Most people arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana or drug paraphernalia in Springfield during the last two years weren’t charged with any crimes, according to city statistics. About 990 of the 1,415 people cited for either offense in 2010 and 2011 were given notices of city ordinance violations, which are punishable by a $300 fine. The rest were prosecuted as violations of state drug laws, under which the crimes are misdemeanors.

Aldermen voted in February 2009 to give police the discretion to choose how such violations are treated.

Springfield Deputy Police Chief Cliff Buscher said allowing officers to cite small offenses as ordinance violations reduces the time officers spend on paperwork and booking offenders in jail.

“It makes it a little bit easier on some of our young adults to get an ordinance violation instead of a criminal record,” Buscher said.

The change was pushed by Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson, who suggested it as a way to generate money for the city during a $12.5 million budget shortfall. At the time, she also said it would be good for “those individuals who do silly things and get in trouble, but they’re not going to be stigmatized.”

“My overall expectation was just to pretty much decriminalize that level of possession of marijuana,” Simpson said recently. “Too many youth were ending up in the justice system. It pretty much hurt them later in life, and (I) did not want that to happen.”

In 2009, no one was cited under the new rules. Police officials at the time said the department was using up old ticket forms that didn’t reflect the changes before ordering new ones. Officers continued to cite violators under the state statute.

Since 2010, however, Springfield police have used the city rules more often to cite violators than the state statute.

The $300 apiece ordinance tickets issued in 2010 and so far this year should generate $327,000 in revenue for the city’s coffers. But only about $80,300 of the amount due has been paid, according to the city treasurer’s office.

A proposed state initiative to decriminalize the use of marijuana in California has been given the green light to try to get on the ballot. It’s at least the fourth marijuana-related measure this year to begin the arduous signature gathering process. This latest proposal would decriminalize marijuana use, possession, cultivation, transportation, distribution, or sale for adults aged 19 and older.

It would create a “California Cannabis Commission” to regulate commercial cultivation, processing, testing, transport, distribution, sale, facilities for on-premises consumption, and smoking in public, but authorizes local governments to permit conduct otherwise prohibited by state law and regulations.
It would exempt from regulation or taxation up to three pounds of marijuana for personal use.
The measure would continue existing prohibitions against marijuana-related conduct that contributes to the delinquency of a minor and driving while impaired by marijuana.
According to estimates from the Legislative Analyst and the governor’s Director of Finance, the fiscal effects of the measure, if it were to get on the ballot and be approved by voters, are subject to considerable uncertainty depending on the extent to which the federal government continues to enforce federal marijuana laws and depending upon how, and to what extent, the state chooses to regulate the commercial production and sale of marijuana.
The analysis says, however, there could be savings potentially in the low hundreds of millions of dollars annually to state and local governments on the costs of enforcing certain marijuana-related offenses, handling the related criminal cases in the court system, and incarcerating and supervising certain marijuana offenders.
Costs potentially could add up to the low tens of millions of dollars annually to the state to regulate the commercial production and sale of marijuana.
But, says the analysis, there is the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in net additional tax revenues related to the production and sale of marijuana products.
The measure’s supporters, identified by the Secretary of State’s Office as Joe Rogoway, Frank Lucido, Pebbles Trippet, William Panzer and Omar Figueroa, must collect signatures of 504,760 registered voters – the number equal to 5 percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election – in order to qualify it for the ballot. They’ll have until April 19, 2012.

Come Jan 1, first-time offenders caught with contraband cigarettes will face at least a S$2,000 fine if they are taken to court. And drivers of vehicles using compressed natural gas (CNG) must also ensure their fuel tank is three-quarters full when travelling to Malaysia. These are some of the changes in the new Customs Act that was passed by Parliament yesterday, enhancing enforcement and administration of the legislation.

You want to smoke legal cigarettes? Than buy marlboro cigarettes online from Europe for cheap price.

The Minister of State (Finance), Mrs Josephine Teo, said the number of tobacco-related customs offences jumped by about 24 per cent from 2005 to last year.

The number of repeat offenders during the same period also rose by more than six times.

