No more cigarettes means 10 more years for women

A massive new study about smoking from the University of Oxford in the U.K. has reported breathtaking results. Doctors and researchers found the nasty effects associated with cigarettes years ago, but this study focused on the harms of smoking as well as the benefits of quitting. Putting aside the knowledge society has about cigarettes already, the findings of this study could serve as yet another motivation for smokers to quit.

One of the largest studies ever done on the subject, Sir Richard Peto - a professor at the University of Oxford - and his colleagues recruited 1.3 million women between 1996 and 2001, all of whom were born around the 1940s and had been smoking regularly throughout their lives. The participants were all between the ages of 50 and 65, and they each filled out questionnaires about their lifestyles, medical status, and sociodemographic factors. The researchers did follow-ups and resurveyed the participants three and eight years later.

At the beginning of the study, 20 percent of the women were smokers, while 28 percent had stop smoking and 52 percent never smoked. 66,000 of the participants had passed away by 2011. The study showed that the smokers who continued three years into the study were three times more likely to pass away in comparison to non-smokers and women that had quit before middle age. According to the researchers, this means that two-thirds of the deaths of female smokers in their 50s, 60s, and 70s are related to smoking.

The researchers also noted that while the death risk in smokers is elevated by the amount smoked, light smokers (one to nine cigarettes per day) were still twice as likely to pass away as nonsmokers, reports Natural News.

Are electronic cigarettes actually bad for you?

A new study from Germany suggest that eCigarettes often thought to be a healthier alternative to tobacco ones may not be safe after all.  Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research WKI, in Braunschweig, conducted a study to find out whether e-cigarettes polluted the surrounding air. The results of the study pointed to discharged solid particles remaining in the surrounding air for a considerable time.

Compared to conventional cigarettes, which constantly emit smoke as the tobacco burns, the electronic equivalent only releases volatile substances when it is turned on. But that is not the only difference between the two stimulants, as the WKI researchers observed. ‘In the e-cigarette, vaporised substances create an aerosol of ultrafine particles which become even finer when inhaled into the lungs. These tiny nanodroplets disperse over time,’ said Dr Tobias Schripp, scientist at Fraunhofer WKI and study co-author.

‘Conversely, the combustion process discharges solid particles that can remain in the surrounding air for a considerable time,’ said Schripp. An e-cigarette comprises battery, atomizer, heating coil and a reservoir for the liquids used for producing vapour. The mechanism is activated either by pressing a button or by suction. Liquids come with or without nicotine, and also contain aromas and flavours like amaretto, almond, vanilla or apple. These liquids are heated up in the atomizer and vaporized at between 65 and 120 degrees Celsius. Propylene glycol is the most usual solvent; it produces the atomized mist that resembles smoke, according to a Fraunhofer statement, Health.India.com stated. An estimated two million people in Germany have already turned to the vapour cigarette.

Framingham State University aims to be tobacco-free by 2013

Following the lead of hundreds of other campuses across the country, Framingham State University plans to be tobacco-free by next year, according to school officials.

But the details of that campus-wide ban on cigarettes, chewing tobacco and similar products are still up in the air, as an ad hoc committee responsible for developing the policy introduces its preliminary draft to students and staff.

"There's still lots of things to work out," said Vice President of Academic Affairs Linda Vaden-Goad, who presented the latest plan, based on policies at other colleges and universities, to students at a campus meeting on Monday.

Some of the concerns raised by the dozen or so students who attended that forum include the safety of smokers who would be forced to indulge their habit off-campus; how the policy would be enforced; and whether a campus-wide ban encroaches upon the civil rights of those who study and work at the university.
"I don't want a tobacco-free campus. We shouldn't be enforcing our moral values on other people," said freshman Michael Reda, who was critical of the tentative plan to prohibit use of smokeless tobacco products in particular.

Reda added it seemed "hypocritical" of the school to ban those in the name of health when it also sells caffeine-loaded energy drinks.

In response to other criticisms that the draft policy goes too far in eradicating tobacco from campus - even cigarette company apparel would be off-limits - Vaden-Goad said the committee purposely made the document broad so students and staff "could see what everybody across the country is doing," according to MetroWest Daily News.

Research looks at smoking addition among teens

Adolescents as young as 12 do smoke, and researchers have found that the sooner they do so upon waking in the morning, the more addicted they may be.

Branstetter — whose research focuses on youth tobacco use; tobacco cessation; and the influence of family, peers and social context in adolescent behavior teamed up with Joshua Muscat, professor of public health sciences at Penn State, to examine data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The team narrowed the survey participants down to 220 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 who were regular smokers. The researchers’ goal was to examine the relationship between time to first cigarette, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and blood levels of continine, a metabolite of nicotine.

