Man charged with marijuana trafficking after special delivery

A 29-year-old Moscow man faces charges after more than a pound of marijuana mailed to his home was intercepted by FedEx employees at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport last week.
The shipping company twice attempted to deliver a package from Fortuna, Calif., to a Brett Cunningham at a residence on the 1000 block of Mountain View Road, according to an affidavit filed in Latah County 2nd District Court.

Global tobacco giant Philip Morris Tuesday stepped up its legal campaign

Last month Philip Morris Asia launched a case against the government under an investment treaty with Hong Kong over the legislation, which says cigarettes can only be sold in drab, olive-brown packets.

The latest challenge, by Australia-based Philip Morris Limited (PML), is on constitutional grounds, arguing that the government has passed a law that acquires the firm's valuable brands and intellectual property.

"We believe plain packaging violates the Australian constitution because the government is seeking to acquire our property without paying compensation," PML spokesman Chris Argent said in a statement.

The company is seeking a ruling from the High Court that the government cannot stop the firm from using its intellectual property and branding on its cigarettes and packets.

Under the ground-breaking Australian law passed last month, all tobacco products will need to be sold in plain packaging from December 1, 2012, which will also carry graphic health warnings.

The proposal to remove all logos and to print company names in the same font has angered tobacco firms, who quickly moved to challenge the law.

Besides Philip Morris, global giant Imperial Tobacco has launched a legal challenge in the High Court claiming that the law breaches Australia's constitution by infringing intellectual property rights.

British American Tobacco (BAT) has filed a similar constitutional challenge.

Australia is set to be the first country to mandate plain packaging to reduce smoking rates and Attorney General Nicola Roxon, formerly the health minister, has said she is prepared for the challenges to the law.

While Canberra says tobacco use costs the country more than Aus$30 billion (US$30 billion) a year in healthcare and lost productivity, the tobacco firms argue the government cannot prove plain packaging will cut smoking rates.

Philip Morris International has seven of the world's top 15 tobacco brands, including Marlboro, and through PML it holds about a 37.5 percent share of the Australian cigarette market.

Cigarette fiends smash Hopewell deli's windows in pursuit of Newports

The owners of a local deli are likely having a hard time feeling the Christmas spirit after two burglaries over a three day period left them short on cigarettes and forced them to board up much of the front of their store.

“Someone broke in twice last week,” said Sharmi Patel, who along with her husband Champak owns the Mainline Deli near the intersection of Shiloh Pike and West Park Drive.

Patel said the burglar or burglars took the typical fare expected of a convenience store break-in: cartons upon cartons of cigarettes.

“Altogether they took 24 cartons,” said Patel, adding that they stole all Newport and Marlboro brand, which cost $73 per box, for a total loss of $1,752 of product.

Patel suspects the same actor broke into the store both times this week.

She explained that she came in Saturday morning to find a large spiderweb crack in one of the store’s large front windows, which she had someone board over for her.

She then came in on Monday morning to find one of the large front windows by the cash register completely smashed out.

“That’s the one I still didn’t fix,” she said.

Patel said that while she has insurance for the store and its products, she would prefer to simply absorb the loss on her own rather than make a claim with the insurance company because she thinks they will raise her rates.

“I don’t go with the insurance because it just brings the rate up. I would rather just pay for it myself,” she said.

She estimated that the damaged windows would cost around $1,000 to repair.

Patel said that in the three years she and her husband have had the store in that location, they have suffered five break-ins.

In February, surveillance video from the store showed a man driving up to the store around 2 a.m. and winging an object at the store’s front window, damaging the glass that had just been replaced after a burglary four months before that.

Patel started using Plexiglas because it typically cracks but the window does not shatter.
Sgt. Brian Polite from the State Police said that reports about the incidents were not immediately available.

Patel said that police have increased their presence near the store, although it obviously has not helped.

“The police come and do extra rounds, but they didn’t catch anyone.”

Top Dividend Stocks For 2012: Altria Keeps America Smoking

Parsimony believes that 2012 will be riddled with volatility and uncertainty for equity market investors. Interest rates will remain low due to over indebted balance sheets. Equity market investors should seek equities with stable earnings (and dividends) that will hold up in an uncertain and weak economic environment.

Lakshman Achuthan, the co-founder of ECRI (video) was on Bloomberg on Friday updating viewers on his recession call. The ECRI continues to call for a recession in the first half of 2012. Due to the strong track record of the ECRI, we think that investors should remain defensive in 2012.
Altria engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, smokeless products, and wine in the United States and internationally. It offers cigarettes under the Marlboro, Virginia Slims, Parliament, Benson & Hedges, Basic, and L&M brands; smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, Husky brands, and Marlboro snus brands; and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco.

The company also produces and sells blended table wines under the Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest names; and distributes Antinori and Villa Maria Estate wines and Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte in the United States. In addition, it maintains a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases in rail and surface transport, aircraft, electric power, real estate, and manufacturing.

The company sells its tobacco products to wholesalers, including distributors; large retail organizations, such as chain stores; and the armed services. Altria Group, Inc. markets its wine products to restaurants, wholesale clubs, supermarkets, wine shops, and mass merchandisers. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Altria Details Marlboro Performance Options

The new year will bring new options for Marlboro cigarette retailers. Although Philip Morris USA extended its Marlboro Leadership Price (MLP) option through the end of this year, its incentive program is being updated, and will offer an additional option beginning January 1.

The new program, Marlboro Performance Options, will maintain MLP (with subtle updates to signage requirements and a few designated MLP rates) as a choice for higher-tier PM USA retailers, company spokesman Greg Mathe told CSP Daily News/Tobacco E-News. But an alternative option, Marlboro Flexible Option, "allows retailers to have the flexibility to apply additional Marlboro promotional allowances in a variety of ways that best align with their strategy, while still focusing on Marlboro," he said.

As previously reported, the much-talked-about MLP option, in essence, asks operators to forgo part of their typical markup in exchange for incentives. And while an October UBS-CSP Tobacco Survey found that 39% of retailers felt MLP helped Marlboro's share trends, up from 35% in a July survey, the program did have detractors on the retail side.

Mathe said the new option evolved from the company's ongoing discussions with retailers. "What we heard was that although the MLP option did align with strategies of many retailers, some expressed that they would like alternatives," Mathe said.

MLP retailers earn $2 per Marlboro carton for maintaining a competitive Marlboro single-pack price no higher than the designated MLP.

"With the flexible option, there's no maximum price component like the MLP option requires," Mathe said. Retailers can earn $1 per Marlboro carton for those that offer an additional discount on Marlboro Special Blend packings. The retailer must contribute at least 25 cents per pack of Marlboro Special Blend in the Red pack, Marlboro Special Blend in the Gold pack, Marlboro Black Special Blend and Marlboro Menthol Black Special Blend. "Marlboro Special Blend packings provide a lower alternative for price-sensitive Marlboro adult smokers," according to Mathe.

Retailers participating in either option are offered what's called the Marlboro Share Growth incentive, which provides 40 cents per Marlboro carton to retailers reaching a predetermined share target at each store. "That's really an additional set of money that can be used to enhance the retailer's profitability, or could go to further reduce their Marlboro price," Mathe said. "So it's just an additional resource for them."

Marlboro Performance Options, including both MLP and the flexible option, runs from January through June of 2012.

"Now there's different options for different retailer strategies," Mathe said. "These options offer retailers an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competition. These resources work to help increase foot traffic in their store, sell premium cigarettes and build consumer loyalty."