Repeat offenders will be fined a minimum of S$4,000 under the new law, double the current sum. Those who bring in more than 2kg of contraband tobacco products will be packed off to jail.

Mrs Teo explained that the doubling of court fines for first-time offenders was also necessary because the current minimum penalty could sometimes be lower than the composition sum for minor offences.

Under the new law, Singapore Customs will also be armed with greater powers against those who do not pay up or exploit others.

It will be able to appoint a taxpayer’s bank or employer to recover unpaid duties. And those who commit minor customs offences but do not pay their composition fines will be automatically taken to court.

Traders who furnish false information to third-party agents making declarations on consignments on their behalf will also be liable. Currently, only those who make the false declarations are liable.

Another change relates to the disclosure of information by Singapore Customs to other domestic public agencies.

Currently, all declarations by traders are strictly confidential to protect sensitive commercial data. The information can only be disclosed with their consent or if the information is needed for an investigation, enforcement or prosecution under the Customs Act or the Goods and Services Tax Act.

But Mrs Teo said there may be “over-riding reasons” for such information to be given to other public agencies here, for instance, when national security, public health and safety are concerned.

The change allows information declared by traders to be provided, with safeguards, where public interests are concerned.

The government has urged tobacco farmers to distance themselves from unfounded claims about the crop, and instead work tirelessly to grow the crop more responsibly. Also, tobacco farmers in developing countries have been advised to transform their farming methods to match those of their counterparts in developed countries, including the use of modern farm implements and irrigation.

Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Prof Jumanne Maghembe made the call at the opening of the annual general meeting of the International Tobacco Growers Association (ITGA), which took place in Tanzania for the first time.
“It is time you emulated your colleagues in developed nations who grow tobacco in a modern manner by doing away with inferior farm implements, particularly the hand hoe. The use of tractors and oxen ploughs to facilitate the farming is still small, hence farmers’ average acreage is between 0.8 and 1.0 hectares per family,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by Permanent Secretary Mohammed Muya.
He urged stakeholders to check post-harvest losses because currently growers lost up to 30 per cent of the crop, adding that the sector should embark on capacity building in barns building, bailing sheds, storage as well as increasing processing facilities.
“However, despite all the benefits to our people and economies of our countries, the crop, under the umbrella of World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC), in particular articles 9, 10, 17 and 18, is experiencing a number of critics and there is an urgent need for a balance that accounts for the interests of tobacco growers in many countries,” he said.
According to Prof Maghembe, the sector should continue to regulate itself responsibly as its future would depend on its ability to navigate through uncharted waters.
“Crudely-generalized statements against tobacco hold tobacco growers responsible for the relentless deforestation, basing on the hypothesis that all types of tobacco require conventional heat to be cured and that the only fuel used was wood.
“However, researchers have found that the sector accounted for 1 per cent of all wood consumed in developing countries and also curing some types of tobacco like barley uses sunlight,” the minister said.
Prof Maghembe said tobacco was the only sector that advocated preservation of the environment, including avoidance of land degradation by adopting a tree planting policy and records showed since the year 2009/2010 more than 20 million trees were planted each year by tobacco growers.
He mentioned various advantages of tobacco over other alternative means of livelihood that it enjoyed high price stability with a guaranteed market, hence helping to improve the quality of life in rural areas.
The minister said with a view to eradicating child labour in tobacco farming, ITGA in conjunction with the International Union of Food (IUF) and the International Labour Organization ILO, had established a special foundation on Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-growing (ECLT) projects in Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Kyrgyzstan.
Presenting her paper titled ‘International tobacco control legislation and possible effects on the tobacco sector’, Barbara Martelini of Ultoco Service S.A., a Geneva-based subsidiary of Universal Leaf Inc of USA, which is the parent company of Tanzania Leaf Tobacco Company, stressed that it was high time the tobacco sector worked more closely to ensure correct presentation of facts.
Speaking at the meeting, Director General of the Tanzania Tobacco Board,(TTB) Frank Urio said tobacco was an important crop for the development of the economy as it offered direct employment for well over 130,000 families countrywide.
“Apart from billions of shillings contributed to the central government in various taxes paid by the growers, leaf buyers and cigarette manufacturers, the crop also hugely benefits local governments in the form of crop cess. For example, last year alone crop-cess from tobacco countrywide was 14bn/-,” he noted.
Apart from the host, the meeting attracted participants from 20 countries, including South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia and Croatia.
Others wrere USA, Philippines, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malawi, Mexico, Pakistan, Portugal, Kenya, Dominican Republic, Uganda, Zambia And Zimbabwe.

