The cafes are filled with perfumed smoke, hip music and the chatter and laughter of the young people who enjoy them.

Hookah pipes use charcoal to burn flavored tobacco; the smoke passes through water and through a hose from which the user inhales. The lounges are filled with comfortable couches and decorated in a chic way that makes reference to the pipe’s traditions in the Middle East.

Now, a study has been released that shows how this ritual has really caught on among today’s young people.

According to the study by University of Florida researchers, 11 percent of high school students and 4 percent of middle school students have tried smoking hookah.

“This is something that’s become popular in the last couple years,” said Tracey Barnett, medical sociologist and lead researcher on the study.

Some users think the water acts as a filter and makes hookah safer than smoking cigarettes.

“There’s no reason to think it’s any less harmful,” Barnett said. “There’s no safe way to use tobacco.”

Michael Dowie has been working at Hookah Hutt on University Avenue since May 2009. He’s 19, studying History at Santa Fe.

“I know it’s bad, but I still do it,” Dowie said. “I’m aware that it’s not healthy for you.”

He said a lot of young college students and seniors in high school come in to smoke hookah.

Florida’s minimum smoking age is 18.

The owner of Hookah Hutt has been running his shop in Gainesville for three years. He preferred not to be named out of concern for his family. He said that he checks the ID of anyone who looks close to underage.

“If you’re not 18, we can’t serve you,” he said.

He said that his lounge is a good place to socialize. “What makes hookahs so enjoyable is that you connect with many people,” he said.

He said he doesn’t try to hide the fact that smoking is unhealthy. “It’s just as bad as cigarettes … it’s not good for you,” he said.
By Andrew Ford, Gainesville

The California State Board of Equalization (BOE) today announced that the BOE has notified wholesalers and distributors that it is illegal to sell flavored cigarettes or roll-your-own (RYO) under the federal U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provision of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The BOE sent a special notice by email informing them of this new federal regulation. Under federal law, these products can no longer be manufactured, imported, or sold in the United States and could be seized by federal, state or local law enforcement authorities. Cigarettes and RYO products banned by the FDA have been and continue to be removed.

This federal ban prohibits a cigarette or any of its component parts (including the tobacco, filter, or paper) from containing, as a constituent (including a smoke constituent) or additive, an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or spice, including strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, or coffee, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or tobacco smoke.

For general information regarding the FDA’s Tobacco Program and the ban on flavored cigarettes and RYO products, please refer to the FDA’s website at www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/default.htm.

To access the product listing on the California Tobacco Directory, please refer to the AG’s website at: http://ag.ca.gov/tobacco/directory.php.

It is illegal for distributors to affix a California tax stamp on packages of cigarettes or pay the tax on roll-your-own product unless the manufacturer and the brand family are listed in the California Tobacco Directory.

The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $53 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes. For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.

A senate inquiry will examine draft laws which would see plain cigarette packaging mandated in Australia, Family First Leader Senator Steve Fielding said.

The laws would ban advertising logos or trademarks on any cigarette packets so tobacco products would only carry plain labelling dominated by health warnings.

“There is no case for allowing any glossy brand promotion for a product that is lethal and addictive,” Senator Fielding said.

“Smoking related diseases cost the Australian community over $30 billion each year.

“Family First’s plain tobacco packaging bill would take the polish off cigarette branding and the positive images the tobacco giants try to associate with their products.”

Chair of Cancer Council Australia’s tobacco issues committee, Kylie Lindorff, said Family First’s reforms to tobacco product packaging are essential to reducing the unacceptable level of cancer death and disability caused by smoking in Australia.

“It is incongruous enough that a poorly regulated product that is available from retailers almost anywhere kills more than half of its consumers,” Ms Lindorff said.

“For the products to also be marketed in glossy packets intended to convey the aspirations or sense of identity of the consumer is even more absurd.”

The Heart Foundation also strongly supports Senator Fielding’s laws because current cigarette packaging is a potent form of advertising and promotion for smoking.

“Generic plain packaging, with a clear graphic warning on the front and back of the pack, should be mandated to counter the allure of smoking and reduce the disease burden it causes,” National Heart Foundation’s tobacco control spokesperson, Maurice Swanson said

The Public Health Association of Australia says smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia, with over 15,000 deaths each year.

