Cigarettes seized in Cork city

Over 300,000 cigarettes and about 10kgs of tobacco was discovered today during a customs operation in Co Cork.
The items, which have an estimated retail value of €130,000 were seized during a search of three houses in the north side of Cork city earlier today.
A commercial vehicle and saloon car were also seized during the operation.
Revenue officials estimate the loss to the exchequer from the cigarettes and tobacco would have been about €100,000.Investigations are ongoing.

Cigarettes stolen during burglary

About $600 worth of cigarettes were stolen during a Thanksgiving burglary at Valero, 848 N. Broadway.
Eight cartons of Marlboro and 40 packs of other cigarettes were stolen, along with cash, between 4:40 and 5:45 a.m. Thursday, according to a Salina Police Department report.
The loss, combined with damage to a glass door, amounted to about $900.

Smuggled cigarettes bound for NI

A man is being questioned after millions of smuggled cigarettes were seized in the Irish Republic.
Irish customs officials seized between five and six million cigarettes on the M1 near Dundalk, County Louth. It is believed they were destined for NI.
They were hidden in a container which arrived in Dublin Port from Barcelona. The seizure was made on Monday morning.
The Irish authorities said 1.6m euros would have been lost through the sale of the untaxed cigarettes.

Tobacco is the leading cause of death

I'd like to remind your readers that Thursday, Nov. 19 marks the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout a day that encourages smokers to quit and non-smokers not to start. Tobacco remains the leading cause of death nationwide, and accounts for one out of every three cancer deaths in California every year.
And to the ex-smokers in our community; congratulations on your success in living a tobacco-free life! You have greatly reduced your risk of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and lung disease not to mention reducing your community's exposure to the hazards of second-hand smoke.
If you know someone who smokes and is interested in quitting, Great American Smokeout is the perfect time to remind them that the American Cancer Society has developed resources such as cancer.org/smokeout and the toll-free number, 1-800-227-2345. Both are accessible 24/7 to help smokers manage a plan to quit. And if you're interested in ensuring that your community is smoke-free, get involved in American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) at acscan.org. In addition, the St. Helena Center for Health offers a residential Smoke-Free Life Program in a supportive, smoke-free environment.

Children hooked on illegal tobacco

Children are getting hooked on smoking through the sale of illegal cigarettes in "tab houses".
Trading Standards officials said 30% of young people admitted buying cheap and illicit tobacco - much of which has been smuggled into the country.
The cigarettes are sold from private homes in deprived areas with no age checks, creating a new generation of smokers struggling in the economic climate, it is claimed.
Richard Ferry, from Trading Standards North East, told the BBC: "About 30% of under 18s admit to buying cheap and illicit tobacco.
"It means they start smoking earlier and they can smoke more. The people who sell from tab houses don't care who they sell to."
The sorts of cigarettes being sold include duty-free cigarettes, which should be for personal use only, fake versions of well-known brands and "cheap whites" - cigarettes aimed specifically at the black market.
Tobacco smuggling is thought to cost the UK economy about £3 billion a year in lost tax revenue.
Meanwhile, customs officers have seized n estimated 120 million cigarettes smuggled into the Irish Republic.
It is understood the majority of the Palace and Chelsea brands were destined for the UK market.

Crushing virtual ciggies can reduce tobacco addiction

Washington, Oct 28 (ANI): A new study has shown that crushing cigarettes in a virtual reality environment reduces tobacco addiction.
In the study, researchers found that smokers who crushed computer-simulated cigarettes as part of a psychosocial treatment program in a virtual reality environment had significantly reduced nicotine dependence and higher rates of tobacco abstinence than smokers participating in the same program who grasped a computer-simulated ball.
Benoit Girard, MD, Vincent Turcotte, and Bruno Girard, MBA, from the GRAP Occupational Psychology Clinic (Quebec, Canada), and Stéphane Bouchard, PhD, from the University of Quebec in Gatineau, randomly assigned 91 smokers enrolled in a 12-week anti-smoking support program to one of two treatment groups.
In a computer-generated virtual reality environment, one group simulated crushing virtual cigarettes, while the other group grasped virtual balls during 4 weekly sessions.
The findings demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in nicotine addiction among the smokers in the cigarette-crushing group versus those in the ball-grasping group.
Also, at week 12 of the program, the smoking abstinence rate was significantly higher for the cigarette-crushing group (15 percent) compared to the ball-grasping group (2 percent).
Other notable findings include the following: smokers who crushed virtual cigarettes tended to stay in the treatment program longer than the ball-grasping group. At the 6-month follow-up, 39 percent of the cigarette crushers reported not smoking during the previous week, compared to 20 percent of the ball graspers.
The study has been described in the current issue of CyberPsychology and Behaviour, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (ANI)

