Anti-smoking drug linked to father's suicide

The suicide of a Tasmanian father of three has prompted a warning from a coroner about the anti-smoking drug Champix.

Champix has been blamed for several suicides interstate and overseas but it is believed to be the first time the drug has been linked to a suicide in Tasmania.

Coroner Glenn Hay found it is impossible to say the drug was a direct causal link of the man's suicide.

But he found there was sufficient connection for him warn the community about the drug's side effects and any contra-indicators when taking it.

The drug's producer Pfizer Australia says some neuropsychiatric symptoms, including suicidal behaviour, have occurred in patients on the drug.

Mr Hay warned it was important those using medications such as Champix disclosed any history of mental illness to their doctor and stop taking the drug if mood or behaviour changes occurred.

QUIT Tasmania's Michael Wilson says that after the man's suicide it surveyed 64 clients known to be using the drug.

"Most of them were OK with it but there was a small percentage that had experienced some sort of nausaea or negative change in their mood, including anxiety or depression, but nothing major," he said.

Bhutan to Remain Smoke-Free

Since the Kingdom of Bhutan’s smooth transition to democracy in 2008, the population has found few issues to get riled up about.
The policy framework of Prime Minister Jigmy Y. Thinley’s government has centered around Gross National Happiness – a concept introduced by the country’s much-revered fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, which gives equal priority to economic development, the preservation of the environment and the promotion of culture among other criteria.

But the country’s tobacco ban – which is often described as draconian – is the biggest exception, sitting somewhat at odds with the GNH philosophy.

Speaking on Tuesday at an informal gathering with Indian writers, publishers and filmmakers in Paro, Bhutan, Mr. Thinley said he would not share his personal feelings on the law. However, he made it pretty clear he was not a huge fan of this piece of legislation, speaking of the “tyranny of the majority” while explaining how it came into being.

The country’s 2010 Tobacco Control Act, which builds on an earlier ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products, prohibits smoking in most public places and sets severe penalties for tobacco smuggling. People are allowed to bring small amounts of tobacco products into the country but must declare it at customs and pay hefty duties on it. Tobacco consumption is allowed in homes and in restricted areas of public places like hotels, but only if they apply for licenses.

The debate over the tobacco ban has flared up again in recent months following the first arrests under the law. Sonam Tshering, a 23-year old Buddhist monk, was the very first. In March, he was convicted to three years imprisonment on charges of smuggling, according to a court document posted on the Web site of Bhutan’s leader of the opposition.

Legislature Debates Changes to Voter-Approved Smoking Ban

The battle over smoking in tavern restaurants is highlighting the power state lawmakers have in overturning the voter's ballot initiatives. An Assembly bill currently being heard in Carson City would cancel sections of the voter-approved Nevada Indoor Clean Air Act.

Assembly Bill 571 would allow adults-only taverns that serve food to also allow indoor smoking. Tavern owners say a 2006 ban crippled their profits and cost jobs, but health advocates say overturning that ban will violate the will of the voters and cost lives.

When smoking was banned at Nevada's tavern restaurants in 2006, the American Lung Association declared victory. AB 571 leads health advocates to wonder what they fought for.

"You need over 98,000 signatures to get on it. Everybody works really hard, gets all the education out, and after three years, the legislature can mess with it? They can void parts of it or change it?" said Amy Beaulieu with the American Lung Association. "It's like the legislators are saying that the voters were stupid because they didn't know what they were voting for in the first place."

Despite 310,000 Nevadans voting for the 2006 ban, the legislature can change or repeal the voter's will after a three year waiting period. Nevada is one of 21 states that allows politicians to overturn a popular vote initiative.

"People have bemoaned the fact that lots of bad legislation that's been poorly written by very specific and narrow interest groups have been passed in California," said UNLV political science professor Ken Fernandez.

The Tavern Owner's Association says that while the smoking ban narrowly passed in 2006, a compromise initiative favored by the taverns nearly became law.

