This week is Tobacco-Free Oklahoma Week and is focusing on the health and financial costs of smoking. We all are aware of dangers of smoking — to smokers themselves and also to people around them through second-hand smoke. The health costs can be devastating. Nearly 26 percent of adults in Oklahoma smoke, and there are more than 6,000 deaths related to smoking in the state each year, according to figures provided by Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (OTSET).

What we often don’t think about are fi-nancial costs directly tied to the health costs.

According to trust figures, Oklahoma businesses lose an average of $4,400 each year for every employee who smokes. Those costs include increased sick days and disability, higher medical and insurance costs and shorter, less productive work lives among smoking employees.

Taxpayers also bear part of the cost of smoking. According to OTSET figures, the state’s annual health care costs directly caused by smoking are $1.16 billion, including $218 million in Medicaid costs.

The report states every Oklahoma household “on average pays $548 each year in state and federal taxes related to smoking costs, whether anyone in the household smokes or not.”

We know it’s hard to stop smoking, but it’s not impossible.

Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Smoking-related illnesses kill more people each year than alcohol, illegal drug use, car crashes, AIDS, murders and suicides combined. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, worldwide tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year.

In the United States, tobacco use is responsible for about one in five deaths annually, which equals about 443,000 deaths per year, and an estimated 49,000 of these tobacco-related deaths are the result of secondhand smoke exposure. In New York state, 25,400 adults die each year from their own smoking and 3,040 nonsmokers die from secondhand smoke exposure.
Tobacco use and secondhand smoke inhalation causes cancer, heart disease, stroke and lung diseases, which include emphysema, bronchitis and chronic airway obstruction. Additionally, it can cause skin damage, cataracts, psorasis, gastric ulcers and premature birth and infant mortality. On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.
What many will wonder is why do people ever start smoking? It starts with the tobacco industry. They spend more than $1.1 million every day in New York to market their products in convenience stores, gas stations, pharmacies and grocery stores. A portion of this pays licensed tobacco retailers to put their products in the most visible locations in the store, which may attract youth to start smoking and hinder adults who are in the process of quitting.
The main problem is youth are more likely to be influenced by cigarette advertising than by peer pressure. If you go into a store, you may see ads at the eye level of children and/or graphics on tobacco ads that are similar to gum, breath mints or other candy products. Research studies have found that youth are almost twice as likely as adults to recall tobacco advertising. Tobacco advertising targets the psychological needs of adolescents, such as popularity, peer acceptance and positive self-image. And that tobacco product advertising and display in stores gives youth the impression that tobacco products are easily accessible.
Nationwide, youth smoking has declined dramatically since the mid-1900s; however, that decline has slowed considerably in recent years. That being said, in New York state, about 15 percent of high school students smoke, 24,100 youth become new daily smokers, and 38 million packs of cigarettes are bought or smoked by youth every year.
Future trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. And it is estimated that in New York, 389,000 kids 18 and younger that are currently alive today will die prematurely from a smoking-related illness.
Not only does smoking cause illness, it also has a financial impact on every taxpaying resident. New York state spends $8.17 billion annually on health care costs directly related to smoking; $5.4 billion is the portion covered by the state’s Medicaid program. This means that to help cover the cost of the state and federal tax burden from smoking-caused government expenditures in New York, state residents pay $894 per household every year.

SOUTH PORTLAND — Two candidates for governor on Friday said they would support an increase in the cigarette tax, while two others said they would have to consider the idea within the context of the economy and other taxes. Independents Shawn Moody and Kevin Scott told the American Lung Association of Maine at a forum that they would support an increase in the tax in an effort to get more people — especially teens — to kick the habit.

“Let’s increase that tobacco tax as long as the dollars go where they are intended,” Moody said during an hour-long forum at the Sable Oaks Marriott.

Scott agreed.

“I have advocated for an increase in the tobacco tax,” he said. “I think that would be one way to moderate some behavior.”

But the other two candidates who attended — Democrat Libby Mitchell and independent Eliot Cutler — were less inclined to embrace an immediate hike.

“This might not be the right time to raise a cigarette tax,” Mitchell said. “However, as governor, I would not rule it out.”

