarette and put it down anywhere at will.

Gone are the days of being committed to smoking an entire tobacco cigarette out of a sense of monetary responsibility. With the price of cigarettes on the rise, many smokers will not waste even half of a cigarette and will finish it, even if they don't want to. E-cigarettes get rid of that self-imposed responsibility.

Another great thing about e-cigarettes is that you no longer have to hear complaints from children that they are stinky. While most e-cigarette brands smell different, they do not smell nearly as bad as lit tobacco. There is also the benefit of your clothes and hair not smelling bad anymore, your breath will benefit, and the mist will not stain your teeth yellow like tobacco smoke does.