вторник, 28 апреля 2009 г.

Camel Cigarettes without a camel.

The company Japan Tobacco International displays to market a limited series of its brand Front with radically modified design. This "limited edition" is already practising one of the JTI competitors - the company Philip Morris. Experts note that such actions are designed to attract additional attention to the brand is already available to consumers, have become increasingly widespread. These techniques are particularly relevant to products whose advertising activity is limited by law.

In September, the 25 largest cities in selling limited Camel Cigarettes party with a new design. Instead of the classic camel on the package shows an entire track: camel goes on trees along the winding road, and the usual stack of yellow background patterns decorated with cigarettes. In doing so, taste, shape and price of cigarettes remained unchanged. This is the largest sale in issuing limited series.

Such a limited series of its brands already produced several times in Russia company Philip Morris. Thus, in March this year to sell Marlboro cigarettes came in the pockets of silver, opened the side. And one of the parties in Parliament was painted metallic blue color.

пятница, 24 апреля 2009 г.

10 facts about tobacco smoking

1. Tobacco use by Native Americans throughout North and South America dates back to 2000BC.Tobacco was brought to Europe by Christopher Columbus’ crew. Smoking enveloped Spain and the rest of the world, through trade.
2.Tobacco smoke contains nicotine and harmane (MAO inhibitors), which combined cause addictive. When the primary or irregular use of nicotine, there is improvement in attention and memory, and mild euphoria.
3. A typical sigarete contains 8-9 milligrams of nicotine, a cigar - 100-200 milligrams. Five cigarettes contain the amount of nicotine, enough to kill a person. But with each smoked cigarette smokers actually get 1-2 milligrams, the rest of nicotine burns or remains in cigarette butts. Cigarettes contain other toxic substances such as arsenic, polonium and prussic acid.
4. The main health risks in tobacco pertain to diseases of the cardiovascular system, in particular myocardial infarction (heart attack), cardiovascular disease, diseases of the respiratory tract such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, emphysema, and cancer, particularly lung cancer and cancers of the larynx and tongue.
5. About 1.1 billion people in the world smoke (1 in 6 or 16.7%) .About half of all smokers die from smoking-related diseases. In average the life expectancy of smokers is 8 - 12 years shorter than that of non-smokers.
6. Stopping smoking can make a big difference to smoker health. It is never too late to stop smoking to greatly benefit health. For example, if stop smoking in middle age, before having cancer or some other serious disease, you avoid most of the increased risk of death due to smoking.
7.The main cigarette manufacturers are the USA and China. The largest number of tobacco consumers lives in China, Yemen, Cambodia, Djibouti.
8. In spite of the enormous volume of accumulated data on the dangers of smoking, there are scientific works, speaking to the contrary. Ulcer colitis is revealed in the non-smokers twice as often than in the smokers. Nicotine of tobacco smoke has antiinflammatory properties.
9. On 27 February 2005 the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, took effect. The FCTC is the world’s first public health treaty. Countries that sign on as parties agree to a set of common goals, minimum standards for tobacco control policy, and to cooperate in dealing with cross-border challenges such as cigarette smuggling. Currently the WHO declares that 4 billion people will be covered by the treaty, which includes 168 signatories.
10. In November 2004, Bhutan became the first country in which the sale of tobacco and tobacco products is prohibited and imports of tobacco products for personal use are subject to 100% duty.

вторник, 21 апреля 2009 г.

Debunking the Glamour of Smoking

The anti-smoking lobby often make a crucial mistake in their campaigning. They lose sight of their target audience - children - and go after established smokers. Let me tell you right now that attempting to turn the screw on a smoker is the most counter-productive attitude you can adopt. As a former smoker, I can fully empathise with the average smoker's feeling towards their habit, and I can assure you that an aggressive, scare mongering, lecturing tone is entirely redundant. The smoker needs to be understood, to be accepted and to be humanised. 

I've always found it very curious that individuals, who have never smoked in their life, see themselves fit to take smokers to task on the habit. It's exactly the same problem we face when it comes to tackling obesity in the population, namely that we are better off empathising and understanding where the obesity problem stems from, rather than just telling an individual to get off their butt and exercise. The smoker has spent years developing a habit that extends far beyond a physical addiction - it is a powerful emotional and psychological addiction too. Yet despite this fact, the anti-smoking lobby only seem to focus from the non-smoker's viewpoint. 