He added, "We constantly look at our promotional resources in the marketplace. They continually evolve; we listen to feedback from retailers and try to always improve upon our current promotions."

Brazil Widens War on Tobacco

The Brazilian government is a presidential signature away from passing a law that would not only ban smoking in enclosed public places nationwide, but also extend restrictions more than previously thought.
But the new law would increase restrictions making it illegal to light up in smoking rooms, or in airports and bars, ban cigarette advertisements everywhere cigarettes are sold, and increase taxes on cigarettes by up to 300%.
Although some legislators fought the bill, the Ministry of Health and supporters of the government did not back down. “We cannot support any kind of amendment to stop our continuous agenda to restrict cigarettes”, said a speaker for the ministry.
The new federal law is based on states legislation already in effect in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná.
According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), Brazil has over 30 million smokers. The number of smokers in the country has fallen 45% in the last 20 years.
The smoking restrictions have generate some anger with the public, but also sympathizers. In São Paulo, the anti-smoking law is supported by 91% of general public and even 83% of the smokers. São Paulo state officials say the law has led 42% of the smokers to smoke less.
“The society is starting to realize the risks of cigarettes and wants environments free of smoke”, affirmed Maria Cristina Megid, director of the Center for Health Surveillance of São Paulo.
But not everyone thinks this kind of legislation is positive.
“Nobody is worried about the smokers. We should be treated as adults not kids”, Milena Hannud, founder of the NGO Eu Fumo (I Smoke), complained on a local website.
The Brazilian war on smoking may also hurt some economic groups, particularly small farmers from the South of the country and tobacco corporations.
According to the president of the Brazilian Association of Tobacco Growers, Benício Albano Werner, most of the farmers are very worried about the restrictions.
“There is a climate of apprehension about these very excessive restrictions to the free trade”, affirmed Werner. But he says that the farmers and the industry are adapting themselves to this new reality.
“We have to focus on exports. Fortunately, we have the quality to do it. In Canada and China, the consumption is increasing,” Werner concluded.
Brazil is the second biggest tobacco producer in the world with revenues of over US$ 7 billion a year. Tobacco accounts for 2% of country's exports.

Weak Dutch tobacco controls will cost lives -experts

Leading cancer, asthma and heart health experts accused the Dutch government on Friday of "all but closing down" its tobacco controls and said such lax policies could lead to 145,000 preventable deaths by 2040.

In a letter to The Lancet medical journal, specialists from Europe, the United States and Canada said new Dutch policy moves -- including weakening smoking bans in bars and ending the reimbursement of quit-smoking aids -- would inevitably cost lives.

"Every death that ensues would not just be the responsibility of the tobacco industry, which continues to promote its lethal product, but also a government that looks the other way under the disingenuous banner of 'personal choice' and allows this to happen," the experts wrote.

Smoking causes lung cancer, which is often fatal, and other chronic respiratory diseases. It is also a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, the world's number one killers.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that tobacco will kill nearly 6 million people worldwide this year, including more than 600,000 non-smokers who will die as a result of exposed to second-hand smoke. By 2030, it predicts that tobacco could be killing 8 million people a year.

The experts writing in the Lancet said the Netherlands had fallen out of step with the rest of Europe, and far behind countries like Australia and Uruguay where governments have taken tough action to curb the reach of the tobacco industry.

Authorities in the Netherlands, where the smoking rate is relatively high compared to other Western countries, have already relaxed existing smoke-free laws by saying they need not apply to small owner-run bars.

The Lancet letter said the government was now set to reverse a decision giving smokers who want to quit access to treatment and help.

Florence Berteletti Kemp, director of the Brussels-based Smokefree Partnership and a signatory to the Lancet letter, accused the Dutch government of "turning its back on science and on proven best practice".

"The strategies being adopted...will lead to more disease and death," she said in a statement as the letter was published.

A Dutch government spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Geoffrey Fong of the University of Waterloo in Canada, who also signed the Lancet letter, said Dutch policies were also out of line with the WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, an international agreement signed by more than 170 countries -- including the Netherlands -- aimed at curbing tobacco use.

"The Dutch government is reducing the information available to consumers, refusing to introduce graphic pack warnings, and reducing assistance for smokers who want to quit," Fong said, accusing policymakers of "leaving smokers to their fate, which has been strongly determined by the highly addictive products of the tobacco industry."

Cigarette packs in the Netherlands carry warning signs saying Smoking Kills but not photographs illustrating the dangers of smoking.

Earlier this year, a Dutch study called SimSmoke2 projected the effect of tobacco policies on smoking rates and future premature deaths and found that without effective tobacco controls, almost a million lives would be cut short in the Netherlands due to smoke-related diseases between 2011 and 2040.

5 Tobacco Companies With Good Dividend Growth Prospects

The tobacco industry isn’t a favorite of everyone but these companies do pay dividends that average about twice the average dividend of the S&P 500 and beat Treasury yields by a mile. I don’t own any of these stocks, but investors looking for consistently high, rising dividends may want to take a closer look.

The industry continues to face litigation, albeit at a much lower intensity than a few years back, and will likely continue to for the foreseeable future. However, the leaders of these companies are taking steps to offset volume losses in mature markets. The two most promising trends have been to focus on emerging markets and to spend more marketing budget on smokeless tobacco products.

The industry is also looking at other nicotine-related products. I don’t like the sound of that one, but I thought you should know what they’re up to. The emerging markets and smokeless tobacco products are moves away from regulation as neither has the scrutiny of cigarettes. The prospects are decent that these companies will be able to increase profits, cash flows and dividends well into the future.

Both sides seeking to put end to medical marijuana suit before trial

Lawyers on both sides of the first medical marijuana lawsuit filed against the city of Lansing want a judge to rule in their favor in an effort to end the case before it reaches trial.

Attorneys representing the city don't believe TNT Industries LLC, a now-closed medical marijuana dispensary on East Michigan Avenue, has the legal standing necessary to challenge the municipality in court.

TNT in September asked Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield to find its business in compliance with state law, force the city to return its operating license — even though it never received one — and award it monetary damages.

The case stems from a Michigan Court of Appeals panel's ruling this summer that patient-to-patient sales of marijuana are illegal under the 2008 voter-approved medical marijuana law. Lansing administrators halted a plan to administer business licenses after City Attorney Brig Smith advised dispensaries to close up shop.

Edwar Zeineh, a Lansing attorney representing TNT Industries, wants a court to determine the city was wrong to deny dispensaries the ability to operate, especially after they paid $1,000 application fees that are now to be returned.

TNT's lawsuit doesn't have the potential to set precedent as much as another case pending in a higher court — a challenge to the Michigan appeals court ruling that essentially invalidated dispensaries.

The Michigan Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to hear that case, which involves a dispensary in Isabella County. But local attorneys believe it has statewide implications that could make it a prime candidate.

Manderfield has yet to issue a written opinion. Her staff said the case remains under review.

At issue is this: Does the dispensary have the grounds to sue on behalf of a business license it never received? And if so, is the city of Lansing the appropriate entity?

"They say we don't have standing. We say we sure do," Zeineh said. "They're arguing procedure. We're arguing substance."

Zeineh said dispensaries, particularly TNT, are looking for clarity on how they can operate under a voter initiative that is supposed to protect them from prosecution. TNT is compensated for distributing marijuana but Zeineh has argued the business does not sell it but rather accepts a "modest fee" for preparing it for patients' use.

Two charged with marijuana possession

The Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force arrested two Binghamton residents Thursday in connection with marijuana trafficking in the county.

