Cigarettes worth €3.8m seized

CUSTOMS OFFICERS backed up by gardaí have made a multimillion euro seizure of cigarettes following an intelligence-led search of a premises in Co Monaghan.

The smuggled haul of nine million President-brand cigarettes has an estimated retail value of €3.8 million.

The officers swooped on Saturday on a large shed used as a warehouse at Clontibret, about five miles from Monaghan town and a short distance from the Border at south Armagh.

The officers ordered a number of people in the shed to lie on the ground while the search was conducted. An official said the cigarettes were smuggled into the country in a 40ft container labelled “sports socks” at Dublin Port. The container arrived at the port on a ship from Malaysia via Rotterdam before being moved to Co Monaghan.

The swoop is believed to have followed a tip-off and subsequent surveillance operation in the Monaghan area on Saturday.

The raid team also confiscated a number of mobile phones from people who were engaged in off-loading furniture from a lorry at the shed.

Revenue authorities estimated the seizure represented a potential loss of €3.2 million to the Irish exchequer, and they have said the seizure is part of a strategy to combat a huge wave of tobacco smuggling.

The latest seizure brings to over 100 million the number of cigarettes seized by Customs so far this year.

Collectively these hauls represent a potential loss of up to €45 million to the exchequer.

A Revenue spokesman said smuggled tobacco products “provide an unknown set of health risks and are funding criminal activity”.

A number of men were questioned about the seizure, and a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Store Clerk Beaten for Cigarettes, Head Crushed

A Florida store clerk was viciously beaten over two cartons of cigarettes.

A man walked into Alex's mini-market Sunday afternoon. He brought two gallons of milk to the front counter.

Just as the store's owner began bagging the items, the suspect pulled out a spray can and doused him with an unknown chemical.

But he didn't stop there.

The suspect then grabbed a sledgehammer and started attacking the victim -- bludgeoning him in the head six times.

He eventually grabbed two cartons of cigarettes before fleeing the scene.

"I have two kids, 11 and 7, and he came in, and he sprayed my husband's eyes, and then, he had a hammer and beat him in the head several times," said Phoung Cen, the victim's wife.

The store owner is in extremely critical condition.

Miami police released the surveillance video, hoping it will help lead them to the suspect -- who could face a murder charge if the victim doesn't survive.

Alleged cigarette thief proves to be an escape artist

A 58-year-old Nimishillen Township man who allegedly stole several cartons of cigarettes Friday from Speedway managed to free himself from his handcuffs at the city jail following his arrest, according to jail records.

Paul Hubbard, of 4314 Gephart Ave., is facing felony charges of tampering with evidence and escape and misdemeanor counts of falsification and petty theft. Hubbard is to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Municipal Court.

Jail records show Massillon police officers were dispatched to Speedway, 906 Lincoln Way E, shortly around 4 p.m. Friday after Hubbard fled the store with five cartons of cigarettes valued at $285. Officers reportedly saw Hubbard run eastbound along Lincoln Way to Advanced Auto, 1232 Lincoln Way E, where he attempted to get into a waiting vehicle. Hubbard then kicked the cigarettes underneath the vehicle, police reported. When officers caught up with Hubbard, he reportedly gave them a false name.

Hubbard was arrested and taken to the city jail where he was placed in handcuffs and secured to a bench, jail records show. While the arresting officer was completing paperwork, Hubbard slipped out of the handcuffs and left the building. Officers later discovered him hiding in the jail’s car port, according to jail records.

Afternoon police update has marijuana arrests

Two people were arrested Saturday night on drug possession charges after two special police officers investigated a smoke-filled vehicle parked in a city park at West Walnut Road and South Mill Road.
Kenneth E. Staten, 19, of Fowler Road in Millville allegedly threw a 5-inch marijuana cigar under the vehicle. He was charged with possession of marijuana and tampering with evidence.
Crystal Rivera, 22, of West Park Avenue admitted to holding a bag of “weed.” She was charged with possession of marijuana.

Richard A. Fertig Jr., 32, of Atlantic City was arrested Saturday night on a shoplifting charge. A police search also found a hypodermic needle and a glass tube used to smoke cocaine. He was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, too.

A 1999 Honda Civic was reported stolen early Sunday morning from the 500 block of East Almond Street.

A HP computer and a black mailbox were taken in a residential burglary on the 800 block of East Cherry Street Sunday night.

David I. Alvarado, 20, of Axtell Avenue was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance after a motor vehicle stop Sunday night at Lincoln and Grant avenues.

Tobacco agency reduces fees, interest rates

Processing fees and interest payments of tobacco farmers were slashed by the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) into half.

NTA administrator Edgardo Zaragoza who proposed the cuts said this is in recognition of the role of farmers in achieving food security and to boost their economic standing.

Under the Tobacco Contract Growing System, farmers can avail of processing fees and interest payments of production assistance.

After the NTA board’s approval of the cuts, the usual two percent one-time processing fee shall be reduced to one percent, and the monthly interest rate of one percent, normally with a term of five to six months, shall be reduced to 0.5 percent beginning cropping season 2011-2012.

“The reduction is in line with President Aquino’s commitment to transformational leadership, particularly in treating farmers and rural enterprises as vital to achieving food security and more equitable economic growth, worthy of reinvestment for sustained productivity,” the NTA board said in a statement.

Students present tobacco-free program

Pryor Junior High students are working against tobacco use.

The first reading of a smoke-free and tobacco-free policy was conducted Monday in the monthly Pryor school board meeting. A junior high student group, Students Working Against Tobacco, submitted the policy.

The policy is part of Pryor Schools’ drive to provide a healthier and safer environment at school facilities. Superintendent Don Raleigh said tobacco use is prohibited in all school buildings, but is not prohibited at the athletic fields and the Burdick Center parking lot.

If accepted, the policy will prohibit employees from using tobacco in public or in view of students while they are participating in a class or school activity. Tobacco advertising will not be allowed, including emblems on gear or clothing. Tobacco use includes smoking, chewing or dipping.

Any action on the policy will be conducted in a later board meeting.

The board hired Sandra Dunning as a grant evaluator for the Carol M. White physical education grant program. She will be the evaluator for the duration of the $1 million grant. The grant will be awarded in segments over the next three years.

P.J. Parsons is resigning effective Dec. 20. Parsons, a learning disabilities teacher at Lincoln Elementary, has been employed with the district since 2007.

The interior of the Burdick Center is being repainted. Raleigh said most of the foyer, bathrooms, concession stand and homeside dressing rooms are complete.

Raleigh said the district is planning open house at the high school on Jan. 16, during staff development day.

The following students were selected to their respective All-State Choirs:

Chelsea Arnold, Jordan Bryant, Truett Bryant (alternate), Bethany Reyes, Rachelle Ritter, Charley Shaffer, Michaela Sims. Jordan Bryant has been selected to the All-State Choir for three consecutive years.

Raleigh recognized Joe Hardin and the alternate education students. They have been working with social worker Paula Kennedy and the high school leadership students to create a clothing bank.

The clothing bank “has already benefited many famililes,” Raleigh said. “They have done a great job and put in a lot of hard work. They are making a positive impact on our community.”

Awards for helping young smokers quit

TWO South Tyneside projects have been honoured for helping young smokers kick the habit.

