ISLAMABAD: The country’s tobacco lobby may force the government to delay its decision over cigarette packs carrying pictorial health warnings, sources in the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

On World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the government had announced the introduction of pictorial health warnings on cigarette packs and had given the industry a six-month deadline to print them from January 1, 2010. However, soon after the announcement, the tobacco industry held a number of meetings with senior Health Ministry officials to attempt to reverse or delay the implementation of pictorial warnings. The ministry had started work on legislation for introduction of warnings on cigarette packs in consultation with the Ministry of Law, but the tobacco lobby is busy trying to delay the process.

Examples: The industry contended that it could not print the warnings within six months and quoted examples of Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Romania and India, which took more than two years to publish the pictorial warnings on cigarette packs. The picture-based health warnings are particularly significant for countries like Pakistan with poor literacy rate and inadequacy of resources for public health education, and where majority of the people cannot read warnings and remain oblivious to the harmful effects of tobacco use. By introducing pictorial warnings, Pakistan would join 30 countries having similar warnings. Pakistan is signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which binds more than 160 countries to use large, clear, visible and legible warnings on packs and outer packaging

In less than a week, clove cigarettes and all other flavored tobacco will be pulled from the shelves, substantiating the Food and Drug Administration’s first directive controlling the sale of tobacco products.

“It continues to be a shock every day for customers,” said Co-owner of Davis Newsbeat, Janis Lott.

On June 22, President Barack Obama signed into law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, effectively giving the FDA wide ranging authority to regulate tobacco.

Flavored tobacco was the first targeted because critics say artificial additives like cherry, grape, chocolate, and spiced cigarettes such as cloves, appeal to youths and lays the groundwork for a smoking addiction. The law only applies to rolled cigarettes, and menthols were spared in this particular prohibition.

In other words, mint is out, but menthols are acceptable. According to Lott, Nat Sherman’s Hint of Mint packaging will soon read “menthol,” but it’s contents will be unaffected.

As for cloves, Lott said, “there is a contingent of people who buy these cigarettes,” adding that flavored tobacco constitutes about 15 percent of the cigarettes sold at Newsbeat.

Kretek International Inc., which imports Djarum-brand cloves from Indonesia, holds a 97 percent U.S. market share with its line of Djarum clove cigarettes, a staple of Indonesian smoking culture.

The U.S. market for clove cigarettes is about $140 million annually, with about 1.25 million clove smokers.

Cloves have been imported to the U.S. since the 1960s and are mostly smoked by people younger than 30.

With America as Kretek International’s fifth largest importer, the company has found a loop hole in the FDAs ban. Kretek is now manufacturing cigars, close to the size of a cigarette and flavored with clove, vanilla and cherry.

The difference? Cigarettes are wrapped in thin paper, cigars in tobacco leaves. While the cigars also are made with a different kind of tobacco, the taste is similar. The cigars come 12 to a pack, rather than 20 for cigarettes, but cost nearly half as much.

But the Djarum-brand facelift may not appeal to all smokers. Andy Singh, owner of the Tobacco Store in Woodland, said a customer recently purchased ten packs of the clove cigarettes in anticipation of the prohibition.

Oddly enough, that same customer first told Singh that selling flavored cigarettes would become illegal on Sept. 22.

“I don’t smoke so the customers know better than I do,” Singh said. But delayed notification from either the FDA, or state and county agencies that manage tobacco licenses, according to Lott, means little time to inform customers and scale back on purchasing from vendors.

It wasn’t until Monday that the FDA issued a letter to members of the industry warning of prosecution to those selling what they labeled as “adulterated products,” beyond Sept. 22.

The letter reads, “manufacturers, distributors, and retailers may be subject to injunction actions, civil money penalties, and/or criminal prosecution for violating the requirements of the Act.”

Lott ordered several cartons of cloves requested by customers, but for the most part is pairing down purchases. Singh has stopped purchasing the cigarettes and said he will throw away what remains after the cutoff date.

Lott said the decision to ban flavored tobacco is politically driven and indicative of a “nanny state.”

“Eliminating tobacco products all together will never happen because it’s easy to vilify and it’s easy to tax,” she said. “I don’t know what’s right or wrong, I just have to go with the flow.”

