WASHINGTON — The Seneca Nation of Indians is threatening to spend $250,000 against Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand this year because of her support for legislation that would ban the mailing of cigarettes.

The Seneca Nation Foreign Relations Committee last week unanimously passed a resolution recommending that the Tribal Council set aside that money for “voter education and outreach.” The council will consider the request Feb. 13.

The move came on the recommendation of J. C. Seneca, a leading tobacco entrepreneur and co-chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

“I propose that $250,000 be appropriated for a ‘get out the vote’ effort to educate and mobilize the thousands of workers, contractors, vendors and their families who are tied to the Nation’s $1.1 billion economy as to why Senator Gillibrand is harmful to the Seneca Nation and all of Western New York,” Seneca wrote in a Jan. 14 letter to the committee.

The Senecas are threatening to target Gillibrand, D-N. Y.,because of her support of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, a bill that the Senate could consider that would ban the U. S. Postal Service from mailing cigarettes.

The Senecas depend on the U. S. mail to deliver about two-thirds of the cigarettes they sell, and in an interview, Seneca said the tribe was ready to fight to protect that business.

“The more we can do to educate people, the better,” he said, adding that the money could be spent on advertising or on campaign donations to Gillibrand’s opponents.

The $250,000 would be in addition to the $1 million the tribe earlier set aside to target state lawmakers seeking to collect taxes on the tribe’s cigarette sales.

Asked why the tribe was thinking of targeting Gillibrand, Seneca

said: “Sen. Gillibrand has made no effort at all to listen or to be willing to help.”

Told of the Senecas’ plans to target the freshman senator, her spokeswoman, Bethany Lesser, said: “Sen. Gillibrand’s No. 1 priority is economic development and the Seneca Nation is a partner to our efforts to create jobs and grow our economy. However, Sen. Gillibrand remains committed to preventing the illegal trafficking of cigarettes to children.”

Former Rep. Harold Ford is threatening a primary challenge to Gillibrand, and while no big-name Republican has vowed to run against her, the current political environment could make her a tempting GOP target.

The potential boost in Seneca political funding comes weeks after the tribe targeted both Gillibrand and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N. Y., in a billboard campaign.

Asked why Schumer was no longer the target of the tribe’s ire, Seneca pointed to a recent interview with YNN Buffalo in which Schumer said: “If the Senecas have a really good and transparent way to prevent sales to minors — not using the PACT Act — I’d welcome it.”

That comment “did kind of break the ice” between Schumer and the tribe, Seneca said.

But the relationship between the Senecas and Gillibrand remains icy.

By Jerry Zremski
NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
January 25, 2010

The Rainbow Cactus Company in Virginia Beach was closed for business last Tuesday night, but that didn’t mean owner Shelly White wasn’t working.

Behind closed doors, the dance club looked like a home improvement show. Paint brushes and cans littered the floor next to the performance stage. A chop saw sat on a table beside several wood planks. In the next room, White stood on a ladder painting a wall “limolicious” green.

White and her staff were creating a smoking room at the nightclub to comply with the law that goes into effect Tuesday.

Businesses such as White’s that serve food have these options under Virginia’s new smoking ban: prohibit lighting up in their restaurants; designate outdoor areas for smoking; or set up a smoking room that is walled off and ventilated.

Private clubs are exempt from the ban.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed the legislation in March. According to the Virginia Department of Health, about 66 percent of the state’s bars and restaurants were smoke-free before the legislation was approved. After approval, the number rose to more than 70 percent.

Yet, some local businesses don’t want to take the risk of going totally smoke-free.

White would rather dish out $8,000 to create a separate smoking room than risk losing half her loyal customers.

The club already had two separate dance floors, so White decided to install wooden doors between the two areas. One side will become the smoking room.

“We thought about going totally smoke-free, but a lot of our patrons smoke,” said Alan Phillips, the club’s general manager. “We didn’t want to alienate them.”

“Well,” said White, who quit smoking about three years ago, “it will be good to be out of that ball of smoke that forms in here.”

Phillips, a smoker, shrugged his shoulders. He’s worried that this change could cause a loss in profits.

“Some people might want to light a cigarette while watching a show, but I’m going to have to tell them to go inside the smoking room,” he said. “They’re not going to like that, but they’ll have to get used to it.”

Dennis Doughty, co-owner of The Banque in Norfolk, gave up his spacious office to create a smoking room in his country-western nightclub.

“We want our customers to be happy,” said Doughty, a nonsmoker. “So, I’ll give up my office to make them happy.”

“This is my office now, a supply closet,” he said on Wednesday afternoon, pointing to a narrow room with a desk and chair.

On Tuesday, contractors installed a ventilation system and plumbing fixtures, Doughty said. After completion, the smoking room will have a flat-screen TV for smokers to view the dance floor, he said, and a glass aquarium along the wall.

“We didn’t want to lock people in a room and say, ‘You’re a bad person because you smoke,’ ” Doughty said. “With this room, they won’t miss any of the action while they’re taking a smoke break.”

Annabelle Doughty, also co-owner of the club, wouldn’t reveal how much the renovations cost, but she joked, “Our granddaughter’s college fund went out the window.”

