Global tobacco giant Philip Morris said Tuesday it planned to take the Norwegian state to court in an attempt to overturn a law in the Scandinavian country banning the display of cigarettes in stores.

“Philip Morris Norway (PMN) will today start legal proceedings to overturn the ban on displaying tobacco products in retail stores,” the company said in a statement.

Following in the footsteps of several other Western countries like Ireland and Iceland, Norway on January 1 this year banned the display of cigarettes in stores in an attempt to cut impulse buys of tobacco products.

In Norway, cigarettes have been banished to closed cases, while cigarette dispensers may no longer display brand labels.

“Display bans have had no impact on reducing smoking in the countries that have implemented them, a fact acknowledged by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services,” PMN spokeswoman Anne Edwards said in the statement.

“These regulations prevent adult consumers from seeing the available product range and overly restrict competition,” she said, adding that “we have raised these issues with the government to no avail, which has regrettably left us with no choice but to litigate.”

Norwegian health officials did not appear troubled by the pending litigation.

“This shows that we are on the right track. If Philip Morris really felt the ban would not reduce the consumption of tobacco they would not worry about this law,” Bjoern-Inge Larsen, who heads up the Norwegian Directorate of Health, told public television NRK.

“On the contrary, I think this legal action is an indication that the ban will contribute to reducing tobacco consumption in the long term,” he said.

In June 2004, Norway became the second country in the world after Ireland to ban smoking in public places, including bars, restaurants and night clubs.

Some 21 percent of Norwegians aged 16 to 74 smoked on a daily basis in 2009, while an additional nine percent smoked occasionally, according to Statistics Norway.

The Roanoke City Council addressed many issues at the Monday night meeting but the dominant ones were a discussion of smoking on city property and what can be done about a collapsed downtown business.

The council discussed banning tobacco products on city-owned property at the last meeting and discussed it again without resolution.

Mayor Mike Fisher said he had taken pro and con calls from citizens, talked with City Schools Superintendent Chuck Marcum, talked with city attorney Clay Tinney and met with Hutch Hammond.

The city already has an ordinance against smoking in enclosed places, and the football field is an enclosed place, Fisher said. The attorney told him if someone leases the ballfield, the armory etc. they can make their own rules as long as they do not conflict with state of Alabama rules. The state board of education has its own rules, he said.

Fisher said the city owns the football field. There is a $25 to $100 fine for each offense under the Feb. 28, 2005 ordinance, he said. The state board of education ban extends to all of the state for athletic events, he said.

He has talked with other cities that own ballfields and they do not have designated smoking areas, he said.

Hutch Hammond, who has allegedly smoked in the stands at games, asked to speak and the mayor said he had to get on the agenda and that he was out of order. Hammond said he wanted to be on the next agenda and the mayor said he needed to contact the office during regular hours.

Councilman Joseph Roberson said he would like to study it before the next meeting. Outside smoking does not bother him, he said. Councilman Russ Cummings said the policy seems far reaching.

The mayor said at playoff games smokers cannot get passes to go outside the fence and return.

Speed breaker

Various representatives gave their point of view on the proposed speed breaker at Douglas Drive and Bartlett Avenue, off of Highway 22.

Bill Nobley, who supports the speed breaker, apologized for a name incorrectly being placed on the petition but said they are still having problems on the stree. He frequently spends hours on his front porch and has seen three kids nearly get run over by drivers. Many drivers go right through the stop sign placed there to slow them down. Kids walking and driving bicycles need protection, he said.

Jimmy Dunn said he does not live on the street but goes through there several times a day and sees no need for a speed breaker.

Sara Traylor-Drummond, who opposes the speed breaker, said from the four-way stop to 22 is less than one-tenth of a mile and that is not a lot of room to pick up speed between there and Douglas Drive. It had been mentioned many drivers cut through there to avoid the school traffic coming down Gilham Road.

Dunn said he has seen the police monitoring traffic. Nobley said others there on this issue say there is a need for the speed breaker. He said there is no posted speed limit and that might help.

Police Chief Adam Melton said he had been on the road most of the day watching traffic and recommended the speed limit be lowered from 30 to 25 miles per hour. He did see one person cut through to 22. Cummings made the motion to accept the chief’s recommendation and post 25 mph on Bartlett and Douglas and it was unanimously approved.

The mayor said if this does not work to contact him and they “will have a block party and talk about it.”

