THEY thought out of the cigarette box to hide their ill-gotten wares. Illegal cigarette peddlers have tried to throw the authorities off their tracks in a variety of unusual ways. Take this device: It’s painted grey, made of metal and comes with a lock. Just like any other electrical meter box. But when Singapore Customs officers came across the box last year while out on one of their regular patrols in Geylang, they did a double take. What they discovered when they opened the box wasn’t wires but a trove of illegal cigarettes.

The electrical meter box – placed next to a real meter box – was a storage space for 190 packets of such fags.

In another case, officers had first arrested a peddler selling contraband cigarettes at the staircase landing outside his Toa Payoh flat.

In a follow-up raid at his unit, more than 90 packets of cigarettes were found in plastic bags hung onto two bamboo poles outside his kitchen window.

Another peddler decided to hang his stash on a tree branch.

Officers on one of their rounds in Admiralty sighted a suspicious-looking bag hanging from a branch.

When they opened the bag, they found 100 packets of contraband cigarettes.

More peddlers have also taken to modifying common objects like flower pots to hide their illegal puffs.

They would put soil and plants in a cardboard container, place it in a flower pot and leave it beside awalkway.

The peddler would then signal to potential customers to ask if they would like to buy the cigarettes, and retrieve the cigarettes to make the sale.

An empty flower pot can hold up to 50 loose packets of contraband cigarettes.

Peddlers have also modified concrete kerbs on pavements to hide their illegal stash within the kerbs’ hollow interior.

Drains, outdoor incense burners, rubbish chutes and public toilets are other unusual spots peddlers have used to stow away their illicit stash.

Kids can make a difference. That was the message Thursday at Afton School as grades 5 and 6 students from last year were awarded Blue Ribbon Awards from the Edmonton Tobacco Reduction Network. The students researched information and gathered signatures before lobbying city councillors to ban smoking in areas where children are present. “They were very excited and it was an opportunity to give the acclaim that they needed … so that their peers could also see how kids can make a difference,” said principal Jane Moore.

The students, along with many other speakers, relayed their message at city hall last June.

After much debate, council voted last September to amend the public places bylaw, which will mean butting out around playgrounds, spray parks, ice rinks and outdoor youth events once the new bylaw is approved.

It is expected to come before a council committee in early March.

Last October, the city of Sacramento temporarily suspended its medical-cannabis-dispensary permitting process. The reason: An unexpected court ruling from down south that put the legality of all California pot ordinances into question. Even San Francisco, a hotbed of marijuana-law reform, froze its medical-cannabis-dispensary permitting this winter, just as dozens of others cities across the state, and now everyone nervously awaits a decision by the California Supreme Court on the very legality of such permits.

A couple dozen local groups that are seeking permits for Sacramento dispensaries—many in the central city—have been caught in limbo. Sacramento has zero permitted dispensaries, but it has an ordinance and a process intended to legalize up to three dozen clubs, which in the interim are allowed to remain open.

An October decision by California’s Second District Court of Appeals, in the case of Pack v. Long Beach, ruled that local regulations—such as permits and fees and ordinances—are preempted by federal law. City attorneys interpreted this as: 1. California cities and counties could either help the federal government prosecute what they view as illegal marijuana, or 2. just stand by idly and not issue permits. Local jurisdictions could not, according to the appeals-court ruling, actively contravene federal law with medical-marijuana-distribution permits, fees, mandates for lab testing or other ordinance regulations.

As a result, progressive California cities such as Sacramento have paused their programs. Meanwhile, other cities and counties opposed to medical marijuana are using Pack to ban dispensaries outright.

At the same time, unregulated clubs possibly have legal cover to open without playing by any rules.

If Pack stands, “we have an out-of-control industry we could not effectively regulate,” said Bob Shannon, Long Beach’s city attorney. “It’s a totally unacceptable set of circumstances, at least for us.”

Shannon’s office was going to go to the Long Beach City Council on January 17, and request a ban on all dispensaries, but then the state Supreme Court announced last week that it would in fact hear a Pack appeal.

