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Thursday, February 10, 2005
Bar, tavern layoffs: Is it the NHL effect? -ON
By JOHN PARTRIDGE AND KEITH MCARTHUR Saturday, February 5, 2005 - Page A2
The National Hockey League players lockout has forced Montreal sports bar owner Ziggy Eichenbaum to turn some of his employees into statistics.
Mr. Eichenbaum had to lay off two of 10 workers because business is down about 25 per cent. The rest of the staff at Ziggy's Pub on Crescent Street near the Bell Centre are working shorter days.
Game nights used to bring 20,000 people downtown. "Now you can take a bowling ball and throw it down Crescent Street on a Monday night and not hit anybody," he said yesterday as supposedly last-ditch talks in New York between National Hockey League owners and their locked-out players ended, apparently without progress.
The latest stalemate came as Statistics Canada unveiled a little more evidence that what might be called an "NHL effect" is taking at least a small toll on the economy, beyond lost salaries for the players and lost advertising revenues.
In reporting the unexpected net loss of 5,700 jobs across the country during January, Statscan suggested yesterday that the silence in NHL rinks may be behind a drop in employment in tavern and bars. When Labatt Brewing Co. Ltd. announced plans in December to cut 20 per cent of its white-collar work force -- 240 jobs -- it partly blamed slumping sales at bars and restaurants, which are also suffering the impact of smoking bans.
Worse is likely to come. Hostelries that cater to a hockey clientele say the biggest hit will be if and when the playoffs are cancelled.
Just before Christmas, Statscan estimated that the hockey freeze was costing the economy about $17-million a month, from ticket and souvenir sales and broadcast revenue. If the entire season is lost, the gross domestic product could be reduced by about $170-million.
"There definitely is an 'NHL effect' " said economist Avery Shenfield of CIBC World Markets, but "what you never know is to what extent it's offset by additional spending on other items," he said.
"What you don't see is whether the guy who would have spent Saturday night at a bar watching the hockey game is instead spending more money on a Valentine's Day present for the wife."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050205/NHLEFFECT05/TPNational/
Bylaw? What bylaw? -ON
Bars are finding creative ways to dodge the smoking ban, and the city is not amused
By LUMA MUHTADIE Saturday, February 5, 2005 - Page M1
A subtle, street-level sign declared the party at Bird to be private. But passersby who strolled into the College Street lounge bar on Wednesday night were definitely welcome to pull up a seat, order a drink and do something that's now forbidden in most Toronto bars: light up a smoke.
Patrons of the small space above Xacutti restaurant were exempt from the city's non-smoking bylaw because the space had been rented out for what was described as a private function -- one of the strategies bar owners are adopting to enable drinkers with a penchant for nicotine to indulge their habit without having to step out into the cold.
"I didn't realize places like this existed," said Gail MacKenzie, exhaling a plume of smoke.
"But I'm happy that they do."
They may not for much longer, however. Public officials say they're concerned about bars blurring the line between commercial establishments and private clubs, and their growing frustration with loose interpretations of the city bylaw is driving them to crack down.
Evasion tactics range from the artful to the downright audacious: Some are offering membership cards, others are willing to risk their patrons' safety by locking their doors to the general public.
But Rob Colvin, manager of healthy environments and the man responsible for overseeing the enforcement of the smoking bylaw, says most of these attempts to dodge the ban won't pass enforcement officers' scrutiny.
"A private club is run by a non-profit corporation and has to demonstrate that it has a purpose," says Mr. Colvin.
"They need to show that they have regular meetings. And they can't advertise or communicate to the public."
Bird owner Brad Moore doesn't classify his venue as a private club, "because we're not. And that would get me into trouble as far as harassment with inspectors."
But he says the hosts who rent his space out for the night (at a minimum cost of $500 an hour) are free to set the parameters of privacy for their events.
"It's used for private functions on a regular basis," he says. "Sometimes they have a guest list with security at the door. Sometimes they're not so concerned about who comes in and who comes out -- there are so many different rules or considerations for each party."
As for bylaw-enforcement officers' opinion of what goes on in his bar, Mr. Moore is resolute. "These guys come in here like whipper-snappers with attitudes. I'm simply a business operator trying to make a dollar.
"If you're suffocating people, that's not good, but if I'm spending $40,000 on a ventilation system, I don't see why I can't offer a service to someone."
Mr. Colvin says the courts are taking a serious view of non-compliance and have been issuing probation orders and summonses with hefty fines. They can even go as far as ordering a venue's closure or jail time for the offender.
Still, a handful of creative club owners remain undeterred.
The Cloak and Dagger on College sells $10 annual membership cards to its so-called Society of Free Thinkers. These laminated photo IDs bear a digital headshot of the cardholder (taken on the spot) alongside a graphic of Einstein -- and they're all you need to get in on Mellow Mondays and smoke your face off.
Then there's Chalker's Pub Billiards & Bistro, on Marlee Avenue in North York, which bills itself as the headquarters for the non-profit Cosmopolitan Multicultural Society.
Members of the society pay a $5 annual fee to earn the privilege of sparking up inside.
Only the society's board of directors is obliged to sit through meetings, owner Steve Greco explains. He's the manager of the board, which has 24 other members.
"There are a lot of clubs out there that aren't legitimate private clubs, but we're following all the laws -- we have a charter and everything," Mr. Greco says.
And he's prepared to defend this stance in court: Mr. Greco's lawyer is poised to challenge two tickets his client received for smoking violations that could cost up to $5,000 for each infraction.
But counterfeit private clubs are still a rare exception, Mr. Colvin says, noting that compliance with the bylaw has hovered steadily around 97 per cent -- even during the bone-chilling month of January.
It's a sign that bars and patrons are slowly adjusting to the city's new ways, he says.
So much so, in fact, that "private clubs" have become unappealing to some smokers.
"I won't go to them," says Chris Rolfe, while savouring the last drags of his cigarette outside a downtown bar.
"I don't like sitting inside smoky bars any more."
He says he's already cut his habit down from half a pack to three cigarettes a day.
"If I was allowed to smoke indoors, I'd have one going all the time."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050205/SMOKERS05/TPEntertainment/?query=smoking
All in the Family bandits -ON
Wednesday, February 02, 2005 -
Investigators trying to crack a rash of convenience store thefts are seeing a family resemblance among the crimes.
Crime Stoppers along with 55 and 13 Division Major Crime units need the public's help in tracking down a band of thieves that span several generations.
The group were caught on tape.
At each store, five to 10 people, some of them young children, enter the shop all at once, fanning out through the aisles and bringing items one at a time to the counter.
Several suspects distract the owner at the front counter while others make their way into the storage area at the back of the store.
While the storeowner is busy serving the suspects at the front counter, the suspects at the rear removed a quantity of cigarettes, money and jewellery, concealing it on them or in large bags.
In one of the incidents, a woman carrying an infant stood watch at the rear of the store. In another incident, two small children began playing in front of the counter, creating a commotion.
The suspects then all leave the store at once.
This group has stolen approximately $58,000 in cigarettes, cash, computer equipment and jewellery. At one location they removed the victims safe from the living quarters above the store.
If you have information about the identity of these people, call 55 Division Major Crime at 416-808-5506 or at 416-808-1306. If you want to remain anonymous and earn a cash reward, call Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477)
All in the Family bandits
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1505&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Smoking injunction dismissed for club owners -NL
CBC News WebPosted Feb 5 2005 09:50 AM NST
ST. JOHN'S — The group representing most of the bars and taverns in the province has lost its fight to postpone public hearings on the government's proposed smoking ban.
The Beverage Industry Association applied to the Supreme Court asking for a delay so that a thorough economic analysis of the impact of the ban can be completed.
The provincial government intends to pass legislation this spring that will extend its ban on smoking in public places to include bars, clubs and bingo halls.
Public hearings started this week in Gander, and will conclude Feb. 16 in St. John's.
Marcel Etheridge, president of the Beverage Industry Association, says the government appears to have its mind made up, without assessing the full impact of a ban will bring.
"We are very disappointed, but we're not giving up," says president Marcel Etheridge.
The association may appeal judge David Russell's decision, which was handed down Friday afternoon.
"The timeframe is very, very narrow," Etheridge says.
"You cannot do a social impact study of this industry which is very, very large, which is worth millions of dollars, in a couple of months. It's unrealistic."
Describing many of his members as "ma and pa" operations in rural areas, Etheridge believes numerous clubs will close if they lose regular customers who smoke.
"They're doing it to [our industry], because I guess we're easy to pick on."
Don Burrage, the Crown attorney who fought the application on behalf of government, argued the association has many ways to voice its opposition beyond the public hearings.
Meanwhile, the Beverage Industry Association has another application before the courts, which argues the entire public hearing process is flawed.
http://stjohns.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nf-clubs-smoking-20050205
RE: Public Health Inspectors-Working to Protect the Health of Your Community -SK
WHITE ROCK, BC, Jan. 21 /CNW/ - Public Health Inspectors in Saskatchewan are an integral part of the Public Health Professional team in your
communities. Possessing a unique skill-set, Public Health Inspectors are on the front-lines of Public Health ensuring safe drinking water, safe food and protection from exposure to communicable diseases to name a few of the program responsibilities.
One of the threats to Public Health in Canada today is the use of tobacco products and the exposure to tobacco smoke. 45,000 Canadians die each year as a result of tobacco related illness. As part of an overall Tobacco Reduction Strategy, many communities are introducing legislation to protect the public from exposure to tobacco smoke in public places. It has also been shown that smokers are more likely to attempt to quit in communities where smoking in public places is restricted.
Public Health Inspectors are responsible for the enforcement of such legislation. Every effort is made to educate business operators on the associated health risks of tobacco smoke exposure and the need to protect the public.
The vast majority of the business community will understand their responsibility and operate their businesses accordingly however, there are a small percentage of business operators who refuse to acknowledge this responsibility and will challenge legislation.
These business operators and the sensationalized headlines they provoke do capture the media and the public's attention. The sober reality of the devastation caused by tobacco use in this country seems to be lost, as does the important role of Public Health Inspectors in protecting your community's health.
The Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors proudly supports Public Health Inspectors in Saskatchewan and urges the citizens of Saskatchewan to stand behind these Environmental Public Health Professionals and look beyond the "smoke screen" of sensationalized headlines.
For further information: Claudia Kurzac, President, Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors, Phone: (604) 714-5683
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2005/21/c5901.html
Tougher Ontario smoking laws pledged
DEBORA VAN BRENK, Free Press Reporter 2005-02-04 02:09:07
Mississauga MPP Peter Fonseca gave it up for marathon running years ago. Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara did it cold turkey recently.
Encouraging every other smoker to give up the habit and make healthy choices is one role the provincial government does and should take on, Fonseca insists.
Fonseca, parliamentary assistant to Health Minister George Smitherman, says Ontario intends to enact the toughest non-smoking laws this side of California because it's in everyone's best interests.
"I'd love to see the day where nobody smokes in Ontario," Fonseca said during a stop in London yesterday.
He said that doesn't extend to banning cigarettes outright. But it does mean that as of May 2006, Ontarians should have enough carrots and sticks to encourage them to stop smoking and penalize them if they do.
The tough non-smoking bill is in the legislature and is expected to pass third reading this spring.
It will replace a patchwork of local bylaws with a provincewide ban on smoking in workplaces, including bars and entertainment areas.
Some critics have said the bill is intrusive and harmful to many businesses.
But Fonseca said smoking costs the province's health system $1.7 billion a year and eats up $2.6 billion in productivity.
"The umbrella to this is a healthy Ontario and healthy Ontarians," said Fonseca, who was an Olympic marathoner in 1996.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/02/04/919840-sun.html
Butting out should be Albertans' decision -AB
Love him or hate him, our premier was absolutely bang on with his decision to allow Albertans to decide if a provincewide smoking ban in all public places was right for them.
I ventured out Monday to try to determine if prohibiting smoking would indeed be a death sentence for local watering holes. In a word, according to managers across the city: Nope.
It seems bar managers have resigned themselves to the fact a smoking ban is likely to be put into place, but they aren’t worried about how it will affect their bottom line in the long term.
Some even welcomed the idea.
Customers who smoke, of course, voiced their displeasure with the concept, but said as long as the public is left to decide the issue, they would comply.
ALREADY A HAPPY COMPROMISE
Don Cherry’s manager Brian Simms believes a happy compromise has already been achieved by not allowing smoking in establishments where minors under the age of 18 can be served.
“For a lot of businesses I think, if they were to go to full non-smoking, they would lose a nice few patrons,” Simms said. “Basically (people) want to be able to go out to their favourite place and have a few drinks – they don’t really want to be getting up and going outside every time they want to have a cigarette.”
What is in place now works well for Don Cherry’s because patrons who visit the establishment can do so with their families and not have to worry about second-hand smoke; but if they feel the urge to have a quick puff during their meal, they can simply step into the lounge.
“The setup they have now is a great setup,” said Simms, who agreed customers would eventually learn to accept to an all-encompassing smoking ban.
Red Deer resident Denis Lacroix, 42, said he simply would not frequent any drinking establishment where he was not allowed to smoke.
“They are pushing it too far, where they are trying to make (everywhere) smoke-free, but yet it is a legal substance – because there is good tax money in it,” said Lacroix. “Do you have to make laws about everything?”
While he agrees with not being allowed to smoke in places where children are allowed, prohibiting smoking in establishments that only allow adults is going overboard, he said.
His advice to non-smokers bothered by second-hand smoke was that they can always choose not to put themselves in that environment.
The same goes for those who choose to work where people can smoke, but complain about the effects it has on them physically, he said.
“Government should stay out of it. I’m sure (this place) would be out of business if you couldn’t smoke in here,” he said.
Maddhatters Liquid Lounge manager Mike Lilge would wholeheartedly welcome a full smoking ban in bars.
“I think it would be a great idea,” he said. “I wake up in the morning and it’s just gross. I don’t smoke, but I would rather be smoking than having (to deal with) the second-hand smoke.”
He estimated that about 70 per cent of the people that visit Maddhatters smoke.
“It would be bad for business initially. I think it would (make a lot of business owners angry), but it’s just a matter of adapting.”
Marcel Blais, general manager of Hammerhead Bar and Grill said he thinks it’s only a matter of time before a smoking ban for all public places is implemented.
But what he has seen – Hammerhead is part of a chain in other provinces that have all-encompassing bans – is that business drops off for about the first month.
“People will keep going out. They will modify their lifestyle. They will boycott at first but they usually will come back,” said Blais.n“The ban will come into place for all public places,” he said. “I don’t know when, but it will happen.”
Although customer Gavin Granoien said he would not have come to Hammerhead Monday if he weren’t allowed to smoke he would accept a smoking ban, as long as it wasn’t unilaterally imposed by the province.
He just wouldn’t stay in the bar as long, he said.
“It should be up to the establishment owners and the adults. Let them decide. If most of Grande Prairie wants to say no, then I will abide by that, but if it is one person is saying no to the rest, then I don’t agree with that,” said Granoien.
“It would slow me down,” he said. “Because then I could be going home (to smoke), or I would step out for one and then be going home.”
There you have it. About as clear as a smoke-filled bar, wouldn’t you say?
http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/1bottomline.lasso
Cold turkey: a 'godawful' tactic- ON
Debora Van Brenk, Free Press Reporter 2005-02-05 03:27:43
The road to the nearest cigarette counter is paved with your best intentions. You wanted to quit by the start of the year but didn't.
Then came Stop Smoking Week and you really meant to butt out. But the furnace conked out and your boss handed you new duties. Who could quit at a time like that?
Now, with each puff, a nagging cramp in your gut says you don't want to smoke anymore. But that twitch in your fingers betrays your resolve.
You're not alone.
About 20 per cent of Southwestern Ontarians still smoke, and half of those will seriously consider quitting this year.
The incentives to butt out are growing: the price of some smokes is about $8.75 a pack; places where smokers can puff are becoming increasingly scarce; and now Ontario is eyeing one of North America's toughest anti-smoking laws.
Most ex-smokers try, and fail five times before they quit.
Starting today, a Free Press series -- consider it more a how-to than a why-to -- looks at kicking the habit.
IT DARN NEAR KILLED HER.
In 1997, after 58 years of puffing, great-grandmother Clara Brown stopped smoking.
Cold turkey.
"For three days I lived on hot water, soda biscuits and aspirin," she says.
Then, when she finally heeded husband Bill's pleas to get medical help, she spent nine days in the hospital intensive care unit in nearby Seaforth.
She was fed intravenously and needed regular gulps from an oxygen mask. She lost 15 pounds from her petite frame.
Hers is the kind of story that churns the stomachs of veteran smokers.
Given a choice, Brown says she wouldn't quit that way again. "It's godawful on your system."
Experts say the success rate for people who try to quit cold turkey -- without extra help such as the patch or medication or counselling -- is an abysmal five per cent the first time around.
But Brown beat the odds; she is still smoke-free.
And her story lends credence to those who say it's possible to quit on your own, and at any age.
She was 16 when her boyfriend Bill, now her husband, gave her her first puff on a cigarette. Bill had started a few years earlier, with dried-up chestnut leaves rolled in newspapers.
"I tried it. I liked it and I never stopped," Brown says.
Cigarettes at the time were 36 cents a pack.
The habit continued for both of them.
Their three kids grew up and had kids and grandkids of their own.
Then, about 15 years ago, Bill quit. It wasn't as tough as he thought it would be.
"I did hit the peppermints for a while. My tongue felt like a gravel road and somebody had run a truck over it,"he says.
Clara kept puffing, although rarely in front of the kids. But her young great-granddaughter's ill health made her think.
"I didn't want to take a chance on losing any of them."
So she quit -- part-way through the carton of cigarettes Bill had given her, as he did every December, as a Christmas gift.
She recalls her grandson visiting her in hospital in tears because of her concern for his daughter's health.
And, even though Clara still keeps ashtrays in the house for visitors, she's determined to stay smoke-free. For good.
"I never had that desire to go back," she says.
LEGAL FIREPOWER
New laws, higher taxes.
That's how the Ontario government wants to pull you into the non-smoking majority, with some of North America's toughest no-smoking rules.
Tobacco taxes were recently jacked up $1.25 a carton, raising the per-package price by 16 cents to about $8.75.
But the province isn't just putting the cash squeeze on smokers: It's also cutting down their dwindling elbow room
Queen's Park is promising a sweeping new law to curb smoking, severely restricting where people can smoke and how tobacco can be advertised, and hiking fines for any violations.
The provincial law, expected to take effect May 31, 2006, will override the patchwork of municipal no-smoking bylaws across the province that have crowded smokers out of most workplaces and into increasingly smaller public places.
The province says its coming crackdown will:
- Ban smoking in all workplaces and many public places, including private clubs, restaurants, bars and enclosed, outdoor patios. Many eateries, including some in London, went to great expense building outdoor smoking areas to get around the city's own no-smoking rules.
- Ban smoking at sports and entertainment venues, casinos, bingos and halls.
- Do away with designated smoking rooms, though some residential care facilities could have controlled smoking areas.
- Allow hotels to set aside some rooms for smoking customers.
- Ban smoking in home-based day cares when children are present.
- Allow home health-care workers to ask that no one smoke in their presence and to leave if smokers don't comply.
- Enforce a nine-metre smoking ban around hospital doorways, though that won't extend to other buildings.
- Ban tobacco promotion at entertainment venues.
- Ban store cigarette displays, a move the industry is fighting in the Supreme Court of Canada over a similar law in Saskatchewan.
- Hold store owners liable if an employee sells tobacco to customers under 19.