"Question Four, on the other hand, is the second hand smoke initiative that the tavern owners and slot operators at the time put forward only lost 48 to 52 percent statewide and actually had won in Clark County. The will of the people is very tight," said Tavern Association President Roger Sachs.

But an American Lung Association poll taken four months ago shows 83 percent of voters support the smoking ban law as it stands, with 65 percent "strongly supporting."

The Assembly Ways and Means Committee has not yet voted on changing the tavern smoking ban. A similar attempt in 2009 was narrowly defeated.

Circle K agrees to guard against selling tobacco to minors

About 4,000 Circle K stores, including two in the Quad Cities area, will enhance efforts to eliminate underage tobacco sales as part of an agreement with nearly 40 attorneys general.

Circle K must adopt specific procedures designed to reduce sales and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors at all of its corporate-owned and franchise stores.
The agreement follows multiple incidents involving Circle K retail workers allegedly selling tobacco products to minors. None of those incidents are cited in the agreement.

There are two Circle K stores in our area – one in Rock Island and one in East Moline, Illinois.

“To its credit, Circle K is joining the roster of companies that have committed to a leadership role, by ramping up safeguards against youth access to tobacco, in Iowa and nationwide," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said.

The agreement with Circle K includes training for personnel, independent compliance checks and advising franchise operators of serious consequences for selling tobacco to underage customers.

The agreement is called the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance. The agreement includes these terms:

ID must be checked on all persons who appear to be under 30, to protect against mistakes by clerks in evaluating a person’s age by their appearance alone.
In-store advertising of tobacco must be limited in ways intended to reduce the effect on young people, and outdoor advertising is to be eliminated at stores within 500 feet of playgrounds or schools.
Employee training will focus on the mechanics of eliminating underage tobacco sales, and will also emphasize the serious health issues that give rise to the legal efforts to restrict youth access to tobacco.
Circle K will test itself on the effectiveness of its own safeguards against underage sales by conducting “mystery shopper” compliance checks at 500 of its stores every six months.
Circle K voluntarily agreed to pay the attorneys general a total of $225,000 to be used for such purposes as consumer education, public protection, or the implementation of programs protecting against tobacco use by minors.
“We commend Circle K for joining us in this ongoing effort to keep tobacco out of the hands of young people,” Miller said.

Alcohol And Tobacco Compliance Operation Held Locally

The METRICH Enforcement Unit issued a press release denoting an alcohol and tobacco compliance operation conducted Monday by local law enforcement agencies and members of Community Action for Capable Youth.

During the operation, a number of young people under the age of 21 were taken to local liquor permit and retail locations in an attempt to purchase alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

In all, 73 retail locations were checked with employees at 10 of the locations having sold some type of an alcoholic beverage and five employees having sold some type of tobacco product.

Two employees sold both alcohol and tobacco products.

Each employee was cited for their violation and will be required to appear in court at a later date.

Each alcohol-related case will be presented to the Ohio Investigative Unit for potential citations of the liquor permit holder at each location.

MSA Clause Impacts State Tobacco Payments

The 2011 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) payments from participating tobacco companies were made in April, as usual. Altria, the nation's largest cigarette manufacturer and parent of Philip Morris, paid $3.5 billion, roughly half of the total annual payment due to the states. However, unlike past years, $267 million of that total was deposited into the "Disputed Payments Account," established under the MSA, causing a shortfall in the amount the states expected to receive.

The Disputed Payments Account, created as part of the MSA, enables tobacco companies to challenge the amount of their annual assessments. Under the agreement, if the tobacco companies can prove they lost market share due to the existence of the MSA itself, and that the member states have failed to rigorously enforce the MSA, a portion of the payments due each year may be rebated to the cigarette producers.