The team found that the time to first cigarette was significantly correlated with several smoking behaviors, including the number of cigarettes smoked per day, the time since the last cigarette and having a family member who smokes at home, informs Centre Daily News.

“Most importantly, we found that a shorter time between waking and having the first cigarette of the day is a strong indicator of nicotine uptake, as defined by serum continine levels, in adolescents,” said Branstetter. “In other words, adolescents who smoke sooner after waking up in the morning tend to inhale more deeply and more thoroughly, which is why they have higher levels of continine in their blood. And these kids who take in more nicotine per cigarette may be more dependent on nicotine — regardless of the number of cigarettes they smoke per day.”

According to the researchers, compared with adults, adolescent smokers tend to be lighter smokers overall, are less likely to inhale when they smoke and are less likely to smoke when they are ill. Nevertheless, even adolescent smokers who smoke less than five cigarettes a day or who are nondaily smokers experience dependence and withdrawal symptoms at very high rates.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/11/25/3414224/research-looks-at-smoking-addition.html#storylink=cpy

Smoking is smoking

In an era of increasing awareness about the negative health effects of tobacco, it seems to me that we may be missing the boat on tobacco prevention in ways other than cigarette smoking and chew tobacco. With the help of Amendment 35 funding, Colorado has achieved tremendous success in the prevention of tobacco in our state in regard to cigarette smoking and tobacco use. From 2001 to 2008, Coloradans consumed 66.3 million fewer packs of cigarettes, Colorado’s high school smoking rate has dropped to 11.9 percent — well below the US Dept. of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2010 goal of 16 percent — 85 percent of Colorado’s homes have smoke-free home rules and the Colorado Quitline has enrolled 100,000 tobacco users in the past seven years.

Locally, we are seeing achievements being made that will help our community be healthier in regard to tobacco use. However, tobacco in any form is not a healthy product and much of the marketing from tobacco companies and retailers is targeted toward youth ensuring an ongoing consumer base. Once addicted, they may continue to purchase and use tobacco for a lifetime. Smokeless tobacco may not impose secondhand smoke on others, but it carries many of the same risks to the user as cigarettes.

As a community, our best defense and method of prevention is awareness and education for ourselves and especially our youth. Did you know that there are many additional tobacco products available in our local marketplace? These products are “sold cold,” “spitless,” flavored in “yummy” flavors and the packages are very appealing to males and females alike. The common component to all of these products is that they contain nicotine, are highly addictive, and can kill you if used as directed.

As for smoking, whether it be cigarettes, cigars, natural cigarettes or hookah, there is no safe form of smoking. Even all natural, herbal cigarettes produce harmful toxins when they burn and emit smoke. According to the CDC, during a one-hour hookah session, a hookah smoker may inhale 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette. The American Lung Association has released a statement that “smoking hookah is not a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.” Think of smoking as smoking, no matter what the form. And secondhand or even third-hand smoke exposures are proven environmental health hazards.

As a community health educator and registered nurse, I work with individuals who struggle to end their addiction to nicotine and see the damage that has been caused. Our youth have the opportunity to never start. If they never start, they never will have to quit. What an awesome gift we will be giving our children, our future generations. Tobacco is not a benign product in any form. As a community, we can help undo the damage that can be caused by tobacco. Early education to our youth and awareness for us all can change and improve all of our lives.

No Booze, Cigarettes, or Fancy Cars for Welfare Recipients -- if State Representative Frank Antenori Has Anything to Say About it

Welfare recipients may want to hurry up and buy that Bentley they've been saving up for because -- if state Representative Frank Antenori has his way -- there soon will be restrictions on how much money people receiving government assistance can spend on cars and other items.
Antenori introduced HB 2770, which would prohibit welfare recipients from not only using their money to purchase expensive cars but from "consuming or purchasing alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, or illegal drugs."
Awesome. Now we can expect 40-year-old welfare recipients to be hanging out outside of gas stations playing "hey mister" to get a pack of Newports.
The bill would limit the amount of money a welfare recipient could spend on a car to $5,000, as well as limit him or her to only subscribing to basic cable and cell phone services (but only if the cell phone is the recipient's only phone).
Welfare getters may want to hurry up and buy that 72-inch plasma TV, too. If the bill becomes law, folks on government assistance would only be allowed to spend $300 on a boob tube.
If someone needs the government's help to provide the basics like food and clothing, do we really have to worry about them spending gobs of government loot (they are only doled out pittances in this state, for Christ's sake) on fancy cars and TVs. Cigarettes and booze maybe (we would sure want to stay as drunk as possible if we were on welfare). And, Representative Antenori, meth's already illegal to purchase.
We called Antenori to see how the hell the government is supposed to enforce this proposed law, but he hasn't gotten back to us.
Oh, we forgot to say what political party Antenori's in. Nevermind, it's obvious.