Family First introduced its Plain Tobacco Packaging (Removing Branding from Cigarette Packs) Bill 2009 on 20 August 2009.

NEW YORK – Ireland’s implementation of a workplace smoking ban in 2004 appears tied to a decline in maternal smoking rates as well as lower risk for preterm births, study findings hint.

Compared with the year prior to the smoking ban, 12 percent fewer women reported smoking during pregnancy in the year after the ban, Dr. Zubair Kabir, of the Tobacco Free Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland, and colleagues report.

Their study, in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, also revealed “a welcome sign,” Kabir’s team notes. They observed 25 percent lower risk for preterm births in the year after the smoking ban compared with the year prior to the ban.

Kabir and colleagues analyzed records at Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital to assess whether Ireland’s workplace smoking ban altered smoking during pregnancy, a known risk factor for preterm birth and having a low birth weight infant.

Their comparison included 7,593 births in 2003 and 7,648 births in 2005, and allowed for other maternal factors tied to birth risks such as the mother’s age, number of previous births, alcohol intake, blood pressure, and complications during pregnancy.

Overall, babies with the highest birth weights on average were born to former smokers. By contrast, babies with the lowest birth weights had mothers who smoked during pregnancy.

However, in addition to the noted declines in maternal smoking and preterm birth risk, the investigators also identified 43 percent greater risk for low birth weight in the year after the smoking ban compared with the year prior to the ban.

This finding “is intriguing and needs further exploration,” Kabir and colleagues say, particularly in light of evidence that exposures to secondhand smoke during pregnancy may play a role in having babies with low birth weight.

They also call for further exploration of their observed increase in Caesarean delivery rates – from 15.4 in 2003 to 19.5 percent in 2005.

BJOG, An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, December 2009

Competition is the master of a true free market and seems to be working for the electronic cigarette industry as a whole. The improvements in technology over the last several years has produced some strong competition in the industry that is making for better quality products and strides for more controlled e liquid that is used to produce the vapor.

With top companies spending thousands on health studies and lab analysis studies to verify their products are safe, and engineering cost rising to stay ahead of the game to come out with the next generation products, it is an ideal example of the free market in the U S.

Studies of electronic cigarettes are on the rise not only in the United States. but around the globe as well. With a recent study in South Africa that shows some amazing results in helping people to quit smoking tobacco is a testament to the fact that electronic cigarettes, which was already a excellent alternative, may be deemed as a product that may help millions kick the habit of tobacco smoking. The study in South Africa stated that 45% of the people who used them for 8 weeks completely quit smoking tobacco.

Earlier in 2009 another study out of New Zealand by a world renowned health professional and ant-tobacco advocate stated that electronic cigarettes are between 100 and 1,000 times safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes. Health New Zealand was founded by Dr Murray Laugesen in 1995 after serving a full 18 years as an established medical officer in the Ministry of Health and in the Public Health Commission.

Dr Laugesen is one of the most recognized anti-smoking health practitioners in Australia and New Zealand and has been the recipient of many awards, including a medal from the World Health Organization in 1998 “for achievements deemed worthy of international recognition in promoting the concept of tobacco-free societies.” Dr. Laugesen claims that after having performed tests on electronic cigarettes, they are 100 to 1,000 times safer than commercial tobacco cigarettes.

With the progress of many studies and others that have been completed, the electronic cigarette market is a prime example of an open and free market that self regulates to make better and safer products for consumers. It seems that the only time that manufacturers are corrupted is when they become tangled in political corruption.

After reading a story on The Consumerist, consumer protection site owned by Consumers Union, I could not stop thinking. The subject of smoking tobacco is always an interesting one. From one side, there is default “if you smoke, you know it’s probably bad for you” and from another comes the grave error that tobacco industry made when it came to advertising their products. Personally, I was always neutral when it comes to smoking because a part of my family has to smoke tobacco [not the post-processed kind known as cigarettes] to avoid a non-curable cancer. Yes, that’s correct – smoke to avoid cancer. At least that particular type. I came clean in genetic testing and hence, I am not smoking but I am definitely against discrimination of any type.