Lacey N. Fox, 20, of Floral Avenue was stopped in her vehicle on Upper Front Street in Kirkwood, where investigations discovered a package with about 7 pounds of marijuana. Investigators arrested Eric D. Bryant, 23, after executing a search warrant at his North Street home and finding a half-pound of marijuana and $1,000 in cash, police said.

Fox was charged with felony second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, arraigned in Kirkwood town court and sent to the Broome County jail. Bryant was charged with misdemeanor fourth-degree criminal possession of marijuana and released on an appearance ticket, police said.

The Broome County Special Investigations Unit Task Force is made up of members of the City of Binghamton Police Department, Broome County Sheriff Office and Village of Johnson City Police Department.

FDA cites 1,200 tobacco retailers

The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has issued about 1,200 warning letters to retailers in 15 states for violating federal tobacco regulations since beginning inspections under a 2009 law giving it authority to regulate the industry.

The agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, using state contractors, has conducted more than 27,500 inspections of stores selling tobacco products. It is combating underage use of tobacco products, while also seeking to reduce tobacco-related diseases, which are responsible for about 443,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

“We all recognize that almost all smokers start smoking when they are kids, and those kids have to get those tobacco products somewhere,” Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the Center for Tobacco Products, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“The retail community really is on the front line of helping to prevent our kids from initiating tobacco use. ... It’s very important for every neighborhood to know that their retailers are enforcing this new law.”

Inspectors visiting retailers nationwide were looking for violations of federal laws barring the sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products to anyone under 18 years old.

There are also laws against the sale of flavored cigarettes or of cigarettes in packs that contain the words like “light,” ‘’mild,” or “low-tar.” Other laws bar retailers from selling single cigarettes, giving away free samples or promotional items like hats and T-shirts with cigarette and smokeless tobacco brands or logos.

Most of the warning letters were for retailers selling tobacco to minors, who were sent into stores to make undercover purchases. Once they receive a warning letter, retailers then have 15 days to respond on how they plan to address the violations.

After one violation, retailers can be fined for breaking tobacco laws during follow-up inspections. Retailers with a second violation within a year can be fined up to $250, with penalties growing to $10,000 for six or more violations within four years. They also can be banned from selling tobacco products.

Over the last two years, the FDA has contracted with 37 states and the District of Columbia to do retail compliance checks with at least 20 percent of stores in each state. The data released by the agency is only for the 15 states which the agency initially contracted in fiscal year 2010.

States are trained by the FDA and paid by fees charged to the tobacco companies.

How much the FDA pays states to participate varies on factors including the size of their enforcement plan and how many retail locations they have in the state. The agency says the contracts total $24 million have led to more than 265 jobs.

The FDA collected nearly $260 million in user fees from tobacco companies for fiscal 2009 and 2010 combined, and should collect $450 million this year. User fees will grow to $712 million by 2019. Fees are collected quarterly and based on each company’s share of the U.S. tobacco market.

The agency won the authority in 2009 to regulate tobacco products, including the ability to ban certain products, regulate marketing, reduce nicotine in tobacco products and block labels such “low tar” and “light.”

Philip Morris USA has One of Worst Market Share Losses in History

The nation’s largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA (a.k.a. the Marlboro Man) had a more difficult time in the third quarter, marking one of the biggest U.S. market share declines for Altria Group’s (NYSE:MO) top-selling premium brand in at least four years. Higher prices and gains from its smokeless tobacco and cigar brands helped with a nearly 4 percent increase in its quarterly profit. In anticipation of an industry wide cigarette volume decline, Phillip Morris USA plans an additional $400 million in cost savings by the end of 2013.
Altria (NYSE:MO) has introduced several new products with the Marlboro brand, often with lower promotional pricing, but the company still faces pressure in the current economy from less-expensive brands like Pall Mall from Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE:RAI) and Maverick from Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO). Altria (NYSE:MO) is focusing on cigarette alternatives, such as cigars, snuff and chewing tobacco, like other tobacco companies for future sales growth, because the decline in cigarette smoking is expected to continue. The company saw revenue, from its smokeless tobacco brands such as Copenhagen and Skoal and its Black and Mild cigars grow 9 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Other makers, those of Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit brand cigarettes are getting on board with alternatives saying higher prices, productivity gains and selling more of its smokeless tobacco brands that include Grizzly and Kodiak offset cigarette volume declines of 6.8 percent.
“Lorillard, the nation’s No. 3 cigarette maker, said Monday its net income fell nearly 3 percent as higher costs offset selling more cigarettes at higher prices. It sold about 3 percent more cigarettes on gains on its Newport and its low-priced Maverick brand,” according to Yahoo Finance.

Red Alert: British American Tobacco plc

Profile: British American Tobacco plc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars, cigarettes, smokeless snus, roll-your-own, and pipe tobacco products under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Rothmans, Peter Stuyvesant, Benson & Hedges, and State Express 555 brand names. It has operations in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, eastern and western Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The company was founded in Y 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. British American Tobacco plc.

Smoking bans backfiring at some hospitals

Intravenous lines freezing in the cold. Patients in wheelchairs being accidentally locked out of the hospital on winter nights. Patients smoking in their hospital beds. Pounds of discarded cigarette butts near "no-smoking on hospital property" signs.

New Canadian research has found that not only are patients and staff ignoring hospital smoke-free bans, but the policies are also creating unintended safety issues for patients.

Not enough support is being offered to the 5 million Canadians who smoke to help manage withdrawal symptoms if they suddenly need to be hospitalized, the researchers say. Smoking needs to be treated as an addiction, they argue, and not simply as a bad habit - because when it's framed as a habit healthcare providers can have a hard time understanding why anyone facing a serious health issue would continue to smoke.

The study is based on the "lived experiences" of 186 patients, staff and "key informants" - including housekeepers, security guards and groundskeepers - at two hospitals: the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton and Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. Data were collected over six months - December 2008 to May 2009 - that included a cold Canadian winter. Both sites had a policy banning smoking inside all buildings, entrances and all hospital grounds for three years before the study began.

Overall, the researchers found ample evidence that "non-compliance" seems to be the norm.

People were seen smoking directly under or nearby signs explicitly stipulating a smoke-free zone. Smokers, especially patients in wheelchairs or connected to equipment, were usually found near entrances or in places where they could hide while they smoked.

"Staff who had reportedly been seen smoking on hospital property included security guards, ambulance drivers, nurses and doctors," the team writes in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Enforcement efforts, they said, were reportedly minimal.

Cleaners described picking up five to 10 pounds of discarded cigarette butts some days, because when hospitals went smoke-free, they took away the cigarette receptacles. Staff described smokers ringing their bedside bells and asking to be taken outside constantly.

In interviews, patients said they didn't feel safe going outside alone to smoke. Some worried "about getting suddenly sick while smoking outside." Some risked frostbite. Security guards described patients "pushing this IV pole all the way down the sidewalk in the snow" after being told not to smoke on hospital grounds.

There were reports of IV lines freezing and having to be restarted, or electronic equipment malfunctioning.

The researchers described patients in isolation from infections such as tuberculosis wearing a mask outside while they smoked, but then tossing their butts on the ground, making the discarded butts potential "vectors" for infection if they're collected and smoked by someone else.

One patient was locked out of one of the hospitals at night because he didn't see the sign saying the doors lock after a certain hour. The sign was at eye level; he couldn't see it from his wheelchair.

Smoke-free policies are leading to other unintended consequences, including disruptions to nursing care when patients leave the ward for a smoke and nurses have no idea when they'll return.

Comments from health-care workers included: "I have zero understanding on the drive to make a person get out of there, have that cigarette when they're obviously having pain."