On top of old smokey

Stroll with me, if you will, down memory lane all the way back to December of 1996 when I was nearly eighteen and feeling quite rebellious. You see, I'd spent years being a goody-two shoes, church-going teenager, and I was ready to break the shackles and live it up.
My parents had friends visiting from the UK, and one of them had bought a carton of cigarettes - Benson and Hedges Special Filter - and in the folly of my youth I decided that smoking would be a great way to make me appear cooler than I actually was. So I stole a packet from the carton and lit my very first smoke.
Twelve years later, I was still puffing away - in fact by that stage I was close to a pack-a-day smoker. I loved smoking, I was good at it, and it pretty much ruled my life. Smoking was my best buddy... oh the laughs we would have!
Then, a year ago today I smoked my last cigarette.
I woke up on the morning on January 18, 2009, and decided that the last cigarette in the packet would be my last cigarette full stop. And it was.
I'd finally had enough of stinking like ciggies, and feeling crap when I woke up. I didn't like the idea that smoking had such control over me, and of course I was frightened of the long-term effects on my health.
Looking back on the entry I wrote at the time of giving up it's obvious I wasn't entirely confident I'd be able to see this quitting thing through, so sitting here a year later, still smoke-free, makes me feel quite proud that I've managed to stay off the ciggies.
Don't worry, I'm not going to get on my high horse about smoking - there's not much worse than an ex-smoker suddenly getting all self-righteous and up in the grills of their friends who still smoke. Sure, I'm pleased I quit, but if you want to carry on smoking then go for it. I might even be a wee bit jealous of you.
Really, I just wanted to take a moment to stop and smell the roses (now that I can) and say "Woo! Look at me! I managed to quit smoking and it's been a whole year since my last cigarette."
Quitting is hard - and anyone who has never smoked really cannot understand what it's like to be addicted and try to break that habit. If you are thinking of quitting, I have just this one piece of advice for you. Wait until you're ready. If you quit because you feel like you should, rather than because you want to, you'll pick up another cigarette and then feel like a failure. You'll know when the time is right, and no one else can make that decision for you.
Have you ever smoked and managed to quit? If so, do you have any words of advice or encouragement for those who are considering giving up? What about those of you who don't smoke - what do you make of friends and family who do?

Deputy’s observation leads to 2 arrests in burglary

Two Elkmont brothers have been arrested in connection with a burglary and cigarette theft at a Salem convenience store, an official said.
Joel Dwight Gooch Jr., 24, and Joshua Matthew Gooch, 21, both of 22574 Easter Ferry Road, were arrested Saturday on one count each of third-degree burglary, said Limestone County Sheriff’s Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt.
They are accused of breaking the glass in the front door of Discount Food Mart in the Salem community on Saturday morning and stealing assorted cartons of cigarettes of undetermined value, McNatt said.
“A video camera caught them and even their truck,” McNatt said.
The video images were sent to other law-enforcement agencies along with a description of the vehicle.
While on patrol that same morning, Deputy Tom Gilbert saw a truck fitting the description on Poplar Point Road.
“He was very observant in noticing the vehicle,” McNatt said.
Gilbert called Sheriff Mike Blakely, and together the two recovered some of the cigarettes at a home on Easter Ferry Road that belonged to the brothers’ relatives, McNatt said. The two recovered most of the cigarettes, as well as the suspects, on Poplar Point Road, he said.
Each remained in the Limestone County Jail in lieu of posting $2,500 bail.