The reason for this story is a set of isolated incidents where Mac owners who experienced issues with their computers ended shut out by Apple Inc., claiming secondary smoke and OSHA violations are the cause for the warranty termination. Given the description of the issues at hand, we smell a seven-day old fish left out at 50C/120F.

“Dena set up an appointment at the same Apple store. They told me that they would take pictures of the computer – both inside and out before determining whether to proceed and that if the only problem was the optical drive, they’d probably just replace it. Dena called me earlier this week to deliver the “bad news.” She said that the computer is beyond economical repair due to tar from cigarette smoke! She said the hard drive is about to fail, the optical drive has failed and it isn’t feasible to repair the computer under the warranty. This computer is less than 2 years old! Only one person in my household smokes – one 21 year old college student. She said that I can get it repaired elsewhere at my expense. I asked why my warranty didn’t cover the repair and was told it’s an OSHA violation.”

There are two sides of each medal, but after reading a certain Apple-related story on the Consumerist, this definitely takes the cake. It turns out that fruity company from Cupertino decided to void warranty if you’re a smoker without stating that in the purchasing contract or warranty terms. Regardless of being a smoker or not, this is illegal. Secondly, calling “OSHA violation” at the time when Apple still ships products that contain hazardous materials is nothing else but bull.

In all seriousness, this is a dangerous precedence, because if customers don’t end up suing Apple for discrimination we might end up with more invisible warranty limitations which you would be unaware of. This issue goes beyond nicotine as a hazardous material as it opens us a whole set of circumstances where a company that is known for manufacturing fragile hardware maximizes its profits as it unilaterally shuts part of the warranty without prior consent.

We offer you improbable, but not impossible timeline of future warranty limitations by Apple:
2010: Apple voids warranty to all users who leave their computers in dusty rooms
2011: Apple voids warranty to drivers with “DUI” [Driving Under Influence]
2012: After initial shock, Apple cancels warranty to any alcohol consumer, citing “our machines feel threatened”
2013: Apple voids warranty to women during pregnancy “to avoid child trauma”
2014: The company cancels warranty if you eat meat because “you’re damaging the planet”
2015: AppleCare technician has to qualify you to see are you suited for purchasing Apple’s product
2016: Additional controversy: Apple initiates genepool testing to determine product suitability
2020: Apple cancels warranty to all carbon-based life forms – “because you aren’t organic enough”

Fruity company? Then again, with all these restrictions, one might start to ask – instead of telling people how to live and what they can or can’t consume, it might be a good idea to either re-start manufacturing or put more attention to QA department over at Foxconn. People who paid several thousand dollars for their Core i7-based iMacs aren’t amused at the fact a lot of iMac units are arriving dead.

© 2009 Bright Side Of News*, All rights reserved.

Mayor Bart Cox opened the November meeting with an opening prayer and a pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

After approval of the previous meeting of Oct. 8, and the approval of bills and warrants, time was given to Lorie Huntington of the Governors Youth Council.

Huntington then made a presentation about the dangers of the new smoke- less tobacco products being marketed to grade school and high school students. The items she displayed were about the size of a cell phone and looked like packages of candy, lip balm containers or lipstick containers. These products have all the ingredients of a cigarette, and are five times stronger and more addictive than cigarettes. The cigarette companies have found a loophole in the law and the government has not added any laws making it illegal to market these products to teenagers and younger students. Although the tobacco companies will deny their target is youth, these products appeal to the youth because of their packaging.

Huntington provided information. Some of the new tobacco products being tested have as much as three times the nicotine as the average cigarette, putting children at risk for tobacco related poisonings.

A 1-year old who weighs about 23 pounds could suffer severe toxicity or death if they ate 10-17 Camel Orbs, or 17 strips, or three to four sticks according to information provided by the Utah Department of Health. A 4-year old who weighs about 35 pounds would have to eat 12-27 orbs, or 27 strips or five sticks. High concentrations of nicotine in these products make them a serious health threat to young children.

Last year alone the Utah Poison Control Center took 102 tobacco poisoning calls, 88 of which were for children age 4 or younger, according to Marty Malheiro, the Center’s coordinator of outreach education. These tobacco cases included chewing tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, filter tips, snuff and unknown tobacco products.

