Premium Cigar Store Owners Unite to Fight Proposed St. Louis County Smoking Ban Vote..

July 27, 2009 - The State of Missouri is kind of backward when it comes to protecting its people from the adverse effects of tobacco use. Missouri has NO smoking ban and has resisted any increase in the cigarette tax last increased in 1993. The tax on a pack of cigarettes stands at 17 cents the second lowest in the nation and second lowest behind only South Carolina at seven cents a pack. Restaurant and bar lobbyists have blocked any statewide smoking bans.

Now we [hear] a countywide smoking ban may be on the November ballot if some St. Louis County council members have their way, over the objections of premium cigar store owners, members of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR).

"We want to go on record as being against this proposed ban and any legislated smoking ban, for that matter. Government should stay out of private business decisions like this. If a business owner decides to prevent smoking on the premises, that's fine. It's his individual right to do so. If government gets involved, pretty soon you'll have bureaucrats running whole industries like banking and finance, automobile, energy and healthcare," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR.

St. Louis County council members are expected to continue discussing the issue at their meeting on Tuesday, July 28. Council member Barbara Fraser has proposed putting the issue to a referendum. McCalla makes the point that minorities have rights and smokers are a minority.

"The only thing a smoking ban would do is lead the way in increased unemployment, failed businesses and deprivation of individual rights," said McCalla.

Don't listen to this rhetoric - just look around at how many cities, counties and states have gone smoke free and have had positive results. For example: In Pueblo, Colorado a smoking ban caused heart attacks to drop by more than 40 percent. Mayo Clinic Dr. Paul Scanlon who specializes in lung diseases related to smoking says smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS, passive, side stream, involuntary) increase your risk of many illnesses including lung cancer, emphysema and heart attack. Why don't the educators at Washington University or Saint Louis University step forward and tell the people about the dangers of involuntary smoking??

Reference: Premium Cigar Store Owners Unite to Fight Proposed St. Louis County Smoking Ban Vote, Tony Tortorici 678/697-3069, prweb.com, 7/26/2009.

Related news briefs: Missouri - some cities becoming smoke free but NOT the state..; West Saint (St.) Louis County - NO Smoking - firefighters or EMS personnel..; More evidence - Casino workers face greater chance of disease..; Kansas City, Missouri - court upholds smoking ban...

Read more...

Galveston, TX - comprehensive smoking ban adopted - takes effect January 1, 2010..

July 27, 2009 - The Galveston (Texas) City Council adopted a comprehensive smoking ban Thursday, July 23rd forbidding people from lighting up in bars, restaurants, private clubs and tobacco stores. Council members Karen Mahoney, Elizabeth Beeton and Tarris Woods joined Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, who championed the ban, in voting for the ordinance. Council members Danny Weber and Susan Fennewald voted against it. Councilwoman Linda Colbert was absent.

The ban will take effect Jan. 1, 2010.

The adopted ordinance is more restrictive than the regulations the council previously discussed, a compromise that guaranteed its passage. Mahoney, Beeton and Thomas agreed to approve the ban with an exception for tobacco stores, but Woods said he could only give his support if the measure was universally applied. To make sure the ban passed, the other three agreed.

Before - In February 2006 the Galveston City Council rejected a comprehensive smoking ban as a result smoking was still allowed in restaurants and bars.

Related news briefs: Texas - smoke-free legislation falls short..; Texas - tobacco lobbyists - derailing state smoking ban/smokeless tobacco tax change...

Reference: Galveston Council Approves Smoking Ban by David Jennings, Lone Star Times, 7/24/2009.

Read more...

Pakistan - More, on rollback of the Statutory Regulatory Order on Designated Smoking Areas..

July 27, 2009 - The government on Sunday, May 31st World NO Tobacco Day (WNTD) announced an immediate rollback of the controversial Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) on Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) (Pakistan - strong tobacco control measures..) As a result smoking is totally banned in any place of public work to protect the health of non-smokers.

A notification has been issued in regards to rescinding the concerned SRO in an exercise of power conferred by section five of the prohibition of smoking and protection of non-smokers health ordinance, 2002. After the withdrawal of SRO, the public will not be allowed to smoke or use tobacco in any form in any place of public work or use.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier, all public and private offices were allowed to designate a separate place for smokers to smoke within office premises with adequate arrangements to protect the health of non-smokers. However, such permission was being misused as it had become practice that smokers were using places in offices other than designated areas while many offices had failed to allocate designated places for smokers. Similarly, taking undue advantage of the permission to smoke in designated areas, individuals and offices were clearly violating the ordinance that resulted harmful effects on non-smokers.