Collapsed building

Cummings asked the status of the old World Bazaar building. It collapsed in April of last year.

Councilwoman Tammi T. Holley said the downtown merchants need to join together and sue to make the owner clean it up.

Melton suggested they leave up the barricades until they obtain a letter from a licensed structural engineer. Pieces are falling, he said.

Holley said the same thing is going to happen to the building next door. The mayor said churches were going to open a soup kitchen in the old Commercial Bank property but “it’s evident Larry Cohen is not going to fix anything, and put that in capital letters. He’s had ample time. We’re not in the building business. We’ve had people come in here and say this building is hurting our business.”

Fisher said the city cannot afford to go in and clean it up. Of the numerous deteriorated downtown buildings, he said, “They’re ugly–they’re awful–but what do you do?”

Randolph County Chamber of Commerce executive director Dorothy Tidwell mentioned some upcoming events and asked if anything could be done to clean up downtown for these.

She asked if students might be involved in putting up plywood to cover the ugly buildings and do a facelift but the mayor said the city cannot legally go on private property. He suggested she get with the owners.

He said he would get with the city attorney again and talk about what could be done. Holley said everybody from the Environmental Protection Agency on down needs to be involved because this is a health hazard.

Freeze damage

On another subject, streets department supervisor Donnie Cash said Fincher Road had sustained a pretty good bit of freeze damage and the Emergency Management Agency, as well as county and state personnel, had looked at various spots around town. Randolph County is one of 13 counties that had recent freeze damage.

EMA director Donnie Knight told him the county had enough damage to qualify and he is waiting for information about how much money there might be for road and utilities damage, included due to the number of burst pipes. The numbers are being tallied and he is hopeful, he said.

The mayor read his proclamation on Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month and Alabama Marriage Month.

Fisher also read a letter from Southern Union State Community College President Amelia Pearson extending a special invitation to the towns in the county to a basketball game during February.

Thursday, Feb. 11, is Roanoke Night. Residents with valid identification as a Roanoke resident will be admitted free that night. The Roanoke Academy of Ballet will provide special entertainment that night.

High school seniors can enter their names into a special drawing taking place Feb. 25 for a chance to win a semester of free tuition at Southern Union. Tuition and fees for up to 12 hours of course work the summer semester will be given to a graduating senior from the county meeting college admission and scholarship requirements.

by Penny L. Pool, Therandolphleader

The Roanoke City Council will consider a no smoking, dipping or chewing ordinance on all city owned property at the Feb. 8 council meeting.

Mayor Mike Fisher said he had received a letter from the State Department of Public Health applauding the city for steps it had taken and mentioned some cities are making everything 100 percent tobacco free.

The mayor said he called people around town asking their thoughts about this. He said he would like to make all city property smoke free without smoking designated areas.

There had been an incident or two at high school games where there was smoking but the State Board of Education prohibits smoking where any students are, he said.

Councilman Mack Arthur Bell said his understanding is that second-hand smoke is about as dangerous as the person smoking. He added to each his own but said a ban would solve that problem.

Councilwoman Tammi T. Holley asked if smokeless tobacco would be included in any ban–that she had seen people spitting in bottles. Fisher said one can’t be banned without doing the other.

Councilman Russ Cummings said he did understand the health hazards and has been approached recently about making restaurants smoke free. This is a polarizing issue, he said, and he is with Councilman Joseph Roberson on thinking about this before acting.

Bell said that, regarding restaurants, it should be up to them.

Fisher said he would have city attorney Clay Tinney draw up an ordinance. Holley said to also include the other forms of tobacco.

Fisher also asked them to consider prohibiting texting while driving. Chief Adam Melton said nothing in Alabama prohibits it right now. Roberson said messaging on military bases is prohibited–phones have to be hands free.

Melton said under current Alabama traffic accident reports it just says “driver not in control”–not if he was texting, so it is difficult to determine how many accidents result from texting. The mayor said he would bring this up in a couple of weeks. Melton said a recent study it was stated texting caused more traffic accidents than driving under the influence.

Harlin honored

The mayor recognized Randolph Medical Center administrator Tim Harlin for all he has meant to the hospital during his time here. Harlin will be leaving in March for a new position in Minnesota.

The document states that on behalf of the city council and the citizens of Roanoke “I would like to extend my deepest appreciation for your service rendered at Randolph Medical Center. Randolph Medical Center has been faced with many challenges during your administration and those challenges were always met with dedication and determination.