Cloverdale fuming over tax-free tobacco shop

A new tobacco shop in Cloverdale is prompting complaints that its American Indian owners enjoy an unfair advantage by not charging sales tax.
When Native Tobacco 101 opened this month, it not only brought cheap cigarettes to Cloverdale, it also touched on a national controversy over Indian smoke shops and the taxes they sometimes avoid.
The shop manager confirmed he does not charge any state or other taxes, such as the 7.75 percent sales tax his competitors are required to levy.
“It seems to me an unfair business practice,” said Cloverdale Mayor Carol Russell, who worries about the effect the new business may have on several “mom and pop” stores that sell tobacco.
“What is it about tobacco that allows one group not to pay taxes and another group to pay?” she said. “It puts other retailers at a disadvantage.”
Chuck Gerken, manager of Native Tobacco 101, said the owners are working with a Native American company licensed to use the land and operate the tobacco business, but he declined to provide more detail.
Most of the tobacco he sells is made by Indians on Native American lands in the states of Washington and New York, he said.
A pack of Smoking Joes, for example, advertised at $2.75, “is $2.75 out the door,” he said, with no additional taxes.
“People are very happy,” Gerken said. “For those who elected to smoke or chew (tobacco) in today’s times, we make it affordable.”But his competitors are not pleased.
“We work hard and pay part of sales taxes they don’t have to. That’s not fair,” said Ravi Singh, owner of Quick Pick Liquors, on the other side of the freeway.
As his store, a pack of cigarettes goes for $3.95, plus 7.75 percent sales tax, bringing the total to $4.26.
A state tax official said tribes that sell cigarettes on Indian land to non-reservation members are required to collect a “use tax” equal to a sales tax.
But experts say the state can’t force tribes to collect it and the responsibility technically lies with the customer to pay the tax.
“It’s difficult to enforce because Indian reservations operate under different rules than other retailers,” said Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the state Board of Equalization.
The rules differ from state to state, and the stakes can be high.
In New York, officials have pending lawsuits against tribes to force them to pay taxes the state says are lost to bootleg sales of cigarettes, tobacco bought on reservations or through the Internet. The lost revenue may have been as high as $576 million in 2004 alone, according to New York.
In Cloverdale, Native Tobacco 101 is on a frontage road next to Highway 101 at the south end of town. It sells mostly Native American cigarettes, not premium national brands.
The plain-looking building and its banner advertising “discounted cigarettes and tobacco products,” is clearly visible from Highway 101.
The business is on a remnant of the former Cloverdale Rancheria owned by the survivors of John Santana, a Pomo elder and postmaster who was allotted the land more than 40 years agoafter the rancheria was dissolved.
Some residents thought the tobacco store opening signaled the impending construction of a proposed Indian casino, but that is likely years away, assuming federal and state approvals are obtained.
The restored Cloverdale Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, who are proposing the casino, have distanced themselves from the smoke shop. Tribal leaders said they have no connection with it and the tobacco business is not tied to the casino project planned on nearby property.
In a letter published in the Cloverdale Reveille newspaper, the tribal council said the smoke shop is not on land belonging to the tribe.
But the parcel is still held in federal trust as Indian land belonging to Santana’s heirs, which exempts it from local zoning regulations and clouds the issue of sales taxes collection.
Even though Native Tobacco 101 doesn’t offer major cigarette brands, it does have bulk and chew tobacco that other local stores sell, such as Copenhagen and Skoal.
A 1.2-ounce tin of Copenhagen, for example, sells for $3.75 — with no taxes — at Native Tobacco 101.
But at Quick Pick Liquors, it goes for $3.95, plus 7.75 percent tax, bringing the total to $4.26.
Holding up a small tin of Copenhagen, Singh said, “I used to sell a lot of these guys — 50 rolls a week. Now, not even 10.”
He said his sales have dropped off dramatically because he can’t compete with the Native American business.
Les Marston, a Ukiah attorney who litigated a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case in the mid-1980s involving tobacco sales by a California tribe, said the court made it clear tribes have an obligation to collect and remit state tax on the sale of cigarettes to non-tribal members.
But he said when it comes to tribes around the country, federal law requires an examination of state law as to who has the obligation to pay the tax — the buyer or the seller.
“Every state is different,” he said.
Marston said he represents a half-dozen tribes in California that sell tobacco, typically as part of their casino operation.
“I do know all the tribes I represent are collecting and remitting state tax on cigarettes,” he said.
But if Indian tobacco shops don’t send in the tax, it’s not simple for the state to enforce collection.
Marston said the state can’t sue the tribe nor file a lien on real or personal property on the reservation, seize off-reservation bank accounts or come onto the reservation for judicial or administrative enforcement.
Basically, the responsibility in California falls on the consumer to pay the tax. It’s similar to making a purchase on the Internet, in which consumers are not charged sales tax but are supposed to remit the equivalent tax to the state.
But Cloverdale Mayor Russell, worries that when an Indian cigarette retailer doesn’t collect the tax, the health programs that rely on the revenue will suffer.
Other taxpayers will “eventually have to take care of people who are ill because they smoke cigarettes,” she said.

