Chancellor says banning cigarette sales on campus in line with KU values

The days of buying cigarettes at Kansas University’s student unions may be nearing an end.
KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said a ban on cigarette sales would gain support. 
“Perhaps now the time has come to take a stand and make a statement and I see the ban probably more as a statement of the values of the university than as a way to change the nature of students' use of tobacco,” she told KTKA-TV.
Without discussion, the Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday asked university chief executives to come up with a policy on the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products on campuses.
The university officials are scheduled to have a recommendation for the board in March.
KU’s Lawrence campus and Kansas State University are the only two of the six regents universities that allow cigarette sales on campus, according to a regents staff memo.All six state universities prohibit smoking in all university buildings, residence halls, student unions, centers and university vehicles, according to a memo from the regents staff.

Budget plan adds tax on soda, cigarettes

Smokers would have to pay $1 more in taxes on a pack of cigarettes, soda drinkers would have to pay a penny more per ounce on a can of soda, and gamblers would get more time to play Quick Draw and video-lottery terminals under Gov. David Paterson's budget plan that was unveiled Tuesday.
And watch out on state highways: The governor's proposal would install cameras to nab speeders at 40 work zones and 10 other locations.
With the state facing a $7.4 billion deficit in fiscal 2010-11, Paterson is proposing $1 billion in new taxes and fees. The proposal is much lower than the $8 billion in new taxes and fees in the current year's budget.
But if approved, the new taxes would still hit many New Yorkers. Some lawmakers and groups were quick to assail the proposed charges.
"New York should be reducing its tax burden and growing its economy, not making our worst-in-the-nation tax burden even more onerous," said Mike Elmendorf, state director of National Federation of Independent Business.
The cigarette tax would increase the current $2.75 per-pack tax by $1, giving New York the highest tax on cigarettes in the country. The state estimates it would bring in $218 million a year.
Advocates said the tax — and the one on sugary drinks — would make the state healthier.
"Today's budget announcement shows that New York can once again become the national public health leader in tobacco control," said Scott Santarella, president of the American Lung Association in New York.
James Calvin, president of the state Association of Convenience Stores, said the Democratic governor should not increase cigarette taxes until the state begins collecting the tax on Native American reservations — something Paterson and previous governors have been unable to do.Paterson wants to seek regulations to stop wholesalers from selling unstamped cigarettes on Native American reservations and try to collect the tax.
But the plan will take months to formulate.
The excise tax on sugary drinks would mean about a one penny per ounce tax on sodas and other sugary drinks. So the $1 cost of a 16-oz. bottle of soda would increase by about 16 cents, budget officials said. Dietary aids, infant formula and milk would be exempt.
The proposal, which fizzled last year, would bring in about $465 million a year for the state. PepsiCo Inc., based in Purchase, and other bottlers have fought it.
In a statement, Kevin Flood, an executive with Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. in New York, said the company estimates the tax would increase the price of soft drinks by 50 percent or more.
"A tax of this magnitude will result in major job losses in the beverage industry. It will not reduce obesity. It is not intelligent public policy," Flood said.
Paterson proposed a severance tax on some natural-gas producers. A 3 percent tax would be imposed for producers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale formation in the Southern Tier and in central New York that use horizontal wells.
The Independent Oil & Gas Association opposes the tax. Brad Gill, the group's executive director, said despite the state's fiscal woes, "let's not drive out an industry that can help upstate New York get through this time of hardship."
Environmentalists were critical of the budget because Paterson would cut $79 million from an environmental fund and impose a moratorium on open-space land acquisition.The Adirondack Council called it a "declaration of war on New York's environment."
The governor wants to eliminate many restrictions on the hours and locations for the Quick Draw lottery game. Racetracks with video-lottery terminals would be able to expand hours. Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chairman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, said he didn't think the proposals would pass the Legislature.
aterson again wants to let grocery stores sell wine, a plan beaten back by liquor stores. Paterson would let liquor stores sell additional products and let them own more stores as a compromise.
But Jeff Saunders, founder of the Last Store on Main Street coalition, said the proposal could lead to store closures and job losses.
The budget proposal included a fee ranging from $45 to $540 per child per quarter for early intervention services provided by the state, based on income.
Filing fees at courts would also increase.
Paterson would legalize mixed-martial arts competitions in New York, which could bring in about $2 million a year in revenue.

Cops warn of counterfeit cigarette coupons in Pa.