Others were more compassionate: "We need to address these people, because it is a stressful time to give up your bad habit."

Although some smokers managed to abstain while in hospital, "many received minimal or no support in doing so," the researchers report.

Clean air policies are well intentioned, the researchers say. Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of disease and death. Some hospitals in the U.S. have gone so far as to ban "third-hand smoke." According to reports, a Louisiana hospital has notified employees that, starting next summer, they won't be allowed to work if their clothes smell of smoke.

Annette Schultz is the principal investigator of the new Canadian study. A nurse and former smoker, Schultz says the primary focus of hospital smoke-free policies "is to get patients to quit.

"I think there's another option, and the other option is supporting abstinence," said Schultz, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba's faculty of nursing and a principal investigator with the Psychosocial Oncology and Cancer Nursing Research Group at St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre. "The thought of never smoking another cigarette again is really daunting."

Peers to educate students about risks of tobacco use

Students prone to using tobacco as a stress reliever will be taught by their peers about the dangers of tobacco use under a new initiative launched by the Dubai Health Authority.
Up to 80,000 students aged between 12 and 21 years from across Dubai will be part of the peer-to-peer training programme titled “Students Working Against Tobacco” (SWAT). Logistics of the yearlong initiative are being worked out and it will be implemented in schools and colleges this month.

“Through our smoking awareness campaigns which we have conducted in 2010 and this year, we realised that there is an urgent need to create regular community awareness activities with regard to tobacco pall mall use because of the significant number of youngsters using tobacco,” said Dr Hanan Obaid, Head of Community Health Services Programmes Section at the DHA.

“They are our productive population and are at a high risk of developing diseases caused by long-term use of tobacco.”In 2010, the primary healthcare section of the DHA conducted 98 anti-smoking campaigns targeting 6,221 people across various schools, colleges, malls, government institutions as well as sports clubs.

From the data collected and analysed, Dr Obaid said there was a need to reach out to the schools in Dubai. A total of 2,457 students in government and private schools in Dubai were screened. Prevalence of tobacco use among school students in Dubai was found to be 14.6 per cent while the percentage of passive smoking among school children is 29.1.

“These are youngsters under the age of 20 using tobacco, so we can only imagine the long-term health complications that they are at a risk of developing.”

Dr Obaid said 11.2 per cent consumed cigarettes, 2.2 per cent used shisha, 1.9 per cent used the pipe, 0.8 per cent used cigar and 0.8 per cent used chewing tobacco. “We have conducted several campaigns in the past across schools in Dubai. However, we see the need to regularly reach out to children and adolescents and we plan to implement this policy in 2012,” she said.

Electronic Cigarettes Deliver As Much Nicotine As Tobacco Cigarettes

In an article published today in the European Respiratory Journal, results from a study on electronic cigarettes show users get as much nicotine from this product as smokers usually get from tobacco cigarettes.

The study, by researchers from the Universities of Geneva and Auckland, reports levels of cotinine (a product of the degradation of nicotine by the liver) in users of electronic cigarettes.

This is the first time cotinine data among electronic cigarette users in real-life conditions are published. So far, there were only laboratory data among naive users who used this product briefly before their blood was tested for nicotine. These previously published data showed that naive users obtained little or no nicotine from electronic cigarettes.

The new research published today shows instead that experienced users (all of them former smokers), in real life conditions (not in a laboratory) get a dose of nicotine similar to the dose that smokers usually get from tobacco cigarettes.

These results are important because governments in many countries are developing regulations for electronic cigarettes (currently, some countries prohibit them, others allow them with nicotine and others without nicotine). In this context, it is very important to know, for health authorities, doctors and consumers, that electronic cigarettes can deliver as much nicotine as tobacco cigarettes.

Southern University System Goes Tobacco-Free

The Southern Board of Supervisors has decided to ban tobacco at all of Southern University's campuses starting in January.
The Advocate reports the move makes Southern the first college system in Louisiana to ban all tobacco products. Nicholls State University became the first public college in Louisiana to become tobacco free at the beginning of this calendar year.
Southern University System President Ronald Mason Jr. says the new policy is about promoting healthy lifestyles and setting a quality standard for all of higher education.
Officials say the move was based on two U.S. surgeon general reports that said secondhand smoke is a Class A carcinogen that can cause cancer and there's no safe level of exposure.
The ban will affect the main Southern academic campuses in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport, the Southern University Law Center and the Southern University Agricultural Center.
Under the new policy, smoking or the use of tobacco products will not be allowed in any buildings, administrative facilities, dormitories or on the campus grounds, including athletic fields and parking areas.

Stop Smoking Resources Available from ECD

According to statistics released by the NHS in 2009, nearly 21% of all UK adults are tobacco smokers. While that’s certainly a significant drop from 39% just 20 years earlier, it is still far too high. Electronic Cigarette Direct is intimately aware of this fact, being founded by individuals who are former smokers themselves. With awareness of their social responsibility incorporated within their business model, the owners of Electronic Cigarette Direct include a collection of stop smoking resources on their website.

Those same NHS statistics show that in 2009, the average adult smoker consumed more than 13 cigarettes per day. This partially accounts for why it is so difficult for many people to stop smoking. Any activity done 13 times per day is habit forming on its own; add nicotine to the equation and the habit becomes that much more pronounced. But, it is also well-known to be a habit that can be kicked.

Visitors to Electronic Cigarette Direct’s website will find several sections of helpful resources by following the appropriate link at the top of the company’s website found at http://www.electroniccigarettedirect.co.uk/. Resources include tips to help smokers get through difficult periods of craving, alternatives to smoking tobacco, and suggestions in how to find an escape from the overpowering habit of tobacco smoking.

This vitally important subject matter is addressed for both the smokers benefit and the benefit of those around him. For smokers, they must live within the confines of the comprehensive smoking ban that has been place in the UK since 2007. It is a ban that forces them outside to have a cigarette, or keeps them home altogether.

In terms of non-smokers around them, it’s important that they be allowed to breathe clean air no matter where they are, without having to worry about second hand smoke. In offering resources to help smokers turn away from tobacco, Electronic Cigarette Direct is promoting the good health of everyone involved.

Consumers who decide to make the switch to electronic cigarettes will have access to the VAPESTICK line of products through the electronic Cigarette Direct website. The company’s owners have personally tested electronic cigarettes from VAPESTICK and believe they offer the best products on the market. You’re encouraged to visit their website, check out their stop smoking resources, and even browse through the products if you’re so inclined.

New Albany alderman proposes smoking ban in at least some indoor public spaces

New Albany officials are considering whether to follow some 40 other communities in the state by banning smoking in at least some indoor spaces open to the public.

"I had several constituents that have been talking about how offensive (smoke) would be in restaurants," said Alderman Johnny Anderson, who made the proposal earlier this month.

Anderson said he thinks a smoking ordinance will be largely supported among both the public in New Albany and his colleagues on the board.

Tupelo, Starkville, Mantachie, Oxford and Pontotoc are among Northeast Mississippi cities and towns that already have such bans.

The draft proposal will be broad, city attorney Regan Russell said. "The board members can narrow it down."

Medical marijuana expo idea quickly burns out

What would have been the first medical marijuana expo in the Yakima Valley was shut down early Saturday over a misstep in filing an event permit with the county.

The event's organizer said a Yakima County sheriff's deputy arrived at the planned site on Robinson Road on the outskirts of this quiet rural community early Saturday and told him that his paperwork hadn't been approved by the county fire marshal because there hadn't been a scheduled on-site inspection.