High school tougher on tobacco than sex

Two Clinton High School students who engaged in oral sex in school were suspended until Friday, while a student caught with tobacco for a third time was expelled for a year.
The differing punishments raised eyebrows and sparked discussion among Anderson County school board members during their latest meeting.
"There's certain behavior that there's no question, it's wrong," member Dail Cantrell said of the oral sex incident. "You have to send a message."
"I understand we do not have a policy on oral sex and we do have one on tobacco," board chairman Dr. John Burrell said Tuesday.
Still, he said, the punishment meted out to the 16-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy for the sexual episode "should have been a lot stronger than a two-week suspension," Burrell said.
A video surveillance camera spotted the two students entering a restroom, and they later admitted to having the sexual encounter there, officials said.
The case illustrates the challenges school officials face in imposing suitable punishments, Director Larry Foster said.
In the tobacco case, there's a state law against underage possession, he said.
Foster said the case in question was a third-offense tobacco violation and that the school system's code of student conduct recommends expulsion.
Guidelines about in-school sexual activities are only broadly mentioned as "immoral, disreputable or disruptive conduct" in the conduct code.
Disciplinary measures for those cases span the gamut from verbal reprimands to expulsion, according to the code.
And punishments have varied widely, said Lisa Fair, the school system's deputy director of student services.
In October, she said, a 13-year-old girl performed oral sex on a 16-year-old boy while they were on a school bus and other students were present.
Those students were expelled, and they are now in the system's alternative school for children with disciplinary issues called the Learn Center, Fair said.
Even if students are expelled, "you have to continue providing services," former director V.L. Stonecipher said Tuesday.
School board members each month receive a report that lists disciplinary cases - with students only identified by age and school - on various offenses and the punishments meted out.
Offenses for November included possession of knives and box cutters, fighting, drug possession and use, and repeatedly cutting classes.
Burrell, during the latest board meeting, expressed dismay at some of the penalties that were handed out.
"It does not seem like very much of a punishment to me for some of these things," he said.
"Somebody's got to put their foot down," Cantrell said.
He said there are more disciplinary problems at Clinton High than at Anderson County High, the system's other high school.
Foster said principals impose punishments on a case-by-case basis, but students and their parents can appeal those penalties to the school system's Disciplinary Hearing Authority. That group of eight administrators conducts appeal hearings and has the power to modify punishments, he said. Any further appeal proceeding goes to him, Foster said.
While board members questioned the severity of various punishments, no action was taken during their Dec. 10 session.
"I think we need to get more strict somewhere down the road," Burrell said Tuesday.

"Cigarettes kill," but don't tell smokers

Study shows that warnings related to self-esteem were more effective than those indicating "cigarettes kill" in reducing smoking, according to media reports quoting the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology Monday.
Psychologists from the U.S., Switzerland and Germany conducted a small study and drew the conclusion that warnings such as "smoking makes you unattractive" or "smoking brings you and the people around you severe damage" do a better job in talking people out of their habit.
This worked especially well when people smoked to boost their self-esteem, such as young people who learned to smoke to become popular or fit in with their peers, the psychologists figured out.
"To succeed with anti-smoking messages on cigarette packs one has to take into account that considering their death may make people smoke," the study said.
A total of 39 psychology students, smokers aged between 17 and 41, participated in the study.
"On the one hand, death-related warnings were not effective and even ironically caused more positive smoking attitudes among smokers who based their self-esteem on smoking," the study said.
"On the other hand, warning messages that were unrelated to death effectively reduced smoking attitudes" among those who smoke for self-esteem.

Virginia, the US state built on tobacco, goes smoke-free

The US state of Virginia is poised to ban smoking in most restaurants and bars as of midnight on Tuesday, turning the page on 400 years of history that is tightly tied to tobacco.
"December 1st is an historic day in that we are enacting a smoking ban across the Commonwealth, which is a tobacco state," Gary Hagy, director of the Virginia Department of Health's division of food and environmental services, told AFP.
Outgoing Governor Tim Kaine has called on state residents to dine out on Tuesday, "when the daily special will be smoke-free air," said Hagy.
"A lot of people are very excited. They've been wanting to go non-smoking but kind of needed a little reason to go non-smoking and this has provided that for them," said Hagy.
But Jimmy Cirrito, who runs a bar in Herndon, Virginia, near Washington, was less than happy with the new law.
"It's not really a ban because the Virginia government said if there's a separate room with ventilation and a door, people can smoke there. So there are bars all around me where people can still go and smoke. But I can't do anything to my bar -- it's in a 100-year-old building," Cirrito told AFP.
"And it's not as if I'm letting people smoke marijuana or do things that are illegal. I'm allowing them to smoke a cigarette that they bought in a machine in my bar or in the 7-Eleven across the street," Cirrito, a life-long non-smoker, said.
Virginia joins 27 other states and the US capital, Washington DC, in enacting legislation prohibiting smoking in restaurants.
But for Virginia, banning smoking carries great significance because the history of the state -- or commonwealth as it is called -- is inextricably linked to tobacco.
English settler John Rolfe -- who went on to marry Pocahontas, the native American princess -- planted tobacco in the settlement of Jamestown in 1612.
Two years later, the first shipment of Virginia tobacco was sold in London, and by 1639, tobacco had become the American colonies' chief export.