- Hike minimum fines for violating the law, with new rates of up to $1,000 -- five times the existing minimum.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/02/05/921244-sun.html
hypocritical view -AB
Letter to Editor February 7/05
TO THE sanctimonious hypocrites currently attacking smokers: Most of the pollution in the air we breathe comes from carpets, furniture, plastics, industry and auto exhaust. Cruelly forcing smokers into the cold and rain and snow is the latest form of vicious social apartheid and is not fit behaviour for anyone of conscience or professing of Christian beliefs. You should be very ashamed.
R. Jarvis
(Smokers are being squeezed out.)
-----------------------------------------------
WHY IS everyone getting all worked up about the smoking ban? Don't you realize that soon you'll be able to light up anywhere? If the police try to arrest you, you can tell them it's marijuana, not tobacco. That way, what you're doing will be legal.
G. McLean
(Zing!)
http://canoe.ca/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/Letters/
Playing field uneven for tobacco farmers - ON
February 7/05
Regarding the column, Farmers should have seen it coming (Jan. 29):
Perhaps Ian Gillespie would develop some empathy if the government added $6 of tax to each issue of The London Free Press while turning a blind eye to smuggled newspapers.
What if Canadian newspapers were held to the highest standards in the world while foreign newspapers were imported into this country without inspection? Could you could compete on a playing field that has been tilted by our own government?
Health Canada and the domestic tobacco companies told farmers to "invest for the future" in 2001 by retrofitting their kilns to eliminate nitrosamines. The average tobacco farmer is $400,000 in debt, largely due to the kiln conversion project. As soon as the project was complete, cigarette taxes were raised and Imperial Tobacco Ltd. started importing large quantities of foreign tobacco of such poor quality it could not legally be offered for sale by a Canadian producer.
The tobacco statements made by Rob Cunningham are an assortment of old statistics, incompetent opinions and twisted facts. It's strange how the anti-smoking groups' estimates of the damage of smoking always rise to stay ahead of the revenues generated by cigarette taxes.
Ontario tobacco growers have three problems:
1. Imperial's imported garbage tobacco.
2. smuggled/bootleg tobacco.
3. broken government promises.
There is no grand ball, Mr. Gillespie. You are welcome to attend the foreclosure auctions.
John Stewart
Eden
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Letters/
Albertans want smoking ban: poll
EDMONTON - The majority of Albertans favour a workplace smoking ban, according to a survey commissioned by
an anti-smoking group.
The Ipsos-Reid poll of 800 Albertans found that overall, 68 per cent would like to see smoking banned anywhere people work, including restaurants, bars, casinos and bingo halls.
The survey, paid for by the Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta, should help Premier Ralph Klein make up his mind on the issue, the group's spokesman said.
"He stated he would like to see a full public consultation on this issue, and even suggested we may see provincial legislation this spring," Les Hagen said. "This gives him more ammunition to do that."
Health Minister Iris Evans is working on provincial smoking legislation, which should be in front of the standing policy committee by the end of February and could be ready for a vote in the legislature by April.
" From Jan. 26, 2004: Legislature COULD VOTE ON SMOKING BILL BY April
Evans had initially proposed a province-wide ban, but eased off after Klein made it clear he doesn't support the move. While the premier believes steps should be taken to discourage people from starting to smoke, he opposes forcing bars and casinos to ban the habit
He says individual municipalities should make the decision about whether to permit smoking in their communities. However, the Alberta Association of Urban Municipalities has asked the province to make a rule that everyone would have to abide by.
The poll was conducted between Jan. 20 and Jan. 25, and is considered accurate to within +/- 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
http://edmonton.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=ed-smoking-poll20050207
Alderman wants to fast track smoking ban
POSTED AT 5:23 PM Monday, February 7
A new poll shows the majority of Albertans want a province wide ban on smoking in public places.
And support may be strongest in Calgary.
The Ipsos Reid survey says 70% of Calgarians want smokers to butt out in public places.
That compares with 67% per cent of Edmontonians polled.
Support in the rest of the province is at 65%.
Calgary isn't scheduled to start a smoking ban until January 2008.
Alderman Diane Colley-Urquhart may use the new survey to try to convince her colleagues to move that date forward.
She says other members of city council should sit up and take notice that Calgarians don't want to wait 3 years.
Colley-Urquhart admits this issue will likely have to wait until after the Ward 10 byelection on February 28th.
http://www.cfcn.ca/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate/B/20050207/smoking?brand=generic&hub=&tf=CFCNPlus/generic/hubs/frontpage.html&cf=CFCNPlus
/generic/hubs/frontpage.cfg&slug=smoking&date=20050207&archive=CFCNPlus&ad_page_name=&nav=home&subnav=fullstory
Tobacco growers’ plight getting worse, says Neukamm -ON
High Canadian dollar harms export opportunities
By Patrick Brennan Times-Journal Staff Wednesday February 02, 2005
AYLMER -- Tobacco growers got some mixed messages from the president of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Grower’s Association on the coming season, at their winter meeting Tuesday.
Fred Neukamm told about 50 growers that while the prospects for the 2005 crop are the same as last year, the challenges facing the industry in Ontario are getting worse, not better.
“We have delivered a top-quality crop and yet conditions on our market continue to fall far short or our expectations,” Neukamm said to growers at the Saxonia Hall.
A Canadian dollar with a higher value and the failure of Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government to honour a promise for $50 million in funding are just some of the issues Ontario growers are facing, he said.
The latest projections for the 2005 crop are that growers will be expected to deliver approximately 50 million pounds, plus or minus, Neukamm said. Of that, 18 to 25 million pounds will go to Imperial Tobacco.
On the export scene, Neukamm said that while China is seen as a strong potential market, the strength of the Canadian dollar is a factor.
Add to that black market activity and two increases in tobacco taxes, totalling $6.25 a carton by the Ontario government since it took power.
TAKES AIM
Neukamm took aim at Ontario Agriculture Minister Steve Peters, MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London, for delaying the $50 million promised to growers.
“Although we have been assured by both the premier’s office and that of Minister Peters that ‘they are working on a program,’ there is definitely cause for concern regarding both the delivery and structure of a program,” Neukamm said. “You’ve all heard from Minister Peters in the media -- he says the money is coming. These are the same messages we’re hearing in our discussions and we have spent countless hours at Queen’s Park and at constituency offices pushing our case to anyone who would listen.”
Neukamm summed up the frustration farmers are experiencing.
“We are tired of empty promises and lectures about tobacco use -- it’s long past time for governments to be responsible and accountable and contribute enough dollars to help relieve some of the chaos it creates,” he said.
Neukamm said Ontario growers had invested time in studying the U.S. buyout offered to certain tobacco farmers as to how it affects world markets and what a grower would receive.
“Circumstances for tobacco growers in Ontario are extremely fragile,” Neukamm said. “We are involved with discussions with customers and with governments that will set our future course as an industry.”
Neukamm said the long-term goal for the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Grower’s Marketing Board is to come up with an industry solution that stabilizes farming, and a long-term exit plan.
As long as Canadians continue to consume tobacco, it should be made from leaf grown in Southwestern Ontario, he said. Neukamm reminded growers the board needs their solidarity to avoid others exploiting any divisions.
http://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/story.php?id=140966
Casino spokesman says employees' smoking room is being phased out -SK
Veronica Rhodes The Leader-Post Thursday, February 03, 2005
Despite firm legislative action to stop smoking in all public places, a government-run casino has an indoor smoking room for its employees.
Bill Davies, spokesperson for Casino Regina, said there is currently a smoking room for employees at the gaming institution, but it is in the process of being phased out.
The casino has a policy that floor employees can't leave the building in their uniforms, even to have a cigarette. Davies said changes will be made in an "orderly fashion" -- the policy will soon be revised and then the smoking room will be shut down.
Since December, employees have known the room would be closed, which Davies said would happen "in the near future."
Establishments are not in violation of the Tobacco Control Amendment Act by having a smoking room for employees, as long as the room is in an area restricted from the public.
But government policy states that smoking is not allowed in any government building.
Health Minister John Nilson said he had no idea the casino had a smoking room until recently.
"I didn't know about this one until it was told to us in the last couple weeks. As far as I know, there aren't other ones," said Nilson.
Rumours have been flying that a smoking room exists in the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, with news of the room even being published in a weekly newspaper recently.
But Nadine Sisk, spokesperson for Saskatchewan Property Management Corp. (SPMC) said there is no smoking room in the home of the provincial government.
Nilson said the casino did not exist when the government policy was instituted in 1994. Recently, operators of the casino raised some questions about whether it was indeed a government building, despite being owned by the province.
"I guess they didn't realize the policy applied to them. So practically, they are correcting that issue that has been identified," said Nilson.
The minister did not believe the casino smoking room should cast any doubt on the province's commitment to the smoking ban.
"Our legislation around smoke-free public places is very clear and it speaks to public places and will continue to do that," he said.
Nilson said an Occupational Health and Safety committee is currently reviewing the issue of smoking in the workplace, among other policies.
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/news/story.html?id=cbc77460-5aaf-4750-b147-4b9c76226a1e
Tobacco talks are ‘uphill climb,’ growers told -ON
Tiffany Mayer - SIMCOE REFORMER Friday February 04, 2005
Simcoe Reformer — Tobacco farmers have been given every indication so far that they can expect a repeat of last year’s crop size for 2005.
That message was delivered by Fred Neukamm, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board, at the growers annual winter meeting in Delhi yesterday.
After two days of crop size negotiations, Neukamm told hundreds of growers that industry and manufacturing stakeholders have indicated their need for domestic leaf will stay at about 50 million pounds for 2005. Exporters have also expressed interest in maintaining their levels in the 35 to 40 million pound range.
Producers grew 87.9 million pounds of leaf in 2004 for domestic and foreign markets.
“Although just meeting last year’s crop size is not our objective, these indications are a far cry from some of the rumoured doomsday scenarios being thrown around on the warehouse floor this winter,” Neukamm said.
Rumours circulating within the tobacco community suggested the crop size could be as low as 60 million pounds. Crop sizes have been dramatically reduced as more Canadian smokers quit the habit and cigarette companies increasingly turn to cheaper imports to meet remaining demand. The Canadian tobacco crop has been virtually cut in half in the past seven years, dropping from 151 million pounds in 1998 to just under 88 million last year.
Neukamm said the board pushed stakeholders to provide information early about this year’s crop after negotiations in 2004 dragged on into late May when many growers had planted a crop without knowing what to expect. That was because Imperial Tobacco refused to accept a concession package from growers that would make domestic leaf more appealing for the cigarette company to purchase.
Despite the early indications, Neukamm isn’t expecting negotiations to be easy.
“These negotiations will be an uphill climb. None of what I’m reporting to you today has been finalized. However, we felt it was important to get a preliminary indication out to the farmers as soon as possible,” he said.
Negotiating price will be the next step in the process as the “nitty gritty of negotiations” begin.
Neukamm also reassured the crowd that the board is doing what it can to secure government funding for growers wishing to leave the industry while maintaining production for those who wish to continue growing leaf.
“Farmers, we are tired of empty promises and lectures about tobacco use. It’s long past time for governments to be responsible and accountable and contribute enough dollars to help relieve some of the chaos that it continues to create,” he said.
But governments aren’t the only ones stirring up potential troubles for tobacco growers. Wednesday, a group of producers refused to leave a closed-door portion of a tobacco board meeting about crop negotiations. The growers’ lack of co-operation forced the cancellation of the meeting
Tobacco board meetings were opened to producers last month, but the board stipulated at the time that there would still be issues that required closed sessions. Meetings involving appeals, human resources and negotiations are not open to the public.
Incidents, such as those Wednesday, make it difficult for the board to function, Neukamm said. They also represent a lack of respect for the electoral process and the bodies governing that process.
Joe Barzo, a tobacco grower from Tillsonburg, said farmers should be supporting the board, not working against it.
“I’m quite satisfied that they’re approaching every possible avenue. They’re fighting an uphill battle with government,” Barzo explained.
He also expressed relief at having some idea about crop sizes so early in negotiations. However, Barzo is still not happy with the prospects for this year’s growing season.
“I’d like to see (crop size) get bigger but I don’t think it will. I don’t know how long we can continue growing with the amount of tobacco we grow now,” he said. “It’s hard to stay in business.”
http://simcoereformer.ca/story.php?id=141483
The Chronicle Journal Feb. 7/05
Letters to the Editor re: bus driver charged in smoking Violation Jan31/04
A Thunder Bay bus driver was fined 60$ and lost a day's wages for the crime of smoking a cigarette ("First smoking ticket issued." Feb 1) He was apprehended due to an anonymous phone call made to public authorities.
Think about it!
Frank Zaniol
Niagra Falls, Ont.
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/
The price to pay for smoking ban in pubs -UK
IAN SWANSON SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR
SCOTLAND’S smoking ban is set to cost an initial 2300 jobs, force nearly 150 pubs to close and rob the Chancellor of £59 million a year in tax revenue, a new report claims.
A study commissioned by the licensed trade says the ban would also see turnover drop by £105m and annual profits slump by £86m.
The figures will fuel controversy over the impact of the Scottish Executive’s ban on smoking in enclosed public places, including pubs and restaurants, which is due to be introduced in just over a year.
The Scottish Licensed Trade Association will present its analysis of the costs involved to MSPs next week.
And the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee will also hear evidence from local authorities estimating the cost of implementing the ban at £6m a year. The assessment by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities includes £403,000 for implementing the ban in Edinburgh and £75,000 for West Lothian.
In a written submission to the committee, the SLTA argues that pubs not serving food should be exempt from the ban, in line with proposals south of the Border. It urges a phased approach and claims the economic effects of an outright ban have not yet been fully considered.
Official research released by the Executive at the time the Bill was published claimed the effect of the smoking ban on the hospitality trade could be anything from a loss of £104m a year to a gain of £137m a year.
But the SLTA says the study was "incomplete, irrelevant and rushed". And it claims: "Independent research suggests the financial impact will be far greater than stated."
A study commissioned from the Centre for Economics and Business Research concludes that once a ban is introduced the annual turnover in the licensed trade would decline by £105m, annual profits in licensed premises may decline by £86m and employment could be expected to decline by 2300 jobs initially. About 142 average-sized licensed premises may close as a result of decreased trade and the Exchequer could lose out on a total of £59m in annual tax revenues from Scotland.
Alistair Don, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said the hospitality industry in Scotland employed around 200,000 people. "The Executive doesn’t appear to want to look at the financial implications. There are jobs at risk, not just in the licensed trade but all the ancillary trades."
He added that the eventual job loss total could be ten times the 2300 expected to go when the ban is first introduced. "Ireland has already lost 7500 jobs since their ban was introduced in March 2004 - and that’s government figures."
The Cosla submission to the committee highlights the costs councils will incur in recruiting new wardens, training staff and councillors, publicising the ban and even extra street cleaning because they expect there to be more discarded cigarette ends.
Cosla calculates the start-up costs for introducing the ban in April 2006 and the first year of implementing it will be £6m.
The Executive has said it will make some cash available to local authorities to help ease the financial burden of implementing the ban. But Cosla said: "There are concerns the Executive will fund enforcement for an initial period and funding will then decrease, with revenue consequences for councils."
An Executive spokesman said no decision had yet been made on what funding would be available. He added: "We will be discussing the financial implications with Cosla shortly."
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=138622005
There is powerful evidence that an outright ban on public smoking would save lives, doctors' leaders from across the world say.
A report by the British Medical Association's Tobacco Control Resource Centre describes the success of such anti-smoking laws in other countries.
Ireland has seen drops in cigarette sales and the US state California has reported fewer lung cancers.
But pro-smoking groups called evidence for passive smoking deaths a "myth".
Partial measures don't work Dr Vivienne Nathanson from the BMA
In the recent White Paper on Public Health for England, Health Secretary John Reid announced plans for a partial ban smoking in enclosed public places.
For example, while pubs that serve food would have to enforce a ban, other pubs would not.
The BMA says this is insufficient and doomed to fail.
Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics, said: "I hope John Reid listens to these doctors' testimonies.
"These doctors are telling us that partial measures don't work.
"It's time for the UK Government to play fair, and protect everyone from exposure to second-hand smoke at work."
But a Department of Health spokeswoman said: "As John Reid has made clear, we need to strike a balance between the rights of those who want to be protected against the harmful effects of other people's smoke and the rights of those who choose to smoke.
"That is why we are taking action to deliver a big increase in the number of smoke-free pubs and restaurants in places where food is served while ensuring that people who still want to smoke in the pub can still do so."
Smoke-free law
According to the Californian Medical Association, lung cancer rates have fallen six times faster in California than in US states without smoke-free laws since 1998.
In Ireland, cigarette sales fell by almost 16% in the first six months of the ban, according to the Irish Medical Organisation.
Others oppose an outright ban.
Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group FOREST, said: "The idea that people are dying in their hundreds or even thousands from passive smoking is a myth based on estimates, calculations and statistics which are in turn based on extremely dubious research.
"The evidence falls far short of justifying a total ban on smoking in every public place.
"Most people want no-smoking offices to be the norm, but in pubs, clubs and bars there is clear support for a choice of smoking and no-smoking areas and better ventilation."
BMA chairman, Mr James Johnson, said: "Powerful vested interests peddle myths that smoke-free legislation is unnecessary.
"They say that it is unworkable, unpopular, and will lead to economic ruin.
"Such predictions are little more than scaremongering. The evidence shows that smoke-free laws save lives."
He said if all UK workplaces were smoke-free, the tobacco multinationals would lose an estimated £310 million in sales every year.
Ian Willmore, from ASH, said: "A comprehensive end to smoking in work places and enclosed public places is essential to protect the health of non-smokers and encourage smokers to quit."
The evidence falls far short of justifying a total ban on smoking in every public place Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group FOREST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4244233.stm
New Legislation Being Drafted to Ban No Smoking Policy -MI
Lori Dougovito
New legislation is being drafted by State Senator Virg Bernero, legislation that would make it illegal for an employer to fire employees for engaging in legal activities, like smoking, outside of the workplace.
It stems from Okemos based Weyco Inc. banning smoking. In January Weyco began giving mandatory smoking tests, if an employee tests positive then they're fired. Four female employees say they were fired, Weyco says they signed a waiver admitting they were smokers in turn dismissing themselves from the company. Three employees admit signing the waiver, one says she did not.
Bernero hopes to have the legislation introduced in a few weeks.
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/1238657.html
Fired For Smoking -MI
Okemos, Michigan. Feb. 7, 2005 — Four women who were fired from their jobs because they wouldn't quit smoking - are fighting back tonight.
The women worked at Weyco Incorporated in Okemos, Michigan. In November of 2003, their employer told everyone they had to quit smoking -and submit to nicotine tests, or else risk losing their jobs. The policy went into effect last month and four women were fired.
They say it's not a matter of health care, or insurance costs like Weyco says.They say it's infringing on their rights. So - they've enlisted the help of a state senator, (State Senator Virg Bernero/(D) MICHIGAN) who wants to make a law to prevent this from happening again. Weyco says, on its web site, the company would not fire anyone because of their weight. Either way, Bernero says he plans to introduce his legislation in the next few weeks.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/2705-smokingfired.html
Public-Smoking Ban Again To Be Considered For Indianapolis
Ordinance Covers 'Public Places,' Enclosed Workplaces
February 4, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS -- City-county council members will again consider a ban on smoking in public places -- including restaurants and bars -- and enclosed workplaces in Marion County.
Council President Steve Talley said the proposal will be introduced on Monday. A similar proposal was killed in a council committee in November 2003.
