A ban with health benefits

Congress may soon do for New York what the state’s own Legislature has been unwilling to accomplish: putting an effective end to the problem—some say the advantage—of tax-free cigarette sales by the Seneca Nation of Indians. It could lead to regrettable job losses among Western New York’s Native Americans, but it’s the right move for reasons that go beyond state revenue losses.
A bill pending in the U. S. Senate—and already approved by the House—would ban the U. S. Postal Service from delivering mail-order cigarettes, which accounts for about 70 percent of the Senecas’ tobacco sales. Albany would find that pleasing, since more customers would have to buy from stores, thus increasing state tax revenues. Non-Seneca merchants would be pleased to be freed from what they see— and what, in fact, is—an unfair advantage given their competitors.
Both those factors are adequate reasons to pursue this change, but it’s not the primary one. The crucial factor is the government’s interest—meaning Americans’ interest—in controlling the distribution of a poisonous and fiercely addictive substance. Tobacco is legal, but it’s not for kids, some of whom have credit cards.
The Senecas say, and not without cause, that the bill could harm employment in Western New York, where the Native American cigarette business employs around 1,000 people. And that is despite the decline in activity that occurred when shippers such as UPS and FedEx, under pressure from the state, stopped servicing Seneca cigarette businesses. Business would remain undisturbed at cigarette shops on Seneca land.
Senecas and some elected officials—including Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning, who previously supported thebill— fear that it could violate treaty language that grants significant autonomy to the Senecas. We’re doubtful of that, but such disputes are the reason we have courts of law. The Senecas are entitled to challenge such a law in federal court and, if they win, that’s the end of it. But better to test the issue than to tolerate the unregulated distribution of a product that can be lethal when used correctly and that drives up public health costs.
The bill is expected to be approved in the Senate soon and sent to President Obama for his signature. He should sign it promptly and without hesitation.

Risks: Youths See Some Dangers but Not Others

Most teenagers these days think smoking cigarettes is very dangerous. Yet most adolescents also do not consider frequent binge drinking or occasional marijuana smoking to be anywhere near as risky.These findings are drawn from the responses of 44,979 people ages 12 to 17 who took part in national drug use surveys conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2007 and 2008.
While nearly 70 percent of youths perceived “great risk” from smoking a pack or two of cigarettes a day, only 40 percent thought having five or more alcoholic drinks once or twice a week was very risky, and only 34 percent perceived great risk from smoking marijuana once a month. About half thought using cocaine or LSD once or twice a month was very risky.
Use closely matches the perception of risk, said Pete Delaney, a researcher with the administration, adding that only about 9 percent of youths 12 to 17 said they smoked in 2008, while 26 percent of 16- and 17-year-olds reported drinking. Some 12.7 percent of the older teenagers reporting smoking marijuana.
“We’re doing a great job convincing kids that smoking can really have an impact on their health,” Dr. Delaney said. “We need to learn how we can help them understand other drugs can also cause harm.”

Cigarettes blamed for Marysville garage fire

Carelessly discarded cigarettes were blamed for a fire Thursday night that displaced a family and caused $65,000 damage.
The fire ripped through a garage just after 5 p.m. in the 9500 block of 66th Drive NE, Marysville Fire District spokeswoman Kristen Thornstenson said.
Firefighters quickly contained the blaze to the garage but smoke damage made the home uninhabitable for now, she said.
Three people had to find someplace else to spend the night.