“You strived to improve patient care, offer new services, implement new technology, and worked diligently to restore the reputation of quality care that this community had always depended on. Without your leadership and dedicated management team, these accomplishments would not have been possible.”

Harlin thanked them for the resolution and said it had been his privilege to serve as administrator.

He said everything is going smoothly and new physicians have been hired in the psychiatric area. He is spending a lot of time working on recruiting physicians and believes he has snagged an opthamologist and is talking to primary care physicians.

In other business the council passed ordinance #954 authorizing the mayor to apply for a $2,500 grant for electronic equipment in police cars. No match is required. The grant would take care of all the police cars. The resolution will be provided to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs through which the money will be funneled.

Bell said he would like all bids related to the city to come directly to the city clerk’s office for all departments and opened in the council meeting. When asked, he said he was not referring to any particular situation.

Holley said the recent striping in her district makes a world of difference for drivers. The mayor said he had also received comments about it.

Streets Department Supervisor Donnie Cash said Emergency Management director Donnie Knight called and said the state was trying to gather information about damage resulting from the winter freeze.

“We got it up, along with the utilities department, in hope of getting some money out of it. Streets were damaged by the freeze and we hope to get some money from that,” Cash said.

He told the council he appreciated them allowing him to replace a Bush Hog for $10,862 he had budgeted. He asked for the old one to be declared surplus property so it can be sold, which the council did.

Cash said they are running out of room at the landfill for C&D; pulpwood is up in value and he asked if the land can be clear cut so the new cells can go there. He told the council as long as it is authorized by the council and bids taken it is legal. To Holley’s question about potential erosion he said that is something to look at. Bell said he would have to get with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to make sure that doesn’t happen. The council approved Cash’s request.

Wendell Williams has asked the city to sell dirt from where the city digs dirt. The city sold dirt to the county health department during construction there for 50 cents per cubic yard. Since it is not prime dirt Williams asked it be sold for less and he would pick it up with his own equipment. Cash is checking with the Alabama League of Municipalities to make sure they can sell it to a private individual and he will bring it back to the council.

Keith Richardson, who oversees vehicle maintenance, made a proposal to cut maintenance costs by buying filters, fluids etc. in bulk. He estimated a cost savings of almost half on items such as $1,600 on filters and $1,358 on fluids. Some machines still under warranty require a certain brand or the warranty is null and void, he said.

If the city buys the items now they will save over the year. The council was concerned about the items being under lock and key and he said due to not having enough storage some would have to be placed under lock and key in Purchasing Agent Tim Jacob’s office.

Melton said only Richardson performs maintenance on his cars.

The council voted to buy the materials in bulk at an amount of $8,264 for all vehicles down to lawn mowers and motor graders at an annual savings of almost $3,000. The money will come from the general fund account and be purchased locally at the best price. Then, Revenue Officer Pat Truitt will take the purchases from the various department’s budgets.

by Penny L. Pool, Therandolphleader

The NPHS Health Improvement and Health Inequalities Teams have produced a response to the Department of Transport proposal to ban smoking on ships.

The NPHS fully supports the position that people working and travelling on ships should be protected from other peoples’ second-hand tobacco smoke.

At present, the bans on smoking in public places in Great Britain and Northern Ireland do not cover ships. This is because ships fall under the regulation of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The Department of Transport are proposing some new legislation “Merchant Shipping (Prohibition of Smoking on Ships) Regulations” which aims to ban smoking in all areas on-board ships operating in the UK.

People will only be allowed to smoke in specific zones approved by the ship’s Captain.

Smoking is the most common preventable cause of ill health and premature death in Wales. A quarter of Welsh adults currently smoke, and two-thirds of non-smokers in Wales are exposed to other people’s tobacco smoke. Environmental tobacco smoke (also known as second hand smoke or passive smoking) can cause heart disease, lung cancer, asthma and stroke in adult non-smokers. It can also be responsible for sudden infant death syndrome, middle ear infections and asthma attacks in children.

Smoking bans encourage people to reduce their smoking and quit altogether, decreasing the amount of tobacco smoke in the environment, therefore helping to improve the health of current smokers and non-smokers.

In general tobacco use was banned in many prisons. For example, in 1995, was banned the use inside buildings and that led to a plenty by state prisoners in Lee County.