The ban was the outcome of an announcement by Minister for Health Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani who had earlier pledged to withdraw the SRO on World No Tobacco Day.
Representatives of civil societies and the general public have hailed the decision saying this will help protect the health of non-smokers and enforce better the concerned laws.

The government has already declared some places of public work tobacco free, including hospitals, dispensaries, other health care establishments, educational institutions, offices, conference rooms, all domestic flights, restaurants, buses, wagons, trains, indoor stadiums, gymnasiums, lounges of airports, waiting rooms at railway stations and waiting rooms at bus stations.

An official of the Ministry of Health’s Tobacco Control Cell, a body that devises strategies for the implementation of the non-smokers ordinance said that SRO withdrawal will help it create a strict check on law violators with the help of public and concerned departments. He went on to say a five- year strategic plan of action has been formulated by the cell with a focus on awareness programmes for health officials, professionals, teachers, decision makers, administrative staffs etc.

Health experts claimed that non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke at home and workplaces have a 20 to 30 percent higher chance of developing lung cancer besides other health complications.

Reference: Government bans smoking in public, Dawn.com, 7/26/2009.

Pakistan - related news brief: Smuggled Cigarettes Give Boost To Pakistani Militants..; Pakistan - strong tobacco control measures..; Pakistan - Government must withdraw Statutory Regulatory Order..; Bloomberg Grant: Tobacco Reforms in Pakistan...


Read more...

Lorillard Inc. q2 2009 earnings..

Lorillard Inc. on Monday, JUly 27th reported second-quarter earnings of $286 million, or $1.71 per share, a 32 percent increase from the same period last year, when the Greensboro-based tobacco company posted earnings of $217 million, or $1.25 per share.

The company’s net sales were $1.52 billion during the second quarter, compared to $1.07 billion during the same period in 2008. About $304 million of that was a result of the April 1 federal 62-cent excise tax increase on cigarettes.

Lorillard said shipments of its flagship Newport brand decreased about 1.2 percent, but Newport was still able to increase its market share by about 0.44 percentage points, to 10.38 percent. Shipments of its value-priced brand, Maverick, rose about 68 percent.

Lorillard Inc. Q2 2009 Earnings Call Transcript.

More to come..

Reference: Lorillard earnings rise 32 percent, Triangle Business Journal, 7/27/2009.
Read more...

New Zealand - 1st trial ever of e-cigarettes..

July 26, 2009 - But researchers can't reveal the results until they are published in a medical journal. Auckland University has run the first ever trial of the e-cigarettes. It looked at withdrawal symptoms after using one compared to a nicotine inhaler and a regular cigarette.

The US Food and Drug Administration wants the electronic cigarette banned, but experts here say it does more good than harm.

It looks like the real thing, puffs out a mist that looks like smoke and most importantly, it provides the nicotine kick that smokers crave - but the e-cigarette has one big difference. "They're not going to die from an e-cigarette," says Dr Murray Laugesen (Chair, Smokeless New Zealand, Inc.). "But they could die tomorrow from a heart attack due to their smoking."

Dr Laugesen: "The carcinogens that we have found have been in very, very small quantity, just above the level of detection." In contrast, every time you take a drag on a cigarette you breathe in 4000 toxins. The FDA, which regulates medical products in the US, isn't so sure. It says its tests found cancer-causing chemicals in e-cigarettes and wants them banned from sale until more studies are done.

"What's remarkable actually is the lack of evidence that these products are any better than standard smoking cessation treatments, and secondly the inadequate testing for their toxins," says Dr Michael Thun, American Cancer Society.

At this stage, New Zealanders have to go online and import e-cigarettes, but Dr Laugesen would like to see them more readily available here and says he would not hesitate to recommend e-cigarettes to anyone wanting to quit.

Reference: Row breaks out over safety of e-cigarettes3news.co.nz, 7/25/2009.

New Zealand related news briefs: New Zealand - BAT reducing prices discouraging people from quitting..; New Zealand - stop smoking campaigns NOT working..; BAT awarded worst corporation in New Zealand..; New Zealand - government may NOT support tobacco display bans..; New Zealand More Evidence Needed to Ban Tobacco and Cigarette Displays..; More evidence - tobacco displays increase the risk of teens smoking..; Horror photos go on New Zealand cigarette packs..; Country to Eliminate Smoking - The South Pacific nation of Niue; Ireland to ban tobacco displays..; Smokefree NZ within 10 years..; By law, oral snuff cannot (but nasal snuff is allowed) be sold in New Zealand and can be imported only for personal use..

Read more...