Paula Holmes-Greeley: State needs meeting of minds on pot

There's no other way to describe it, Michigan is schizophrenic about marijuana.
Voters clearly want marijuana available for medical use, but local officials, politicians, law enforcement agencies and many in the medical community appear to be uncomfortable with the new law.
And there's no shortage of reasons why, starting with loopholes in the law that some critics say essentially legalize the drug.
For three years, officials and marijuana supporters have been debating how to implement the law with marijuana dispensaries or clubs sprouting in our communities while officials use moratoriums and develop zoning ordinances to ban them. Many communities, including Muskegon Township, are in court to stop dispensaries from operating. And the state Supreme Court will hear two cases on the issue this fall.
Between 80,000 and 100,000 Michigan residents have registered as medical marijuana users but many are afraid to be identified as such. Additionally, those “caregivers” who grow marijuana under the law to provide to others are in danger of arrest both from the state and the federal governments.
So what's it going to be? Can Michigan residents use marijuana to relieve nausea, increase appetite and deal with pain, or not?
All of this was brought to a head last week by an appeals court ruling that banned medical marijuana sales at a facility in Mount Pleasant and prompted the estimated 400 to 500 dispensaries in Michigan to shut down or risk being treated like criminals. But I've been thinking about this issue since a former high school classmate shared her story.
She has developed fibromyalgia, which is quite painful. She was uncomfortable with the narcotic painkillers she had been prescribed and was looking for alternatives. Although she had never used marijuana in her life, she decided to give pot a try.
She dutifully collected her medical records and took them to a “dispensary” in a seedy part of Lansing to start the process to be a registered user. As she sat in the waiting room, she realized that no one else seemed to have any medical records with them or appeared to be sick. And they all seemed to be quite a bit younger than her, college students she thought.
When it was her turn, the “doctor” took a cursory look at her records, took her hundred bucks and she was good to go. She ended her story by saying that after that experience she never used marijuana, it seemed criminal, she said as she showed us her official looking registered user's card.
I didn't tell her that a Michigan court had recently ruled that all records of Michigan medical marijuana users had to be turned over to the federal government, which does treat marijuana use as a crime.
I'm not ready to join fellow Chronicle columnist Steve Gunn in calling for the legalization of marijuana for all uses. But his argument is making more and more sense.
Are the long-term effects of marijuana any worse than those of beer, wine and liquor, which are legal? If marijuana was legalized would Michigan immediately turn into a state of potheads? What about all the money spent on what appears to be a losing battle in the war on drugs? In this economy there are many competing uses for such huge sums.
Gov. Rick Snyder wouldn't go there when the Chronicle Editorial Board asked him about the issue, not even to talk about the potential economic benefits of taxing marijuana sales. “It's my job to enforce the laws of the state,” he told us. “The voters clearly want medical marijuana, but that's not my issue. That's not why I ran. I'm focused on jobs and kids.”
And that's where our focus should be. The distraction and expense of the medical marijuana debate does nothing to create jobs nor does it help patients who should be having a legitimate discussion under the law with their doctors instead of being forced to skulk around like criminals.

Woman asked for ID pulls out marijuana

Police say they asked a 29-year-old woman for identification. They say she pulled out a bag of marijuana. They threw her in jail.
Clearwater police say the woman was sitting in a car in a hotel parking lot at 3 a.m. Saturday when an officer approached and asked what she was doing. She told them she was talking to her boyfriend and thinking about renting a room.
The officer asked for her ID card and police say she went into her purse and pulled out the card along with a bag of pot, which she quickly tried to hide.
The officer saw it, however, and searched her purse. Police say it contained painkillers and sedatives. She was arrested on drug charges.
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Tobacco vends flourish in prohibited areas

Sale and consumption of tobacco may be banned within 100 yards of premises of educational institutes, but a look around the cityscape reveals an alarming number of vendors selling cigarettes and other tobacco products within the restricted zone outside schools and colleges across Noida.

Most of the vends have been found to be operating outside educational institutes in sectors 12, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 39 and 126. A number of kiosks have been set up in the vicinity of many hospitals. "Under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, selling tobacco products within 100 yards of school and college premises as well as medical institutions is prohibited," said a senior officer of the district administration. Moreover, schools and colleges are supposed to inform of any violation, but authorities allege they hardly receive any complaints.