There are about 60 dispensaries in Long Beach—and not one has a permit under the city’s spring 2010 ordinance, which called for a lottery system and steep fees to determine which operators could stay open. Long Beach has also mandated safety testing.

Long Beach dispensary operator Ryan Pack, represented by attorney Matt Pappas, sued Long Beach over its permit program in September 2010, arguing that federal law preempts localities from picking lottery winners for pot permits. Astonishingly, the appellate court upheld the interpretation in October.

The state supreme court’s timeline to make a decision is approximately nine to 12 months. Its verdict will be pivotal, of course.

The American Civil Liberties Union, several cities and national marijuana-patient lobby Americans for Safe Access have denounced the appellate court’s decision and asked the Supreme Court to de-publish it. Pack stymies regulation and leads to bans that prevent safe access, they say. Three other California appellate courts have ruled to the contrary on issues of federal pre-emption, critics note.

Shannon agrees. “The law on this issue is chaotic, and has not been consistently applied,” he said.

Supervising deputy city attorney in Sacramento Gustavo Limon Martinez told SN&R that the Supreme Court’s review of the appellate Pack opinion makes for an even more uncertain environment here in Sacramento. “It would be pure speculation to provide any comment on how the Supreme Court will rule on Pack or how that final decision may or may not impact the city’s ordinance,” he said.

Los Angeles City Attorney Asha Greenberg seemed exasperated. “With Pack, we can’t regulate, we can’t control what kind of quality products people are getting when it comes to things people eat, pesticides, potency, any of that.” Los Angeles is also mulling a ban again.

Northern California dispensary developer Debby Goldsberry said cities and counties quickly used Pack as an excuse to ban dispensaries. “Right now is the worst time to pursue a city permit almost anywhere,” she said. “Pack has had a big effect. A lot of cities are just waiting it out at this point. Some big change is coming if Pack stands.”

However, some cities are still advancing: Oakland intends to permit four groups to open new dispensaries by the month’s end, and in December, the city of Richmond permitted its first three dispensaries, said city attorney Mary Renfro.

Cities might be able to reword their permitting schemes to survive preemption, Pack notes. Arturo Sanchez, assistant to the city administrator in Oakland, indicated it could take three weeks to four months for the city to rewrite its ordinances around Pack, if it’s upheld.

But Long Beach city attorney Shannon said rewording ordinances to comply with Pack is too hard. It would mean switching from a system of “permits” to something like a “certificate of non-disallowal.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Shannon said.

Oakland lawyer and dispensary-permit applicant Robert Raich expects the U.S. Supreme Court to de-publish Pack. The high court has a history of upholding state law in the face of federal preemption challenges, he said.

“It was wrongly decided, and it will be de-published or review will be granted,” Raich said. “Eventually, the state Supreme Court will reverse it.”

Still, the Pack decision exposes the fault line running through the national terrain of marijuana law.

“We’ve known for some time that [regulation] isn’t consistent with federal law,” Shannon said. “Unfortunately, Long Beach just got put at the front of the class.”

Over the last year, electronic cigarettes have gained popularity across the nation and right here in the Panhandle. They hit the market a few years ago and as advertising increases and national celebrities support it, many are wondering if the purpose is to help those kick the habit, or if it’s just another fad. “Our smoking rates in the US have been stabilized around 20 percent,” Bharat Khandheria with the Texas Tech Health Science Center said. To help those kick the habit, a hybrid cigarette was created.

“The reason they are said to be better than regular cigarettes is because regular cigarettes contain thousands of harmful carcinogens which cause cancer,” he said.

Electronic cigarettes still contain nicotine, but lack the cancerous chemicals.

The device isn’t cheap either and will set you back $70-$100.

Not to mention, you eventually have to purchase refill cartridges.

“Your ultimate goal is to quit smoking,” he said.

Popular television shows like “The Doctors” say the electronic cigarette could be the key to preventing lung cancer.

