The government of Ontario is considering province-wide legislation that would prohibit smoking in Legion branches in Ontario. Veterans who are well into their late seventies and eighties, many of whom began smoking when free cigarettes were distributed during their service, will be deprived of one of the few remaining pleasures they can enjoy in their own club. The Provincial President has argued that there is little to be accomplished in eliminating smoking at Legion branches and much to be lost. The Legion is a private non-profit club originally estabished for veterans and as long as any veterans remain, their sacrifices for freedom should continue to be respected. This position is supported by the chief opposition whip for Ontario, Garfield Dunlop, and he is encouraging Legionnaires and particularly veterans to contact their Member of Provincial Parliament to support exemption for Legions from the new smoking legislation on the basis that the Legion is a private non-profit club for veterans. We ask for your support.

http://www.on.legion.ca/_shell.asp?page=240001

By John Downing -- For the Toronto Sun, January 9, 2005

I love sitting in front of a fire -- even if I'm staring into the flames of that pallid substitute, the artificial log.

Too bad fireplaces will soon be illegal. All the warning signs are there.

Damn it all anyway! One selling point when Mary and I bought our house was that while it may have been a "starter" home, small compared to what families start off with today, it had two fireplaces. We've never moved, and a fireplace is going most nights.

It's only a matter of time before that will become nostalgia, like that lovely smell from burning leaves. (Yet the official who launched the ban on bonfires in Toronto once confessed to me that he did it not because of air pollution but because -- if homeowners got carried away with their leaf-burning -- they cracked curbs and bubbled asphalt.)

Towns got into the act, saying it was to reduce grass fires. So open fires are banned, from streets to cottage country to back concessions. I have neighbours who cheat at Burnt Point, and I go around to watch, not report them. Nothing's finer than having a cold one while pungent smoke billows.

What triggers my worry is a quote buried in those year-end media summaries of the good, the bad and the nonsense of 2004, from Rob Ford, a Toronto councillor as subtle as a mating elephant.

The tree bylaw

He exploded Sept. 30 during Toronto council's approval of a bylaw harassing homeowners (both financially and bureaucratically) if they wanted to cut down trees on their own property. "This is so foolish," he said, "what are we going to ban next? Fireplaces?"

Good for him to warn us, but he could have figured that out long ago. As the son of a former MPP, and a jaundiced observer of gliberals and socialists determined to save us as our Big Brothers, he should see they would think banning fireplaces is logical.

After all, Dalton McGuinty's provincial government and Toronto council's majority both announced plans last year to force smokers to butt out everywhere. This year they will finish smokers off with jail, fines, torture through endless lectures about second-hand smoke and, perhaps, banishment.

So why not fireplaces? Fireplace smoke will soon be as suspect as a fine cigar. Every child at the start of school will have to recite a pledge condemning smoking and promising to turn in their parents if they sneak a smoke in the car on the way to soccer practice.

(Smoking is lethal but a classic case of unintended consequences. The drop in smoking has coincided with an increase in the new health menace of obesity.)

The smartest way to get rid of garbage is incineration. We should have built a safe incinerator a decade ago, and saved acres of forests from being sacrificed to warn us about the crisis.

They'll have to go

Surely a council that hates incineration can't keep tolerating fireplaces. (I confess: I have burned paper in the fireplace that I should have recycled.)

Queen's Park has stuck us with an awkward, costly, corrupt vehicle-emissions reduction program, which the acting provincial auditor condemned on Nov. 30. James McCarter found "obvious improprieties undermine this program's integrity" -- mild when you consider Drive Clean has been a bit of a scam from the start.

It should be scrapped for all the good it does, but the government can't do the sensible thing because its bureaucrats conned all those garages into installing all that expensive machinery, and the garages would sue to recover costs.

McCarter said the province isn't adequately enforcing air-pollution standards and Ontario won't meet international standards until it does. Uh oh!

Now those standards are suspect, forced higher for us, like the Kyoto Accord, by all the competing countries trying to increase the costs in North America. But with all these do-gooders running around whipping up "atmosfear," the politicians will no doubt be hunting for new villains.

It's just a matter of months before we're threatened with $500 fines if we dare roast chestnuts over an open fire -- or just stare into the flames.

There should be some special award for ads that inspire the most Halloween costumes. If anecdotal reports are accurate, this year in Nova Scotia, Terry and Dean, stars of the Nova Scotia Office of Health Promotion's (OHP) anti-smoking television campaign, gave witches and cowboys a serious run for their money, even appearing in a local junior high-school competition where the winners of the best costume prize re-enacted the commercials.

Terry and Dean, the mulletted, headbanging Albertans from the 2002 cult-hit mockumentary FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition), have been justifying smoking to the Nova Scotia viewing public since January 2004 as part of the OHP's edgy "Great Reasons to Smoke" campaign. In each of eight spots, the characters discuss how they're better people because they smoke. For example, their manners have improved: "Since I started smoking," begins one spot, "I'd say I've been generally more polite. Like if you're at a party or something you say: 'Hey, can I uh, butt out in your plant, or do you mind if I just throw it on the floor?' Like you ask them where to butt it out."

The commercials, which target 19- to 24-year-olds, are the highest profile segment of a comprehensive anti-smoking campaign targeting 15- to 34-year-olds that OHP launched in January 2003. The broader campaign, which has an annual budget of $600,000, also includes Web, radio, print and public education components. The FUBAR commercials grew from the success of a series of "Great Reasons to Smoke" print ads that OHP ran in the first year of the program. They featured unattractive characters and tag lines like: "Great Reasons to Smoke #8-Not being able to play sports means, hey, you never lose!"

HOLDING UP A MIRROR: Smokers sound like FUBAR characters

"We looked at anti-smoking ads from around the world, then looked at what (the tobacco) industry was doing and decided to come out with a campaign that was really going to be opposed to what the industry is promoting as glamorous, as cool," says Nancy Hoddinott, OHP manager. To say that the campaign is a deviation from traditional "stop smoking" marketing efforts is perhaps an understatement; to say that it's been successful is probably the same.

Although numbers on the effect of the FUBAR spots won't be available until January, according to the annual Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, smoking rates in Nova Scotia overall have come down by 3% since 2003. "This campaign is much more successful than we'd ever thought it would be," says Hoddinott enthusiastically.

Teen smoking rates are declining in Nova Scotia, although Hoddinott admits there is still a lot to be done to make headway in the 19- to 24-year-old age group, a major target for 2005 OHP marketing efforts. "We know that young adults are not a group that has been effectively reached to date by tobacco control programs or messages," she explains. "We're just beginning to target that audience, but we're confident that over time we'll see rates drop. It's a huge task."

So huge, in fact, that getting smokers to quit is decidedly not one of the campaign's two major goals. One is a very governmental "to continue to engage our stakeholders and partners," the second is to get people talking about smoking again, something which, anecdotally, the FUBAR ads have helped to do.
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE: There's Nancy Hoddinott, OHP manager, getting Nova Scotians to butt out

"No marketing campaign on its own is going to get someone to quit smoking," says Hoddinott. "We know what works (in decreasing smoking rates) is a really comprehensive multi-pronged approach that addresses things like legislation, taxation, pricing and education, as well as how we advertise. The ads have to work in conjunction with everything else."

"I don't actually remember the last smoking ads on television that actually ran (before these)," says Philip Rosson, a marketing professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax. "This campaign was certainly very different and it got my attention. In general, these sorts of campaigns are very difficult. You're talking about trying to change deep-seated behaviour that doesn't respond to rational information."

The "Great Reasons to Smoke" campaign was built precisely on that premise. Participants in focus groups who smoked were simply asked to talk about their habit.

"We found that smokers were so defensive about the habit that they tried to justify it," says Andrew Doyle, a partner at Extreme Group, the Dartmouth, N.S. agency that created the campaign, which eventually won best of show and five golds at the Bessies, a gold at Halifax's Ice Awards and three spots on the Cannes film short list. "The ad copy was based directly on what they said. We wanted to hold up a mirror with these ads to say, you might not look exactly like this, but you sound like it, and it's not a pretty place to be."

"We wanted people talking about the ads, talking about the issue," says Hoddinott. "As a result of that, you hope to shift some attitudes because, ultimately, it's that attitude shift that will lead to behaviour change."

http://www.marketingmag.ca/magazine/current/feature/article.jsp?content=20041213_65761_65761

NORMAN DE BONO, Free Press Reporter 2005-01-09 02:07:27 

Voters lined up at malls across London yesterday to grill city politicians about the municipal budget -- and the looming 7.7 per cent property tax increase was foremost on their minds. At Westmount Shopping Centre, Kevin Worts waited patiently in line to deliver a simple, direct message -- he is tired of big tax hikes and the excuses that come with them.

"A lot of people are fed up with high taxes, that's the bottom line," he said, his voice rising in anger.

"They represent us, they need to balance the books. Every year they come up with excuses for why taxes go up. Meanwhile, some budgets are coming in at millions more than last year and they are not looked at."

He also is tired of city excuses about costs downloaded from the provincial government, he added.

"If we have to pay for something new, someone else does with a little less. Make do with less. I do it all the time."

Public meetings were held Friday and yesterday at Argyle Mall, Masonville Place, Westmount and White Oaks Mall.

Vic Cote, general manager finance and corporate services, agreed the meetings were dominated by concern over the tax increase.

"The message is very strong here, much stronger than last year, that fatigue has set in and people want to see council starting to push back aggressively" against provincial downloading of services and their costs, said Cote.

Teresa Daigle, however,

dismissed the downloading rationale, adding that the buck stops at city hall.

"City hall needs to be a lot more accountable, there is so much waste in the city," she said. "They think taxpayers are a

bottomless pit, that it never ends. I think people are really, really unhappy.

"They need to start running it like a corporation instead of something taxpayers will fund forever. They take us for granted instead of managing their money properly."

The city came under fire recently after the London Chamber of Commerce released a report by commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis stating London has the fifth-highest residential property taxes in Ontario, and some of the the highest commercial and business taxes.

The city will hold committee-of-the-whole meetings tomorrow and Wednesday to discuss the budget, expected to be finalized by month's end.

Controller Russ Monteith heard the message loud and clear yesterday, that people want brakes put on tax increases, but he also heard they want services to remain.

"Everyone wants us to hold taxes, they want us to be frugal, but they also want us to provide services," Monteith said. "It is a difficult balancing act. They want the service, they don't want it to cost too much. What they have left me with is that we have to get costs under control."