The administration also claims that on its part they have been carrying out various campaigns to discourage tobacco use amongst youth. The most recent one has been setting up of an 'anti-smoking cell' that will penalize those who have a habit of smoking in public places. "Schools should make sure there are no shops within 100 yards of the their premises. School heads are supposed to inform authorities if shops near the school are found selling cigarettes," said a member of the district 'anti-smoking cell'. Local residents say that when they complain the kiosks are removed, but after a few days they come back. "Vendors close to educational institutions need to stop selling tobacco products, failing which they need to be taken to task very strictly," said a concerned parent residing in sector 17.

Australia plans cigarette brand ban

Australia is a step closer to becoming the first nation to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes.

Two bills have been passed by Parliament in the lower house, and are now heading to the upper house. If they receive smooth passage, as is expected, it will pave the way for a ban on tobacco companies using product branding.

The overall aim is to reduce smoking rates, which cost the country 31.5 billion Australian dollars (£20.3 billion) annually in healthcare and lost productivity costs.

Under the proposals, planned to be introduced next year, all cigarette packages in Australia will be free of logos. Instead, the brand name will be printed in a plain font.

All packets would also be the same colour, olive green, with graphic health warnings included.

Health minister Nicola Roxon said the move is a "courageous first step" by Parliament.

Tobacco companies have reacted angrily to the plans. Ms Roxon said the companies would have to live with it, while health charities pointed out that packs are designed to be attractive and communicate the "personality" of a brand, and that just as designer products are social cues to style, status, values and character, cigarettes can be "badge products".

"There isn't any safe amount of tobacco that you can smoke. It will kill you eventually and we obviously want to make sure that that message is heard loud and clear," said Ms Roxon.

Robin Hewings, Cancer Research UK's tobacco control policy manager, welcomed the news.

"It is great news that all Australian political parties have voted for cigarettes to be put in plain packs," he said.

"The current packs are attractive to teenagers unlike new unbranded packaging in a standard colour with prominent health warnings. The Government is planning to consult on plain packaging for the UK so we should follow Australia's lead as soon as possible."

‘Tobacco ads lure teens by linking smoking with sports’

Tobacco manufacturers are using a variety of advertising methods to lure young schoolchildren and teenagers into taking up smoking, according to Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeah, Minister of Health. This includes trying to associate smoking with sports and good times, he added.
Al-Rabeah said tobacco advertisers often resort to selling a lifestyle and image to market their products. He said advertisements geared toward young women focus on ideas of being liberated and in control, while at the same time taking advantage of insecurities over body image.
He said other advertisers have been known to use statistics and “pseudo-science” to create the impression that smoking is safe, and to enhance the credibility of their products. Also, tobacco advertisements feed the misconception that every smoker has lots of fun while doing it. Images of happy smokers in restaurants and in the “great outdoors” reinforce the connection between smoking and good times.
Al-Rabeah said most cigarette companies have long used pictures of healthy pursuits in cigarette advertisements to foster smoking as an acceptable, healthy lifestyle. These advertisements want consumers to associate smoking with outdoor sports and recreational activities such as tennis, bicycling and horseback riding.
He said all studies have proven that smoking causes a great deal of damage to women’s beauty. Studies on the effects of nicotine shows that smoking ages skin faster than anything else apart from the sun.
He said smoking affects women worse than men. The nicotine in cigarettes is more addictive for women and they have much greater difficulty quitting than men as a result. Moreover women smokers have twice the additional risk of heart attacks, strokes and lung cancer than men who smoke.
Al-Rabeah said smoking exerts such a noticeable effect on the skin that it is often possible to detect whether or not a person is a smoker simply by looking at his or her face. Smokers have more wrinkles and their skin tends to have a grayish pallor compared to non-smokers.
A questionnaire sent to 600 female university students in different parts of the Kingdom showed that half of them do not want to marry a smoker. A total of 20 percent said they would require their prospective husbands to quit before agreeing to marry.

Employers tie lower health plan premiums to tobacco screening

Chris Evans wants to qualify for a health plan with a lower deductible next year.

So the St. Paul man spent five minutes this week with a toothbrush-shaped swab tucked between his cheek and gums as part of a tobacco-use screening test at United Hospital.

