For several days now, I've been studying an old snapshot that's brand new to me. The image is of four childhood friends and me with baseball gloves, a bat and ball.
We're all smiling broadly, arms over shoulders, bright sunshine on our faces. I can tell it's springtime by the short sleeves, bare legs, green and brown grass and a tree with no leaves.
It has to be 1967 or '68. We're posing in the yard between my house in Albemarle -- the parsonage for West Albemarle Baptist Church on Mill Street -- and the Stevens' house next door. I'm in the middle with Jeffery and Johnny Stevens on one side and Richard and Sidney James on the other.
I played often with all those kids. Sidney James taught me how to ride a bicycle and shoot a basketball. Jeffery Stevens taught me pretty much everything else.
Jeff and I were the same age and inseparable from about age 3. Raised by a single mom who worked long hours at the textile mill, he enjoyed a certain level of freedom most kids didn't.
When I sat down to lunch or dinner, Jeff was waiting outside more often than not, thoughtfully planning our next adventure. He made it his mission to expose me to a world beyond the otherwise sheltered existence of a preacher's kid.
Jeff showed me important things like how to smoke cigarettes, how to make a match burn twice and how to draw honey from a honeysuckle bloom.
At his suggestion, we pricked our fingers and became "blood brothers."
It's hard to believe that everyone in that photograph is somewhere near 50 now -- except for Jeff, who died when we were 10. That's still hard to believe, too.
The way Jeff died -- he choked to death recovering from minor surgery -- will never make sense. If he'd been killed falling out of a tree or crashing his bicycle or any number of other things kids do, it might have been easier to comprehend.
Looking back, it's as if Jeff somehow knew he didn't have a lot of time, so he packed in as many experiences and as much fun as he could.
If you look closely at that photograph, it's easy to spot Jeff's bold passion for life. He's the only one without shoes and socks, his skin is a shade more tanned and his knees are dirty.
The little out building we're standing behind is still there. My three daughters played around it last Sunday during the first church homecoming I've attended there in about 15 years.
A letter and a photograph
My family moved to Tennessee not long after that snapshot was made, and I brought along to the homecoming a letter Jeff wrote to me about a year before he died.
I gave the letter to one of his sisters on Sunday. Two days later I was exchanging e-mails with Johnny from my desk at the newspaper.
"Your brother and all the things we did around that patch of grass between the church and your old house are still with me," I wrote.
"Look what I found!" Johnny wrote back with the photograph attached.
It's just a fuzzy picture of some happy kids, but it took my breath away and made me cry. What a priceless window into the countless carefree days we shared back on Mill Street.
They didn't get much more work out of me that day.
вторник, 29 сентября 2009 г.
пятница, 25 сентября 2009 г.
Criminalizing Smoking Is Not the Answer: Bans on Cloves and Outdoor Smoking Will Backfire!
The war on cigarettes is heating up. This week a new federal ban went into effect making flavored cigarettes and cloves illegal. The new regulation halted the sale of vanilla and chocolate cigarettes that anti-smoking advocates claim lure young people into smoking. This ban is the first major crackdown since Congress passed a law in June giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco. There is already talk of banning Menthol cigarettes next.
Meanwhile, another major initiative to limit smoking wafted out of New York City last week. A report to Mayor Michael Bloomberg from the city's Health Commissioner called for a smoking ban at city parks and beaches to help protect citizens from the harms of second hand smoke. To his credit, Bloomberg rejected this measure citing concern over stretched city and police resources.
While I support many restrictions on public smoking, such as at restaurants and workplaces, and I appreciate public education campaigns and efforts aimed at discouraging young people from smoking, I believe the outdoor smoking ban and prohibition of cloves and possibly Menthols will lead to harmful and unintended consequences. All we have to do is look at the criminalization of other drugs, such as marijuana, to see some of the potential pitfalls and tragedies.
Cities across the country - from New York to Santa Cruz, California - are considering or have already banned smoking at parks and beaches. I am afraid that issuing tickets to people for smoking outdoors could easily be abused by overzealous law enforcement.