Some bar owners said they simply didn’t have the space or money to add separate smoking rooms. They fear they may lose customers because they’ll have to send them outside.

At Baron’s Pub in Portsmouth, Tyler McMillen complained that the smoking ban is unfair because its exceptions can’t apply to everyone. He would love to add a smoking room, he said, but he doesn’t have the space.

“I think this law is suited toward bigger, chain restaurants,” McMillen said. “They didn’t have the smaller guys with not much square footage in mind.”

Instead, McMillen will use his outside patio to accommodate his smoking customers – who make up about half of his regular patrons.

Dorie Radford, manager at Bone Shakers Saloon in Virginia Beach, said her establishment didn’t have the money to create a separate smoking room. Instead, the biker club’s patio will be converted into a smoking section, she said.

“Our patio has plenty of space, and our customers love to sit outside and look at the bikes,” Radford said. “Plus, in the summers, the patio is packed with customers and the inside is usually empty.”

In a bit of a twist, The Baja, a seafood restaurant in Sandbridge, decided to allow smoking on the outdoor patio, said owner Jimmy Reeve. The establishment has been smoke-free for more than three years, he said.

Customers always crowd the front door while lighting up, and the smoke usually bothers other patrons, Reeve said. With the new ban in place, the smokers can gather on the patio and not irritate anyone, he said.

“I’m a non smoker, so of course I’m concerned about secondhand smoke,” Reeve said. “But we want to be more hospitable, and we don’t want smokers to feel like second-class citizens.”

The Virginian-Pilot
© November 29, 2009

By Jaedda Armstrong

The government of Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, has proposed a law allowing it to sue tobacco companies for the cost of treating smoking- related illnesses.

Prince Edward Island is the final Canadian province to propose the law, with similar legislation pending or already in place in all other provinces.

Canadian governments may seek more than C$200 billion ($188.7 billion) in compensation for health-care costs and lost taxes from cigarette smuggling from tobacco companies that include JTI-MacDonald, the Canadian unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans Inc., an Ontario judge said at a hearing in Toronto last month.

“This government made a commitment to introduce this legislation,” Prince Edward Island Attorney General Gerard Greenan said in a statement posted today on the government’s Web site. “Essentially, the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act will allow us to take action against tobacco firms for past health care costs that have resulted from the use of tobacco.”

Prince Edward Island proposed the law so it can bypass its statute of limitations, which wouldn’t allow the province to recover costs from harms that occurred more than six years ago. Ontario is attempting to recoup costs from as far back as 55 years ago.

The Prince Edward Island law, similar to most of the other provincial laws, is based on British Columbia’s 2000 legislation that has been upheld by Canada’s Supreme Court.

“By using British Columbia as a model, we know that the principles of the act have already been tested by this country’s highest court,” Greenan said.

By Joe Schneider
November 26 2009

Cayman Islands lawmakers have set a new date for the implementation of a smoking ban in bars and restaurants after deciding a 30 October deadline could simply not be met.

The new date, set out in a legal amendment to the Tobacco Law (Commencement) Order, 2009 will be 31 December.

Health Minister Mark Scotland had earlier vowed to have the smoking ban in effect “no later than that date” and said the current government fully intended to implement and enforce the smoking ban.

The Tobacco Law was passed in 2008, but its implementation was delayed because government essentially had no way to enforce what had been passed.

“There’s been talk of ’the minister doesn’t like the bill,’” Mr. Scotland said Friday, “nothing could be further from the truth.”

Mr. Scotland said his ministry was still taking input from tourism–related businesses and other companies that sell tobacco products. He said regulations are being drafted and the detail required couldn’t be worked out in time for the October commencement date.

The health ministry was hoping to give Cabinet members the final regulations in a few weeks. After that, Mr. Scotland said he would start educational meetings with stakeholders prior to the law taking effect.

The health minister admits some of the penalties being discussed for violation of the law were “a bit stiff” and indicated he wanted to change legal wording to give the courts some options in sentencing first–time offenders. He said he didn’t want to hammer bar and restaurant owners or patrons who hadn’t realised the law was in effect.

Business owners found not to be enforcing smoking bans face a $15,000 fine for a first offence and up to 12 months jail or $30,000 in fines for a subsequent conviction.

Individuals caught smoking illegally in a public place face a first–time fine of $2,000 and up to a $10,000 fine for a subsequent conviction.

Retailers caught selling to minors will face an initial fine of $5,000 that will increases to $15,000 for subsequent offences.

“Five or so years on, if we see these things happening, then we can be more draconian,” Mr. Scotland said.

A portion of the Tobacco Law came into effect on 1 May. The legislation set out fines and potential jail sentences for business owners caught selling tobacco to minors.

Although the smoking ban portion of the law was delayed, many restaurants and bars have preempted the government and implemented their own anti–smoking policies.

That section of the law will ban smoking in bars, restaurants and a number of other public places. Outdoor smoking areas in such establishments are permitted provided they are at least 10 feet away from the entrance and an outdoor non–smoking area is also designated.

Cigar bars are exempt from the law provided they install approved air–extraction and ventilation systems within a year of the law coming into effect.