DNA of tobacco damage laid bare

THE damage that cigarettes and sunlight wreak on human DNA has been laid bare for the first time, along with the valiant, if eventually futile, effort of cells to repair the harm done.
Scientists have worked out the entire genetic code of two of the most deadly types of cancers - lung and melanoma - revealing the tens of thousands of mutations present in these tumours.
The research, regarded as a pivotal point in the search for new treatments for cancer, reveals a typical smoker would acquire one mutation, on average, for every 15 cigarettes smoked. More than 23,000 mutations were found in the lung cancer cells of a 55-year-old man, most of them caused by the cocktail of chemicals in cigarettes, the British-led team said.
Melanoma cells from a 43-year-old man were found to be ravaged by more than 33,000 mutations.
Mike Stratton, of the Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, said that the research provided an unprecedented view of the genetic impact of smoking and exposure to ultraviolet light.
''We have been able to explore deep into the past of each tumour, uncovering with remarkable clarity the imprints of these environmental mutagens on DNA, which occurred years before the tumour became apparent.''
The ''desperate'' attempts by the genome to defend itself against these attacks were also obvious, Professor Stratton said. ''Our cells fight back furiously to repair the damage, but frequently lose that fight.''
The mutations identified in the studies, which were published in the journal Nature, ranged from changes in single letters in the DNA code to missing sequences or rearrangement of hundreds of thousands of letters.
Tracking down mutations responsible for driving the cancer's development was the next challenge, the researchers said, as it enabled the development of drugs to target the cancer.

Indian reservation cigarettes under fire in NY

The City of New York has accused several cigarette dealers on a Long Island Indian reservation of secretly defying a court order that was supposed to have shut them down.
The charge is the latest in a legal battle between New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and smoke shops on the Poospatuck Indian Reservation over the sale of millions of dollars in untaxed cigarettes.
In August, a federal judge ordered most of the largest shops on the reservation to stop selling untaxed packs to the general public, saying such sales were illegal, despite the state's tolerance of the practice.
Publicly, the shops promised to abide by the ruling, but in a motion filed in federal court on Wednesday, lawyers for the city said three dealers quietly continued to do business through newly formed cigarette stores not covered by the court order.
"It shows contempt for the court's authority," said Eric Proshansky, an attorney for the city.
The tribe's chief, Harry Wallace, didn't immediately return a phone and e-mail message from The Associated Press on Thursday, but told Newsday that the allegations are false.
The city has asked U.S. District Court Judge Carol Amon for thousands of dollars in penalties against the three dealers.
Lawyers for two of the dealers declined comment. Richard Levitt, a lawyer who represents dealer Wayne Harris, wouldn't discuss his client's case in detail but said, "the evidence will show that he is not in contempt of the court's order."
In August, Amon ruled that the tribal shops' longtime practice of selling cigarettes without collecting required state taxes was illegal.
She ordered eight shops to stop selling cigarettes to anyone who wasn't enrolled in the tribe, and barred 11 people affiliated with those stores from further sales to the general public. The three dealers were all named in that order.
The shops have appealed, but all had also publicly claimed to have ceased operations by September.
City lawyers didn't buy it, and investigated with the assistance of agents from the state's tax enforcement division.
The case is being watched closely because of its potential effect on other Indian reservations around the state.
Shops on tribal land now account for nearly a third of all cigarettes sold annually in New York. This booming business is a product of the state's longtime reluctance to collect taxes on cigarettes sold on tribal land, which means reservation shops can offer tobacco at a huge discount.
Relatively few shop owners have ever been charged in criminal court over their dealings in untaxed cigarettes.

NY Budget Cuts Turn Toward Anti-Smoking Campaign

In trying to solve the state's fiscal crisis, Governor David Paterson is expected to pull funding for the state's anti-tobacco program.
Advocates say the state's anti-tobacco program has proven very effective, and these proposed funding cuts would be a step in the wrong direction.
Cassie Coombs, Director of the Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Community Partnership or STTAC, tells me youth smoking rates are the lowest they've ever been in the state.
Governor Paterson’s plan to cut $10 million could be devastating to STTAC's programs.
“We really want to see the program continue to reduce those rates, but also offer assistance to the adults that want to quit as well,” Coombs said.
Right now, STTAC reaches tobacco users in Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben counties.
But Coombs says a funding cut would limit the communities they're able to serve.
The governor's plan could also reduce funding for programs that provide free nicotine patches.
Last year, the state yanked $40,000 from STACC's funding.
Coombs says that's taken a toll on the program's effectiveness, and this would only make it worse.
“For the community members they're not getting that outreach,” she said. “Those smokers that want to quit, we've seen a reduction in quit-line calls.”
A spokesman for Governor Paterson says the state will continue the anti-smoking advertising campaign and still provide free nicotine patches to smokers.