The new proposal, which was shown to the news media Friday, defines a pub Posted at 4:19 pm by looped_ca
Public-Smoking Ban Again To Be Considered For Indianapolis
Ordinance Covers 'Public Places,' Enclosed Workplaces
February 4, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS -- City-county council members will again consider a ban on smoking in public places -- including restaurants and bars -- and enclosed workplaces in Marion County.
Council President Steve Talley said the proposal will be introduced on Monday. A similar proposal was killed in a council committee in November 2003.
The new proposal, which was shown to the news media Friday, defines a public place as an "enclosed area, whether owned publicly or privately, to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted."
"This is an important health issue that must be addressed," said Angela Mansfield, one of the council members behind the proposal. "This ordinance is about protecting the workforce and the public from the dangers of secondhand smoke."
The proposal cited elevators, health care facilities, sports arenas, shopping malls, public transportation facilities and enclosed common areas of multiple-unit residential facilities as examples of places where smoking would be banned.
The ban would extend outdoors at places where people use or wait for a service, including automated teller machines, telephones, ticket lines, bus stops, and cab stands.
Private residences and hotel rooms designated as smoking rooms are among the places that would be exempted.
The plan would go to a committee in a few weeks, and public hearings will be held, RTV6's Julie Pursley said
Some city-county council members are proposing a smoking ban for public places in Marion County. Would you be in favor of such a ban? Choice Votes Percentage of 1214 Votes Yes 708  58% No 506 42%
http://www.theindychannel.com/health/4166951/detail.html
Governor: All State Buildings To Be Smoke-Free-WI
30 Percent Of Government Buildings Still Allow Smoking February 7, 2005
MADISON, Wis. -- Gov. Jim Doyle on Monday ordered all state office buildings to be totally smoke-free.
The executive order gives state buildings 30 days to eliminate all designated smoking areas.
Doyle says he's committed to ensuring the health and well-being of state employees and all visitors to state buildings.
Doyle also called on the Legislature to ban smoking in all local government buildings. About 30 percent of municipalities in the state still allow smoking in public buildings.
Doyle's order reiterated that smoking and second-hand smoke kills 7,300 Wisconsin residents every year.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/4172807/detail.html
Law would ban smoking in restaurants -NC
By: News 14 Carolina Staff Updated: 2/4/2005 6:38 PM
Another proposed law concerning cigarettes will likely create a fierce debate this year.
A Davidson County lawmaker wants to ban smoking inside all restaurants across the state. There's little gray area on this issue most strongly agree or oppose a ban.
Several major cities and even states have already banned smoking inside places like restaurants.
Jay Casabonne supports a smoking ban.
“It didn't affect the commerce there and I don't think it'll offset the commerce here,” he said. “I think it'll just make a better environment when you get home at night your clothes aren't wreaking. It'll encourage more people to come out and there'll be plenty of access outside.”
A North Carolina lawmaker agrees and he's proposed a complete ban on smoking in restaurants.
Katherine Depraten opposes the ban and said, “I think it'll cut down on people going out as much and they'll just stay at home I mean it's a person's right.”
The proposed law would go into effect next January if you're caught lighting up it will burn a $50 hole in your wallet.
While smokers will be upset with the proposed law and many restaurants have mixed feelings, health advocates definitely know how they feel.
Sarah Cox has for years tried to convince lawmakers non-smoking sections aren't enough.
“Some research has indicated you would need hurricane force winds to eliminate exposure to all the toxins that come from cigarette smoke,” Sarah Cox of the American Lung Association explained.
Mecklenburg County has asked the state legislature to approve a ban not only in restaurants but bars too.
Depraten added, “I think it'll definitely cut down on business in Charlotte in certain places.”
Either way the legislature will likely take it's time to debate the issue and it's expected to be a fierce one to say the least.
A Durham lawmaker has also proposed a $20 increase on the cigarette tax. Currently the state only taxes five cents a pack. That's the second lowest in the nation.
http://rdu.news14.com/content/headlines/?ArID=63357&SecID=2
Bar smoking fines -NY
By: Nick Cowdrey, News 10 Now Web Staff 2/4/2005 8:06 PM
Fran Buske has owned Fran's Riverfront Inn for 10 years. She says when the Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect she suffered.
"It cut my business almost right in half of what it was," Buske said.
In Oswego County, the health department decided it would only be fair to give warnings to first-time offenders.
"We took those first offenses as an opportunity to educate them on the law and gave them practical advice on how to comply with the law," said Kathleen Smith, Oswego Co. Health Commissioner.
But 18 months later the county says first time offenders will now be fined.
"We we're seeing repeat offenders and felt these folks knew about the law and had ample opportunity to learn about the law and what they needed to do to comply with the law," Smith said.
In 2003, the health department in Oswego County got 72 complaints of businesses breaking the smoking law. 2004 saw that number increase to 93 complaints. Since the law went into effect 37 warnings have been given and 24 tickets were issued totaling $11,000 in fines.
Fran's Riverfront Tavern was one of the last places to get a warning.
"I do have all my signs up, my bartenders try to push the issue, but when you are really busy and someone sneaks over and has a cigarette there isn't much I can do about it," Buske said.
In Oswego County 18 businesses have applied for smoking waivers. Nine have been denied, six granted, two granted pending the construction of a smoking room and one under review. But the owner of Fran's says she doesn't have room to build a smoking room, nor does she think it would help.
"I have a deck but they tell me I can't build out there because the windows are still attached or something and I don't have a lot of property besides to stretch out the building more," she said.
Buske says she will do everything to comply with the law because she can't afford to pay the fine.
The Health Department says first time offenders of the Clean Indoor Act will be fined $1,000 but that fine can be reduced to $500 with a stipulation agreement. Every offense after that will be $1,000.
Bar smoking fines
 Since the Clean Indoor Air Act went into affect in 2003, many bar owners have complained about how it's hurt their business. In Oswego County the health department wanted to give them every opportunity to comply with the law so it's just given first time offenders warnings. But now the health department says no more. News 10 Now's Nick Cowdrey explains.
http://news10now.com/content/all_news/oswego_county/?ArID=36231&SecID=155
Bundaberg council refuses to police smoking laws -AU
Bundaberg City Council has told Queensland Health it is not enforcing new smoking regulations that came into force at the start of the year.
It is now illegal to smoke close to playgrounds, entrances to buildings, on patrolled beaches and in sections of some pubs.
Mayor Kay McDuff says the cost of enforcing the new smoking bans would be significant.
She says the State Government is cost-shifting.
"Well, we believe that we have not got the resources and if you can understand, most of the people who are possibly smoking would be smoking at late hours of the night," she said.
"We would have to have officers available all hours of the day, almost 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1297556.htm
Smoking ban expansion would include beaches -HI
Ron Mizutani
No ifs, ands or butts about it -- cigarette butts on our beaches can be a pain in the you know what. But it's not just our beaches. The smoking issue affects many public areas. Lawmakers are addressing the issue with a new bill that would prohibit smoking at public beaches and parks and in all areas of airports and hospitals.
The bill also would prohibit disposing cigarette butts in these areas.
"To me I think it's really a pain in the butt," said Katsumi Scull a nonsmoker.
Not just a pain, it's also a potential health issue.
"It's kind of disgusting and then I see the kids playing right next to the cigarette butts," said Scull.
"You go on the beach you see the butts in the water, you're walking you see it there, the kids playing, I just don't think it's healthy in anyway," said Nina Stone another non-smoker who supports tough smoking laws.
"I honestly don't think when I'm sitting in an open area I should inhale anybody's smoke," said Stone.
Kenneth Scull is a smoker, and surprisingly he, too, supports the effort.
"I am a smoker but I think on the beach it should be no smoking," he said. "I used to clean the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian, and the cigarette butts -- that's the problem."
"Smoking on the beaches, at least malama the aina, yeah. Just pick up your butts. Don't throw them all over the place," said Jesse Caetano, who also smokes.
But it doesn't happen. John Cotton can tell you that. He gets up and close with the sand six days a week and certainly sees his share of cigarette butts.
But he said, "It's not only a wasted effort it's a waste of money. I think the state could put their money to filling potholes. I ride a motorcycle; potholes can kill me. A cigarette butt on the beach isn't going to kill me."
The tone at the airport was similar, where under the proposal; smoking would be prohibited from curbside to cabin.
"I don't think the government should regulate our life like that; I really don't," said a smoker from Maui.
"I think that's just getting a little overboard because you are outside, you should be able to smoke you know what I mean," said smoker Rebecca Barrera.
"For us smokers it's kind of hard because it's giving up so much spaces for us -- open areas for us to smoke," said James Somera.
Under the proposal, anyone caught smoking in a public area or disposing a butt in these areas could face a fine of up to $250.
http://khon.com/khon/displayStory.cfm?storyID=3465
Artificial Light May Trigger Breast Cancer
AP Monday, February 07, 2005
HARTFORD, Conn. — College researchers are studying whether electric light changes hormone levels in women and makes breast cancer more prevalent in developed countries.
Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Connecticut, said there is no scientific consensus on why there is a higher rate of breast cancer in the developed world.
He said literature on breast cancer includes many discredited theories on how the environment and lifestyles may contribute to the onset of the disease.
"We knew more about the cause of breast cancer 20 years ago than we do today," Stevens said. "What we do know is that it must have something to do with industrialized society."
Researchers are looking for new explanations, and Stevens and other researchers are focusing on electric light.
Their theory is that prolonged periods of exposure to artificial light disrupt the body's circadian rhythms — the inner biological clocks honed over thousands of years of evolution to regulate behaviors such as sleep and wakefulness.
They are looking into whether that disruption affects levels of hormones such as melatonin and the workings of cellular machinery, and whether it triggers breast cancer.
"Mankind has only been exposed to these light sources for 150 years or so," Stevens said.
So far, the theory is based largely on suggestive, but inconclusive, observational studies. For instance, night-shift workers such as nurses tend to be more prone to develop breast cancer than day-shift workers, and blind women are less likely to have breast cancer than women with sight.
In a recent study, Stevens and scientists at Yale University School of Medicine identified a possible genetic mechanism that could help explain how artificial light could trigger breast cancer.
Pre-menopausal women with a variation of a "clock gene," which helps govern the regulation of the body's response to night and day, tend to have a higher risk of cancer.
"I'm not saying this is a cause, but that the evidence shows it is worth investigating," Stevens said.
Scientists believe that environmental and lifestyle factors, not inherited risks, are the cause of nine out of 10 breast cancer cases.
While smoking is linked to lung cancer and the human papillomavirus to cervical cancer, breast cancer researchers are not sure what lifestyle or environmental factors women should worry about.
Antiperspirants and wire bras are included in some widely circulated but largely rejected theories. And in 2003, the National Cancer Institute convened 100 breast cancer experts who concluded there is no evidence that miscarriages or abortions increase the risk of breast cancer.
Yet epidemiologists such as Stevens say other risk factors must exist and they urge that more studies be conducted.
"We absolutely need studies," said Deborah Winn, chief of the clinical and genetic epidemiology research branch of the National Cancer Institute. "If we have those answers, we might have the potential to improve prevention."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/n/a/2005/02/07/national/a102631S10.DTL&type=health
Nevada lawmakers face big issues as 2005 session opens
By BRENDAN RILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS February 07, 2005 at 17:07:07 PST
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Nevada lawmakers convened their 2005 session Monday, with leaders quickly outlining possible solutions to major issues such as spiraling property tax bills and struggling public schools.
Legislators also promised to work together and prevent a repeat of 2003 when two special sessions were needed to pass a record $833 million tax package that was held up during the regular session by Assembly Republicans who wanted a lower tax hit.
Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, opened the Assembly by calling for "a session of action" to deal with numerous issues - plus a nearly $6 billion state spending plan proposed by Gov. Kenny Guinn.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, promised action on legislation in the Senate, and both leaders urged cooperation rather than what Perkins termed political grandstanding.
Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, suggested an immediate cap on property tax rates to help Nevadans facing big tax hikes in the coming fiscal year. Perkins termed that a "fallback" solution and advanced his own suggestion of a $50,000 exemption in homeowners' taxable property values.
Titus said she wouldn't attempt a rebuttal on the Senate floor of Perkins' "gubernatorial speech." Both want to run for governor in 2006.
Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, called for health care improvements to ease overcrowding in hospital emergency rooms and ensure that Nevadans can get low-priced prescription drugs, from Canada if necessary.
Legislators also will have to deal with voter petitions that would restrict tobacco smoking in public places and ease Nevada's marijuana possession laws - although Perkins called the marijuana proposal "the wrong thing to do, now or ever."
Cooperation will be essential if the legislators hope to accomplish their goals by June 6, the last day of a session that by law can run only 120 days.
There have been extensive preparations for the 2005 session, with some staffers working overtime since last fall to get the first of several hundred expected bills ready for prompt introduction. Several committees were scheduled to start debating big issues during the first week of the session.
The 42 Assembly members and 21 state senators already have Guinn's record budget plan for the next two fiscal years, and in the two weeks preceding the session's start the lawmakers had a head start by holding committee hearings to go over the main elements of the record spending plan.
Early bills include a $10 million appropriation to cover part of the session costs through June 6, along with plans to prohibit executions of minors convicted of capital crimes and fund full-day kindergartens.
Other start-of-session measures would allow video or "photo cop" devices to help catch red-light runners; and help prosecutors trying to enforce Nevada's open-meeting laws.
On Tuesday, a joint Assembly-Senate panel will start reviewing Nevada's property tax system - a review that many hope will end with taxpayer relief and avert the prospect of a citizens' initiative like California's Proposition 13.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2005/feb/07/020710879.html
VFW TO PAY FOR VIOLATING STATE SMOKING LAWS -ME
A Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Old Orchard Beach has settled a case with the state over smoking.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- The Attorney General's Office announced Monday that the post admitted to 100 counts of allowing public smoking and agreed to pay fines and surcharges totaling 26-hundred dollars.
Tobacco control coordinator John Archard said the state had gotten complaints from public businesses that the V-F-W post was stealing customers away by allowing in the public and letting them smoke.
Smoking is allowed at private clubs, but is against the law at bars, pool halls and other businesses that are open to he public.
http://www.wlbz2.com/newscenter/article.asp?id=19972
Sharing Incentives -IA
Monday, February 07, 2005
By Dave Franzman KCRG-TV9 News
(Cedar Rapids – KCRG) -- Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's budget plan includes more incentives to encourage smaller school districts to share.
Lawmakers began reviewing the governor's five billion dollar spending plan on Monday. Some of the big items include a proposed 80 cent increase in the cigarette tax to help cover Medicaid and other health programs.
But six million dollars would go to encourage more "sharing" between Iowa's smaller school districts. As one example, the Mt. Vernon and Lisbon school districts already share teachers, classes and sports teams. But the governor's proposal might open up even more shared services for possible incentives.
The proposal might also allow districts to claim an incentive for sharing behind the scenes staff...like bookkeepers. Mt. Vernon and Lisbon also do some cooperative things with bus maintenance and repairs. Under the latest plan, even that sort of sharing might quality for a new incentive.
Iowa currently has 367 school districts around the state...down from 390 ten years ago. Officials say sharing programs, encouraged by incentives, is the best way to get small districts to start the process that may eventually lead to consolidation.
Risk Factors Differ for Childhood Asthma and Wheeze, and Bronchial Hyperresponsiveness
Childhood asthma and current wheeze may be associated with different risk factors than bronchial hyperresponsivenes (BHR), according to a new study. Researchers at the David Hide Asthma & Allergy Research Centre, St. Mary's Hospital, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK, compared multiple environmental and genetic factors affecting children at 1, 2, 4, and 10 years of age and whether the children had asthma, wheeze, or BHR when they were 10 years old. Data collected from 1,373 of the original 1,456 children at age 10 showed that 18.9% had current wheeze and 13.0% had asthma, and BHR was found in 169 of the 784 (21,6%) tested. Analysis indicated that both wheeze and asthma share many common significant risk factors, including a genetic link to asthma, a predisposition for being atopic, early exposure to tobacco smoke, and recurrent chest infections in infancy. The only differing risk factor of significance was that males were more likely to have asthma. In sharp contrast, having a higher social class at birth and atopic sensitization at 4 years were found to be the significant risk factors for BHR. These findings suggest that BHR is influenced by mediators that differ from those of asthma and wheezing. The study appears in the February issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Cigarette Smoking and Reduced Lung Function Increases Systemic Inflammation
Low-grade systemic inflammation is associated with health complications, such as cachexia (loss of weight, muscle, and appetite associated with a chronic disease) and cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, and a new study shows that active cigarette smoking and poor lung fuction heighten systemic inflammation, both separately and when combined. Researchers at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, administered pulmonary function testing to 7,685 adults ages 40 and over. By using C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as an indication of total system burden of inflammation, researchers were able to determine each individual's amount of systemic inflammation. Results showed that smoking was associated with 1.6 increased odds of elevated CRP levels, a reduction in lung function was associated with 2.3 odds of elevated CRP levels, and for individuals with both risk factors, the CRP odds of elevation of levels increased to 3.3, suggesting an additive relationship. These findings emphasize the importance of smoking cessation in patients with reduced lung function but also indicate that smoking cessation may not be able to fully reduce inflammatory markers to normal levels if lung function is already reduced. The study appears in the February issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
Benefits of Inhaled Colistin for Children with Cystic Fibrosis Outweigh Risks
Colistin sulfomethate is being more widely used to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in patients with cystic fibrosis, but its use is controversial, as some patients experience chest tightness and bronchospasm. Researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, administered colistin and placebo (during two separate laboratory visits) to 24 children between the ages of 5 and 18 to see if the subjects would experience negative side effects. Patients experienced a reduction in lung function after inhalation of colistin and placebo, but the drop was greatest for high risk patients with a family history of asthma and/or atopy, bronchospasm due to wheezing, or airway lability who only inhaled colistin. The reduction in lung function for patients without these characteristics was not significant. While researchers were unable to confirm whether the bronchoconstriction was caused by placebo or colistin, those who experienced bonchoconstriction were given salbutamol, which usually reversed their symptoms. Results indicate that bronchoconstriction following inhalation of an aerosol is common but is controllable, and should not deter use of inhaled colistin. The study appears in the February issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/509602/
Vector CEO Says Views Changed on Tobacco Effects
By Peter Kaplan Mon Feb 7, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executive of tobacco holding company Vector Group Ltd. backed away from past admissions that smoking is a proven cause of disease during testimony on Monday in the government's racketeering trial against the industry.
Bennett LeBow, who controls cigarette maker Liggett Group through his stake in Vector, told a federal judge that his views had changed since 1997, when he broke ranks with the rest of the tobacco industry and conceded that smoking was a proven cause of lung cancer and other ills.
"I've changed my opinion pretty much in the last four or five years," LeBow said in the first day of testimony since an appeals court on Friday barred the government from seeking $280 billion in past industry profits in the case.
LeBow said he still believes smoking is addictive and harmful, and that studies have linked it to diseases like lung cancer. But he said he now has doubts about whether the causal connection has been proven under strict scientific standards.
"A lot of these scientific (studies), I don't think they had enough proof to prove anything," LeBow said.
LeBow bought a controlling stake in Liggett in 1986. During 1996 and 1997 the company settled with many state attorneys general. As part of the deals, Liggett conceded nicotine makes cigarettes addictive and smoking causes serious diseases.
The other major tobacco companies settled with the states in 1998, agreeing to pay billions of dollars and overhaul their marketing practices.