Understand this - smokers started the habit for a reason. Some smokers wanted to look cool, to look edgy, to develop an attitude. Other smokers simply wanted to experiment. Others may just have had a fearless and carefree attitude towards life. Over time, the smoker glamorises the habit, and these strong neurological bonds will remain in place for years to come. When I smoked, I associated many wonderful times in my life with smoking: carousing on foreign holiday trips, sharing cigarettes with ex-girlfriends, smoking before and after important examinations etc. Smoking goes some way to claiming itself a role as part of the individual's identity. 

To this extent, the non-smoker has to understand that the tobacco habit is a strong emotional attachment. If you tell a smoker to give up the cigarettes for their health, then the smoker will ignore you. The smoker knows the scientific facts...the community is not a blind one. But to the smoker, it is like you are asking them to give up their right arm; it can be perceived as a massive sacrifice. The only way a smoker can comfortably stop the habit is if they re-wire their mindset to look at cigarettes in a different manner. Every smoker has deeply-rooted reasons as to why they continue smoking, and it is these reasons which must come to the surface and be addressed. 

I truly believe that we are on the cusp of seeing a massive downturn in the global smoking habit. The public smoking bans being established throughout the west have gone some way to removing the last real reason to smoke - the social factor. Even smokers are now conceding that cigarettes are no longer a sociable habit, and many feel sheepish and guilty even lighting up among a crowd. The persecution of smokers is as unjust as it is counter-productive, and we're doing smokers no favours at all by presenting them as second-rate human beings. 

In order to successfully help the smoker quit, we must make them feel relaxed. We must make them feel like we are listening and sympathetic to the emotional connection they hold with the habit. We should not, under any circumstances, be telling them what they should do or how they should feel. We must be open and seek to understand. Buy the smoker a couple of packets of cigarettes and invite them to light up without judgement. Then see if you can get the smoker to elucidate exactly why they must smoke. Once the smoker has been utterly candid and the true reasons are out there on the table, then they can be debunked one by one as you help wipe away the glamour of smoking. Remember, we had no need for smoking before we started, so we should have no need for it now.

пятница, 17 апреля 2009 г.

Cheap cigarettes from little tobacco companies

Cheap cigarettesfrom little tobacco companies have fouled up the $246 billion deal that big tobacco companies made with taxpayers. 
Little companies grabbed eight percent of the market from 1997 to 2003, according to a March 27 report from the Brattle Group in San Francisco.
The report could trigger a reduction of annual payments from tobacco companies to the 46 states that signed the 25-year agreement.
Illinois is supposed to receive more than $9.1 billion -- or approximately $364 million annually -- from the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement through the year 2025. llinois' payout is the fifth largest from MTSA, after California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, respectively. 
Companies have paid $41 billion so far, according to the March 28 Financial Times. 
The agreement calls for companies to pay $6.5 billion on April 17, but it also requires adjustment if states have failed to enforce laws that should cripple competition.
Under identical law in 46 states, companies that did not sign the agreement gain no financial advantage by staying out. Outsiders must pay into escrow accounts.
Outsiders get their escrow back in 25 years, if no state successfully sues them.
From an outsider's angle, the agreement looks like a state sponsored cartel. 
"The agreement made states directly interested in the profits of the big companies," said Everett Gee, general counsel of S & M Brands Inc. in Keysville, Va.
S & M Brands makes Baileycigarettes. Gee said the Bailey family has grown tobacco for five generations. He said they started making cigarettes in 1994.
Gee disputed the Brattle Group's finding that companies lost market share because of the agreement. He said they lost market share because of greed. 
He said they increased prices more than enough to pay the states. He said, "These prices shocked the consumer." 
He said signers of the agreement would have lost more than eight percent of the market if states had not protected them. 
"At those prices you would expect 60 to 70 percent," he said. 
In 1998, Gee said, the Baileys received a letter from a law firm giving five days to sign the master settlement agreement. 
"We would have had to pay in states where we never sold a cigarette," he said. 
The Baileys did not sign. They started making escrow payments. 
"We have paid our escrow always," Gee said. "We are under the largest scrutiny." 
He estimated the escrow at $4.35 per carton, but won't know until next year. 
For companies that signed the agreement, the Brattle Group report gave owners three weeks to decide whether to adjust payments. 
R.J. Reynolds in Winston-Salem, N.C., had not decided as of April 5. 
He said states would have to prove to arbitrators that they diligently enforced the laws. 
States and companies that signed the agreement jointly hired the Brattle Group. States do not permit taxpayers to read the report. 
States and companies that signed the agreement jointly employ Price Waterhouse to calculate market shares. States do not permit taxpayers to read the report.