The swab collected a saliva sample that will be analyzed to see if the 35-year-old is a smoker. A negative test result means Evans and his wife could save as much as $600 annually in health plan costs, an incentive that leaves a better taste in his mouth than the screening test did.

"It tastes like Alka-Seltzer or something," said Evans, who receives health benefits through his wife's Allina health system job. "It's really weird."

This year, Allina joins a national trend of companies that are linking eligibility for lower-cost health plans to results from tobacco screening tests. While some laud such programs for discouraging tobacco use, there also are concerns about a slippery slope.

"Tobacco would be the one risk factor I wouldn't mind getting draconian about," said Paul Terry, chief executive officer of StayWell Health Management, a St. Paul-based company that develops health promotion programs for employers. "But if you take that approach with smokers, will it logically follow that it's OK to do the same for people who are obese or people at risk of developing diabetes? What about people who participate in risky sports?

"It's never-ending in terms of the possibilities."

Colo. board to review dissolving tobacco products

The Colorado Board of Health will hold a public hearing to discuss health concerns over new dissolvable tobacco products being test-marketed in the state.

Some of the new dissolvable tobacco products resemble breath mints and strips, health officials said Friday. Counties throughout Colorado have reported seeing the new products in local stores.
Board president Laura Davis says the hearing Aug. 17 will focus on the new product packaging and flavoring.

"The public health concern is that the composition, packaging and flavoring may have a particular appeal to kids," Davis said.

Davis said the board set a precedent for intervening in marketing and sales in 1989 when it adopted a resolution opposing the marketing and sale of new tobacco products.

The health department says Colorado research has shown children have easy access to tobacco products, with nearly half the children who purchased tobacco illegally telling officials they were not asked to show any proof of age.

Man in clown wig robs tobacco shop

A gunman wore a clown wig when he robbed a Portage Road smoke shop, police said.

A store clerk told police the man walked into Smokes For Less in the 1400 block of Portage Road Thursday morning at about 9:20 asking, “Is the old man here?”

The man - a black male in his 30s, 6 feet tall, wearing a red shirt, jeans, white tennis shoes and an orange, reddish curly wig - then walked behind the counter, police said.
When the clerk said nobody was allowed behind the counter, the man allegedly pulled out a silver pistol and ordered the clerk to open the cash register.

The gunman allegedly forced the clerk to hold a black plastic bag open while he took money out of the register and put it in the bag, then said, “Don’t move or I will you shoot you.”

He then grabbed three cartons of cigarettes and fled the store with the stolen loot, police said.

Super Fund caught investing in tobacco

The Green Party has caught the New Zealand Superannuation Fund investing in tobacco, failing once again to live up to their own self-imposed standards as a responsible investor.

A parliamentary written question today revealed that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund holds 80,000 shares in Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd - a company involved in the manufacture of tobacco - despite a promise from the Fund to divest from tobacco-related industries in 2007.

"The Super Fund directors have acknowledged their oversight, but their long record of complacency towards ethical investment makes it no surprise that they have been caught investing in tobacco," said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.

"The Fund directors have been caught out previously for unethical investment behaviour after it was revealed they were profiting from the whaling industry and the cluster munitions industry.

"This is not a professional way to manage a $19 billion investment fund and risks serious damage to our reputation as a responsible member of the world community.

"I hope the directors will now reconsider their position of continuing to invest in and profit from the nuclear weapons industry."

The Superfund currently has a $2.1 million investment in Larsen & Toubro, India's largest defence engineering company, involved in the manufacture of a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines.

"Our Super Fund should be nuclear free," said Dr Norman.

The decision to divest from tobacco created a strong precedent. Tobacco is not an illegal product, but the Super Fund directors ruled in 2007 that investment in this sector was inconsistent with our responsible investment standards. Their decision was based on 'product safety issues' and New Zealand's commitment to specific international conventions, namely the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

"We are a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and I suspect there are obvious 'product safety issues' with nuclear weapons. The bottom line is, we should have nothing to do with investing in this immoral industry," Dr Norman said.

Transcript of Written Question #06011, dated August 2, 2011:

Question: What is the value in New Zealand dollars, if any, of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund's investment in Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd?

Finance Minister, Hon Bill English: As at 1 August 2011, the Fund had 80,000 shares in Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd, with a NZD value of approximately $333,000.