A 7.7-per-cent tax increase works out to an extra $148.53 on the property tax bill for an average home assessed at $152,000.

So far, the board has cut, or found savings, worth $11 million out of a draft operating budget first set at $659 million.

David Westhouse, president of the Military Re-enactment Society, attended the Westmount meeting yesterday in 1812 military dress to make a pitch to save funding for Fanshawe Pioneer Village.

The village is looking for $310,000 in operating cash and

$1 million over four years to fix its historic buildings. The city rejected new capital grants for 2005 to community groups, including the $1 million for the pioneer village.

"Pioneer Village is part of our heritage, it should be should be preserved. I know it's not a popular opinion, but I don't mind if my taxes go up. I think our taxes are high, but I am OK with that," he said.

Among reductions last month, council refused to spend $450,000 to get $1.6 million in federal day-care money.

It also denied $200,000 of a

$1.6-million increase sought for ambulance service.

"I have heard from the public the municipality has to look after its own budget and stop hiding behind downloading as a rationale," said Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen. "They think police are asking too much, they want reductions in expenditures.

"We can no longer afford local government."

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/01/09/852659-sun.html

JOE MATYAS, Free Press Reporter 2005-01-09

About 180 presenters will tell the provincial government what its spending priorities should be at eight public hearings across the province in the next 10 days. "The response to our call for submissions in person was strong," Chatham-Essex-Kent Liberal MPP Pat Hoy said yesterday, a day after the deadline for booking presentation time.

"We're very close to having the day filled in London and in other cities we're over-subscribed, so there will have to be discussions on how to handle that."

Hoy is chairperson of a committee of nine MPPs -- six Liberals, two Tories and one New Democrat -- that takes to the road tomorrow for pre-budget consultations in seven Ontario cities.

The first consultation is scheduled for Sault Ste. Marie tomorrow, with others to follow in Sudbury, Ottawa, Kingston, Whitby, London and Toronto.

The London sitting is set for Jan. 17 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., at the Four Points Sheraton on Wellington Road. Like the other hearings, it's open to the public.

Two days have been scheduled for Toronto, Jan. 18 and 19, with one of them featuring three budget experts selected by the political parties as expert presenters.

On the other seven days, the all-party committee will hear an average of 24 presenters a day, Hoy said.

He said the committee is also expecting "hundreds" of written submissions from individuals, groups and organizations.

The deadline for written submissions is 5 p.m., Jan. 20.

"Health and education are the two biggest items in the provincial budget and we're certainly going to be hearing about them, but we're also expecting presentations on infrastructure (roads, bridges, sewers, etc.), agriculture and the environment," Hoy said.

The committee will provide provincial Finance Minister Greg Sorbara with its report by the end of February, he said.

The province's fiscal year ends March 31 and Sorbara has forecast a deficit of $2 billion by then, down from $6 billion last year, Hoy said.

"Our government has made it clear there will be financial constraints as long as the deficit exists," said Hoy.

"Expenditure requests will have to be weighed against the need to reduce the deficit again and balance the budget by 2007."

He said the government is hoping presenters will offer recommendations on avoiding duplication and waste and providing more efficient delivery of government services, as well as their ideas on spending priorities.

WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

- Written submissions can be made to the Provincial Finance Committee until 5 p.m., Jan. 20, by mailing them to Trevor Day, Clerk of the Committee, Room 1405, Whitney Block, Queens Park, Toronto, M7A 1A2. They can also be faxed to him at (416) 325-3505.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/01/09/852662-sun.html

BILL RODGERS, Free Press Parliamentary Bureau Chief 2005-01-09

OTTAWA -- A group of doctors and public health experts will launch legal action tomorrow to force tobacco manufacturers to drop the words "light" and "mild" from cigarette packages. The group said yesterday it wants to put an end to "the most destructive, deceptive trade practice in the history of Canadian business or public health."

"We've got a problem and we're going to do whatever is necessary in the health community to solve the problem," said Garfield Mahood of the Non-Smokers' Rights Association.

"Light and mild cigarettes have been responsible for thousands of deaths and health experts feel this has to be addressed."

The association has maintained smokers have been duped into believing the light or mild brands are less dangerous than regular cigarettes.

But anti-smoking activists insist the risk is not lower and health benefits don't exist.

The group wouldn't identify the target of their legal action tomorrow, but clearly it is tiring of the federal government dragging its feet on the issue.

Shortly after taking over as federal health minister last year, Ujjal Dosanjh vowed to ban the labels from cigarette packs, but so did Allan Rock when he held the portfolio.

John Wildgust, the director of corporate affairs for cigarette maker JTI-Macdonald, said tobacco companies simply followed a Health Canada request in the 1960s to develop lighter products.

Wildgust takes issue with the allegation tobacco manufacturers are misleading smokers with the light and mild labeling, especially after years of warnings about the health hazards of smoking.

"I don't think there's anybody on the planet who doesn't realize that there's a health risk associated with smoking," said Wildgust.

He cited surveys of people who smoke the products, which show only three per cent believed there was some benefit -- 97 per cent, he said, smoked the lighter products because of taste.

The country's smoking population has been steadily declining as strict bans have been imposed in public places.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/01/09/852675-sun.html

Published 7 January 2005

Abstract (provisional)  

Hypertension is a growing worldwide problem associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, the rates of prevalence of hypertension are higher in some populations than others. Although ethnic and genetic factors have been implied in the past to explain this, the environmental influence and psychosocial factors may play a more important role than is widely accepted. Examining the non-genetic influences in future hypertension research may be necessary in order to clearly define the local blood pressure demographics and the global hypertensive disease burden.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1741-7015/3/3/abstract

Smoke-Free Homes Pre- and Post-Campaign Survey
Bulletin 378, September 10, 2004
http://www.ohpe.ca/ebulletin/ViewFeatures.cfm?ISSUE_ID=378

Plain Packaging
It is believed that the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia have the statutory authority to approve regulations that would require tobacco manufacturers to produce “plain”, non-promotional cigarette packages. Section 28 of Quebec’s Tobacco Act, Section 5(1) of Ontario’s Tobacco Control Act, Section 9(e) of Manitoba’s Non-Smokers Health Protection Act, and Section 11(2)(a) of British Columbia’s Tobacco Sales Act would arguably allow for plain packaging regulations. To date, no such regulations have been approved. It has been argued that the federal government could use its authority under Section 15(1) of the Tobacco Act to effectively strip cigarette packages of promotional elements by requiring health warnings that occupy the remaining package surface that is presently allowed for tobacco promotion.
 

environmental tobacco smoke exposure and lung cancer."

Professor G. Feuer_) _.d Professor DJ. Ecobichon_ (1991) p. c_ _ .

O) Department of Pharmacology and clinical, Biochemistry,

University of Toronto, CANADA ,, /

o)Dcpartment of Pharmacology,_therauputics,

McGill Unlversity, CANADA

Passive smoking and Lung Cancer- a critical analysis

Modern Medicine of Canada

1991 46 (4), 26-29

http://www.ncth.ca/Guildford.nsf/d5337f80c87cd006c2256bc80048b13f/f1bad333575b896085256bc8006e6ed3/$FILE/00002956.pdf

Reducing sales to children.  Store reg's don't work, change acceptance instead. Parliamentary commission documents

Our position -The Canadian Cancer Society opposes youth possession laws at this time. A possession law should only be considered as one element of a long-term, well-funded, and comprehensive strategy to reduce tobacco use among children and adults. Sept/01

http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_69614681__langId-en,00.html

A Critical Analysis of Youth Access Lawshttp://www.cancer.ca/vgn/images/portal/cit_776/48/38/69664397cw_criticalanalysisyouthaccesslaws_en.pdf

Critical Analysis of S2461: FDA Tobacco Legislation
http://www.no-smoking.org/sept04/09-09-04-5.html

Diesel Exhaust: A Critical Analysis of Emissions, Exposure, and Health Effects 0ct/97

Summary of a Health Effects Institute (HEI) Special Report
HEI Diesel Working Group

http://www.dieselnet.com/papers/9710nauss.html

Critical Appraisal of the Enstrom/Kabat paper on secondhand smoke and British Medical Journal’s role in publishing the paper

http://www.ash.org.uk/html/passive/html/BMJ0503critique.html

Smoking Ban Proposed in San Jose Parks

Sue McGuire for KCBS-740 AM 01-08-2005  

(KCBS)--An anti smoking group wants to ban the smoking of cigarettes in San Jose City parks.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the Tobacco Free Collaborative of San Jose launched a campaign this week to get more than 100 city parks free of cigarette smoke this year.

The American Lung Association released its annual "State of Tobacco" report giving California an "A" for its efforts to keep cigarettes out of public places. But the state received an "F" for not spending enough on tobacco prevention and control.

http://cbs5.com/news/local/2005/01/08/Smoking_Ban_Proposed_in_San_Jose_Parks.html

Opponent of higher taxes spurs protest
Norquist meets with Fletcher, GOP

By Tom Loftus The Courier-Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A leading national opponent of higher taxes met privately yesterday with Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Republican lawmakers, and was booed by supporters of higher funding for education and services for the needy.

Grover Norquist, founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform, said his trip to Kentucky was one of many he takes to meet with supporters and signers of a pledge that they will not vote to raise taxes. Fletcher has signed the pledge.

But Norquist's visit cost him one state legislator who signed earlier. Rep. Steve Nunn, R-Glasgow, said yesterday he wrote a letter withdrawing the pledge he signed in 1990 in his first House race.

"Considering the fiscal crisis we're in, I had to rescind it. That pledge takes away an official's independence to make decisions based on current circumstances," Nunn said. "And with a huge deficit in Medicaid and problems funding other programs, I believe we need a tax bill that raises at least $250million a year in new revenue."

Norquist had left by the time Nunn disclosed his withdrawal.

With Nunn's defection, 33 members of the 100-seat House and 16 members of the 38-seat Senate have signed the pledge. One Senate seat is under challenge.

Norquist's visit comes at the start of a legislative session that will take up state budget and tax reform bills that failed last year.

Fletcher has said he will propose a tax plan similar to the one he offered then but was rejected by House Democrats. That included a proposed increase in Kentucky's 3-cents-a-pack cigarette tax, the nation's lowest.

Last year, Fletcher sought to increase the cigarette tax by 26cents a pack, to 29cents. But he told the Rotary Club of Louisville yesterday the tax needs to be even higher.

"I'd like to push it more toward the 40 cents (increase) because I think that we ought to get that through the legislature," Fletcher said.