Tobacco Law delayed again

Caymanian smokers can rest easy. The anti tobacco law is going to miss yet another deadline.
Required regulations will not be ready to meet the 30 October deadline to fully implement the Tobacco Law, making it the second delay since the law was passed one year ago.
Government missed a deadline of 31 May, which was set by the previous government, to coincide with World No Tobacco Day.
Just 11 days prior to the 31 May deadline a new Government was voted in and Mark Scotland took the helm as Health Minister.
Despite the fact that there was a 60day consultation period, a Chamber of Commerce luncheon and other forums seeking input on the Tobacco Law, Mr. Scotland said the regulations just aren’t ready.
“I have seen the draft of the regulations and it is all marked up with corrections or revisions,” said Mr. Scotland. “So it is a small delay, probably the end of November or December.”
Director of the Cancer Society Christine Sanders said another delay in implementing the Tobacco law is not good for Cayman.
“The delay means that more people will be put at risk for developing cancer as a result of second hand smoke exposure,” said Ms Sanders.
The only part of the Tobacco law that has been implemented is a ban on selling tobacco to minors, which came into effect on 1 May, coinciding with the start of Child Month in the Cayman Islands.
Even without legislation in place, many restaurants and bars have implemented non–smoking policies indoors with some establishments going completely smoke–free.
“That is the trend,” said Ms Sanders.
Once the regulations are in effect, the law will ban smoking in bars, restaurants and places of collective use.
But smoking outdoors will still be permitted at least 10 feet away from the entrance to buildings.
Cigar bars are exempted but they will be required to install smoke extractors or ventilators within 12 months of the regulations being implemented.
The delay in introducing the Tobacco Law comes when countries around the world and throughout the Caribbean have introduced smoking bans.
Bermuda began enforcing a smoking ban in October 2006. Puerto Rico went further in March 2007 extending the ban on smoking in confined places including private cars with children younger than 13 inside. The British Virgin Islands followed suit in mid–2007 with a ban on smoking in all confined places.
Cuba has banned smoking in most work places, cigarette machines have been removed and it has been illegal to sell tobacco products close to schools since February 2005.

Parolee charged in South Loop attack over cigarettes, again

A recent prison parolee -- convicted last year of beating up a couple who refused to give him a cigarette -- was charged again Wednesday after allegedly threatening a woman in the South Loop who refused to give him a smoke.
Derrick King, 47, is charged with a misdemeanor count of assault and was being held on a warrant for violation of probation, according to police News Affairs.King approached a 49-year-old woman about 3:20 a.m. near a store in the 500 block of West Roosevelt Road and asked her for a cigarette, police said. When she declined, King said, “Remember the couple who got beat up real bad for not giving a cigarette, that was me!” He then allegedly charged towards the woman, police said.
The woman was able to flag down Central District police officers who were patrolling the area and King was taken into custody, police said.
King was convicted last year of strong-armed robbery for an Aug. 25, 2008, attack of a couple in their 30s near a South Loop store. He and a woman, Joyce Burgess, confronted the pair and Burgess asked for a cigarette. The female victim, Jen Hall, said "go get a job," a police source said.
A fight ensued and King grabbed Hall, throwing her to the ground, beating her in the head and knocking out most of her upper teeth, according to police.
King, 47, formerly of the Pacific Garden Mission at 1458 S. Canal, and Burgess, 38, were charged with strong-armed robbery in the Aug. 25, 2008, attack, according to police, who said they stole a Blackberry. King was also charged with aggravated battery.
King, who was sentenced to three years in prison, was paroled on Tuesday, according to an Illinois Dept. of Corrections database.

A window on carefree days

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.