Let's look at how New York handles another "decriminalized" drug in our state, marijuana. Despite decriminalizing marijuana more than 30 years ago, New York is the marijuana arrest capital of the world. If possession of marijuana is supposed to be decriminalized in New York, how does this happen? Often it's because, in the course of interacting with the police, individuals are asked to empty their pockets, which results in the pot being "open to public view" - which is, technically, a crime.
More than 40,000 people were arrested in New York City last year for marijuana possession, and 87 percent of those arrested were black or Latino, despite equal rates of marijuana use among whites. The fact is that blacks and Latinos are arrested for pot at much higher rates in part because officers make stop-and-frisk searches disproportionately in black, Latino and low-income neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, when we make laws and place restrictions on both legal and illegal drugs, people of color are usually the ones busted. Drug use may not discriminate, but our drug policies and enforcement do.
Now let's look at the prohibition of cloves and other flavored cigarettes. When we prohibit certain drugs, it doesn't mean that the drugs go away and people don't use them; it just means that people get their drugs from the black market instead of a store or deli. We've been waging a war on marijuana and other drugs for decades, but you can still find marijuana and your drug of choice in most neighborhoods and cities in this country.
For many people, cloves or Menthols are their smoke of choice. I have no doubt that someone is going to step in to meet this demand. What do we propose doing to the people who are caught selling illegal cigarettes on the street? Are cops going to have to expend limited resources to enforce this ban? Are we going to arrest and lock up people who are selling the illegal cigarettes? Prisons are already bursting at the seams (thanks to the drug laws) in states across the country. Are we going to waste more taxpayer money on incarceration?
The prohibition of flavored cigarettes also moves us another step closer to total cigarette prohibition. But with all the good intentions in the world, outlawing cigarettes would be just as disastrous as the prohibition of other drugs. After all, people would still smoke, just as they still use other drugs that are prohibited, from marijuana to cocaine. But now, in addition to the harm of smoking, we would find a whole range of "collateral consequences," such as black market-related violence, that crop up with prohibition.
Although we should celebrate our success curbing cigarette smoking and continue to encourage people to cut back or give up cigarettes, let's not get carried away and think that criminalizing smoking is the answer.
We need to realize that drugs, from cigarettes to marijuana to alcohol, will always be consumed, whether they are legal or illegal. Although drugs have health consequences and dangers, making them illegal -- and keeping them illegal -- will only bring additional death and suffering.
Meanwhile, another major initiative to limit smoking wafted out of New York City last week. A report to Mayor Michael Bloomberg from the city's Health Commissioner called for a smoking ban at city parks and beaches to help protect citizens from the harms of second hand smoke. To his credit, Bloomberg rejected this measure citing concern over stretched city and police resources.
While I support many restrictions on public smoking, such as at restaurants and workplaces, and I appreciate public education campaigns and efforts aimed at discouraging young people from smoking, I believe the outdoor smoking ban and prohibition of cloves and possibly Menthols will lead to harmful and unintended consequences. All we have to do is look at the criminalization of other drugs, such as marijuana, to see some of the potential pitfalls and tragedies.
Cities across the country - from New York to Santa Cruz, California - are considering or have already banned smoking at parks and beaches. I am afraid that issuing tickets to people for smoking outdoors could easily be abused by overzealous law enforcement.
Let's look at how New York handles another "decriminalized" drug in our state, marijuana. Despite decriminalizing marijuana more than 30 years ago, New York is the marijuana arrest capital of the world. If possession of marijuana is supposed to be decriminalized in New York, how does this happen? Often it's because, in the course of interacting with the police, individuals are asked to empty their pockets, which results in the pot being "open to public view" - which is, technically, a crime.
More than 40,000 people were arrested in New York City last year for marijuana possession, and 87 percent of those arrested were black or Latino, despite equal rates of marijuana use among whites. The fact is that blacks and Latinos are arrested for pot at much higher rates in part because officers make stop-and-frisk searches disproportionately in black, Latino and low-income neighborhoods.