"We thought we did everything by the book," organizer William Smith said. "No one told us before today that we needed an on-site inspection."

Smith said he had invited a number of medical marijuana vendors from west of the Cascades who he then had to hastily call and inform of the cancellation.

He said the deputy told him he could have people over to the house, which belongs to family members, as long as they kept the gathering modest and out of sight.

The Yakima County Sheriff's Office may have been doing a favor to Smith and the 20 to 30 medical marijuana patients and a handful of providers who did trickle onto the property throughout the afternoon. Sheriff Ken Irwin said his office had notified the local office of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration of the event and that "we'd support any action they cared to take at the event."

"State law is such a mess right now that we would defer to the federal government," Irwin said.

State law permits medical marijuana use, but access remains an issue. A yearlong attempt to clarify the state's medical marijuana laws collapsed last May, leaving state dispensaries without legal recognition. Yakima Valley cities and towns are now grappling with a new state law that took effect in July that allows up to 10 qualifying patients to grow 45 plants in a collective garden.

The legislation allows cities to license, zone and impose other requirements on the gardens. A number of cities, including Yakima and Sunnyside, have imposed temporary moratorium on such gardens. Naches is moving toward an outright ban. Federal law, meanwhile, leaves no legal room for marijuana.

Saturday's gathering mirrored a neighborhood barbecue with new and old friends sharing laughs over soda pop and freshly fried corndogs in the backyard, with some smoking from glass pipes. There were also lollipops, brownies and cookies, but with a kick of THC.

"Some people can't smoke and these do help them sleep and relax," Tony Wells, who along with his girlfriend in Union Gap sells marijuana products to those with the proper medical paperwork.

If the sweets didn't provide relief from the attendee's ailments -- which were reported as varying from chronic pain to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- they could reach into any of the large mason jars of sticky marijuana buds covered in tiny crystals of THC.

While some of skeptical, there was no question the medical marijuana patients at the gathering are convinced these products give them a shot at a healthier life.

Walla Walla resident Don McKeta, 50, said he still suffers chronic pain from a violent car crash in his 20s as well as back and joint pain from more than 20 years as a long-haul truck driver. McKeta said prescription painkillers had side effects that made his skin break out and made his mouth numb, but marijuana gives him relief without the uncomfortable side effects.

"I believe it has its drawbacks, but it's healthier than other things I could be taking for it," McKeta said.

Yakima Valley resident Jodi Gonzalez, 34, said she smokes marijuana for hip pain from an accident two years ago and has since gone through multiple surgeries to try to correct. She said she developed an addiction to her pain medication and had to go through rehabilitation.

Gonzalez said marijuana isn't a cure-all, that she still feels pain when she's high, but says it lets her function at a better level than more addictive prescription medications.

"This is safer," said Gonzalez after smoking from a hookah.

Smith, the organizer, said he would continue to seek a permit from the county to hold a large event showcasing medical marijuana to raise awareness of its benefits. Whether or not he ever gets one remains in question.

"I don't think it's an appropriate function," Irwin said. "It violates federal law."

Court upholds city's smoking ban

A Greene County court has upheld the city of Springfield's smoking ban, but the court challenges are likely not over.

Jean Doublin, owner of Ruthie's Bar on Commercial Street, filed the lawsuit in June seeking to stop the ban. The lawsuit claimed the Springfield ordinance violates state law and therefore is invalid.

The suit cites Missouri law, which allows taverns to make nonsmoking areas unavailable indoors as long as signage is posted outside the bar that says "Nonsmoking Areas are Unavailable."

Those signs appear on every door at Ruthie's.

Doublin said she was disappointed, but not surprised by Judge Jason Brown's ruling upholding the ordinance. Doublin said she's lost close to 75 percent of her business since the ban went into effect. She also said she hasn't seen some of the proponents of the ban patronize her tavern.

"Not one quarter," she said.

Advocates said Brown's ruling adds to a growing set of legal precedents that allow cities to enforce a smoking ban in the name of public health.

"I think it's a continued victory for public health, which is what we view this ordinance to be," said Stephen Hall, communications director for the American Heart Association in Springfield.

Hall is also the volunteer chairman for the One Air Alliance, a group supporting the ban.

The ban, approved by voters by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin in April, generally prohibits smoking inside any place where people work or where the public has access, as well as outdoors in playgrounds and other areas. It went into effect June 11.

Brown wrote in his ruling in the case, issued Wednesday evening, that he doesn't entirely side with the city's argument in support of having the authority to ban smoking, but he said he feels bound by a previous decision in the Western District Appeals Court on a similar ban.

"Unlike those of the Springfield city council, (the court's decision) is not one of public policy, nor is it a commentary upon the pros or cons of restrictions on smoking in public places," Brown wrote.

New chapter in Frankfort tobacco store burglary drama

The drama over a recent tobacco shop burglary continues as the owner has gone from victim to arrestee to victim again, police said.

A Will County deputy reported a man went to Joe’s Tobacco on Oct. 3 to demand an apology from owner Michael A. Menias, who allegedly threatened his brother with an air gun over the break-in.

At 2:48 a.m. Sept. 28, the front door of the store at 7705 W. St. Francis Road was smashed in and a carton of Pall Mall cigarettes and three glass pipes were taken from a cabinet. The cash register was left untouched.

Later that day, a customer told Menias that a 20-year-old who was also a regular customer was involved.

The 20-year-old saw Menias had written about the burglary on his Facebook page and visited the store around 9:30 p.m. to find out what had happened, according to reports.

Surveillance video allegedly shows Menias and his father ordering the young man to sit down and admit he’d broken in. When he denied it, Menias threatened him with an air pistol that resembles a real handgun, the video reportedly shows.

The 20-year-old who Menias suspected called his mother, who convinced Menias he’d been at home when the store was burglarized. When the young man was allowed to leave, his mother called police and Menias was arrested for aggravated assault.

But around 5:30 p.m. Oct. 3, Kyle D. Johnson, 23, reportedly came in and “demanded an apology” from Menias “for what you did to my brother.”

Police said Menias told Johnson he had been arrested for the incident and the court system should handle it.

Menias said Johnson refused to leave and threatened to hurt him.

During questioning, Johnson acknowledged going to seek an apology and refusing to leave, but denied making any threats, police said.

Johnson, of 7811 W. Laurel Drive, was arrested on a charge of criminal trespassing and released on bond.

Self-discipline helps stop smoking

Self-discipline is the best way to quit cigarette smoking. I have been smoking for quite a long time until I completely stopped last 2003 due to health problem,” said City Mayor Japal “Jojo” Guiani Jr. in a press conference after the recent launching of “Smoking-Free City.”

The project is jointly sponsored by the city government and the City Health Services.

He said it is really difficult to quit the habit of cigarette smoking especially if you are in it for so long, but if one considers the ill-effects of cigarette smoking and try hard to stop the habit, it is not hopeless to do so.

What is so important about the campaign against cigarette smoking, he added, is that the smokers themselves do not only destroy their health but those people around them maybe affected when they inhale the smoke of cigarettes.

The city government and the Department of Health (DoH) had been conducting series of information and education campaign pertaining to the ill-effects of cigarette smoking not only in some barangays (villages) but in several forum held in the past.

In his remarks during the opening of the activity, Guaini said the local government unit (LGU) of the City of Cotabato is extending full support to the said campaign.

City health services chief Dr. MarloNiñal said the campaign against smoking will be tried initially on food and hotel establishments.

The city health office will also regulate the selling of cigarettes in places, like in front of schools, malls, and other public areas.