Third of minors buying cigarettes from shops and pubs

The Office of Tobacco Control has said there is a long way to go to ensure cigarettes are not getting into the hands of minors.
It's latest research shows around a third of minors are still buying cigarettes in shops and from vending machines in pubs.
A third of pubs and almost a third of shopkeepers are allowing cigarettes to be sold to minors, according to the latest survey from the Office of Tobacco Control.
It also shows the ban on point-of-sale advertising, introduced in July, is working well.
The survey also showed that in almost all cases where ID was asked for cigarettes were not sold.

Under-aged decoy buys cigarettes

During an undercover compliance check, three businesses sold cigarettes to under-aged shoppers on Friday, Oct. 30, according to Det. Lt. Scott Fischer of the village of Holly Police Department. This was Phase II of the police department’s 2009 Youth Sentinel Program.
Phase II was completed when undercover officers conducted compliance checks of 11 local businesses who sell tobacco products. A 17-year-old decoy was sent into the businesses and attempted to purchase a pack of cigarettes. Eight of the businesses examined the decoy’s identification and refused the sale.
Fischer said three businesses sold the decoy cigarettes and those clerks were issued a state law citation. The citations are a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.
In June, Phase I was completed when a 19-year-old decoy was sent into liquor license holding establishments and attempted to purchase alcoholic beverages. Two of the businesses sold alcohol to the decoy. The employees responsible were issued citations and the businesses were petitioned to the Michigan Liquor Control ommission.
This year’s Youth Sentinel program began in April, when officers visited all liquor license holding establishments and businesses that sell tobacco products within the village of Holly, educating them in the importance of not selling those products to minors.
Fischer said those businesses were told during the visits that police officers would be conducting undercover compliance checks utilizing under-aged decoys in the immediate future.

Addie fancies puffing on cigars after concerts

Some people choose going to see a movie or shopping at the mall as stress-relief therapy. Composer-slash-conductor Addie M.S. opts for something a little different: smoking cigars.
When his days get too tiring, lighting up a cigar does the trick in perking him up a bit.
“I indulge myself in smoking cigars after finishing a concert,” says the 15-year stogie veteran.
“It’s like a carrot dangling in front of my head to remind me that after the hard work, I’ll get to do what I want.”
At first, clove cigarettes were his weapon of choice. But after countless burn holes in his shirts, Addie chose another option.
“I had a friend laugh at me when he saw holes in my conductor’s costume, and then he offered me a cigar,” says the 50-year-old.
“At first it tasted weird. But then I got carried away with the different sensation cigars bring.”

Beckman hopes reform fees go up in smoke

Have healthcare companies sunk as far as controversial tobacco companies in the public eye? One medical equipment maker thinks so.
Makers of medical tests, implants and other devices face anywhere from $2 billion-a-year in industry-wide taxes in the House of Representatives’ health reform bill passed on Saturday to $4 billion-a-year under a Senate version.
The Senate measure’s tax is not deductible and would be applied much like the tobacco settlement from cigarette makers years ago, said Beckman Coulter CEO Scott Garrett.
“That hurts, that stings to be treated like the tobacco industry,” he told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.
It could hurt customers — hospitals, patients and others — too. Companies have said they would have pass along any higher costs from the tax directly onto users.
Garrett, whose company makes clinical diagnostic tests as well as other research instruments, said he was “rooting for the House version,” which is tax deductible and phases in the charges starting in 2013.

Ice cream man in cigarette scam

A man from Cumbria has admitted selling counterfeit cigarettes to a child from his ice cream van.
Anthony Wharton, 61, of Marsden Street, Barrow was caught by trading standards officers who found him selling cigarettes to a 16-year-old.
He pleaded guilty at Furness and District Magistrates Court to three charges of selling counterfeit cigarettes. He also admitted one count of selling cigarettes to a minor.
Wharton admitted he would often sell cigarettes to children whom he thought looked old enough, but he failed to ask for proof of age.
After a raid at his home on 14 October 1,360 counterfeit cigarettes were found.
Wharton must pay court costs of £350 and surrender all counterfeit cigarettes. He was also ordered to complete 60 hours unpaid community work.