Targeted in the government's lawsuit, filed in 1999, are Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group ; Vector's Liggett; Reynolds American Inc.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.
The tobacco companies deny they illegally conspired to promote smoking and say the government has no grounds to pursue them after the 1998 settlement.
District Judge Gladys Kessler said nothing during the day's proceedings about the ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday that reversed her on whether the government can seek disgorgement of past profits.
Justice Department lawyers are still studying the ruling to decide whether to appeal, a department spokesman said.
At issue in Monday's cross examination was LeBow's allegation in written testimony that the industry had withheld information about the health effects of smoking.
Those charges could bolster the government's case that cigarette makers tried to confuse the public for decades by falsely denying there was any scientific proof smoking caused disease.
But LeBow did little to help the government's case on Monday. He could not recall specific documents that prompted him to settle with the states and said he had no direct knowledge about what tobacco companies had done before 1986
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7562253
Tooth-brushing 'cuts heart risk'
Brushing your teeth could reduce the risk of having a stroke or heart attack, a study has suggested.
A team from Columbia University found people with gum disease were more likely to suffer from atherosclerosis - a narrowing of blood vessels.
The condition can precede a stroke or heart attack.
The British Dental Association said the research, published in the journal Circulation underlined the importance of looking after dental health.
The Columbia researchers looked at levels of bacteria in the mouths of 657 people who had no history of stroke or myocardial infarction (heart attack).
The researchers also measured the thickness of the subjects' carotid artery, which carries blood from the heart to the brain, and which is measured to identify atherosclerosis.
It was found that those people who had a higher level of the specific bacteria that causes gum (periodontal) disease also had an increased carotid artery thickness, even after taking other cardiovascular risk factors into account.
The team also found that the link with atherosclerosis only existed for the bacteria which was know to cause gum disease, and not other bacteria found in the mouth.
'Stronger link'
The researchers said the explanation may be that this bacteria migrates throughout the body via the bloodstream and stimulates the immune system, causing inflammation that results in the clogging of arteries.
The link between poor dental health and poor vascular health has suggested before.
But Dr Moïse Desvarieux, of Columbia University Medical Center's Mailman School of Public Health, who led the study, said: "This is the most direct evidence yet that gum disease may lead to stroke or cardiovascular disease.
"And because gum infections are preventable and treatable, taking care of your oral health could very well have a significant impact on your cardiovascular health."
He added: "We will continue to study these participants to determine if atherosclerosis continues over time and is definitely associated with periodontal disease."
Judy O'Sullivan, medical spokesperson for the British Heart Foundation said: "Inflammation may prove to be a key factor in the development of coronary heart disease.
"However, it may be too simplistic to say that periodontal infection alone is the issue of concern rather than inflammation in general, as inflammation is often associated with other risk factors for coronary heart disease, such as smoking, poor diet and low income."
She added: "We welcome studies which add evidence to this growing area of research and we would encourage people to follow a healthy lifestyle to reduce their risk of heart disease.
"This includes maintaining healthy teeth and gums as well as not smoking, taking regular physical activity and enjoying a balanced diet."
A spokesperson for the British Dental Association added: "A number of studies in the past have suggested a link between gum disease and heart disease and this research would seem to strengthen that link.
"It also underlines the importance of brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste to reduce the risk of gum disease and improve overall dental health."
Taking care of your oral health could very well have a significant impact on your cardiovascular health Dr Moïse Desvarieux, Columbia University
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4243893.stm
different version http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-02/niod-sfd020705.php
No, Nicotine Probably Doesn't Ward Off Alzheimer's
Mon Feb 7, 2005
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The final excuse for smoking -- that it might reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease -- has just been stubbed out, findings from an animal study suggest.
Past animal and human studies have indicated that nicotine exposure inhibits the formation of amyloid plaque, a key feature of Alzheimer's disease. However, the new study shows that chronic nicotine use appears to worsen the effects of a brain protein called tau, which is responsible for the fibrous tangles that are the other hallmark of the disease.
So, at best, the effects of nicotine are probably canceled out, according to the researchers.
Dr. Frank M. LaFerla, from the University of California at Irvine, and colleagues administered nicotine to a genetically engineered strain of mice that develops Alzheimer's disease.
Nicotine treatment produced an increase in nicotine receptors in the animals' brains that correlated with a dramatic rise in the aggregation and activity of the tau protein. This indicates that the disease-causing effects of tau were worsened, the team reports in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Moreover, in these experiments, chronic nicotine administration had no effect on levels of soluble amyloid, the researchers point out.
The results emphasize the importance of assessing nicotine's affects on all aspects of the disease, they write. "Our findings suggest that the use of nicotine as a potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease should be reevaluated."
SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, early edition February 7, 2005.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7561247
Newborn's Weight May Affect Adult Cancer Risk
Heavier Babies Have Higher Risk of Some Cancers as Adults
By Miranda Hitti WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Monday, February 07, 2005
Feb. 7, 2005 - An infant's birth weight may predict cancer risk later in life, a new study shows.
A study in the Feb. 7 International Cancer Journal found that heavier birth weight babies were more likely to have cancer of the stomach, pancreas and colon, and more likely to have blood cell cancers, compared to infants born at lighter weights.
Heavier newborn girls have a higher risk of developing breast cancer before age 50, says the study. The findings came from British and Swedish researchers including Valerie McCormack of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
The risk of developing cancer was not the same for all types of cancers. Infants born at a higher birth weight had a lower risk of developing cancer of the lining of the uterus (endometrial) later in life.
Other cancers -- including ovarian, cervical, and prostate cancer -- weren't affected by birth weight.
Data came from more than 11,000 babies born at Sweden's Uppsala Academic Hospital from 1915 to 1929. The hospital kept detailed records on each baby, including birth weight, maternal age, birth order, length, and head circumference.
When the babies became 37-year-old adults, British and Swedish researchers began monitoring their health records for cancer, following them for about 40 years. During that time, 2,685 cancers were registered for the group.
The researchers calculated the difference each extra pound (450 grams) at birth made for adult- cancer risk. They factored in differences due to smoking and variations in the number of weeks of pregnancy at the birth of each infant.
Every extra pound at birth brought a 13% increase in digestive cancers, a 17% increase in blood cell cancers, and a 39% increase for breast cancer in women before age 50.
For men, cancer risk rose 8% for every 450-gram increase in birth weight. For women, increased cancer risk rose until age 50, mainly due to breast cancer.
However, heavier newborn girls had an advantage with cancer of the uterine lining (endometrial cancer). They were 24% less likely to have endometrial cancer, regardless of age. "Rates of this cancer in women who weighed at least 4,000 grams (8.32 pounds) were almost half that of women who weighed under 3,000 grams (6.2 pounds)," write the researchers.
McCormack and colleagues aren't sure how to explain the findings. Perhaps larger birth size means more cells at risk for cancer, as some studies have suggested.
Still, smaller babies don't have all the advantages. In addition to the increased endometrial cancer risk, the researchers say that other studies have linked smaller birth size to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes later in life.
There's no way to change your birth weight. But being active, following a nutritious diet, and getting proper medical care can help your health, whether you were a big baby or a petite newborn.
SOURCES: McCormack, V., International Cancer Journal, Feb. 7, 2005; vol 115. News release, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/100/105713.htm
Stealth Smoked Detectors
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. (AP) - The Slippery Rock School District is buying four Stealth Smoke Detectors, which will let them secretly track students or faculty who smoke on school premises.
The 325-dollar units are being funded by a grant under a Butler County health program. The detectors are made by Voice Products, an Ohio company. The company makes the ultra-sensitive smoke detectors that look like regular smoke detectors -- but they also make four different
"covert" packages for them, so unsuspecting smokers won't know where they're at.
The detectors don't ring or buzz -- instead, they send a pager message to a school administrator, that also tells that person where the smoking is happening.
The detectors are easily moved and will likely be placed in hallways, bathrooms and other popular smoking areas.
http://www.wkbn.com/Global/story.asp?S=2903396&nav=81AlW4bx
Posted at 4:04 pm by looped_ca
Saturday, February 05, 2005
This is The News as I saw it
Safer cigarettes one step closer
The federal government is one step closer to making cigarettes more fire-safe. On March 31, the government passed Bill C-260, which designates cigarettes as a dangerous product under the Hazardous Products Act. This designation is required before legislation forcing cigarette manufacturers to produce safer cigarettes can be passed.
With the bill passed, Health Canada is proposing regulations under the Tobacco Act that would require tobacco manufacturers to meet an ignition propensity standard for all cigarettes manufactured in Canada or imported for sale in Canada.
Ignition propensity is a measure of the ability of an ignition source, such as a cigarette, to ignite an object, such as a couch. Ignition propensity can be decreased by reducing the burn temperature of the cigarette or reducing the amount of fuel available to be burnt so that the cigarette extinguishes itself if left unused.
"Reduced ignition propensity does not mean fire-safe," said a statement released by Health Canada. "It is impossible to make a burning object completely fire-safe. However, Health Canada feels these regulations will save lives by significantly reducing the number of fires started by cigarettes."
Smokers' materials are the leading cause of fire-related fatalities across the country. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs reported for the period 1995-1999 that at least 14,030 fires in Canada were started by smokers' materials, which includes cigarettes, cigars and pipes. These fires killed 356 people, injured 1,615 and cost more than $200 million in property damage. The victims of these fires are often among society's most vulnerable, such as children, the elderly and the poor.
The standard proposed by Health Canada is the same used by the State of New York. On December 31, 2003, New York became the first jurisdiction in the world to enact legislation mandating that the ignition propensity of cigarettes be reduced. By June 28, 2004 all cigarettes sold in New York had to have a standard of 25 per cent full length burns when tested on 10 layers of filter paper using ASTM method E2187-02b Standard Test Method for Measuring the Ignition Strength of Cigarettes.
In this test, a lit cigarette is placed on 10 layers of standard laboratory filter paper. The procedure is repeated 40 times and the per cent failures is calculated. Failure is defined as the cigarette burning its full length.
Under Health Canada's proposals, tobacco manufacturers would have the option to use the manufacturing process or technical design of their choosing to achieve the standard. Options available to manufacturers include:
1. Reducing tobacco density, thereby reducing the amount of available fuel.
2. Reducing paper porosity, which is related to a reduction in the availability of oxygen necessary to fuel the smoldering process.
3. Decreasing the circumference of cigarettes, which reduces the available tobacco, paper and the amount
of contact between the cigarette and the material that could light on fire.
4. Removing or reducing burn additives that enhance the burn rate of cigarette paper.
5. Putting "speed bumps" on cigarettes. Reduced ignition propensity cigarettes currently available in the U.S. and New Zealand use a patented paper, which has concentric bands of ultra-thin paper applied on top of traditional cigarette paper. The manufacturer claims that these bands or rings act as "speed bumps" to slow down the rate at which the cigarette burns as the lit end crosses over them.
If Health Canada's proposed regulations become legislation, Canada would be the first country in the world to have a national cigarette ignition propensity standard. The proposed regulations have entered the first phase of public consultation.
For more information on reduced ignition propensity cigarettes, visit www.gosmokefree.ca.
Excerpts of this article were taken from Health Canada's Web sites at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/media/releases/2004/2004_19bk1.htm, and http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hecs-sesc/tobacco/legislation/rip/04.html.
Lit smokers' materials cause of most fire deaths
According to the OFM's statistical review of fire losses, the primary cause of fire deaths in Ontario is smokers' materials. As the graph on the right shows, between 1998 and 2002, these materials caused 38% of preventable fatal home fires and 38% of fire fatalities. Often, victims of these fires are children and adults living with people who smoke.
Between 1995-1999, the majority of fire deaths in Ontario that involved cigarettes resulted from one of two common scenarios. As described below, often, these scenarios also involved alcohol use.
Scenario #1
Property Type: Residential
Area of Fire Origin: Living area
Ignition Source: Lit smoking articles, matches or lighters
Object First Ignited: Upholstered furniture (13%), other objects (8%)
Time of Occurrence: Night
Victims: Asleep or impaired adults, children living with adults
Scenario #2
Property Type: Residential
Area of Fire Origin: Sleeping area
Ignition Source: Lit smoking articles, matches or lighters
Object First Ignited: Bedding (5%), other objects (5%)
Time of Occurrence: Night
Victims: Asleep or impaired adults, children living with adults
http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/english/publications/messenger/2004/mayaugust2004.asp
Cigarette fires up 19% in U.S.
The number of fires in the United States caused by lighted tobacco products – almost always cigarettes increased by a stunning 19 percent in the most recent year studied, according to research by the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association). But laws requiring that cigarettes be designed to stop burning when not actively smoked could sharply reduce this destruction.
Cigarettes are the leading cause of fatal fires in Canada and the United States. In Ontario, smokers’ materials (including lighted tobacco products but not matches and lighters) led to one out of six fire deaths between 1998 and 2003, more than any other cause of fire. Yet, despite the American trend, the number of fires caused by cigarettes in Ontario is decreasing.
Contrary to the popular image, NFPA’s study shows that most victims of smoking-material fires in the U.S. did not fall asleep smoking. Many are not even smokers. Rather, these fires typically started when someone abandoned or improperly disposed of smoking materials.
Most victims were in the room where the fire started, and most had some condition that limited their ability to get out. Often they were asleep, but a significant number ere impaired by drugs or alcohol, or their mobility was reduced by
disability or old age. In the U.S., people older than 64 are more likely to die in smokers’ material fires than younger people, even though they are less likely to smoke.
The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs reported for the period 1995 99 that at least 14,030 fires in Canada were started by smokers’ materials. These fires killed 356 people, injured 1,615 and cost more than $200 million in property damage.
Cigarette fires are preventable. A cigarette must be touching something combustible to produce a fire. Cutting down the burning time of cigarettes will prevent fires.
Health Canada has proposed legislation that would require tobacco manufacturers to meet an ignition propensity standard for all cigarettes manufactured or imported for sale in Canada. Ignition propensity is a measure of the ability of an ignition source to ignite an object. The proposed legislation follows the federal government’s passing of Bill C-260 on March 31 which designates cigarettes as a dangerous product under the Hazardous Products Act.
Currently, the state of New York is the only jurisdiction in the world with legislation that mandates the ignition propensity of cigarettes. Starting June 28, cigarettes sold in New York must be self-extinguishing, and all cigarette brands must be tested to make sure they self-extinguish at least 75 percent of the time.
Excerpts of this article are reprinted from a media release distributed by the NFPA on July 16. For more information, visit the NFPA Web site at www.nfpa.org.
http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/english/publications/messenger/2004/pdf/septoct2004.pdf
Teahouse must butt out: council -BC
A Persian teahouse is being told to comply with Burnaby's smoking by-laws.
Tuesday, Jan 25, 2005
The Hafez Tea House in north Burnaby can no longer offer hookah pipe smoking unless a separate ventilated room is built. The business is being told to obey city regulations despite the owners' assertion that hookah smoking tea and food service is traditionally offered in Persian teahouses.
Owners Abbas and Nasrin Adibi say their business is popular among Persian people because it replicates those found in Iran and other Middle East countries. They predict the business will not survive if they are unable to offer hookah pipe smoking.
Not only must they comply with Burnaby's smoking bylaw but the owners are required adhere to Workers' Compensation Bureau and Tobacco Sales Act regulations. WCB rules protect employees from second-hand smoke while the Tobacco Sales Act deals with the selling, distribution and promotion of tobacco products.
The owners of the teahouse approached Burnaby council earlier this month and asked for a business licence change that would allow smoking. Hookah smoking is an integral part of a Persian teahouse and the harm from hookah smoking is negligible, they said.
A city staff report presented Monday night states otherwise. According to studies done by the American Cancer Society and the Syrian Center of Tobacco Studies, not only does hookah smoking produce second hand smoking but is also harmful to the user.
Coun. Lee Rankin pointed out the Lower Mainland has the largest Persian population in Canada with 30,000 in the region. Being able to support the ethic group with a traditional teahouse would be ideal but smoking regulations must be enforced, he said.
One teahouse in Vancouver allows smoking, that's under review by Vancouver Coastal Health and the City.
http://www.mytelus.com/news/article.do?pageID=community/burnaby&articleID=1826853
Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants go smoke free -QC
NTR Tuesday, February 01, 2005
As of Tuesday, it's forbidden to smoke in the dining rooms of any of the 94 Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets in Quebec.
The management of the restaurant chain said that they fully support the recent announcement of Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard to modify the province's tobacco laws to ban smoking in restaurants by January 2006.
For the past year, 80 percent of the chain's restaurants have been smoke free. They employ 2,500 people across Quebec
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=a22a23ca-4e6f-4cfc-b5d1-0d994cb14321
Health Canada launches campaign to encourage parents to make their homes smoke-free
OTTAWA, Feb. 2 /CNW Telbec/ - Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh today launched a social marketing campaign aimed at getting parents to eliminate second-hand smoke in the home. The campaign consists of television advertisements and a booklet on how parents can make their home smoke-free.
This campaign is in response to research that showed that almost 50 per cent of smoking parents still smoke in their home and car. The research also indicated that while parents are aware of the dangers of second-hand smoke, there are many misconceptions about how to protect their children. Based on these results, Health Canada determined that a comprehensive campaign aimed at protecting children by eliminating second-hand smoke in the home was required.
"Many parents are not fully informed about how they can protect their children from second-hand smoke," said Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh. "The only way to fully protect children is to completely eliminate smoking in the home. Make your home smoke-free - don't let your children be a target."
Health Canada, working with the Canada Revenue Agency, will also create an insert, planned to be delivered with the March Child Tax Benefit mail-out. This insert will reach over one million homes and will inform parents about how they can minimize their children's exposure to second-hand smoke.
Over one million children are exposed to second-hand smoke every day. Children regularly exposed to second-hand smoke are at least 50 per cent more
likely to suffer damage to their lungs and breathing problems such as asthma, and have an increased risk of developing emphysema as an adult.
Every year, more than 45,000 Canadians die from disease or illness caused by using tobacco and at least 1,000 are non-smokers. In 1998, 55 boys and 41 girls under the age of one died as a result of second-hand smoke.
The primary mission of the Federal Tobacco Control Strategy (FTCS) is to reduce disease and death among Canadians. It recognizes that the key to success is comprehensive, integrated and sustained action, carried out in collaboration with all partners and directed at Canadians of all ages.
For information on how to make your home smoke-free or resources on how to quit smoking, go to www.GoSmokeFree.ca or call 1 800 O-Canada (1 800-622-6232).
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2005/02/c9941.html
Smoking ban not a problem, casino operator says
CBC News Last Updated Feb 4 2005 08:34 AM CST
REGINA – Fears that a province-wide smoking ban might be bad for business haven't materialized at Casino Regina, officials say.
Attendance at Casino Regina actually went up in the first few days after the Jan. 1 smoking ban went into effect.
Bill Davies, a spokesperson for the Crown corporation that operates casinos in Regina and Moose Jaw, predicts the smoking ban will be good for the gaming industry.
"We certainly look on the whole non-smoking policy by the government as a very positive thing," Davies said.
"We think it's good for the casino, and, on the public side, we think it's good to have a completely smoke-free facility."
However, officials say they will not know the full impact of the new law until they have more time to analyze their attendance numbers.
Davies said when the Moose Jaw casino went smoke-free last year, attendance numbers improved.
Three of the province's Indian-run casinos are allowing smoking. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations says the casinos are on First Nations property and provincial laws don't apply.
The fourth Indian-run casino, Yorkton's, is smoke-free.