Future directive under the FSPTCA include the revision and strengthening of cigarette warning labels that will also contain a list of ingredients, as well as the elimination of the terms light, low, and mild on tobacco products.

Dailydemocrat

Who would have thought graphic, disturbing pictures, like those showing a dead fetus lying amidst cigarette butts, or gangrenous feet, or ugly, bleeding mouth sores, or throats bulging with massive red tumors or black lung tissue would be so widely distributed, and even legally mandated?

I’m talking about cigarette packaging, of course.

Those of you smokers who travel have seen these pictures on cigarette packs abroad. In Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, everywhere. These caring and enlightened governments have long ago made it a law that cigarettes packaging must carry graphic images of diseases and the effects of tobacco on our health, in an aggressive effort to scare people off smoking. The more graphic the pictures, the better to convince people to kick the habit.

Canada, which started doing this in 2000 with a picture of mouth cancer, is now contemplating upping the ante by putting the actual deathbed photos of anti-smoking activist Barb Tarbox, as she looked, emaciated, and withered just before her recent death from cancer. Their research has shown that the photos elicit an even more intense response from smokers than the usual diseased body parts.

More recently, the United States, which had limited health warnings on cigarette packaging to a short, small text-only message from the Surgeon General on the side of the box, is now about to implement similar graphic pictorial warnings on 50% of the front and back of the pack. President Barack Obama, who is a smoker himself trying to quit, signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act last June 22 that imposes this law on tobacco companies, in addition to a cigarette “sin tax” he imposed in April that raised the tax from 39c to $1.01 per pack to discourage smoking.

I don’t smoke, and I never have, but my father, a soldier who fought in the Korean War and is a retired military officer smoked like a chimney when he was young and in the army. A two-pack-a-day Lucky Strike man, it nearly killed him, until he quit cold turkey. As a child, I remember sitting on his knee, fascinated by the smoke coming out of his mouth and nose, like it was some cool parlor trick, and thought to myself, when I grow up, I’m gonna do that too, yes I was. But I saw the agony he went through recovering, and then dealing with the withdrawal. I never picked up a cigarette.

I first saw the disturbing graphics warnings on packs being sold in Singapore years ago, and I vividly remember the picture: a full-color shot of a dissected, diseased lung, all red and black, streaked with tar and nicotine. I wanted to gag. Man, that was horrible, I thought, but also thinking, what a ballsy way to get people to quit, and marveled at a government able to force the issue. If I smoked, I would’ve quit then and there.

It also occurred to me what a hell of a compromise that really was, and how it underscored how helpless they really were to do the right thing: outlaw smoking outright. That fact that governments had to stoop to stunts like these told me two things: one, how massively powerful the tobacco industry was, and two, how weak human will was—no, not in quitting smoking as a habit, but in dealing with the problem as a society.

Of course, I’m talking out of my ass here, not being a smoker myself, and I’ve been told passionately many times by my smoker friends how I could never really understand that will power had nothing to do with it. Ok, I respect that. But man, what is the power of this habit that you can still pick out a stick from a box festooned with gruesome photo evidence of the consequences and light up?

I am reminded of the story of a friend of mine, whose father, as much a smoker as someone can possibly be, had gotten so sick from it he had to undergo a quadruple heart bypass that plunged his family into debt. But the minute he got out of the ICU, he asked for cigarettes and snuck out of his room in his hospital gown, with tubes still up his arms and chest, to sneak a couple of smokes out back.

Sheesh. I’m glad I never learned.

So, how does one deal with a problem like this in an organized, systematic way? Two obvious solutions are to make it so expensive that they won’t be able to afford it and stop and/or show them how disgusting and dangerous it is by putting gruesome pictures on the product itself, right in their faces and scare them off it.

Unlike our ASEAN neighbors, our country’s entire program to discourage smoking consists of seven words in small type on the box: “Cigarette smoking is dangerous to your health.”

So what do we do, slap on the gore? Might not work. I have a feeling pictorial warnings won’t wash here, with our overly sensitive and touchy populace. Besides, we love out vices, and denial is our favorite hobby. Gross pictures on my cig packs? I can already imagine the uproar. The other option is sin taxation. It’s a big, rich mother lode. The two largest companies, Philip Morris and Fortune Tobacco, control 90% of the P85 billion annual business.