The state prison method is following the lead of facilities like the Dougherty County Jail that has been tobacco free for 15 years and Lee County Jail that went tobacco free nine months ago. Prison leaders said that it’s counter productive for inhabitants to give up smoking in jail only to start lighting up again in a state opportunity.

Such legislation will be introduced in Georgia too. Scientists reported that by the end of 2010 Georgia’s state prisons will be tobacco free. The Georgia Department of Corrections explained that this is a move that will ameliorate the health of inmates and save tax money by cutting health care costs.

Michael Nail, Deputy Director of the Corrections Division, said: “With tobacco use contributing greatly to health issues and health problems, that’s something that we are always aware of when it come to the budget, is making sure we hold our health costs this is one of the ways to help do that as well.”

For example the Dougherty County Jail banned all smoking products in 1995 when the new jail opened. But unfortunately was created a new problem, because it has become the largest items of contraband in the jail.

The Department of Corrections declared also that while tobacco may be the new contraband it may cut back on other dangerous substances.

Col. Doug McGinley, the Dougherty County Jail Administrator, reported: “What is increased in contraband is tobacco, ironically the possession of drugs as contraband actually goes down, so in one sense of it while you still have some contraband by way of tobacco you’re minimizing the drug contraband.”

Dougherty Jail Officials said that it’s been a while since they’ve had dissatisfaction.

The state’s ban of the substance will also mean a loss in the revenue, right now they can sell cigarettes in the commissary, but that will end when the ban takes affect.

The Department of Corrections explained that the ban will start January first when tobacco use will be prohibited at two diagnostic facilities where inmates are evaluated before being conveyed into the state system.

The next prison which will introduced smoking ban will be the Augusta State Medical Prison.

DECATUR Ala. – In an unexpected turn, the Decatur City Council discussed Monday lifting portions of the city’s controversial ban on smoking in public places.

Council President Greg Reeves says the governing body will consider the change during its next meeting at 10 a.m. Monday.

Proposed by District 3 Councilman Gary Hammon, the amendments would lift the ban on smoking for bars and restaurants and remove a rule that hotels cannot designate more than 25 percent of their rooms as smoking rooms.

It would require businesses that allow smoking to post signs saying so that are visible from the road.

Hammon says the changes, if approved, will bring Decatur’s smoking ordinance in line with those of Huntsville, Madison and Florence, which allow smoking in some circumstances. “I am content with it like it is, but when I saw Florence just passed one and they did not even look at Decatur’s — they went straight to the Huntsville-Madison law — I thought, well, everybody around us has the same ordinance except us, and it has hurt businesses in Decatur,” he said.

He added that he expects most Decatur businesses that do not allow smoking under the current ordinance will maintain the status quo. But he said the amendments would allow business owners to choose.

“Anybody who goes smoking, they’re going to lose business from their non-smoking customers,” he said. “Let the people vote with their wallets.”

Council reaction to the proposal was mixed.

Reeves said he was content to leave the ordinance the way it is, but he added, “I think philosophically I would support the business owner’s right to choose.”

District 2 Councilman Roger Anders said he, too, has no problem with the current ordinance, but he said he is willing to consider anything that will help small-business owners in Decatur. District 4 Councilman Ronny Russell, who proposed the city’s current smoking ban last term, opposed the changes, saying it would erase the “incredibly progressive” move the city made last term.

“There’s no reason to do this. What we have is working, and it’s worked well,” he said. “There is no reason to go backward, and I truly don’t understand why Mr. Hammon is making this proposal.”

District 1 Councilman Billy Jackson declined to comment. Decatur’s current smoking ordinance has been in effect since October 2007. It bans smoking in all public places.

The previous council approved the current ordinance in a 3-2 vote. Hammon was among the dissenting votes in that decision. Hammon’s proposed amendments were not part of the council’s regular agenda since he did not request their inclusion until after the deadline Friday.

Because of that, City Attorney Herman Marks said the amendments will require the council to vote unanimously for immediate consideration if they hope to vote on them Monday.

© The Decatur Daily, Ala.; distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. – The new federal ban on flavored cigarettes took effect last week, marking one of the first visible signs of the Food and Drug Administration’s new authority to regulate tobacco.

The ban on manufacturing, importing, marketing and distribution includes candy-, fruit- and clove-flavored cigarettes, which health and federal authorities say are more appealing to youths. It does not include a ban on menthol or other flavored tobacco products such as cigars – which the FDA is studying.

“Candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular tobacco users,” said Dr. Law-rence R. Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.

Citing research studies, Dey-ton said 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers older than 25. FDA officials also said almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers and the ban will help stop more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily.

The FDA sent a letter to the industry last week discussing the ban and its plans for enforcement, including the definition of a cigarette under the ban. Officials are encouraging consumers to notify authorities of any potential violations of the ban.

Executives from leading health groups urged the FDA last month to take a closer look at attempts to sidestep the ban by making superficial changes that turn a cigarette into a small cigar in order to keep selling flavored products.

The move came after word that the nation’s top distributor of clove cigarettes – California-based Kretek International Inc. – began offering small, filtered, spice-flavored cigars that are close to the size of a cigarette but are wrapped in tobacco rather than paper.

Officials did not address any specific products in a conference call with reporters.

In June, President Barack Obama signed the law that allows the FDA to regulate the industry. Its authority includes the ability to ban certain products, reduce nicotine in tobacco products and block labels such as “low tar” and “light.” Tobacco companies also will be required to cover their cartons with large, graphic warnings.

The law won’t let the FDA ban nicotine or tobacco outright, but the agency will be able to regulate what goes into tobacco products, make public the ingredients and prohibit marketing campaigns, especially those geared toward children.

The Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of cigarettes with candy, fruit or clove flavors this week in an effort to stop the industry’s long-running tactic of using flavors to attract youngsters and addict them as lifelong customers. The ban, required under a law enacted in June that gave the F.D.A. the power to regulate tobacco products, is a welcome first step to rein in this rogue industry.

Disturbingly, there are signs that some manufacturers, distributors and retailers may try to circumvent the ban by shifting young smokers to other flavored tobacco products, such as small cigars that may not quite fit legal definitions of a cigarette but can be made every bit as attractive to young smokers with a dash of chocolate, vanilla or fruit flavoring. In anticipation of the ban, domestic manufacturers had already largely stopped production of flavored cigarettes.

The problem with the law is that it did not clearly define what a cigarette is. Traditional definitions revolve around the wrapping. Cigarettes are wrapped in paper; cigars are wrapped in tobacco leaves or paper constituted from tobacco. That seems like a trivial basis for deciding which products may be flavored and which may not.

So far, F.D.A. officials have been deliberately vague in stating whether the ban applies to flavored small cigars that seem comparable to cigarettes and to so-called cigarillos, which are slightly larger but still smaller than traditional cigars.

The agency wisely warned manufacturers that it was examining options to regulate both menthol cigarettes and flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes. It makes no sense to ban flavors in cigarettes and then allow the industry to addict young people to flavored cigars.

© September 23, 2009 Nytimes

A Bill banning smoking in cars carrying children has passed the upper house of the West Australian parliament.

The Bill was introduced earlier this year by the Independent Mp Janet Woollard.

It will also ban retailers from being able to display tobacco products and prohibits people from smoking in certain parts of alfresco dining areas.

Because several amendments were made to the Bill in the upper house it will have to go back to the lower house before it can become law.

The laws will be the toughest anti-smoking laws in Australia.

Copyright © 2009 Abc.net

The Conroe City Council has adopted a comprehensive smoking ban in nearly all enclosed, public places in the city, including bars, restaurants and parks.

Next month, the council will consider extending the ban to private businesses. It also will discuss whether smoking should be allowed on outdoor patios at restaurants, which is prohibited under the new ordinance passed by the council Wednesday.

“Personally, I would have liked to see a complete smoking ban,” said Councilman Jim Gentry. “I really believe in limited government, but I have to do what the people want me to do. I received a lot of correspondence on the issue, and that’s what people want me to do.”

The council has been studying the issue for the last month and was considering two ordinances, a comprehensive model proposed by Breathe Free Conroe and a previous draft that would allow smoking in bars and in restaurants if a separate room and ventilation system were allowed. The new ordinance is even stricter than one imposed in Houston, adding the city parks to the list of venues where people may not smoke.

The new ordinance was praised by Breathe Free Conroe, who spearheaded the effort to get a smoking ban for the city. The city initially considered an ordinance in 2007, but failed to pass one.