“If one cannot stop cigarette smoking then that’s his choice but I am appealing to cigarette smokers to smoke in areas that no other person will be affected,” Guiani said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world.

It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about five million deaths each year).

WHO officers said that if current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020.

Half the people that smoke today – that is about 650 million people – will eventually be killed by tobacco.

Each day in the WHO Western Pacific Region, 3,000 people die from tobacco use.

The WHO added that tobacco is the fourth most common risk factor for disease worldwide.

It said the economic costs of tobacco use are equally devastating.

In addition to the high public health costs of treating tobacco-caused diseases, tobacco kills people at the height of their productivity – depriving families of breadwinners and nations of a healthy workforce.

The WHO also said that tobacco users are also less productive while they are alive due to increased sickness.

A 1994 report estimated that the use of tobacco resulted in an annual global net loss of $200 billion – a third of this loss being in developing countries.

The WHO cited that experience has shown that there are many cost-effective tobacco control measures that can be used in various settings and that can have a significant impact on tobacco consumption.

The most cost-effective strategies are population-wide public policies, like bans on direct and indirect tobacco advertising, tobacco tax and price increases, smoke-free environments in all public and workplaces, and large clear graphic health messages on tobacco packaging.

All these measures are discussed in the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

UW researcher gets big grant to continue global tobacco-control project

A University of Waterloo researcher received a $7.4-million grant, the largest of its kind awarded by a national funding body, to continue studying the effectiveness of tobacco-control policies around the world.

Project leader Geoffrey Fong, a psychology and health studies professor, said the rigorous international research is essential to combating the scourge of smoking — the leading cause of preventable death globally.

“Tobacco overwhelms any other single source of death and disease in the world,” Fong said.

One billion people are expected to die of smoking-related disease this century.

The new five-year grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research will expand the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project created by Fong and colleagues in 2002.

Over the years its global scope grew from the first four countries to 20 now and 23 with the new funding. Those countries include more than half the world’s population and more than 70 per cent of the world’s smokers.

Tobacco use is going down in Canada, but still four million Canadians smoke. The problem is far worse in other countries, particularly low- and middle-income countries were smoking rates are very high, Fong said.

In China, 300 million people smoke and half of all adult men. Considering about half of smokers will die of smoking-related disease, a quarter of all men in China could succumb to the ill effects of tobacco.

“The magnitude of that is extraordinary and not easily understood,” Fong said.

Smoking causes 2.5 times more deaths worldwide than HIV/AIDS.

But unlike any other cause of illness, smoking is actively promoted by tobacco businesses and healthy policies opposed. The industry’s history of providing misinformation is why strong research is needed to counter those arguments, Fong said.

“You have something arguing against everything public health officials want to do,” Fong said.

The international project evaluates the impact of tobacco-control policies in the world’s first health treaty ratified by 174 countries, which include enhanced warning labels, bans and restrictions on advertising and promotion and increased taxation and smoke-free laws.

Many of these initiatives are already part of Canadian culture, but resisted by the tobacco industry in other countries. Where the tobacco industry is strong, Fong said, policies are weak.

The tobacco industry is state-owned in China, where research shows policies are ineffective. Warning labels, for example, are not graphic, text warnings small and general, and information on the back of packages appears in English. As well the country raised taxes to comply with the treaty, but the actual cost of cigarettes didn’t rise.

Fong said research calls public attention to these issues and shows the need for better policies. His testimony in the House of Commons last year with Canadian data showing cigarette package labelling effectiveness was declining influenced the government’s decision to introduce regulations for larger graphic warnings.

Fong said the global study allows researchers to compare countries and how policies work depending on the particular situation.

For example, some European countries did far better than others when smoke-free policies for restaurants and bars were enacted. Ireland, the United Kingdom and France did extensive public education along and worked with the businesses, leading to a huge drop in smoking in bars from about 95 per cent to five per cent in under a year.

Netherlands and Germany, on the other hand, made only a small dent in smoking in bars because little more was done than notify businesses of the new legislation.

The project is expanding to include three African countries — Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia — where smoking rates are low. But, Fong said, as countries experience economic growth, smoking rates typically rise when cigarettes become more affordable.

Researchers are wondering whether it’s possible to do a sort of early inoculation against tobacco use in these African countries before more people pick up smoking.

The project includes more than 100 tobacco-control experts and researchers and more than 1,000 support staff to run the intensive studies that follow individuals across countries over time to get a real picture of how policies are working.

“Research at the global level is much needed in this area,” Fong said.

Tobacco registration renewals approaching

Licensed tobacco dealers in the Cayman Islands have until Tuesday, 1 November, to renew their registration to sell the product in 2012.

Annual renewal fees are $500 for a retailer; $750 for a cigar bar and $5,000 for a wholesale distributor or importer.

Applications submitted after 1 November will draw late fees. If no application is received by 31 January, a dealer will forfeit its licence for 12 months before submitting a new application.

“Everyone dealing with tobacco must register annually and display the Certificate of Registration,” said Dr. Kiran Kumar, Medical Officer of Health.

The documents needed for renewal of registration include a renewal application form; a current Trade and Business License Certificate; and, if there were any changes in dealership since the last registration, such as contact information, location, ownership or trade of products, an application for registration as a tobacco dealer.

Applications submitted after 1 November, but before 31 December will bring a penalty of an extra 50 per cent of the registration cost. Applications submitted between 1 and 31 January will draw a late fee of 100 per cent the registration cost.

Last year, the Cayman Islands government registered 138 tobacco dealers.

“Business owners have been very accommodating of the changes and we hope to see this trend continue,” said Mark Scotland, Minister of Health. “If anyone has any doubts about the legislation, or if anyone is still selling tobacco products without a registration certificate, please contact the Public Health Department to avoid prosecution.”

New tobacco ordinance further limits youth access

to limit youths' access to tobacco in Oakdale are increasing due to requirements of the Tobacco Modernization and Compliance Act passed last year by the Minnesota Legislature.

The city council unanimously approved an amendment to its ordinance that regulates businesses with tobacco licenses last week.

Changes to the ordinance include prohibiting indoor smoking at any business with a tobacco license, including for the purpose of sampling products.

In the past the city has found it difficult to enforce if people at the businesses were sampling products or just smoking indoors, so the ordinance prohibits both practices, said Oakdale police officer Karen Haines.

There are 18 businesses that have licenses to sell tobacco in Oakdale, with three that only sell tobacco and tobacco-related products, Haines said. The others are liquor stores, gas stations, pharmacies and grocery stores, she said.

The three stores, which collect at least 90 percent of their revenue from the sale of tobacco and tobacco products, are required to display a visible sign prohibiting anyone under 18 from shopping there, according to the amended ordinance.

The ordinance also prohibits self-service by customers to access any products without the assistance of an employee. But, Haines said, the businesses with at least 90 percent of their revenue from tobacco and tobacco-product sales are an exception to that rule, as long as minors are not allowed in the business.

Haines said most of the businesses with a tobacco license already comply with the ordinance changes, and received a copy before the council vote last Tuesday. .

The police department will have inspections of the businesses to ensure compliance and notified each license holder of the process, Haines said.

"I don't think it is going to affect any usual course of business for these license holders," she said.

Overall, she added, the state law changes are beneficial in Oakdale.

"It is a benefit to the community and does assist with the concerns that the community may have as far as youth access so the city does have that interest in complying with the state law," Haines said.

National Study Will Track Tobacco Use in U.S.

