Outdoor smoking ban coming to Suffolk County

Smoking will be banned later this year at parks and beaches in Suffolk County. But a bill passed this week by the county legislature exempts parking lots, campgrounds and golf courses. Newsday (http://bit.ly/KmRfph ) says there also will be no finds for violators. The resolution was crafted by Legislator William Spencer.

The Centerport Democrat is also a doctor. Spencer — faced with making compromises in his legislation — decided on parks and beaches because a lot of children go there. The ban takes effect 90 days after the bill is signed by County Executive Steve Bellone and filed with the state.

Daytona urges stores to stop selling flavored tobacco

Daytona Beach commissioners voted on a resolution this month urging retailers to stop the sale and marketing of flavored tobacco products within city limits. Susan Cerbone, Daytona Beach public information officer, said one of the reasons the commissioners supported the resolution is because “tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable deaths in the United States and nearly 90 percent of users start before the age of 18.” “While the resolution is not an outright ban on sales, it sends a clear message that Daytona Beach cares about its youth,” Cerbone said. Young smokers According to information obtained by the Daytona Times, in Volusia County, 12.2 percent of middle school students and 26.3 percent of high school students reported using some form of tobacco one or more times in the past 30 days.

 Also in Volusia County, 7.4 percent of middle school students and 16 percent of high school students report having smoked cigarettes one or more times in the past 30 days. Health department pleased Dr. Bonnie J. Sorensen, director of the Volusia County Health Department, says the agency is pleased that the city has adopted a resolution urging tobacco retailers to stop selling and marketing candy-flavored tobacco products. All of the convenience stores surveyed sell the candy-flavored products stores in Volusia County. “Daytona Beach joins a growing list of municipalities taking a stand against candy-flavored tobacco products. There are 88 people dying daily in the state of Florida from tobacco-related illnesses. Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in the United States,” said Sorensen, who also spoke before the city commissioners voted on the resolution.

 Impact on Blacks Stefany Strong, spokesperson for the Volusia County Health Department, said each year approximately 45,000 African-Americans die from a preventable smoking-related disease, which represents more than 10 percent of the estimated yearly smoking related deaths in the U.S. Strong also noted that smoking is responsible for 87 percent of lung cancers. African-American men are at least 50 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than White men. Blacks disproportionately suffer from chronic and preventable disease compared to White Americans. And of the three major causes of death in African-Americans – heart disease, cancer and stroke – smoking and other tobacco use are key contributors to these illnesses, Strong elaborated.

 Resolution includes flavored cigars Signed on June 6 by Mayor Glenn Ritchey, the resolution urges all local retailers who sell tobacco products to cease the sale and marketing of all flavored tobacco products, which are defined as loose tobacco, including snuff flour, plug and twist tobacco, fine cuts, chewing tobacco, snus, shisha tobacco, smoking or snuffing tobacco products. The resolution also limits “all other kinds and forms of tobacco, including but not limited to cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco products, and blunt wraps prepared in such a manner with the purpose of chewing, inhaling, smoking, or ingesting in any manner which have been flavored through the addition of natural or artificial flavorings, herbs, spices, or other means with flavors characterizing fruit, candy, alcohol, or other similar flavorings with the exception that menthol will not be included in this definition.’’ Other information provided by the health department to persuade commissioners to support the resolution include:

• Ninety percent of today’s smokers started before they were 18 years old.
• Candy and fruit flavors mask the bad taste of tobacco, making it easier for kids to start using tobacco products. 
• These products containing flavors like vanilla, orange, chocolate, cherry and coffee are especially attractive to youth. 
• Young people are much more likely to use candy and fruit flavored products than adults. Tobacco industry documents show that companies have designed these products with youth in mind. 
• Flavored cigars, cigarillos, bidis, shisha, snus, blunts and smokeless tobacco are just as harmful as flavored cigarettes and are heavily marketed to youth. 


 City commissioners in Port Orange, Holly Hill, Deltona and New Smyrna Beach also have voted to urge retailers to stop selling candy-flavored tobacco products. The Volusia County Health Department initially made a presentation to the Volusia Council of Governments earlier this year requesting that it asks local cities to adopt resolutions urging tobacco retailers to stop the sale and marketing of candy-flavored tobacco.

‘Ban surrogate advertisements of tobacco products’

An anti-tobacco organisation has approached the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to ban advertisements promoting tobacco products. It alleged that tobacco products are being promoted indirectly in the country. “In the name of advertising for pan masala, tobacco companies promote products like gutkha,” said Amit Yadav, manager (legal cell) of Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth.