Unfortunately, when we make laws and place restrictions on both legal and illegal drugs, people of color are usually the ones busted. Drug use may not discriminate, but our drug policies and enforcement do.
Now let's look at the prohibition of cloves and other flavored cigarettes. When we prohibit certain drugs, it doesn't mean that the drugs go away and people don't use them; it just means that people get their drugs from the black market instead of a store or deli. We've been waging a war on marijuana and other drugs for decades, but you can still find marijuana and your drug of choice in most neighborhoods and cities in this country.
For many people, cloves or Menthols are their smoke of choice. I have no doubt that someone is going to step in to meet this demand. What do we propose doing to the people who are caught selling illegal cigarettes on the street? Are cops going to have to expend limited resources to enforce this ban? Are we going to arrest and lock up people who are selling the illegal cigarettes? Prisons are already bursting at the seams (thanks to the drug laws) in states across the country. Are we going to waste more taxpayer money on incarceration?
The prohibition of flavored cigarettes also moves us another step closer to total cigarette prohibition. But with all the good intentions in the world, outlawing cigarettes would be just as disastrous as the prohibition of other drugs. After all, people would still smoke, just as they still use other drugs that are prohibited, from marijuana to cocaine. But now, in addition to the harm of smoking, we would find a whole range of "collateral consequences," such as black market-related violence, that crop up with prohibition.
Although we should celebrate our success curbing cigarette smoking and continue to encourage people to cut back or give up cigarettes, let's not get carried away and think that criminalizing smoking is the answer.
We need to realize that drugs, from cigarettes to marijuana to alcohol, will always be consumed, whether they are legal or illegal. Although drugs have health consequences and dangers, making them illegal -- and keeping them illegal -- will only bring additional death and suffering.
среда, 23 сентября 2009 г.
Cops: Deli man dealt illegal cigs and videos
TRENTON — Cops raided a South Trenton deli and arrested store operator Anthony Azcona on allegations he was selling cigarettes without a license and pirated CDs and DVDs, police said.
Trenton’s Tactical Anti-Crime units and Quick Response Team officers stormed into the Los Primos II Deli off Centre Street and arrested the 27-year-old city man during the 8:35 p.m. search warrant operation Thursday, police said.
Cops charged Azcona with two counts of piracy and slapped him with three counts of selling cigarettes without being licensed because the suspect failed to produce a valid cigarette license or invoice for cigarettes, police said.
Cops had a field day in confiscating 232 pirated audio CDs and 54 pirated DVDs in addition to seizing $900 in cash and a large assortment of blunt cigars and blunt wrappers. Police said they also confiscated 16 packs of untaxed cigarettes that were unstamped and numerous packs of cigarettes that were stamped.
The execution of the search warrant was the result of a narcotic investigation that was in response to citizens’ complaints, police said.
Trenton’s Tactical Anti-Crime units and Quick Response Team officers stormed into the Los Primos II Deli off Centre Street and arrested the 27-year-old city man during the 8:35 p.m. search warrant operation Thursday, police said.
Cops charged Azcona with two counts of piracy and slapped him with three counts of selling cigarettes without being licensed because the suspect failed to produce a valid cigarette license or invoice for cigarettes, police said.
Cops had a field day in confiscating 232 pirated audio CDs and 54 pirated DVDs in addition to seizing $900 in cash and a large assortment of blunt cigars and blunt wrappers. Police said they also confiscated 16 packs of untaxed cigarettes that were unstamped and numerous packs of cigarettes that were stamped.
The execution of the search warrant was the result of a narcotic investigation that was in response to citizens’ complaints, police said.
Cops: Deli man dealt illegal cigs and videos
TRENTON — Cops raided a South Trenton deli and arrested store operator Anthony Azcona on allegations he was selling cigarettes without a license and pirated CDs and DVDs, police said.