But Khandheria is skeptical.

“It took us 30 to 40 years to say that smoking was bad,” he said. “To say electronic cigarettes are completely safe I don’t think I can say that right now.”

Others are skeptical too.

“The FDA has not approved them,” Sharri Miller, a tobacco treatment specialist said. “The FDA is a regulatory agency that helps keep us safe and when they won’t approve it then that brings up a red flag.”

And Khandheria wonders if the technology could do more damage than good.

“If it becomes a fad or fashion among teenagers, then it in fact would be doing more harm.”

Most airlines have banned electronic cigarettes along with a handful of restaurants saying it’s simply too early to tell the long term effects of these devices.

The amount of contraband cigarettes seized in Singapore last year hit a new low of 1.9 million packets, marking a decline for the third consecutive year. The Singapore Customs said the 17.4 per cent fall in illegal cigarettes seized in 2011 (down from 2.3 million packets in 2010) is a result of strong enforcement efforts by the authorities. Conversely, the amount of duty collected from legal cigarettes has gone up by 4.6 per cent last year to S$917 million, compared to S$877 million in 2010.

Singapore Customs said the supply of legal cigarettes has gone up by 31.6 per cent since 2007.

It said stepped up enforcement efforts have led to more smokers buying duty-paid cigarettes.

However, street demand for contraband cigarettes persisted in 2011.

The number of smokers caught buying illegal cigarettes rose 1.6 per cent last year to 5,977.

Singapore Customs said it noticed the presence of new illegal brands such as “Moon Mountain”, which were sold at lower prices in the black market.

It warned the public that all “Moon Mountain” cigarettes are illegal in Singapore.

The number of illegal cigarette peddlers who were caught in 2011 fell 34.8 per cent to 458.

Singapore Customs said peddlers have become more creative and discreet in hiding their contraband goods.

They have tried to outwit Customs officers by hiding their goods in rubbish bins, drains and even toilet bowls.

Smoker Friendly International said that it will now be offering the U.S.-made Smoker Friendly Premium Brand Electronic Cigarette line, made by Freedom Smokeless, to retailers and distributors nationwide. Since 2009, Smoker Friendly has been selling the brand’s e-cigarette starter kits, express kits, cartridge refills, disposables and accessories only within the Smoker Friendly chain. This is the first time that the Boulder, Colo.-based licensee of almost 1,000 locations has expanded its private-label product line outside of its licensee network.

Smoker Friendly is beginning its rollout of the e-cigarette product line, with retail price points as low as $6.99, to convenience stores, large retailers, grocery stores and select distributors.

“We thought the timing was right to expand our brand through other retail chains and distributors,” said Terry Gallagher Jr., president of Smoker Friendly. “We know there’s a pent-up demand for an established company to take a leadership position in this relatively new category; we’ve heard this from our distributor and retailer industry friends time and again. There are way too many startups and opportunistic marketing companies selling foreign made electronic cigarettes, and it has gotten very confusing for category buyers.”

He added, “Smoker Friendly is a well-established, 23-year-old tobacco company, with vast experience and expertise in the tobacco industry, so distributors and retailers know we’re here for the long haul, which is critically important when representing electronic cigarettes, a fast-growing new tobacco product category.”

Smoker Friendly selected Freedom Smokeless, a manufacturer of e-cigarettes and nicotine e-liquid, to manufacture its e-cigarette line in 2009..
“We liked the quality of their products, service and support, and were relieved to know the e-liquid is made here in America; that the e-liquid is batch tested in an FDA-registered lab and that cartridges are filled here thanks to some high tech automation. Our goal is to have the Smoker Friendly brand of electronic cigarettes become a household name,” said Mary Szarmach, Smoker Friendly’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Glenn Kassel, president of Freedom Smokeless, said, “We are honored to manufacture the Smoker Friendly brand and are thrilled that it will be available in retail establishments across the country. Retailers like the fact that they are getting a competitively priced product that’s Made in America with a highly trusted brand name behind it. Tobacco buyers for chains like all of the safeguards we have taken to ensure that our product is safe.”