In arbitration, the tobacco companies made the case that market share diminished as a direct result of the MSA. However, the second test - adequate state enforcement against non-participating manufacturers - remains unresolved for each year going back to 2003. As a result, there are more than $3 billion in tobacco settlement payments now sitting in the Disputed Payments Account awaiting a final arbitration ruling. This has been a slow and tedious process.

Arbitration for 2003 is currently underway. Decisions on the following years, 2004 to the present, are not expected anytime soon and have yet to be scheduled. No resolution of those years is expected until sometime after 2012. To date, we have seen no evidence that state enforcement has been lax.

Cigarette Maker Posts 1Q Profit

Cigarette maker Lorillard, Inc. posted a first-quarter net income profit of seven percent Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. The increase came from higher prices on the cigarette maker’s Newport and Maverick brands. Lorillard sold nearly 10 percent more cigarettes on gains of eight percent from Newport and increases of nearly 23 percent for brands such as Maverick and Old Gold.

Lorillard, the nation’s third-largest tobacco company, reported a net income of $248 million, or roughly $1.71 per share, for the period that ended March 31. Lorillard’s income was up $16 from the $232 million reported last year. The Greensboro, N.C. tobacco giant said its revenue excluded excise taxes, which rose 14 percent. According to Lorillard, non-menthol Newport cigarettes introduced in November attributed to the increase in volume, although the company ending up spending more just promoting the new product. In a conference call with investors, CEO Murray Kessler said the Newport brand is just very strong and continues to organically grow."

Zacks Investment Research Analysts Reiterate a “Outperform” Rating on British American Tobacco

Zacks Investment Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of British American Tobacco (NYSE: BTI) in a research note to investors on Thursday.

Shares of British American Tobacco traded down 0.93% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $87.99. British American Tobacco has a 52 week low of $56.00 and a 52 week high of $89.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $84.67 and its 200-day moving average is $78.91. The company has a market cap of $87.286 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88.

British American Tobacco plc is a holding company that owns, directly or indirectly, investments in the numerous companies constituting the British American Tobacco Group of companies. Its brand portfolio includes Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall. Dunhill sells in approximately 120 countries. 41 billion Dunhill cigarettes were sold during the year ended December 31, 2009. Kent is sold in more than 70 countries. Lucky Strike’s markets incude Germany, Spain, Japan, France, Italy, Argentina and Chile. Pall Mall offers a range of cigarette and make-your-own products. On June 17, 2009, it acquired 85% stake in Indonesia’s cigarette maker PT Bentoel Internasional Investama Tbk

15pc supplementary duty on cigarettes suggested

Imposition of 15 per cent supplementary duty on cigarettes and bidi could lead to reduction in 2.72 per cent consumption of cigarettes and 4.2 per cent bidi, an expert working in the anti-tobacco campaign said in the city Tuesday, reports BSS.

Presenting the keynote paper at a workshop, Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids (CTFK) media and advocacy coordinator in Bangladesh Taifur Rahman said the 15 per cent tax could help the government earn Tk 18,117 million.

The workshop on 'Tobacco Taxation: Developing Media Campaign for Budget 2011-12' was organised by PROGGA, an NGO, in cooperation with Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) at a city hotel Tuesday.

Representatives from print and electronic media shared their views on anti-tobacco campaign.

Rahman said the country's 81 per cent people support higher tobacco taxation but it is unfortunate that a vested quarter is lobbying actively to resist imposition of higher tax on bidi in the forthcoming budget, ignoring its harmful effect on public health and bidi factory workers as well the tobacco cultivators.

The expert suggested that a specific tax should also be imposed on bidi side by side with the supplementary duty to help reduce the price gap between cigarettes and bidi.

He also recommended advocacy journalism to support imposition of higher tax and exposing the 'behind-the-scene' lobbying of the multinationals for drastically reducing tobacco use in the country.

Bangladesh is now one of the highest tobacco consuming countries in the world as around 43.3 per cent adult use tobacco and tobacco products, while around 27.2 per cent use other tobacco products.

