Businesses Face Choice In Smoking Ban

The statewide Indiana smoking ban goes into effect in just a few days, but some local businesses are still struggling with how to comply. Although the ban will prohibit smoking in public facilities such as restaurants, nursing facilities and mental health facilities beginning Sunday, bars, casinos and other private clubs are exempt. Establishments such as Just-N-Time Bar & Grill, 132 S. Main St., Milford, and Huntington Street Bar & Grill, 704 N. Huntington St., Syracuse, that are already 21 and over and allow smoking will not make any changes in response to the ban. So, where does that leave restaurants that serve as a bar later in the evening? They have two options: ban smoking or ban children.

 While the decision was easy for some restaurants, others still aren’t sure what to do. Duffy’s Pub & Grub, 717 S. Huntington St., Syracuse, will remain a smoking establishment. A sign on the door reads, “Notice to all customers: Effective July 1, 2012, we will no longer have a family room. You must be 21 years or older to enter our facility.” Owner Greg Greed said the decision was a financial one, and an easy one at that. “Economically, adults that smoke bring in more money to my facility,” he said. “Banning it would hurt my business.” The four or five patrons sitting at the bar Tuesday afternoon were all smoking cigarettes, agreeing with what Greed said about the ban. He also said he believes it should be the owner’s decision on whether smoking should be allowed in a restaurant. “I already have enough government in my life,” Greed said, laughing.

 Pie Eyed Petey’s announced Tuesday it would try to give its customers the best of both worlds. The Lake Tippecanoe location will remain a smoking establishment and ban anyone under the age of 21, while the Syracuse location would ban smoking and remain a family restaurant. The announcement, made on Facebook, attracted more than 75 comments within a few hours. Smokers and non-smokers alike were upset with the decision to allow smoking at Lake Tippecanoe. Other restaurants believed they would profit more by banning smoking, including The Frog Tavern and Channel Marker in Syracuse and Ye Olde Pub in North Webster.

The Down Under Bar & Grill, 801 N. Huntington St., Syracuse, has been thinking about the ban for many weeks now. Although it currently offers a non-smoking family room, the bar is not enclosed and smoke can drift throughout the basement. In May, employees distributed a survey to regular customers to get a feel for what the clientele wanted to see as a result of the ban. “The general outcome was some customers wouldn’t visit as often if they couldn’t bring their kids,” kitchen manager Carlos Hall said. However, the owners still aren’t sure what they will do.

“We won’t know until this weekend,” Hall said. “There will be an employee meeting on Thursday.” At that meeting, the restaurant will decide which they value more: the bar atmosphere or the family room. An employee at Jimmy’s Restaurant and Lounge, 407 W. Himes St., North Webster, said they, too, are unsure of what they will do. Restaurants have until Sunday to decide if they will remain a smoking facility or not, and there is no grace period. Violating the smoking ban is grounds for fines of up to $1,000 and the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission will be checking for compliance.

Actors to give voice to anti-smoking ads

Bollywood stars will now be roped in to thwart smoking. The government has finalised a plan to run messages from protagonists of films in which they themselves indulge in the act of smoking. As per the plan, finalised by the I&B and health ministries, an audio message from the lead actor/ actress will be played at the start of the film and during the film’s interval to create awareness regarding the ill effects of smoking on health. The rule has finally seen action in Gangs of Wasseypur which has the anti-smoking warning being delivered by Manoj Bajpayee.

The decision to run voice-overs of the leading actors of the film, that aim at discouraging smoking, was taken after it was found that inserting a video clip inside a running movie was not feasible and could raise copyright issues. It is understood that the Union information and broadcasting ministry has also decided to allow a representative of the health ministry, as a special invitee, on the regional boards of the Central Board of Film Certification so as to oversee implementation of smoking rules. The CBFC grants certification to the films before they can be released for public viewing. Speaking to this newspaper, I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma stated that the I&B ministry was playing the role of a facilitator in ensuring that smoking is discouraged in all forms.