Depaul UK’s Jigsaw Project and the Key Project took part in a national No Smoking Day event, staging a debate with the young people they help, all aged between 16 and 25 and homeless, or at risk of homelessness.

Both based in Tyne Dock, South Shields, the projects were named No Smoking Day Organiser Of The Year and awarded for Best Activity On A Small Budget.

Duncan Bannatyne, business dragon and ambassador for No Smoking Day, said: “With more than nine million UK adults hooked on smoking, the work of local organisers is crucial in helping them get the advice and support they need to kick the habit for good.

“Depaul UK and Key Project impressed us with its energy, creativity and, ultimately, its success in helping smokers quit, and I hope other organisations in South Tyneside will follow their brilliant example next year.”

Jean Burnside, chief officer of the Key Project, said: “I’m delighted that the organisations have received this prestigious national award.”

The South Tyneside projects were pitted against more than 160 others across the UK.

Jo Burlton, for Depaul UK, said: “By winning this award, it is recognition for both projects of how working together can have a positive impact on the young people we work with, helping them in making decisions and improving the quality of their lives.”

No Smoking Day this year included everything from breath tests to reveal smokers’ ‘lung ages,’ to LED screens emblazoned with quit smoking messages.

Indiana Smoking Ban Could Pass In Next Session

A state smoking ban may have a real chance at passage in the upcoming legislative session. Legislators have introduced a ban on smoking in public places for the last five years. Gary Democratic Representative Charlie Brown, the principle sponsor of the bill, says he understands that compromises will need to be made, particularly with casinos. But while he says he is willing to acquiesce to smoking on casino floors, he thinks other areas need to be part of the bill.

“Because of the fact that youngsters may be in the restaurants and youngsters may be in the hotel rooms so those areas should be considered for smoke-free air,” Brown says.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long says that lobbying groups like the American Cancer Society need to understand that compromise is the only way for the ban to have a shot.

“When you get 90, 95 percent of what you’re seeking, that’s a major victory,” he says. “And if the advocates can accept that, I think it has a fair chance of passing.”

In the last three sessions, the ban has passed the House but never gotten beyond a committee hearing in the Senate.

She was burnt with cigarettes

Beaten until her heart ruptured, four-year-old Amy Emily Annamunthodo also was burnt with cigarettes about her body, including her genitals. Forensic pathologist Dr Hughvon des Vignes, in his evidence yesterday, listed multiple extensive external and internal injuries sustained by the child, including a fractured rib, a “buss lip”, bruising and bleeding to her head and organs. Des Vignes was testifying in the trial against the child’s stepfather, Marlon King, in the San Fernando First Assizes.

He said the child was under-developed, measuring 100 cm and weighing 33 pounds. He said on the development chart, only ten per cent of children in the world would be so small. King is before Justice Anthony Carmona accused of murdering the child at his Marabella home on May 15, 2006. Witness Andre Anthony Rocke testified seeing King punching Amy 20 to 30 times as she hung from her hair.

Des Vignes, who performed an autopsy on her body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, said the multiple injuries would have been afflicted on the child within an hour or two before death. However, he said the injuries to her heart, including the bursting of the right atrium, bleeding and bruising over the heart sack and extensive bleeding an bruising of the aorta, would have resulted in her death in a minimum of 15 minutes but it was likely that she died much sooner.

Corbin passes smoking ban ordinance

A southeastern Kentucky city has barred smoking in all public places and made violating the ban a misdemeanor. Corbin's city commission passed the ban Wednesday night. Violators could face a fine of up to $150, The Times-Tribune reported ( ).

The ordinance prohibits smoking in public enclosed places, including bars, bingo halls, restaurants and retail businesses. Smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of an entrances, exits, wheelchair ramps, windows and ventilation systems for enclosed areas.

Private residences are excluded from the ban unless they are used for childcare, adult daycare or as a health care facility.

The ordinance also restricts to 20 the number of designated smoking rooms hotels and motels could offer to guests.

Shahrukh Khan is sick of carrying cigarettes

There is no doubt about the fact that Shahrukh Khan looked mighty sexy on screen when he smoked a cigar in Don. However, smoking cigarettes in real life has its own ill effects and SRK is aware of them!

King Khan has said several times in the past that he has been trying hard to get rid of this damaging habit. However, he has been unsuccessful in doing so!

Shahrukh Khan said recently: “I hate carrying cigarettes. I think it is the most sickening habit someone can have.” He even revealed that he has now come down to six-seven cigarettes a day!

Shahrukh also said that his daughter hates his smoking habit: “Today, when I was leaving home she (his daughter) wasn't happy to see me carry a pack. But one needs time to give up a habit you have developed for so many years.”

One can recall that while promoting Ra.One, too, SRK had said that he is trying hard to give up smoking! We all have already seen the scene in Ra.One which shows the ill effects of smoking!

Back then, Shahrukh had said that he requests all the youngsters not to smoke coz it takes a toll on your health, declines you stamina, gives you bad breath, yellows your nails and what not!

Shahrukh, cigarette sung jo mail rachaya, fir kabhi na choote uska saaya! Just kidding! We hope our Baadshah quits smoking soon!

Tobacco control workshop on 15 Nov

The Network for Consumer Protection will organize a workshop on tobacco control here on Tuesday (15 Nov).

The workshop is being organized in collaboration with World Health Organization, Pakistan Medical Association, and National Tobacco Control Cell.

The purpose of the workshop is to create an effective liaison among different organizations and media to strengthen tobacco control in Pakistan.

Outreach process underway on smoke-free ordinance

The city doesn't want public opinion to get snuffed out as its staff prepares a draft for a new ordinance that regulates outdoor tobacco use.

An online survey will be available for all residents to provide their input and preferences for the "secondhand smoke ordinance."

Plus, two more public meetings to gather input on the different options proposed for a new policy are coming up. The meetings will take place this Thursday and Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Community and Cultural Center's El Toro meeting room.

"We need to get feedback from people who have some stock in this, including businesses and residents," said parks and recreation committee member Marty Cheek.

In August, the city council approved expenses up to $41,000 for the public outreach process to weigh the pros and cons of a comprehensive outdoor secondhand smoke ordinance that could prohibit tobacco smoke use in the city's parks, on the sidewalks, dining areas, recreation areas and other outdoor public places.

Numerous studies have concluded not only that smoking, but even secondhand smoke is unhealthy, and the city's parks and recreation commission has been on a mission to snuff out tobacco where it might affect others outdoors, according to city staff.

The outreach is funded by a grant from Santa Clara County.

The ordinance would be mostly self-enforced, and is unlikely to require police enforcement, according to Dennis Acha, director of programs for Breathe California, a nonprofit that focuses on education and prevention efforts to reduce the impact of lung disease.

Signs would be posted in restricted outdoor areas, and Acha said passersby generally respond positively to such signage.

Citing examples of other area cities that prohibit outdoor smoking, such as Campbell, Los Gatos, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto, Acha noted that business improves when smoking is outlawed.

But more importantly, it's healthier for kids and others who don't smoke, but are present in areas where smoking is now allowed.

"Numerous studies have shown that exposure to secondhand smoke is just as deadly as firsthand smoke," Acha said at a meeting earlier this month. Secondhand smoke exposure, he continued, is a "suspected contributing factor" in many children's ailments such as ear infections, lower respiratory infections and asthma.

