Pot-smoking Bangladeshis stuck in container for 10 days

Singapore - Two Bangladeshi men who had snuck into a shipping container to smoke marihuana were too high to notice that the container was locked and loaded onto a ship, the Straits Times reported Friday.
Only one of the two men survived the 10-day ordeal of being trapped in the container while it made its way from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Singapore.
The survivor, Din Islam, 30, is now under investigation by Singapore authorities over the death of his fellow stowaway and has to attend a coroner's inquiry.
The two men, who worked as sweepers at Chittagong port, had dozed off in the container on April 1. They were discovered by workers in Singapore on April 10.
The second man, who was identified as Alamgir, died during the trip. The men had no food or water and could only breathe trough small holes in the container walls.

SCSU students vote on proposal to ban tobacco on campus

St. Cloud State University students are voting this week on a proposal to make their campus tobacco-free by August 2012.

The proposal was crafted by a task force of students, administrators, health services workers and other St. Cloud State employees.

The students this week are voting to support or reject the proposal, which would phase in the change by first creating 17 designated tobacco use areas that would be in effect from Aug. 1, 2011, until July 31, 2012.

The campus would then become tobacco-free Aug. 1, 2012.

The student vote is one piece of information that would go to President Earl H. Potter III, who will make the final decision on whether to make the campus tobacco-free.

A similar survey is being taken of St. Cloud State employees and also will be forwarded to Potter before he decides.

Students will vote electronically through emails that were sent out this week. Students will vote until 3 p.m. Wednesday, and results of the vote will be announced Thursday night at the Student Government meeting.

Students this week also are voting for a new Student Government president and vice president as well as 18 senators-at-large.

Tobacco slams pending legislation to give driver's licenses to illegal aliens

A Staten Island Assembly member is denouncing pending state legislation that seeks to resurrect an attempt by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens, saying it has wide-ranging national security implications.

Assemblyman Lou Tobacco is also thumping the joint Assembly and state Senate bill because he said it would give young adults -- who were brought here illegally -- the ability to receive financial aid for college and earn a degree, as well as the opportunity to work legally in the state and access health care.

"In a post-9/11 world, and with the state facing economic constraints, New Yorkers cannot afford to provide driver's licenses and other benefits to individuals here illegally," said Tobacco (R-South Shore). "It's bad enough that Mohammad Atta was able to take flying lessons in this country. The only thing worse would have been taxpayers paying the bill for his terrorist training -- something that could become a reality if this legislation becomes law."

But Tobacco told the Advance: "I am not calling illegal aliens terrorists. I am not saying they are here seeking to do us harm."

Still, he said granting licenses to illegal aliens "would legalize an illegal activity" while "there are people who live here who follow the law of the land."

"While I have no problem with people coming to this country legally in search of a better life for themselves and their children, government needs to start enforcing current immigration laws instead of creating loopholes for illegal immigrants to live and work in New York state," said Tobacco. "If an illegal alien wants to attend college in the United States in order to better himself, then this person must apply as an international student and pay the appropriate tuition rates."

Tobacco's office said if the legislation is enacted, illegal aliens could on average be eligible for up to $5,000 in tuition assistance, $20,000 in student loans and $4,100 in health care coverage at a time when such services have been slashed to taxpaying citizens.

Added Tobacco: "This bill will only promote illegal immigration in New York state without getting to the root of the problem, which is the lack of a comprehensive national immigration policy."

The state measure, similar to the federal DREAM Act that was rejected last year by Congress, seeks to breathe new life into the controversial attempt by Spitzer to grant driver's licenses to illegal immigrants by executive order.

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3 Northeast States May Lower Cigarette Taxes

More cigarette sales can mean more tax revenues for state governments, which is why budget-conscious New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New Jersey are considering reducing tax rates on tobacco products.

Supporters claim lower tax rates would make cigarettes more competitive with the same brands sold in neighboring states, bolstering sales performance in those jurisdictions that lower taxes.

The proposed reductions, however, are far from dramatic. New Hampshire's House voted March 17, by 236-93, to lower the levy only by 10¢, to $1.68 a pack. A similar bill in Rhode Island would cut the tax by $1 per pack, while New Jersey considered a 30¢ slash last year without approving it.

By comparison, New York City smokers pay $5.85 a pack in state and local taxes.

According to The Wall Street Journal, opponents argue that if tax rates are slashed too deeply, sales may rise but state revenues could still fall. More smoking also means more long-term spending on healthcare, opponents claim.

Health Matters: The "Myth" Behind Menthol Cigarettes

While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers a ban on menthol cigarettes, a new study comes out saying people who smoke these are no more likely to develop lung cancer than other smokers.
Researchers analyzed data from 85,000 people in 12 southern states taking part in another study.
They found menthol cigarettes were associated with a lower lung cancer incidence, and fewer lung cancer deaths than regular cigarettes.
Last week an FDA advisory panel recommended pulling menthol cigarettes from the shelves.
They said while these cigarettes do not pose a greater individual disease risk, the menthol makes them more enticing to people and may help develop them into lifetime smokers.
Findings appear in the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute."