Tracking device leads to stolen cigarettes

A Lebanon man has been charged in federal court with stealing $15,300 worth of cigarettes from a tractor-trailer.
Jack Roberts, 44, is accused of taking 17 cases of cigarettes out of a truck early on the morning of Sept. 16.
The truck, which was shipping cigarettes from Winston Salem, N.C., to Nashville, had stopped in Lebanon for the night when the theft occurred.
According to court documents, authorities used a tracking device mixed in with the cigarettes to find them in a storage unit Roberts had rented in Wilson County.
Roberts was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday. He has been in police custody since his Nov. 3 arrest in eastern Kentucky.

Going up without the smoke

Need a nicotine hit? Want to beat the smoking ban? A smokeless cigarette could be the answer, for the long – or short – haul. Just be prepared for some funny looks, writes ROSEMARY Mac CABE SMOKELESS CIGARETTES are (allegedly) the solution for the smoker who hates the rain, can’t make it through a two-hour movie, can’t make the trek outdoors during the workday or finds the idea of a four-hour flight unbearable.
There are various types, the most widely available being the electronic cigarette, which contains a liquid containing nicotine that is vaporised and inhaled. Ryanair now sells the other most popular type, in the form of Similar smokeless cigarettes.
Ryanair’s head of communications, Stephen McNamara, says the product was introduced due to customer demand. “Some passengers can find it stressful to spend long journeys without a cigarette so we introduced the product based on customer feedback and to cater to passenger demand. It seemed a logical step to introduce a product that could provide smokers with relief from nicotine withdrawal.
“Smokers enjoy the ‘taste’ of the product while many have reported that is has helped them take the stress out of flying as they no longer worry or feel anxious about missing when they can get their next nicotine hit during a flight.” But how similar are Similar cigarettes? While it seems feasible that these cigarette-alikes will substitute for the real thing on a short-haul flight, how do faux fags fare in the real world? Dan Kinsella is an IT consultant who tried electronic cigarettes as a somewhat healthier alternative to smoking. “They only provide nicotine, as opposed to all the chemicals in a normal cigarette.” Was he satisfied? “You don’t get quite the same feeling,” he says. “After a while I went back on normal cigarettes.” He did, however, find them useful for avoiding the smoking ban. “I used to smoke at my desk, when I didn’t have time to go out for an ordinary cigarette.” Richard and Celine O’Connor both use electronic smoking devices – he a pipe, she cigarettes. Richard says that, aside from a minor issue – “they come in many flavours (anything from vanilla to Red Bull) but I’m finding it difficult to find a flavour I like” – they are very convenient for the couple. “My wife had to spend a night in hospital recently, and we both brought our electronics in. We were happily puffing away when we were caught by a nurse.” A quick demonstration allayed her fears.
I spent a day with Ryanair’s Similar branded smokeless cigarettes: a packet of 10, purchased for €6 on board a Ryanair flight, to see how it feels to smoke on the right side of the law.
The first thing I notice is that they smell, to all intents and purposes, like what one’s mother might call “sucky sweets” – irrefutably better than mainstream cigarettes, albeit slightly strange. They feel like real cigarettes and, crucially, they look like them.