Some areas where smoking could be banned under such an ordinance would be the Community and Cultural Center amphitheater, public sidewalks in downtown and other shopping or dining areas, outdoor patios, service areas such as ATM lines, public events such as farmer's markets and concerts, and all recreation areas such as parks, sports fields and trails.

Morgan Hill Cigar Co. board member Mike Davenport said some downtown business owners he has spoken to are concerned about the possible government interference that could result from a secondhand smoke ordinance. Specifically, restaurants with outdoor patios might already prohibit smoking in those outdoor areas, but would like to have the option of allowing smoking when they conduct private parties.

And the cigar store, which serves as a smoking lounge and serves beer and wine, has some outdoor property in the back of the business that is not currently developed, but could be expanded for use as a patio for customers.

"(The ordinance) could prevent us from expanding our business," Davenport said.

City staff and proponents of an outdoor smoking policy will distribute e-mails containing the link to an online survey the city is conducting as part of the research process.

The 10-question survey asks respondents how they feel about outdoor smoking in each of the following areas: outdoor dining areas, entryways to public buildings, public events and festivals, city-owned parks and recreation centers, service areas such as bus stops, public sidewalks, and public work sites.

Prison guard pleads guilty to smuggling phones, tobacco to inmates

A California corrections officer confessed Monday in Sacramento federal court to smuggling cell phones and tobacco into a Northern California prison in return for cash payments.

According to a written plea agreement, Bobby Joe Kirby received $15,635 in bribes via MoneyGram and Western Union from persons associated with inmates at the Lassen County facility between June 2010 and June 2011.

He pleaded guilty to depriving California of his honest services through the use of interstate wires.

Kirby, 53, and a resident of Reno, was a corrections officer at the California Correctional Center in Susanville. He was paid $66,849, including overtime, in 2010.

He was allowed to remain free Monday on a $25,000 unsecured bond pending sentencing Feb. 6 by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb.

Doctors' group backs plain packaging for smokes

The Senate recently passed the Federal Government's plain packaging laws which will ensure cigarettes are packaged in plain, olive-coloured containers by December next year.

Association president Paul Mara says rates of lung cancer are high in regional areas, particularly in remote Indigenous communities.

"In rural and regional areas there is a higher incidence of things such as cancers," he said.

"The morbidity or the illness associated with them is likely to be greater because of the lack of access on many occasions to appropriate health facilities.

"There is a higher incidence of things such as cancers and people are dying in greater numbers in those areas proportionately to the city areas, so the sooner we get rid of smoking the better it will be for everybody"

Detectives Looking for Cigarette Robber

Tampa Police are asking for the public’s help identifying a suspect who broke into a convenience store and stole cartons of cigarettes.

At 4.10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13, the suspect used a crowbar to pry open the front door of the CITGO Quick Mart located at 6101 Interbay Blvd.

Once inside the business, the suspect filled a garbage can with cartons of cigarettes and then fled the area by unknown means, according to a Tampa Police report.

The suspect was described as a black male, 40-50 years, 5 feet and 10 inches to 6 feet tall and approximately 200-225 pounds. He has distinctive teeth and wore a tan pullover collared shirt, blue jeans and a gray baseball hat.

Impact of smoking continues even after quitting

In the study, researchers from Centre for Pancreatic Disease at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston assessed pancreatic duct cell function in smokers and non-smokers (current and past).

A total of 131 subjects (74 smoked and 57 never smoked) underwent secretin-stimulated endoscopic pancreatic function testing (ePFT), for pancreatic fluid bicarbonate analysis.

Cigarette smoking exposure was found to be associated with an abnormal ePFT result, and there was no statistical difference in peak bicarbonate concentration between current and former smokers, according to the results.

The risk of pancreatic duct cell dysfunction was 56.78 per cent in former or current smokers and 26.32 per cent in non-smokers, according to Vivek Kadiyala, MD, who presented the findings.

"Our data suggests the risk of duct cell dysfunction was doubled in patients who smoked compared to non-smokers," said Dr. Kadiyala.

"These findings indicate that anyone with a history of smoking, either current or past is at greater risk of impaired pancreatic duct cell function," said Dr. Kadiyala.

Program urges smokers switch to smokeless tobacco

In the smoker-heavy state of Kentucky, a cancer center is suggesting something that most health experts won't and the tobacco industry can't: If you really want to quit, switch to smoke-free tobacco.
The James Graham Brown Cancer Center and the University of Louisville are aiming their "Switch and Quit" campaign at the city of Owensboro. It uses print, radio, billboard and other advertising to urge smokers to swap their cigarettes for smokeless tobacco and other products that do not deliver nicotine by smoke.
Supporters say smokers who switch are more likely to give up cigarettes than those who use other methods such as nicotine patches, and that smokeless tobacco carries less risk of disease than cigarettes do.
"We need something that works better than what we have," said Dr. Donald Miller, an oncologist and director of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, which supports the effort along with the University of Louisville. "This is as reasonable a scientific hypothesis as anybody has come up with and it needs to be tried."
The campaign runs counter to the prevailing opinion of the public health community, which holds that there is no safe way to use tobacco. Federal researchers, however, have begun to at least consider the idea that smokers might be better off going smokeless.
The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health says on its website that the use of all tobacco products "should be strongly discouraged," and that there is "no scientific evidence that using smokeless tobacco can help a person quit smoking." But this year it approved funding for a study that might provide some of that very evidence.
"Switch and Quit" is directed by Brad Rodu, a professor of medicine at the University of Louisville. He analyzed the 2000 National Health Interview Survey and found that male smokers who switched to smokeless tobacco were more likely to quit smoking than those who used nicotine patches or gum.
"Americans are largely misinformed about the relative risks. ... They think smokeless tobacco is just as dangerous," Rodu said. "This level of misinformation is an enormous barrier to actually accomplishing tobacco-harm reduction because if people believe that the products have equal risk, there's not a real incentive."
The program is funded through Rodu's research money, which includes grants from the tobacco industry. Grants through the University of Louisville are unrestricted, which the program says "ensures the scientific independence and integrity of research projects and activities."
"There's absolutely no influence whatsoever," Rodu said. "I decide, along with my colleagues, how we use the money, for what projects, and this is entirely the case. I would not have a situation where there was some control over the kind of projects I undertake."

No-smoking policies might help lower cancer rates

Cooter Brown's Rib Shack is a small restaurant outside of Jacksonville known for its barbeque and extensive beer selection.
Until about four weeks ago, it was also a place where a smoker could light up with abandon.

"Mainly we changed to smoke-free (because) pretty much everybody else was going to it . a lot more places are smoke-free now," said Cooter Brown's owner, Tim Johnson. "And customers would talk about how (the restaurant) got all smoky."

The restaurant is now part of a growing trend to establish anti-smoking policies — policies that might be contributing to decreases in lung cancer rates in the state and country in recent years.

A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that lung cancer rates across the country have decreased in the past decade and suggests that non-smoking rules, tobacco excise taxes and funding policies to assist smokers in quitting are what have led to the improvement. However, the study also shows Alabama's decreases in lung cancer pale in comparison to other states — a problem some health experts say arises from fewer smoking bans and less anti-smoking funding in Alabama than in other areas of the country.