All of these dangerous products can be purchased at the local stores in Carbon and Emery counties. Huntington said, “We all need to be aware of them and the effects of what they are doing to the youth in our area. The tobacco companies are targeting our youth and this is just a new way to do so. The hotline number for quitting is 888-567-8788. The lines are open Monday through Sunday from 6 a.m.-1 a.m.,” said Huntington.

In other business the City Council passed a resolution establishing an Identity Theft Policy in compliance with recent federal and state legislation they also passed a resolution establishing policies and procedures guidelines for new accounts, security deposits and returned checks.

The Orangeville City Council passed two resolutions authorizing the issuance of Taxable Lease Revenue Bonds of not more than $180,000 for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, installing skate park improvements and related matters.

A public hearing will be held on Dec. 10, concerning the issuance of the $180,000 in bonds for the Orangeville Skate Park.

Councilman James Davis has interviewed several skate park contractors and has developed a skate park layout and design using prefabricated skate park ramps on a large concrete slab. The exact location of the skate park has not yet been determined by the City Council.

The City Council also approved an outside of the city water and hook-up for Jim Fielder. This water hook up will cost Fielder about $2,000 and one water share.

Jacob Tuttle gave a report on the activities of the Youth City Council and Mayor Bart Cox appointed Carmen Humphrey as the advisor to the Youth City Council.

Orangeville City’s community Christmas chili/soup cookoff will be held on Dec. 5. Sign-ups for the chili/soup cook-off will be at the city hall. Sign up on or before Dec. 4. Chili and soups will be accepted from 3-3:45 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the Community Center. Bring at least one gallon, they will be served at the dinner portion of the Community’s Christmas Party. The judging will be at 4 p.m. at the old Fire Station/Community Center. Childrens crafts from 4-5 p.m. at the City Hall. From 5-7 p.m. the chili and soup dinner will be served. Orangeville officials encourage all to sign up for the chili/soup cook-off.

By PHIL FAUVER
November 24, 2009

Given the current H1N1 flu pandemic, State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe, M.D. says there’s never been a better time to quit smoking.

“Smoking damages your lung tissue, making you more susceptible to lung infections like bronchitis and pneumonia, which may complicate an influenza infection,” said Dr. Monroe. “Damaged lung tissue does not heal as efficiently after an infection as healthy lung tissue. Smoking also suppresses your immune system, making a smoker more susceptible to getting the flu in the first place.”

“When we look at the hospitalizations and deaths from the 2009 H1N1 flu, we can clearly see the negative impact chronic diseases, including tobacco-related illnesses, have on a person’s risk to develop serious illness or to die from the flu,” said Dr. Monroe.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has targeted individuals aged 25-64 with underlying medical conditions, like asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), to be among the first to get the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine as they are at higher risk for influenza-related complications.

Pregnant women are also targeted to be among the first to receive the H1N1 flu vaccine. According to the CDC, pregnant women are at a higher risk to get the flu and to have severe complications, including preterm labor, severe pneumonia, fetal distress, and even maternal death. Smoking during pregnancy can increase these risks, according to Dr. Monroe.

“Unfortunately, there are counties in our state with significantly higher than average rates of women who are pregnant and smoke,” said Dr. Monroe. “We know pregnant women are at higher risk of complications from the flu, and smoking can only compound the threat.”

“Our goal is to help Hoosiers live longer, healthier lives,” said Karla Sneegas, executive director, Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation agency. “We know current economic issues in the nation are likely causing extra stress for individuals, which can make it even more difficult to quit. However, we want Hoosiers to know, if you are ready to quit smoking, we are here to help.

“The first step in quitting can be as simple as picking up the phone,” said Sneegas. “The free Indiana Tobacco Quitline – 1-800-QUIT-NOW – is available from 7 a.m. – 3 a.m. seven days a week with highly trained quit coaches ready to help with advice and tips designed to help callers quit for life.”

“Our goal is not only to help people quit using tobacco, but to assist their family and friends as well. A strong support network is critical to success in quitting,” added Sneegas.

For more information regarding information on how to quit using tobacco, call the free Indiana Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit www.in.gov/itpc.