Last night in an impromptu interview, Fletcher said he had not yet decided on a 40-cent increase. "I haven't arrived at a number," he said. "I've just said one thing I think we can do is get near 40 cents."

Norquist, who said he requested the meeting with Fletcher, said they did not discuss the details of the governor's revised tax plan. "I just stated my support for his effort to have a revenue-neutral tax reform," Norquist said.

Norquist said an elected official would not violate the no-tax pledge by supporting a revenue-neutral plan that raises some taxes, cuts some taxes and overall does not raise additional revenue in its first year. He said Fletcher assured him that his revised plan will be revenue-neutral.

Norquist said his organization has no position on casinos and gambling, another issue that Kentucky lawmakers are likely to consider this session. He said it would not break the pledge to vote to expand gambling.

After meeting with the governor, Norquist held a news conference attended by about 70 people — many wearing T-shirts that said, "I'm not neutral about Kentucky. Why is the governor?"

Steve Boyce, a retired Berea College math professor, said the protest involved a coalition known as the Kentucky Economic Justice Alliance that supports better funding for the needy.

"What we would want to say to the governor, more than anything else, is at this point in Kentucky's history it's just irresponsible to enter into this rare and precious opportunity for tax reform by saying it has to be revenue-neutral," Boyce said.

A few protesters challenged Norquist.

"Over the last couple of months we've all heard how the past election was a triumph of moral values. I want to know what is so moral about your policies that wreak havoc on public schools, that eliminate services that are necessary for children like my 4-year-old son?" asked Kimberly Wolf of Lexington, a member of the Economic Justice Alliance.

Norquist said the effects of higher taxes on families must be considered.

"I would certainly argue that letting people control their own lives and their own resources and taking care of their own families is, of course, a moral thing to do," he said.

Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, told Norquist she thought it was irresponsible to inject himself into Kentucky's tax debate just as relations seem to have improved between Democrats who control the House and Republicans who control the Senate.

"Why in the world would you charge into Kentucky at this very critical time when we are trying to deal with budgetary issues and inject this kind of malevolence?" she asked.

Norquist said he is free to advocate his views whenever he chooses.

Roger Holsey, a self-employed painter from Lexington, said he showed up to protest because Norquist is "not giving the whole story. He's not talking about the needs."

Norquist said elected officials fall into two groups — those who make tough decisions about setting priorities and cutting unneeded spending, and those who "think governing is too difficult" and push taxes as the solution.

He said states can spend more for pressing needs by cutting middle management and by seeing if the private sector can provide some services cheaper than state workers.

Asked where Kentucky should cut costs, he said, "I would defer to policy experts from Kentucky on specifics."

After the news conference, Norquist met with groups of Republican legislators.

Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley of Richmond said later that the visit was counterproductive to reaching bipartisan budget and tax compromises.

"Here is the man who gave a famous quote that he wanted to shrink the size of government so he could drown it in a bathtub," Worley said. "I'm a conservative Democrat and I don't believe we should raise taxes, but we can't drown government in a bathtub unless we ignore important services like police protection, education and helping people in need."

But Rep. Ken Upchurch, the House Republican whip from Monticello who met with Norquist and has signed the no-tax pledge, said, "I think to say that this visit caused any trouble is an overreaction. But I'm not surprised some people say so — people who never see a tax they don't like."

Fletcher said last night that Norquist "just wanted to come down and encourage us along." He said he saw no problem with the visit.

Staff writer Marcus Green contributed to this story.
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2005/01/07ky/B4-notax01070-9463.html

A €5m Italian marketing campaign for anti-smoking products is being launched by GlaxoSmithKline this week as pharmaceutical groups gear up to cash in where their rivals in the tobacco sector are losing out.

GSK's drive to boost sales of its NiQuitin nicotine replacement gums and patches is timed to coincide with a new local law restricting smoking in the workplace and comes as Italy prepares on Monday to enforce its ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and cafés. Its rival, Pfizer, is also aiming to boost demand for its products in Europe.

The fresh focus on the smoking strongholds of southern Europe follows a 36 per cent increase in sales of GSK's products in Ireland since that country introduced a ban on smoking in public places at the end of March. That has led to a sharp rise in attempts to quit and a slump in tobacco sales in the country. GSK plans to follow up with similar campaigns in Spain and Portugal, two other Mediterranean markets traditionally associated with smoking. Quitting campaigns have attracted little interest in the past, but both countries have recently begun discussing smoking bans and an increase in tobacco taxes.

“Smoking is the greatest source of mortality in the developed countries,” said Jack Ziegler, head of GSK's consumer healthcare division. “We are reacting in these countries just as they are showing changes in attitude towards smoking.”

GSK dominates the UK market for nicotine replacement therapies, with sales of £160m (€229m) a year. The company claims that the chances of successfully quitting smoking are about 5 per cent with no assistance, and double to about 10 per cent with the aid of its products, which provide nicotine without the unhealthy side-effects of tobacco. It rises to 26 per cent when accompanied by help-lines and other support. Pfizer also claims a sharp increase in sales for its Nicoret products in Europe, including Germany where tobacco taxes have recently risen. “We have seen very substantial growth,” said Rick Rizzo, head of the company's consumer health products group for Europe.

One risk is that smokers end up becoming as dependent on the nicotine replacement products as they once were on tobacco. Some health campaigners argue that such a shift is nevertheless desirable because it has a smaller impact on health even if the impact on users' wealth remains considerable.

For those in the UK who want to try to cut costs while boosting their health, the best tactic is to seek a general practitioner's prescription.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/7d68bcda-6272-11d9-8e5d-00000e2511c8.html

Conrad Defiebre,  Star Tribune January 8, 2005

Minnesota's richest and most controversial anti-tobacco group has plunged back into lobbying for smoking ban laws after a court-ordered hiatus that lasted three years, and the move has touched off a new round of public criticism.

State Rep. Tim Wilkin, R-Eagan, has resigned from the board of the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT) because of the decision, announced Friday, to award grants of up to $1.5 million "to build citizen participation efforts to protect the public from exposure to second hand smoke."

Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, said that he, too, will quit the board over what he called its "tobacco jihad." Attorney General Mike Hatch, a DFLer who went to court in 2002 to stop MPAAT's earlier lobbying, also voiced displeasure, although his office said he plans no further legal efforts against the group.

"He's very troubled that state money is being used to lobby public officials," said Hatch spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg. "He feels it is a wrong use of the dollars."

MPAAT leaders argue that taxpayer money isn't involved because the nonprofit group's $202 million endowment came from the tobacco industry's settlement with the state of Minnesota in 1998. And they say that fostering local smoke-free initiatives is a vital element of their court-chartered mission to reduce the harm caused by tobacco.

"This is about creating a healthier Minnesota," MPAAT Chairman Michael Vekich said in a news release. "The public understands the dangers associated with second hand smoke and that is why so many communities in Minnesota have adopted ordinances or are considering them."

Spending public money on various antitobacco efforts has been a persistent sore point among smokers' rights advocates and others for years.

Wilkin and other Republicans vigorously objected to Target Market, an edgy state Health Department campaign to discourage teen smoking, before the $1 billion state endowment from the tobacco settlement that financed it was drained to help balance the state budget in 2003. A $3.4 million Health Department program met similar criticism last year when some of its grantees began pushing for local smoking bans.

That led to reminders to the grantees that "they cannot use the money for things defined in the statute as lobbying," Aggie Leitheiser, assistant state health commissioner, said Friday.

And in 2002, Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch ordered MPAAT to halt its smoking ban efforts until it was spending at least as much on helping individual smokers quit the habit.

Original intent?

Friday's announcement was MPAAT's first move back toward lobbying since then. According to the group, it has served more than 42,000 smokers through its QUITPLAN Helpline (1-888-354-PLAN), its Web site (www.quitplan.com) and efforts at clinics and workplaces.

Through June 2003, MPAAT added, it had spent $10.8 million on such cessation efforts and $4.2 million on smoke-free initiatives. For the year beginning July 1, it has budgeted $2.7 million for cessation and $1.5 million for policy efforts.

Not reflected in those numbers is an MPAAT resolution allowing its staff to lobby the Legislature in favor of a statewide smoking ban, Wilkin said.

"That puts legislators in a terrible position," he said. "I believe the new direction of MPAAT is inconsistent with the original intent of the use of these funds."

He said that to avert any conflict of interest former legislators should be appointed to seats reserved for legislators on MPAAT's 19-member board.

"This organization has essentially become a political action committee and is using taxpayer dollars to accomplish political goals," Wilkin wrote in a Dec. 6 resignation letter to House Speaker Steve Sviggum. "This may even put its tax-exempt status in jeopardy."

In addition, Wilkin said, the move back to lobbying will produce bad public relations for MPAAT's goals. "A lot of the initiatives they want to push have some political legs on their own without their help," he said. "I think it will backfire."

Rukavina said a better use of MPAAT's resources would be to fund ventilation systems for bars and restaurants that might lose business under smoking bans. Its latest move, he added, will only "start fights among people with the people's money."

Conrad deFiebre is at cdefiebre@startribune.com

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5175479.html

Research into therapeutic uses of nicotine could be boon for local company, but the road is slippery

By M. Paul Jackson JOURNAL REPORTER Sunday, January 9, 2005

Call it two sides of the same coin. A scientist studies a molecule's ability to treat diseases of the central nervous system. It is the same molecule that has been known to cause addiction and health risks to millions of people.

Sound far-fetched? Think again.

The molecule is called nicotine, and according to growing national and local research, it could have positive effects on a number of illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and chronic pain ailments.

But the research has an uphill battle. Nicotine, the main ingredient in cigarettes, is still a poisonous, addictive drug that contributes to the death of more than 400,000 people annually in the United States.

In addition, researchers and doctors remain concerned that the public could confuse the drug's promise with its threat, giving people the idea that tobacco is not dangerous. The federal government has also been slow to provide money in support of therapeutic nicotine research, officials said.

In dealing with a drug that can interact with the body's complicated nervous system, "the possibility of toxicity that you don't fully understand exists," said Michael Thun, the head of epidemiological research for the American Cancer Society.

As a drug, nicotine works by interacting with the body's maze of nerves and chemical signals, which send different kinds of information to the brain.

Studies on the drug's effect on the body's central nervous system stretch back to the early 1900s, and more information emerged through pharmaceutical studies by companies such as Merck & Co. Inc. in the 1940s and '80s. In Winston-Salem, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has performed numerous animal studies on nicotine's effects, particularly during the late '80s.