“We have held wide consultations with all stakeholders and all issues have been discussed to ensure that new rules do not impede the creativity of film makers while at the same time ensuring that smoking is discouraged,” the I&B secretary added. It is also understood that old and foreign films are likely to be kept outside the ambit of new smoking rules. It was felt that while old films had already secured certification, for foreign films this proposal could raise copyright issues. As part of the new rules a disclaimer regarding the ill-effects of the use of tobacco products will be run in the beginning and during the interval of the film. The packets of cigarettes and other tobacco products will also need to be blurred.

Passaic smoking-ban vote to be postponed

A final vote on an ordinance to ban smoking in all municipal buildings, parks, and recreation areas in the city of Passaic has been delayed after the City Council tweaked some of the language. There have been some changes to the language of the ordinance since it was introduced on June 12, Passaic spokesman Keith Furlong said. As a result, the ordinance is being pulled from Tuesday nigh’s agenda and a new version will be introduced on July 3, Furlong said. Furlong said because of the proposed changes, the city clerk didn’t have time to advertise the revised version, so the whole process will start over on July 3.

No word was available Monday on what changes have been made to the bill. “The lawyers just wanted to make sure that everything was done right in terms of the procedure,” Furlong said. The smoking ban appears to have widespread support on the City Council and is expected to be adopted. The original version created a 35-foot radius around all municipal buildings where smoking would be prohibited. It also bans smoking at all municipal parks, playgrounds and recreation areas. Passaic’s proposed ordinance grew out of a statewide campaign by Global Advisors for a Smokefree Policy (GASP), a Summit-based non-profit that has pushed through smoking bans on public property in 122 municipalities in New Jersey.

 Karen Blumenfeld, the executive director of GASP, said the campaign’s goal is to get all 566 municipalities in the state to sign onto the smoking ban. She said the goal of the campaign isn’t to create another way for local police to write summonses to violators, but to send the message that smoking is dangerous to everyone and should not be accommodated in public spaces. “The U.S. Surgeon General has repeatedly said that there is no safe level of second-hand smoke,” she said. “This is really about sending the right message to children in the community that smoke-free environments are healthful environments.”

 Blumenfeld said smokers generally obey the bans and light up only where it is legal. She compared the smoking bans to the use of alcohol, which is generally prohibited in public parks and playgrounds. The original version of Passaic’s ordinance bans smoke from cigarettes, pipes, cigars, or “electronic smoking devices.” Violators would be subject to fines ranging from $250 for the first offense, $500 for a second offense, and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

Millions of dollars spent in Jordan on tobacco by women smokers

Click this link: http://www.freetobacco.info/  and enjoy the best articles about cigarettes and tobacco.
Jordanians spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year on smoking and women’s consumption of tobacco is actually more than that of men, according to a report. Diana is an example of a woman whose smoking habits support the figures. Diana has been a smoker for seven years and consumes at least 40 cigarettes a day and spends around 150 dollars on tobacco every month. “I love smoking and enjoy it,” she said. “Right now, I am not thinking of quitting.”


 Curiosity and love of adventure is how Diana, like many other girls, began to despite many people frowning down on women smokers. The social factor did not prevent the number of women smokers from increasing until it even exceeded that of men, according to the Expenses Survey report for the year 2010. Some women prefer the water pipe, or the narghile, to cigarettes because they find it more entertaining regardless of the cost. While one narghile smoker says she spends 400-600 dinars every month, another argues that the narghile is cheaper than cigarettes.

 According to Malek al-Habashna, head of the Awareness Department at the Jordanian Ministry of Health, Jordanians spent around 352 million dinars on smoking and this figure jumped to 481 million in 2010. “This means a 36 percent increase in what we call direct expenditure.” Indirect expenditure, Habashna added, is the money the state spends annually on the treatment of the side effects of smoking. “This amounts to 700 million dollars per year.” Several factors drive women to smoke, the most important of which is financial independence and then the desire to follow a “modernized” lifestyle, the remarkable drop in marriage rates, and lack of monitoring on the part of parents.