I initially thought my Luas journey might cause difficulty. People, in my experience, are usually – and rightly – quick to complain when they see someone lighting up and, unlike clubs or pubs, bright lights mean I’m in plain sight. No waiting for plumes of smoke or that tell-tale smell.
People look – probably wondering whether I’m insane, given that I am sucking on what looks like an unlit cigarette – but complaints are few. The embarrassment, for the self-onscious, is one big drawback of the smokeless cigarette. Whether they’re saying it or not, people are wondering what in the world you’re doing.
I see a flicker of interest from the woman across from me. “You’re not going to light that, are you?” No, you don’t light smokeless cigarettes. You suck on them as you would an ordinary cigarette, without the irritating lighter fumblings. I take a drag.
“They’re smokeless cigarettes,” I say, and exhale. No smoke; any idea I might have had about smoking being “cool” – has gone out the window. I am slightly embarrassed. I take another pull and glance at my interrogator.
“I’m spending a day with smokeless cigarettes.” She looks sceptical.
“But when do you know when it’s finished?” A-ha. The problem with not lighting a cigarette is immediately apparent; for as long as you suck on it, it emits that slightly sweet, fabricated taste. You will never get to the end of your smokeless cigarette. Of course I didn’t spend a day smoking the same one, but you get my drift; furthermore, there is something infinitely wasteful about putting a whole, seemingly unsmoked, cigarette in the bin. If you can’t find a bin, you risk putting it back in the packet and re-smoking it later on. A handy money saver, if a little disgusting.
At work there is more confusion. Explaining what a smokeless cigarette is gets tiring quickly.
Smoking in the lunchtime queue in the deli seems precarious; the place is packed and it’s all I can do to balance my sandwich and bottle of water while counting out change. I give up. Later that evening, five smokeless cigarettes down, I go to the cinema with another friend who, in the dim light and without the odour or glowing embers, is the only one to notice what I’ve got in my mouth. “What is that?” I almost wish I’d painted a sign. “It’s a smokeless cigarette,” I whisper. “Oh, are you giving up?” Well, no, not quite.
Similar cigarettes contain 0.8mg of nicotine – compared to 0.5mg in my usual cigarette of choice. They do, therefore, sate my nicotine cravings – but so do patches, and they don’t come with endless questions. What they don’t, in fact, do, is act like a cigarette. There is no smoke and the taste is entirely different – the problem is nicotine on its own isn’t enough, which is why we smoke at all. In order to work, nicotine replacements need to be coupled with large amounts of willpower.
Smoking a cigarette that looks like a cigarette, acts like a cigarette but neither tastes nor feels like a cigarette (while giving you more nicotine than a cigarette) seems an odd choice.
Smokeless cigarettes allow you to smoke and obey the law – in the comfort of your desk chair, on public transport, in the back of a taxi – but you don’t get what smokers (perhaps mistakenly) see as the “satisfaction” of smoking. It’s like being on a diet where you’re advised to sniff a piece of chocolate without eating it.
If you can’t face going without smoking for four hours or so (Ryanair’s longest flight from Dublin is currently to the Canary Islands), you may want to indulge in some smokeless cigarettes. Alternatively, you could consider that four hours is about as long as Titanic – and the prospect of watching that is infinitely more painful than a few hours of nicotine cravings.