The Fund has also responded with the following statement: "We are aware that Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd has a private subsidiary, Nanyang Brothers Tobacco, which is a manufacturer of tobacco. Nanyang Brothers does not issue securities and so is not tradeable. Nevertheless, since 2007 we have had in place a policy of excluding companies whose activities include the manufacture or production of tobacco. To date we have used several different screening methods to ensure our portfolio exclusions are complied with. All of these screening methods involve the use of industry classifications. Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd is an example of a company which, because it is involved in a broad range of activities including tobacco, it is classified as an industrial conglomerate and so is not captured by the screening process. We were aware of this issue and have recently completed a project to broaden our screening methodology to resolve it. This has grown the number of companies on our tobacco exclusions list. Pending circulation to our external investment managers, the expanded list will be available on the Fund's website - as the current list has been since 2007 - by 30 August. The list will include Shanghai Industrial Holdings Ltd. We have often said that our Responsible Investment programme relies on a number of sources of information, including third parties with interests in Responsible Investment matters, such as the Green Party. As such, we appreciate such matters being brought to our attention."

New tobacco products pose old danger to young people

Snus, orbs, sticks, strips, oh my! What are these, you might ask? Some of the new and creative ways tobacco companies are targeting a new generation to become dependent on nicotine. Recently, with the help of local youth from the Holland, Grand Haven and Hudsonville areas we took a look at some of the new and emerging trends in tobacco here in Ottawa County.

What did we find? After visiting 17 venues, including gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores and convenience stores, we found of course many of the age-old tobacco products like cigars, cigarettes, chew, etc. But we also found some of the new, emerging tobacco products. Among the most popular was snus, a product similar to chew/spit tobacco. Snus is a smokeless tobacco product, packaged in little pouches that can be placed in the mouth or in some cases swallowed — very much like chew/spit tobacco, but without the mess. It is sold in a variety of flavors like “winterchill” and “frost,” flavors that remind me of chewing gum intended to freshen your breath, with tag lines like “bar friendly” and “enjoy anytime, anywhere, it’s limitless.”

As communities stand together committed to smoke free environments, the tobacco companies are changing their tactics, marketing these new products as “smoke-free” and as “safer” alternatives to smoking. But what they are really doing is just filling our minds, and especially the minds of youth, with a lot of smoke.

Tobacco companies market ‘orbs’ lower doses of nicotine

Bite-sized dissolvable “orbs” that look like breath mints and melt in your mouth are the tobacco industry’s latest attempt to fight falling U.S. cigarette sales.

Charlotte is one of two test markets for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American Inc.’s newest products: dissolvable, smokeless tobacco lozenges that come as orbs, sticks or strips.

The products all contain less nicotine than cigarettes, between 0.5 and 3 milligrams instead of 12 to 15. And, Reynolds spokesman David Howard said, they meet a “societal expectation.”

“There’s no secondhand smoke, no spitting and no cigarette butt litter,” Howard said.

But health officials still worry about the risks of smokeless options. Smokeless tobacco users may not get lung cancer, health experts say, but they risk mouth cancer, gum disease and tooth loss. Prenatal dangers for pregnant women also still exist.

“There are no safe tobacco products,” said Matt Carpenter, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Medical University of South Carolina who is researching the effect of smokeless products on smoking habits.

Huntersville, N.C., resident Joey Hodge, who has smoked for almost five years, sees the appeal of smokeless products that won’t be as tough on his lungs or make him smell like smoke. But the 20-year-old isn’t sold on Reynolds’s newest offering.

“They were definitely not the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted,” Hodge said. Plus, he added, the products “really didn’t do much” to satisfy his nicotine craving.

Hodge’s reaction isn’t the sort tobacco makers are hoping for. As cigarette sales slide because of the health risks and social stigma, tobacco companies are counting on smokers like Hodge to fuel the new smokeless market. The dissolvable products sell for about $2 for a 12-pack _ comparable, Reynolds says, to its other smokeless products.

“They can enjoy tobacco pleasure without bothering others and without having to leave the workplace, or the restaurant or the bar,” Howard said.

Analysts say new laws banning cigarettes in public places, like the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars that took effect in North Carolina last January, are among the factors driving a steep decline in cigarette sales.