About 42 million people in the country are exposed to passive smoking in public places and transports.

About 10 per cent of the world's tobacco users are in Bangladesh and the tobacco users have increased by 7.5 per cent in five years from 2004 to 2009.

According to a report, over 57,000 people die of tobacco-related diseases and some 16 per cent of all deaths of the people aged 30 and above are attributed to tobacco use.

New York City sues to recover $6.5 million in lost cigarette taxes

New York City has sued an out-of-state Internet ring in federal court for allegedly depriving it of $6.5 million in tax revenue by selling hundreds of thousands of cartons of untaxed cigarettes.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims Kentucky-based Cigarettes Direct to You, or CD2U, sold unstamped cigarettes through numerous websites and via telephone.

Various companies and individuals in Kentucky, California and Michigan used the CD2U name to sell the illegal cigarettes, the complaint says.

From 2003 to 2009 they shipped 437,721 cartons, or 4.37 million packs, of bootlegged cigarettes into New York City without paying for city or state tax stamps, in violation of federal racketeering and anti-trafficking laws, the suit says.

The city excise tax was $1.50 per pack or $15 per carton.

The suit claims the defendants violated the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2341, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1961.

Some of the cigarettes were then purchased by other defendants who illegally resold them in the city, according to the lawsuit.

One defendant allegedly bought 322,320 packs of the bootlegged cigarettes in a three-year period, according to an April 21 statement on the city's official website.

Also included as defendants are the suppliers that allegedly distributed the contraband cigarettes to the Internet ring.

"The city was accordingly injured in its business and property by reason of the defendants' operation of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity," the suit says.

The city seeks to recover the $6.5 million it says it lost in tax revenue, as well as treble damages as penalties under both the CCTA and RICO.

One cigarette can do a world of damage

I saw a killer in action last week.
I saw a driver toss a burning cigarette.
When Texas is windy and tinderbox-dry, any spark can burn a town, taking with it homes, dreams and, sometimes, firefighters' lives.
The cigarette landed just shy of grass. It could have easily flared up like in Fort Davis, or near Possum Kingdom Lake, or near Gorman.
If that driver had waved a loaded gun, police could have arrested him.
But in Texas, the punishment for tossing a lit cigarette is only a littering ticket.
That's not enough.
Lubbock fire officials are already cracking down. With West Texas and the South Plains burning around them, they warned last week that anyone carelessly tossing a cigarette that starts a fire might face trial on an arson charge, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
"A guy flicked a cigarette in front of me the other day, and it exploded in sparks," Deputy Chief Chris Angerer said.
"I couldn't believe someone would toss out a burning object."
Two weeks ago, he said, a reckless smoker started a fire that burned a fast-food restaurant.
Nobody died. But Lubbock firefighters risked their lives. Workers lost jobs. The city will lose tax money while the restaurant rebuilds.
Humans start 9 in 10 wildfires, according to the Texas Forest Service.
Texas' arson law includes felony punishment for anyone whose cigarette recklessly sets fire to a building or injures anyone.
That is, if prosecutors can find who tossed the cigarette.
Tossed cigarettes aren't simply a fire risk. They're expensive.
The Texas Department of Transportation has campaigned against cigarette litter through its "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign.
About half of Texas' litter involves cigarettes, wrappers, cigars or matches, according to the department.
Cleanup cost: $23 million a year.
Doris Howdeshell of the department is retiring after 32 years, including 23 with "Mess."
"People don't realize a cigarette can cost somebody their house and everything they own," she said.
She knows.
A cousin lost her home last week near Snyder.
"Even if they don't start fires, the cigarettes wash into our water," she said.
"I just cannot believe anyone would throw out a lit cigarette."