In fact, Big Tobacco's research over the years into the drug's hold on the central nervous system continues to be controversial. Last week, a former employee testified that during the '80s, Philip Morris USA deliberately shut down studies on nicotine's effect on the brain. The testimony was part of the government's $280-billion racketeering lawsuit against cigarette-makers that is under way in Washington.

Now, a growing number of pharmaceutical companies - including Targacept Inc., based in the Piedmont Triad Research Park - are betting their financial futures on nicotine in the belief that it could bring financial benefits to the health-care industry.

"It's exciting, because the nicotinic system is potentially involved in so many areas of physical and mental functions," said Jack Henningfield, the former chief of the Clinical Pharmacology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Nicotine, derived from tobacco leaves, works by stimulating nerve receptors in the brain. It also increases levels of dopamine in the body, which can improve mood and stimulate concentration.

Nationwide, research into its therapeutic potential is well under way.

In 1984, the Food and Drug Administration approved the sale of nicotine gum, which helps people to quit smoking. In 1992, the government approved sale of a nicotine patch. Both work by administering small doses of nicotine into a patient's system, which can help smokers quit.

But researchers also found that the patch could be used to alleviate the neurological symptoms typically associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Patients who suffer from these illnesses tend to smoke more - in many cases, dramatically more - than regular cigarette smokers, said Ed Levin, a behavioral pharmacologist and professor at Duke University.

Parkinson's is caused by reduced dopamine levels in the brain, for example. Research has shown that patients who smoked were replacing their bodies' own dopamine levels, said Levin, one of the country's leading nicotine researchers.

"There's some indication there's some self-medicating going on," he said.

More recent studies have shown nicotine's ability to reduce symptoms in illnesses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and schizophrenia.

"Recent advances in studies of nicotinic agents in humans have begun to more carefully define cognitive operations that can be influenced by nicotinic stimulation," Paul Newhouse, the director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at the University of Vermont, wrote in a pharmacology journal last year.

The drug works on the body through an intricate process called neurotransmission.

Nicotine closely resembles a chemical neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which helps deliver messages through the central nervous system. The body contains different nerve receptors that react to acetylcholine.

In nicotine therapy, acetylcholine attaches itself onto the body's nicotinic nerve receptors, prompting those receptors to open. The process is similar to using a key to open a locked door.

Once opened, the receptors can send chemical information to the brain.

By using nicotine as a "key," researchers hope to better modulate the flow of information to the brain.

"There's an evolving amount of interest in treatment" of neuropsychiatric illnesses, Levin said. "There's a real need there."

Developing better treatment for central-nervous-system ailments could be lucrative.

About 4.5 million people have Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association, which estimates that the disease costs American businesses about $61 billion in health-care costs annually.

Similarly, about 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson's, and about 60,000 people are found to have it each year, according to the National Parkinson Foundation.

Pharmaceutical companies are hoping that nicotine could eventually pay big dividends, experts said.

"I'm sure once the drugs start hitting the market, there will be a number of other companies that will start getting involved," Duke's Levin said.

Indeed, companies are racing to develop nicotine-based drugs.

Abbott Laboratories, a large pharmaceutical company in Chicago, began clinical studies in the summer to develop drugs targeting body's nicotine receptors.

A year earlier, Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceuticals company in New Jersey, began development of a drug to treat illnesses such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

Both companies' research is still in the early stages. Officials from the two companies did not return several calls for comment.

Locally, Targacept has been leading the charge - and betting the most - on the future of nicotine-based drugs.

Targacept, a biopharmaceutical company, was spun out from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. about four years ago. The company, named after the process of "targeting receptors," is developing a host of drugs to treat nervous-system disorders.

Unlike Abbott Labs, most of Targacept's research comes from the development of drugs resembling nicotine. In May, Targacept announced plans to go public, but it has not yet sold stock on Wall Street.

Under Securities and Exchange Commission rules, companies that are planning to go public are not allowed to promote their business, but Don deBethizy, Targacept's chief executive, did acknowledge last week that nicotine research has grown since the 1980s as advanced technology has allowed scientists to better study the body's molecular makeup.

As a result, "there's tremendous interest in the nicotinic receptor right now," deBethizy said.

The company is developing seven drugs based on nicotine research to treat diseases including Parkinson's, ulcerative colitis and cognitive impairment.

Targacept's research could bring both financial gains and a bigger national awareness of this area, economic-development leaders said.

By developing drugs based on nicotine, "there can be more health-related uses" for the research, said Gayle Anderson, the president of the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

It's "a critical issue for the state," she said.

Still, many researchers remain guarded about the drug's promise. Targeting specific receptors within the body's mass of nerve endings remains a tricky process, and the drug can still cause side effects in many patients, including nausea, vomiting and high blood pressure, experts said.

Physicians found that in some studies using nicotine on patients with attention deficit disorders, "nicotine itself isn't the therapy of choice," said Alexandra Potter, a research associate at the University of Vermont.

"The amount of nicotine needed to get positive effects in ADHD patients is close to a level that produces negative side effects," she said.

In addition, the federal government remains skeptical about providing money for nicotine research.

Much of the money for nicotine research has come from private companies, investors or the tobacco industry.

Targacept, for example, paid for a major nicotine study at the University of Vermont in 2003. Officials at the National Institutes of Health said that the agency has helped finance only two studies related to nicotine's therapeutic effects since 1999, but did not detail those grants. Most of the institute's grants have gone instead toward researching nicotine and drug addiction, officials said.

Patient advocates are also wary about touting nicotine's possible benefits.

"The tobacco industry is always eager to promote stories about the potential benefits of nicotine," said Thun, the American Cancer Society official. "This research is all very preliminary."

Despite the drug's seeming benefits, "the truth is that it also tends to scare people away," said Henningfield, formerly with federal Clinical Pharmacology Research Branch.

Targacept's chief executive disagreed.

Agencies such as the National Institute of Mental Health have become more interested in examining nicotine as a way to treat schizophrenia, and more federal support could be coming, deBethizy said.

Traditionally, "it's been hard for people to think about the possible benefits of nicotine in the face of the strong message of nicotine" as a harmful substance, he said.

The conflicting nature of the drug has researchers supporting its benefits - while almost simultaneously warning of its dangers.

Kenneth Kellar, a pharmacology professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, is doing research on the nicotine patch's effect on elderly patients. Still, he acknowledges that he is concerned that the public could confuse the drug's promise with its dangers.

"In no way does this relieve one's guilt for smoking," he said. "We do emphasize that we're not advocating smoking."

Research on the use of nicotine will continue, with doctors conducting more studies on its effect on children and the elderly. Studies on the nicotine patch have shown that the drug is not addictive at low levels, Kellar said.

"I do believe that when people are using these drugs, that it's not going to be problem," he said.

In addition, physicians said they hope to develop more molecules that mimic nicotine, allowing those molecules to interact with the central nervous system without causing side effects,

Despite its dangers, nicotine has become a viable first step in targeting disease, they said.

"It's like a scalpel," Levin said. "It can kill you, or it can cure."

• M. Paul Jackson can be reached at 727-7473 or at mjackson@wsjournal.com

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780100438&path=!business&s=1037645507703

CBC News WebPosted Jan 5 2005 08:36 AM CST

WHITEHORSE - Some bar owners in Whitehorse are refusing to fully comply with the city's new smoking by-law.

As of Jan. 1, bars were added to the list of places in the city where people are not allowed to smoke.

Jonas Smith runs the bar in the Capital Hotel, and is a director of the B.C./Yukon Hotel Association.

"Proprietors are supposed to inform people they are not allowed to smoke, and if that person fails to desist from smoking we are to report them to by-law, stop serving them, stop serving anyone procuring liquor for them and physically remove them from the premises," he says.

"And we are doing almost none of the above."

Smith says he only tells his customers they can't smoke.

After that, he says the choice is up to them.

The city says it will be reminding bar owners about the by-law's rules over the month of January.

http://ca.f608.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=6213_1915452_41249_1245_3132_0_258941_10929_784258351&Idx=11&YY=51400&inc=50&order=do

wn&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Inbox

January 5, 2005

Saskatchewan's new smoking ban has left some business owners a little confused.

Health Minister John Nilson says he wants to clear the air about the smoking ban because bar and restaurant owners are still allowing patrons to light up.

The law went into effect five days ago and some business owners believe a 60-day grace period before tickets are issued means they don't have to enforce it yet.

Nilson says the government expects businesses to apply the law now.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/news/story.html?id=eaa422c1-c608-4a53-92e6-822aadb8f00d

Jan 5 2005

Edmonton - The City of Edmonton is gearing up for a tough fight – making sure that patrons of bars, casinos and bingo halls comply with a no-smoking ban that takes effect in six months.

The city successfully enacted a no-smoking ban for restaurants 18 months ago, and issued fewer than 30 tickets. But bylaw enforcement spokesman David Aitken expects greater opposition to the latest bylaw.

"We do anticipate a tougher go of it, hence we've got a more comprehensive strategy to inform all the stakeholders of the upcoming changes," Aitken said.

City officials plan to meet later this month with operators of bars, casinos and bingo halls to discuss how to get smoking patrons to butt out.

Aitken says the city's strategy will include an ad campaign closer to the July 1 deadline.

"We believe a good communications plan, getting the word out early, talking to the bar owners, should go a long way into making a smooth change," he said.

http://edmonton.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/ed-smoking-ban20050105.html

Smoking bylaw suit set for trial -YK

WebPosted Jan 6 2005 08:34 AM CST
CBC News

WHITEHORSE - A Whitehorse restaurant owner is pursuing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the city.

Paul Douglas, who once operated a coffee shop in Whitehorse, is suing over the city's smoking bylaw.

He claims it was implemented unfairly because it gave bar owners an extra year to comply. His business closed last year.

Douglas says business dried up shortly after the city implemented a public smoking ban for restaurants.

Douglas says if he wins even a small amount of damages, the city could be in for a major financial hit.

"It opens up a Pandora`s box for them, they could have every restaurant in town suing for lost profit revenue, whatever, for that year," he says.

"Did you know that the only place in all of Whitehorse where you can legally have a cigarette is at the Whitehorse General Hospital smoking room?

"Now if you can have a smoke there, why can't you have a smoke elsewhere like in a bar or restaurant for that matter."

Douglas is claiming $5.6 million in damages.

Despite fighting the case with no lawyer, Douglas has now managed to get the case approved for trial.