Cigarettes are a clear public health problem. A significant number of people who smoke regularly throughout their lives will develop serious health problems including lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. And for 30 years now, governments around the world have worked to change people’s attitudes toward smoking. Indeed, when I visited Tunisia in early November, they pointed out that 2009 was designated as a year-long anti-smoking campaign.

There are two classes of measures that have been taken to fight smoking (and related public health problems like alcohol and unhealthy eating). One is to make smoking less attractive in the short-term to counteract the positives of smoking. The other is to provide warnings about the dangers of smoking.

As I have written before in previous entries, one reason why smoking is so difficult to quit is that it provides some pleasure in the short term (and for the addicted smoker also the absence of painful cravings). The health risks are in the long-term and so they have a weaker pull over current behavior. Thus, measures like making it illegal to smoke indoors in public places and raising the price of cigarettes through taxes are aimed at decreasing the pleasure of smoking in the short term.

SmokersThe other major public health initiative is to influence the information that is available about smoking. For example, in the US, there are very few venues in which cigarette manufacturers are allowed to advertise, and so there are few positive messages about smoking in mainstream media. In addition, by law, cigarette packs have to come with a warning about the dangers of smoking.

A paper by Jochim Hansen, Susanne Winzeler, and Sascha Topolinski in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology examined the effectiveness of these warnings on the attitudes of smokers toward smoking.

The authors reasoned that there are two kinds of smokers. Some smokers find that smoking is an important part of their self concept. They are truly smokers. Other people smoke cigarettes, but that is not an important part of their self-concept. They do not identify strongly as smokers.

There are also two kinds of warnings that are often given about smoking. Some of those messages are about the negative social consequences of smoking. For example, a warning might point out that “Smoking makes you unattractive.” Most of the warnings that actually appear on cigarette packs tend to focus on the danger of death associated with cigarettes, issuing warnings like “Cigarettes are dangerous for your health” or “Cigarettes cause lung cancer.”

In other posts, I have discussed the idea of mortality salience: that being reminded of your own mortality can affect your self-esteem. Hansen and colleagues reasoned that a cigarette warning that highlights that cigarettes may cause death could actually backfire. When someone identifies strongly as a smoker, then a warning that focuses on mortality can threaten that person’s self-esteem. Because they identify strongly as a smoker, the easiest way to boost their self-esteem is to increase their favorable attitude toward cigarettes.

To test this hypothesis, a number of cigarette smokers were tested. Some of these people were ones for whom smoking was an important part of their self-concept, while others were ones for whom smoking was not that important to their self-concept. The smokers read either a warning that talked about how smoking decreases a person’s attractiveness or a warning that talked about how smoking causes death. Later, these people rated their attitude toward smoking.

As these researchers predicted, if people thought smoking was an important part of their self-concept, they rated smoking as much more attractive if they read a warning that focused on death than if they read a warning focused on attractiveness. That is, for the group of smokers whose identity is bound up with smoking, the kinds of warnings that are typically shown on cigarette packs actually backfire.

This research suggests the importance of gathering evidence about programs that relate to the behavioral aspects of public health problems. On the surface, nobody could oppose big warnings on cigarettes that trumpet their health risks. However, we must be careful, because these warnings could actually do more harm than good.

By Art Markman
November 24, 2009, Psychologytoday

Legislation sponsored by Assemblywomen Connie Wagner and Joan Voss (both D-Bergen) to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors and include e-cigarettes in the New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking in indoor public places and workplaces, was unanimously released today by an Assembly panel.

Wagner said she’s concerned e-cigarettes are being marketed to children because they offer flavors like chocolate, banana and strawberry and could serve as a gateway to real cigarette use.

“These are dangerous devices and I want to make sure our children are protected,” Wagner said. “I’m very concerned that young people who use these things will get hooked on the nicotine and eventually move onto the real thing, opening the door to a lifetime of expensive and debilitating health problems.”

E-cigarettes look like the real thing but don’t contain tobacco. They employ a metal tube with a battery that heats up a nicotine solution. Users breathe in the resulting vapor.

“Electronic cigarettes contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals, with one study even finding they use a toxic ingredient found in antifreeze,” Voss said. “We have every reason to be worried about the safety of these products that are easy for youngsters to buy and also contain no health warning like you find on real cigarettes.”