Anti-smoking campaigners in Japan are accusing one of the world’s leading tobacco companies of marketing products to teenage girls at World Cup volleyball events here. Japan Tobacco’s logo (JT) is on the national team uniforms, court-side digital billboards, TV ads and “gift” packages handed out to schoolgirls, mothers and children entering Yoyogi National Stadium and arenas across Japan during the World Cup, which runs until Dec. 4.

While the United States, European Union and other industrialized countries have long banned tobacco companies from sponsoring sporting events, Japan Tobacco has been a major promoter of volleyball, helping to make the sport popular among schoolgirls. Japan has hosted every World Cup since 1977, and three of the last four world championships.

Japan Tobacco also sponsors a national team starring the country’s top player, Yoshie Takeshita.

About 10 percent of Japanese women smoke, compared with 40 percent of men, according to government estimates.
Anti-smoking activists have long accused Japanese volleyball groups of promoting tobacco use, and say JT is targeting young women.

“I was amazed to see our supposed national team wearing gear promoting Japan Tobacco,” Manabu Sakuta, a Tokyo doctor who heads the Japan Society for Tobacco Control, said of a recent televised World Cup match. “This is complete nonsense. It seems that they are not a national team, but a Japan Tobacco team.”

Mahoko Tsuchiya, manager of media and investor relations at Japan Tobacco in Tokyo, said in an email that all JT activities “are conducted in full compliance with the law.”

Smoking is legal and common in bars, family restaurants, playgrounds and hotel rooms in Japan.

In addition, Japan’s Finance Ministry owns more than 50 percent of shares in Japan Tobacco, which have risen about 30 percent this year.

The World Health Organization says smoking kills about 6 million people a year, including 600,000 non-smokers. The European Union banned tobacco ads on TV in 1991, and at international sporting events in 2005.

The International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB), based in Lausanne, Switzerland, referred calls to chief press officer Richard Baker, who did not reply to phone and email queries.

Hiroshi Takeuchi, FIVB press commission president, said the FIVB will study the issue “with some experts in this area in order to avoid possible further misunderstanding.”

“JT is a multi-products company and they are our sponsor as the beverage category for this World Cup,” he said in an email. “According to the Japanese national regulations, JT beverage may not be considered as tobacco category even though they have the same JT brand.”

Japan Tobacco’s website trumpets the company’s social activism, saying it donated about $40,000 to flood victims in Thailand and $40,000 to earthquake victims in Turkey.

Owning a small business today is hard. Owning a boutique shop like Nash Matti’s cigar shop is even harder. As the owner of Smokers Embassy Cigars, Matti, like many other Dacula business owners, continues to adjust to a challenging economy. “Today’s business is hard the way the economy is,” he said. “No matter what kind of business you’re in.” Matti said his clients are also dealing with the effects of the ongoing economic downturn and have reduced spending accordingly.

“Where they used to purchase — for example — a nice box, now they’re bargain hunting and shopping around and I don’t blame them,” he said. “We do the same thing. We watch what our customers do and do the same thing.”

Adjusting to changing conditions and listening to his clientele have allowed Matti to successfully manage his business despite the recession.

“If you can’t manage [your business] the right way, you’ll go under real quick,” he said.

For Matti, managing the right way also involves being smart with a dollar. He describes the dollar as tool — one that if not used correctly is useless. Matti said it is very important for business owners to realize when to spend money and when not to spend it.

“You can’t operate like you used to,” he said.

Though Matti has successfully adjusted his operations, he hopes an economic recovery will happen sooner rather than later.

“It’s hard to predict. It really is,” he said. “I wish tomorrow.”

Until that time, Matti is thankful for the Dacula community and his clientele who have helped him stay in business since first opening his doors in 2004. Matti said his regulars have not only stuck with him, but have also become a part of the shop.