Findings will guide FDA in creating programs, policies to eliminate smoking
A large, national study on how new government regulations affect smoking and other tobacco use and people's understanding about the risks was announced Thursday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Researchers will follow more than 40,000 people, aged 12 and older, who use cigarettes and other tobacco products or are at risk.

Tobacco prevention efforts paying off

No one is declaring victory in the battle to keep tobacco products out of the hands of teenagers.

But the trend is unmistakably clear: Young people are smoking less and efforts to limit their access to cigarettes are making headway.

The latest indication that strides are being made in the fight against teen smoking is a recent report from re:TH!NK, the Lakeshore Tobacco Prevention Network.

The multi-jurisdictional coalition comprised of Winnebago, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties, said the level of non-compliance by tobacco retailers during an investigation from January to July of 2011 was 8.1 percent. That compared to a non-compliance rate of 9.6 percent during the same months in 2010.

Tobacco retailers in Winnebago County were overwhelmingly compliant with the law that forbids the sale of tobacco products to minors. Out of 67 attempts by underage teens to buy tobacco, there were only two sales — a non-compliance rate of 3 percent. The 2010 non-compliance rate was 4.8 percent.

"We want to make sure teenagers can't purchase tobacco by themselves," said Emily Dieringer, coordinator of re:TH!NK. "It feels like our efforts are helping."

As part of the compliance process, two youths between the ages of 15 and 17 and an adult investigator made stops at various tobacco retailers. The minors attempted to purchase cigarettes or cigars. If they were asked for identification, they provided their driver's license to clerks. On the few occasions in which they made a purchase, a police officer was summoned and a citation was issued to the seller.

Dieringer said the tobacco prevention network has stressed to retailers the importance of keeping tobacco from minors, and the outlets have been making positive strides. She said the non-compliance rate was as high as 25 percent years ago.

"Now, it's 3 percent," Dieringer said. "That's great.

"We can't control what parents do, but this is something we can definitely make a difference on."

The report on tobacco sales compliance comes on the heels of an August 2010 Wisconsin Youth Tobacco Survey showing that smoking rates dropped by 15 percent among high school students and 9 percent among middle school students since 2008.

Uzbekistan to limit alcohol and tobacco consumption from April

Uzbek President signed the law on "Restriction of distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products".

The legislative chamber of Oliy Majlis adopted the law in June 2011. The Senate approved it in August. The law will come into force from April 2012.

According to the law, alcoholic beverages include products with ethyl alcohol of more than 1.5 percent, while tobacco refers to all products of tobacco and tobacco substitutes.

The new law defines the main directions of state policy and state guarantees in limiting the proliferation and use of alcohol and tobacco products, the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Health and public bodies.

The law defines the concepts of alcohol and tobacco dependence, as well as preventing the negative impact of using alcohol and tobacco products.

It includes a set of social, legal, medical, and other measures aimed at preventing and reducing threats to public health, especially among young people.

T he state regulates the production and sale, as well as bans imports of alcohol and tobacco products containing substances harmful for human life and health exceeding the permissible limits set by the Health Ministry.

Moreover, the s tate provides health care to people affected by alcohol and tobacco in accordance with legislative requirements.

Clumsy thief makes off with $1,300 in cigarettes

Police are looking for a clumsy burglar caught on video stealing $1,300 worth of cigarettes from a Walgreens on South Federal Highway.
Boynton Beach police report that store surveillance video shows a man and woman walking toward the store around 3:13 a.m. The woman distracts the clerk in a conversation about wart medicine.
As the woman and clerk walked to the back of the store, the man jumped over the front counter and put 25 cartons of cigarettes into a large bag. He then jumped back over the counter and dropped the bag, scattering cigarette cartons across the floor right in front of a surveillance camera. He picked them all up and fled.
The male suspect is described as a black male about 30 years old wearing a long white T-shirt and brown or black Dickie’s work shorts. The woman is a black female who was wearing all white medical scrubs. They fled in a newer model white or silver Ford.

24-Year-Old Charged with Selling Loose Cigarettes

Newark police arrested and charged a 24-year-old store clerk Friday for selling loose cigarettes and possessing almost 200 Oxycodone pills, according to police.

Detective Hubert Henderson said Vianelly Gavilan, of Newark, was charged with "multiple violations" of the state's narcotics laws and with the illegal sale of cigarettes.

The arrest came after an undercover operation around 8:30 p.m. Friday when a plain-clothed officer walked into Del Nitis Grocery Store on Park Avenue in the city and asked Gavilan for "loosies" — a street term used to refer to individual cigarettes removed from the pack and sold, according to Henderson. He said Gavilan then sold the officer "loosies."

Henderson said the officer then left the store and vice detectives re-entered the store and placed Gavilan under arrest.

Detectives recovered almost five cartons of cigarettes and several loose cigarettes, according to Henderson. He said they also discovered three bottles of Oxycodone.

Authorities did not say if Gavilan was released or is in jail.

Judge Questions Images for Cigarette Packages

A federal judge peppered a government lawyer with questions Wednesday expressing doubts about whether the Food and Drug Administration can force tobacco companies to post graphic images on their cigarette packages showing the health effects of smoking.

In a two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon closely questioned Justice Department lawyer Mark Stern on whether the nine graphic images proposed by the FDA convey just the facts about the health risks of smoking or go beyond that into advocacy — a critical distinction in a case over free speech.

The cigarette companies sued in an effort to block the FDA from enforcing the requirement, which would go in effect a year from now.

The images include a cloud of cigarette smoke within inches of a baby's face; a pair of healthy lungs next to the diseased lungs of a smoker and a warning that smoking causes fatal lung disease; a smoker's stained teeth and a lip diseased by cigarettes; and a dead smoker on an autopsy table with surgical stitches in his chest and the words "Smoking can kill you."

If the judge were to conclude the images amount to advocacy, that would make it more likely that the tobacco companies would be able to block the government's latest move in regulating the industry.

Leon said he hopes to issue a ruling by the end of October.

Altria: Time To Consider Selling This Stock

It's interesting to see the stocks that are being recommended most frequently by the average retail investors. With interest rates at historic lows, few investments have gotten more attention lately than income and dividend based stocks. I would say Altria (MO) is one of, if not the most, mentioned of these stocks.

Having owned a number of high paying dividend stocks myself, I certainly appreciate the value of having these kinds of investments in a portfolio. However, just as not all companies are created equally, it is a hard fact that not all dividends can be maintained and grown either. While I have owned MO in the past, I now think people should seriously reevaluate their position in this company, and strongly consider selling this stock.

In an article I wrote several months ago, "LO: The only U.S. Tobacco Stock Worth Investing In", I discussed why LO (Lorillard) is in a far better position than both of the company's major competitors; Altria and Reynolds (RAI). Given the recent business decisions Altria has made, I now think that people should strongly look to avoid this stock.

Altria has had a good ride for sure. As the top performing stock in the S&P 500 for many years, investors have reaped significant profits from this company's strong growth and shareholder friendly policies. Altria has grown significantly over the years, and shareholders have benefited as much as anyone from the company's dedication to return value to shareholders. However, today Altria looks like a much different company. At first look, Altria's share price and dividend yield seem to suggest that the company is doing fine. The stock trades at around 12-12.5x a reasonable estimate of next year's earnings, has a dividend yield of over 6%, and has performed well even during the recent period of market turmoil. Unfortunately, if you look underneath this information, the picture begins to change.