Some hotel and bar operators have complained in recent weeks that they're losing business and having two sets of smoking rules is unfair.
http://sask.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=casinos-smoking050204
Notice to the Media - Update - Health Canada
OTTAWA, Feb. 4 /CNW Telbec/ - Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh will be the keynote speaker at The Canadian Mental Health Association BC Divison's "Bottom Line Conference: Depression, Anxiety Disorders and Addictions in the Workplace".
Media are invited to attend the Minister's address followed by a Q&A session for conference participants.
Following this lunchtime event, Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. David Butler-Jones, will join Minister Dosanjh and will be available to the media.
Date ---- Friday, February 4, 2005
Time ---- Keynote Address & Participant Q&A Session 12 :30 p.m.
Location ------ Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre Park View Terrace Room Suite 200, 999 Canada Place Vancouver, BC
For further information: Media Inquiries: Adele Blanchard, Office of the Minister of Health, (613) 957-0200; Mykle Ludvigsen, Public Education and Communications Officer, Canadian Mental Health Association BC, Division, (604) 688-3234, Cell: (604)715-0911
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2005/04/c0669.html
Winter smog afflicting southern Quebec, Ontario
CBC NewsFri, 04 Feb 2005
MONTREAL - A thick winter smog blanketing southeastern Quebec and much of southern Ontario because of unusually warm weather is unlikely to lift before some time next week.
In Quebec, pollution levels in the air are three times the normal level for this time of year, and Ontario's Environment Ministry has issued its first-ever smog alert in the month of February.
Public health officials say the smog can cause health problems for people with heart and lung disease, and could even lead to deaths among those with serious breathing conditions.
André Cantin, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says the smog is made up of extremely small particles.
"It will get into the lungs, and people more sensitive to that may have some breathing problems," he said.
During smog alerts, people with heart and lung conditions, as well as the elderly and small children, are advised to stay indoors as much as possible and avoid strenuous exercise.
Both Environment Canada and public health officials say industrial sources still contribute most to smog, but they also point to a boom in the installation of fireplaces in types of residences that never had them before.
"New condominiums that are going up, they're all equipped with fireplaces," said Norman King, an epidemiologist who works with Montreal's department of public health.
"It seems to be a more popular phenomenon, so what we ask people to do during the smog alert is to stop using their wood-burning apparatus."
Ontario's Ministry of the Environment says there's a 50 per cent probability of smog conditions continuing over the next three days in southern parts of the province, including Toronto.
The department says a strong high-pressure ridge will likely remain over southern and eastern parts of the province for several days, resulting in very light winds and poor dispersion conditions
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/02/04/winter-smog050204.html
* video report as well
* can ban on fireplaces be next hurdle low income families have to face??
AIDS task force expanding food pantry program -PA
The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force said Friday it will expand the program that provides groceries to people who have AIDS or are HIV-positive, thanks to a $10,000 grant from cigarette-maker Altria Group Inc.
The nonprofit task force's food pantry program buys dairy, fresh produce and high-protein items it says are largely unavailable from other food banks.
The grant from Altria (NYSE:MO), which owns Philip Morris USA, helps the task force serve more than 20,000 meals a year and reduce the price per meal from $2.70 to $1.45.
The AIDS task force says an average of 250 people per month visit the food pantry.
http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2005/01/31/daily50.html
Street backs smoking ban -PA
 'Wave of the future,' he says of bill
By MARK McDONALD Fri, Feb. 04, 2005
A few years ago Mayor Street was sitting in a restaurant's no-smoking section when a guy a few tables away unleashed a stinking cigar. "It was a terrible experience," he recalled.
It proved to Street once and for all the abject failure of attempts to cordon off smokers from non-smokers.
Yesterday, Street sent legislation to City Council, introduced by Councilman Michael Nutter, that bans smoking in all public places, with minor exceptions.
"For me, the pivotal question is the employees. How do you protect employees?" Street said. In today's environment, a restaurant patron can stay away from a smoky restaurant-bar, Street said. The waiters, barkeeps and cooks are another story.
In 2000, Nutter pushed a smoking-ban bill that eventually was watered down and stalled. Since then, the anti-smoking lobby has grown. Nutter cited a January poll sponsored by the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco, which found that 76 percent of city residents support smoke-fee policies in the workplace.
But although Nutter quickly garnered the signatures of eight colleagues as co-sponsors, Council opponents and skeptics responded that the legislation would hurt restaurants and taverns.
"I'm against it big time," said nonsmoker Councilman Rick Mariano. "We're trying to legislate things that we shouldn't be involved in." He said the bill would "cut the throats" of many businesses.
"If the place allows smoking, then I've got to make a decision about whether I go in there or not," he said.
Majority Leader Jannie Blackwell, also a nonsmoker, said she too feared the impact on business.
But Street said similar laws in other cities have not resulted in the damage that they fear.
"There's a natural reservation about doing anything that might have the impact of losing one or more customers," Street said. "But I think they will quickly learn that if nobody allows smoking, then they are not at any disadvantage."
In time, Street said, "People who go to the restaurants in this city will just accept the fact that if you want to have a smoke, get that last puff before you go in. I think progressive cities all over the country are doing it. It's the wave of the future, and I don't think we should be bringing up the rear on it."
The biggest exception in the bill is a requirement that hotels and motels can reserve up to 25 percent of their rooms for smoking customers. A food or beverage establishment with 15 percent of its sales in tobacco-related products and tobacco-distribution businesses are exempt.
Signing as co-sponsors were Council President Anna Verna, Marian Tasco, Donna Miller, Brian O'Neill, Blondell Reynolds Brown, Wilson Goode and Frank Rizzo. Nutter said he hoped all seven would vote along with him for the final bill, assuring passage. But Street said he didn't think there were enough votes now.
Street said the hearing process must attract large numbers of supporters to carry the day with fence-sitting Council members.
"The people who want a smoking ban have to say to the City Council members, 'We want a smoking ban. It's a good thing to do in this city... '
"They are going to have to be heard on this. We aren't going to be able to do this by my picking up a phone and calling people."
But for Nutter, rarely on the same side of a controversial issue with Street, the mayoral presence is large.
"We are enthusiastic and encouraged and again having strong support from Mayor Street will make the critical difference," he said.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/10813590.htm?1c
Lawmaker Calls For Ban On Restaurant Smoking -NC
February 4, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Showing just how far tobacco has fallen out of favor as a pillar of North Carolina's economy, a state lawmaker has introduced a bill to eliminate smoking in indoor restaurants across the state.
The proposal by state Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, calls for a ban on smoking in "all establishments substantially engaged in the business of preparing and serving meals." That would include any bar or lounge area attached to a restaurant.
"People have the right to eat and drink in an environment that is smoke-free. I personally hate to sit down in a restaurant next to someone who is smoking," Holliman told NBC-17.
"This is a pro-health bill, not an anti-tobacco bill."
Holliman is a former smoker who beat lung cancer.
But the idea, which will be debated in committee next week, is quickly renewing old battle lines between smokers and non-smokers.
"It has to do with freedom," Knightdale resident and long-time smoker Jim Kassick said. "It's just something I enjoy. You can't smoke at work. I should be able to do it when I'm not at work."
Paige Wallington said non-smokers like her should be completely separated from smokers while eating in restaurants.
"If they separate the areas far enough away from people who are trying to eat and don't want smoke, I think that would be fine. Everybody gets what they want," Wallington said.
Travis Scarbourough, an assistant manager at a Raleigh restaurant, said he tries to accommodate both groups to ensure all customers are happy.
"I think there should definitely be a divided area," Scarbourough said. "But I think there should also be an option for smokers who come into an establishment. They should be able to enjoy a cigarette after their dinner."
http://www.nbc17.com/health/4167637/detail.html
Tobacco Farmers Turn New Leaf -NC
Quota Buyout Leaves Many With Difficult Choices February 4, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. -- As North Carolina tobacco farmers try to adjust to life after government allotments, Joe Atkins has taken to the road to defend his livelihood.
The Mount Airy farm supply dealer is driving a mobile billboard, funded by tobacco farmers and other suppliers, that extols freedom of choice for those who grow golden leaf.
"Certainly tobacco has some negative sides, but it also has positive sides -- billions of tax dollars generated, schools built with tobacco money," Atkins said. "I challenge anybody in the state of North Carolina to show me one profession or one job that tobacco doesn't touch some way, somehow.
"We don't want kids to smoke. We would like U.S. farmers to grow U.S. tobacco as long as it's legal and not tax them out of business."
 More: Smoking Ban Proposed | Cigarette Tax Eyed
State lawmakers are discussing the possibility of raising the 5-cents-per-pack cigarette tax to $1.20 per pack to help close a $1 billion budget deficit.
Some 10,000 farmers across North Carolina have grown tobacco in recent years, but with the recent $10 billion federal buyout of the quota growing system, no one is sure how many will continue with the crop or move on to something else.
"It's a fresh beginning," 7th District Congressman Mike McIntyre said. "Those who want to continue farming in the free enterprise system and contract with tobacco companies will be able to do that. Those who don't want to now have the tentacles of federal government taken away from the control of their own property and they can do with it as they wish."
The buyout will inject $4 billion to North Carolina's economy -- farmers should begin receiving checks in March -- but without the safety of federal price supports, smaller farmers will be forced either to contract with big tobacco companies or take a chance growing other products.
Graham Boyd, of the North Carolina Tobacco Growers Association, said the new system offers tremendous potential for leaf farmers.
"I think, moving forward, as price adjusts relative to the world market, there's a great opportunity to see farmers have a chance to grow more acres than they were in the past," Boyd said.
http://www.nbc17.com/news/4167739/detail.html
House Gives Nod To Burley Settlement Money -KY
Greg Stotelmyer Action News 36 Political Reporter Feb 4,
By a 92-0 vote, the Kentucky House today approved a bill that funds $114 million of $124 million in tobacco settlement payments burley growers and quota holders around the state have been waiting for since late December. The 163,000 checks are overdue because cigarette companies have been told by a judge they do not have to make their final payments, leaving the state to figure out how to cover the cost.
The measure, which mixes a combination of current and bonded funds from the agriculture development fund, now goes to the Senate for its consideration.
http://www.wtvq.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WTVQ/MGArticle/TVQ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780648572&path=
Fletcher defends his tax proposal -KY
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher defended his proposal to overhaul Kentucky's tax code Friday, and said it was best for the state's economic future.
"It gives us the continuing opportunity to make this state more attractive," Fletcher told reporters. "It sends a very strong message out to individuals that would be attracted to Kentucky."
Fletcher has proposed overhauling the state's tax code by increasing some taxes and lowering others.
Among other changes, taxes would increase for items such as cigarettes, alcohol and satellite television. Meanwhile, taxes would decrease for some low-income people and the top income tax rate would shrink from the current 6 percent to 5.45 percent by 2008.
Critics have called the plan unfair and fiscally shaky, saying it is too dependent on higher cigarette taxes to balance income tax cuts for companies and individuals.
The day after Fletcher announced his proposal, some legislators put forth an alternative tax plan that would dramatically increase taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals, while reducing the burden on more poor people.
But Fletcher said his plan would boost Kentucky's economy by attracting more companies and encouraging its college-educated youth to remain in the state upon graduation.
"What I have proposed is let's change the tax system to attract more people and grow here," Fletcher said. "That's the way we grow the economy. You grow the pie."
House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said the Democratic-lead chamber will work from Fletcher's tax proposals, but predicted changes would be made.
Richards said the House would not approve legislation that included a "trigger" that would cap future revenue receipts without legislative action, as Fletcher has proposed.
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=2903246
Dear Editor,
The Mississippi Democratic Club is urging state leaders to see that no Mississippian is cut from the Medicaid program.
It is inconceivable that state leaders would consider balancing the budget by removing health care from the sickest, poorest and the most vulnerable people in Mississippi - the elderly and disabled.
We urge Mississippians to contact their legislators to push for passage of the proposed legislation to increase the cigarette tax to enable us to provide continued coverage for our Poverty Level, Aged and Disabled Medicaid recipients (PLADs). The current state excise tax on cigarettes is 18 cents, the lowest in the nation. The average state excise tax is 84 cents. No new taxes is not the solution!
In one of the poorest states in the country, where one in four Mississippians are on Medicaid, one would think that our governor and the Legislature could come up with a better idea to balance the budget than lopping 65,000 poverty level aged and disabled human beings from the medical care and medication they need. We call upon our state legislature to stand up for a cigarette tax.
Until health care is made affordable for everyone, it is unconscionable to strip these Mississippians from coverage. It is a death sentence for many. How can we accept this decision from a governor who pledges "no new taxes," who won't tax cigarettes or affluent friends but will cut poor people off from medical care?
Depriving the elderly, disabled, children and poverty level Mississippians of health care is not the way to balance the state budget. We urge you to join with us to help our people by calling your legislator today to support the cigarette tax.
Ann Williams, co-chairwoman
Mississippi Democratic Club
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1377&dept_id=172925&newsid=13894157&PAG=461&rfi=9
Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson finished a three-day tour in support of an 80-cent increase on tobacco products in the state, an increase she said was the only way to fully fund the state's Medicaid programs.
Gov. Tom Vilsack introduced his budget Monday, which included the cigarette tax with plans to use the additional money to cover a $100 million Medicaid shortfall.
"Here's a way to increase revenues for Medicaid that's not about reducing services," Pederson said. "We're doing a good job of cost containment. We're as cost-effective as we're going to get."
She said Iowa spends 13 percent of its general fund budget to fund health-care for low-income people, while the national average state Medicaid spending is around 23 percent.
Opponents of the cigarette tax increase, including Rep. Jim Kurtenbach, a Republican from Nevada, object to the increase in spending as well as changing just one of the state's taxes.
"Nothing in isolation," Kurtenbach said. "We've been down that road so many times."
Pederson said programs that are now considered optional services for low-income people eligible for Medicaid, including dental work, optometry, and mental health care, would benefit from the cigarette tax increase.
Pederson spoke at the Mid-Iowa Community Action Center in front of a backdrop printed with the words "Health Care Security for Iowans." Within the Community Action Center building is the Story County Community Dental Clinic.
Pat Hildebrand, director of health services for the center, said Medicaid funding would help support the clinic. In 2004, more than 900 reduced-cost dental visits were completed by clinic volunteers.
County Supervisors Jane Halliburton and Wayne Clinton, both Democrats, attended Pederson's brief speech.
The state-wide tour included visits to Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Dubuque, Waterloo, and Mason City.
http://www.amestrib.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2035&dept_id=238095&newsid=13893492&PAG=461&rfi=9
Add 21p onto a pint and 'save 600 lives a year' -UK
LOUISE GRAY
AN EXTRA 21 pence on a pint of beer would save more than 600 people in Scotland from alcohol-related deaths every year, researchers say.
Experts estimate a 10 per cent rise in alcohol prices across the UK would produce a drop of 28.8 per cent in male deaths and 37.4 per cent in female deaths from alcohol dependence and poisoning, and a fall in deaths from cirrhosis of 7 per cent in men and 8.3 per cent in women.
In Scotland, where a pint costs, on average, £2.12 and 1,448 men and 532 women died in 2003 from an alcohol related condition, projections show a price hike would save 417 men and 198 women.
Writing in the medical journal The Lancet, experts say governments across the world - including Scotland - must do more to cut drinking levels.
They say alcohol is linked to 60 medical conditions and is just as destructive as smoking and high blood pressure.
Overall, 4 per cent of the global burden of disease is attributable to alcohol, 4.1 per cent to tobacco and 4.4 per cent to high blood pressure.
Professor Robin Room, of the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs at Stockholm University, who led the research, said governments need to be as strict on drinking as on smoking. They should bring in tighter licensing laws and higher taxes.
"A stark discrepancy exists between research findings about the effectiveness of alcohol control measures and the policy options considered by most governments. In many places, the interests of the alcohol industry have effectively exercised a veto over policies, making sure that the main emphasis is on ineffective strategies such as education."
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said a 50 per cent drop in alcohol prices over the last 20 years has led to an increase in alcohol-related diseases.
He said: "The relative pricing of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks should be addressed to discourage excessive alcohol intake.
"More effective regulation of alcohol advertising and cheap price promotions is needed to clamp down on those encouraging binge drinking."
But Colin Wilkinson, secretary of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said a hike in prices was unlikely to affect consumption.
"If you simply put alcohol up to a ridiculous price, it would just drive the whole thing underground. There is already a big enough problem with bootlegging."
This week, First Minister Jack McConnell prompted a furore after telling schoolchildren it was all right to get drunk "once in a while". He claimed that he was referring to adult drinking.
The Executive is bringing in a number of measures to combat problem drinking and laws will be introduced in 2007.
Meanwhile, Westminster legislation taking effect on Monday will allow pubs, bars, off-licences and nightclubs to remain open around the clock, raising concern in some quarters about the increasing ease of access to alcohol in society.
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=132292005
R.J. Reynolds Says Appellate Ruling Dramatically Transforms DOJ Lawsuit; Government Cannot Seek Disgorgement
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A federal appellate court today ruled that the U.S. government cannot continue to seek disgorgement from the tobacco industry in the suit filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the nation's major cigarette manufacturers. In doing
so, the court struck down the DOJ's claim that the manufacturers could be forced to disgorge $280 billion because of past racketeering activity.
"We are extremely pleased that the appellate court agreed with our long- held belief that disgorgement is not an appropriate remedy in civil RICO suits, such as this," said Charles A. Blixt, executive vice president and general counsel for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, on today's ruling by the U.S. District Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia. "This ruling dramatically transforms the DOJ suit.
"While we continue to believe that no remedies are warranted under the facts of this case," he said, "with the threat of disgorgement removed, the principal remedies still available to the government are forward-looking measures. These would include marketing and sales restrictions already put in place by our company and others under the Master Settlement Agreement."
In its ruling that the lower district court erred, the appellate court found that " ... we can find no justification for considering any order of disgorgement ... " Adding, "We need not twist the language to create a new remedy not contemplated by the statute."
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (R.J. Reynolds) is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. (NYSE: RAI). R.J. Reynolds is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States, manufacturing about one of every three cigarettes sold in the United States. R.J. Reynolds' product line includes five of the nation's 10 best-selling cigarette brands: Camel, Winston, Kool, Salem and Doral. For more information about R.J. Reynolds, visit the company's Web site at http://www.RJRT.com .
SOURCE R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Web Site: http://www.RJRT.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/02-04-2005/0002951231&EDATE=
* this is the actual judgment ruling http://junkscience.com/feb05/US_v_PM.pdf
About MySmokersRights.com
Adults interested in protecting their rights to use tobacco products without excessive taxes and unreasonable restrictions now have a valuable new resource, MySmokersRights.com.
Launched in January 2003, MySmokersRights.com provides personalized legislator contact information and other state-specific smokers' rights information to those who register. MySmokersRights.com is "one-stop shopping" for contacting elected officials, learning about smoking bans, reacting to tobacco tax increase proposals and joining with other adult smokers to support smokers' rights.
MySmokersRights.com enables adults supporting smokers' rights to become aware of and quickly respond to excise tax increase proposals, smoking bans and other smokers' rights issues. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company wants to help smokers get more involved, because if they do, they can be successful in stopping unfair cigarette tax hikes and smoking bans. More than 46 million adult Americans smoke cigarettes, and we believe a larger number of them will become active in protecting their rights by making the resources of MySmokersRights.com available to them.
Register at MySmokersRights.com to receive your free personalized legislators contact Web page and smokers' rights alerts by e-mail. http://www.rjrt.com/TI/TIaboutSmokersRights.asp
EU commissioner backs tougher smoking restrictions across Europe
04/02/2005
EU Health Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou said Friday that he would like to see continent-wide introduction of tough restrictions on smoking like those in force in Ireland and Italy but admitted he lacked the powers.