Poodie’s Hilltop Roadhouse in Spicewood initiates smoking ban

Poodie’s Hilltop Roadhouse, located in Spicewood, has decided to initiate a smoking ban for restaurant and bar patrons beginning July 5. The venue, which was opened in 2002 by Willie Nelson’s stage manager of 34 years, Randall “Poodie” Locke, had allowed smoking inside the roadhouse for the past 10 years. Poodie’s is known as one of the last great roadhouses in Texas and is reported to be a frequent of Willie Nelson and other notable country music figures.

“I’ve been thinking about this over the whole last year,” Poodie’s owner Sharon Burke said. “Everyone’s pretty supportive of the change. Most of my patrons are so happy to see this bar alive and honoring the tradition Poodie left.” The smoking ban was initiated because of health concerns for Poodie’s employees and musicians. “My staff just became so sick after the weekends,” Burke said. “Musicians wouldn’t come in because of the smoke, so patrons won’t come in.”

While smoking will no longer be allowed in the restaurant, there is a two-tiered deck outside to accommodate smokers. Poodie’s will celebrate “The Last Smokeout,” an event to commemorate the last day of smoking, with bands performing throughout the day July 4. The following day, Poodie’s will introduce the policy with headlining acts Larry Joe Taylor and William Clark Green. Poodie’s is located on 22308 W. Hwy 71.

Three caught smoking pot in OCPD parking lot

Spokeswoman Jessica Waters took to the Ocean City Police Department's Twitter feed Thursday to issue a public service announcement to its followers: "Word to the wise ... Smoking pot in the parking lot of the Public Safety Building may land you in jail!" The warning issued is one most would consider self-explanatory, but it came on the heels of OCPD officers catching three men doing just that at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

 Ocean City Police house their headquarters at the building. An officer was getting off a midnight shift and, while walking back to the 65th Street building after putting some things in her personal vehicle, smelled marijuana coming from a black Hyundai with its windows down and three men inside. Officers approached Cranberry, Pa. residents Vance Austin Embry, 19, Wayne Michael Jelinek and Julian Dominick Jordano, 19, and ordered them to exit the vehicle.

 While searching the vehicle, officers located several bags of marijuana, paraphernalia and dextroamphetamine -- a drug commonly used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy. Having someone arrested for smoking pot in the police headquarters parking lot is a first for as long as Waters can recall, she said. "Every now and then you have a 'wow moment,' and that was definitely a 'wow moment,' as Oprah would say," Waters said.

 Embry was charged with possession of marijuana and three counts of possession of paraphernalia, while Jelinek and Jordano were charged with possession of a dextroamphetamine. Jelinek had been charged the same day with second-degree assault and affray. Those charges spurred from a different incident.

Nomura excluded from $6 billion Japan Tobacco share sale

Japan has excluded Nomura Holdings from working on the government's sale of roughly $6 billion worth of Japan Tobacco shares, in a blow to Japan's largest broker as it grapples with an insider trading scandal. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday it had chosen JPMorgan Chase & Co , Daiwa Securities , Goldman Sachs and Mizuho Securities as underwriters for the share sale by the world's third-largest cigarette company.

 But it was the absence of Nomura, which dominates Japan's underwriting market with an unrivaled network of retail clients across the country, that caught the market's attention. "This is the sort of deal that one would have expected Nomura to be a shoe-in for," said Makarim Salman, head of Japan financials research at Jefferies in Tokyo. "Investors will start to worry whether there will be other such announcements on the horizon, particularly with Japan Airlines' IPO coming up."

 The decision came after Nomura earlier this month acknowledged for the first time that its employees had leaked confidential information on three separate public share offerings in 2010, confirming the findings of regulators, which have been probing the matter for months. The finance ministry is planning to cut the government's stake in Japan Tobacco to one-third from half to raise money to help fund reconstruction efforts in areas devastated by last year's earthquake and tsunami.

 The deal will easily rank as one of the largest equity offerings in Japan this year and was actively sought by banks eager to gain a track record with the government, even though the fees are expected to be relatively small.