“We’re very pleased,” said Chrissie West, the chair of Breath Free Conroe. “We appreciate the council’s effort. We are pleased that they will consider prohibiting smoking in private business as well as public places.”

But one bar owner in Conroe said the ban will drive business out of the city and into unincorporated areas.

“At night, 100 percent of my bar is a smoking facility,” said Jim Hallers of Tailgates Pub & Grill on Texas 242. “Fifty percent of my customers smoke. This will push them right back into The Woodlands.”

The council will consider an amendment in September that would allow restaurants to allow smoking outside on patios at least 20 feet from the front door, operable window or ventilation system. Hallers said the proposal also would not work, since many bars don’t have the space to accommodate a 20 feet no-smoking zone outside.

The new smoking ban lists the types of business where smoking would be prohibited, but it is not comprehensive and would include any enclosed area where the public is invited or permitted. Among the examples cited are banks, bars, bowling alleys, day care facilities, convention facilities, public and private schools, health care facilities, hotels and motels, commons areas in multi=family housing or public office building, restaurants, theaters and retail stores.

The only exceptions to the new law are retail tobacco shops, private clubs, theatrical performance or bingo halls that offer separate rooms for non-smokers. Hotels and motels are permitted to designate up to 20 percent of their rooms for smoking, but once that percentage has been set, it may not be increased.

Councilman Jay Ross Martin said he supports the ordinance because it levels the playing field among all businesses. He was concerned that any variations in the law would put small businesses at a disadvantage because they couldn’t afford the ventilation system to address the issue.

“Our goals shouldn’t be to put anybody out of business,” Martin said. “We are trying to protect the people that use the business.”

The law also bans smoking in city parks as well as within 20 feet of any door, operable window or ventilation system near a public facility. The council rejected a provision which would have allowed smoking in designated areas in its parks.

The new law will take effect in 10 days, but enforcement will not begin until January. Violators will be subject to fines of up to $500, said Marcus Winberry, city attorney.

Councilman Jerry Streater believes the new law does not go far enough to protect workers from second-hand smoke. The council will consider a ban at private businesses operating in Conroe at its meeting in September.

“I don’t think it’s fair that a person who is trying to earn a living has to breathe second-hand smoke,” Streater said.

Sales of duty-free cigarettes should be banned for people entering New Zealand, say public health researchers, who calculate more than $36 million in potential tax revenue is going up in smoke each year.

In a study published in the international journal Tobacco Control, Wellington public health researchers from Otago University estimated the percentage of foreign cigarettes smoked in New Zealand by collecting discarded cigarette packets from streets in four cities and six towns nationwide.

Lead investigator Nick Wilson said 3.2 per cent of the 1310 packets collected were from outside New Zealand, which meant a significant revenue loss for the country. “The $36m of missed revenue from tobacco tax and GST, if the cigarettes were bought in New Zealand, are funds that could be used for quitting campaigns.”

The true amount of missing tax was probably much higher as it was impossible to determine which New Zealand-branded cigarettes had been bought duty-free when travellers entered the country, he said.

One of the three big tobacco companies active in New Zealand stated in 2008 that duty-free sales accounted for 7 per cent.

“The scale of this revenue loss and the health implications are a strong argument for the Government to consider ending the sale of duty-free tobacco on entry to New Zealand, and to remove any duty-free allowance for incoming passengers, as in Singapore,” Dr Wilson said.

“A further possibility is to ban the carrying in of any amount of tobacco altogether.”

Australia was the most frequent source of foreign packets (45 per cent), followed by China (16.7 per cent).

Dr Wilson said the team had given up their free time in summer to collect litter for the study, part of the International Tobacco Control Project and funded by the Health Research Council.

“This kind of research is important because there is no easy way to find out the movement of foreign tobacco products.”

Every packet was analysed and entered into a database.

“There was the occasional scream from our colleague next door doing the data entry whenever a cockroach crawled out of a packet,” Dr Wilson said.

The analysis did not indicate significant smuggling activity into New Zealand though the researchers admitted that some counterfeit activities were “quite sophisticated” and difficult to spot.

Co-author George Thomson said New Zealand should be lending its support for better international “coding and tracking” systems to support other countries in their efforts to curb smuggling.

Rather than a total ban on imported tobacco for personal use, New Zealand could push for an international agreement on duty-free tobacco as part of the 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which 100 countries had signed.