Kyprianou said he "completely backed" bans on smoking in all enclosed public places like those adopted in the two EU member countries.
"I encourage this but I can't impose legislation," said the EU health and consumer protection chief.
"It is a question of protecting the non-smokers whom, however strange it may seem, make up a very large majority in the member states."
Kyprianou, who is Cyprus's first representative on the EU executive since the island's accession to the enlarged 25-nation bloc in May last year, said he was disappointed by the "high percentage of smokers" in his homeland.
He also complained of a lack of "satisfactory" statistics on smoking-related diseases in Cyprus and held out the possibility of EU funding for such research.
"There is a capability given by the health programme of my services to fund studies and research on cancer and other diseases connected to smoking," he told reporters after talks with Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Kyprianou revealed that he had pressed both Papadopoulous and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker to set an example by giving up smoking themselves.
"I hope they both adopt my suggestion," he said, adding that the Cyprus president had at least managed to forego a cigarette for the duration of their meeting.
http://www.eubusiness.com/afp/050204185157.c6yxae6t
Berkeley Daily Planet
Edition Date: Friday, February 4, 2005
Mayor Brown Takes Wrong Turn with Parolee Curfew By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR Column
UNDERCURRENTS OF THE EAST BAY AND BEYOND (02-04-05)
In recent years, with the active cooperation of its local elected officials, Oakland has become something of a constitutional rights experimental ground for California. The idea has been to implement laws of dubious constitutionality—applicable to Oakland and only Oakland—to see if they work, how they work, and, perhaps, if they can be gotten away with. And so, among other things, Oaklanders have endured (thanks to Mayor Jerry Brown) the suspension of certain state environmental protections under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that are available to every other California city. In addition, we’ve had Senator Don Perata’s Sideshow Red Queen Justice Car Seizure Act (called the U’Kendra Johnson law) in which the city is allowed to confiscate cars for 30 days solely on the word of a police officer—without a prior hearing—that someone had been spinning donuts in the car. One would think that like the villagers in the Frankenstein movies, Oaklanders would get fed up, storm the castle, and drive these legal monsters out. Why that hasn’t happened (yet) is a story for another day.
In any event, this sawing at the foundation poles of the Constitution may soon become a problem for Californians as a whole, as Mayor Brown is now promising to take the latest version of this show on the road.
A recent Heather MacDonald Oakland Tribune article on the mayor’s planned run for California Attorney General in 2006 ends on an interesting note. “If elected,” the last paragraph reads in part, “Brown said he … may work to expand Oakland’s curfews for those on parole or probation throughout the state.” Mr. Brown is advancing that thought already, even though the Tribune, in the same article, says Oakland Deputy Police Chief Pete Dunbar believes it “could be” six months to a year before the results of Oakland’s curfew are even known.
Oh, what a hurry we are in when election time rolls around and these days, it seems, election time is always rolling around.
For Californians—and even some Oaklanders—who may not know what the curfew is all about, a short summary is in order.
In a deal apparently worked out last year between Mayor Brown, the Oakland Police Department, and the Alameda County Probation Department—but not the Oakland City Council—people paroled in Oakland must agree, as a condition of their parole, to be confined to their homes between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. until their years of parole are over. Mayor Brown tells the Tribune that he came up with the plan because, according to the mayor, 80 percent of homicides in the city involve felons who are on probation and parole, and 70 percent of homicides occur at night. And according to the Tribune, an Oakland Police Department representative “believes the curfew could help curb ‘sideshows’ … and violence and burglaries.” (It was the Tribune which put the quotation marks around the term sideshows, which they defined in this article as “displays of reckless driving on city streets.”) Anyways, the provisions only apply to Oakland probationers. The State Parole Board has not made a decision on using the Oakland curfew as a condition for parolees.
It is difficult to see where Mr. Brown gets his information that 80 percent of Oakland homicides involve felons who are on probation and parole, since, we are told, most Oakland homicides go unsolved. But while we’re waiting for him to explain, we’ll move on.
One of the principles of American justice—before it got trampled in the cages of Guantanamo, at least—is that individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that punishment ought to extend only to people actually convicted of a particular crime, not to people who might belong to a certain class.
Keeping that in mind, let us do some quick math. Last year, there were 88 homicides in Oakland. Using that 80 percent parolee/probationer figure given by Mr. Brown (even though we’ve yet to hear where he gets it from), that would mean that 70 of these murders were committed by parolees or probationers. Even if each of these 70 murders were committed by a different individual, that leaves a pretty significant number of parolees or probationers who didn’t kill anybody in Oakland last year, but who are still subject to Mr. Brown’s new curfew law. According to state statistics, there were some 2,500 parolees living in Oakland as of last summer; that doesn’t even take into account the number of people in the city out on probation.
But let’s follow this road a little further. If Mr. Brown and the Oakland Police Department believe every one of these 2,500 parolees is a likely candidate to commit a murder or a violent assault—and I don’t share that belief—why in God’s name would we want to lock these parolees up in their homes?
Confining these 2,500 Oakland parolees in their homes all night isn’t going to curb any violent tendencies they may have, for those of them who do have violent tendencies. It isn’t going to lessen the tensions and social and economic pressures they might feel that lead to such violence, or limit access to the liquid or smokable stimulants that fuel the fire. And if the pressure builds inside those 2,500 parolees’ houses, and they cannot get outside to movies or nightclubs or just driving around to blow off steam, and these parolees boil over and explode, where does one think that explosion is going to be directed?
Another quick statistic, since we’re reciting them. In the year 2000 there were a little over 2,300 domestic violence-related calls for assistance reported by the Oakland Police Department, almost 300 of them involving the use of weapons of some kind. The report did not specify whether the victims of the violence were wives or children.
Mr. Brown, in his typically breezy way of making light of serious social problems that might result from his proposals, tells the Tribune that he believes “it’s very (beneficial) for these probationers and parolees to spend time in their homes.” Yes, but not under house arrest. It’s bad to be in the predicting business, but I’ll take a chance and predict that the longer Mr. Brown’s parolee curfew goes on, the more those domestic violence numbers are likely to rise, even if all of the parolees are not as violent as Mr. Brown appears to believe. How many Oakland women are going to be beaten or killed because their husband couldn’t get out of the house during an argument just to stand on the corner for 15 minutes and smoke a cigarette?
Having lived for many years with a man who actually did have such violent tendencies that got played out in the home (see “No Charges In Mayoral Aide’s Dispute; Police Chief Responded To Call Of Fight Between Brown Confidant Barzaghi, Wife” by Heather MacDonald and Harry Harris, Oakland Tribune, July 17, 2004), Mr. Brown ought to know a little about this subject.
This is one that needed a little more thought.
http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=02-04-05&storyID=20668
Judge clears air on anti-smoking petition
Lahontan Valley News, NV - 8 hours ago
... Really, should it take this much legal effort to clear the air of cigarette smoke? Only in Nevada, because of the ubiquitous slot ... http://news.google.ca/news?q=cigarette&num=50&hl=en&lr=&output=search&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&start=400&sa=N
Burned by the Internet -IL
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer Friday, February 4, 2005
Dave Barrett believes his dream of owning his own business went up in smoke, thanks to the Internet.
The Darby Pipe Shop on Broadway Avenue closed Monday after 60 years of selling tobacco products and pipes in Mattoon. Barrett was the fourth owner of the business that had relocated three times over the decades.
The 50-year-old Barrett was thanking old customers for their loyalty late last week and promising to share his "recipes" for pipe tobacco with a pipe shop in Champaign. Bearded and stout, he choked up after one of the customers offered a hearty farewell.
"I wanted to make sure my customers could still get what they wanted," Barrett said, pointing to glass jars nearly empty of tobacco with labels reading Dutchflake, Royal Darby and Havana Ribbon.
Some of the recipes date back to the original owner, Royal Aten, who operated the shop on the east end of the business district in Mattoon.
The business also moved a few doors down several years ago from the corner of 19th Street and Broadway.
"One guy came in and bought eight pounds of what he was smoking," said Barrett of the loyalty to the pipe blends.
He has had a run on his inventory, including cigars, but for months his business was fading away. Barrett points toward Internet shopping as being too habit-forming for smokers.
"If they were looking for a particular brand of cigar out there then they might come into my place and just see 30 different boxes. That was a much smaller selection than what they could find on the Internet," Barrett said.
Besides, the cyber-smokers did not have to leave the house, Barrett said. "That really puts a hurt on small businesses like mine," he said.
The power of the Internet business has increased several fold in the last few years. Forester Research predicts that United States online retail sales will reach $229 billion by 2008. If true, that would amount to 10 percent of all U.S. retail sales.
But is the Internet killing off small businesses? Actually, there are many cases of smaller business entities enhancing their sales through Internet orders.
"Overall, the Internet can be a boon to business," said Todd Maisch, vice president of governmental affairs with the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce. "For every business that has been hurt by competition from the Internet, others are benefiting from more efficient operations."
Maisch said small business owners should seek qualified consultants on setting up online business operation, no matter the size. "They need to look at the Internet as an opportunity, not a threat."
Barrett said his business might have also suffered from new smokers not learning to exhale. The art of smoking pipes and cigars is not inhaling.
"With cigarettes, inhaling is a very bad habit to break," said Barrett. He first picked up smoking pipes, not cigarettes, during his teen years while camping with friends on the Kaskaskia River near Sullivan, his hometown.
"We did it to keep the ‘skeeters' off us," Barrett said.
Of course, smoking pipes and cigars is a deliberative process, compared to cigarette smoking.
"You need some time to smoke them. You just don't take a break out back," Barrett said.
Time is not a worry for him now. He is moving back to Sullivan, where he might do some fishing.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2005/02/04/features/feat51.txt
Woodcrest staffers protest smoking ban IN
By JOE SPAULDING Friday, February 4, 2005
To smoke or not to smoke, that is the question raised in a letter signed by 33 staff members at the Woodcrest Nursing Facility and presented to members of the Adams Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees.
Marvin L. Baird, executive director of the organization, told board members at their meeting this week that he received the letter from employees who are concerned over a recent decision by trustees to make all organizations of the Adams Health Network smoke-free.
He said over 200 employees work at Woodcrest, but he called the number of signatures on the letter "significant."
Following a discussion, no change in the policy was forthcoming.
A copy of the letter was not distributed, but was read at the meeting and it noted that quite of few of the employees "choose to participate in a legal activity (smoking)."
The letter made reference to the fact that employees who smoke do so of their own accord and they are quite familiar with possible lifelong health consequences caused by smoking.
Nicotine, an addictive substance found in tobacco, "is a legal substance" the letter also emphasized.
The letter questioned whether or not the hospital board planned to ban other "legal activities," such as eliminating any form of caffeine in food or beverages or perhaps even stopping employees who are overweight from eating meals or snacks during their normal shift at Woodcrest.
The letter continued to note that many employees find that taking a quick cigarette break "alleviates stress" and being able to smoke on the grounds at Woodcrest is a "cost-free perk" that employees desire to have.
Baird said, "We have made a decision to go with no smoking on site. There will always be opposition to any change you make."
Board member Vic Porter, whose Thunderbird industrial plant in Decatur employs over 600 people, said his establishment is a smoke-free workplace and encouraged Baird and other hospital officials to contact his plant officials for more information about maintaining a smoke-free business.
There are eight hospitals in the state of Indiana that currently have smoke-free status, according to Baird.
The letter pointed out that Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne tried to go smoke-free, but has relented under pressure from employees and others.
Board members indicated at the meeting that they are currently unwilling to make a change in the status of Adams Health Network facilities regarding smoking.
http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/articles/2005/02/04/news/news/news02.txt
Inmate garners more charges for allegedly setting off sprinkler -MO
By Linda Redeffer ~ Southeast Missourian
A Sedgewickville, Mo., man in the Cape Girardeau County Jail awaiting an April jury trial was bound ov Posted at 7:27 pm by looped_ca
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Klein adviser friend of a friend of a friend -AB
LINWOOD BARCLAY Jan. 31, 2005. 07:36 AM
It has been a very busy month at the Ralph Klein Research Institute, that scientific body that works round-the-clock to provide Alberta's premier with the latest data on a variety of vitally important issues.
No political leader wants to go out there, making speeches, facing impudent questions from the press, without being well versed in the facts. Every mayor, premier or prime minister should have his own scientific laboratory, staffed with world-renowned scientists toiling away in an endless quest for the truth. But few have one to match Ralph Klein's.
Just recently, in fact, the RKRI, as it is known in the scientific community, made news nation-wide when it unearthed new details about mad cow disease and smoking bans, and passed them on to the premier.
"I've been told you would have to eat 10 billion meals of brains, spinal cords, ganglia, eyeballs and tonsils to get the disease," Klein told the Montreal Board of Trade with regard to mad cow. Many of the people in attendance found it hard to imagine eating 10 billion meals, period, in a lifetime. An 80-year-old person, to consume 10 billion meals, would have to eat 34,246 meals a day, which is a lot, although you'd certainly never feel the need to snack.
A leading researcher at the RKRI explains: "For a while, there, we weren't sure whether it was 10 billion meals, or 10 trillion meals, and it was hard to check, because Roy, from the institute's mailroom, couldn't remember which bowling partner told him this, so we flipped a coin."
And it was the institute's diligence that turned up information (again, passed on to the premier), that smoking bans do nothing to discourage people from smoking.
"Well," said the same researcher, "it wasn't `information' per se, but more like a feeling, which was shared by many of us here at the institute who smoke, and don't like to be told what to do."
This comment goes to the heart of the Ralph Klein Research Institute's methodology. "We don't like to brag," said another scientist, "but we have one of the largest water coolers in the country, and so a lot of people can hang out around it. If someone here says he heard from somebody else that something or other has been found out, well, that's good enough for us."
A few other recent findings by the RKRI that'll be coming down the pipe soon:
-The 10-second rule is legit: It's actually true that, if you drop something on the floor, and pick it up within 10 seconds, you can eat it. "I mean, honestly," an institute scientist said, "when's the last time you saw the headline, `Ate something off floor, man dies.' Not lately, I'll bet."
-You can't even SEE car exhaust: Except for maybe when it's really cold out, and even then, once it gets a few feet away from the car, it's totally invisible! And THAT's supposed to be hurting the ozone layer?
-Men who drive hybrid cars are light in the loafers: Real men consume fossil fuel. And lots of it.
-The choking doberman: Okay, you're not going to believe this, but it happened to a friend of a friend of one of the researchers. This woman goes home and finds her dog choking, drops him off at the vet's, and goes home. Soon as she gets there, the phone's ringing, and it's the vet, and he says: "Get out of the house!" Seems he found three human fingers in the dog's throat, and figuring they might belong to a burglar who was still in the house, he phoned to warn the woman. And sure enough, when the police were called, they found a wounded guy hiding in the closet, and that man was Elvis Presley.
When you hear Ralph Klein tell this story, try to act surprised.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1107126608902
Compensate tobacco growers -ON
Families that may have prospered for generations now verging on financial ruin because of policies
Tobacco growers' folly Editorial, Jan. 20.
It is disappointing — but not surprising — that the Star does not support fair treatment for tobacco farmers who are facing the brunt of anti-tobacco policies.
Whether it is high tobacco taxes, smoking bans or any number of other measures designed to dampen tobacco use, farmers are the collateral damage. Governments across this land continue to rake in more than $8 billion each year from tobacco taxes, but farmers are going broke.
The World Health Organization has proclaimed in its Framework Convention on Tobacco Control that tobacco farmers whose livelihoods have been negatively impacted by anti-tobacco policies should be compensated. Canada is the international champion for this framework and should abide by its principles — something the federal government put forward when it announced assistance last May and the Dalton McGuinty government accepted in promising as-yet undelivered assistance.
The Star has fallen into the decades-old trap put forward by people who know little of agriculture. "Just grow something else," you say. Where would these products be sold? If you picked up the phone and spoke with almost any fruit or vegetable grower (the most likely complementary crops), you would find out that their markets are saturated. If you spoke to an agronomist, you would find out that sandy tobacco soils cannot support a wide variety of other crops. And tobacco farms are saddled with debt that was used to buy equipment that is not transferable to other crops. If there is no help to exit the industry, our farms — and communities — will collapse.
Families that may have prospered for generations are now verging on financial ruin because of the negative effect of government policies. We simply ask that government be part of a long-term strategy for our farmers and help those who are forced to exit the business escape financial ruin.
Fred Neukamm, Chair, The Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board, Tillsonburg
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1106607011649&call_pageid=
968332189003&col=968350116895&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
RE:Compensate tobacco growers Letter, Jan. 25. -ON
Tobacco growers deserve fairnes sJan. 26, 2005.
As a kid growing up in the '50s, it seemed that every adult smoked. During the '60s, the lucky ones among us were able to get late-summer work picking tobacco. Smoking was government sanctioned, an integral part of our lifestyle, and the growers were a mainstay of the agricultural economy.
While the moves to end tobacco use make sense, fairness demands that we provide the tobacco growers with a decent buyout. We were all in this together. After their years of working the land — in the fashion we, as a society, requested — they should be entitled to retire their growing operations via reasonable settlement and not simply be starved out of business.
Val Patrick, Hamilton, Ont.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1106693413597
Health unit, Soldiers' target indoor smoking
Frank Matys: Orillia Today February 1/05
Take it outside.
That is the message public-health officials are sending to parents who continue to put their children at risk by smoking in the home or car.
"It is amazing we are still having this discussion 20 years later, when we clearly know what the outcomes are," Dr. Gary Smith, Chief of Pediatrics at Soldiers' Memorial Hospital said yesterday.
The local physician was on hand to help launch a pilot project aimed at ridding Orillia-area homes of cigarette smoke, by educating parents on the dangers associated with puffing indoors. Children exposed to smoke in the home are more prone to ear infections, colds and other problems, Dr. Susan Surry, one of Simcoe County's associate medical officers of health, told reporters.
"Parents wouldn't use paint with lead in it, but they will smoke in the house," added Kimberley Downey, co-ordinator of the hospital's regional pediatric asthma clinic.
The project is a joint effort involving Soldiers' Memorial Hospital and the Simcoe County District Health Unit.
Smoke-Free Homes and Asthma encourages families to talk about second-hand smoke, and to take measures to ensure their homes are smoke-free.
Brochures offering tips to that end are being distributed around the city, while fliers focusing on the hazards associated with second-hand smoke are available through local pharmacies and doctors' offices. "Parents want the best for their children, especially their health, so we want to give them the information and tools they need to take smoking outside," said Surry.
Province wide, second-hand smoke is said to be responsible for 20 per cent of all tonsillectomies, 14 per cent of tube insertions in ears, 13 per cent of physician visits for coughs, and seven per cent of ear infections.
Asthma, cited as the leading cause of missed school days and hospitalization among children, is also linked to second-hand smoke, according to the health unit.
And, while parents of children receiving treatment at the local asthma clinic are offered free cessation counseling to help kick the highly addictive habit, "precious few take us up on it," Downey said. "We can see significant improvement in a child's health when a parent ideally stops smoking, or at the very least stops smoking in the home, the car and anywhere in the presence of their child," added Smith.