It's set to go before a Yukon Supreme Court judge on Jan. 20.

http://north.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/whse-smoke-05012005.html

Despite ban, some business still permit smoking -SK

 Last Updated Jan 5 2005 10:34 AM CST

REGINA – Saskatchewan Health Minister John Nilson wants to clear the air about the new provincial smoking ban – but some business owners say the government is being a little hazy.

Five days after the introduction of Saskatchewan's law, many bar and restaurant owners are still allowing patrons to light up.

Some say they feel they have that right after hearing the province won't be ticketing offenders for the first 60 days.

"Well is it a law right now?" asked Regina's Grady Schuett, one of the owners of the Bart's on Broad restaurant.

"They're not fining anyone. I think all of us are still kind of just up in the air and wondering exactly what is going on."

Although there are no ashtrays on the tables, Bart's is still allowing customers to smoke in a designated area.

But Nilson said while there is a grace period when a new law like this takes effect, if owners allow smoking, they are breaking the law.

"We have our enforcement officers who will be going around to the establishments to talk to people to find out... whether they understand how the law works and how it affects their business," he said.

If there are "major challenges" to the law, the government will look at those on a case-by-case basis, Nilson said.

"Appropriate actions will be taken," Nilson said.

Under the Tobacco Control Amendment Act, which took effect Jan. 1, smoking is banned in all enclosed public places such as restaurants, bars, bingo halls, casinos, bowling alleys, taxis, and private clubs.

http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/smoking050105.html

Smoking tickets still possible in first 2 months: Nilson -SK

 Last Updated Jan 7 2005 08:16 AM CST

REGINA – Despite what some people may believe, smoking in bars and other public places can still get you a ticket, Health Minister John Nilson says.

Last month, Nilson said he did not expect any tickets would be issued during the first two months of the provincewide ban.

As of Jan. 1, smoking in bars, restaurants and other indoor public places has been prohibited.

In the first week of 2005, a number of people continued to smoke in some of these facilities. Some proprietors and customers said they didn't think the ban was in effect during the first 60 days.

But earlier this week, Nilson said anyone who puffs away "blatantly" in banned areas can expect a ticket, even if two months have not yet gone by.

"That's possible, yes," he said.

Nilson said his earlier comments were meant to let the public know there wouldn't be "a huge force" of public health inspectors out on Jan. 1.

"But we wanted to make sure that people would comply," he said.

Nilson said inspectors will try to educate smokers first.

The next step will be to issue a warning, with tickets being used only as a last resort, he said.

http://sask.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/smoking050107.html

Lloydminster: A city divided by smoking ban-SK & AB

Susan Ruttan CanWest News Service Wednesday, January 05, 2005

EDMONTON -- Bar owners never welcome smoking bans, but some bar owners in Lloydminster have a particular gripe -- the smoking ban only applies to half the city.

On Jan. 1, the Saskatchewan government's Tobacco Control Act came into effect, banning public smoking across the province.

In Lloydminster, a city of 21,000 divided by the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, the new law applies only on the east side of the line.

"I'm right on the border," said Vivian Hallwachs, owner of the Saskatchewan-side Scores Sports Bar. "We have six bars across the street from me.

"It's pretty easy for customers just to go across the street and drink and gamble."

Seann Brennan, owner of Cheers Restaurant and Lounge, is in the same pickle.

"It's going to affect me drastically," he said in an interview Tuesday.

"If the ban was right across the board then at least everyone would be in the same boat," he said.

Hallwachs, who said almost all of her customers smoke, said she and other businesses in her predicament have taken their case to the Saskatchewan government and the city of Lloydminster, to no avail.

One way to give all bars a level playing field would be to impose a citywide smoking ban, but Hallwachs thinks that's not going to happen. Last March, local smokers made their feelings known by presenting a 1,600-name petition to council opposing a smoking bylaw.

The bar owners' other option was to seek an exemption from the new law from the Saskatchewan government. In the past, the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments have worked out deals when conflicting laws would cause Lloydminster problems. Lloydminster businesses, for example, don't have to collect Saskatchewan's provincial sales tax.

However, the Saskatchewan government has refused to waive the smoking ban in Lloydminster.

Saskatchewan-side bars already are bound by the provincial drinking age of 19, a year older than in Alberta. But that difference is a minor problem compared with the smoking ban, said Hallwachs.

Roger Brekko, Lloydminster city manager, said city council feels it's in a "darned if you do and darned if you don't" situation. There's a larger business community on the Alberta side of town, he said, and introducing a smoking bylaw would irritate those business owners.

Alberta is the only province west of Quebec with no provincewide smoking ban in place or promised by the government.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/soundoff/story.html?id=c32fe9a0-661e-4cc5-b709-6290860fe27e

Gov't going too far: hotel owner -SK

Veronica Rhodes   Leader-Post Friday, January 07, 2005
      The government is going too far by not even allowing business  owners to have matches or ashtrays in their establishments, says the owner of the Rouleau Hotel.
      Linda Cain does not agree with the smoking ban that came into effect Jan. 1, but her frustration multiplied after a visit from a tobacco enforcement officer this week.
      The officer completed a tobacco control report, which analyzed her business' compliance with the legislation. The report must determine if signs are properly posted, if there is no smoke present in the establishment and if there are no ashtrays or matches available.
      "The first item (on the report) 'no ashtrays, matches etc. are provided within an enclosed place'. Well, I sell cigarettes. I'm not allowed to give them a pack of matches to go with them?" said Cain.
      Requests for comment were directed to the Minister of Health, who was not available.
      Cain has taken all the ashtrays off the tables but still will give one to a customer if they ask for it. She said the officer warned her that if she continues to give out ashtrays and matches, she will face a fine.
      "That's pushing it a bit far. I'm not allowed to have matches or ashtrays or anything behind my bar," said Cain.

      Section 11.1 of the Tobacco Control Act states that "no ashtrays, matches, lighters or other things designed to facilitate smoking are provided in the enclosed public place". The Saskatchewan Health Web Site states that this portion of the Act is designed for "ensuring compliance with the no smoking rule".
      One Saskatchewan bar owner will not comply with the smoking ban and is letting his customers know why.
      Rob Joyal, owner of the Royal Hotel in Weyburn, said he has put an information card on each table in the bar, which explains to customers his reasons for not obeying the legislation.
      "All I want is to give us the option to put in a smoking room. If I have to spend $100,000, I'll do it. The smokers in the Royal Hotel are my best customers," said Joyal, who is a non-smoker.
      While he admitted the legislation is a great health initiative, he believes it is not fair to smoking customers that account for 30 to 40 per cent of business. Joyal said he also wants a level playing field amongst business owners in the province, which he said doesn't exist as long as First Nations are not required to comply with the ban.
      "I just cannot see how they can fine me and force this upon me when they are not doing the same thing at the Whitebear reserve," he said.
      Joyal said the health inspector in the region is aware of the Royal Hotel's lack of compliance with the legislation. When asked how long he plans to continue allowing customers to smoke in the bar, Joyal said he "won't lose his business over it."

http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/soundoff/story.html?id=a04d664e-a0f6-4246-82d1-62d1e628b3c1

Incentive to butt out-ON
      2005 Mustang first prize in Ontario Quit Smoking contest
      By Staff  "The Paper" Feature
        If being forced to shiver outdoors to have a smoke isn't enough incentive to quit, then how about a brand new Ford Mustang?
        That's the grand prize in the Ontario Quit Smoking 2005 and the  District Health Unit is urging smokers to try their luck by participating. The contest also offers the chance to win a new home theatre with surround-sound, OR 2005  Mustang (depending upon location).
        "The Contest is for daily smokers who are thinking about quitting,'" Janet Jackson, public health promoter with the Perth District Health Unit, said in a press release.
        "Many smokers have tried to quit before and the contest gives them added incentive to try again." Last year, there were 198 entrants from Perth County.
        Participants must go smoke-free from Feb. 1 to March 1 to be eligible to win. Participants must enlist a non-smoking buddy to help keep them on track when the going gets tough. The buddy is also eligible to win a $250 prize.
        "Making a plan and being prepared to quit smoking are key to success," said Ms. Jackson. Smokers should begin by thinking about why they smoke, why they want to quit and how they will cope with the urge to smoke. People planning to quit are advised to contact their family doctor, the health unit or the Smoker's Helpline.
        For daily smokers who are interested in quitting, the health unit is hosting two Quit Smoking Information sessions:
        The Quit Smoking 2005 contest is open to all Ontario residents who are daily smokers age 19 or older. For more information and to register, go to website. Registration forms are also available through the "LOCAL" District Health Unit, and the Outpatient Building,
        The Quit Smoking 2005 contest is funded in part by Health Canada and is supported by more than 70 local councils on smoking and health, and public health units throughout Ontario, with support from Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Division.
* THIS ad APPEARED IN SO MANY NEWSPAPERS WITH AREA INFO, I MADE A TEMPLATE

The provincial nanny's not in your face -- yet -ON

By MURRAY CAMPBELL
Friday, January 7, 2005 - Page A8

At a quick glance, Sheela Basrur doesn't appear to have an ounce of unwanted fat on her birdlike body. She's been doing yoga for a couple of decades, shuns elevators, has been working with a personal trainer and avoids eating sugar. In short, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health is a role model for healthy living.

Yesterday, Dr. Basrur convened a news conference at a downtown Toronto hockey arena to spread the message that Ontario residents who lean more toward Homer Simpson's sedentary lifestyle (one of every two people) ought to reconsider their habits. She encouraged people to exercise and to eat sensibly as part of a "multi-sectoral approach" in which schools, municipalities, food manufacturers, urban planners and all levels of government get involved.

It's all terribly sensible stuff but it's bound to sustain the criticism that Dalton McGuinty's government is imposing a "nanny state" in Ontario. Consider that in its first year in office, the Liberals have banned junk food from schools, moved to outlaw smoking in public places and workplaces and proposed requiring students to stay in school until the age of 18 years and endure compulsory phys-ed classes.

The government is also criticized for a bill that would require adults to wear helmets when riding bicycles, but that is a private member's bill, so it is off the hook. On the horizon, however, are plans to introduce unspecified "character" education into the school curriculum so that students can pick up a community's values.

The opposition Progressive Conservatives fume about the intervention into the lives of Ontarians. (Not for them this healthy living stuff -- they served cheeseburgers and French fries at a news conference before Christmas.) Criticism even comes from the New Democratic Party, which has never been shy about telling people what to do. "You hear it everywhere: 'Get out of my face, stop telling me how to live, stop telling me what to think,' " said Leader Howard Hampton. "People do not want Dalton McGuinty or [Health Minister] George Smitherman telling them how they raise their kids, what values they should believe in or shouldn't believe in."