The merged legislation (A-4227/A-4228) would extend the state ban on the sale of tobacco products to those under 19 years of age to e-cigarettes and include e-cigarettes in the New Jersey Smoke Free Air Act, which prohibits smoking in indoor public places and workplaces.

The Wagner-Voss legislation was released by the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee and now go the Assembly Speaker, who decides if and when to post them for a floor vote.

There is a feeling of decadence that comes from smoking a good cigar that is unmatched by almost any other leisure activity.

Perhaps it is the unfashionable machismo, or the mischief of enjoying something that is so bad for you. Or perhaps it is simply the perverse satisfaction that comes from burning an expensive object for pleasure. And, at the top end of the vintage cigar market, things can get expensive indeed.

“A box of 50 Chateau d’Yquem can fetch £10,000 or more at auction,” said Mitchell Orchant, managing director of the London cigar merchant C.Gars Ltd. That is nearly $17,000. “The Anniversario, can sell for £400 a cigar and its value just seems to keep on going up.” Both cigars were made by Davidoff, the famous Geneva tobacco house.

As the price tags suggest, these are not just any old stogies. Examples of a prestigious elite of vintage Cuban cigars, they date from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s, a golden age when a mixture of local Cuban artisanal skill, tobacco quality and the demands of a handful of European exporters combined to create some of the finest cigars ever made.

The intervening years have only served to improve them further, according to the experts.

“The cigars are like a good Bordeaux,” said Mr. Orchant. “In the right conditions they can keep for almost ever, and year after year, like good wine, they get better.”

Not all cigars age well. There is little point in buying a two-dollar panatela – a long, slender cigar – and sticking it in a cupboard for twenty years. Top vintage cigars tend to be the larger, plumper types, such as coronas or Churchills, always handmade and rolled from the best leaves of the tobacco crop. Cigars made from a full, strong tobacco blend tend to age best.

Stored correctly in a humidor the best cigars, or sticks as experts call them, can mature for about 30 years, during which time they become mellower even as the flavors become more distinct. They can hold on to that quality for a further 30 years or more before the flavor of the tobacco starts to deteriorate.

Within the rarefied world of vintage Cuban cigars, two brands, Dunhill and Davidoff, stand out above the rest. That is in part because of their undoubted quality. It also helps that they were made in large volumes and are consequently still readily available to buy at auction or from specialist merchants.

Vintage examples of other famous Havana brands such as Romeo y Julieta, Cohiba and Montecristo are also much prized. A box of 49 Montecristos, dating from the 1950s, before the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, will go under the hammer in December at a C.Gars Ltd auction in London and is expected to fetch as much as £6,000.

“The price of other Cuban brands is rising as they age but they are less expensive because they were never discontinued like the ultra-collectible Dunhill and Davidoffs,” said Mr. Orchant.

The Dunhill and Davidoff cigars were the offspring of an unlikely marriage between two of Europe’s most exclusive luxury tobacco brands and Cubatabaco, the Cuban state tobacco monopoly.

Cubatabaco made cigars under license for the London-based tobacco company Dunhill from 1984 until 1991. Dunhill-branded Cuban cigars were made prior to the Cuban revolution too, but few have survived.

Of the post-revolution Dunhill Cubans, the ones to look out for, say aficionados, are the mid-1980s Don Cándido and Don Alfredo: the latter, named after the company’s founder Alfred Dunhill, sell for $350 to $500 a cigar.

Davidoff’s Cuban output dates over a slightly longer period, from 1967 to 1991. Perhaps because of that extended run, which means that there are more available, or perhaps because they were distributed more widely across Europe, it is the Davidoffs that have emerged in recent years as the darlings of many vintage-cigar collectors and smokers.

Made under the guidance of Zino Davidoff, the patriarch of the company that bears his name, the cigars were named after some of the finest wines of France: Dom Perignon, for the iconic champagne, seven inches, or 17.8 centimeters long; Château Mouton Rothschild; Château Lafite; Château Latour; Château Margaux and Château d’Yquem.

None of the names were ever officially licensed with the châteaux. Yet the French wine makers mostly tolerated the breach of their trademark, perhaps helped by Mr. Davidoff’s habit of sending them gift boxes of his cigars.