Careless disposal of cigarettes blamed for Berwick apartment fire

The careless disposal of cigarettes was blamed for igniting a blaze Sunday night that heavily damaged an apartment building on Jordan Street.
The fire likely started in a pile of cigarettes outside the building and was accelerated by dry leaves, according to Dan Young, an investigator with the Maine State Fire Marshal's Office.
Two units were damaged in the fire. Two others were occupied when the fire broke out; Fire Chief Dennis Plante said smoke detectors alerted the inhabitants, who escaped uninjured.
The fire caused about $40,000 worth of damage to the units, which had been undergoing renovations, Plante said. A family of four lived in one unit; a family of two lived in the other.
Plante said the residents will likely move back in to the units, as the landlord is working to repair them.

Japan Tobacco's UK Unit Closing Gap On Imperial Tobacco

Japan Tobacco Inc.'s (2914.TO) U.K. business is closing the gap on market leader Imperial Tobacco PLC (IMT.LN) and will retain its recent market share gains, despite pushing up prices at the end of this month, JT's U.K. managing director said Wednesday.
Daniel Torras told reporters at a briefing in London that the company had increased its U.K. cigarette market share to 40.8% in September, up 1.8 percentage points on a year earlier. Imperial Tobacco's share meanwhile fell 1.5 percentage points in the same period to 42.3%, he said.
"Since Oct. 2008, we've seen very dramatic share growth," he said, "we've had share growth in every single segment."
Torras said he was confident these gains can be retained despite the company's planned price increases on Nov. 24. "We don't expect any share loss," he said.
He said the company's momentum in the U.K. allowed it to take a lead with price increases rather than following Imperial's pricing action.
A packet of Sterling will increase by 12 pence to about GBP4.47, while Mayfair will rise 11 pence and the company's premium and sub-premium brands such as Silk Cut and B&H will rise by 10 pence.
Torras conceded that this represented a good opportunity for Imperial to regain its lost share but said JT's strong brand equity would allow it to retain share.
The company is raising its prices to offset a rise in input costs - related largely to higher tobacco leaf prices.
He said Imperial was facing the cost pressure as JT and may therefore raise its prices too.
"They will be experiencing the same cost pressures," he said, adding "we're not pricing ourselves out of the market."
However, he conceded that it would be very difficult to get customers back if they do desert JT's brands for cheaper alternatives.
"We think the momentum is with us and we can do it," he added. "They are already fighting back," he said, "but they are losing share and we are gaining."
He said JT's mainstream brand Mayfair had now overtaken Imperial's Lambert & Butler to become the U.K.'s number on brand.
JT's Sterling brand meanwhile was now the number-one value brand, he said, ahead of Imperial's JPS.
This had been achieved through improved packaging and blend, better distribution and increase in the company's sales force.
"Competitor brands have not been able to catch up," he said.
The U.K. is now among JT's top five markets following its acquisition of Gallaher in 2007. Torras said Gallaher had allowed its market share in the U.K. to slip since the late 1980s as it focused on short-term profit rather than long-term investment.
The company has invested GBP80 million in the U.K. market since the acquisition, expanding its sales force by 30%, upgrading factories and investing in training.
"We're definitely closing the gap," he said, "our goal is to be number one."

Raiders ransack Tesco store

Police are investigating after thieves ransacked a supermarket in Ashton.
The burglars smashed the windows of Tesco Express with a crowbar and tried to break into the tills and cigarette counter at about 2.30am on Thursday morning.
The thieves were not able to get into the tills and made off with just a quantity of cigarettes, possibly being forced out of the store by a security device that lets off a large amount of smoke.
Fire crews were first on the scene after the smoke cloak, which is intended to get rid of thieves quickly, filled the shop with smoke, setting off the alarm.
After the crews arrived at the shop on Bolton Road, they alerted the police to the break-in, but the raiders had already made their get away. According to reports, the shop had been totally ransacked, shutters had been pulled down and displays had been smashed up.
It is not known at this stage how many people were involved in the robbery.

Health Committee

MSPs took evidence on proposed legislation on 4 November 2009 which will make buying cigarettes illegal for people under the age of 18.
The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Bill would also allow police to seize cigarettes from teenagers, as they currently can with alcohol.
The committee heard from Danielle Rowley, a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, David Roderick, chairman of the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland, David Woodrow from the National Federation of Newsagents and Andrew Barker from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

Council votes to ban sale of flavored tobacco products

NEW YORK -- The City Council voted overwhelmingly today to ban sales of all flavored tobacco products.
The bill bars the sale of products such as strawberry- and blueberry-flavored cigars and chewing tobacco, which health experts say are a blatant attempt to hook young people on a dangerous product.
Staten Island councilmen James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn), Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) and Ken Mitchell (D-North Shore) voted in favor of the bill.
In a law enacted this June, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned manufacturing, importing, marketing and distribution of cigarettes made to taste like candy, fruit and cloves. But since the legal definition of a cigarette is vague, manufacturers have found a way to circumvent the ban with products every bit as attractive to kids, like smaller "cigarillos" and SNUS, pouches of flavored tobacco used like snuff.
Mayor Bloomberg is expected to sign the bill into law.

Yao Ming enlisted as China anti-smoking ambassador

Basketball star Yao Ming has joined up with the wife of China's vice president to lead an anti-tobacco campaign in the country with the world's largest number of smokers, state media said Tuesday.
The NBA All-Star Houston Rockets centre was named as an ambassador to the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control and is expected to appear in public service announcements urging people not to smoke, Xinhua news agency said.
Also named was pop singer Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, the report said.
About 350 million Chinese, or nearly 27 percent of the country's population, smoke cigarettes, with the nation consuming up to one-third of the tobacco products sold annually worldwide, said the report, citing the association.
Up to one million Chinese die every year from lung cancer or cardiovascular diseases directly linked to tobacco consumption, it said.
In 2006, Yao, the most successful Chinese player in the NBA, joined a Wild Aid campaign against the eating of shark fin's soup, a popular Chinese delicacy that has left the fish at risk of extinction.
Peng has also served as a spokeswoman for a public awareness campaign against the stigmatisation of HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Fire Prevention Week Begins

