Ex-tobacco employees up for racketeering

Seven former British American Tobacco employees face racketeering charges if National Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelane grants the go-ahead to amend theft charges against them, the Weekend Argus newspaper reported on Saturday.

The former employees, Pienaar van Heerden and his wife, Anthea, John van der Vent, John van Rooy, Phillip Gorden Heynes, Reginald Fisher and Terrence Keyster, appeared briefly in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Friday where they are currently charged with stealing more than R6.9 million in cigarette shipments.

When they appeared in court, it emerged that the State was applying to amend the charges to more serious counts of racketeering under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

The syndicate’s operations allegedly included the theft of about 590 boxes of cigarettes, mostly Peter Stuyvesant, intercepted while being shipped from the Gauteng plant to the firm’s laboratory in Stellenbosch to undergo quality testing.

Prosecutor Mzukizi Mazandwa asked on Friday that the case be postponed to allow the State to get necessary authorisation from Simelane.

Mike Loftus, who appeared on behalf of three of the accused – the Van Heerden couple and Van der Vent – said the State had already had more than three months to prepare.

Mazandwa then asked that documents seized at the homes of the accused during their arrests be unsealed to allow investigators to peruse and copy them.

The legal representatives for the accused objected to the State’s request.

Loftus described the State’s move to unseal the seized documents as a “blindside”.

He added that he had no objections to a postponement as long as it was marked final.

Magistrate Jasthree Steyn granted the postponement but denied the requests to unseal documents or to amend the bail conditions, saying that the defence did not have any time to receive instructions from their clients.

Obama scolds tobacco firms for fighting new labels

President Barack Obama — pronounced tobacco-free in his latest medical checkup — has tough words for cigarette makers.
Some tobacco companies, he says in a new White House web video, are fighting new cigarette warning labels because "they don't want to be honest about the consequences."
The video, provided to The Associated Press in advance of its release, observes Thursday's 36th "Great American Smokeout" by the American Cancer Society.
Obama says the country has made progress in reducing the number of Americans who smoke but notes that 46 million are still addicted.
"The fact is, quitting smoking is hard," he says. "Believe me, I know."
Obama has fought the habit by chewing nicotine gum, and his last medical report, issued Oct. 31, declared him tobacco-free.
"Tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable early deaths in this country," Obama says in the video. "We also know that the best way to prevent the health problems that come with smoking is to keep young people from starting in the first place."
In 2009, Obama signed legislation to help keep young people from lighting up. In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved new warning labels that companies would have to place on the top half of cigarette packs. Some of the labels are powerfully graphic and include images of a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, the corpse of a dead smoker, diseased lungs and a smoker wearing an oxygen mask.
Companies led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. sued the FDA in August to block the labels, arguing the labels cross the line from fact-based warnings to anti-smoking advocacy. R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard declined to comment on the Obama video. Altria Group Inc., parent company of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, is not in the lawsuit.
Earlier this month a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in the suit, blocking the requirement that would have begun forcing tobacco companies next year to put graphic images on their cigarette packages. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said it is likely the cigarette makers will succeed in their suit to block the new standard.
"Today, some big tobacco companies are trying to block these labels because they don't want to be honest about the consequences using their products," Obama says. "Unfortunately, this isn't surprising.
"We've always known that the fight to stop smoking in this country won't be easy."

Brain’s Natural Marijuana-Like Chemical Could Lead to New Meds

Researchers have discovered a new way to boost the effects of anandamide — a natural chemical in the body that provides pain relief similar to marijuana.

Anandamide has been called the ‘bliss molecule’ for its similarities to the active ingredient in marijuana. As part of the body’s endocannabinoid system, this neurotransmitter has been shown in studies to offer analgesic, antianxiety and antidepressant effects. It also plays a role in regulating food consumption.

In the study, led by Daniele Piomelli, researchers identified an “escort” protein in brain cells that transports anandamide to sites within the cell where it is broken down by enzymes. They discovered that anandamide’s potency is increased when this protein, called FLAT, is blocked.

Previous work by the researchers suggests that compounds boosting anandamide’s natural abilities could form the basis of pain medications without the side effects of sedation, addiction or other central nervous system problems common with existing painkillers, such as opiates.

“These findings raise hope that the analgesic properties of marijuana can be harnessed for new, safe drugs,” said Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology. “Specific drug compounds we are creating that amplify the actions of natural, marijuana-like chemicals are showing great promise.”

For the study, Piomelli and his colleagues used computational methods to study how FLAT binds with anandamide and escorts it to cell sites to be degraded by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) enzymes. Blocking FAAH activity increases several effects of anandamide without triggering the “high” of marijuana.