 “If you look at the advertisements, you will find images of gutkha packet instead of pan masala. In fact, the pack of gutkha will be identical to the one advertised, while a pan masala pack will look different,” said Yadav in a letter to the authority. The letter, addressed to the standards authority chairperson K Chandramouli, stated that the tobacco industry has been using indirect and surrogate means, such as sponsoring TV shows, cricket tournaments and award functions, to promote tobacco products through identical brand extensions.

 “The use of identical or similar brand names creates confusion and incites consumers, particularly youth, to experiment with such products,” Yadav wrote. The authority had passed a regulation banning sale of tobacco products a few months ago. “Kerala and Maharashtra have banned tobacco products after a regulation,” said Yadav. Yadav’s organisation has written to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, asking it to remove all indirect or surrogate advertisements of tobacco products from Metro stations and feeder bus service.

 The DMRC responded that this issue should not be seen in isolation since such ads are found everywhere. This prompted the organisation to approached the authority to ban advertisement of pan masala products as well. “We are planning to write to state governments to follow the examples of Kerala and Maharashtra,” said Yadav.

State education board backs tobacco tax initiative

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The State Board of Education is backing a potential November ballot initiative asking Missouri voters to raise tobacco taxes to benefit schools. The board voted Tuesday to support a plan that would raise Missouri’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax from 17 cents per pack to 90 cents beginning in January. The state auditor’s office estimates the initiative would generate between $283 million and $423 million annually.

Fifty percent of the money would go to public school districts, 30 percent to higher education and 20 percent to efforts intended to prevent people from using tobacco or help them quit doing so. The secretary of state’s office has not yet determined if supporters submitted enough petition signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.

ITC gains on buzz that smaller cigarette will drive volumes

Shares in tobacco major ITC gained on reports that the company has test launched 64mm cigarettes in UP & Bihar.

The stock traded 0.85 per cent higher on the NSE in a weak market today. There is a 40 per cent tax differential between 64 mm and 69 mm cigarette categories, and the 64 mm range is priced at a significant discount.

The 64 mm cigarette is available at Rs 3.5 per unit, while the longer 69 mm cigarette is priced at Rs 4. ITC is looking to exploit this differential to push its smaller cigarettes. Analysts expect the step up from bidis to the 64 mm cigarettes will also drive growth for the tobacco major. ITC's competitor, VST Industries, is also testing the smaller category of cigarettes in Chhattisgarh & Andhra Pradesh.

Dolphy's disease COPD is caused by tobacco smoke, pollution

With Comedy King Dolphy in critical condition Thursday due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), many people are asking just what this disease is all about. COPD is a lung disease that is life threatening, said the World Health Organization (WHO). It happens when airflow from the lungs is persistently blocked. Aside from having a cough that won’t go away, one experiences breathlessness and “excessive sputum production.” In 2004, some 64 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COPD, according to the WHO.

 A year later, in 2005, more than three million died of COPD, representing five percent of all the deaths in the world. A great majority–90 percent–of those deaths happened in low- and middle-income countries. What causes COPD? The main culprit, said WHO, is tobacco smoke, both through usage and secondhand smoke. And since women smokers are also on the rise, especially in high-income countries, both men and women are affected almost equally.

 Pollution (both indoor and outdoor), occupational dusts and chemicals (vapors, irritants, and fumes), and frequent lower respiratory infections during childhood are also risk factors. The sad part about COPD is that there is no cure yet for it. “But treatment can slow the progress of the disease,” said WHO. “Medicines that help dilate major air passages of the lungs can improve shortness of breath.”

 On World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Day last Nov. 16, WHO called attention to the fact that the number of people dying of COPD is expected to rise by more than 30 percent in the next 10 years “unless urgent action is taken to reduce underlying risk factors, especially tobacco use.”

Lawsuits filed over tobacco tax bills

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Last week Ashland attorney Gregory M. Varner filed lawsuits in circuit court in both his home county of Clay and in Randolph County against the local legislative delegation's tobacco tax bills, The lawsuits are seeking judgments that Senate Bill 486 relating to Randolph County and Senate Bill 476 in Clay County are unconstitutional. Being sued in Randolph County are state Sen. Gerald Dial, Rep. Richard Laird, Rep. DuWayne Bridges, Dr. Marquita Davis, Alabama's director of finance, and Thomas L. Wright Jr., the state comptroller.

Varner filed the five-count lawsuit on behalf of the Randolph County Industrial Development Council, the Randolph County Water, Sewer, and Fire Protection Authority and as individuals: Hutch Hammond, Faye Sims Smith and Todd Freeman. He said there is some belief that only individuals have standing to sue. Freeman, Hammond and Smith are listed as Randolph County citizens and taxpayers. Davis and White are sued in their official capacities. Varner alleges SB 486 is unconstitutional, void and invalid and says plaintiffs want an injunction, both temporary and permanent, preventing the alteration and modification in distribution of Randolph County's tobacco tax receipts.