Seneca educates lawmakers on treaty rights, tobacco economy

NEW YORK – State lawmakers at a public hearing heard claims of “lost” tax revenues ranging from tens of millions to billions of dollars from untaxed cigarette sales on Indian reservations.
While none of the witnesses backed up their claims with substantive evidence, the Seneca Nation of Indians presented officials with a three-inch thick document on its treaty rights, legal history, and an economic study by a Harvard economist that pinpointed how – and how much – the nation’s tobacco-based economy benefits the state.
The hearing, which was chaired by Sen. Craig Johnson, D-N.Y., was an all day – and sometimes heated – event at Manhattan Community College Oct. 27. The aim was to investigate why the state has failed in its attempts to collect cigarette taxes from reservation cigarette sales to non-Natives.
J.C. Seneca, a Seneca Nation tribal councilor, testifying on behalf of the nation, addressed that question at the beginning of his testimony.
“The answer to that question, put simply, is that your government has no authority to do so, that the United States government has promised the Seneca Nation that your taxes would not apply to our territory, and, perhaps most importantly, you cannot force the Nation and the Seneca people to be the state’s tax collectors,” Seneca said.
The hearing was the latest battle in a cigarette tax war that has ebbed and flowed through two decades, characterized by lawsuits and a “forbearance policy” in which the state claims entitlement to collect taxes from cigarettes sold to non-Indians on Indian land, but declines to do so.
The hearing comes on the heels of a letter Gov. David Paterson wrote to federal prosecutors, asking for a “threat assessment” on the potential for violence if the state tries again to collect the taxes.
More than 100 citizens from Seneca and other Indian nations across the state attended, responding freely to the witnesses’ testimony with cheers, applause or rebukes.
Seneca and Robert Porter, the nation’s general counsel, said the plain language meaning of the nation’s 1842 Treaty of Buffalo – which says, in part, that the U.S. “will protect such lands of the Seneca Indians, within the State of New York, as may from time to time remain in their possession from all taxes, and assessments for roads, highways, or any other purpose.”
Johnson suggested the treaty language could mean the state is only prohibited from assessing real estate taxes. He asked why the nation has never taken the issue to court.
“It seems to me that would put an end once and for all to the question of whether or not New York state can collect sales tax on cigarette sales to non-Native Americans,” he said.
“We wouldn’t trust the court to rule in our favor,” Seneca said, adding that the nation determines the meaning of its treaties, not the courts.
Porter noted that the nation’s gaming compact does not concede jurisdiction to courts, but instead stipulates an arbitration process in the case of unresolved conflicts.
The notion that the nation would trust the state’s courts to resolve a dispute is just as unlikely as the state trusting the nation’s courts to resolve a dispute, Porter said.
“We’re dealing here with international law; we’re dealing with a treaty to which you are not even a party. You are simply obligated under your law to adhere to those treaties. We need to go to the United Nations to achieve the proper degree of involvement in our internal disputes. If that is the direction you’re going in, we’ll gladly invoke that as well as we have with the president of the United States.”
Sen. Martin Golden tried to persuade Seneca that it would only be “fair” to share the nation’s “taxes” with New York tax payers.
“If you agree that most of this (the sale of untaxed cigarettes) is going on across the borders you should have no problem in allowing state regulators to be part of the Seneca Nation and other nations to monitor (your sales). … We want fairness, you want fairness. Let’s get together so those dollars that are part of Indian nations are equally shared with the tax payers, especially when it comes to those non-tribal members that are purchasing 49 cartons of cigarettes,” Golden said.
Seneca replied that a taxation agreement has already been made – the Treaty of 1842.
Golden insisted that the state needs to “collect those taxes “before it falls into greater debt” – a theme reiterated by several senators.
Sen. George Maziarz said he wants to “dissociate” himself from Golden and comments by other lawmakers who said Indians take social services from the state, but give nothing back.
“I’m probably the only one who has grown up and lived and currently lives next to a Native American community. We all went to public schools, they went to the Indian school and they were not equal, I can tell you. The roads on the rez were always the last to be paved. Health care was almost nonexistent.”
Sen. Michael Nozzolio raised the issue of Paterson’s “threat assessment” letter and told Seneca he hoped the nation “would not condone violence.”
“Indian people struggle every day to fight for what we have and we’re going to continue to fight. When violence happened in the past, it was precipitated by the state. Seneca people weren’t armed. We didn’t have guns. We didn’t have clubs. We didn’t invade anybody’s territory,” Seneca said.
Sen. Eric Adams stood up for the nation’s right to defend itself.
There was no consensus on the estimated “lost taxes.”
William Comiskey, the tax and finance department’s deputy commissioner, said losses could be as much as $225 million annually, “assuming full compliance.”
But full compliance can’t be assumed because it’s impossible to calculate the number of untaxed cigarettes distributed through non-state licensed sources, he said.
Stephen Rosenthal described himself as “the largest distributor of tobacco and cigarettes in New York” until untaxed cigarette sales drove him out of business. He claimed with no evidence that the state’s loss is $1.6 billion.
Seneca pointed out that the nation is one of the largest employers in western New York, providing jobs with benefits for more than 6,300 mostly non-Native people.
Harvard economist Jonathan Taylor’s study detailed how every $1 of gross profits accrued to the nation’s tobacco businesses provides the state economy with $1.67. In 2007 alone, the nation’s combined tobacco and gas businesses generated an estimated $313 million and spun off nearly $200 million into the economy. The nation’s economic activities have contributed more than $1.1 billion to the statewide economy over the last decade, he said.
So even if the nation is not subject to taxation, the ripple effect of its economy benefits the state, Seneca said.
The committee will review all the testimonies and additional material that may be submitted and issue a report by the end of the year or early next year.