Burnt sofas, pianos and even fans, all on display at the Valley Mall to show just how serious a fire can be.
The Harrisonburg Fire Department is putting out this fire, in hope that it may prevent another one.
Wanda Willis, with Harrisonburg Fire Prevention says, "It's very important to let people know that they need to be aware of fires. Fires still kill almost 3,000 people a year in the United States in home fires."
The Staunton Fire Department is also doing preventative education throughout schools this week.
The fire fighters believes it's the small things that people often forget.
Joey Ayers, A Staunton Fire Fighter says, "It's just getting the word out to the people and getting them to understand the importance of everything and why smoke detectors are important and why it's important for them to get out of the house."
Harrisonburg Fire Department says kitchen accident are a leading reason they are called to put out a fire.
Willis says, "Cooking fires are the number one reason why people get burned in fires and they are also the number one reason why a home burns. So, it's very, very important to take a look at your kitchen and see what you can do to prevent the fire from happening."
Firefighters also want creating awareness about problems caused by cigarettes and lighters.
Willis says, "The last death that we had in the city of Harrisonburg was due to a cigarette fire on a couch and they fell asleep. So, that is one of the things that we know is very important to make sure that people are aware of cigarettes and how they can burn a house down very quickly.
The Harrisonburg Fire Department will have their fire safety display out from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. through out the week
While 66% of Americans have an escape plan in case of fire, only 35% have practiced it.

Smoking! AUB sewer tests leaves downtown offices in a cloud

The Athens Fire Department has been called to Downtown Athens twice this week after people spotted smoke filling buildings.
Firefighters responded to the Murray Willis Edward Jones office on White Street Tuesday morning. This morning, they responded to Pope Law Offices on Washington Avenue after smoke was sighted in the building.
Neither case turned out to be an actual fire. The smoke was caused by Athens Utilities Board pouring smoke into wastewater lines to find areas where the main lines have leaks. AUB spokesman Wayne Scarbrough said both instances downtown involved buildings with an empty toilet so there was no water barrier to prevent the smoke from entering the buildings.
Scarbrough said AUB contacts the fire department every morning to inform them where they will be conducting smoke tests and sent out news releases before testing began. But he said he understood with testing going on across several weeks how it can slip people's minds and he would much rather people be safe than sorry if they spot smoke in their buildings.
He said people may see similar incidents in their homes if they have an unused or empty sink or toilet. Scarbrough suggested people keep water in the sink and toilet traps and ensure there is adequate pipe venting because the smoke might also indicate other problems like th

Convenience stores are top violators of smoking rules

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The convenience stores that operate around the clock have turned out to have the most violations of selling cigarettes to underaged customers.
There were 233 registered cases as of Aug. 1 in Taipei City alone concerning the violation of the new and stricter tobacco hazard prevention regulations which took effect on Jan. 11, according to the statistics compiled by the Taipei Municipal Department of Health.
The figure resulted from stepped-up spot inspection of major retailing outlets like convenience stores, grocery stores and betel nut stands during the summer vacation.
Health officials found that the four leading chains of convenience stores — 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK — committed 112 violations of selling cigarettes to customers under 18, accounting for almost half of the total.
Betel nut stands and traditional grocery stores were caught with 58 and 51 violations respectively.
The officials said teenagers tended to more easily purchase tobacco products during summer vacation because they usually were not required to wear school uniforms.The failure of store staff to ask for ID from young-looking customers was another major factor, they said.Those violating the rules prohibiting the sale of cigarettes to people under the age of 18 are liable for a fine between NT$10,000 and NT$50,000.
Officials urged the leading chains of convenience stores to conduct adequate training for their staff to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
The violations in Taipei could reflect the same situation throughout Taiwan, which now has more than 9,000 convenience stores.