Orillia was chosen to host the pilot project because of the relatively large number of households with children under the age of two, where smoking still occurs. Studies show that children raised in a home with a smoker are more likely to become smokers themselves. http://www.simcoe.com/sc/orillia/v-scv2/story/2529180p-2930602c.html
Tobacco growers ready to quit -ON
MORE THAN 300 SIGN PETITION CALLING FOR U.S.-STYLE BUYOUT
Monte Sonnenberg - SIMCOE REFORMER Friday January 28, 2005
The Simcoe Reformer — Nearly half the tobacco growers in Ontario are prepared to exit the industry immediately.
A petition calling for a U.S.-style buyout of tobacco growers has quickly attracted more than 300 signatures. This is nearly half the 800 growers left in the tobacco belt.
Frank Schonberger of Langton is among those promoting the petition. Yesterday, he said growers have heard enough empty promises from government. They are also fed up with the ongoing vilification of their industry.
“We don’t care where the money comes from,” Schonberger said. “We’re all ready to exit the industry if they compensate us justly. And if the trade wants an industry here, let them show it. They haven’t done that for the last few years. It’s almost become a forum for abuse of tobacco farmers, between government and taxation, government legislation, the demonization of the industry. Farmers are very frustrated. No one wants us to produce tobacco anymore according to these policies.”
Matters came to a head recently when growers learned the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board was preparing to allot a $121 million government compensation fund by way of a “sealed reverse auction.”
Under this system, growers wanting to exit the industry would signal, by sealed tender, how much they were prepared to accept for their quota. Those quoting the lowest amount per pound would have first call on the fund. The marketing board was working out details of the procedure when hundreds of growers protested at the board’s head office in Tillsonburg three weeks ago.
Growers are opposed because they feel the process pits farmer against farmer. As well, a reverse auction favours growers who are well off. Those with the lowest debt can afford to take less for their quota.
Instead of a reverse auction, growers want compensation along the lines of that granted to tobacco farmers in the United States last year. There, state and federal officials agreed to a $10 U.S. per pound buyout. The local petition calls on Ottawa and Queen’s Park to “support an immediate pursuit of a total quota buyout exit program at U.S. levels within a specific wind-down timeframe.”
The U.S. buyout was on the agenda yesterday of a meeting of the Tobacco Advisory Committee in Toronto. Committee members include representatives of government, the tobacco marketing board, tobacco multinationals and assorted leaf buyers. TAC meetings are held to set the price for the coming crop year.
Linda Lietaer, spokesperson for the tobacco board, said by phone that it is premature to talk about a U.S.-style buyout in Ontario. She noted that three experts from the U.S. were in Toronto yesterday to speak to TAC members about how the American program works.
“That is part of our meeting today,” Lietaer said. “We’re trying to get a better feel of what that buy-out means. We need to be totally clear before we consider it.”
In a recent letter to tobacco producers and government officials, petition promoter John VanDaele of Courtland said “Many producers feel the proposed funding is grossly inadequate to assist the growing number of producers that wish to exit the industry.”
Schonberger agrees. He said much has changed since the federal government offered $71 million and Queen’s Park $50 million. Substantially more will be needed, Schonberger said, to ensure a fair and orderly wind-down of the tobacco belt.
http://simcoereformer.ca/story.php?id=140063
Public reports smoking violations -SK
Saskatchewan News Network; Regina Leader-Post Friday, January 28, 2005
REGINA (SNN) -- Nearly a month into Saskatchewan's smoking ban, the province's health minister is pleased to see the vast majority of businesses are complying with the new law, but admitted there have been few trouble spots.
"There are some areas where we've had some challenges," said John Nilson. "I know the public health inspectors working in each of the regional health authorities have gone with progressive enforcement which includes going around and visiting businesses, telling them how it affects their place and when there are real concerns, they've been issuing some tickets."
Nilson said the department hasn't had to worry about missing the businesses who aren't complying since many members of the public have readily reported them.
"We get lots of calls from people who are concerned when they go to an establishment that isn't complying," he said. "I know that some establishments have had their own customers say to them, 'Look we're not going to come here anymore if you don't comply with this because we really appreciate a smoke-free environment.' "
The provincewide ban came into effect Jan. 1, but health officials offered a 60-day educational period for businesses to learn all the rules involved and prepare themselves for the change. While most have forced customers to butt out, others have used this period as a way to allow their customers to continue smoking and others have said they have no plans to comply.
Nilson said throughout the second half of the grace period inspectors will carry on with progressive enforcement.
http://www.canada.com/saskatoon/starphoenix/news/local/story.html?id=e6588e43-e1dd-4bd6-a423-3737cf097bcc
Illegal butts boom
By JASON BOTCHFORD, TORONTO SUN Wed, January 26, 2005
FAST AND furious tax increases on cigarettes are reviving the thriving and lucrative black market to its 1992 zenith, warn tobacco industry insiders. "It's out of control," said Dave Bryans, who represents 6,000 retailers as executive director of the Ontario Convenience Store Association. "We have had three tax increases in 14 months now and that forces consumers to find other channels. We anticipate, unless we work together and change something, the black market will continue to be out of control and we'll be back to where it was at its peak."
Smokers in Ontario had to cough up $1.25 more per carton of cigarettes beginning last week.
The Liberals have raised provincial tobacco taxes by $6.25 since they were elected in October 2003, translating into $300 million more per year in provincial revenue.
In 1992 about 35% of cigarettes in Ontario were sold without Canadian taxes.
The result of increasing taxes again is a ballooning illegal underground market that relies on native reserves to funnel cheap cigarettes into the local market, Bryans said.
Imperial Tobacco spokesman Christina Dona said a new illegal industry has even spawned counterfeit, or copycat cigarettes. These smokes are produced in China at between $2-$5 a carton.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2005/01/26/910593-sun.html
Doctor Draws On Past to Treat Addictions
By gail johnson Publish Date: 27-Jan-2005
Dr. Ray Baker. Mark Mushet photo
He argues tobacco and marijuana are the toughest drugs to kick
Richmond doctor Ray Baker is best known for his work in addiction medicine. He designed the first such program at UBC's medical school--but his knowledge is not all academic.
Eleven years ago Baker founded HealthQuest Occupational Health Corporation, which treats people with substance-use disorders. Its clients include Air Canada, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., the Washington State Bar Association, and Corrections Services Canada. However, Baker--who, since starting his clinic in 1993, has spoken at hundreds of conferences across North America and testified in British Columbia Supreme Court on the medical, neurobiological, psychological, and pharmacological effects of nicotine and mood- and mind-altering substances--also knows all about addiction first hand.
As a med student at the University of Western Ontario and during his first decade as a family and emergency-room doctor in rural B.C., Baker was hooked on tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol. Although he thrived on the demands of a busy practice and the chaos of the ER, he was increasingly exhausted and his marriage was in trouble. But he didn't think he had a problem.
"I was driven, compulsive, conscientious," Baker says in a sunny-morning interview over coffee. "People see addicts as a certain type. I was addicted as a 17-year-old. I supplied half my class at med school with pot I grew on my farm....The interesting thing--and this is not atypical--is that with the shame and guilt, I felt worse and worse about my behaviour, so I would achieve more and more. I was class valedictorian in medical school....For many professionals with addiction, their attention, their performance is just fine; if anything, it's superior.
"I was doing a damn good job," he adds of his work in Logan Lake. "I knew there was a problem when I walked out the back door of my clinic in 1984 with 10 people waiting for me. I was burned out, but I didn't know what was wrong."
It was only after a counsellor recommended he go to a treatment centre that Baker realized he was addicted. That's when he became passionate about learning more about the condition and helping others. With their relentlessly seductive effects, Baker says tobacco and marijuana are among the hardest drugs to quit smoking, as anyone who picked those as their New Year's resolutions knows.
In the past 10 years, Baker has treated more than 5,000 people with substance-use disorders, some addicted to heroin, others to cocaine, and still others to tobacco.
"The worst is nicotine," he asserts. "The reward for a dose of nicotine is powerfully reinforced. The release of the pleasure hormone dopamine is very sharp and very quick.
"If you're injecting heroin, you might shoot up four times a day and have four spikes--from euphoria to discomfort to withdrawal. With crack, you might do it 10 to 20 times a day. If you smoke 20 cigarettes a day, and every time you inhale you get a dose, that could be as many as 200 per day. And it's the same with any substance that's smoked."
Granted, pot has value when used medicinally, and there are those who argue that marijuana--whose primary psychoactive ingredient is the chemical THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol--isn't addictive. But even casual smokers of pot or tobacco face health consequences.
MATTHEW, A 33-YEAR-OLD local carpenter, doesn't smoke cigarettes but will have a joint or two almost every night after work. (Despite the fact that B.C. has a large population of marijuana smokers, not a single user contacted by the Straight--except high-profile pot advocate Marc Emery--was willing to have his or her full name published.) Matthew, who's been using pot regularly since his early 20s, is reluctant to say he's addicted, comparing his love of home-grown marijuana to another's appreciation of a fine Cabernet. "Being in Vancouver, not smoking pot would be like living in France and not drinking the wine," he says in a phone interview. Smoking pot helps him relax and have peaceful sleeps, he says, but he admits he worries about the long-term health effects.
"Obviously being in that state provides some kind of comfort, or else I wouldn't keep going back," Matthew says. "But smoking anything, even in moderation--I don't care if it's organic or not--over a long period of time does concern me. I feel good when I'm not smoking, no question. I have more energy; I'm more on the ball. It does slow you down a bit; the high-grade stuff dulls the mind. You get a residual hangover."
Emery, who heads the B.C. Marijuana Party and says he consumes about four grams of pot a day via joints or a bong, stresses that he has no health concerns whatsoever.
"I haven't seen any negative ramifications, and I've been smoking for 26 years," Emery says in a phone interview. "When doctors say, falsely, that THC leads to cancer, there is no empirical evidence.
"The only downside," he adds, "is that if I smoke late at night, it makes me hungry, so I can't get to sleep very readily."
According to the Canadian Health Network, however, smoking marijuana can lead to chronic coughing and lung infections. The May 15, 1997, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine reported that marijuana contains about 480 substances, including tar and other chemicals and irritants; some say the carcinogens in marijuana are stronger than those in tobacco, while others argue the opposite. The health network says that people who smoke pot and tobacco may develop lung, neck, and head cancers at a younger age than those who smoke cigarettes only. The independent Washington, DC-based Institute of Medicine of the National Academies states that even medical marijuana should not be smoked on a long-term basis (more than six months) because of potential lung damage, cancer risk, and poor pregnancy outcomes.
The Canadian Health Network also states that regular pot use in adolescence may have a detrimental effect on brain development, especially in the area that provides the ability to concentrate. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse claims that the use of cannabis may bring about the onset of schizophrenia in some people with a predisposition. Regular use may impair male fertility; scientists from the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in New York presented research at the 2003 annual meeting of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine showing that the sperm of pot smokers travel in fewer numbers than those of nonusers.
Although the so-called gateway effect--which has it that marijuana use (particularly in adolescence) leads to the consumption of other, harder drugs--is hotly contested, even by groups like the Institute of Medicine, it's one theory that Baker believes in. "Show me an adult with a cocaine habit and I'll show you someone who was 84 times as likely to have abused marijuana," he says. "Does everyone who smokes marijuana in adolescence go on to use cocaine? No, of course not, just as not everyone who goes in the water drowns. But with increased exposure and usage, the prevalence of substance dependence goes up.
"If people develop an addiction, they generally don't stay with marijuana," Baker adds. "They might go back to alcohol or add pills or they'll chip away at marijuana then replace it with something else, like gambling, the Internet, sex, shopping. It's like changing seats on the Titanic."
Other potential health consequences come from the toxins some marijuana growers use to eliminate pests and prevent plants from rotting. According to Marijuana-Seeds.Net, fungicide is frequently used to combat mould, while the best way to get rid of spider mites, which are the most common plague in marijuana cultivation, is with insecticides. "Always stop using pesticides a few weeks before harvest, otherwise, you'll be smoking some of the poison later," the site says. To this possibility, many smokers are oblivious.
By contrast, the harmful additives and carcinogens in cigarettes are well-known. They include formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, and benzene. The Canadian Cancer Society states that more than 47,000 Canadians, including 5,600 people in B.C., die each year as a result of tobacco-related illnesses such as lung, throat, and oral cancer, stroke, heart disease, and emphysema.
Matt Pinch, who works as a promoter in the music industry, started smoking when he was 14; by 16 he was up to two or three packs a week. Now 29, he stopped smoking, for the third time, last August. He says daily tasks like writing or driving are among the triggers that make him want to reach for a smoke.
"I would say that from that very first cigarette, nicotine had a hold on me," Pinch says in a phone interview. "Not a single day goes by that I don't have a physical craving.
"In my early 20s, I started to look at mortality a little differently," he adds. "I started to see I could die from this. And the government raising taxes really helped me. I was up to three-and-a-half, four packs a week; at eight bucks a pack... Then there's coughing up phlegm and all the stuff that comes out of your chest.
"When you wake up and realize that this thing, this stick, is controlling your life, that's wrong."
Pinch is quick to emphasize that his opinions on quitting smoking are just that: opinions. He says he hates it when nonsmokers force their views on other people. And there's no question that smoking is a politically charged subject.
Victoria was the first city in Canada to pass aggressive antismoking laws, as local writer Barbara McLintock describes in her new book, Smoke-Free: How One City Successfully Banned Smoking in all Indoor Public Places (Granville Island Publishing, $19.95). Now, the Canadian Cancer Society's B.C. and Yukon branch is urging the Liberal government to implement a provincewide ban on smoking in public areas--a move that Alberta Premier Ralph Klein flat-out refuses to consider in his province.
Last September, the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Council funded an on-line smokers' association called mychoice.ca. The group claims that adult smokers are tired of social stigmatization, never mind increasing taxes.
Tobacco giant Philip Morris, which sells cigarettes in more than 160 countries, has developed a youth-prevention program. "Because of the serious health effects of our products, we believe we must stop children from smoking," the company's Web site says. But most manufacturers' selling tactics are focused squarely on young people. Girls are especially vulnerable because so many use smoking to lose or maintain weight. Camel has even introduced flavoured cigarettes, like Winter MochaMint and Warm Winter Toffee.
BAKER DESCRIBES ADDICTION as a brain disease, an "invisible disability" that has biological, psychological, and social components. Making matters more challenging is that people with substance-use disorders often have other conditions, like chronic pain, depression, or sleep disturbances. "These are all fixable," Baker says. "You just have to find what pieces of the puzzle are missing for each individual."
A common myth about people who can't quit their drug of choice is that they are noncompliers with personality problems, Baker says. Contributing to his own addiction was never having learned how to resolve conflict or express or experience emotions like fear and anger.
"People who develop addictions aren't good at comforting themselves," he explains. "At the treatment centre, I learned a lot from other people. Show me someone with addiction and I'll show you someone who doesn't know how to set boundaries."
A study conducted by the Bethesda, Maryland-based National Institute on Drug Abuse and published in the February 2004 issue of Cognitive Brain Research found that people prone to anger and aggression may be predisposed to develop a nicotine addiction and to express more of the mood consequences involved in quitting than those with more relaxed, happy personalities. Genes could also play a role. Headed by California Institute of Technology scholar Andrew Tapper, a study published in Science last November found that a mutation in a particular nicotinic-acetylcholine receptor in the brain lowered the threshold of nicotine dependence in mice.
When it comes to cigarettes, there are all kinds of approaches to quitting, from hypnotherapy to acupuncture. Newer local initiatives include the Canadian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender/Transsexual Mass Media Tobacco Reduction Campaign, which is operated by the West Coast Gay Men's Health Project and Vancouver Coastal Health and which targets 19- to 35-year-olds. On May 3, the Knowledge Network will launch Kick Butt, its own reality series that will follow five smokers in their attempts to quit.
Baker maintains that the more a patient likes and trusts his doctor, the better his adherence to treatment will be. Clearly, part of what sets him apart from health professionals who have never experienced addiction themselves or who have little patience for those who struggle with it is empathy.
"I was very annoyed at my medical training," Baker says. "No one had explained the neurobiological aspect of addiction, the cognitive distortions, treatment, what one has to do to recover, relapse prevention."
According to Baker, chances of recovery are best when treatment combines pharmacological approaches (like the nicotine patch, gum, or bupropion), psychotherapy, and social and family support. Quitting cold turkey has the lowest success rate.
However, determination also plays a crucial role. "Ninety percent of people quit using willpower," Baker says. He encourages those wanting to stop to do a "costbenefits analysis" of smoking versus not smoking. "Until the costs outweigh the benefits, they won't do it." He adds that when it comes to giving up nicotine, the first two weeks are the toughest.
"The brain is going to resist brutally. Your IQ temporarily drops; you're irritable; it interferes with judgment and thinking."
But simple steps will take cravings away, like taking a deep breath; chewing on "low-cal, crunchy things"; keeping something in your mouth, like a piece of a cinnamon stick; or having a drink of cold water. Exercise helps too, because it releases endorphins.
"You'll feel terrible, but it's only temporary," Baker says of cravings. "Within 24 hours of quitting, your cardiovascular [-disease] risk decreases." Within 72 hours, lung capacity increases; within two weeks to three months, circulation improves and lung function increases; and within six months, coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath improve.
Baker says giving up marijuana can be more complicated, given the commonly held notions that the substance is neither harmful nor addictive.
"An adult who continues smoking marijuana is saying, 'My drug is so important to me that I will risk my job, my reputation, my ability to leave the country, my relationship with my wife and family.' That level of compulsion requires more extensive help, but treatment is essentially identical."
For tobacco and marijuana smokers, Baker encourages going to 12-step programs and support groups. He'd like to see family doctors play a more active role in helping patients quit and offering follow-up visits. And he advises smokers to follow this acronym: CARESS, which involves developing coping skills, including learning to set boundaries; being accountable (especially to others, so tell friends and coworkers about your plan to quit); taking responsibility (instead of denying you have a problem or blaming others for it); education; social support; and spirituality.
And this is coming from someone who's been there.
http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=7680
Happy to be back with Boreyko, butt... -MB
Smoke law aside, Russian composer enjoying his visit
Morley Walker Tuesday, February 1st, 2005
MUSIC is a subject of great passion for Russia's Leonid Desyatnikov.
But there's an urgent topic that gets the distinguished guest composer at the Centara Corp. International New Music Festival hot under the collar.
Winnipeg's draconian no-smoking laws.
"This is supposed to be a democracy," Desyatnikov said over an espresso, but minus his customary cigarette, yesterday morning in the Fairmont Hotel.
"Smokers are a minority. Democracies respect minorities. This is a contradiction. It is not politically correct."
Other than having to puff outside, the St. Petersburg-based artist is having a fine time at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's signature event, which runs through Friday at the Centennial Concert Hall.
He is always happy to hang out with Andrey Boreyko, the WSO's music director. The pair have been friends since their music conservatory days 30 years ago in what was then Leningrad.
"He was a handsome teenager -- and talented," said Desyatnikov, 49. "I'm very impressed with what he has done."
Boreyko commissioned Desyatnikov's choral symphony Rite of Winter 1949 for his previous orchestra in Jena, Germany, in 1999. He conducted
it again at the NMF's opening concert Saturday.
Boreyko was also the original conductor in Switzerland in 2000 for Desyatnikov's 40-minute concerto The Russian Seasons, which the WSO will perform in the second half of tomorrow night's NMF program. Concertmaster Gwen Hoebig and Russian soprano Yana Ivanilova, another Boreyko favourite, are the featured soloists.
In Friday's closing NMF concert, the WSO will perform a shorter Desyatnikov piece, Sunset, which he originally wrote as a score for a 1987 film. It was Boreyko, again, who suggested his friend rework it for orchestral use.