He added, “We have already received orders from distributors and retailers who were waiting for an established brand to emerge as the leader in this category. ”

Smoker Friendly is America’s largest cigarette and tobacco store (CTS) retailer. The Smoker Friendly Authorized Dealer Program is designed for existing retail tobacco store operators who wish to market their own brand of competitively priced, private-label products within an exclusive territory that is geographically protected. This program is for the tobacco retailer who would like the advantages of a buying group; wants more interaction with other cigarette and tobacco store retailers including information and idea sharing; clout with manufacturers; and the greater synergies that a nationally known private-label brand like Smoker Friendly provides.

Currently there are almost 1,000 stores across the United States with The SF Private-Label Tobacco Family.

San Clemente, Calif.-based Freedom Smokeless’ Made in the USA line of e-cigarettes and cartridge products are sold in thousands of tobacco shops, retail outlets and c-stores across the United States.

Telephone counseling is an effective way to help Asian immigrants quit smoking, say the authors of a study published online January 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The 6-month abstinence rate among participants who received culturally appropriate telephone counseling plus self-help materials was double that associated with self-help materials alone, report the authors. “This study, to our knowledge, is the first large randomized trial testing the effect of telephone counseling on smoking cessation in Asian immigrant smokers.”

The efficacy of telephone counselling services for smoking cessation, known as quit lines, among the general American population is well-established, but it has been less clear whether those services would help speakers of Asian languages, mainly because of cultural considerations, lead author Shu-Hong Zhu, PhD, from the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, and colleagues write.

Between August 2004 and April 2008, smokers calling the Asian-language line of the California quit line received self-help materials in their preferred language: Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), Korean, or Vietnamese. Some callers also were randomly assigned to undergo telephone counseling, consisting of a 30- to 40-minute prequit session followed by up to 5 relapse-prevention calls within 30 days of quitting. The follow-up calls lasted 10 to 15 minutes and were designed to provide support, encourage accountability, and make any necessary adjustments to the participant’s smoking cessation plan. All of the calls were conducted in the smoker’s native Asian language.

The study included 2277 participants, of whom 729 were Chinese, 848 were Korean, and 700 were Vietnamese. A total of 1124 people were randomly assigned to the telephone counseling group, with the remaining 1153 receiving self-help alone. The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day was 15.6 (standard deviation, 8.9).

In an intention-to-treat analysis that included all randomized participants, with nonresponders being considered current smokers, 6-month prolonged abstinence from cigarettes was 16.4% among the counseling group and 8.0% among the self-help group, the difference between the groups equaling 8.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7% – 11.1%; P < .001). In a complete-case analysis, which included only patients who participated in follow-up evaluations at 4 and 7 months, 6-month prolonged abstinence was 20.0% in the telephone counseling group and 9.5% in the self-help group, with the difference between the groups equaling 10.5% (95% CI, 7.3% – 13.7%; P < .001).

“[T]he odds of 6-month prolonged abstinence in the counseling group were 2.26 times higher than those in the self-help group in the intention-to-treat analysis (counseling vs self-help, [odds ratio (OR)] = 2.26, 95% [confidence interval (CI)] = 1.73 to 2.94) and 2.38 times higher than those in the self-help group in the complete-case analysis (counseling vs self-help, OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.82 to 3.12),” the authors write.

This study “provided clear evidence of the efficacy of telephone quitlines in smokers of Asian ancestry,” Anthony J. Alberg, PhD, MPH, from the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Hollings Cancer Center, and the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and Matthew J. Carpenter, PhD, from the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Hollings Cancer Center, and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, write in an accompanying editorial. “This suggests that telephone quitline interventions are also likely to be highly transportable to Asian countries. This is relevant to global tobacco control because Asia is one of the current epicenters of the worldwide tobacco addiction epidemic.”

According to the researchers, these findings provide the basis for increased public health interventions for Asian immigrants in the United States, as well as for “quitline counseling for smokers in Asian countries at large.”