Another section of the law that deals with how retailers display tobacco products in their stores will not be implemented until a later, unspecified date.

By Brent Fuller,
2nd November, 2009 Caycompass

Leader of Government Business and Premier Designate, Hon McKeeva Bush, said a press conference would be held tomorrow (Wednesday) to discuss the particulars of the Tobacco Law, and to clear the air on reasons behind its delay.

“There is a further delay in the legislation because there was nothing to move forward with, but now we have something to move forward with and the law will take effect by the end of the year,” Mr Bush told Cayman Net News.

One year after the Cayman Islands legislature received unanimous approval for the passage of a law that would see cigarette smoking banned in public places, commencement of the tobacco law faces a second delay.

The government released a press statement addressing the issue of the delay, but details are still unclear.

“Cayman’s new Tobacco Law will certainly not be abandoned although the commencement date for this legislation has been pushed back to 31 December 2009,” Minister of Health, Hon. Mark Scotland said.

“The amendment was approved in Cabinet earlier this week and will allow more time for finalising regulations and for putting the necessary administrative processes in place,” Mr Scotland explained.

According to a GIS press release, the health ministry hopes to present Cabinet with the final regulations within a few weeks, after which town hall-style stakeholder meetings will begin between late November and early December.

“These meetings will focus on educating people on the provisions of the law and will be open to the public,” Mr Scotland said.

“While we do regret this delay, on the bright side, the newly-scheduled implementation means that we will have a few extra weeks for public education before implementation,” the health minister further noted.

The law was scheduled to come into effect on 31 May 2009, and was to coincide with World No Tobacco Day. Following the first delay, the government had provided a deadline of 30 October, but a further delay has now pushed the legislation back to 31 December 2009.

In effect, the law would place tougher restrictions on the distribution, promotion and sale of tobacco products in the Cayman Islands. It seeks to fully ban smoking in bars and restaurants and also restricts the selling of tobacco products to minors. The only part of the tobacco law in place now is a ban on selling tobacco to minors, which came into effect on 1 May 2009.

News of the delay has not sat well with anti-smoking advocates.

Director and COO of the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, Christine Sanders, has been a strong activist for the Tobacco Law since 2004, and is very disappointed with the further delay.

“From a cancer society perspective, we are just very disappointed in the delay of the legislation. Each day of the delay places a greater impact on someone’s health,” Ms Sanders told Cayman Net News.

She expressed hope that it will not be a long delay, and that the law will be enacted by the end of the year.

“We hope that the legislation has not been changed significantly as a result of the delay and that it will take effect before year’s end,” she said.

“Most of the people that I have spoken to are disappointed in the delay. They feel that when they go out in public places they are putting their lives at risk by being exposed to secondhand smoke,” Ms Sanders said.

Noting that it was not just cancer survivors who were being placed at risk, she said the lives of asthmatics, heart disease patients, chronic lung disease patients and many others were in jeopardy as a result of the delay in enacting the tobacco law.

“We are all at risk due to secondhand tobacco smoke,” she said.

“In the meantime, in the spirit of the law, we encourage businesses to familiarise themselves with the new legislation. We also congratulate those who are already adhering to the new requirements,” the health minister has noted.

Six years after the ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the UK, a London-based sports body stands accused of breaching the law by promoting a cigarette brand on its website.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) which represents the world’s top male tennis players, is responsible for the sponsorship contracts for the various international tournaments.
The next ATP World Tour tournament, which is due to take place in Basel, Switzerland from 31 October to 8 November, is sponsored by Davidoff, a cigarette brand manufactured by Imperial Tobacco. The Swiss indoor tournament is believed to be the only one in the world to be sponsored by a tobacco company.

British-based Imperial Tobacco acquired the Davidoff cigarette brand in 2006 and has exploited the weak law in Switzerland which still allows events to be sponsored by tobacco companies, although tobacco advertising on television is banned. However, the televising of the event means that tobacco advertising will be beamed into the homes of more than one billion people worldwide, contrary to Article 13 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which has been signed by 160 countries worldwide.

ASH has written to the ATP urging the organisation to end its ties with the tobacco industry when the current contract comes to an end and is seeking clarification from the Department of Health regarding the possible breach of UK law.

Amanda Sandford, Research Manager of the health campaigning charity ASH, said:

“It’s sickening to see a major sports body being sullied by its association with tobacco.
By accepting tobacco industry cash the ATP is tarnishing the image of professional tennis and is sending out the message that money overrides morality. No other major tournament is tainted by tobacco money so there can be no reason why alternative sponsors could not be found for the Swiss indoor event.”

Pascal Diethelm, President of the campaign group OxyRomandie who is the lead campaigner against the Davidoff sponsorship in Switzerland, commented:

“The Davidoff Swiss Indoors tennis tournament is afflicted with a serious kind of “doping” problem: it is hooked on tobacco money. At the end of last year’s tournament young ball boys and girls received a medal from Roger Federer bearing the Davidoff logo to make sure that these potential future smokers would know which cigarette brand to choose when they start smoking ”

By Amanda Sandford
ASH