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."