Cutler said increases in the gas tax and cigarette tax need to be considered “on a case by case basis.”

“We must build the strongest possible fences around those receipts so they are not used for broader purposes,” he said.

Republican Paul LePage did not attend the forum, but said at a debate in September that he would oppose a cigarette tax hike. LePage Press Secretary Dan Demeritt said Friday that campaign meetings prevented LePage from attending the forum, but that the Waterville mayor would consider lowering the cigarette tax if the state could afford the loss in revenue. However, his initial focus would be on reducing the income tax and the tax on pensions, he said.

The issue of whether to raise the cigarette tax is a perennial one at the State House, where groups such as the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund and others often advocate for increases to try to keep teens from buying cigarettes.

Statistics circulated by the group on Friday indicated that tobacco use claims 2,200 Maine lives each year and costs the state more than $600 million in health care costs annually. It’s estimated 18 percent of the state’s high school students are smokers.

The forum, moderated by Mal Leary of Capitol News Service, covered other health care topics such as the new federal reforms and state-level health offices.

The candidates were asked whether they would continue to keep the state’s Office of Health Policy and Finance within the executive branch. Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, created the office at the beginning of his administration in 2003.

“We need the office of health policy now more than ever as we transition from Dirigo to a new (federal) exchange,” Mitchell said. “You have to have leadership and it has to come from the executive level.”

Cutler said the new governor should choose strong commissioners who could lead such efforts within their own departments.

“I tend not to believe we ought to have czars and czarinas,” he said.

Scott and Moody both said they would keep the office. Moody said he would “move it in a new direction.”

“We can’t wait until 2014,” he said, referring to the year when most of the federal reforms will go into effect. “We’re in a crisis right now.”

Health discussions about U.S. smokers usually revolve around numbers — how many adults smoke (20.6%) and how many die each year (smoking accounts for 1 in 5 deaths), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Smoking & Tobacco Use.

In September, the American Lung Assn. released a study by Penn State University that came up with a different kind of number: the “true” cost of a pack of cigarettes, state by state. The data show the average national cost of a pack at $5.51, but once factors like the loss of workplace productivity are factored in that number bloats to $18.05. Roll over each state to see the derived cost effects at “Smoking Cessation: The Economic Benefits.”

The association’s Florida chapter is sponsoring a quit smoking summit Thursday that will use these data to give smokers one more reason to stop, according to the Orlando Sentinel blog Vital Signs post “How much does a pack of cigarettes really cost?”

The weak economy and higher prices are snuffing out cigarette demand around the world as tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma make the tobacco business tougher. Executives from several tobacco companies will be on hand Tuesday at the Barclays Capital Back-to-School Consumer Conference in Boston to tell investors how they are dealing with the multitude of challenges facing in the industry.

Among those challenges in both the U.S. and abroad are increased tobacco control efforts such as marketing restrictions and other regulations aimed at curbing tobacco use and reducing the related death and disease.

In the U.S., companies like Reynolds American Inc. and Altria Group Inc., owner of the biggest U.S. cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, are dealing with the implementation of the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of tobacco products.

Since June 2009, the FDA has taken several steps prescribed by law: limiting marketing, especially to children; banning flavored cigarettes except for menthol; removing labels such as “light,” “mild” and “low-tar” from cigarette packs; and increasing the size of warning labels on smokeless tobacco. It has also begun to look at the ingredients in cigarettes as well as the health impacts of menthol and dissolvable tobacco products.

Overseas, cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc., which sells Marlboro cigarettes and other U.S. brands abroad, is facing display bans in several countries, as well as tax hikes in large markets like Japan. Meanwhile in Greece, where 42 percent of people over 15 years old smoke, the government is imposing a tough smoking ban that outlaws lighting up in enclosed public areas and prohibits tobacco advertising.

The combination of both tighter restrictions on smoking and higher taxes has led companies to concentrate on cutting costs, raising prices and increasing market share.

Companies like Reynolds American and Altria Group also are focusing on cigarette alternatives — such as cigars and smokeless products like snus, snuff and chewing tobacco — for future sales growth because of expected continuing cigarette declines industrywide.