Trenton’s Tactical Anti-Crime units and Quick Response Team officers stormed into the Los Primos II Deli off Centre Street and arrested the 27-year-old city man during the 8:35 p.m. search warrant operation Thursday, police said.
Cops charged Azcona with two counts of piracy and slapped him with three counts of selling cigarettes without being licensed because the suspect failed to produce a valid cigarette license or invoice for cigarettes, police said.
Cops had a field day in confiscating 232 pirated audio CDs and 54 pirated DVDs in addition to seizing $900 in cash and a large assortment of blunt cigars and blunt wrappers. Police said they also confiscated 16 packs of untaxed cigarettes that were unstamped and numerous packs of cigarettes that were stamped.
The execution of the search warrant was the result of a narcotic investigation that was in response to citizens’ complaints, police said.
Trenton’s Tactical Anti-Crime units and Quick Response Team officers stormed into the Los Primos II Deli off Centre Street and arrested the 27-year-old city man during the 8:35 p.m. search warrant operation Thursday, police said.
Cops charged Azcona with two counts of piracy and slapped him with three counts of selling cigarettes without being licensed because the suspect failed to produce a valid cigarette license or invoice for cigarettes, police said.
Cops had a field day in confiscating 232 pirated audio CDs and 54 pirated DVDs in addition to seizing $900 in cash and a large assortment of blunt cigars and blunt wrappers. Police said they also confiscated 16 packs of untaxed cigarettes that were unstamped and numerous packs of cigarettes that were stamped.
The execution of the search warrant was the result of a narcotic investigation that was in response to citizens’ complaints, police said.
понедельник, 21 сентября 2009 г.
Judge: HI man accused in fire must quit smoking
WAILUKU, Hawaii — A Maui judge has ordered a 19-year-old man who pleaded no contest to starting a restaurant fire with a flicked cigarette to stop smoking for a year.
Makaio Bachman-Majamay of Makawao was originally charged with third-degree arson for allegedly igniting the shake roof of the Wei Wei Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Pukalani in July 2008. A witnesses extinguished the blaze using buckets of water.
Deputy Public Defender William McGrath says his client didn't mean to set the fire.
Bachman-Majamay pleaded to a reduced charge of third-degree criminal property damage.
Second Circuit Judge Joel August ordered him to do community service and pay a $1,025 fine to fix the roof. He also told the teen not to use tobacco for a year.
"That means no cigarettes," August said. "Perhaps it will add about 10 or 15 years to his life if he stops smoking permanently."
Makaio Bachman-Majamay of Makawao was originally charged with third-degree arson for allegedly igniting the shake roof of the Wei Wei Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Pukalani in July 2008. A witnesses extinguished the blaze using buckets of water.
Deputy Public Defender William McGrath says his client didn't mean to set the fire.
Bachman-Majamay pleaded to a reduced charge of third-degree criminal property damage.
Second Circuit Judge Joel August ordered him to do community service and pay a $1,025 fine to fix the roof. He also told the teen not to use tobacco for a year.
"That means no cigarettes," August said. "Perhaps it will add about 10 or 15 years to his life if he stops smoking permanently."
четверг, 17 сентября 2009 г.
Good Samaritans prevent cigarette robbery
A few Good Samaritans stopped an armed perpetrator from stealing a carton of cigarettes from the Shell gas station on Broadway in Eureka late Wednesday morning, detaining the suspect for about five minutes until police officer arrived to take him into custody.
After using the bathroom at the gas station, the suspect allegedly grabbed a carton of Camel cigarettes -- worth around $45 -- from behind the cashier's counter and tried to flee on foot.
Eureka resident Sean Grimes said he was purchasing a Rockstar energy drink at the counter, when he saw the suspect run by.
”I saw him running next to me with the carton of cigarettes and I just kind of slammed into him,” Grimes said, adding that other customers then quickly came to his aid, and helped detain the suspect.