"It's frustrating . we have not been able to get elected officials as into it as they need to be," said Ginny Campbell, government relations director in Montgomery for the American Cancer Society.

According to the CDC study, lung cancer incidence among men between 1999 and 2005 decreased nationwide by 1.4 percent and between 2005 and 2008 by 2.9 percent. The study also showed that from 1999 to 2008, lung cancer incidence among men decreased in 35 of the 44 states analyzed and remained stable in the other nine states, which includes Alabama.

Among women, lung cancer incidents among women between 2006 and 2008 decreased 2.2 percent after increasing .5 percent between 1999 and 2006. Between 1999 and 2008, however, smoking rates for women increased slightly in the Southeast, including about 1.9 percent in Alabama.

"Other states are reducing faster," said Diane Beeson, director of the statewide tobacco prevention program for the Alabama Department of Public Health. "Smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death in Alabama."

According to the CDC, lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Also, most deaths from lung cancer are caused by cigarette smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, smoking can cause coronary heart disease and strokes.

A report compiled by the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Alabama for the Alabama Department of Public Health shows that the life lost in Alabama due to smoking is significantly high. The report states that in 2009, 8,685 Alabama deaths were attributed to smoking-related diseases. It adds that 15.3 years of potential life were lost, on average, among Alabama adults who died from a smoking-related illness.

The report also lists the financial costs of smoking, indicating that in 2010, $1.66 billion in excess personal medical care expenditures in Alabama were attributed to smoking. It also estimated that $941 million in productivity losses in Alabama in 2010 were attributable to smoking-related illnesses.

"Our smoking rates have gone down, but not as fast as others in the country," said Dr. Donald Williamson, state health officer of Alabama.

Williamson agreed with the CDC that anti-smoking policies, taxes and funding of anti-smoking programs have led to decreases in smoking rates and therefore, fewer incidences of lung cancer.

"But it's never a single intervention, it's all of them combined," he said.

Williamson said one of the best things Alabama could do is create a strong indoor clean air act.

"That would have two effects: it protects non-smokers from second-hand smoke, which does contribute to some lung cancers, and it does serve to discourage smokers," Williamson said. "It will lead to a decrease in tobacco consumption."

Alabama is currently one of only three states without a statewide smoking ban on smoking in indoor public areas, Beeson said.

"We still allow smoking indoors in a lot of places, to say nothing of smoking outdoors," she said. However, the number of Alabama municipalities with anti-smoking ordinances has increased in recent years.

Alabama Department of Public Health data indicates there are about 129 municipalities in Alabama with some type of smoking ordinance. Anniston, Jacksonville, Oxford and Piedmont all have smoking ordinances that prevent smoking in certain public areas. In addition, Anniston's two hospitals, Regional Medical Center and Stringfellow Memorial Hospital, banned smoking from their campuses earlier this year.

"We've been really pleased with the reaction from the public about it," said Mike Sims, vice president of human resources for RMC. "Most people have been very cooperative."

RMC also enacted a program to help employees kick their smoking habits. Sims said 60 employees enrolled in the program in May and about 35 percent were able to completely kick their smoking habit.

"I think that was pretty good," Sims said.

Sims said the hospital planned to make another push to get more employees into the program in a few months.

Another powerful way to curb smoking in the state would be to increase taxes on cigarettes, Campbell said.

"We've been working for years to get the state . to increase tobacco taxes," she said. "Increasing the cost really prevents kids from starting smoking. We like to focus on prevention because once they get started, it's really hard for them to stop."

According to the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Alabama report, at 42 cents a pack, Alabama has the fifth-lowest excise tax on cigarettes in the nation.

"Even if you added $1, we'd still have a tax that is less than the national average," Williamson said.

However, many local governments in Calhoun County also have various taxes on cigarettes, including Anniston, Hobson City, Calhoun County, Jacksonville, Ohatchee, Oxford, Piedmont and Weaver. The level of taxes varies though. For instance, Oxford has a 3-cent tax for every pack of 20 cigarettes purchased while Jacksonville has a 5-cent tax for every 20-cigarette pack purchased.

Senate president pro tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, who holds the most powerful position in the state Senate, said he would be opposed to a statewide ban on smoking in public areas or businesses.

"I would not openly support that right now," Marsh said. "If individual companies choose to have smoking bans, that's fine. People have the choice to go in there or not."

Marsh said he was also opposed to raising taxes on cigarettes.

"I'm not going to try to increase taxes at this time," Marsh said.

Unlike Marsh, Jennifer Price, spokeswoman for the Alabama Restaurant Association, said her organization supports only a statewide ban on smoking in public places and not the scatter-shot approach of individual municipalities.

"We support a smoking ban if it's a statewide one with no exclusions . if everyone is on the same playing field," Price said. "If there is one area that has a ban and another nearby that doesn't, we've found that can hurt businesses."

Williamson said a complete statewide ban of the sale of tobacco products similar to bans on other drugs would not be possible. Williamson recently pushed for a statewide ban of the synthetic marijuana product known generally as spice, which has been legal in most of the state for the last couple of years.

"The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has jurisdiction on tobacco," Williamson said. "We wouldn't be able to just set tobacco as a controlled substance and criminalize it."

To Williamson, outside of taxes and bans, a good way to curb smoking is to continue funding education to youths on the dangers of tobacco. However, again Alabama falls behind many other states in this regard.

"We are grossly underfunded," Beeson said. "The state is funding less than 4 percent on education of what the CDC says we should fund."

Still, it will take increases in taxes and smoking bans, not just more education funding, to truly help Alabama catch up with the rest of the country.

"It's really the synergy among the different policies," she said.

"Bath Salts" and Synthetic Marijuana Banned in SC

South Carolina is now the 38th state in the nation to ban "bath salts."Not the kind you buy for your tub, the synthetic drug that mimics cocaine, and the fake marijuana known as "k-2"

The board of Health and Environmental Control, or DHEC, voted to ban the two drugs, commonly found at gas stations.

Over the past six months, hospitals across the states have seen a jump in patients, saying they've used one of the drugs.

And earlier this month, an Anderson University student died after smoking synthetic marijuana.

Beaufort County Sheriff PJ Tanner tells News 3 that sheriff's from across the state gathered last week and discussed this problem--expressing their concerns over the rise in cases where these drugs were involved.

"The discussion among the sheriffs is 'what are you seeing in your county, as far as the bath salts and the spice and those types of things?,' every sheriff said there is an absolute rise and the indicators are there tha this is becoming a severe and serious problem."

But Sheriff Tanner says that last night's vote will help law enforcement across the state especially locally.

"It's consistent throughout South Carolina, it's not ordanances created by municipalities or counties, it's a state law and which consistency will allow law enforcement to go in and enforce and do the things that they need to do."

As for businesses that claim they dont know the chemicals are illegal.....Beaufort County says that's not an excuse.

"You know if they are in the business and that is their business and their responsible for what they have in their business, then ignorance is no excuse, their responsible today as they were responsible yesterday but today is different than yesterday so there are some changes."

News 3 talked to and visited two businesses in Bluffton that reportedly sold the "Spice" drug but neither store had it on shelves today.

Officals say knowing what to look for is key for everyone.