© Stuff

MIAMI — On a typically hot afternoon in his South Florida office, Jorge Padron casually puffs on a cigar that bears his family’s name. The company has been growing steadily for decades, ever since his father, Jose Padron, founded it in Little Havana in 1964.

Padron and other cigar companies say their legacy of good jobs for unskilled workers and fine smokes for aficionados is imperiled not just by the recession. The rise in smoking bans across the country and a unprecedented hike in taxes on tobacco are proving to be crippling.

“The industry is suffering. A lot,” Jorge Padron said.

The biggest casualty so far has been the Hav-a-Tampa plant in Tampa, which will shut down in the coming months and began laying off its nearly 500 employees last week. Norman Sharp, president of the Cigar Association of America, said other companies are laying off workers and cutting back.

“I can’t even use the word cautiously optimistic,” Sharp said. “These are dark, dark days.”

Sales decline

Cigars have long held a sacred place in American history. They’re handed out when babies are born and at wedding receptions. They helped shape the identity of American legends such as Groucho Marx and George Burns, American allies such as Winston Churchill and even American foes such as Fidel Castro. Hall of Fame basketball coach Red Auerbach would pull one out as a victory was nearing, turning them into the ultimate sign of achievement.

Now, smoking is banned in workplaces, restaurants or bars in more than 17,000 cities across the country, according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Meanwhile, about 100 bills have been filed this year in at least 34 state capitals that could increase tobacco taxes even more, according to Dan Carr, chief operating officer of General Cigar.

That’s not necessarily bad news to some. Thomas Glynn, director of cancer science and trends for the American Cancer Society, said cigars don’t cause as much lung cancer as cigarettes since they’re usually not inhaled. But cigar smokers are just as likely as cigarette smokers to develop cancers in the mouth, lip and upper digestive tract.

While there are no reliable data on cigars sold in the USA, Carr said their industrywide analysis shows that people are either buying fewer cigars or cutting them out entirely. An estimate by the company, which sells about 30% of the cigars consumed in the USA, found that sales are down between 10% to 15% in the past year.

One reason for that is taxes, some say, which have skyrocketed.

On April 1, the federal excise tax on cigars increased from 5 cents to about 40 cents on large cigars. At least 12 states have passed tobacco tax increases also, and 25 more states are considering them, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Rich Perelman, editor of Cigarcyclopedia.com, said small cigars have been hit hardest. They are made to sell cheap but got hit with a nearly $1-per-pack tax increase. Premium cigars that sell for $20, $30 aren’t affected nearly as much by the tax hike, he said.

At Flor de Gonzalez Cigars in Miami, their tax bill per shipment has gone from less than $5,000 per 100,000 cigars to more than $40,000.

Yadi Gonzalez, president of the family-owned operation that still rolls many of their specialty cigars by hand, said that has forced them to reduce some salaries. She worries about what will happen if governments continue using cigars as an easy source of income.

“They don’t realize that at the end of the day, if we start losing jobs, and imports begin to drop, they’re not going to accomplish their bottom line, which is to collect these taxes,” Gonzalez said.

The weight of those taxes is solely to blame for the closure of the Hav-a-Tampa plant, said Richard McKenzie, a senior vice president of human resources for Altadis USA, which owns Hav-a-Tampa.

On Friday, the plant began laying off nearly 500 people. McKenzie said most of the factory workers made between $8 and $12 an hour with health insurance, a pension plan and a 401(k), better than most jobs for unskilled labor.

Carr, whose General Cigar company employs more than 6,000 people around the world, said his company hasn’t had to fire anybody. Even so, he would not rule out the possibility of layoffs if their situation continues on its downward slide.

‘This is an art’

Carr said layoffs would be devastating not just to the industry, but to the unskilled workers who have benefited from the well-paying jobs for decades. Unlike workers who man machines in cigarette plants, crafting a cigar is a delicate process that has been passed down through generations.

“This is an art, what we do,” Carr said.

The industry will probably not see a slowing down of the movement to snip away at the places where people can puff, however. From Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., government agencies are banning smoking in restaurants, bars and even parks.

Anti-smoking advocates see little difference between cigarettes and cigars. Perelman does. People don’t rush outside to quickly inhale a cigar, he says.

“They’re consumed in a much different way,” he said. “I have never met a person who is addicted to cigars. Never. Cigars are a quiet, reliable place in their life where they can relax and think about the world as it goes by.”


Source: Usatoday