Police in one northwestern Pennsylvania township say someone tried to pass a counterfeit cigarette coupon at a convenience store.
Vernon Township police say a 20-year-old man tried to use a phony coupon for $4 off a pack of Marlboro cigarettes at a Sheetz store near Meadville on Sunday.
Police say the coupons are made to appear as though they are from a company called Smartsource, which offers coupons online and in mailed circulars.
But police say the coupons are bogus and that the computerized bar codes on the coupons can not be read by cash registers.
Police haven't charged the man in Sunday's attempt, but are investigating leads that suggest the coupons were produced locally. Vernon Township is about 85 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Educate smokers about dangers

The federal government is taking its first steps toward regulating tobacco companies under a law that was signed last year by President Barack Obama.
Beginning in June, the Food and Drug Administration will compel cigarette makers to supply a list of the ingredients in their products. While this may sound reasonable, the truth is that it is unnecessary given the limited benefits, potential pitfalls and the already declining rate of smoking in the United States.
For starters, the number of smokers in the United States is steadily falling. According to a recent Associated Press report, about 20.6 percent of American adults smoke cigarettes. That’s down from 24 percent just 10 years ago. In addition, the number of cigarettes sold declined 12.6 percent in the third quarter last year compared to the same quarter a year before.
The data show that health concerns, smoking bans and increasing taxes are cutting into the number of smokers. Efforts to decrease smoking should center on these areas.
In South Carolina, for example, much could be done to curtail smoking if lawmakers would simply increase the state’s ridiculously low cigarette tax. South Carolina’s tax is a notorious 7 cents per pack. Even increasing it by 50 cents could have a tremendous impact on reducing the number of smokers in this state.
Under the new federal law, the FDA will require tobacco companies to report exactly what’s in their products. It will then publish a list of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients by June of 2011.
The collection of data seems reasonable on its face. After all, as Lawrence R. Deyton, the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, told AP recently, “Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don’t know what’s in them.”
However, there’s legitimate concern the new law could give people a false sense of security about some cigarettes. It’s already a known fact that cigarettes and other tobacco products cause cancer. The best option is to quit using them. Suggesting, even unintentionally, that one cigarette may be safer or contain fewer harmful ingredients than another could mislead consumers.Furthermore, this change is the first step in a law that gives the government broad control over an otherwise legal product. The law lets government require larger warnings on cigarettes, ban candy flavored cigarettes and restrict how cigarette companies advertise. There’s real reason to be concerned about such restrictions.
Anti-tobacco advocates favor this bill and see value in the government’s ability to identify dangerous chemicals and those that can enhance cigarettes’ addictiveness. FDA could then develop standards and ban some ingredients or combinations of ingredients, according to the AP report. But cigarettes still would be a dangerous product.
The bottom line is that cigarette use is declining even without these requirements. A better approach would be for anti-tobacco advocates to continue working toward higher cigarette taxes in states like South Carolina. And states should implement better education programs using more of the billions of dollars they get every year from the 1998 tobacco settlement, their state tobacco taxes, and federal funding. Such efforts would go further than this federal law can to ensure more individuals are informed enough to decide that smoking is a potentially fatal choice.

Gas Station Robbed Of Cash, Cigarettes

Roseville police said a gas station convenience store was robbed Tuesday, and the armed culprits took cash and cigarettes.
The robbery took place at 10:36 p.m. in the 1500 block of Eureka Road, police said.
Nobody was hurt during the robbery.
Officials said the robbers were described as two black men in their 20s. One was about 6 feet tall, and was wearing a green and cream camouflage-patterned hooded sweatshirt and dark-colored baggy jeans, police said. The other was about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with a thin beard along his jawbone. He was seen wearing a black beanie, a gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

UAE issues anti-tobacco law

all kinds of advertisements, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products.
The legislation prohibits smoking on public transport and closed public places and says no licence will be issued to cafes or similar outlets serving any types of tobacco or its products inside residential buildings or quarters or near them. Smoking will also be banned during vehicle driving in the company of a child under 12 years. 
The law sets a series of penalties against offenders reaching in addition to a jail term of not less than two years.

"Fire Safe" Cigarettes hit Georgia

There's a big change this year for Georgia and Alabama residents who smoke.
New "fire safe paper" will became mandatory January 1st, though most manufacturers made the switch a while back.
The goal --- to prevent unattended butts from starting fires.
The new paper will extinguish itself, if left unattended. Some smokers criticize the new paper, but fire officials praise it.
"We have a lot of fires throughout the nation yearly because of discarded smoking materials, cigarettes can smolder for a while even if you're not puffing on them and sometimes they can be discarded in a couch or bed if you're going to sleep, anything that would make it safer is a great idea," said Batt. Chief Keith Ambrose, Albany Fire Department.
38-states already use the "fire safe paper".