“In recent years you’ve seen smoking banned in most states in most bars and restaurants. That kind of takes away the fun,” said Phil Gorham, industry analyst for investment firm Morningstar.

In its second-quarter earnings report last month, Reynolds reported the number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. fell 4.4 percent. Gorham said companies like Reynolds can combat falling sales by increasing prices in the short term, but they’ll eventually need to diversify revenues.

While American sales of cigarettes drop 3-4 percent every year, the market for smokeless products grew 3 percent in 2009 and 7 percent in 2010, said Mary Gotaas, tobacco industry analyst for researcher IBISWorld. This year, smokeless sales are expected to jump 8 percent, Gotaas said.

While Reynolds is testing its new dissolvables, Richmond, Va.-based rival Philip Morris has its own product in the works: a dissolvable tobacco stick.

The growth of smokeless products worries some public health advocates who think the new products appeal to children. During the first round of testing , the orbs’ packaging resembled Tic-Tacs, creating concern that children might confuse them with candy, said John Spangler, professor of family health and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

For this round of testing, there’s larger packaging and new warnings. Packages now say “This product contains nicotine and is for adult tobacco consumers only” and “There is no safe tobacco product,” in addition to one of four required FDA warnings.

The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee of the FDA is holding hearings exploring the implications of smokeless products. Right now, all tobacco products must be age-restricted and kept behind the counter, just like cigarettes.

Warning labels on smokeless tobacco products must cover at least 30 percent of the packaging and every product must carry one of four messages: “Smokeless tobacco is addictive,” “This product can cause mouth cancer,” “This product can cause gum disease and tooth loss,” or “This product is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.”

Cigarette shares slide on speculation of hike in excise duty on tobacco products

ITC (down 1.48%), Godfrey Phillips India (down 1%), VST Industries (down 1.48%) and Golden Tobacco (down 0.07%), edged lower.
The BSE Sensex was up 58.16 points or 0.32% at 17,998.71.
According to reports, the government will take a decision to hike excise duty on tobacco products at the end of the Parliament session because price rise is a politically sensitive issue. The excise duty rate on cigarettes currently varies depending on the length of the cigarette.

Gas station gunman steals money and cigarettes

Police are looking for the man who robbed a Shell Station in eastern Henrico County.

Police say on Monday, August 1, at 10:34 p.m., a man carrying a long barrel revolver robbed the Shell Station at 2707 Williamsburg Road of money and cigarettes.

Police describe the robber as a black male, 28-35 years of age, 5'8", 160-180, and medium complexion. Police say he was wearing a black shirt and gray sweat pants during the robbery.

Cigarette smoking ignites South Austin house fire

Officials with the Austin Fire Department say a house fire in South Austin Wednesday morning was caused by an occupant smoking cigarettes near an open oxygen cylinder.
Firefighters responded to the home on Mockingbird Lane around 10:30 a.m. Fire crews had to work around some fallen power lines, but had it out in about 20 minutes.

No one was hurt, but two people were taken to the hospital to be evaluated. One person suffered minor injuries.

With the drought, officials are urging people to keep the area near their homes clear of brush so fires don't spread.

Damages are estimated at $75,000 in structure and $50,000 contents.

Suspect charged in fatal stabbing over pack of cigarettes

Authorities have identified a suspect in a fatal stabbing Monday night that apparently began with an argument over a pack of cigarettes at a group home in northeast Houston.
Jarvis De-Allo Leverett, 35, is charged with murder in the death of Arthur Lee Washington, 52, in the 9200 block of Kerry Glen Circle about 7:30 p.m., according to the Houston Police Department.
Officers said Washington died at the scene.
Leverett is being held in the Harris County jail without bail, according to county records.
Houston police said two men, later identified as Leverett and Washington, began arguing about 3:30 p.m. at the group home where they lived.
Both men have been diagnosed as schizophrenic, police added.
Washington had asked Leverett to pick up a pack of cigarettes for him at the store, and was upset when Leverett returned with only half a pack, police said.
The pair reportedly argued for hours, then separated. When they met again later that night on the patio behind the house, the confrontation apparently escalated.
Police said Leverett came at Washington with a knife and stabbed him after a brief chase through the backyard.
A caretaker at the group home disarmed Leverett and called police.
Responding officers quoted Leverett as saying, "The guy kept messing with me."