The one exception was Château d’Yquem. The maker of France’s most lauded Sauternes dessert white wine warned Davidoff off using its name in the early 1980s, and the cigars bearing its name were discontinued in 1982. Already considered one of the best of the Château series, the intervention of the vineyard served to make them the rarest and thus the most expensive of the range.

The unlikely coupling of the European luxury brands and Cuba did not last. By the late 1980s Cubatabaco’s efforts to increase the volume of its output led to a decline in quality. Davidoff in particular took the decline in standards badly.

Zino Davidoff went on French television in 1987 to harangue his Cuban business partners and backed up his talk by burning 130,000 cigars, declaring them unsmokable.

The relationship between Cubatabaco and Davidoff and Dunhill ended in 1991 when both the European houses shifted their production to rival tobacco-producing countries.

Some cigar aficionados mourn the end of those relationships as the end of the golden age of cigar making. Others are less nostalgic.

“The Cuban cigars were always a little inconsistent and still are,” said Dorothée Spriet-Weisz, manager of A la Civette, an almost 300-year old Paris cigar shop, on the rue Saint Honoré, that lists Casanova, Voltaire and Winston Churchill as past customers. “I like the Dominican Davidoff cigars, but it is a question of personal taste and it is true that 65 percent of the cigars we sell are Cuban.”

The Executive Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Issah Ali, has said that if government is committed to fighting hard drugs in the country then it must vigorously tackle the tobacco threat since it is the “gateway” to the use of hard drugs.
Issah Ali of the NGO believes the more people use tobacco, the more they are likely to graduate into the use of Marijuana and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.

Speaking at a Public Forum put together by VALD, Issah Ali therefore appealed to government to ensure the passage into law of the Tobacco Control Bill, which has been pending for some time now. “We are humbly urging the Minister of Health Designate to ensure government presents the Tobacco Control Bill to Parliament by the end of this month – November 2009.”
In reaction to a question on what stage the bill has reached, Ben Botwe of the ministry who represented the minister at the forum said the final draft is almost done and that it will soon be laid before parliament.

At his vetting recently, the minister designate, Hon. Benjamin Kumbour, was made to say that he had given up on smoking himself and so it is hoped that he will work diligently to ensure the passage of the law.
Some have wondered why Ghana still does not have a Tobacco Control law even as she was one of the first countries to ratify the UN Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) which is the first global health treaty aimed at protecting present and future generations from the dangers of tobacco.

An insider source told this writer that the issues are more “complicated” than they seem on the surface. The lobbying power of tobacco companies, the source said, cannot be underestimated and that individuals within the corridors of power have their bread buttered from the industry. Governments? around the world are also reluctant to stop cashing in on tobacco trade; a cost benefit analysis is the last thing they would consider when they are looking for immediate cash to spend.

Indeed, according to Issah Ali, the tobacco industry has no right to interfere with Public Health issues of countries and that British America Tobacco (BAT) must “stop deceiving governments with secret letters and weak arguments, to interfere with public health policies, knowing that what they are doing contravenes international laws.” The reference here is article 5(3) of the FCTC.
Advocates of tobacco control have been worried about its weakening impact on human health and economic productivity as it is the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), close to 5 million people die annually as a result of tobacco use and that someone dies every 6.5 seconds from tobacco use. It also reduces life expectancy by 20 to 25 years.

If the trend continues unchecked, tobacco use, it is projected, would kill 6 million people in 2010, more than HIV, Malaria and TB combined, and over 10 million smokers and passive smokers by 2030 with 70% in developing countries including Ghana.
Tobacco is said to be a poisonous social drug used for non medicinal purposes, leading to physical, mental damage and other social problems.

The drug, according to experts, contains over 40 chemicals which cause cancer in various organs of the body. Dr. Promise E. Sefogah of Doctors for Right to Health said at the forum that the effects of these chemicals could lead to several other health complications including impotency and infertility.

Dr. Sefogah said high exposures to second hand smoke suggest the need for strong and effective smoke free policies in Ghana. “There is an urgent need to for the creation of the social and legal climate here in Ghana where tobacoo becomes less desirable, less acceptable and less accessible.”

In line with this, he called for higher taxes on tobacco products since it has been proven to “induce quitting, prevent relapse, reduce consumption and prevent initiation.”