Dr. Basrur reacts like the civil servant she is when asked about whether she's pushing a nanny-state agenda. "Is that a political question?" she asks and then makes it clear she wants to answer from a public-health point of view, which is that smoking and obesity limit the quality and duration of people's lives.

"There are elements of individual choice in these matters, but individual choice is very much guided by environmental motivators and other factors," she said. In other words, you can choose to smoke, but we're going to make it as difficult as possible for you to light up anywhere but in your own home.

Mr. McGuinty bristles at the suggestion that his government's offensives against pit bulls and fresh sushi mean he is keen on social engineering. "Like allowing people to take a bottle of wine from home to a restaurant?" he said when the issue was raised last month. "Is that not liberating?"

Indeed, the nanny-state charges can't be sustained. Kids can remain free to stuff Doritos into their pie-holes, but there's no reason that schools should be complicit in this. The anti-smoking agenda is vengeful in the way it seeks to punish the addicted and spiteful in the way it deals with businesses that built special smoking rooms. But it's hard to argue with anything that will prevent a new generation from getting the habit. Character education? If it's handled as badly as the high-school civics classes mandated during the Mike Harris years, it will be a joke.

No, the real thread that unites these various initiatives is the fact that they are a bargain and, for a government struggling to balance the books, that's a bonus. Plus, some of these schemes have the kind of populist appeal that's not always obvious when Mr. McGuinty gets going about "reinventing" government. What's better fodder for radio talk shows -- pit bulls or democratic reform?

So, go ahead and ride a bike without a helmet and stock up on Twinkies. The nanny hasn't taken over yet.

mcampbell@globeandmail.ca

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050107/CAMPBELL07/TPComment/Columnists

Canadian Officials Plan Legal Action Over `Light' Cigarettes

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian medical officers of health and anti-smoking advocates plan to file a ``legal action'' Monday seeking a ban on the advertising of ``light'' and ``mild'' cigarettes.

The legal action is ``an attempt to end the most destructive and deceptive trade practice in the history of Canadian business,'' the group said in a statement today from Ottawa.

The move follows an unsuccessful attempt by a coalition of anti-smoking groups to ban the labels. The coalition filed a complaint with the federal Competition Tribunal in June 2003, which hasn't been resolved.

At that time, Garfield Mahood, executive director of the Non- Smokers' Rights Association, said people mistakenly believe smoking light cigarettes lowers health risks. Mahood declined to comment on the latest action. The anti-smoking advocates plan to hold a press conference Monday to outline their complaint.

The necessary papers will be filed in an Ottawa court following the conference, Michelle Banning, a spokeswoman for the complainants, said in an interview. She said the group, which includes provincial medical officers of health, will not be suing cigarette companies. She declined to elaborate.

JTI-Macdonald Corp., whose brands include Export A Lights and Export A Milds, doesn't promote the brands as healthier alternatives to regular-strength cigarettes, John Wildgust, director of corporate affairs, said in an interview. JTI- Macdonald is a unit of Japan Tobacco Inc., the world's third biggest cigarette maker.

``Light and mild cigarettes, or reduced-tar and nicotine tobacco products, were introduced in the late '60s at the request of the federal government,'' Wildgust said. Surveys indicate that ``the vast majority of smokers are quite aware of the risks of smoking and people who are choosing to smoke light cigarettes are not doing this for a health benefit,'' he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=a3bSSvN50gPY&refer=canada

Give smokers a break -ON
Letter to the editor
(Jan 8, 2005)
You wonder why smokers are so vehemently against the anti-smoking organizations. The Record's letters to the editor and a column provide agood answer.
On one day, Dec. 29, The Record ran not one, but two letters and a community editorial board column about smokers.
In one letter, Smoking Is Most Deadly Form Of Substance Abuse, Dr. Paul E.Garfinkel, the president of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, put
smokers in with heroin and crack addicts.

Actually, it's good The Record allows real feelings to show through because it enables readers to see that this issue is not about health but about control.
L. Duguay, Ontario

therecord.com

Manitoba to face constitutional challenge to its sweeping non-smoking law

STEVE LAMBERT, Canadian Press 01/6/2005 18:45 EST

WINNIPEG (CP) - Manitoba's sweeping anti-smoking law is facing a constitutional challenge - one that will inevitably be watched by other provinces planning their own crackdowns on tobacco.

Art Stacey, a lawyer who represents a bar owner charged with violating the law, will argue the law is both outside of the province's jurisdiction and an infringement on his client's basic rights.

"We say that it really is in substance criminal law, and criminal law . . . is exclusively in the jurisdiction of the federal government," Stacey told The Canadian Press Thursday.

"So we'd say the province has no jurisdiction to pass this."

Stacey also argues the law violates section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that all individuals are equal under the law. Manitoba's smoking law does not apply to native reserves.

"That obviously creates a disadvantage for a lot of rural hotel and restaurant operators," Stacey said.

Stacey represents Robert Jenkinson, the owner of the Creekside Hideaway motel and bar in Treherne, Man., who faces 13 charges under the law.

Stacey said he will file notice of his constitutional challenge with the Crown in the coming days.

The Non Smokers Health Protection Act took effect October 1st, banning smoking in enclosed public places including bars and restaurants.

The law is part of a growing movement across the country. A smoking ban in New Brunswick took effect the same day as Manitoba's, while Saskatchewan went smoke-free on January 1st. Similar laws are pending in Newfoundland and Ontario.

The Manitoba law was immediately met with protests from bar and restaurant owners who feared it would drive customers away.

The Manitoba government decided to apply the law only in areas that are clearly under provincial jurisdiction, so native reserves, federal prisons, airports and military bases are exempt.

Rural bar owners have complained about the exemption for native reserves, fearing that many smokers will drive to restaurants or casinos on reserves in order to light up.

"(My client) is in Treherne, and . . . certainly there is a reserve at Swan Lake which is close by, and there are some licensed premises there," said Stacey.

Manitoba Healthy Living Minister Theresa Oswald was unavailable for comment Thursday, but has already said her government will fight to uphold the law in court.

An official with the Health Department said Thursday the law was checked for legal validity before it was tabled in the legislature.

"The government doesn't introduce legislation if it has an indication that it is unconstitutional," said Donna Hill, the acting assistant director of the department's legislative unit.

"Certainly there was no indication that this legislation was unconstitutional in any way."

The Opposition Conservatives said the government was wrong to exempt native reserves and should have expected a court battle.

"What Mr. (Premier Gary) Doer has done, in essence, is created a two-tier smoking policy," said Tory Leader Stuart Murray.

"I believe, and I think our party believes, that everyone should be treated equally."

Stacey and his client are due in court Monday, although a trial may still be months away.

The owners of one other business have been charged under the law. Finley Michaud and Leslie Dumas, who own a restaurant in Selkirk, Man., have not entered pleas and are due in court near the end of the month.

http://news.channels.netscape.ca/news/article.adp?id=20050106184809990011

Irish pub’s voluntary cigarette ban in Hong Kong may go up in smoke -Hong Kong
By Norma Connolly and Claire O’Sullivan 07/01/05
Irish pub’s voluntary cigarette ban in Hong Kong may go up in smoke
SOMETIMES you just can’t win.
An Irish pub in Hong Kong, which was acclaimed for voluntarily introducing a no-smoking ban, is facing prosecution for sending its smokers outside.
Months after the ban was introduced in Ireland, the enterprising owner of the Dublin Jack banned smoking in his bar seeing an opportunity to court non-smokers.
Dubliner Noel Smyth was lauded in Hong Kong newspaper editorials for his move but he has received a notice for intended prosecution because alfresco smokers are causing “obstruction to the pavement”.
The government’s food and environmental hygiene department issued the proceedings saying it had received seven complaints from local residents and passersby about the blockage caused by smokers sitting on chairs outside using ashtray-covered wooden barrels.
“It is very upsetting,” Mr Smyth has said.
“We are all for the smoke-free policy, but the government is not.
“People can stand outside bars, cafes and restaurants and smoke in Lan Kwai Fong; why can’t our customers?”
He admitted his “Kick Ash” policy could be in jeopardy.
Mr Smyth has said Hong Kong punters were pouring in to his three-level pub to sink his pints.
And Mr Smyth has reported a booming trade in the Asian version of the ubiquitous Chinese takeaway.
He sells takeaway Irish breakfasts, with bacon, sausages, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans and black pudding, from his bar.
“Being an Irish pub we’ve been looking for a gimmick,” said Mr Smyth.
“This is a promotion, a way of beating the competition.
“There are 100 licensed premises in the immediate vicinity here, so to a certain extent we’ve used the changes in Ireland as an excuse.
“It’s a commercial decision.”
In another twist to the pub’s stance against smoking, another government department has entered the fray.
The Health Welfare and Food Bureau (HWFB) has said they will give more slimline outside litter bins with ash trays to the bar to “facilitate” the pub’s no-smoking policy.
It is not clear yet whether the HWFB move will satisfy the hygiene department.
http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/opinion/Full_Story/did-sgH7Tg0NuEFJEsgHuTLc4nqWo2.asp

Store where serial rapist was killed reopens -PA

The shopkeeper who shot the knife-wielding man shrugged off talk that he was a hero - and put in a security barrier.

By Troy Graham Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Fri, Jan. 07, 2005

Ngoc Le's East Camden cell-phone and fishing-supply store reopened yesterday with a new feature: a thick Plexiglas security barrier walling off the sales counter.

The store had been closed since New Year's Eve, when Ngoc, 28, shot and killed a knife-wielding assailant who held a blade to his wife's throat.

The attacker turned out to be the serial rapist who had terrorized Camden's central business district, assaulting a high school student, a college student and a photo-store employee.

Ngoc had no way of knowing that the man who attacked his wife had raped three women, frustrated police, and badly shaken a reviving downtown community.

And the suggestion that Ngoc had been a hero drew no comment, only a slight shrug.

Ngoc and his wife, Kelly, who was working the sales counter yesterday, said they were fine and moving on with their business. While the store was closed, Ngoc had the security barrier installed, which he said "cost me a lot of money to put up."

He had no choice, he said. Ngoc, a Vietnamese immigrant, could not afford to give up a business he had owned for three years. He has begun a money-wiring service, and he said he planned to sell lottery tickets along with the admittedly odd combination of wireless equipment and fishing poles and nets.