Senate Passes 53-Cent Tax Increase On Cigarettes

Vermont lawmakers who rejected a proposal to jack up the state's per-pack cigarette tax by a dollar have OK'd a smaller increase - 53 cents.
The state Senate voted in favor of the smaller amount Friday, a day after defeating the $1-a-pack increase amid worries that it would drive cigarette buyers to neighboring states and also cut the business Vermont gets from New York and Massachusetts cigarette buyers.
State officials say the 53-cent hike would raise about $5.9 million annually.
Supporters say adding taxes to cigarettes can help discourage people from smoking and at the same time raise money for the state.

DRS reminds retailers against cigarette making machines

The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) today reminded cigarette and tobacco retailers that the use of commercial cigarette-making machines by unlicensed manufacturers is illegal. Commercial cigarette making machines require a Connecticut cigarette manufacturer’s license and compliance with fire-safety, packaging, and other requirements. Retailers that continue to offer the use of such commercial “roll-your-own” cigarette machines may be charged with a misdemeanor and subject to arrest.

DRS Commissioner Kevin Sullivan said, “Connecticut is one of a number of states that have concluded that the use of commercial cigarette-making machines at retail establishments constitutes the illegal manufacture and sale of cigarettes. Issues that range from the proper licensing of the retailer and compliance with the Connecticut Tobacco Directory, to the ingredients in the tobacco and fire safety of the cigarettes, make this a practice that cannot be allowed in Connecticut.”

Commissioner Sullivan said DRS issued Policy Statement 2011(1), “The Use of Commercial Cigarette-Making Machine in a Retail Establishment,” to explain the agency’s position on the matter and outline the penalties for non-compliance. In addition to facing thousands of dollars in fines and potential arrest, retailers that defy the law may also lose their cigarette or tobacco products license and could face federal penalties.

“This is a no win situation for merchants who think they can get around state tax law to sell cheaper cigarettes,” Commissioner Sullivan said. “By manufacturing cigarettes on their premises, these businesses are actually exposing themselves to a host of rules and regulations they never anticipated. It just isn’t worth it.”

'Hangover Part II' monkey is not addicted to cigarettes

That little monkey in "The Hangover Part II" isn't just stirring up trouble on-screen.

Director Todd Phillips has landed in hot water after saying that he got Crystal the capuchin hooked on cigarettes.

“I wanted the monkey to smoke so we had to train her to," he told Total Film Magazine, according to Movieline. "Now I have PETA after me because the monkey's become addicted to cigarettes. She was just shooting Cameron Crowe's movie 'We Bought a Zoo.' And the monkey won't stop smoking."

After alarming animal lovers with his comments, Phillips made it clear that he was kidding.

"If you read the story, it doesn't even make sense. 'On the set of her new film, she won't stop smoking cigarettes.' Umm. Really? Maybe just take them away from her," Phillips told Movieline. "Or at least take her money away so she can't buy them any longer."

Phillips added that he told the story simply to switch things up after being asked the same questions by journalists.

"Obviously, the monkey in the film NEVER smoked a single cigarette. There are people on set whose sole job is to protect that monkey," he said. "Even if I wanted her to smoke it wouldn't be allowed. By the way, she also appears to do cocaine in the movie, but I guarantee you that she didn't do that either (I can't, however, comment on Ken Jeong's cocaine use in the film)."

"The Hangover Part II," starring Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms, and Justin Bartha, opens May 26.

Violent criminals expand into cigarettes

A recent wave of state tobacco tax increases, designed to pump revenue into cash-strapped local governments, is inspiring an increasingly dangerous cigarette smuggling industry where big profits lure violent criminal gangs and drug traffickers into the booming illegal market, according to law enforcement officials and court records.

Larry Penninger, acting director of the tobacco diversion unit of theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), says investigations and prosecutions involving tobacco trafficking have been increasing as smugglers flood high-tax states with cigarettes from low-tax states.

From 2007 to last year, 27 states raised their cigarette taxes, according to Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which closely tracks tobacco tax rates across the country. Mackinac describes tobacco smuggling as an “unintended consequence of high cigarette taxes.”

There is so much illicit money to be made, Penninger says, that some drug and weapon trafficking organizations are adding tobacco to their product lines to boost profits. For example, in low-tax states such as Virginia, where cigarettes cost about $4.50 a pack, smugglers can sell a truckload (typically 800 cases) in New York at $13 a pack. New York is the highest tobacco taxing jurisdiction in the country.
Smuggling costs states and the federal government about $5 billion, according to U.S. government estimates. “Everybody out there (involved in illegal trafficking operations) is tapping into tobacco,’’ Penninger says.
Since 9/11, much of federal law enforcement has focused on terrorism, but tobacco smuggling is attracting fresh interest.
•Last year, the ATF reported 357 open cases involving tobacco smuggling, compared with a handful a decade earlier.
•During the 2010 fiscal year, the Justice Department reported 71 new prosecutions referred by the bureau, a 39% increase from the year before, according to records compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University in New York.
•Seizures of cash and property also have been rising, from $11 million in the 2007 fiscal year to $31.5 million in the 2009 fiscal year.

Lower cigarette tax will cost state

The cost of cutting cigarette taxes by a dime, as the House of Representative would like, will undoubtedly cost New Hampshire much more than the loss of $9 million in revenue.

Encouraging smoking by reducing the cost will pose a significant and long-term health-care cost to the state, especially as it relates to pregnant women and children.

Consider that the first-year medical costs alone of a premature birth are about 10 times greater ($32,325) than that of an uncomplicated full-term birth ($3,325).

Smoking directly affects fetal growth and, as a result, increases the risk of a baby being born smaller or with low birth weight. So how many more women will be induced to smoke if cigarette taxes drop? It is a tough question, but the tobacco lobby clearly believes lower taxes will create more smokers.

It is estimated that about 165,000 people smoke in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, many of these are pregnant women who are increasing their odds of a premature delivery by smoking. And many of those pregnant women's deliveries and care will be paid for through Medicaid.

State budget writers need to consider that pregnant women on Medicaid are 2.5 times more likely than other pregnant women to smoke, according to Medicaid data analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, joint estimates by the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have found that smoking-attributable neonatal health care costs for Medicaid total almost $228 million, or about $738 per pregnant smoker.

In fact, clinical trials have shown that, for every $1 invested in smoking cessation programs for pregnant women, $7.75 is saved in short-term medical costs and an additional $7.63 (in 2002 dollars) is saved in long-term costs by preventing disability among low birth-weight infants who survive.

A drop in the cigarette tax will have the opposite effect: increasing smoking rates among pregnant women which will cost everyone more.

Studies show that women who stop smoking before or early in pregnancy decrease their risk of having a low birth-weight baby to nearly that of women who have never smoked. Women who stop smoking later in pregnancy can still significantly increase their chances of a healthy birth outcome.

So why would our state want to take steps to encourage pregnant women to smoke by making cigarettes more affordable? The cost is simply too high for taxpayers and children.

Five Pleasanton businesses cited for selling cigarettes to minors

Five Pleasanton businesses were cited over the weekend for selling cigarettes to underage police decoys.
On Saturday Pleasanton police cited the Vista Bottle Shop on West Las Positas Boulevard, Beverages and More on Johnson Drive, Chevron on Hopyard Road, Union 76 on First Street and Shell on Hopyard Road for selling cigarettes to someone under 18.
According to a press statements, plainclothes officers and decoys visited a total of 38 businesses. The other 33 establishments visited did not sell cigarettes to minors.
Violators are subjected to either a misdemeanor or a civil action, police said. Fines for a first offense start at $200.
Officers also checked to make sure each business had a valid tobacco retail license, and that they had posted mandatory signs that say selling tobacco to people under 18 is prohibited.
The sting was in conjunction with the Alameda County Public Health Department.