Researchers hypothesize that inhibiting FLAT (FAAH-like anandamide transporters) might be especially useful in controlling certain types of pain.

Specific types of pain that could be helped by this discovery could include pain caused by damage to the central nervous system. It is also thought that it might help people break addiction to drugs such as nicotine and cocaine.

The study appears in the online version of Nature Neuroscience.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of California, Irvine; Italy’s University of Parma and University of Bologna; and the Italian Institute of Technology.

Sexy pot ads provoke debate over medical marijuana goals

In 2009, as Los Angeles' booming medical marijuana economy inspired an emerald city of weed, Vanessa Sahagun found a business opportunity as "Chacha Vavoom," maven of the 420 Nurses.

Chacha and her "nurses" became a pot culture phenomenon. They savored bong hits on YouTube, modeled skimpy outfits to promote marijuana dispensaries – and stirred young men at medical pot shows teeming with sexual imagery.

"I was proud I was opening up a market creating 'green jobs' for these ladies," said Sahagun, 25.

But now, the sexual marketing of medical marijuana – with racy promotions that often trump the beer industry's swimsuit models – is at the center of an uncomfortable debate in the medicinal cannabis community.

Fifteen years after California voters legalized use of medical marijuana amid images of ailing AIDS and cancer patients, pot dispensaries featuring "bikini budtenders" suggest a different message: pot as a recreational pleasure.

"I've often said how offensive it is that we have naked girls with cannabis leaves or mini-mini-mini-skirts," said Lanette Davies, a Sacramento dispensary operator who condemns others in the industry for marketing sex. "That has nothing to do with medication."

Davies, whose family runs the Canna Care dispensary, said some in the industry "believe there is more money" marketing to recreational marijuana users. "That's not what people voted in. That's not why we're supposed to be here," she said.

Ryan Landers, a Sacramento AIDS patient who leads a medical marijuana policy group called "the Compassionate Coalition," said trade shows featuring "Hot Kush Girl" contests and spicy ads "make my job a hell of a lot harder to convince people what we're doing is true and real."

Most medical marijuana dispensaries refrain from suggestive advertising – and some even feature multiple sclerosis patients or car accident victims who use cannabis for chronic pain.

But the California Organic Collective dispensary in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley touts bikini-clad counter attendants in ads that depict a buxom nurse holding a red, nipple-shaped stethoscope to her breast.

The Reserve dispensary in Sacramento County employed a model in a metal-studded brassiere and Old West gun belt to promote a super-potent "Green Ribbon" strain packing 25 percent of marijuana's psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

"They claim to be offering medicine, yet they're using marketing techniques reminiscent of some of the lowest standards of the beer industry," said John Lovell, a lobbyist for the California Narcotics Officers Association.

At the "HempCon" medical marijuana trade show this month in San Jose, the event's own marketing director took exception when she passed a booth for a magazine called Cali Chronic X. It featured seminude models posing suggestively with pot and exotic smoking accessories.

"I don't know why we have to mix marijuana with porn," protested Shawna Webb, a communications professional who uses medical cannabis for pain from a ruptured disk.

Webb said sex is the wrong image for the industry, particularly as California's four U.S. attorneys are targeting pot dispensaries for prosecution and threatening their landlords with property seizures under federal drug laws.
But Jeffrey Peterson, publisher of Cali Chronic X and a performer known as "the 420 comic," said he is making a stand against what he sees as prudish advocates who deny pot's popularity as a recreational drug.

"How dare do these people, who think they represent the cannabis culture, single out the edge of this culture – because we are the cannabis culture," he said.

Near Peterson at the San Jose trade show, Leslie Henck, a Bay Area go-go dancer, wore a bikini as the spokesmodel for a company selling joint-rolling machines. "You don't have to look unhealthy to need medical marijuana," said Henck, 19, who says her recommendation for pot helped her deal with anxiety.

"Sativa Grace," a model for Cali Chronic X, came to the show dressed as a tawdry Alice in Wonderland. Sativa's real name is Andrea Frye. The 21-year-old, who works in an adult novelties store, said she is empowering women.

"Hey, I may have sex appeal," she said, "but I can smoke all day like a guy."

Sahagun, a.k.a. Chacha Vavoom, started 420 Nurses as Los Angeles lit up with neon marijuana leaves from hundreds of new dispensaries. She sold outfits with hot pants sporting green medical marijuana crosses for women seeking pot modeling jobs.