"Not only does law enfocrement need to increase their knowledge of what we're doing as the law dictates us to enforce it, but I think that everyone as a whole including parents and the general public need to do the same thing, because its important that we are all on the same page," said Tanner.

Border Patrol agents seize marijuana, firearms, money

U.S. Border Patrol agents from Yuma Sector seized nearly 173 pounds of marijuana, as well as some firearms, currency and other paraphernalia, in three separate incidents on Monday.

In the first incident, Wellton Station agents patrolling west of Arizona 85 and Range Four Road discovered footprints traversing the desert. Agents followed the footprints and located four subjects attempting to hide under brush.

All of the subjects admitted to being in the country illegally and all were carrying backpacks of marijuana. The bundles weighed approximately 173 pounds and had an estimated value exceeding $86,500. The subjects and marijuana were turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

In unrelated incidents, Blythe Station agents conducting checkpoint operations on Interstate 10 near mile marker 4 referred a grey Dodge Caliber to secondary inspection.

As agents continued their inspection, they noticed a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle. Agents ran records checks on both U.S. citizens in the vehicle and learned that one had a warrant for a probation violation out of Wisconsin.

After the driver of the vehicle consented to a vehicle search, agents found marijuana, marijuana brownies, an Interarms revolver, a Glock .40-caliber handgun, ammunition, drug pipes, and multiple other paraphernalia items.

All items and the subjects were turned over to the La Paz County Sheriff's Office.

Blythe agents at the same checkpoint also referred a vehicle to secondary inspection after a canine alerted to it. Once in secondary, agents searched both occupants of the vehicle, who were U.S. citizens, and found the driver was in possession of a stolen, loaded 9 mm Daewoo handgun.

Aided by the canine team, agents also found several grams of marijuana and $6,300 in cash. The contraband and subjects were turned over to the La Paz County Sheriff's Office.

Cook County cracks down on illegal cigarette sales

Cook County hopes to reclaim millions of dollars in lost revenue in cigarette taxes.

It is part of a crackdown on illegal cigarette sales that began in October.

Cook County Board President Tony Preckwinkle and Sheriff Tom Dart are behind the new offensive.

In the past three weeks, county revenue investigators teamed with sheriff's police officers to confiscate more than $353,000 in illegal cigarettes, slapping down 120 citations to business owners in nearly $400,000 in fines.

Cook County has a $2-per-pack tobacco tax.

The high cigarette prices has lead to scofflaws and below-board businesses, officials said.

Preckwinkle said the county will operate a tip hotline for residents to notify authorities of illegal cigarette sales: 312-603-6870, Extension 3.

Successful tips will lead to rewards of up to $1,000.

Dart said sheriff’s police also will begin making checks at stores as part of their patrols.

“It’s going to exponentially increase rather quickly,” he said.

A classroom of children try smoking every day

A classroom of children is experimenting with smoking in Wales every day, a charity today warned.

Figures published by ASH Wales, ahead of a major conference on alcohol and tobacco, said 38 children who had never smoked before, are trying cigarettes daily.

The worrying figures come as Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Tony Jewell’s annual report welcomed a drop in the overall number of 15 and 16-year-olds who smoke in Wales.

But he has again highlighted smoking as a major public health issue and has called for the NHS and Welsh Government to ban smoking for staff and visitors on its grounds.

The Health Behaviours in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey found about 14,000 children and teenagers, aged 11 to 15, who have never smoked before try smoking a year in Wales. This is equivalent to 269 a week or 38 a day.

The survey also shows an estimated 1,000 children aged 10 to 11 tried smoking for the first time, but the number had more than doubled for 12 and 13-year-olds and trebled for 13 and 14-year-olds.

Carole Morgan-Jones, acting chief executive of ASH Wales, said: “These figures are worrying. We know young people progress quite quickly from experimenting with tobacco to regular use and as they get older they develop nicotine addiction.

“This is backed up by research we carried out in the summer of 2011 – we surveyed more than 1,000 young people in Wales and found a fifth of current smokers began smoking at 13.

“This is particularly concerning because early uptake of smoking is associated with heavier smoking patterns and a higher probability of becoming ill from a smoking-related disease in later life.

“It illustrates why prevention programmes aimed at young people are so important. Breaking the cycle of childhood addiction to tobacco products is necessary to reduce the ongoing health, economic and social problems caused by tobacco in Wales.”

Election to determine future of Fort Collins medical marijuana businesses

The long-simmering debate about medical marijuana in Fort Collins is coming to a boil with the Nov. 1 election.

Voters will consider ballot Question 300, which would ban licensed medical marijuana businesses from the city, including dispensaries, grow operations and makers of marijuana-infused products.

If the measure passes, the city’s 20 medical marijuana businesses would have to shut down within 90 days of the city clerk certifying the election results.

Both sides of the debate say the issue isn’t the legitimacy of using marijuana to provide relief from severe pain and other debilitating conditions but rather how the medicine is delivered to patients.

Proponents of the measure say the presence of medical marijuana, or MMJ, businesses in the city has been harmful to the community by expanding the availability of marijuana for recreational users, including students high-school aged and younger.

“We all want the best thing for our city,” said Bob Powell of Concerned Fort Collins Citizens, which put the measure on the ballot through a petition drive. “But now we have this reputation for having a lot of marijuana.

“How can it be a good thing that we have people coming here to rob dispensaries and grow marijuana illegally because they believe this is a safe place to do that? How can that be good for our community?”

Local dispensary owners and others who oppose a ban on dispensaries say a ban would harm patients’ ability to access medicine.

Without licensed MMJ centers, patients would have to go to the black market for marijuana or seek out caregivers who grow in their homes, said Dave Schwaab, co-owner of Abundant Healing, 351 Linden St.

Centers are heavily regulated under state law and are required to track what happens to the marijuana they grow “from seed to sale.” Patients know what they are getting and don’t have to take chances with their medicine, Schwaab said.

“You can go through a licensed, secure, monitored and regulated dispensary or through unregulated and unsecured homes in neighborhoods,” he said. “I think it’s preferable to go through centers.”

Neb. high court to hear appeal in smoking ban case

The Nebraska Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in the state's appeal of a court ruling declaring exceptions listed in the statewide smoking ban unconstitutional.

Lancaster County District Judge Jodi Nelson sided earlier this year with an Omaha pool hall that challenged the 2009 state law banning smoking in all public buildings and private businesses, including bars and restaurants. The law includes exceptions for cigar bars, some hotel rooms, tobacco-only retailers and facilities that research the health effects of smoking.

Nelson said only the exception for research facilities is enforceable. The other exceptions, she said, provide special treatment for certain businesses, which is unconstitutional.

The pool hall, Big John's Billiards, also has filed an appeal, saying Nelson made a mistake in not finding the entire smoking ban unconstitutional.

The state claims in its appeal that it is immune from lawsuits like the one brought by Big John's Billiards, and that for that reason, the lower court didn't have authority in the matter.

The Nebraska Attorney General's Office also argues Nelson was wrong in determining the three exceptions were special legislation and, therefore, unconstitutional.

The exception for tobacco retail outlets was based upon the idea that customers of those establishments needed to sample tobacco products before buying them, and the exception for cigar bars was based on evidence that the bars were being forced out of business by smoking bans, the attorney general's office said.