Reynolds American and Philip Morris International are scheduled to make presentations at the conference on Tuesday. Altria Group is scheduled to present on Wednesday.

Material by: businessweek.com

Just like Russia, smoking cigarette is now popular among people in Cantabria, with a cumulative decline of 9.3 percent in the first seven months of the year. It has been continued actually. Anyway, cigarettes are still the leading consumption of snuff, far ahead of cigars and snuff pipe and rolling, and the collection grows despite the decline in sales due to the price increases.

This is seen in recent data from the Commissioner for the Tobacco Market. According to these data, at the end of July the region sold 28.3 billion packs of cigarettes, compared with almost 31.3 million in the same period of 2009, representing a decrease of 9.3 percent.
In total amount of sales of snuff in Cantabria (cigarettes, cigars, snuff and pipe rolling), it is reported that the number increased until late July. Sales of Cigarettes remain the most prominent with 20 millions units of cigarette sold starting from 2009. Here lie the sales of cigars, with 16 million units sold (31.3% more than a year earlier), which has resulted in a collection of more than 4.7 million euros (7.1 percent).
For its part, rolling snuff sold until July 26 270 kilos (almost 57% more than the same period of 2009), amounting to more than 2.3 million euros. And with regard to snuff, pipe consumption also increased, from 681-987 kilos, up around 45 percent, which in economic terms was reflected in an increase of 40 percent, from approximately 42 600 euros in the first seven months of 2009, more than 59,600 at the same time in 2010.

Tobacco in Slovakia report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2002-2007), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market – be the new legislative, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2012 illustrate how the market is set to change. Product coverage includes: cigarettes, cigars and smoking tobacco. Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares and brand shares.

Why buy this report?
* Get a detailed picture of the tobacco industry;
* Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;
* Understand the competitive environment, the market’s major players and leading brands;
* Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.

Euromonitor International has over 30 years experience of publishing market research reports, business reference books and online information systems. With offices in London, Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai, Vilnius, Dubai, Cape Town and Santiago and a network of over 600 analysts worldwide, Euromonitor International has a unique capability to develop reliable information resources to help drive informed strategic planning national has a unique capability to develop reliable information resources to help drive informed strategic planning.

From officialwire.com, June 23, 2010, by Press Office

The next terror attack on America could be a self-inflicted wound — specifically, a cigarette burn.
Politicians expand tobacco taxes to discourage smoking and to feed their own nicotine-like addiction to public spending. Like so many others, this government action smolders with unintended consequences. Tobacco taxes create a perfect arbitrage opportunity that radical Muslims exploit to collect money for terrorist groups that murder Americans and our allies. Tobacco taxes should be cut, or at least frozen, before they fuel further Islamic-extremist violence.

Consider the first attack on the Twin Towers, which killed six and injured 1,040. As Patrick Fleenor recalled in a Cato Institute study, “counterfeit cigarette tax stamps were found in an apartment used by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad cell that carried out the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.”

By article.nationalreview.com, June 10, 2010

COLONIE, N.Y. — NEWS10 caught a couple of protests on Tuesday over tobacco taxes.
First, the New York Association of Convenience Stores joined forces with several state lawmakers to demand that Governor Paterson finally collect taxes on cigarettes that are sold on Native American reservations.
Merchants who do collect the taxes say the Native Americans have an unfair advantage, claiming that lots of “mom & pop” stores are going out of business.

Paterson promised earlier this year that he would get the sales tax that’s owed the state, about $ 1 billion annually, according to lawmakers. But they say, so far, no action.

A couple of hours later, the New York Tobacconist Association said dozens of stores selling cigars and pipe tobacco will go out of business if lawmakers approve the governor’s proposal to nearly double the excise tax on non-cigarette tobacco products, from 46 to 90 percent.

A cigar that costs $7 now would then cost $13.

“Think about it, a 90 percent tax,” said Brad Gerstman of the association, “has anyone ever heard of such a thing?”

Jeff Blatnick of Ballston Lake, the gold medal wrestling champ from the 1984 Olympics, joined the protestors, saying he enjoys an occasional cigar, understands the health risks, but believes it is a personal choice.

By JOHN McLOUGHLIN, June 9, 2010, wten.com