"We went out with our cute uniforms, and I noticed a big response," Sahagun said. "I knew there was a fire there."

She said her "nurses" earn $10 to $25 an hour working in dispensaries or passing out business cards for doctors recommending marijuana – or $100 to $1,000 a day for promotional photos and videos.

At the "Kush Expo Medical Marijuana Show" in Anaheim this month, the 420 Nurses were joined by the Ganja Juice girls and a bikini troupe for an Orange County dispensary sponsoring the Expo's "Hot Kush Girl" contest. A whooping, largely male throng cheered as 21 women competed for signature edition bongs and cash prizes.
"The marijuana industry is male-dominated, and dudes love to look at hot chicks," said Ngaio Bealum, Sacramento publisher of a marijuana lifestyle magazine called West Coast Cannabis.

Bealum, who bills his publication as the "Sunset magazine of weed," said he doesn't run sexually suggestive ads.

And Bic Pho, marketing director for the Yerba Buena Medical Cannabis Club's six San Jose dispensaries, junked ads with bikini models after deciding they projected a bad image for medical marijuana.

"I just didn't feel it was appropriate. So we stopped," he said. Now the dispensaries advertise a damsel, fully clothed, in pirate's attire.

"We went with a pirate theme," Pho said, "just something to remember us by."

Big Tobacco launches legal fight with govt

The Gillard government's plea to Big Tobacco not to launch legal action against Labor's plain-packaging laws has fallen on deaf ears, with Philip Morris announcing it has already served notice of a dispute.

The federal parliament on Monday passed world-first laws that will force all cigarettes to be sold in drab olive-brown packs from December 2012.

Health Minister Nicola Roxon immediately demanded that Big Tobacco respect that mandate.
"We know that just as many smokers are addicted to tobacco and nicotine the tobacco companies are addicted to litigation," Ms Roxon told reporters in Canberra.

"But I call on them today to consider respecting the will of the parliament.

"Both houses, and all parties, have supported this legislation."

But less than an hour later, Philip Morris announced it had already begun legal proceedings using a bilateral investment treaty Australia signed with Hong Kong 20 years ago.

"The notice of arbitration was served on the government immediately following the passage of plain-packaging legislation for tobacco products by the Australian parliament," parent company Philip Morris Asia Limited said in a statement from Hong Kong where it's based.

Philip Morris forewarned the government of its plan in late June, when it entered a three-month mandatory negotiation period through the United Nations commission on international trade law.

The cigarette manufacturer argues the commonwealth is effectively planning to steal the company's brands in contravention of the investment treaty.

Philip Morris said on Monday that damages could run to billions of dollars and the legal process could take "two to three years".

"In passing the laws today, in our view, the government has breached an international treaty," Philip Morris spokesman Chris Argent told AAP.

"Plain packaging will damage the value of our brands and there are international business laws against that."

But legal experts believe things aren't that clear-cut.

A lawyer who's had more experience than most fighting cigarette companies in court, Peter Gordon, told AAP in late June that Philip Morris was actually on shaky ground.

Mr Gordon argued that the commonwealth wasn't taking away the property rights of tobacco companies but rather ensuring they weren't used to improperly promote cigarette use among kids.

At the same time, international law expert Don Anton noted that public regulation for a public purpose was not direct or indirect expropriation "and therefore is not prohibited by the investment treaty".

Philip Morris, like British American Tobacco Australia (BATA), also plans to launch domestic action in the High Court of Australia.

Ms Roxon was asked on Monday if legal action would delay the start of plain packaging.

"We don't believe that it needs to," she replied.

"(But) I'm not going to go through the legal ins and outs and possibilities as we potentially face litigation in lots of different forums."

Tobacco tax windfall should help smokers, Liberal leader says

In its reply Friday to the Speech from the Throne, the Liberals also called on the government to immediately reverse its decision to delay a hike in the minimum wage, abandon any plans to introduce a two-tiered wage system, and publicly disclose what cuts it is considering in the upcoming budget.

Interim Liberal Leader Victor Boudreau used his speech response in the Legislature to ask the Tories to support proposals the Liberals plan to present in the upcoming session.

That includes spending the extra $25 million in new revenue the Alward government found earlier this year by increasing the tobacco tax by 45 per cent.

"We know that chronic disease is one of the biggest contributors to the growing costs of health care," Boudreau said. "We propose this session that money raised by government through this tax be put towards the cost of a smoking cessation program for New Brunswickers addicted to nicotine.

"That investment would go a long way to helping reduce our costs for chronic health care."