During this legislative session, a child advocacy group typically associated with education is taking a strong stance on e-cigarettes. The Utah PTA is keeping the issue active, even as a bill that would ban the device in public places is now on hold. The Utah PTA works with lawmakers to make sure children come first, whether it’s their education or health. One of their big concerns this year is exposure to e-cigarettes.

Nearly 8 percent of Utah’s twelfth-graders reported they had experimented with e-cigarettes and 3 percent had used them in the past 30 days, according to a 2011 Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health survey of more than 55,000 Utah school children, conducted by the Utah Department of Health. For the first time, the agency this year paid to add questions concerning e-cigarettes, however, the data remains unpublished at this time.

“The PTA is about education but we’re also about children’s issues,” said Gainell Rogers, president of the Utah PTA.

The Utah PTA is keeping an eye on the fate of House Bill 245, which could amend the Indoor Clean Air Act to prohibit the use of hookah pipes and e-cigarettes in public places.

A healthy debate about the bill yesterday led nowhere, putting the legislation on hold. But the PTA has made the issue of e-cigarettes a top priority this year, along with education funding and internet dangers.

“Because we don’t know all the ramifications of e- cigarettes. We’ll be watching that. But we assume that there are probably some hidden consequences that we’re not aware of yet,” Rogers said.
Rogers says that’s enough to raise concern for the PTA.

“We are being proactive on that part and if we err, we want to err on the side of safety for children,” Rogers said.

E-cigarettes are also on the watch list for the American Cancer Society, but until there’s more research on their effects, the organization won’t take a stance on it.

“Our researchers are doing investigating and once they come up with what really is in an e-cigarette and what the effects will be on a person that the society will take a position,” said Sharlene Bozack, of the American Cancer Society.

For now, the American Cancer Society is spreading the word about disposable tobacco. This morning, they rallied at the capitol, to educate lawmakers about new trends, like dissolvable tobacco products, that could be making their way to Utah.

“They’re like snuff and they can be sticks. They can also look like Tic Tacs,” Bozack said.

KSL talked to Rep. Bradley Last, R – Hurricane, this afternoon. He sponsored House Bill 245 and said the committee could address the bill again, with some changes made to it, in the next week or two.

While some individuals are continuing to create New Year’s resolutions, Marshall University’s Student Health Program is in an effort to make smoking cessation an option for campus. According to the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention’s website, tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. The website also states that smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting overall health.

The Student Health program will be offering smoking cessation classes beginning in February. The classes will be available to students by contacting Student Health offices.
Amy Saunders, coordinator of the Student Health Education Program, said after doing research, the majority of data proves over the past three years, students do want a smoke-free campus.
“We continue to do research on this topic,” Saunders said. “For example, on Assessment Day in April we will conduct online surveys and look closely at those results. Our results in the past have indicated the majority of students are tobacco-free on campus,”
The Student Health Education Program has also formed a committee to look at smoke-free campuses and tobacco prevention. The committee is currently working with not only Marshall’s campus, but the Tri-State region as well. The program is interested in helping Huntington High School receive smoke detectors for their restrooms to help decrease smoking on school grounds.
Along with their work in this area, the committee is also planning to attend the Tobacco Free Day at the Capitol on Friday, Feb. 24.
A tobacco quit-line is also available to those who seek help to stop smoking. The West Virginia Tobacco Quitline was established in July 2000 and since then has enrolled more than 50,600 individuals. Those interested in participating in individual phone coaching to cease tobacco use can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. Participants will also receive free nicotine replacement therapy, which includes patches and gum.
Teresa Mills, with the Cabell-Huntington Health Department, said the quit-line is free to individuals 18-34 years of age, and other ages depending on insurances.
“This specific population covers Marshall students and offers them an opportunity to receive free and easy access to help,” Mills said.
Smoking is prohibited in any Marshall building, including dormitories. In order to light a cigarette, an individual must be within at least 10 feet away from a building on campus.