Sitting in handcuffs in the back of a Eureka Police Department cruiser, the suspect identified himself to the Times-Standard as Jacob Brauning, and claimed the good Samaritans hit him and threatened him while holding him until police arrived on scene.
When officers searched Brauning, they found what officer Ed Wilson described as a kind of home-made “Black Jack,” which appeared to be a wood handle secured to a metal spring with a lead ball attached at the end. Witnesses said Brauning did not brandish the weapon during the robbery attempt.
After using the bathroom at the gas station, the suspect allegedly grabbed a carton of Camel cigarettes -- worth around $45 -- from behind the cashier's counter and tried to flee on foot.
Eureka resident Sean Grimes said he was purchasing a Rockstar energy drink at the counter, when he saw the suspect run by.
”I saw him running next to me with the carton of cigarettes and I just kind of slammed into him,” Grimes said, adding that other customers then quickly came to his aid, and helped detain the suspect.
Sitting in handcuffs in the back of a Eureka Police Department cruiser, the suspect identified himself to the Times-Standard as Jacob Brauning, and claimed the good Samaritans hit him and threatened him while holding him until police arrived on scene.
When officers searched Brauning, they found what officer Ed Wilson described as a kind of home-made “Black Jack,” which appeared to be a wood handle secured to a metal spring with a lead ball attached at the end. Witnesses said Brauning did not brandish the weapon during the robbery attempt.
вторник, 15 сентября 2009 г.
Smoking area removed from Ball State's campus
Smokers on Ball State University's campus may have to walk a little farther before lighting up now that there is one less designated smoking area.An e-mail sent Tuesday announced that the smoking area between the Arts and Communications Building and Pruis Hall has been eliminated. Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs, said it was removed because smoke from the area was leaking into the first floor of the Arts and Communications Building.The smoking area had been established for about two weeks. Before that, it was located near the Emens Auditorium Parking Garage. Bales said it was moved from the original location because the university received "too many" complaints about the smoking area. Some students who have classes in the Arts and Communications Building are happy to see the smoking area removed. Senior Diana Kaiser said she is in the building "24/7" and that since the beginning of the Fall Semester she has noticed cigarette smoke concentrated in one hallway near the smoking area. "I kind of feel bad for smokers, but I think it's better this way," she said. But not all students share the same sentiments. Freshmen Bekah Gross and Marie Deveau, who live in Woodworth Commons, sat smoking cigarettes at the former designated area Tuesday evening, despite the policy change."People are going to smoke anyway," Gross said. "It's just going to make people break the rules more."Freshman Samuel Shafer said he smoked at the former location every day. "I smoked there before class and now it's gone," he said. "It's kinda inconvenient."Sophomore Paul Ingersoll said he used to frequent the former smoking area about three times each day because it was the most convenient location for him.
"I don't have time to go all the way over to the other areas," he said. "By the time you get to smoking area, you could have already smoked."
Bales said they took these concerns into consideration, but that "it's very difficult to find an area on that side of campus where there isn't a lot of foot-traffic."Ball State's smoke-free initiative has been in effect since March 17, 2008. There are now 11 designated smoking areas, including Scheumann Stadium's parking lot.
"I don't have time to go all the way over to the other areas," he said. "By the time you get to smoking area, you could have already smoked."
Bales said they took these concerns into consideration, but that "it's very difficult to find an area on that side of campus where there isn't a lot of foot-traffic."Ball State's smoke-free initiative has been in effect since March 17, 2008. There are now 11 designated smoking areas, including Scheumann Stadium's parking lot.
пятница, 11 сентября 2009 г.
Campus smoking ban eliminates student rights
Another smoking ban? Here we go again. Enough is enough. First came taxes, then came designated areas, and now here comes Bellarmine University with a smoking ban.
Nobody in their right mind denies the risks of smoking tobacco products. Smoking cigarettes undoubtedly causes lung cancer and other health problems. For this reason, I absolutely agree that this health risk should be combated with the full force of education.