In his three years at 27th Street and Westfield Avenue, Ngoc said, he had never been robbed, never had any problems.

Then Antonio Diaz Reyes, a 32-year-old who had lived in Philadelphia and Puerto Rico, entered the store. Ngoc was in the bathroom, and his wife was alone at the counter.

In each of the downtown rapes, the attacker had sought out women who were alone. In the last rape, he followed the lone employee of a photo store back inside after her cigarette break.

Reyes asked Ngoc's wife for a cellular-phone clip, Ngoc said. As she went to retrieve the item, Reyes jumped over the counter and grabbed her. Ngoc heard his wife call out his name.

"Real loud, like in a different way," he said.

Ngoc grabbed his gun - a legally owned .380-caliber pistol -and confronted Reyes, who was forcing his wife toward the back of the store with a knife at her throat.

"I told him to drop the knife and leave," Ngoc said. "Every time he pushed my wife, I backed up to another room."

Reyes yelled that he would kill Kelly Ngoc, 22.

Finally, Ngoc was nearly out of room. They had moved into a small living area at the back of the store, where Ngoc sometimes stays instead of driving home to Philadelphia. Reyes was four feet away, still holding the knife to Kelly Ngoc's throat.

"I just saw an opening," Ngoc said, "and I pulled the trigger."

Ngoc fired once, striking Reyes in the head and killing him instantly.

Police noticed that Reyes fit the description of the downtown rapist. DNA test results released Wednesday were a "perfect match," authorities said.

Ngoc bought a newspaper Monday to learn more about the rapes, and a prosecutor called him Wednesday with the news of the DNA match.

While Ngoc shrugged off the idea that he had been a hero, another man behind the counter urged him to "wish good luck" to Reyes' victims.

Ngoc took the advice, wished the victims well, and said they "don't have to worry" about Reyes anymore.

Contact staff writer Troy Graham at 856-779-3893 or tgraham@phillynews.com. This article contains information from the Associated Press.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/10585158.htm?1c

Monitoring the Future Follow-Up Finds Higher Adult Alcohol, Drug Use than Expected
1/7/2005

Press Release
Institute for Social Research
University of Michigan
P.O. Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
www.isr.umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI - The proportion of 35-year-olds who abuse alcohol and use illicit drugs is higher than might be expected, a University of Michigan study shows.
More than 32 percent of men report heavy drinking-defined as having five or more drinks in a row-at least once in the past two weeks. Nearly 13 percent of men and 7 percent of women report using marijuana in the past month, and 7 percent of men and 8 percent of women report misusing prescription drugs in the past year.
The study, published in the January 2004 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, uses data on 7,541 respondents from the Monitoring the Future study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted annually at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR) since 1975. The men and women who graduated from high school between 1977 and 1983 were randomly selected after graduation to participate in follow-up surveys every two years.
"We found that substance use was surprisingly prevalent at the start of midlife," said Alicia Merline, an ISR researcher who is the lead author of the article. "And we also found that it is not restricted to stereotypical drug users with low socioeconomic status."
After controlling for gender, education and income, the researchers found that professionals are equally as likely to use marijuana as those in other job classifications. Nearly 10 percent of the 35-year-old males with professional jobs report having used marijuana in the past month, for example.
Merline and co-authors Patrick O'Malley, John Schulenberg, Jerald Bachman and Lloyd Johnston, all psychologists at the ISR, discovered a high level of stability of substance use over the 18-year time period covered by the follow-up study. "The foundation for later substance use is set for most people by the time they finish high school," Merline said.
The association between high school experience and cigarette smoking at age 35 is particularly strong, the researchers noted. Having even tried cigarettes at all before graduating from high school increases the odds of smoking at age 35 by more than 3 times the odds of those who had never tried cigarettes by their senior year.
The odds of smoking at age 35 were more than 12 times higher for participants who used cigarettes during the month prior to their twelfth grade survey than for those who had never smoked by their senior year. And the odds of smoking at age 35 were 42 times higher for those who were daily smokers during the twelfth grade than for those who had never smoked by their senior year.
Similar patterns were found for episodic heavy drinking, and for the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs. When compared with those who did not drink heavily as high-school seniors, participants who drank heavily had 3 times the odds of drinking heavily at 35 years of age. When compared with those who had not tried marijuana by the twelfth grade, individuals who had tried marijuana by the twelfth grade had 8 times the odds of using marijuana at age 35.
Those who had tried any illicit drug other than marijuana by their senior year had 5 times the odds of using cocaine and 3 times the odds of misusing prescription drugs at 35 years of age compared with those who had not.
But the researchers found that current demographic and socioeconomic factors also play an important role in adult substance use. Men and women who are currently married are much less likely to smoke, drink heavily, use marijuana or other illicit drugs or to misuse prescription medications than those who are single, divorced or separated.
While research on young adults has shown that college students drink more than their nonstudent peers while in college, by age 35 this pattern has reversed and college graduates are less likely to drink heavily than those who did not attend college.
The researchers also found that living with one's child, rather than just being a parent, was associated with lower substance use. Still, they found that a sizeable segment of custodial parents drink heavily or use illicit substances. For example, more than 29 percent of fathers whose children live with them report heavy drinking within the past two weeks.
Also, custodial parents are just as likely to smoke or misuse prescription drugs as those who have no children.

http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/alerts/reader/0,1854,575564,00.html

Sunday, December 19, 2004

Misuse of political contributions prompt N.H. debate; changes in the wind

By COLIN MANNING

N.H. Statehouse Writer

CONCORD — Contributions from lobbyists, special interests and other political activists will no doubt be a hot topic of discussion around the Statehouse in the next legislative session beginning next month.

Former House Speaker Gene Chandler’s very public failure to disclose monetary gifts from contributors has touched off a myriad of questions, investigations, finger pointing and calls for a revamping and reform of the political contribution system in New Hampshire. Elected officials are under a microscope and now the burden is on those same elected officials to address the concerns, confusion and calls for change from the people who put them in office.

Last month, the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee said Chandler violated the legislative ethics code by accepting "gifts" totaling more than $250 from those who may have interests before the Legislature. Also, the panel charged Chandler used his position as speaker to obtain the money and failed to comply with state law by not disclosing the gifts.

After a New Hampshire Public Radio reporter inquired about the Friends of Gene Chandler Committee in September, it was found the former speaker garnered about $64,000 in gifts from lobbyists and other special interest groups over a four-year period and had not filed a disclosure form. Chandler used the funds to off-set personal expenses arising from his duties as speaker, which pays $125 a year.

Following the controversy surrounding Chandler, the media spotlight was turned on Executive Councilor Ruth Griffin. The Portsmouth Republican and longtime councilor has taken in about $75,000 over the past five years through bi-annual testimonials thrown in her honor by her own Friends of Ruth Griffin Committee.

Like Chandler, Griffin used the money for clothes and maintenance for her car. Unlike Chandler, the Executive Council does not fall under the purview of the Legislative Ethics Committee. Gov.-elect John Lynch made a campaign promise to establish an ethics committee for the executive branch of government to investigate complains about state workers and volunteers. It’s a promise Lynch said he intends to keep.

"I think it’s important for us to restore people’s confidence in state government," Lynch said this week. "I do think there has been a certain amount of cynicism on the part of the public." Lynch said he was also examining whether the commission’s reach would also cover the Executive Council.

The governor-elect’s proposal sounds similar to what the state of Maine already has in place. That state’s Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices is among other things responsible for the collection and monitoring of contribution disclosure forms.

The commission is an independent state agency that administers Maine’s campaign finance laws, the Maine Clean Election Act, and the lobbyist disclosure law. It also issues advisory opinions and conducts investigations regarding legislative ethics.

The Maine commission consists of five members jointly appointed by the governor and legislative leaders for three-year terms. The commission is bipartisan, and no more than two members may be enrolled in the same political party.

According to commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne, Maine election laws prohibit the use of funds from political action committees for personal use. Lawmakers in Maine receive a salary about 200 times larger than their New Hampshire counterparts. Of course, the Maine Legislature is just a fraction of the size of New Hampshire.

There are 186 Maine legislators, 151 in the House and 35 in the Senate. With 400 House members and 24 state senators making $100 a year, New Hampshire is in a unique position. Every year, including this year, there are lawmakers who seek to reduce the size of the General Court, the third largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, smaller only than the U.S. Congress and British Parliament.

Any ideas of paring down the state’s citizen Legislature in favor of "professional politicians" are usually quickly dismissed. While the notion of a smaller legislative body will no doubt be dismissed again this year, lawmakers and political observers agree it is time to take a hard look at the money the state’s politicians receive.

Looking at New Hampshire’s statutes regarding political and other contributions can be a bit confusing.

Lawmakers say aligning those laws, and conforming the ethics guidelines to mirror the statutes, is the first order of business. First, there are contributions to campaign political action committees.

These funds are used by lawmakers to run their campaigns. Then, there are the "gifts" raised by the "friends of" committees, used to offset personal costs, which come from serving in public office with virtually no salary. This is what has grabbed the public’s attention regarding Chandler and Griffin.

There is a contradiction in the law when it comes to gifts.

While RSA 640:5 prohibits elected officials from taking anything of value, a law known as "15-B" requires all elected officials to report anything over $50 they receive for non-political purposes. Then there are the legislative ethics guidelines which prohibit lawmakers from accepting more than $250 from a contributor who may have business pending before the Legislature.

Councilor Ray Burton, R-Bath, has a friends committee, but like most other politicians in the state it is a political action committee. That means the proceeds raised by the committee go to political expenses, not personal use. However, Burton does use the money for car expenses and other items the public may think are personal expenses.

Burton was able to raise about $94,000 in the last election cycle. What Burton does is well within the law, however. According to state law, surplus funds from political action committees cannot be used for personal expenses. However, the statute states the money can be used for any "politically related activity."

The term "politically related activity" is not defined in the statutes. "It’s a little surprising that even some of the people in the Statehouse were unaware of what the law says," said Martin Honigberg, a Concord attorney and former member of the Attorney General’s Office.

While working in the Attorney General’s Office, it was Honigberg’s job to review the campaign finance disclosure forms. "I truly think it is time for the Legislature to take a look at itself and decide what should be allowed and what should not. You can certainly make the case lawmakers shouldn’t accept anything," said Honigberg. "You can also make the argument they can receive some things. Either way, this discussion needs to take place."