четверг, 16 апреля 2009 г.

Japan Tobacco will pay $400 to European Union

Japan Tobacco Company signed an agreement with European Union for 15 years on struggle against tobacco smuggling. In the context of this agreement, Japan Tobacco has to pay $400 million to EU for break in tobacco trade. In return EU countries refuse any pretensions to Japan Company. The agreement was not signed by Great Britain, which is intended to continue investigations of breaks committed by Japan Tobacco.

Besides, according to the document, Japan Company has to take measures on struggle against smuggling of tobacco production also on production of infringing cigarettes production. Clear profit of the third tobacco company in the world Japan Tobacco Inc. in the first half year 2007‐2008 reduced at 25,3%. Operational profit of the cigarettes company in the first half year 2007‐2008 reduced at 10,4% and amounted at $928 million in comparison with $1,03 billion got at first half year 2006‐2007.

Japan Tobacco is the third cigarettescompany in the world. It was founded in 1898. Japan Tobacco produces such popular cigarettes brands as Mild Seven, also possesses the right on sale of cigarettes Camel, Winston and Salem outside USA. 50% of JT shares belong to the Japan government.

среда, 15 апреля 2009 г.

Warning over mild or light cigarettes

Smokers are being warned that all tobacco is deadly no matter how it is packaged.
Asthma and Respiratory Foundation executive director Jane Patterson says smoking tobacco described as 'light' and 'mild' is not better for health and is not safer to smoke compared with smoking regular tobacco.
In 2005, 44% of the manufactured cigarette brands listed for sale contained at least one description, such as light or mild.
Patterson says the tobacco industry has promoted light and mild cigarettes as 'safer' or as an alternative to quitting, when all along it has known that these products are not better for health, or safer to smoke, than regular tobacco.
Recent New Zealand research shows that the tar and nicotine content of light cigarettes is comparable to regular cigarettes, and that light   cigarettesmight deliver more carbon monoxide than regular cigarettes.
Smokers are also likely to compensate for smoking 'light' cigarettes, by inhaling more deeply, holding smoke in the lungs for longer, covering manufactured cigarette ventilation holes with the fingers or mouth, or smoking more frequently.
Smokefree coalition director Mark Peck says a survey of 2709 smokers reported 36% smoked light or mild cigarettes.
This included 27% of Maori and 40% of females surveyed.
Those who reported smoking light and mild were asked why they smoked these types - 23% gave some health-related reason for their choice, and a further 5% thought that light or mild cigarettes were 'less addictive' and/or 'made it easier to quit'.
The NZ Commerce Commission recently warned the tobacco industry to remove the light and mild descriptions from tobacco products, because they mislead customers about the health risks of smoking.

вторник, 14 апреля 2009 г.