"Application of this analysis by the district court would mean that no exemptions to any legislative act could be created because an exemption by its nature will be in conflict with the purpose or intent of the act as a whole," Assistant Attorney General Lynn Melson wrote in court documents filed with the state's high court.

An attorney for Big John's Billiards defended the lower court's finding that the exceptions were unconstitutional.

"The state cannot adopt a law, which is for the purpose of protecting the health of employees, and then say, `but the health of employees in one type of business is less important than employees in another type of business,'" Omaha attorney Theodore Boecker Jr. wrote in his response.

New Government Smoking Study; An Allergy-Free Peanut?

The Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health announce they'll study how new government regulations affect smoking and tobacco use.
Researchers will follow more than 40,000 people 12 and older who use cigarettes and other tobacco products.
The study's goals include determining what makes people susceptible to smoking and tobacco use and evaluating use and quitting patterns.
It's the first large–scale collaboration on tobacco regulation research since the Tobacco Control Act was passed in 2009.
Health officials say the findings will help the FDA decide how best to use the new regulatory powers it was given under the act.
Cigarette smoking alone causes more than 400,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year.

Scientists are working hard to create a peanut that's safe for people with nut allergies.
At North Carolina A&T State University they found a way to introduce a food grade enzyme to peanuts which reduces the allergens and one day could make it safe for everyone to consume.
Dr. Yu has been working on the project since 2005 and says an allergy free peanut could be a reality within three years.
"In the United States about 1 percent of population are allergic to peanuts, working on a project that has a potential to reduce peanut allergy is an honor and also it is important."
Accidental exposures account for 75 percent of allergic reactions.

Belgian smoking officials to be docked for time they spend outside

Over 18,000 officials working for the Walloon, French-speaking regional authorities in federal Belgium, have been told that they will disciplined if they are seen smoking in public and that their salaries will be docked for the time they spend on cigarette breaks.
"The presence of officials smoking outside offices is not likely to give a positive image to our administration," said a letter sent to all staff.
"Officials are invited to smoke in the courtyards of buildings or car parks out of the sight of passers-by. Failure to comply could result in disciplinary proceedings."
One official told Le Soir newspaper that staff had been required to clock out for a smoke since August but were now being punished if they are seen smoking in public.
"Our attendance record then contains the words 'invalid day: schedule not totally respected'," said the civil servant. "This has shocked everyone, even my non-smoker colleagues."

Smoking Higher Among Americans With Fewer Academic Qualifications

Smoking rates in the USA range from 28.4% for adults with no high school education, 28.6% among individuals with no health insurance, to 9.1% for employees with at least a bachelor's degree, according to a report "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Sept. 30, 2011" issued by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The overall adult smoking rate in America today - this figure includes both sexes, all age groups over 18 years covering the whole spectrum of society - is 19.6%.

The current smoking rate among adults is far higher than the maximum 12% goal of the Healthy People 2010. The authors added that 27.7% of working adults who earn less than the federal poverty level are regular smokers.

23.8% of Americans aged between 18 and 24 years are smokers.
Higher percentage of manual workers smoke

The authors wrote that a significantly higher percentage of blue collar workers smoke than white collar workers. A blue collar worker usually refers to a worker who does manual work and gets paid by the hour, while a white collar worker's job description is not considered as manual labor. Being paid by the hour for blue collar workers is less common today than it used to be.

Smoking rates vary enormously, from approximately 30% among miners to 9.7% among educated service white collar employees (teachers, librarians, etc.).

Smoking rates have dropped considerably in all socioeconomic levels in America compared to a decade or several decades ago. However, health authorities say much more needs to be done, especially by employers, to encourage their workers not to light up.

Grey sends smoking bylaw back

A proposal to ban smoking in local playgrounds and parks, on beaches, on patios where food or drink is sold and other outdoor areas is being sent back to the Grey Bruce Health Unit for reconsideration.

The resolution to expand smoking bans throughout Grey-Bruce, adopted by the board of health at a meeting in August, immediately ran into questions and concerns when it was brought before Grey Country council on Tuesday.

"It is going to be controversial for sure," Chatsworth Mayor Bob Pringle said as he presented the board of health minutes to council.

His deputy-mayor, Terry McKay, said the legion in Chatsworth "abided by the local bylaw" when it first outlawed smoking in the branch.

The ban "was going to bring in troves of people. It never did," he said. "If anything, our membership has declined."

The legion and others went to the expense of building a licensed patio and now they face the possibility of such facilities being closed.

Keep in mind the contributions legions make to the community when considering a bylaw to expand no-smoking areas, McKay said.

Georgian Bluffs council has already discussed the board of health proposal, Mayor Alan Barfoot said.

"Our opinion is we'd like to see at the county level if it has full support . . . before we take it to the lower tiers," he said. "Let's get it together and then let's take it forward united on behalf of the county . . . or modify it or do whatever we want to it. But right now it just seems like its frightening and that's why our council did not comment on it yet until the direction we see it going in Grey and Bruce counties."

Warden Arlene Wright said she supported the proposal at the board of health meeting because of the number of complaints that came into the health unit, particularly about people smoking at soccer fields when children were playing.

However, she added, "I don't think this is something you can just have an outright ban at all these public places because you'd never ever be able to enforce it or police it and I know each municipality is going to have a lot of trouble trying to deal with it."

West Grey council also discussed the board of health resolution, Deputy-mayor John Bell said, and they decided "it needs to be a countywide initiative."

The strongest voice of support for the resolution came from Meaford Deputy-mayor Harley Greenfield, who congratulated the board of health for "having the wisdom and maybe the intestinal fortitude" for bringing the measure forward.

The board of health resolution, noting among other things the danger of second-hand smoke and that tobacco use sets an "unhealthy example for the children of our community," called on the counties of Grey and Bruce "to develop a bylaw banning smoking:

City to vet smoking rules near businesses, in Bidwell Park

Advert: you can smoke al fakher tobacco for hookah. The best price for shisha tobacco.


Smokers might have fewer places to light up if the Chico mayor and the American Lung Association have their way.
The Chico City Council voted unanimously Sept. 20 to pass on the smoking issue to the Internal Affairs Committee for vetting.
A letter from the American Lung Association asked Mayor Ann Schwab that the council consider prohibiting smoking in Bidwell Park, within 25 feet of business entryways and in outdoor dining and bar areas.
Schwab said in order to create consistency with the Chico Area Recreation District prohibiting smoking in neighborhood parks, she thinks the council should consider doing the same for Bidwell.
"I walk in the park most mornings. I always pick up cigarette butts. I walked on Sunday. I picked them all up. And I walked on Monday and I found all of these," Schwab said holding up a baggy full of cigarette butts.
"It's a litter problem. It's a hazard for potential wildfires. To me it's a big problem."
Though government buildings already have restrictions banning smoking within 25 feet of entryways, Schwab said she thinks the council should look at restrictions outside businesses.
The issue could appear on the Oct. 11 agenda for the Internal Affairs Committee, which has yet to be finalized.

Quitting Smoking Improves Memory

Former smokers have a better-functioning memory than those who still light up, a new study finds.

On a practical test of their recollection ability, people who on average had quit smoking for 2.5 years performed 25 percent better than current smokers did. People who had never smoked scored 37 percent better than the smokers.