But hey, wonder of wonders, our government has finally seen the light! Inspired by the recent radical movies by other countries to finally curb the tobacco menace, we’re actually doing something too!

Just recently, our lawmakers recently began motions to substantially increase the excise tax for alcohol and tobacco. If they can get the law to pass, the Finance Department says it hopes to generate at least P20B in the first year of implementation, and P40B the following year. Great! They figure that it will ease pressure on the budget deficit, which is expected to hit a record P250B by yearend, and minimize our loans. The additional collection will also help fund infrastructure and support social services.

Huh?

That’s why we’re doing this? To pay off our massive debts by charging us more to kill ourselves?

For a minute there, I actually thought we were going to do something right. The entire thing is profit-motivated. I should have known. Not a single word about discouraging smoking. Not even a mention of the possibility, of the remote hope, that if they increased the cost of smoking, people would actually stop the filthy habit and lives would be saved. That it might, just might, make our world a better place. Instead, they’re computing how much money they’ll make.

Oh, man. That’s gotta be the most faithless, cynical and jaded thing I’ve heard yet.

This country is really going up in smoke.


09/15/2009 Cbnnews

Along I-94 in Hudson, the Freedom gas station is a convenient stop for many. Ron Campbell has been the manager for 20 years.
Tuesday morning, he saw his regular customers, but many of them passed on their regular purchase.

“The customer came in and asked if we already changed prices. I said we didn’t have a choice at midnight…he said ok, thank you and he left,” says Ron.

Ron’s employees have been changing prices all day.

As of midnight, a new state tobacco tax kicked in and buying a pack of cigarettes in Wisconsin became 75 cents more expensive. The tax also applies to other tobacco products.

For example, a pack of Marlboro‘s at the Freedom gas station now costs $6.59. Before midnight, that same pack cost $5.79. Prices vary by brand, but the most expensive cigarettes at Freedom now cost $7.70 per pack.

Ron is concerned about what that will mean for business, especially for a border store where people can buy cigarettes for less in Minnesota.

“It will have a big impact for us, both inside sales and outside sales…just people travelling through,” says Ron.

But the higher tax is a big victory for anti-smoking advocates with a goal to outprice young people out of the cigarette market.

The principle is – if they can’t afford them, they won’t smoke them.

“For every 10 percent increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes, we see a 7 percent decrease in youth smoking,” says Bob Moffitt with the American Lung Association. “They are very susceptible to price changes, especially sudden price changes like this tax.”

Back at the Freedom station, Trudy Greer says she spends about 50 bucks a week on cigarettes. The new tax means paying about six dollars more.

It’s incentive for some.

“I should quit just knowing that it is going to cost more,” says Trudy.

But it’s not incentive for others.

“Until they get to ten dollars a pack, then I’ll quit,” says Bob Muhlankord who buys about five packs of cigarettes a week.

The increased tobacco tax is part one of new legislation. Next July, Wisconsin goes smoke free in bars and restaurants.

The new tobacco tax is expected to generate about $335 million in revenue over the next two years for the state of Wisconsin.

© 2 Sept, 2009 Kare

BROOKLINE, N.H. – With a clunky rumble, the 4-foot-tall wooden contraption worked its magic, turning loose tobacco and rolling papers into tightly packed smokes. One after another, they slid down a metal chute into a waiting carton.

Customers from near and far line up daily at the Route 13 smoke shop with the roll-your-own cigarette machines that can spit out 200 cigarettes in 10 minutes. They buy by the carton, for less than half the price of many name brands.

But state officials say the machines are making an end run around the landmark 1998 settlement with major tobacco companies, which were required to pay yearly contributions to the states. In a lawsuit filed last week, New Hampshire’s attorney general contends Tobacco Haven’s cigarette machines violate terms of the agreement and could jeopardize the $50 million in settlement money New Hampshire receives each year.

“At $50 million a year, we have a rather inescapable incentive here,’’ said David Rienzo, an assistant attorney general.

Rienzo, along with smoking industry specialists and antismoking groups, say that higher cigarette taxes have spurred a burgeoning roll-your-own market. But until now, it has been largely confined to individuals who buy small, hand-operated rolling machines for personal use. The machines at Tobacco Haven, by contrast, are more akin to high-powered vending machines that spit out cartons of cigarettes in a matter of minutes. Such machines have cropped up across the country, and in New Hampshire prosecutors worried that they could emerge as powerful competitors to commercial cigarettes.

New Hampshire’s suit, believed to be the first of its kind, argues that Tobacco Haven is essentially manufacturing cigarettes and therefore should be making contributions to the state. Tobacco Haven counters that they are strictly a retail outfit and that customers are paying to use the machines for personal use.

State officials say that by allowing a shop to make cigarettes without contributing some proceeds, they risk lawsuits from competing manufacturers angry over unequal treatment.

“At face value, this tobacco shop is in the business of making cigarettes,’’ Rienzo said. “It’s roughly a pack a minute, so it’s not an insignificant number of cigarettes, and it really could cause us some heartburn.’’

Under state law, Tobacco Haven would have to contribute about 2 cents for each cigarette sold to a set-aside fund, he said.

This week, the state ordered the shop to shut down the machines, but the two machines rolled on as usual on a recent morning, with a lengthy line of smokers from New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

A lawyer for the store, which installed the machines earlier this year, staunchly defended the practice. “These machines are nothing in comparison to the volume of a commercial machine,’’ said Jeffrey Burd, a Cincinnati attorney who also represents an Ohio company that sells rolling machines.

Tobacco Haven customers, some of whom save several hundred dollars a month by using the service, were disgruntled by the state’s action. Many wondered why the state had to butt in, especially when jobs are scarce.

“It’s such a great deal,’’ said Dave Surprenant, 43, a pack-a-day smoker from Brookline. “Times are tough, and people are just trying to get by, anyway they can.’’

Still Surprenant, and other smokers, admitted that the low cost would only hurt their halting attempts to kick their habits.

Joy Whitcomb, 46, from Pepperell, Mass., bought two cartons of roll-your-owns, one for her and one for her husband. She was not in love with the taste, she said, but the price sure was right. Compared to convenience stores in Massachusetts, where taxes are more than 70 cents a pack higher, she was saving around $200 a month.

“The word is really going around that it’s such a great deal,’’ she said. “I figured it wouldn’t last too long. The government doesn’t really want us to smoke.’’

But others had another take. Just as smokers are hooked on cigarettes, they said, governments are hooked on cigarette taxes. Tobacco Haven had found a loophole, they said, and the state didn’t like it.

“Bottom line, right there,’’ Mike George,29, from Lunenberg, Mass., said outside the shop. “They aren’t getting their cut.’’

State officials learned of the machines from a competing convenience store, Rienzo said.

“They said, ‘If this isn’t illegal, I want in on it,’ ’’ he said.

Edward L. Sweda, senior attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University in Boston, agreed that the shop had crossed the line between retailer and manufacturer.

“If they make cigarettes, that means they are making cigarettes, even if it’s a fraction of Philip Morris and the like,’’ he said. “If you can make a carton in 10 minutes, that’s something of an operation.’’

Sweda had never heard of a similar lawsuit, but Burd said there are plenty of other shops that have machines like Tobacco Haven’s.

Doug Kennedy, editor of Roll Your Own Magazine, which caters to custom-made cigarette smokers, said the publication has “aggressively recommended shops to walk away from making cigarettes for their customers.’’

“You make a cigarette for someone, then sell it to them, you are a tobacco manufacturer,’’ he said.

Kevin O’Flaherty, director of advocacy in the Northeast for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said many states are fueling the growth of roll-your-own cigarettes by taxing loose tobacco at a lower rate than store-bought cigarettes.

“There’s often a large disparity, and that’s what drives this market,’’ he said.

Indeed, Bob Beshaw, 46, from Shrewsbury, Mass., drove a long way for the discounted smokes. After snagging a carton, he lit up at a picnic table a few steps from the shop. It had the taste of freedom, he said. In Massachusetts, the $25 carton would have run him $75.

“I think we tax people enough already, on everything, don’t you?’’ Beshaw asked.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.

Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em: Craig Johnson, executive director of ProtectYouth.org, a Dallas-based nonprofit and lobbying group, doesn’t smoke marijuana himself, he says. He doesn’t think your kids should be smoking it either. No drug dealings in the neighborhood; none in the schoolyard either. But he and his group have a thought about how to protect children from the demon weed: legalize, regulate and tax the marijuana market, the way we do tobacco.

OK, so what? Lots of people think the same thing. But not many supporters of regulated marijuana have undertaken the work completed recently by Johnson’s 3-year-old group, which has spent the past year or so compiling reams of government and law enforcement data to support a fairly straightforward, reasonable case: Since 1997, when the government started cracking down on cigarette retailers who sell to minors, the percentage of high school students who smoke cigarettes has dropped dramatically, while the percentage of kids who smoke grass has held pretty steady. In fact, in Dallas ISD, the percentage of kids who admitted “current” marijuana use in surveys by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outstripped tobacco smokers around 2000, and today the potheads lead the nicotine fiends by more than 5 percentage points.

The gist of the catchy-titled Tobacco and Marijuana Market Impact Index Volume I: Texas Trends, which is available online, is this: In 1996, 56 percent of Texas retailers who sold tobacco reported they sold to minors. Thanks to stricter enforcement since then, that number has fallen to 11.3 percent. In the meantime, despite thousands of arrests for marijuana possession among youths, the typical price of marijuana has fallen or held steady and kids are still toking away.

“We’re more able to efficiently regulate the tobacco market than the marijuana market,” Johnson tells Buzz, so why not adapt some of the same regulation to both weeds? Effective regulation beats our current system of ineffective criminalization any day.

Like we said, it’s a straightforward, reasonable argument for a change that could have beneficial affects on government budgets, not to mention kids. So, of course, Buzz figures it’s all just pissing in the wind (see: health care reform). Johnson, though, is a little more sanguine. Demographics are changing, old people are giving up seats of power and a younger, more reform-minded generation (you know, stoners) is taking the reins.

So there’s hope. All we need is for some more old people to die off. Hmm, say, here’s a thought. Suppose we create these government-funded death panels…

Wife and I don’t speak with one another much anymore so I don’t know where she actually went. But I did take a peep at her Greyhound ticket before she left, and thus I know what day she’ll return so she can’t come busting in on me like she did last time.

While she’s gone I’m keeping a little diary, and in slightly edited format it goes like this:

DAY ONE: Decided to keep the toilet seat up for the duration, which makes me wonder if those Guinness Book people keep records on stuff like this. I’m also curious to find out how far back I can stand and still mostly hit the bowl.

DAY TWO: Trying to plan ahead so I went to the Supercuts by Raley’s and got me the works: cut, tint, styling, shave, some Old Spice. Chances are pretty fair something will go wrong in the next few weeks and I want to look my best for the Sheriff’s booking photo mug shot website.

DAY FOUR: Finally think I might have the time to get that old embarrassing tattoo removed, which has kept the wife from ever seeing me naked with the lights on.

DAY SIX: I quit feeding the cat and already saved enough to buy a bonus six-pack! Plus I can make a pretty good lunch with all those unopened cans of cat food.

Fresh from TWK’s Kitchen:

One stalk celery, chopped

1Ž2 small onion, minced

One can Friskies Mackerel Cat Food

3/4 cup mayonnaise

Mix ingredients in medium-size bowl. Spread on sliced rye bread. Drink minimum five strong beers before consuming.

SEVEN: Haven’t flushed downstairs toilet since 15th of last month. Wonder if the City Council will give me some kind of plaque for water conservation efforts.

DAY 12: Wife e-mailed, said she met some guy from Chippendale’s, which is a high-end furniture making outfit. Hope he gives her something special to bring home!

DAY 14: Tore up all the orchids and lilies and heritage roses around the place and put in some revenue-enhancing plants, if you know what I mean. Not pot too obvious. I planted several hundred Afghan poppies. Tom Allman and Bob Nishiyama could stroll the yard all day and never suspect a thing.

DAY 15: Friday was Sushi Night, so this morning I cleaned out the fish tank and filled it with a nice young Gallo Chianti. Got some buddies coming over Ginger Baker, Lynette Fromme, maybe Abner Haynes and I’m thinking of taking apart the vacuum cleaner and making a beer bong out of it. Not like I was running the old Electrolux over the rugs much anyway.