Police fear new drinking and smoking laws have fuelled rise in crime

Sussex, England: Relaxed licensing laws and the smoking ban have led to a rise in violence on the streets.Police say drink-fuelled crime is on the rise because pub-goers are being forced outside to smoke. Extra patrols are already being sent to areas such as New Road, Brighton, where al fresco smoking has led to problems.Fears about the impact of the smoking ban comes on top of rising public place violent crime sparked by new 24-hour drinking legislation.Since the legislation came into force two years ago, there has been an extra 100 venues where customers can buy alcohol.
Sussex, England: Relaxed licensing laws and the smoking ban have led to a rise in violence on the streets.Police say drink-fuelled crime is on the rise because pub-goers are being forced outside to smoke.Extra patrols are already being sent to areas such as New Road, Brighton, where al fresco smoking has led to problems.Fears about the impact of the smoking ban comes on top of rising public place violent crime sparked by new 24-hour drinking legislation.Since the legislation came into force two years ago, there has been an extra 100 venues where customers can buy alcohol. Police warn that with growing pressure on the budget, overtime spending must be reduced and other means of controlling alcohol-related violence found. The information has emerged in a Sussex Police report arguing for the introduction of tougher measures to restrict new pubs and clubs opening in Brighton and Hove. Police are pushing for the introduction of one of the country's largest "cumulative impact zones" to stop new premises opening in areas already considered to be saturated with bars. Developments within the proposed area include the recently opened Oceana nightclub in West Street, with a capacity of 2,500, and the Hippodrome, Middle Street, which will also have a capacity of approximately 2,500 when completed. Violent crime in the city centre increased by five per cent in 2006, the first full year of the new licensing laws, compared with 2005. The trend for public place violent crime has been upward since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 in November 2005 and is expected to continue its upward trend, with a contributory factor being the introduction of the smokingban in July 2007. Police have said the increase is partly explained by the growing number of £80 fines handed out to binge drinkers early in the evening which often prevent more serious crimes being committed in the early hours. With the arrival of warmer weather, police are concerned the smoking ban will also spark violent crime.

понедельник, 13 апреля 2009 г.

Electronic Cigarette on CBS and AP Newswire

Today has been a whirlwind as far as press is concerned. First, we started off the morning, waiting for the feed from the E-Cigarette featured on the Early Show on CBS. Then it came. Our jaws dropped to the floor as we watched a doctor and two news anchors literally spew lies from the set. Needless to say, we do hope that the watching public takes some time to further educate themselves on the electronic cigarette as obviously, the CBS Early Show has no desire to do any research.

The acting by the hosts Julie Chen and Harry Smith were most definitely “Big Brother” worthy and it was very apparent that they are non-smokers who wish the habit did not exist. But even more amazing than this were the comments made by Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine and Medicine, with NYU.

When asked if electronic cigarettes are safe, he responds with “we don’t know, but we don’t think so?” Ok. Why do you not think so? Data? Have you run your own tests? There have been three separate liquids tested and all of them were found to contain ingredients that are approved and safe world wide. 

Yes, we agree that more testing can and should and will be done on both the vapor and the liquid itself. However, all results have indicated that these are safer than tobacco  cigarette. Isn’t it time that you as a doctor maybe use some of that e-cigs “magic” and do some testing of your own? We would definitely love to hear your professional diagnosis on this. Certainly not your personal opinion.

Furthering on his safe argument, he then goes on that the electronic cigarette are “unregulated, certainly not FDA approved and Made in China”. Here is all we need to say about this: The Committee on Energy and Commerce just completed a hearing on the salmonella outbreak plaguing our food supply. What we also find interesting is that in 2007 and 2008, the FDA notes that 12 times Peanut Corp tested positive for salmonella, yet they shipped anyways. 

And recently, Keith Ledger died from using Ambien. Granted, there is more to this story, so please follow the link, but it proves that not everything approved by the FDA is safe. Finally, the FDA has some issues internally where the scientists allege mismanagement at the Agency. According to a letter obtained by CNN from the FDA scientists, “The agency is “fundamentally broken” and “failing to fulfill its mission”. Is it possible the FDA has too much power and not enough control?

The salmonella outbreak also proves that American manufacturing and processes can be just as bad as Chinese processes. The persons responsible for the melamine in the milk fiasco plead guilty and brought to very harsh, yet swift justice. We will see what happens to the American business responsible for the contamination and those who obviously covered up the 12 instances of positive testing.

As far as his comments that some companies are marketing to adolescents: We are on the Internet 24 hours a day. We research the daylights out of our products, our competitors products, and see just about every article there is to see. We have come across websites that do offer these as a smoking cessation device (even though we take a different opinion), but we have never, ever run across anyone who has ever suggested even with color scheme, that the electronic cigaretteis for adolescents. That is simply, a shameful, boldfaced lie.

So… enough about bad journalism. Here is some great journalism! It deserves its own post so we will provide you with a link so you can see what a good article is supposed to look like. This article was written by Audra Ang with the Associated Press, and is a very well researched bit of writing. Chinese e-cigs gain ground amid safety concerns.

пятница, 10 апреля 2009 г.