In the same vein, secondhand smoke absolutely remains a considerable health risk for non-smokers. Given the risk of second-hand smoke, designated areas for smoking makes sense for the protection of non-smokers. But a campus-wide smoking ban is frankly ridiculous.
Are we supposed to believe that non-smokers do not have the sense to protect their own health by staying away from non-smoking areas? Do they have the sense to come out of the rain?
A campus-wide smoking ban takes a good idea and makes it oppressive. Smokers make up 25% of the population, which is the quarter of the American people whose rights no longer seem to be of any importance to the remaining 75% of our society*.
Already society regulates smokers to separate areas, and taxes them an arm and a leg for their cigarettes. Society has done enough to stop the effects of smoking. Now is the time to draw the line.
Smoking 15 feet away from the exits of all Bellarmine buildings does no one any harm except the smokers themselves.
When it comes to smokers' health as far as the University is concerned, if they are over 18 that is their business. To ban smoking from the entire campus implies the act of smoking is sinful.
Smoking cigarettes hurts health, but give me a break. We live in a society founded on the basis of individual rights.
The ability to smoke cigarettes is not a privilege it is a right. Citizens have the right to choose whether they want to smoke or not, and the University should not interfere so long as no innocents are hurt. The ban is excessive and I disagree with the University's decision to enact it.
Nobody in their right mind denies the risks of smoking tobacco products. Smoking cigarettes undoubtedly causes lung cancer and other health problems. For this reason, I absolutely agree that this health risk should be combated with the full force of education.
In the same vein, secondhand smoke absolutely remains a considerable health risk for non-smokers. Given the risk of second-hand smoke, designated areas for smoking makes sense for the protection of non-smokers. But a campus-wide smoking ban is frankly ridiculous.
Are we supposed to believe that non-smokers do not have the sense to protect their own health by staying away from non-smoking areas? Do they have the sense to come out of the rain?
A campus-wide smoking ban takes a good idea and makes it oppressive. Smokers make up 25% of the population, which is the quarter of the American people whose rights no longer seem to be of any importance to the remaining 75% of our society*.
Already society regulates smokers to separate areas, and taxes them an arm and a leg for their cigarettes. Society has done enough to stop the effects of smoking. Now is the time to draw the line.
Smoking 15 feet away from the exits of all Bellarmine buildings does no one any harm except the smokers themselves.
When it comes to smokers' health as far as the University is concerned, if they are over 18 that is their business. To ban smoking from the entire campus implies the act of smoking is sinful.
Smoking cigarettes hurts health, but give me a break. We live in a society founded on the basis of individual rights.
The ability to smoke cigarettes is not a privilege it is a right. Citizens have the right to choose whether they want to smoke or not, and the University should not interfere so long as no innocents are hurt. The ban is excessive and I disagree with the University's decision to enact it.
среда, 9 сентября 2009 г.
Cigarette Robbers Hit N. Phoenix CVS
Phoenix Police are looking for two men that they say robbed a CVS Pharmacy -- taking not cash, but cigarettes.
Police say they leapt over the counter and grabbed thousands of dollars in cigarettes Tuesday morning, at the CVS on Tatum Blvd. near Desert Ridge.
The suspects then took off in a black Chevy Malibu.
Sgt. Amy Smith says this isn't the first time robbers have gone for cigarettes. "They definitely knew what they were coming for. They grabbed cigarettes, jumped back over and they left."
Police say the suspects were not armed. They were customers in the store at the time.
Police say they leapt over the counter and grabbed thousands of dollars in cigarettes Tuesday morning, at the CVS on Tatum Blvd. near Desert Ridge.
The suspects then took off in a black Chevy Malibu.
Sgt. Amy Smith says this isn't the first time robbers have gone for cigarettes. "They definitely knew what they were coming for. They grabbed cigarettes, jumped back over and they left."
Police say the suspects were not armed. They were customers in the store at the time.
понедельник, 7 сентября 2009 г.