Ultimately Varner said the suits are designed to have each of the bills in each county set aside as unconstitutional. Additionally, with the redistricting of Clay there will be taxation without representation. Citizens will pay the tobacco tax to the District Community Service Grant Authority now controlled by Dial, Bridges and Laird but after redistricting takes effect the money will be controlled by people not representing Clay County. After 2014 parts of the county will be represented by another senator and two other representatives who are not members of the grant authority. Clay will no longer be in Laird's district and much of it will no longer be in Dial's district. "The reason we're bringing the suit is, number one, the bills were passed against the overwhelming objections of all the counties.

We're protecting the taxpayers' money and, in the words used by the governor, shutting down a slush fund that is unconstitutional," Varner said. The Randolph County Industrial Development Council is a plaintiff because when the bill becomes effective July 1 it restricts the council's authority to govern its own affairs and limits its use of funds, according to the complaint. It will cause imminent and irreparable damage to the two authorities (Water Authority and Industrial Development Council), terminating the expansion of planned water line extensions that would provide water to many rural communities and would include the likely termination of valuable and experienced staff at the RCIDC, the complaint alleges. The Water Authority says an average of $50,000 will be diverted annually from its operating budget due to this bill.

The complaint notes Gov. Robert Bentley vetoed SB 486, saying the bill does not appear to be adequately advertised as required by Alabama law. The Senate and House ultimately overrode the executive veto. Jeremy King, Deputy Communications Director in the governor's office, said, "Governor Bentley believes the bills are unconstitutional, and he has been very open about that view since the time of his veto. The fact that the Legislature overrode his veto would not change his opinion on the issue." Varner said during the governor's recent visit to Clay County a person in a group session thanked the governor for his veto and the governor referred to the the fund created by the bills as a slush fund and said they were unconstitutional. Varner asked the governor to join the lawsuit and he said he did not know if he could do that but he would look into it.

The industrial development council's funds from the tobacco tax can, as specified by the bill, only be expended for recruitment of new and existing industries and no more than 20 percent of the generated revenue can be spent on personnel and/or related to personnel. It restricts the discretion of the Industrial Development Council, forbidding the use of funds to work on broad-based economic development initiatives, such as workforce development and jobs training, the complaint says. The complaint states Dial altered the proposed legislation, which was not advertised as required after the changes. For example, the published notice created and funded a District Community Service Office with staff, equipment, etc. but that was deleted from the amended bill.

A District Community Service Grant Authority consisting of the three legislative delegation members was created to allocate funds. Also, the tobacco funds distribution was changed, as well as the effective date of SB 486. The complaint also alleges SB 486 is discriminatory because a tax levied in Randolph County can be used in other counties. David Meddick, chairman of the Randolph County Democratic Executive Committee, said the group is planning to meet and make a decision on whether to join this lawsuit or not. Chambers County discussed it in executive session Monday but has taken no action. Clay County Commissioner Roy Johnson and individuals Terry Meek, Mary Wood and Andrea Jackson filed suit in Clay County against the same people, but added Johnny McReynolds, chairman of the Alabama Forestry Commission, the Clay County Industrial Development Council and Citizens For The Welfare of Animals in Clay County as defendants. Their opposition is to Senate Bill 476.

The complaint also asks the defendants be enjoined from the allocation of funds as directed by SB 476. The legislation will divert about $117,000 from the Clay County Commission's operating budget. SB 476 will increase the percentage of Clay County Tobacco tax receipts from 32 percent to 35 percent going to the Forestry Commission. The Industrial Development Council amount is increasing under the new bill from 20 to 25 percent. Not a current recipient of funds, under this bill the Citizens for the Welfare of Animals in Clay County will receive 15 percent of the tobacco tax receipts. Complaints are similar except when SB 476 becomes effective $68,000 will be diverted annually from the Clay County Commission General Fund and $48,000 will be diverted from the commission's fund dedicated to water feeder lines. Services may be eliminated or reduced. Planned water line extensions may be terminated.

The complaint also noted the percentage set aside for the Community Service Grant Authority in all three counties: Clay County's SB 476 specifies 25 percent, or on average $60,000 annually; Randolph County's SB 486 specifies 10 percent, or $50,000 annually; and Chambers County's SB 487 specifies 18 percent, or approximately $90,000 annually. According to the census Clay County's population is 13,932; Randolph County's is 22,913 and Chambers County's is 34,215. Per capita, Clay County residents will pay $4.30, Randolph residents $2.18 and Chambers residents$2.63. The complaint alleges Clay County residents are paying more per capita to fund the grant authority. Dial and Laird did not immediately return telephone calls Tuesday requesting comments on the lawsuit. Previously, Dial had said if people want to waste their money filing suit it is their business. He said Attorney General Luther Strange will defend them.