Nine interesting facts about electronic cigarettes

An electronic cigarette doesn’t contain tobacco. Instead, it’s a plastic device which is activated by the user inhaling. The device then injects tiny drops of nicotine into the flowing air, causing them to vaporise. The device also adds propylene glycol, a moisturizer that’s often found in toothpastes and mouthwashes. This helps create a simulation of the smoke from a traditional cigarette, making it feel much more like real smoking.

Electronic cigarettes are not proven to help people give up smoking and aren’t marketed for this purpose. However, manufacturers can produce a range of electronic cigarettes with varying levels of nicotine. This means people trying to cut down on a nicotine addiction can gradually reduce the levels they consume without being held back by the habit of ‘lighting up’ a certain number of times each day.

A single electronic cigarette can last practically forever as the nicotine solution comes in a disposable cartridge (which usually last for several hundred drags). The mechanism is powered by a rechargeable battery, which also powers an orange LED at the tip to simulate a real burning cigarette.

An electronic cigarette doesn’t produce any smell, and the ‘smoke’ it produces is harmless vapour (besides the nicotine the smoker inhales) and doesn’t irritate the eyes. This means a smoker using the device can take part in normal social activities without engendering or irritating other people. There’s also no unpleasant waste from cigarette butts.

Electronic cigarettes are available in traditional tobacco flavour, but also in menthol and apple versions.

Smokers in the United Kingdom have used the device to get round bans on smoking in enclosed public places. The famous Chinawhite nightclub in Soho allowed its guests to use an electronic cigarette rather than go out on to the street for a traditional smoke.

The Daily Mail tested the device in 2007 on bar-goers in Notting Hill. One woman said “I miss not being able to drink and smoke on a night out. This is a good solution. It's elegant and easy to hold and it doesn't make your hands smell like a cigarette does.” And her male companion added “I think it could become popular. Smokers would do anything to have a cigarette at a table rather than go outside.” The pair later shot to ‘fame’ as Big Brother contestants Rex Newmark & Nicole Cammack!

Using an electronic cigarette can be considerably cheaper than smoking the real thing. A single cartridge gives roughly the same amount of ‘smoking’ as a standard packet of cigarettes but can be as much as six times less expensive. That’s partly because you don’t have to pay for all the tar, tobacco and paper which you normally buy and then literally send up in smoke!

While containing fewer harmful substances, the nicotine content of electronic cigarettes means they are not sold to children. It’s also recommended that pregnant women do not use the device, and that anyone with health concerns checks with a doctor first.

четверг, 9 апреля 2009 г.

Electronic Cigarette

Electronic cigarettes offer smokers a good alternative to traditional smoking for many reasons. First of all, there is no tar and no second hand smoke, only a vapor. New users of these devices may have some questions regarding the use, and there are a couple things that can lead to confusion. Most of these devices use what is called an atomizer to heat the solution to create the fog like effect. It is important that users take good care of their atomizer in order to maintain good use.

Using cartridges, or refill juice on their electronic cigarette, users should always make sure that the atomizer has fluid on it before use. This prevents the atomizer from overheating and possibly burning out.A good technique is called "dripping". To drip, simply take the cartridge out and drop two to three drops of nicotine solution directly on the atomizer bridge, reinsert the cartridge, and take a few small puffs to prime the device. When taking your primer puffs, make them quick and light so the battery doesn't activate the heating element.

After your primer puffs, you will be ready to use your electronic cigarette and it should produce a good amount of vapor.

The atomizer may get clogged up from time to time, you will recognize this when it becomes harder to draw on your e-cigarette. Users have found a few simple tricks that may help. First of all, you can try blowing it out by unscrewing it and placing it to your lips. If this doesn't have the desired effect, you can try boiling it for ten minutes or so. Be careful if your atomizer has plastic parts on the outside, as you would not want to melt it. After boiling, place the atomizer on a paper towel, standing up, and let it dry for a couple hours. Usually this removes any particulates that would have been causing problems. In the worst case, just replace it. You can buy them for less than fifteen dollars.

Always be sure to leave a battery on at night to ensure that you will have it fully charged the next day. It is recommended that most people carry at least two batteries with them throughout the day so they never get stuck without a charge.

среда, 8 апреля 2009 г.