Big Tobacco Strikes Back
It didn’t take long for tobacco companies to try to evade tough new restrictions on their ability to market to young people. Less than three months after a landmark federal law granted the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate tobacco products, several of the industry’s biggest companies filed suit in tobacco-friendly Kentucky. They contend that the law’s marketing provisions infringe their commercial free-speech rights.
For the sake of the public’s health, we hope this suit is the last gasp of an industry that has a long, sorry history of pretending to market only to adults while surreptitiously targeting young people.
The industry is not trying to upend the entire law or the government’s right to regulate cigarette contents. Rather, it seeks to block restrictions that would greatly limit how and where it can advertise.
The law, for example, bans the use of color or graphic images in advertisements placed in magazines that reach a significant number of people under the age of 18 even though the primary audience might be adults. Ads in those magazines would have to consist of black text on a white background. The lawsuit contends that People magazine, Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine, all read predominantly by adults, would be limited to black-and-white tobacco ads.
Under another provision, cigarette packages would have to carry much larger warnings than the current labels and would have to use color graphics to depict the health consequences of smoking.
The law also prohibits advertising that products carry a lower risk than traditional cigarettes without F.D.A. approval, a provision aimed at ensuring that such claims are scientifically valid not only for individual smokers but also for the population as a whole, including nonsmokers who might be enticed to smoke if they thought a cigarette was low-risk.
The industry contends that these and other restrictions limit its ability to convey “truthful information” about a lawful product to adult consumers, not just to young people. Antismoking advocates retort that the companies can convey their information in black and white without using colorful images that have a strong emotional resonance with young people.
To uphold the law, the courts would have to decide that all of these provisions are “narrowly tailored” to the goal of reducing youth smoking, one of the tests of constitutionality. In 2001 the Supreme Court overturned rules in Massachusetts prohibiting outdoor advertising of tobacco products within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds because, while aimed at protecting children, the restrictions interfered unduly with messages aimed at adults.
The new law revises provisions on outdoor advertising to meet the objections raised in that case. They would not prohibit ads in retail store windows near schools and playgrounds, for example, so that adult passers-by would know tobacco products were on sale inside.
And just in case more changes are thought necessary, the law instructs the F.D.A. to modify its rules before issuing them to comply with the Massachusetts decision and other governing First Amendment cases.
On public health grounds, the tobacco industry does not deserve much latitude to promote its deadly products with colorful images, as opposed to black-and-white text. In a 2006 opinion based on company documents, Federal District Judge Gladys Kessler found that tobacco companies had marketed to young people “while consistently, publicly, and falsely, denying they do so.”
Now, the courts must decide how much this rogue industry may be restrained. The health of millions of impressionable young people rides on the outcome.
For the sake of the public’s health, we hope this suit is the last gasp of an industry that has a long, sorry history of pretending to market only to adults while surreptitiously targeting young people.
The industry is not trying to upend the entire law or the government’s right to regulate cigarette contents. Rather, it seeks to block restrictions that would greatly limit how and where it can advertise.
The law, for example, bans the use of color or graphic images in advertisements placed in magazines that reach a significant number of people under the age of 18 even though the primary audience might be adults. Ads in those magazines would have to consist of black text on a white background. The lawsuit contends that People magazine, Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine, all read predominantly by adults, would be limited to black-and-white tobacco ads.
Under another provision, cigarette packages would have to carry much larger warnings than the current labels and would have to use color graphics to depict the health consequences of smoking.
The law also prohibits advertising that products carry a lower risk than traditional cigarettes without F.D.A. approval, a provision aimed at ensuring that such claims are scientifically valid not only for individual smokers but also for the population as a whole, including nonsmokers who might be enticed to smoke if they thought a cigarette was low-risk.
The industry contends that these and other restrictions limit its ability to convey “truthful information” about a lawful product to adult consumers, not just to young people. Antismoking advocates retort that the companies can convey their information in black and white without using colorful images that have a strong emotional resonance with young people.