Tobacco Co. Wins New Trial on $5M Punitives

(CN) - A tobacco company stands to further reduce a $5 million punitive damage award to the family of a man who smoked from age 13 until he died of lung cancer at 57. A New York appellate division ordered a new trial on damages, saying the jury had been given faulty instructions.
Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co. conceded that Harry Frankson smoked a pack of its Lucky Strikes cigarettes each day for 40 years.
The jury ruled that Brown fraudulently concealed the health risks of smoking and awarded $20 million in punitive damages. The trial judge reduced that total to $5 million.
On appeal, the 2nd Appellate Division in Brooklyn said the jury wasn't properly instructed that it could not punish Brown for damages to any smokers other than Frankson, as the plaintiff's attorney mentioned "tens of thousands of deaths" in his summation.
"Absent a proper limiting instruction," Justice Eng wrote, "the jury could have mistakenly understood the plaintiff's argument that the defendants' conduct resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people to justify taking those people's deaths into account in calculating the amount of damages warranted to punish the defendants' reprehensible conduct."
Eng remanded the case for a new trial on the issue of punitive damages.

Earnings Preview: Lorillard Inc.

RICHMOND, Va. — Tobacco maker Lorillard Inc. reports its third-quarter results on Monday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
OVERVIEW: The oldest continuously operating U.S. tobacco company and maker of Newport menthol cigarettes, based in Greensboro, N.C., said in July that it was selling more cigarettes even after it raised prices and a federal tax increase went into effect April 1.
Cigarette volumes at Lorillard, whose brands also include Kent, True, Maverick, Old Gold and Max, increased 2.1 percent for the second quarter, when the company estimated volumes fell 4.1 percent across the industry.
It is the fourth major tobacco company to report on its earnings this month. Altria Group Inc. — owner of the nation's biggest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, which makes Marlboros — said cost-cutting and higher cigar sales helped its third-quarter profit rise 1.7 percent, even though it sold fewer cigarettes. Altria said its overall cigarette volume fell 12 percent for the quarter, and it estimated a 10 percent drop industrywide.
Reynolds American Inc. — the second-biggest cigarette seller in the U.S. and maker of Camel and Pall Mall — recorded 72 percent higher profit than in last year's third quarter, when restructuring costs and the falling value of its trademarks dampened its earnings. It said its estimated 11 percent drop in volume was better than the industry's decline, which it pegged at 12.6 percent.
Lorillard joined Reynolds and several smaller tobacco companies in suing the U. S. Food and Drug Administration over statements it has made under the new authority it won in June to regulate the tobacco industry. A federal judge in Kentucky is considering the case.
BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial on average expect Lorillard to post a profit of $1.52 per share on revenue of $1.32 billion. In the third quarter a year earlier, the company earned $1.38 per share on revenue of $1.12 billion.
ANALYST TAKE: Analysts hope the third quarter sheds light on cigarette volumes for the year as the industry recovers from turbulence surrounding the federal tax increase.
Credit Suisse analyst Thilo Wrede told investors Oct. 13 that despite volume declines he expects Newport to keep gaining market share and he said Lorillard's Maverick brand would post double-digit volume gains.
In a separate note Sept. 21, Wrede said Lorillard is the best U.S. tobacco company.
"Lorillard continues to have the best margins, volume growth outlook and brand equity," Wrede wrote, adding that Maverick is drawing budget-conscious smokers.
WHAT'S AHEAD: The tobacco industry is anticipating more fallout from the FDA's new regulatory authority. Although a ban on flavored cigarettes went into effect last month, the FDA has not clarified how it will treat menthol cigarettes like Lorillard's popular Newport brand. And both Altria and Reynolds American hope to take some of Lorillard's share of the menthol market.
Wall Street will be looking at how further smoking bans, tax increases and regulation could affect cigarette volumes and profitability.
STOCK PERFORMANCE: During the quarter that ended Sept. 30, shares of Lorillard rose about 7.2 percent to $74.30. Over the previous 52 weeks, the stock traded between $52.50 and $79.02.