Davidoff Prestige 100th Anniversary Lighter


This lighter is number 84 out of 400 made for the 100th anniversary of Zino Davidoff's birth. The Lighter is Black Lacquer and Platinum.

The Davidoff Prestige lighters are crafted from a single billet of refined brass. This process ensures that each lighter has a unique feel and "ping" when the cover is flipped open to light a cigar.

Each Prestige lighter features a dual flame burner which provides for a wider flame perfect for lighting cigars.

Each finish was designed to match other accessories in the Davidoff assortment such as cutters and fine writing instruments. All Prestige lighters are made in France exclusively for Davidoff of Geneva.

понедельник, 6 апреля 2009 г.

West Virginia lawmakers want candy cigarettes out.

After 40 attorneys general across the country reached an agreement with tobacco manufacturer R.J. Reynolds concerning the sale of candy-flavored cigarettes, a group of West Virginia lawmakers hopes to take it a step further with a bill to permanently ban the selling of the products. With flavors like Cherry Cheesecake and Mandarin Mint, the West Virginia lawmakers believe that the products make real cigarettes an attractive option to young people. According to the bill, companies who sell the candy-flavored cigarettes can be fined up to $500, with further offenses bringing $5,000 penalties and jail sentences. The established agreement with the attorneys general includes a domestic ban on the products, but allows R.J. Reynolds to manufacture flavored brands in the future if officials believe they are not targeted to young people.

Cheap Cigarettes from Europe - online shops

Cigarette smoking is an addiction many people have, despite it being a life threatening addiction. Girls and boys, women and men all alike smoke all types of cigarettes be it discount cigarettes, menthol cigarettes or cheap cigarettes from Europe. Though there are so many types of cigarettes in the market today, they are all basically the same composition with a few changes in taste here and there.

All cigarettes are made of the same ingredients which include filter materials, tobacco, paper, additives and paper gum. It is only the rate and the place of manufacture of these cigarettes that change. The cheap cigarettes in Europe are available at reduced rates because the expenses that go in manufacturing these cigarettes is considerably lower than the expenses incurred in manufacturing the same cigarettes in America. This is why it is possible to get cheap Winston cigarettes, cheap camel and cheap Salem cigarettes from Salem.

In addition to this, the cigarettes manufactured in Europe are basically manufactured and shipped from the duty free zones exist in Eastern Europe. It is because these cigarettes are tax free that they are available for free, even while adding shipping costs. However it is because of the import duty of the different countries that people tend to smuggle in cheap cigarettes from Europe in a bid to save some bucks.

Though the composition of cheap Marlboro cigarettes and Marlboro cigarettes are relatively the same, there is a change in the tastes of these two types of cigarettes. These changes are attributed to the additives and preservatives that are added to the cigarettes, and the shelf time of cheap European cigarettes. European cigarettes are usually sent by registered mail to their destination, and it takes about two to three weeks for the cigarettes to reach its destination. This brings about a change in the taste and feel of the cigarettes. It is only the chronic smoker who can make out the difference between these two types of cigarettes.

With the internet, there is no need of you going to stores to buy your cigarettes. There are many online tobacco stores you can do your cheap cigarette shopping at discount price with the comforts of your home or office. This is one of the major advantages of shopping online through online tobacco stores. All that has to be done is to surf a few sites while sitting in the comfort of your home, choose your cigarettes, make your payments and pretty soon, you will have your cigarettes at your doorstop.

Another advantage of buying your cheap European cigarettes from online tobacco stores is that they are available at a much cheaper rate than in the offline tobacco stores. It is possible to buy three to four cartons of cigarettes in online tobacco stores for the rate of a single carton of cigarette in an offline store. So although the shipping time may be a bit long when you buy online, if you buy on a wholesale basis, you can afford to wait and save money in the long run.

пятница, 3 апреля 2009 г.

Indian Chief Heads Fight to Keep Selling Cigarettes

Harry Wallace, chief of the Unkechaug Nation, and several other owners of shops that sell cigarettes on the tiny Poospatuck Indian reservation on the South Shore of Long Island have been sued by the City of New York. The city claims that this Indian enclave — the closest Indian reservation to New York City — has become a “tax evasion haven” and a drain on the city’s coffers.