"We already know that giving up smoking has huge health benefits for the body, but this study also shows how stopping smoking can have knock-on benefits for cognitive function, too," said study researcher Tom Heffernan, a psychology professor at Northumbria University in England.

Lighting up, or learning?

The researchers aimed to measure "real world" memory abilities by sending 69 study participants on a tour of a university campus. Twenty-seven were smokers, 18 were former smokers, and 24 never smoked.

The participants were given a list of 15 locations around campus and an action to perform at each location. For example, upon reaching the library, participants were supposed to remember to check for messages on their cell phones; upon reaching the sports center, they were supposed to remember to ask about the cost of membership.

On average, the smokers performed 8.9 tasks correctly. The participants who had quit smoking averaged 11 correctly performed tasks, and those who had never smoked averaged 12.1. There were no differences between the groups in terms of their IQs, the study said.

Previous studies showed that quitting smoking improves "retrospective memory," which is the ability to learn information and retrieve it later. The new study instead measured participants' "prospective memory," which is the ability to remember to carry out a particular action at some future point in time.

For example, remembering to take medication at a certain time of day requires prospective memory.

Previous research on the effect of smoking on prospective memory yielded mixed results, with some results showing smokers were worse off, and others showing no effect from smoking, the study noted.

How does it work?

Although it is unclear exactly how smoking may interfere with memory, research has shown that chronic smoking is linked to a breakdown, or atrophy, of parts of the brain.

The researchers hypothesized that smoking could damage brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus or thalamus; all of those regions have been linked in brain imaging studies to prospective memory, they said.

Heffernan also has studied the effects of alcohol and marijuana on memory. He and the other researchers acknowledged that their new study was small and relied on self-reports of smoking, which would be subject to inaccuracy and dishonesty on the part of participants. Future work should follow a cohort of smokers and former smokers over time, they said.

The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Local campaign hopes to clamp down on candy-flavored tobacco

The photographs show brightly colored cans of spearmint-flavored dipping tobacco, packages of grape cigars and pouches of peach-flavored smokeless "snus" tobacco.
Photographed by area high school students in the Students Working Against Tobacco program, these pictures lining the hall of Santa Fe College's Blount Center are part of the "Sweet Deception" art show launched to raise awareness about the marketing of candy-flavored tobacco products to children.

The local campaign against those candy-flavored tobacco products may soon intensify.
On Monday, the Alachua County Health Department's state-funded Tobacco Free Alachua program will begin meetings of a task force formed specifically to target the flavored tobacco products. An email from Tobacco Free Alachua said the task force will "explore potential policy options" in "limiting or restricting the sale of candy-flavored tobacco" locally.

"They are very much targeted at youth," Marilyn Headley, the membership director for Tobacco Free Alachua, said of the products.

The 2010 Florida Youth Tobacco Survey showed that 7.1 percent of middle school students and 21.1 percent of high school students had smoked a flavored cigar.

A 2009 federal law banned candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes, but it did not apply to other tobacco products.

Headley said that, with the task force meetings just starting, it remains to be seen if the end result will be a campaign urging Gainesville and Alachua County commissioners to pass ordinances banning the sale of the flavored tobacco products.

NY Tobacco Tax $ Up in Smoke

New York state collected $10 billion in tobacco taxes over the last six years -- but spent just 4 percent of that on efforts to stop smoking, the American Cancer Society charged in a report released yesterday.

The ACS also revealed that the state spent even less in the last fiscal year -- when just 2 cents of every tobacco-tax dollar went to programs that encourage youths not to start smoking and adults to quit.

Anti-smoking groups call that a broken promise, noting that Albany raised cigarette taxes and accepted a historic settlement from tobacco manufacturers to end civil actions over the high cost of public health care for smokers.

Bad Food, Tobacco Blamed For 4 Chronic Diseases' Rise

In the WHO's 2008-2013 action plan for the global strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, we see that the four diseases not only share four risk factors - unhealthy diets, tobacco use, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol - but represent a considerable burden especially on low- and middle-income countries.

These four diseases are reported to represent "a leading threat to human health and development" and WHO indicates that they are the world's biggest killers, causing an estimated 35 million deaths each year which is about 60 per cent global deaths. About 80 per cent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

Tobacco and alcohol

If you take a look again at the four risk factors quoted above, you will have to agree that these diseases are largely preventable - we don't have to use tobacco, eat unhealthy diet, drink too much alcohol or sit around all day. In fact, the WHO stated that as much as 80 per cent of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes and more than a third of cancers are preventable when individual focus on eliminating the four risk factors.

Anti-smoking groups want N.J. to increase funding to help smokers quit

For every dollar New Jersey collects in tobacco revenue, it spends less than a penny on programs that help people stop smoking or never start.
Anti-tobacco advocacy groups say they want the state to spend 12 cents, phased-in over four years, to fulfill a "moral obligation," and protect the health of thousands of people who will get sick and possibly die from smoking related illnesses.
Over the last decade, state lawmakers have whittled away spending on state-sponsored smoking cessation programs from $30 million to $1.5 million, said Jennifer Sullivan of the American Cancer Society and coauthor of "Up in Smoke, a report released yesterday. But the state collected $750 million in tobacco taxes last fiscal year and spent $240 million in proceeds from a national settlement with tobacco companies, the report says.
With New Jersey imposing the sixth-highest cigarette tax in the nation, at $2.70 a pack, "We believe the money is there,’’ Sullivan said during a Statehouse press conference in Trenton.
"When you talk to these people they have very often tried to stop smoking but don’t have the support to do it," said Howard Levite, medical director of the Heart Institute at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center. "This is where the failing of the state is identified."

DetailsFrench government to tackle tobacco smuggling

Smuggling tobacco across borders is big business and particularly prevalent across the Pyrenees, with easy access to Andorra and Spain. With a twenty five to thirty cents increase on the cost of a packet of cigarettes expected in October as part of the governments plan to cut the country’s debt, the temptation to smuggle becomes ever greater.

Across France, it is estimated that twenty five percent of the cigarettes smoked are bought abroad, but in Toulouse, this rises to forty percent because Pas de la Casa, Andorra is just two hours away.

The government estimates that around €3.4 billion is lost in taxes through the purchase of cigarettes abroad and it is not surprising when you consider that a packet of twenty is around €2 cheaper in Spain. Of course, many of these cigarettes are purchased completely legally, but there are organised gangs of smugglers that the customs officers want to target.

Trafficking in the Pyrenees used to involve large amounts of cigarettes in containers, but as the customs officials have clamped down, the smugglers have switched to smaller, faster and more discrete vehicles. With the price difference so large, it is profitable to smuggle just five hundred packets of cigarettes at a time.

Currently, you are allowed to bring in 300 cigarette or 150 cigarillos or 400 grams of rolling tobacco. Living close to the border, I often see the Douane officers setting up check points and I have been stopped on numerous occasions. Along with cigarettes, the smuggling of counterfeit goods is also targeted, such as fake Gucci handbags etc, particularly at the Andorran borders.

The government is under pressure to do something, with state debt spiralling and the threat of ever higher taxes and austerity plans to combat it, cracking down on tax avoidance has never been more important.