BAT to Develop ‘Safer’ Nicotine Products for Long-Term Use

British American Tobacco Plc (BATS), the maker of Lucky Strikes, created a unit that will seek to develop nicotine products for people wanting an alternative to cigarettes as governments aim to reduce smoking.

Nicoventures Ltd. plans to develop tobacco-free nicotine products, Kate Matrunola, a spokeswoman for London-based BAT, said today. The unit employs four people and will discuss with regulators what sort of products might work, she said by phone.

“It’s not for cessation,” Matrunola said. “There is an unmet need out there for consumers” who don’t want to quit.

Tobacco companies have spent decades trying to develop a safer alternative to smoking, including RJR Nabisco Inc.’s 1988 test of Premier, a smokeless cigarette. Star Scientific Inc., based in Glen Allen, Virginia, said March 23 that a decision by U.S. regulators cleared the way for it to start selling tobacco lozenges. The global market for cigarettes excluding China, which is largely closed to foreign tobacco companies, will probably shrink by 2.5 percent in 2011, BAT Chief Executive Officer Nicandro Durante said Feb. 24.

Restrictions on advertising and marketing may be a challenge to smoking substitutes, according to analysts.

“The biggest obstacles will be regulatory,” Erik Bloomquist, an analyst at Berenberg Bank in London, said by phone. “The mindset in much of public health around tobacco is quit or die, not harm-reduction.”

Democrats eye hike of cigarette tax in informal hearing

The Republican super-majority wouldn’t let them do it through official channels, so House Democrats held their own informational meeting on a proposal to hike the state’s cigarette tax.

The idea of the tax hike was tossed around by Rep. Dennis Lake, R-Blackfoot, in the early days of the session, but he axed the proposal because he believed members of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee wouldn’t go for it.

Democrats wanted the issue to at least receive a hearing and protested last week on the House floor by forcing reading of all legislation prior to voting, meaning a delay to the end of the session.

Democrats held an informal hearing on the matter Monday, a meeting that nearly filled the House Health and Welfare Committee room in the lower east wing of the Capitol. Though many were there to testify in favor of the tax hike, not all wanted to do so.

Representatives for two Idaho convenience store chains testified that the hike would hurt businesses and consumers. Andrea Jackson of Jackson’s Food Stores said that her stores’ profit margins from ordering cigarettes are thin and would likely decrease with a tax hike.

Charley Jones of Stinker Stations pointed out that smokers pay enough and that a hike of cigarette taxes helped fund the $125 million renovation and expansion of the Idaho Capitol. “It’s beyond me why cigarette smokers are paying for it,” Jones mused. “Smokers pay much, much more than their fair share of taxes. “

Getting into the politics of the matter, Jackson said that it’s not right to force smokers to fund various facets of state government. “To single out one group in our society to pay for that is unfair,” said Jackson. Jones echoed the sentiment, but also said that government should work to control the populace. “Taxes aimed at punishing bad behavior … I think that’s a problem,” Jones said.

But supporters offered their own take on the proposal. Some argued that the increase would help public health, while others said it would help fund government programs.

Karen Des Aulniers of the Treasure Valley Alcohol Drug Coalition said the hike would aid public health. “It decreases uses. It decreases medical costs. It needs to be done,” said Des Aulniers. “Why isn’t everyone in favor of raising the tax?”

Andrea Shipley of the Idaho Community Action Network (ICAN) said that cuts made in the last two years to Medicaid and public education are the result of a Legislature unwilling to look at tax and fee hikes. “We do not have a budget crisis,” said Shipley. “We have a revenue crisis.”

And what revenue a tax hike could bring in. Jack Miller of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare contended that Idaho could raise as much as an additional $77 million in taxpayer dollars annually for program. He also said that smoking-related illnesses cost taxpayers as much as $236 million each year in health care expenses, with $83 million of that being paid out by the Medicaid program.

Idaho charges 57 cent per pack of cigarettes. Lake’s measure – as well as a similar one drawn up by Rusche – would hike that figure by $1.25. Idaho’s tax per pack is the eighth-lowest in the nation.

But a hike of the tax wouldn’t necessarily mean lower smoking rates for Idahoans, however. Dan John of the Idaho State Tax Commission told Democrats that when rates are raised, citizens will often look elsewhere to find cheap cigarettes. “If you double the tax, you are not going to get double the revenue,” said John.

One presenter, Corey Jackson of Capitol Distributing, told lawmakers there are more than 8 million Internet sites through which smokers can purchase untaxed cigarettes. Jackson said that a hike in the state’s tax would fuel these sites and mean fewer dollars for the state and local businesses. “It’s going to cost jobs,” said Jackson. “It’s going to hurt people.”