To uphold the law, the courts would have to decide that all of these provisions are “narrowly tailored” to the goal of reducing youth smoking, one of the tests of constitutionality. In 2001 the Supreme Court overturned rules in Massachusetts prohibiting outdoor advertising of tobacco products within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds because, while aimed at protecting children, the restrictions interfered unduly with messages aimed at adults.
The new law revises provisions on outdoor advertising to meet the objections raised in that case. They would not prohibit ads in retail store windows near schools and playgrounds, for example, so that adult passers-by would know tobacco products were on sale inside.
And just in case more changes are thought necessary, the law instructs the F.D.A. to modify its rules before issuing them to comply with the Massachusetts decision and other governing First Amendment cases.
On public health grounds, the tobacco industry does not deserve much latitude to promote its deadly products with colorful images, as opposed to black-and-white text. In a 2006 opinion based on company documents, Federal District Judge Gladys Kessler found that tobacco companies had marketed to young people “while consistently, publicly, and falsely, denying they do so.”
Now, the courts must decide how much this rogue industry may be restrained. The health of millions of impressionable young people rides on the outcome.
четверг, 3 сентября 2009 г.
Philip Morris Thai unit faces tax charges - police
BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai unit of Philip Morris International Inc faces charges that it violated customs tax rules by understating the prices of imported cigarettes, a Thai police official said on Thursday.
Philip Morris (Thailand) denied the allegations.
The head of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Thewee Sodsong, told Reuters the case had been submitted to the public prosecutor, adding: "It's up to the prosecutor what the next step will be."
The distributor of Marlboro and L&M cigarettes is accused of deception from 2003-2007, causing a loss of 69 billion baht ($2.03 billion) in taxes.
If the Attorney General's office agrees with the DSI's submission, the case could go to court.
No one at Philip Morris (Thailand) was immediately available for comment, but the company issued a statement saying it was confident the prosecutor would conclude that its actions were in accordance with international and Thai customs valuation methods.
"The DSI's allegations concerning our declared customs values are no different than those first reported in the press in 2006 and we believe they have no merit," it said.
Thai media reported that 10 Thai executives of Philip Morris had been summoned by the DSI to acknowledge charges of breaching the Customs Act and the Tobacco Act on Oct. 2.
The DSI has also obtained arrest warrants for four foreign executives who have fled.
Philip Morris (Thailand) denied the allegations.
The head of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Thewee Sodsong, told Reuters the case had been submitted to the public prosecutor, adding: "It's up to the prosecutor what the next step will be."
The distributor of Marlboro and L&M cigarettes is accused of deception from 2003-2007, causing a loss of 69 billion baht ($2.03 billion) in taxes.
If the Attorney General's office agrees with the DSI's submission, the case could go to court.
No one at Philip Morris (Thailand) was immediately available for comment, but the company issued a statement saying it was confident the prosecutor would conclude that its actions were in accordance with international and Thai customs valuation methods.
"The DSI's allegations concerning our declared customs values are no different than those first reported in the press in 2006 and we believe they have no merit," it said.
Thai media reported that 10 Thai executives of Philip Morris had been summoned by the DSI to acknowledge charges of breaching the Customs Act and the Tobacco Act on Oct. 2.
The DSI has also obtained arrest warrants for four foreign executives who have fled.
вторник, 1 сентября 2009 г.
Argument about 'clothes, cigarettes and money' ends in pillow fight
An argument between a couple about clothes, cigarettes and money escalated on Aug. 20 when the man pushed her to the bed and hit her with a pillow, according to his arrest report.
He continued to hit her with the pillow until she got off the bed and went to go downstairs. At that point, he pushed her down the stairs in front of children who were watching.
The 20-year-old man was charged with domestic battery.
He continued to hit her with the pillow until she got off the bed and went to go downstairs. At that point, he pushed her down the stairs in front of children who were watching.
The 20-year-old man was charged with domestic battery.
Подписаться на:
Сообщения (Atom)