DPH backs Tri-Town's anti-tobacco efforts

An established countywide effort to eradicate tobacco use has received a seven-year state grant to help adults quit smoking and keep youths from starting the addictive habit.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has awarded $37,900 to the local tobacco awareness program for the current fiscal year, which started July 1 and runs through June 30, 2012. The grant amounts for the remaining six fiscal years are subject to appropriation by the state Legislature, according to Tri-Town Health Department director James J. Wilusz.

The state has financially supported the tobacco awareness program since 1994, but Tri-Town has gradually received reduced funding the past several years. The current $37,900 award is down from the $53,000 for fiscal 2011 that ran out June 30.

Nevertheless, Wilusz vows the local program will boost its effort to ensure tobacco users have access to effective cessation programs.

"Seventy-seven percent of adults who smoke across the state want to quit and 66 percent have tried to quit," he said.

Tri-Town, the primary public health agency for Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge, has administered the anti-tobacco campaign for nearly 20 years. It also serves nine other communities: Dalton, Egremont, Great Barrington, Hancock, Monterey, Sandisfield, Otis, North Adams and Pittsfield.

Indonesia's tobacco excise for 2012 to rise 12.2 pct

Indonesia's finance ministry said on Monday that it would raise tobacco excise tariffs for 2012 by an average 12.2 percent, while simplifying the tariffs imposed on different cigarette types.

Indonesian cigarette firms, such as Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna and Gudang Garam , are estimated to produce 268.4 billion cigarettes next year, said Bambang PS Brodjonegoro, fiscal office chief at the ministry, contributing the majority of a forecast 72.4 trillion rupiah ($8.45 billion) in total government excise revenues next year. ($1 = 8,570 rupiah) (Reporting by Adriana Nina Kusuma; Editing by Neil Chatterjee)

£25,000 counterfeit tobacco seized in Cornwall

Trading Standards Officers have seized a large quantity of counterfeit tobacco from premises in mid Cornwall.

More than 125kg of raw tobacco found in black bin liners is believed to a street value in excess of £25,000.

Trading Standards said the money made from sales of illegal tobacco is often used to fund serious organised crime.

Martin Fisher, from Cornwall's Trading Standards, said: "We'd advise smokers not to be tempted by cheap tobacco as they don't know what it contains."

He added: "Whilst this batch of tobacco has not yet been tested, counterfeit tobacco has been known in the past to contain levels of chemicals at over 70 times the strength of legitimate tobacco products."

Trading Standards said counterfeit tobacco is becoming increasingly prevalent, with criminals taking care to ensure their product looks exactly like the genuine brands.

Customers are often fooled into believing they have bought non-UK duty paid tobacco by health warnings which are printed in different languages.

Mr Fisher said: "It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between counterfeit and genuine tobacco. The only way to ensure that the tobacco that you are smoking is legitimate is to purchase it through a trusted retailer."

Fire inspectors believe Kauai brushfire started by cigarette

Kauai fire inspectors believe last week’s fire in Kōloa, which originated near Ala Kinoiki and spread to the residential area along Kipuka Street, was most likely started by a Kent cigarette.
The fire destroyed at least two homes, damaged several others and caused the evacuation of nearly 100 residents.

“While there is no reason to believe this fire was intentionally set, we continue to urge the public to never throw cigarettes on the ground or out of a car window,” says Fire Prevention Captain Daryl Date. “And be sure that cigarettes are completely extinguished before disposing.”

“Our agricultural landscape here on Kaua'i can become highly susceptible to wildfires, especially during these dry, hot months,” adds Captain Date.

The fire had burned through roughly 50 acres of brush before it was extinguished, roughly three hours after it began.

Fire inspectors estimate the fire caused upwards of $950,000 in damages.

Cigarette smuggling costs government LE160 million

A recent study showed that the Egyptian government lost about LE160 million during the first half of this year due to cigarette smuggling.

The study, which was conducted by an international Marlboro cigarette company, said that smuggled cigarettes amounted to 2.1 percent of the total cigarette market in Egypt for the first half of 2011, compared to 0.01 percent for the same period the year before.

The study has attributed the increase to new taxes that the government levied on cigarettes after the revolution.

According to the study, 330 million to 660 million cigarettes are smuggled in the world every year. The range constitutes up to 12.6 percent of total consumption, and causes world governments to lose up to US$60 billion annually in unpaid taxes.

A New Type Of Cigarette Venture - RYO Jamaica Pursues Operators For Multi-Store Network

Jamaicans for decades have bought cigarettes by the stick and by the carton at corners shops, from streetside sellers, and a multiplicity of businesses that make money off a habit that is hard to kick.

What has been absent up to now is a dedicated retail channel focused solely on smokers, and selling cigarettes alone. That changed in July when the first U-Roll'em shop was opened in Kingston by a Jamaican couple resident in Florida.

It gets better. Customers get to hand-roll their own sticks - customise their own products - in an extension of the 'grabba' market, which offers the same options but in a more informal way. It's not unusual for some smokers, for example, to season their grabba packets with marijuana.

The two Jamaicans behind the cigarette retail shop venture, Damian and Susan McKenzie, have a more sophisticated operation than the grabba trade, however. The husband and wife team owns 51 per cent and 49 per cent of the business, respectively.

The McKenzies are principals in the Palm Beach, Florida-based Tobacco Central LLC, which has set a target of 29 Caribbean countries to roll out their network of RYO - roll your own - retail outlets stocked with tobacco filling-station machines under a distributorship arrangement with owners of the RYO technology, Ohio-based RYO Filling Station Machine LLC. The American company also supplies the tobacco through a network of international sources.

The McKenzies, who migrated from Jamaica two decades ago, say that they have been pursuing different ventures for 20 years - putting them in a group dubbed 'serial entrepreneurs' - and are also owners of Total Sign Solutions and CNC Inc in Palm Beach.

They set up their first U-Roll'em Jamaica store on July 2 at The Domes Plaza on Hagley Park Road in Kingston, operated by their local subsidiary RYO Jamaica Limited. The tobacco is supplied by RYO from international sources.

Bulgarian PM Vows to Eradicate Cigarette Smuggling

PM Borisov vowed to tackle the illegal trade during a visit to the Varna West Port in the Black Sea capital.

The PM's visit, which saw him accompanied by Vanyo Tanov, head of the country's customs agency, coincided with news that nine million contraband cigarettes had been confiscated on the same day at the same port.

The cigarettes, from the Palermo and Ibiza brands, were located by Varna Customs agents on a ship that was travelling under an Antigua and Barbuda flag from Poti in Georgia to Varna via Burgas.

The PM pointed out that his cabinet has achieved much greater results than previous governments in the fight against cigarette contraband, as evidenced by the fact that they have seized large quantities such contraband.

According to Borisov, customs agents are now trying to use scanners and other technical equipment in an attempt to limit the human factor, because in a resort city like Varna smuggled cigarettes are easy to sell for huge profits that could be used to bribe customs agents.

"The issue here is to find out who kept quiet about the smuggling and why; fire them and make them face legal charges," the PM warned, adding that he and Tanov were using "small tricks" to monitor cigarette contraband and were working in partnership with the EU, where the focus is precisely on such contraband.

"Losses from contraband Cosmos cigarettes in Germany and the UK amount to BGN 5 billion. I hope that by the end of the day one of the largest EU anti-smuggling operations will come to conclusion," Borisov stated.