Tom Rath, another Concord lawyer and a former attorney general, agreed something needs to be done.

"There definitely needs to be a clarification. People need to know how to report and what to report and they should not have to keep asking the secretary of state what they should be doing," Rath said. "That’s where there’s been uncertainty and they need to know what is acceptable and unacceptable and say it in a way which is unmistakable ... That’s one thing we’ve done very badly."

Rath said he advocates the creation of a fund for legislative leadership to dip into to defray the cost of serving in the Legislature. Members of leadership in the House and Senate are usually in the Statehouse seven days a week during the session, and make trips to the capitol year-round, even when the Legislature is not in session.

"My feeling is there needs to be some sort of reimbursement beyond the $100 these lawmakers receive. It’s disingenuous to say if someone can’t afford to serve then they shouldn’t run," Rath said. "I’m all for setting aside a certain amount of money and that way we eliminate the friends committees. If they don’t do something like this, they will leave themselves open to insinuation. If it costs the state a couple of thousand dollars to do this, it’s worth it in my mind."

Newly elected House Speaker Doug Scamman, R-Stratham, agreed changes are on the horizon, but cautioned the state’s system will not see a drastic transformation.

"I think the issue will get examined thoroughly, and there will be a strong effort to make sure the laws and the ethics guidelines are all in sync. I think they will make it clear you have to file and we will all have a better knowledge of what has to be filed," Scamman said.

The speaker said he would not support any efforts to increase lawmakers’ salaries or create a special fund for leadership. "If you’re going to raise salaries for a few, that would also be inappropriate. It doesn’t make any sense to start down that road," Scamman said.

In Massachusetts, House members receive about $55,000 a year, more if they hold a leadership position or committee chairmanship.

Senate Majority Leader Robert Clegg, R-Hudson, agreed clarifying the laws is the top, and maybe only priority. A raise in the $100-a-year salary is out of the question, he said.

"This is mainly about reporting. Once we figure out what it is we’re supposed to report we’ll all be better off," Clegg said. "There’s no way you can wipe out financial gifts and political contribution, but we can improve the reporting. And the idea we can just increase the salaries is laughable. If people really want to do that we have to say ‘OK, what program do you want to cut to come up with the millions of dollars for the salaries?"

So far, there are about a half-dozen bills being drafted dealing with contributions. The details on those pieces of legislation are not clear yet. One bill calls for the creation of a study commission to examine the issue and make suggestions on how to change the system. A bill being proposed by Rep. Anthony DiFruscia, R-Windham, would create a bi-partisan ethics committee within the House to monitor contributions, similar to the system the Congress employs.

DiFruscia challenged Chandler for the speaker’s chair. "There needs to be a committee to offer advice, and it would also have enforcement responsibilities," said DiFruscia, who is currently drafting the language of the bill. DiFruscia is also sponsoring a bill to prohibit the receipt of gifts.

"No, I do not think gifts should be allowed. I think the inference is pretty clear," he said. Also, DiFruscia wants to stop the use of money from political action committees for personal use.

"Obviously, the one that stands out is a PAC should not contribute to the personal use of an elected official. That has a very specific sound to it," DiFruscia said. "A PAC is established for political action. If anyone in government takes money from PAC, I can’t see how that could be interpreted in any other way as a political contribution."

New Hampshire was one of the first states to mandate the disclosure of political contributions. In 1909, state Sen. Robert Bass, grandfather of U.S. Congressman Charlie Bass, pushed through the first law requiring lobbyists to register with the state and file disclosure forms.

In 1911, the state’s first disclosure law for the Legislature was put on the books. Candidates had to publish their receipts and expenditures in the newspapers. Failure to do so was met with a fine of at least $100 and a minimum of 30 days in jail. Those penalties were relaxed, but the filing requirement went more or less unchanged for the next 70 years or so, according to Secretary of State Bill Gardner.

Spending limits were first introduced in 1915 and remained on the books until the 1970s, when a federal court ruling stated limits were unconstitutional because "money equals speech" and limiting spending equated to limiting free speech. By about 1990, New Hampshire and other states implemented voluntary spending limits, which is still in place today.

Candidates can choose to stay within the limits and by doing so, agree to restrictions on how much they can receive from each contributor. Those electing not to stay within the limits have tighter restrictions on contribution amounts.

Maine introduced a public finance system for elections in 1996 as part of the state’s "clean elections" initiative. While the system is voluntary, it gives candidates a chance to run against candidates who have personal wealth to draw from, without having to raise substantial funds from contributors. According to the commission’s executive director, 78 percent of candidates running for state and county offices participate in the public finance system.

Lawmakers in New Hampshire say there aren’t funds to support a public finance system. In the early ‘90s New Hampshire implemented reporting requirements for gifts. "That law says gifts can be accepted solely because of the position the elected officials hold," Gardner said. Since the early 1990s, the state’s reporting laws have gone without major changes.

N.H. Statehouse Writer Colin Manning can be reached at 266-3633 or statehouse@fosters.com

http://www.fosters.com/December_2004/12.19.04/news/co_12.19.04a.asp

ACS' Daffodil Days are fast approaching

January 05, 2005

Spring is right around the corner and so is the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days. The daffodil is the first flower of spring and the American Cancer Society flower of hope - hope for a cancer-free world.

Now is the time to become involved with this worthwhile fund-raising event that supports the American Cancer Society to fund cancer research, education initiatives, advocacy activities, and service programs for cancer patients.

"In the past year, the American Cancer Society has made strong efforts to connect cancer patients to the latest in treatment and services, by promoting aggressive ways of fighting the disease through research and legislative efforts all to help us eliminate cancer as a major health problem within our lifetime," said Jari Johnston-Allen, CEO of the American Cancer Society, Midwest Division. "We've made some great accomplishments in 2004, but we're not done yet."

In Wisconsin in 2004, American Cancer Society volunteers worked to convince elected officials to do the following:

Create a cancer drug repository that will allow cancer patients and their families to donate unused, unopened prescription drugs to uninsured and low-income individuals.

Defeat an attempt to allow small businesses to pool together in order to offer self-insured health plans that would be exempt from all state-mandated benefits.
Work with a coalition to increase funding for the state Medicaid program by $175 million.

Pass legislation to prohibit smoking in all University of Wisconsin dormitories.

Increase funding for breast cancer research at the University of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin through the creation of a new state income tax check-off.

Support the passage of Wisconsin's strongest local smoke-free ordinance in Madison, which includes all bars and restaurants.

By the year 2015, the American Cancer Society has set goals to reduce cancer deaths by 50 percent, reduce cancer cases by 25 percent, and improve the quality of life for all cancer patients and survivors. Support of the American Cancer Society Daffodil Days event is just one of the many ways to help the American Cancer Society reach their goals.

The 2005 Daffodil Days event is March 7-11, and there are many ways to become involved. Local residents are encouraged to volunteer their time to help bring daffodils to their communities or place an order to receive daffodils.

Area businesses, churches, nursing homes, hospitals, schools and individuals are encouraged to support Daffodil Days. Daffodil bunches, approximately 10 stems, are available with a $7 donation. With a $15 donation, a Gift of Hope bouquet will be delivered anonymously to a local cancer patient receiving treatment. Half and full cases of daffodils are available and make great gifts to recognize employees, customers, and business associates. Local volunteer coordinators will be out in full force until Feb. 23, taking daffodil orders, which will be available the week of March 7.

To order daffodils or to volunteer, please call 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org. Funds raised through Daffodil Days supports the American Cancer Society in the goals of eliminating cancer as a major health problem, diminishing suffering from cancer, and improving the quality of life for cancer patients and survivors.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1134&dept_id=387692&newsid=13687790&PAG=461&rfi=9

Hotels: Smoking Ban Choking Future Profits

Bans Include Hotel Meeting Rooms Rented By Conventioneers

 January 5, 2005

DALLAS -- Dallas hotels had much to celebrate New Year's weekend as the Cotton Bowl provided a real boom for business, but there is deep concern about the future.

Some in the industry are still fuming at the city's smoking ban, which they say is burning a hole in their bottom line.

Dallas hotels craving convention business said the city's smoking ban is choking future profits.

Word is out that the ban isn't just in public spaces; it bans smoking in hotel meeting rooms rented by conventioneers.

Some say a dollar figure can't be put on it. Dallas ranks in the top 10 nationally in convention business with the ban instead of worrying about Houston and San Antonio.

The Hyatt's Steve Dissotzky believes smokers will drive the extra miles if it means they can light up.

In a letter to the mayor, the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau said it hasn't lost any business because of the ban, but the bureau isn't in the hotel business.

With the recent sale of major hotels there is concern that where there's no smoke, there's no profit.

The smoking ban is in line with trends nationally.

The hotel association said they will continue lobbying city leaders to get them to relax the ban for hotel meeting rooms.

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/4050311/detail.html

Poll backs a ban on smoking

By Ed Asher Tribune Reporter, January 5, 2005

By a 2-to-1 ratio, New Mexico voters would support a statewide law to prohibit smoking in most public places, including workplaces, restaurants and public buildings, according to a recent survey.

The public opinion poll found that 62 percent of voters favor such a law.

The poll was conducted by Research and Polling Inc. on commission by New Mexicans Concerned About Tobacco, a coalition of anti-smoking groups.

"Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, whether you're liberal or conservative, registered voters favor such a workplace law," Research and Polling President Brian Sanderoff said.

The coalition announced Tuesday that it will support a proposal for a state law modeled on Albuquerque's clean indoor air ordinance, which prohibits smoking in workplaces and restaurants.

State Rep. Al Park, an Albuquerque Democrat, said he is drafting the bill.

"We must do something so people all across New Mexico can go into restaurants without having to worry about having an asthma attack," Park said.

Carol Wight, chief executive officer of the New Mexico Restaurant Association, said her group would wait to see the legislation and hear from its members before taking a position.

"We're here to support businesses, and if businesses feel they're not being supported, we'll be out there fighting," Wight said.

The association opposed the Albuquerque ban, saying it would drive business to restaurants in surrounding communities.

The survey released Tuesday also found that 83 percent of voters say exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious or moderate health hazard, while 9 percent called it a minor hazard and 4 percent "not a hazard."

And 88 percent agreed that "all New Mexico workers should be protected from exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace."

"This law would give people, particularly people with respiratory problems, the freedom to go out again, the freedom to go out and a have a meal and shop with family and friends," said Dona Upson, a pulmonary specialist with the University of New Mexico Hospital.