“I’m one of those retailers that loves his clientele. They keep my doors open,” he said. “They’re a blessing. They really are.”

Highlighting the noticeable detrimental effect Philip Morris USA’s Marlboro Leadership Program has had on its same-store sales in the United States, Alimentation Couche-Tard executives this past week hinted that they may unveil a private-label program or other action to drive its cigarette sales and margins. During its second-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, Couche-Tard reported an average same-store sales increase in its U.S. stores of 2.5%.

The Circle K retailer would have liked to see that statistic higher and pointed squarely at one product category for holding it back: cigarettes.
“In the United States, a cigarette manufacturer modified its supply terms and price structure at the beginning of the first quarter of fiscal 2012 in order to encourage retailers to decrease or maintain low unit prices on certain of its products,” the company said in its earnings report, “which has put a deflationary pressure on the corporation’s cigarettes sales.”

With that in mind, Couche-Tard executives estimated that excluding tobacco product sales, its same-store merchandise sales in the United States increased by 5.3%.

And so with Altria/Philip Morris USA announcing recently that it is revising, but keeping, its controversial Marlboro Price option for the first half of next year, analysts anxiously asked: Will the adjustments made to the program starting in January make it any more appealing to Couche-Tard?

“We saw the change announced recently and we will work to maximize the outcome of it,”said Raymond Paré, vice president and chief financial officer. “But this program is not more interesting or appealing for us because of these changes. … We don’t like to see these kind of programs that basically affect our capacity to price our product in our store.”

He added, “You will see soon one of the steps that we will take basically in order to … work around this program, and we are very excited by this.” No details of the steps were provided beyond referring to a desire to protect margins via private-label cigarettes.

Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is the leader in the Canadian convenience store industry. In North America, Couche-Tard is the largest independent convenience store operator (whether integrated with a petroleum Corporation or not) in terms of number of company-operated stores. As of Oct. 9, 2011, Couche-Tard had a network of 5,715 convenience stores, 4,107 of which include motor fuel dispensing. The network consists of 13 business units, including nine in the United States covering 42 states and the District of Columbia, and four in Canada covering all 10 provinces.

The San Diego chapter of medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access announced today that it is appealing the 2010 conviction of dispensary operator Jovan Jackson on three charges of illegal possession and sale of marijuana. During his trial, superior court judge Howard Shore ruled that California’s state medical marijuana law could not be used as a defense for Jackson and, according to the ASA, referred to marijuana as “dope” and state law as “a scam.”

“Jackson and other medical marijuana providers deserve a defense under the state’s medical marijuana laws and these are issues for a jury to decide,” said ASA chief counsel Joe Elford in a press release announcing the appeal.

In addition to challenging the decision not to allow Jackson to defend himself under state law, the appeal challenges the notion that the “sale” of marijuana in itself is a crime. Some district attorneys have insisted — despite guidelines issued by the attorney general in 2008 — that a medical patient must take an active part in cultivation, “till the soil,” in order to be part of a collective.

Jackson, a Navy veteran, was convicted on his second trial, as district attorney Bonnie Dumanis had previously brought similar charges against him in 2009. That case ended in acquittal, as the judge allowed consideration of the state’s medical marijuana law during trial.

California attorney general Kamala Harris, rather than Dumanis, will defend the appeal. Harris previously served as San Francisco district attorney while that city was implementing one of the first dispensary licensing programs in the country.

Naples commissioners have passed a resolution urging tobacco retailers to stop the sale and marketing of flavored tobacco products to underage youth in Collier County. The resolution was passed with a 6-1 vote. Beatriz Angeles, a member of Students Working Against Tobacco, shared with the city council images of what these products look like and how the marketing entices underage sales.

“I was extremely happy that this resolution passed. It shows great support for our SWAT youth and their local policy initiatives,” said Mayor Bill Barnett.

In 2009, the FDA banned the sale of flavored cigarettes, however; smokeless tobacco, cigars, cigarillos and other products are not regulated.

Currently in Collier County 11.8% of High School youth use flavored tobacco products as well as 3.7% of middle school youth according to the 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey.