It’s common knowledge that cigarette smoke is bad for you. But it may be even more toxic than you realize. Here are some facts you need to take down before you light up: * Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,800 chemical compounds, including 69 that are known to cause cancer. Many other toxic agents are also in cigarettes, some of which are made during the smoking process itself.
* A lighted cigarette generates more than 150 billion tar particles per cubic inch, making up the visible portion of cigarette smoke.
* According to chemists at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, cigarette smoke is 10,000 times more concentrated than the automobile pollution at rush hour on a freeway.

* Visible smoke contributes only 5 percent to 8 percent toward the total output of a cigarette. What you can’t see are the so-called vapors or gases in the cigarette smoke. Nitrogen and oxygen are two harmless ones, but here are just a few that aren’t:
o Carbon monoxide. Reduces your blood’s ability to carry oxygen.
o Formaldehyde. Raises your risk of leukemia and brain cancer.
o Acrolein. May damage the lungs and cause death when you breathe large amounts. Breathing lesser amounts may cause eye watering, burning of the nose and throat and a decreased breathing rate.
o Hydrogen cyanide. May cause death within minutes at high amounts. Exposure to lower concentrations may produce eye irritation, headache, confusion, nausea and vomiting. In some cases, coma and death may follow.
o Nitrogen oxide. Low levels can irritate your eyes, nose, throat and lungs, possibly causing you to cough and experience shortness of breath, tiredness and nausea. Exposure to low levels can also cause fluid buildup in the lungs one or two days after exposure. Breathing high levels of nitrogen oxide can cause rapid burning, spasms and swelling of tissues in the throat and upper respiratory tract, reduced oxygenation of body tissues, a buildup of fluid in your lungs, and death.

Besides this list of toxic gases, the list of cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens) in cigarette smoke is also long and includes:

* Cyanide
* Benzene
* Formaldehyde
* Methanol
* Acetylene
* Ammonia

So if you ever feel that quitting smoking is a battle, just remember, it’s actually chemical warfare.

A 70-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of killing his 50-year-old cousin over some stolen cigarettes. According to a criminal complaint, Orteal Tyler shot and killed Mark Chambers on Sunday night inside the home they shared at 24th Street and Hampton Avenue. Investigators said Tyler became angry when he found cigarettes missing from the pack he left on the kitchen table.

Tyler told police he and Chambers often fought over money and he believed Chambers had taken the cigarettes and he “couldn’t take it anymore.”

A medical examiner’s report showed Chambers died of seven gunshot wounds.

Tyler is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. He is facing life in prison if convicted.

One person was transported to the hospital following a fire at an apartment complex in Enid shortly after 1 p.m. Monday. The fire was located at the 1900 block of Mosher Drive and was said to have been started by a discarded cigarette or something similar, said Enid Fire Marshal Ken Helms. “It was a small fire on the deck of the second story,” Helms said. “It appeared to be started by discarded smoking material.”

Helms said the fire began to burn in the wall cavity on the exterior of the structure.

According to reports, six units responded to the fire, and firefighters extinguished it before extensive damage could occur. The blaze caused about $1,500 in damages.

“There was one female occupant in the apartment, asleep at the time,” Helms said. He said the woman was transported to the hospital to check for smoke inhalation injury, but there were no serious injuries.

This fire was not the first caused by a discarded cigarette at the same apartment complex.

“We’ve had several fires over the last few years of that nature at that apartment,” Helms said.

He said the fire department may schedule a meeting with the management of the apartment to discuss strategies for preventing future fires.

“Nobody’s doing anything illegal,” Helms said. “Folks just need to be careful of how they dispose of their cigarettes and make sure they are completely extinguished before they walk away.”

The dry leaves and vegetation that come with autumn and the recent gusty winds make it easy for a discarded lit cigarette to ignite and cause a fire, Helms said. Simply taking a few seconds to make sure a cigarette is properly extinguished can save property or even lives.

Smokers had much incentive Thursday to quit for a day – it was the annual Great American Smokeout. Today, tomorrow and the next few weeks are tougher for smokers wanting to drop the habit permanently. Smoking is responsible for more than 440,000 deaths each year, and nearly 21 percent of Americans smoke. In Indiana the rate of adults who smoke is closer to 23 percent.

New warnings on tobacco products announced by the federal Food and Drug Administration last week may help persuade those trying to quit from succumbing to nicotine cravings. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires large graphic warnings on cigarette packages. In June the FDA will select the final designs for labels, and then cigarette companies will have 15 months to update packaging and advertising.

Among the potential options for the new warning labels are pictures from autopsy photos and diseased lungs. The labels have to take up half the space on a pack and must include “color graphics depicting the negative health consequences.” The new warnings are also required in all tobacco advertising and have to take up at least 20 percent of content.

If an understanding of the health threats of smoking and the new stomach-turning labels still don’t dissuade committed smokers, there are always the high financial stakes. A pack of Marlboros now costs $5.34 a pack, and a pack-a-day habit costs close to $2,000 a year – that’s a really nice big-screen TV.

Recycling options about to explode

Residents are catching on to how much easier recycling is going to be, but may not yet understand the dramatic increase in the types of things the city soon will want residents to recycle.

Residents can currently recycle only No. 1 and No. 2 plastics. But after the new recycling contract takes effect in January, residents will be able to recycle plastics No. 1 through No. 7. That means that all the egg cartons, meat trays, old toothbrushes, plastic shopping bags and straws can be recycled instead of heading to the landfill.

It also means the city could get revenue from selling those commodities rather than paying to dump them.

Bungling ramraiders who caused thousands of pounds of damage to a newsagents made off with just a few boxes of cigarettes.The gang used a Jeep-style vehicle to smash in the front of Martin’s in Central Parade, New Addington, in the early hours of October 17. CCTV showed the criminals repeatedly smashing the steel shutters of the store during the nine-minute raid, eventually breaking through on their fifth attempt.

The store manager, who did not wish to be named, said: “It was total carnage. There was no shop front left, all the shutters were bent in and the counter was moved five feet towards the back of the shop.

“I think they thought it would be easy, but it took them about five hits to get the window through.

“We were ram-raided nearly four years ago, but all they took both times was a few fags.

“We don’t know how many yet, I haven’t had a chance to see, but it’s definitely not many.

“I’ve still got plenty of cigarettes left to sell so we’ve got enough stock.”

The shop was closed all day Saturday following the raid, but a 21-hour cleaning-up shift from the manager meant it was open again the next morning.

A Croydon police spokeswoman said: “Police are investigating a burglary that occurred on 16 October at 1.29am at Martins Newsagents in Central Parade, New Addington.

“Suspects unknown are believed to have used a dark coloured 4 x 4 vehicle to ram the shutters at the front of the premises in order to gain access to the shop.

“Once inside they have stolen a quantity of cigarettes.

“Suspects are believed to have made-off in the vehicle towards Arnhem Drive.”

No arrests had been made as the Croydon Guardian went to press.

Ramraiders made off with about £7,000 from the nearby Martin’s in Headley drive in September 2008, attacking a 71-year-old paperboy during the raid.

The McColl’s store in Calley Down Crescent, which is part of the same chain, had been targeted a fortnight earlier.

A federal judge in Las Vegas has ruled that Wynn Resorts, Ltd. d/b/a Wynn Las Vegas may have liability in a putative class action lawsuit – brought on behalf of casino employees – claiming that the casino failed to reasonably safeguard its workers from dangerous conditions caused by secondhand cigarette smoke.

Wynn had sought dismissal of the lawsuit arguing that Wynn has no duty under Nevada law to protect its employees from secondhand smoke and that the Court lacked jurisdiction to decide the case. Wynn also argued that the case could not proceed on a class basis. The Court rejected these arguments, finding that it had the authority to hear the case, that Wynn had failed to carry its burden of showing there were no set of facts upon which the employees could prevail, and that the issue of class certification would be decided later on in the case.
“Worker safety is critical and well-recognized under the law. This is a tremendous decision for not only Wynn’s employees, but also for workers at other casinos who for years have been unreasonably subjected to secondhand smoke,” said Jay Edelson, whose law firm, Edelson McGuire LLC is pursuing the case and plans to seek class action status. “Although this was not a final decision that says ‘you win’ to the Plaintiffs, it has incredible importance. Wynn can’t escape responsibility now by merely filing a motion to dismiss and wiping its hands clean. Wynn will now have to answer and justify its policy that requires its workers to allow patrons to blow cigarette smoke in their faces without protest and to man smoking tables for prolonged periods of time,” Edelson continued. “We look forward to discovery and putting on our case.”
Edelson is joined in the lawsuit by Edelson McGuire attorneys Steven L. Lezell and Irina Slavina in Chicago.
About Jay Edelson: Edelson has a reputation for bringing, and winning, high profile class action lawsuits. Recently, Edelson settled a nationwide case involving lead painted Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Wooden children’s toys that was valued at over $30 million. Edelson’s firm also was lead counsel in the lawsuits coming out of the 2008 contaminated pet food recall, which resulted in a settlement of over $24 million. Edelson testified before the U.S. Senate in connection with that case.

From: www.prnewswire.com

Smoking baby stops smoking cigarettes. Smoking baby Aldi Suganda has gone into rehab to break the nicotine habit. Suganda smokes about 40 cigarettes per day. Baby Aldi Suganda is only 2-years-old and he smokes 40 cigarettes a day. He is known as the “Smoking Baby” because it is so rare, as shown in the video below. He has gone into rehab to stop smoking.

Stop smoking rehabs do help people to quit the nictotine habit. However, there is fear that he may give in to temptation and resume smoking once he gets there. This young boy was smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day.

Aldi and his mother, Diana, were taken to the Jakarta capital for intensive medical and psychological treatment. The trip was paid for by the local government. As one would expect, Aldi Suganda was not a happy camper when he arrived at the hospital and was denied a cigarette.

Suganda then underwent a variety of tests, including a chest X-ray and ultrasound on his heart and lungs. They showed a thickening on the left wall of his heart. The thickening of a wall is due to obesity, so his heart has to work harder. Doctors say it hasn’t affected his health yet.

“The youngest smokers found were 5 to 9 years-old,” Aris Merdeka Sirait, CEO of the National Committee of Child Protection, said in a statement. “This year, we found that there are baby smokers, who start from a year old,” Sirait said. “Indonesia has long been a country with virtually no regulations of its tobacco industry.”

Article from: newsoxy.com.

WOOD DALE, Ill.—Scores of tobacco retailers in the U.S. are taking advantage of a federal tax loophole to offer deep discounts on roll-your-own cigarettes. But the practice is attracting scrutiny from regulators and cigarette manufacturers. At Smoke Zone, a store in this Chicago suburb, customers one recent afternoon flocked to two high-speed rolling machines that produce a carton of cigarettes in eight minutes. The price: $21—less than half the cost of a carton of Marlboro cigarettes.

“People have waited an hour for these some days,” said Taren DeNicolo, the store’s manager.

About 150 tobacco outlets in some 20 states are deploying the novel roll-your-own machines to tempt recession-weary smokers, according to an estimate by one maker of the devices. But some regulators say the stores may be violating U.S. and state laws that govern cigarette manufacturing.

“These machines raise a number of questions,” said David Rienzo, an assistant attorney general in New Hampshire, which has sued several retailers alleging they are acting as cigarette manufacturers and should pay applicable fees.

View Full Image

David Kesmodel/The Wall Street Journal
Zone in Wood Dale, Ill. The machine produces a carton in about eight minutes priced at less than half that of some commercial brands.

Here’s where the tax loophole comes into play: At Smoke Zone and other retailers, The Wall Street Journal found, store employees or customers insert into the machines tobacco labeled “pipe tobacco.” This substantially reduces the stores’ and smokers’ costs because the federal excise tax on pipe tobacco is $2.83 a pound—compared with $24.78 a pound for the rolling tobacco traditionally used to make hand-rolled cigarettes.

Congress in 2009 sharply raised the federal excise tax on rolling tobacco to help finance the expansion of a children’s health-insurance program backed by President Barack Obama.

New Hampshire’s Mr. Rienzo said that after the tax increase took effect, “numerous manufacturers that sold roll-your-own [tobacco] said, ‘Why not just put a pipe-tobacco label on it, and you won’t have to pay the increased federal excise tax?’”

Other companies created new brands they call pipe tobacco but essentially contain the same tobacco as in their roll-your-own products, said Kevin Altman, an independent tobacco-industry consultant in Richmond, Va.

Shargio Patel, president of Inter-Continental Trading USA Inc. in Mount Prospect, Ill., confirmed his company began offering pipe tobacco under its OHM brand that is similar to its rolling tobacco due to the tax increase. “We’re just following what other companies are doing,” he said.

Some cigarette makers decry the loophole that has created new low-priced competition. “We are complying with the law, but some companies are not doing so in order to gain an unfair advantage,” said Ron Bernstein, chief executive of Liggett Vector Brands Inc., a unit of Vector Group Ltd. that is the fifth-largest U.S. cigarette maker by sales.

In the 14 months since the tax increase, the volume of pipe tobacco sold in the U.S. more than tripled to about 21 million pounds, according to data from the U.S. Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Rolling-tobacco sales volumes, in contrast, fell about 60%.

The tax loophole cost the U.S. government more than $345 million in the first 15 months since the tax increase, estimated Daniel Morris, who tracks tobacco production data for the Oregon Public Health Division.

Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, cigarette makers must place health-warning labels on packaging and can’t use terms such as “light” in describing cigarettes—a term being used by some retailers selling the roll-your-own cartons, the Journal found. The FDA “is gathering more information about practices related to these machines to determine the appropriate regulatory response,” an agency spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, the Treasury’s tobacco-tax bureau is soliciting industry input to help write new rules to clearly differentiate pipe tobacco from rolling tobacco. The process could take months, said an agency spokesman.

Some loose-tobacco makers and retailers say they are doing nothing wrong and that Congress created the problem by raising the excise tax on rolling tobacco—typically used by smokers with lower incomes—by more than 2,000%. “I don’t think the founding fathers of this country meant for taxes that could put companies out of business,” said Jeff Martin, general manager of Rouseco Inc., a pipe and rolling tobacco maker in Kinston, N.C.

Phil Accordino, co-owner of RYO Machine Rental LLC of Girard, Ohio, says his company has sold or leased about 200 of the rolling machines. He said his company, which is about two years old, simply has improved on gadgets some consumers use to roll their own cigarettes.

Jerry Kunz, 39 years old, left a store in Addison, Ill., recently with five cartons of cigarettes made by the machines. “They’re not as good as Marlboro,” he said, but “it’s saving you money.”

This phrase from the popular Phil Harris song back in the 50′s and 60′s lamented cigarettes and the health problem they caused. The second line to that song is “Puff, puff, puff and if you puff yourself to death, tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate that you just hated to make him wait!”

Smoking continues to be a health threat today and also translates into a significant litter and environmental problem for not only Iowa, but the nation.

Iowans have a strong sense of pride in their State. They get highly irritated when they pull up behind a vehicle and see the driver or a passenger throw a cigarette butt out the window. The same is true when running the gauntlet of smokers outside a business building and having to look at the hundreds of cigarette butts on the ground (even with smoking receptacles nearby).

There are an estimated 400,000 smokers in Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Assuming an average of one pack smoked a day, smokers produce an estimated:

*7,300 cigarette butts per year per smoker.

*31,390,000 butts (the majority of those are with a filter) per year, with each weighing 0.10 of an ounce or 2.0 ounces per pack.

*2,341,750 pounds (approximately 142 tons) of cigarette butts per year.

*That represents 7,847,500 or 35.5 tons of cigarette butts that end up on our landscape (assuming a figure of 25% of the cigarette butts), negatively impacting our natural and cultural environment each year. Remember that a filter can last from three to seven years so the cumulative effect can be even more significant.

Impacts on society are equally important and include:

*An unsightly cultural blemish on the landscape.

*Debris and chemical pollution in our State’s waters.

*Fires resulting from those thrown cigarette butts that cause thousands of dollars of expense.

*A habit that encourages forms of civil disobedience such as littering.

For those of you who are still smoking, please be considerate of others and our environment – smoke in designated places and dispose of your cigarette and tobacco litter properly.

Let’s keep Iowa “Clean, Green and Tobacco Free,” as well as beautiful.