The first red flag that jumps out when you look at MO as an investment is the debt load carried by the company. Altria portrays its business model as a cash flow machine and has grown its dividend at a double digit rate for much of the last fifty years. This is why it is interesting that the company carries about 14 billion in long-term debt despite having free cash flow of about 4 billion a year that is used almost exclusively to pay the roughly 6% dividend. Given the company's strong cash flow, the debt load would not ordinarily look that bad. However, when you look at Altria's specific debt there are some concerns that seem worth inquiring about. Altria borrowed at around 8-10% to acquire UST, an acquisition which has returned decent, but not great, results.

Class action trial against makers of light cigarettes begins in St. Louis

Lawyers are seeking up to a billion dollars in a class action suit on behalf of Missouri smokers against tobacco giant Philip Morris, accused of claiming light cigarettes were safer than regular cigarettes when they weren't.
About 700 million packs of Marlboro Light cigarettes were sold in Missouri from early 1995 until the end of 2002, the time period the suit covers, plaintiff's attorney Stephen Swedlow argued as the case opened Monday in St. Louis
The suit, filed in 2000, is not meant to blame Philip Morris for the personal choice of someone choosing to smoke perfectly legal cigarettes, he said.
"The problem is, this product is mislabeled," he said. "You don't get to sell low-fat yogurt that isn't low-fat."
The light cigarette packages promised lower tar and nicotine when they were made with the same tobacco as regular cigarettes, and smokers might compensate for the lower nicotine by inhaling more deeply, he said.
"The reason this is the most genius fraud in the state of Missouri is because smokers can't figure this out for themselves," he said.
He said Marlboro Light cigarettes are the best-selling cigarette product in the state.
Philip Morris attorney Beth Wilkinson argued that Marlboro Light cigarettes are different than regular Marlboro Reds, and include eleven percent less tobacco, more ventilation, and a longer filter.
Both types of cigarettes carried the same surgeon general's warnings, she said. She said many sources say the light cigarettes deliver less nicotine, and that by 1981 the public health community knew that people might compensate by inhaling more deeply with light cigarettes, she said.
"So how is that a secret?" she said.
She said the class action lawyers can't say how large their class is, when its members began smoking, and its habits of smoking Marlboro Light cigarettes.
Philip Morris attorneys said the plaintiffs produced an economic model that estimated damages at around one billion dollars. If the jury finds in favor of the plaintiffs, punitive damages would be determined in a second phase of the trial.
The trial is expected to last until around Thanksgiving. Twelve jurors and eight alternates were seated Monday morning.
Several class representatives were originally part of the suit, but the last remaining one is Deborah Larsen, 60, of Jefferson County. She smoked about a pack and a half of Marlboro Lights a day from 1979 until 2002, when she quit. Philip Morris attorneys say she was sought out by the plaintiff's attorneys to represent the class.
This is the second large tobacco trial in St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael David's courtroom this year. In April, big tobacco companies prevailed in a sweep of verdicts against hospitals seeking to recoup the costs of treating smokers' diseases. That trial started in January and took two and a half months to present.
In 2003, another case involving the marketing of light and low-tar cigarettes as safer led to a $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris in Madison County Circuit Court. The Illinois Supreme Court overturned it, and earlier this year the case was revived by a lower appeals court.

Cigarette label warnings turn horrific

The federal government is set to paste horrifying new warning labels on all cigarette packages in Canada.

QMI Agency has learned the labels will include photos of a skeletal woman dying in a hospital bed, a swollen tongue blackened with tumours and an image of a child wearing an oxygen mask.

Tobacco companies have until March next year to comply. Retailers will have until June 2012 to make sure their shelves are stocked with only the new packages.

Packs of smokes already have graphic warnings, including rotting teeth, lung tumours and limp cigarettes saying smoking kills erections. They take up about a third of the packaging.

All boxes currently list the toxic chemicals included, and are banned from using the terms "light" or "mild."

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in July that the federal government cannot be sued for health damages caused by smoking -- tobacco companies insisted Ottawa be included as a third party.

Most provinces and territories are currently suing tobacco companies to try to recoup health care costs.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration insists on warning labels that include a photo of a corpse with post-autopsy chest staples. American tobacco companies are suing the government.

Ashfield businesses pass police cigarettes test sting

ALMOST one in six businesses in Nottinghamshire sold tobacco to under-18s during a recent test purchase operation across the county.

Nottinghamshire County Council Trading Standards Officers worked with volunteers aged 15 to 17 on the operation at newsagents, grocers, petrol station and small supermarkets in the districts of Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood, Broxtowe and Bassetlaw.

Of the 57 premises checked during week commencing 22nd August, sales were made to the young volunteers in nine. But no sales to under-18s were made at the premises tested in Ashfield.

Owners at the nine shops will now be interviewed by Trading Standards Officers and a decision will be taken on what, if any, action will be taken against them.

Shops can be fined up to £2,500 if found guilty of selling cigarettes to under-18s.

If a premises, person or company sells tobacco or cigarette papers to under 18s twice in two years, the County Council can apply to the Magistrates’ Court for a Restricted Premises Order or a Restricted Sales Order, which can ban sales for a period of up to a year.

Coun Mick Murphy, cabinet member for community safety at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “It is disappointing that so many premises in Nottinghamshire have been willing to sell tobacco products to children without challenge, despite clear guidance to the contrary.

“Trading Standards work closely with local businesses who want to ensure that they do not sell tobacco to under-18s by giving advice on their legal responsibilities, as well as tips on how to avoid selling all age-restricted products to young people.

But whilst we recognise that the majority of retailers are responsible, we will come down hard on those who flout the law.”

Smoking curbs obesity, but should still be reduced

Scientists publishing new research through the National Bureau of Economic Research have concluded that quitting smoking is the biggest quantifiable cause of obesity.

In a working paper released Monday morning, Charles Baum of Middle Tennessee State University and Shin Yi-Chou of Lehigh University in Pennsylvania found that a decrease in the average number of cigarettes smoked per person in America likely causes an increase in obesity.

Referring to the Body-Mass Index, a crude but common obesity measurement, the researchers write: “We find that cigarette smoking has the largest effect: The decline in cigarette smoking explains about 2 percent of the increase in the weight measures. The other significant factors explain less.”

Other variables Baum and Yi-Chou compared include food stamp enrollment, the physical demands of people at work and urban sprawl. Urbanization and food stamps were both related to obesity, but not nearly as much as the nationwide decrease in smoking in recent years.

Though they found continuing or starting smoking helps curb obesity, Baum and Yi-Chou aren’t suggesting people should smoke.

“No one recommends cigarette smoking (or higher cigarette taxes) as a means to combat obesity,” the economists wrote.

Moody's Lifts Outlook On Reynolds American To Positive

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday boosted its outlook on Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) to positive from stable, saying it expects the tobacco company to continue to grow profits despite fundamental weaknesses in the U.S. cigarette market.

The credit ratings firm also affirmed Reynold American's Baa3 rating, preserving its position on the last rung of investment-grade territory. Moody's said the rating could get an upgrade if the company sustains strong credit metrics and successfully manages litigation and regulatory challenges.

"Litigation and regulation remain ongoing risks, but the effects will likely be mitigated and/or delayed by legal challenges from both RAI and the industry and diversification into adjacent categories such as smokeless tobacco," said Janice Hofferber, a senior vice president at the ratings firm.

Reynolds American, the nation's second-largest tobacco company behind Altria Group Inc. (MO), has seen cigarette pall mall volumes decline due to demographic changes and widespread public-smoking bans. Still, the company in recent years has turned its attention to a few core brands, such as Pall Mall and Camel, and is looking to smokeless products like its Grizzly moist snuff for growth.

Second-quarter results from Reynolds American saw earnings slip 11% as the company booked a litigation charge and saw costs rise.