DAY 19: If you had a sneaky wife who didn’t trust you where do you think she’d go hiding her checkbook? Well, mine tucked hers way down into the laundry basket and it took me this long to find it. But perseverance pays off (or in my case it pays off my tab at the Water Trough).

DAY 22: Cat died today, or maybe last week. Gotta make it look like a suicide.

DAY 24: Some nosy guy from the County came snooping around saying the neighbors are complaining about a “sick, horrid smell” coming from the house, which I’m thinking is the unflushed toilet I got going downstairs. It is mighty ripe, but did I go calling government busybodies when I smelled pot growing in their yard last summer? No, I did not. I simply went over the fence and helped myself to a small portion of their crop, and they are certainly welcome to do the same.

DAY 27: She thinks I just drink and lay around when she’s gone, but I’ve already made a rubber band ball, wrote a poem, and put all my warrants in chronological order

DAY 30: E-mail from the wife today says she’s in touch with some lawyer over whatever’s going on with the Chippendale guy, which just shows how dumb she can be. I mean, shipping furniture might require a moving company but it’s way overboard to think you’re going to need a lawyer. I told you she wasn’t the brightest. I’ll have a talk with her when she gets home.

There’s Tommy Wayne, standing in the kitchen in his tattered bathrobe, leaning on the sink and eating out of a can, while Tom Hine is out in the garage sitting in his ’74 Plymouth with the engine running.

© Ukiah Daily Journal Staff

Snus is an oral snuff consisting of moist finely ground tobacco which is available in a loose form or with portions of the tobacco sealed in small sachets termed “pouches.” The product has a long history of use in Sweden. Currently, there is very little published information on levels of consumption and usage behaviors for snus in Sweden. The objective of this study was to obtain data on the frequency and duration of loose and pouched snus consumption in Sweden and investigate usage behaviors.

Methods: Telephone surveys of snus users randomly selected from telephone directories in all regions of Sweden were conducted in 2007 and 2008. In total, 2,914 respondents answered questions on snus usage, including the types of products used and the quantity and frequency of use.

Results: The majority of respondents (96%) used either pouched or loose snus alone. A minority (12.6%) reported dual use of smokeless and combustible tobacco products. Average daily consumption was 11–12 g for pouched snus and 29–32 g for loose snus. The typical duration of use of each pouch/portion was 60–70 min.

Discussion: This survey has provided new insights into contemporary snus use in Sweden, such as the marked differences in daily consumption between loose and pouched snus, length of time that snus users typically keep pouches in the mouth, differential patterns of use in males and females, and the simultaneous use of multiple pouches in a small proportion of users.

Selling java is a hot business in the Tri-Cities.
Sales of specialty coffee drinks have mostly held steady despite the recession. And new coffee joints have routinely popped up in the area to tap into a thriving local coffee market, local coffee shop owners say.

The word about the area’s strong economy and a growing coffee drinking population even has attracted out-of-town entrepreneurs to set up shop.

A little over a month ago, Jason Norris started his Mean Bean Espresso drive-through near GuestHouse International on West Clearwater Avenue in Kennewick.

He moved from Kelso because the Tri-Cities is a “booming area,” and there’s a lot of money to be made in the coffee business, said Norris, 30, who invested $65,000 in the venture. He said he’s managed a coffee shop in Centralia for two years.

Similarly, Wes Heyden came to town in 2007 from Oregon, and he and a partner started a Dutch Bros. Coffee stand on Clearwater Avenue, near Union Street.

You don’t notice sharp economic swings in the area as you would in a big city like Seattle, said Heyden who’s been in the coffee business for almost a decade.

“We’re a sheltered lot,” said Heyden, who after selling his share in the coffee stand started Roasters Coffee in the parking lot of the Red Lion Hotel in Pasco about four months ago.

Flynn Thurston and his wife moved from Spokane to be closer to family and to open Cool Beans Coffee House near the state Department of Licensing office in Kennewick about a year ago.

“We thought there was a lack of cafes with a community feel,” said Thurston, 24.

He’s been happy with the growth in business, he said. “We haven’t seen the impact of the recession.”

And their success has to do with their location, word-of-mouth advertising, and the niche they’ve created selling hot and cold lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, teas, flavored drinks and smoothies.

Thurston offers a plush sit-down place with free Wi-Fi access. Norris touts his organic beans and discounts to customer who bring their own cups. And Heyden highlights his support for local suppliers, and his moderate prices.

“My prices are few pennies cheaper than McDonald’s,” Heyden said, referring to the McCaf espresso-based coffee drinks sold by McDonalds.

There’s enough business for everyone in the community, said Casey Bell, who co-owns Daily Buzz Espresso on Jericho Road off Queensgate Drive in Richland with her sister Samantha Glines. The business is doing well, said Bell, a Southridge High grad 2001.

The sisters have marketed their coffee stand as bikini espresso since they bought it about a year ago. Wearing a bikini helps draw attention, but it’s the personality of the sisters and the quality of drinks that keep bringing customers back, she said. The store also has a huge selection of flavors, she said.

People who work in the area get their coffee regularly at Daily Buzz. The clientele also includes women, said Bell, who previously worked as a bartender.

There’s a similarity between the two jobs: Customers tip well for a good cup of coffee, Bell said.

“A bad cup can really ruin your day,” she said.

Don Ray sees new customers every day at the drive-through of Coffee Bean Espresso, which he started in 1993. But he has a huge number of regulars, some of whom prefer to drive all the way from Pasco to his Stevens Drive stand in Richland for their daily buzz.

“Coffee drinkers seldom give up coffee. They’ll give up something else, like going to a movie,” Ray said.

Many of his customers who tried to make lattes at homes to cut costs eventually came back to him, Ray said.

“It’s not quite the same they said,” Ray explained.

“(Coffee) is like cigarettes, people want it,” Laura Kelsay, a longtime barista at The Big Bean Espresso drive-through on Clearwater Avenue near WinCo.

Customers keep coming back because of personalized service and quality drinks, she said.

“We also give more drink for less, compared to Starbucks,” she said.

Karen Suhr, a career specialist at Kennewick High, spends about $7 a week on lattes. For two years now, she has been getting her fix at Big Bean.

“(Laura) knows what I like,” said Suhr, who also goes to other coffee shops.

James Hatcher, a recent Southridge High grad, calls himself a coffee drinker who spends about $10 a week on his habit.

“(Coffee) gives me the energy to do something,” he said while buying the beverage at Dutch Bros. in Kennewick last week. He also enjoys Starbucks coffee, he said.

Thanks to Starbucks, consumers have come to appreciate specialty coffee, Heyden said, adding it has also provided an impetus to the growth of mom-and- pop coffee stores. He’s looking to expand his business, Heyden said.

The business continues to grow with people becoming more knowledgeable about coffee, said Jake Shupe, who together with his wife, Michelle, recently took over Barracuda Coffee Co. in Richland. Both of them worked as baristas at Barracuda before buying it.

He counts business professionals and seniors among his core customers, Shupe said. He sees his cafe, which offers free Wi-Fi and newspapers, as a place for informal get-togethers and quality coffee. Some customers use his store as a virtual office, he said.

Business also has been good for Chris Gorchels, who supplies coffee making equipment and roasted bean to more than 50 retail coffee establishments in the Tri-Cities and nearby.

Many churches and schools have high-end espresso makers and offer coffee drinks. The industry has expanded considerably since 1991 when Gorchels started out in the coffee-making business in Kennewick.

Gorchels, owner of Highpockets Coffee Co., estimates there’re about 150 coffee-serving outlets in the Tri-Cities. Each year about three to five coffee joints replace the same number of business that may close.

Running a retail coffee business is not easy, said Kerri Goodman-Small, publisher and owner of CoffeeTalk, a Vashon, Wash.-based globally distributed coffee trade journal.

You’ve to know about beans, roasting and blending the drinks, and be passionate about coffee, said Goodman-Small, who in the early 1990s co-authored Java U Business Basics, a guide to how to open a coffee house.

Retail coffee business in Washington state is still growing, she said, in part because it can be lucrative.

Anyone able to sell a 100 drinks a day can make a decent living, Gorchels said. But that means coffee shop owners must do the work themselves and forego hired help, and be someone who is cheerful and takes pride in making a good coffee drink.