Boudreau also called for full public disclosure of internal departmental reports that identify cuts to be considered for the upcoming budget, so New Brunswickers can have their say in how to balance the province's books.

"If you want New Brunswickers really involved in the budget process, make those reports public," Boudreau said. "Table them in the legislature before we break for Christmas."

The Shediac-Cap-Pelé MLA also reiterated calls for the immediate reversal of the Alward government's decision to delay the minimum wage increases. As well, the Liberals are calling on government to abandon its plans to introduce a two-tiered minimum wage system in New Brunswick.

For the second straight day, the Liberals also called for a special legislative committee tasked with consulting the public on shale gas development in the province.

The committee would host a series of public hearings and allow New Brunswickers to further weigh in on regulations the government brings to the table for shale gas development.

The Tories delivered its second speech from the throne since taking power earlier this week, pledging to continue to search for savings while growing the economy.

Alward's government also promised to begin reforming municipal government over the next two years - without forcing municipalities to merge - develop an action plan to improve access to family doctors and health clinics and make New Brunswick a leader in early childhood development.

Boudreau's speech on Friday also attacked the Tories at length for social service cuts that the Opposition believes have targeted the ordinary New Brunswicker.

"We understand that the recession hurt us. It hurt everybody," Boudreau said. "And while many places are actually far worse off than we are, we understand also that our province's deficit has to be trimmed. That means making some difficult decisions. We get that.

"But there's a smart way to do this. A way that focuses on job creation. A way that considers investments in things like education and training that will pay for themselves in the long run."

Indianapolis to consider stricter smoking ban

A new, enhanced smoking ban could be in place in time for the Super Bowl next year, one that bans smoking in all bars and bowling alleys, but the political maneuvering behind it has left some feeling snubbed.

City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn announced plans Tuesday to introduce a new ban to the council next month with the ordinance eligible for final passage on December 19, 2011.

The announcement caught several smoke-free advocates by surprise. The American Lung Association, Tobacco Free Kids, SmokeFree Indy and other organizations were planning a kick-off event Thursday to push for a tougher ban. Republican Councilor Ben Hunter and Democrat Angela Mansfield planned to introduce a stricter ordinance in early January, once Democrats took control of the council. They said there would be more support for a ban then and that the revised ordinance could still be in place for the Super Bowl.

But in a news release, Vaughn noted that state requires new regulations with penalties to be posted for 30 days prior to taking effect. He said the council had to act sooner in order for the ban to be effective when the city is hosting tens of thousands of visitors during Super Bowl XLVI.

Vaughn, however, never shared his intentions with the smoke-free advocates even though he was invited to the Thursday news conference. He did however, work with the mayor's office on his proposal. (The mayor was also invited to Thursday's event.)

Republican Mayor Greg Ballard has long opposed a stricter smoking ban, which came up during the 2011 mayoral race. The mayor just won re-election after fending off a challenge from Democrat Melina Kennedy, who supported a stronger ban. During a debate sponsored by WTHR, Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis Recorder, the mayor, a former Marine, indicated he was open to compromise, as long as it didn't involve telling veterans that they couldn't smoke at their local VFW or American Legion post.

The city's current smoking ban has been in effect since 2005. The ordinance proposed by Vaughn would remove the exemption to the current smoking ban for hotel rooms, bars, restaurants serving only customers over the age of 21 and bowling alleys with the following exceptions:

Cigar/Hooka Bars: must annually generate $100,000 or 15% of gross revenue from tobacco products, only tobacco sold on site would be permitted to be consumed. Cigarette smoking would be prohibited in these establishments.

Retail Tobacco Business: whose primary business is the sale of tobacco products.

Not-for-profit private membership clubs: exempt from federal taxation and meets the definition of "private" or "fraternal" club under state statute.

Several Republican councilors have opposed a stricter ban, meaning Vaughn will likely need Democratic support to get his proposal passed.

Mayoral spokesman Marc Lotter said, the mayor would sign off on it if it reaches his desk, saying "it meets the criteria he laid out."

While Lotter insisted neither the Vaughn nor the Mayor's office went around or tried to upstage the smoke-free coalition, he did say Vaughn's was "a proposal we can get done."

Tobacco Free Kids and other smoke-free advocates endorsed Kennedy. Asked if that factored into beating them to the punch, Lotter said no, repeating, "it's a proposal we can get done."

A draft of the proposed ordinance will be available on the City-County Council website on Friday, December 2, 2011. If it passes the Republican-controlled Council and is signed into law by Mayor Ballard, the ordinance would take effect on January 22, 2012, two weeks prior to the Super Bowl.