The Bloomberg administration says the city and the state lose more than $1 billion a year in tax revenue because of what it calls bootleg cigarettes distributed on Indian Indian reservations in New York. Of that amount, the administration contends, $195 million represents the city’s share, and officials blame the Unkechaug Nation Indian reservation for most of that.

New York City officials say millions of cartons of tax free cigarettes are sold every year by Poospatuck retailers to bootleggers who smuggle them into the city to resell for about $5 a pack, not the $8 or $9 charged by New York retailers who pay the state and city taxes of $4.25 a pack.

As part of their legal challenge, city attorneys have asked a federal judge to block the smoke shops from selling untaxed cigarettes to non-Indians without collecting state and city taxes from them.

Answering these claims is the Unkechaug chief, Mr. Wallace, 55, who was born in Queens, went to Dartmouth and was a lawyer in private practice in Manhattan before moving to the Indian reservation and opening the Poospatuck smoke shop.

But he has been outspoken in defending his tribe, arguing that cigarette sales are the only viable economic engine on the 55 acres of sovereign territory. He calls the city’s lawsuit an attack on legitimate Indian livelihood, and the result of elected officials feeling the economic pinch and blaming budget woes on the smallest Indian reservation in the state.

“They’re picking on us because they think we’re this little tribe with no means to defend ourselves,” he stated. “Bloomberg needs a scapegoat, so he places the fault with us for the city’s deficit, instead of criticizing the financial markets.”

Attorneys for the smoke shop owners have requested a dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction in sovereign territory, Mr. Wallace stated. He is not a defendant in the lawsuit, though he was named in a similar lawsuit that was filed in 2006 by the owner of the Gristedes supermarket chain.

Though Mr. Wallace was brought up in the Bayside and Little Neck sections of Queens, his family nurtured his Indian identity, taking him often to visit his uncles on the Indian reservation. He chose Dartmouth, he stated, because it had as its founding mission the education of Indians, and he helped establish a group on campus called Native Americans at Dartmouth.

Later, at New York Law School in Manhattan, he helped found the Indian Law Committee and wrote a thesis on Indian land claims. In the 1980s, he worked as a lawyer concentrating on cases involving landlord-tenant disputes, real estate, personal injury and American Indian discrimination matters.

Mr. Wallace stated he grew more interested in Indian matters after marrying Margo Thunderbird, a daughter of Chief Thunderbird of the Southampton-based Shinnecock Nation. The couple have two daughters. In 1991, he moved to a plot of land belonging to his mother on the Poospatuck Indian reservation, nestled on the banks of the Mastic River. “It changed my life because I knew I was going to get into matters affecting the Indian reservation,” he stated.

Mr. Wallace opened the Indian reservation’s first full-service smoke shop, to “show the community that we could develop an economy separate and distinct from the state and that it could be done the right way.”

четверг, 2 апреля 2009 г.

Smoking 'to blame' for greatest number of home fire deaths

Smoking causes the greatest number of accidental fire deaths in the home, the Government said tonight.

Work on setting a European standard for fire-safe cigarettes would take about two years to complete, said junior communities and local government minister Baroness Andrews.

She was speaking during a Lords debate on the co-ordination of fire safety and emergency services across the EU.

"The number of deaths caused by smoking is a very acute example of personal responsibility. In 2006, there were 3,168 accidental dwelling fires in the UK started by smoking. It is an extraordinary figure...96 people were killed and 1,146 injured," she said.

"The Government has been instrumental in encouraging the European Commission to look into the case for creating a European standard for fire-safer cigarettes, designed to self-extinguish if left unattended, rather than smoulder down and set things alight.

"We have watched with interest developments of this kind in other countries, particularly in the USA and Canada. In October 2005 Canada became the first country to implement a cigarette fire safety standard.

"Since then, assessments suggest that on the basis of their methodology, we would have had 2,116 fewer fires, so these fire-safe cigarettes work.

"The EU has voted overwhelmingly to create such a standard. By establishing a European standard for fire-safe cigarettes, manufacturers will have to produce cigarettes which meet the EU standard compelled by law.

"We continue to be at the forefront of pushing this forward and expect our work on developing this standard to commence later this year. It will probably take about two years to complete," Lady Andrews said.