"I'm grateful for all he has done for my music," he says. "He's wonderful."
Which isn't to say that Desyatnikov is without other admirers. The Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer and his string ensemble Kremerata Baltica have played several of his works, which are noted for their melody and accessibility. He enjoys a busy career as a composer of film soundtracks in Russia, and he has written several operas.
His latest, Rosenthal's Kids, opens March 23 in Moscow at the famed Bolshoi Theatre. The librettist is the controversial avant-garde writer Vladimir Sorokin, whose previous novel, Blue Fat, incited a notorious witchhunt in Russia in 2002 over its supposed pornographic content.
This trip marks Desyatnikov's third to North America. In 1997, he travelled with Kremer to several American cities, as well as Vancouver, as the transcriptionist of an Astor Piazzolla opera.
Two years later, he returned to the U.S. as a juror for the Cleveland Piano Competition.
The oldest son of three children, Desyatnikov was born in Kharkov in Ukraine to Jewish parents who did not practise their religion. His musical ear was detected early, though his parents were not musicians, and by age eight he was studying piano. Two years later, he was already writing his own music.
"I knew very early that I would be a composer," says Desyatnikov, who is single and without children. "Being a performer and being a composer are different things, and I can't understand what it takes to be a performer."
A self-described agoraphobic, Desyatnikov says he spends most of his time holed up in his St. Petersburg flat, painstakingly writing music. Consequently, the turbulent political and economic climate of the post-Communist era is not the main theme of his work, which quotes numerous eras of European composition.
"In Canada, perhaps life is a little boring," he says. "If you like extreme tourism, you should come to Russia and live for a while. It's very interesting."
www.winnipegfreepress.com
Nicotine patches on the NHS for pupils -UK
RICHARD GRAY Jan 30/05
SCHOOLCHILDREN will receive free nicotine patches in a controversial bid to reduce Scotland’s appalling level of underage smoking.
Children as young as 14 will be targeted under the £180,000 Lottery-funded scheme, the first of its kind north of the Border.
The project - to be piloted in Lanarkshire - will train school pupils to counsel their friends off cigarettes and to recommend whether the smokers need nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to help them quit.
Adult anti-smoking coordinators will then decide whether to put the youngsters on courses of nicotine patches, gum or tablets. Teenage smokers from schools and youth centres in Lanarkshire will be targeted when it starts later this year.
"Smoking is one of the primary killers in Lanarkshire, accounting for about 46% of all cancer deaths," said Tom Bryce, general manager of Airdrie Local Health Care Co-operative, which is organising the project.
"The areas we are focusing upon are particularly deprived and so there are high numbers of young people who smoke.
"Despite the many problems they face, a lot of them can be very responsible about giving up smoking when given help.
"Nicotine Replacement Therapy will be prescribed, but at the heart of the project will be other teenagers helping the youngsters through their addiction."
The two-year project has been funded by a £180,000 grant from the Lottery’s National Opportunities Fund and health board officials are working with high schools and youth clubs in Airdrie, Hamilton, Coatbridge and East Kilbride to set up the scheme.
But some parents’ groups and experts fear adolescents may not be responsible enough to use powerful NRT drugs sensibly.
They fear many will continue to smoke while using nicotine patches, risking dangerously high doses of the addictive drug.
The sale and supply of nicotine replacement drugs such as patches are currently restricted to people over the age of 18 but doctors can prescribe the treatment to younger teenagers.
But Professor Ian Stolerman, a nicotine expert from the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London, warned the effects of using NRT on children is still widely unknown.
No evaluated trials of NRT have been carried out by pharmaceutical firms to test their safety or effectiveness on young people. "Laboratory studies suggest nicotine replacement therapy poses a much greater risk for children than for adults," Stolerman said.
"Children are much more susceptible to become dependent upon nicotine, so great care is needed in prescribing nicotine treatments to young people."
Heather Gordon, project manager for Parents Network Scotland, said: "This is a good idea provided there is a way of making sure the children don’t put on the patches and smoke at the same time."
Professor Barry Jones, an addiction expert at Glasgow University, also warned it is difficult to determine the effect of NRT on helping people quit.
He said: "The actual effects of NRT on children are largely unknown and are still subject to a lot of debate."
Officials in charge of the Lanarkshire project insist teenagers given NRT will be stringently monitored. If they are found to be having cigarettes on the sly, the treatment will be stopped.
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=114312005
Man died after smoking accident, inquest told IR
31 January 2005 16:46
The Offaly County Coroner has expressed concern that evidence has not emerged at an inquest today to explain who gave a 78-year-old man matches or a lighter before his clothes went on fire in a private nursing home.
Roderick Quinn, of Ballydaly, Ferbane in Co Offaly, died from shock after receiving severe burns at the Gallen Priory Nursing Home in Ferbane in July of last year.
At an inquest in Tullamore today his niece said that, although her uncle smoked and was receiving cigarettes from the nurses in the home, she presumed that he was given assistance to light the cigarettes by the staff and was supervised in the smoking room.
Coroner Brian Mahon said that the practice of giving a lighter or matches to a patient in these circumstances was one that should not happen.
He heard Mr Quinn - known to the staff as 'Roadey' - had a bad shake in his hand but was an independent man who smoked three or four cigarettes every day.
On the morning of 12 July last year nursing staff found Mr Quinn 'on fire' in the smoking room. He suffered burns to 50% of his body and died the next day in Tullamore General Hospital.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0131/quinnr.html
*for ban damage. If he was with others, and not in "smoking room" the staff could have helped him.
Passenger thrown out of running train
January 31, 2005 16:49 IST
Three passengers threw a 24-year-old man out of a running train on December 26, 2004, after he protested against their smoking in the compartment.
Amaresh Panda, who was travelling from Delhi in the Purushottam Express, had asked the three to stop smoking as it inconvenienced the other passengers. When the train left Bokaro railway station in Jharkhand at night, the men pushed Amaresh out of the train, his family said.
Amaresh, who suffered serious injuries, was spotted near the tracks the next morning by two men. They got him admitted to the Bokaro Steel General Hospital.
His family later shifted him to a nursing home in Bhubaneswar.
A case has been registered with the railway police at Bokaro.
http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/31train.htm
Study: Smoking Harms Women More Than Men
Mon Jan 31, 2005 09:52 AM ET
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Cigarette smoking is more harmful to women than to men, cutting more than a decade off female smokers' life expectancy but much less for their male peers, Dutch government research suggested Monday.
Statistics agency CBS said a comparison of the numbers of Dutch who died of lung cancer in 2003 and smoking trends showed the habit cut a Dutch woman's life expectancy by 11 years, versus three for a man.
"Women who died from lung cancer were younger than men who died from the same cause. This means the harmful effects of smoking are more serious for women than for men," it said, but did not suggest a reason for the difference.
Cigarette smoking is believed to be one of the main causes of lung cancer as well as other cancers and lung diseases.
The CBS said a rise in lung cancer among Dutch women since the 1970s correlated with an increase in smoking by women.
On average, female lung cancer sufferers died at age 70 versus an average life expectancy for Dutch women of 81.
Male lung cancer sufferers lived to an age of 73 on average, compared with an average expectancy of 76 years for Dutch men.
The CBS said life expectancy for men in the Netherlands has increased by about five years since the 1970s as they have smoked less.
"The fall in cases of lung cancer among men can be attributed to their smoking habits," it said.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=7485838
*critique to follow
DEADWOOD - State Sen. Jerry Apa, R-Lead, opened Saturday's legislative crackerbarrel session with assurances to South Dakota gun owners that revisions to the state's criminal codes will not damage their rights.
Senate bill 43, section 269 is supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and actually eases some of the bans on gun ownership that federal law imposes in cases of misdemeanor domestic violence, Apa pointed out.
"We've been getting a lot of grief from gun owners of South Dakota," Apa told more than 35 people gathered at Deadwood City Hall for the meeting.
He went on to say that state senators and representatives are getting cards and calls from those who incorrectly believe that SB43, Sec. 269, would take gun rights away.
The cards sent to legislators opposing the criminal code revisions are pre-printed, Apa said, and they are being distributed by what he termed as "the Lautenberg-sloggers" or those intensely opposed to any state backing of federal Lautenberg provisions. The federal law the South Dakota legislation would address is known as the Lautenberg 1996 Domestic Violence Offender Gun Ban, and it still carries the name of its primary sponsor U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. The NRA continues its work to overturn the federal legislation which it terms "a horrid federal law" largely due to the lifetime ban on firearm ownership for those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence.
In the meantime, the state criminal code revision addressed in SB43, Sec. 269, would allow bans on gun ownership imposed by the federal law to be lifted due to the state's restoration of gun ownership rights. Apa read a comparison of the two laws to illustrate his point. Under the Lautenberg law, the ban on gun ownership would be a lifetime ban following a domestic violence misdemeanor. Under SB43, Sec. 269, the same conviction would bring a one year ban on gun ownership. Violating the Lautenberg law is a felony; violating the rules in Sec. 269 would be a misdemeanor.
Rep. Tom Hills, R-Spearfish, also told Saturday's audience that he has heard from concerned gun owners. In a letter Hills is sending in reply to those concerns, the freshman legislator writes, "SB43, Sec. 269, provides relief from this harsh penalty (under Lautenberg) by proposing a one-year ban under South Dakota law. According to our attorney general's office, in practice, the Department of Justice defers to state law under their authority to recognize 'Restoration of Civil Rights' done at the state level."
Apa cautioned those considering donations to the group opposing the legislation as a limitation of gun rights to remember that though the group may be listed on the state lobbyists' list, it does not have 501-C3 non-profit status and because of this the group is not obligated to spend contributions for any certain purpose.
Rep. Chuck Turbiville, R-Deadwood, agreed that the gun bill has been a topic of much discussion, and went on to discuss the work he is doing in the two committees on which he serves. On the transportation and taxation committees, Turbiville said he keeps his eyes open for issues germane to Lawrence County and the district. He also discussed the proposed ban on smoking in workplaces and that there was a tremendous amount of opposition to that ban.
Hills said he voted for the amendment to the smoking ban in large part because he thought of how much he enjoys taking his 12-year-old grandson out to eat and he does not support smoking in restaurants. The amendment failed. The bill was tabled.
Turbiville mentioned that he thought the intent of the bill had been to prevent restaurants from purchasing malt liquor licenses in order to allow smoking in their establishments. Both representatives acknowledged that due to strong opposition to the smoking ban, the bill isn't likely to survive.
Audience member and Lead-Deadwood schools CEO Dr. Mitch Chapel commented that he is in favor of an expanded smoking ban. Chapel shared that his wife suffers from asthma and that makes it nearly impossible for them to go into casinos and enjoy "playing a few nickels" because the smoke is so bad. "I'm really in favor of it," Chapel told the legislators about the ban.
Turbiville also reported on SB61, which gives the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority limited authority to claim eminent domain for subsurface ownership rights for development of an underground lab in Lead. Apa added that those subsurface ownership rights would be strictly for scientific endeavors and that mining is prohibited under the legislation.
Hills and Turbiville mentioned that they were impressed with the amount of work that legislators do in Pierre and the caliber of those working on behalf of the citizens of South Dakota.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1300&dept_id=156923&newsid=13858589&PAG=461&rfi=9
At the Capitol, not everybody knows your name -MT
ByJason Mohr - IR Staff Writer - 1/31/05
At the Legislature, you don't always look folks in the eye. You read their nametag. During once- or twice-weekly trips to the Capitol, I've also run into folks whose names I already know: City of Helena and Lewis and Clark County officials and staff. (Mayor Jim Smith is there, too, but he says he's concentrating on his lobbying job.)
What's got local officials' attention?
For one, a Helena-to-Great Falls bike and pedestrian trail, using the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad route.
Although there are complaints of a $23 million "corporate giveaway" and possible environmental cleanup costs, the "Corridor of Discovery" could be quite a tourist boon, especially in the Wolf Creek-Craig area.
Clean Indoor Air ordinance defenders had smoke blown in their face last session, when legislators overrode Helena's popularly approved smoking ban.
This time around, the city lost a shot at patching up the ban, when the House of Representatives rejected jury trials for civil infractions. (City Judge Myron Pitch snuffed out the ordinance two years ago over this.)
Although legislators may again get in the middle, it's up to three judges to resolve "economic takings" and enforcement issues.
Though not necessarily an advocate, Helena City Manager Tim Burton thinks cities should be able to consider a local option sales tax. One bill allows a 4 percent tax with a public vote.
Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, proposes to allow the formation of a tax increment financing (TIF) district to help pay for new Interstate 15 interchanges. Like the downtown Helena TIF, taxes from new development are set aside for specific improvements. Local officials say it would help bridge funding gaps that bog down projects. (They might need it; a Custer Avenue exit could cost $30 million.)
But some lawmakers are wary, saying a TIF district takes from schools and favors one development over another.
Growth bills aren't front-page drama, but legislation could paint the future of development here.
Among a volley of ideas, city officials favor proposed "quality growth areas," a Smart Growth concept designating likely areas of urban expansion. Impact fees — controversial in Gallatin County and some say applied under another name here — are again on the table.
-- Legislators are employees in need of job supervision, says Joel Blackwell, author of the grassroots lobbying handbook, "Personal Political Power."
Here's some tips for would-be power brokers:
1. You can have significant influence.
2. "Call the ones you can vote for." Or send a fax.
3. "What politicians want from you is to understand what your problem is and what you need to solve it...Be able to explain who will be hurt or helped."
4. "They won't back a losing issue and they can't build the consensus. That's your job."
5. "Once you've communicated, don't quit...follow up politely, respectfully and relentlessly until you get an answer. That means about once a week."
6. "Never show anger or try to threaten."
He can't promise you'll win. "But I can promise you will lose if you do nothing," Blackwell says. He's on the Web at www.JoelBlackwell.com.
-- This week, Great Falls plays host to President George W. Bush.
Security will be corset-like for No. 43. Compare that to John F. Kennedy's 1960 campaign visit to Helena.
A 1988 IR special recalled the details.
Local Democratic Party heavyweight Joe Reber wrote how he hosted the Massachusetts senator at his Floweree Street home, where 500 people crammed the front yard and 100 more waited in the street. Reber's daughters "were infatuated."
Kennedy later hitched a ride in Helena businessman Walter Marshall's "vintage red, white and blue station wagon." Marshall's accompanying cats and dogs "licked the senator's neck all the way to the airport."
"On the Record" appears on Mondays. Lob comments, criticism or kudos to city-county reporter Jason Mohr at 447-4075 or jason.mohr@helenair.com.
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/01/31/helena/a09013105_02.txt
Judge allows smoking ban suit
By W. DALE NELSON
Star-Tribune correspondent
LARAMIE -- Voters challenging a public vote in favor of a smoking control ordinance will be allowed to make their case in court that there were election irregularities that might have affected the outcome, 2nd District Judge Jeffrey Donnell ruled Wednesday.
Donnell, who has set a non-jury trial in the case for May 18-20, granted in part and denied in part a motion filed by the city to dismiss the legal challenge filed by eight voters. The ordinance is scheduled to go into effect April 6.
"Wonderful," said Sherri Derenzis, one of the eight challengers. "This means we still have a chance to make our case."
City Attorney Peggy Trent said she was "very, v
Posted at 11:56 am by looped_ca
Judge allows smoking ban suit -WY
By W. DALE NELSON Star-Tribune correspondent
LARAMIE -- Voters challenging a public vote in favor of a smoking control ordinance will be allowed to make their case in court that there were election irregularities that might have affected the outcome, 2nd District Judge Jeffrey Donnell ruled Wednesday.
Donnell, who has set a non-jury trial in the case for May 18-20, granted in part and denied in part a motion filed by the city to dismiss the legal challenge filed by eight voters. The ordinance is scheduled to go into effect April 6.
"Wonderful," said Sherri Derenzis, one of the eight challengers. "This means we still have a chance to make our case."
City Attorney Peggy Trent said she was "very, very pleased" with the judge's decision, in which he said the burden will be on the plaintiffs to prove that any errors affected the outcome.
Donnell said the plaintiffs' claim that ballot boxes were left unsealed and were opened during the election "may rise to the level of misconduct or material negligence of an election official which affected the result of the election, and must be allowed to proceed."
Janet Tyler, the attorney for the plaintiffs, could not be reached by telephone Wednesday evening.
Regarding the claim that voters were deprived of absentee ballots or that there was any effect on the result of the election, the judge said the plaintiffs had not demonstrated that this was the case and "will have to satisfy that demand eventually, but, at the present time, their claim must proceed."
Donnell also left standing the plaintiffs' claim that the ballot was invalid because it did not include language required by state law instructing voters how to mark their ballots "for or against" a ballot proposition, although he said the argument "may place form over substance."
As for the allegation that some absentee ballots obtained from the city clerk incorrectly said they should be returned to the county clerk, the judge said the plaintiffs are entitled to prove that this happened and affected the result, although they have not shown so far that any ballots failed to get counted.
Donnell also said that the "plaintiffs' assertion that polling places failed to post instruction for the special election as mandated by statute must stand as it presents a claim upon which relief can be granted." The same applies, he said, to claim that some ballots were not folded.
The judge dismissed the portion of the lawsuit saying that the language on the ballot did not accurately describe the ordinance passed by the City Council by a 6-3 vote and approved by 366 votes in the Nov. 2 election.
The ballot description said the ordinance would "prohibit smoking in enclosed areas to which the public has access and places of employment, including but not limited to, restaurants, bars and private clubs." The challengers said this failed to make clear that it would also apply to offices.
The judge ruled that "even when considered in a light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the ballot summary was not misleading, especially given the summary's inclusion of the phrase ‘including but not limited to.'"
Donnell also dismissed the argument that not enough ballots were provided, saying the legal basis advanced for it applied only to general elections, not special elections such as the one on the smoking ordinance.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/01/29/news/wyoming/a3cf20776172f04c87256f96000d270c.txt
Pierre Report Proposed Smoking Ban Addresses Important Life-And-Death Issues -SD
By: Rep. Jamie Boomgarden
R-District 17 (Chancellor) Monday, January 31, 2005
Greetings from Pierre. The weather started out so nice and then rapidly cooled down at the end of the week. I found out that in Pierre you not only need an ice scraper to clear ice from the windshield, but you also need one to remove the goose droppings that somehow end up on the windshield.
The bill of the week had to be HB1075, this bill intended to ban smoking in all public places. I supported this bill despite many of my friends that own bars and restaurants. I do understand the financial concerns and the desire to have the state stay out of personal lives and businesses. This is my preference, as well, unless there is a good reason to look the other way.
Many people approached me and said that people know the risks of smoking. My answer to this is they do not! Sure, they know it decreases life spans, and causes some illnesses, but they have never seen a person dying from these diseases.
I work at a hospital and have seen a couple hundred terminally ill patients; not all of them smoked, but the ones that did always repeat the same phrase -- "I wish I had never started that habit!" -- as they gasp for their breath. I have seen people constantly vomiting from chemotherapy and medications, and I have personally watched three young children and their mother all crying and hugging their 45-year-old father (who was a heavy smoker) after he just received word that he only has three months to live.
To this day, I cannot get that image out of my head, and that is why I had to vote in favor of this bill. The bad part was, I actually voted to table the bill after an amendment failed, fearing the bill would completely fail without it. This mistake made it look like I was against the bill, but I did favor it.
The House passed HB1061, which is one of those bills we have no choice on. If it did not pass, the state would lose $7 million the first year for highway funds and multiply the loss each year after. The bill affects commercial drivers licenses in that, if they are convicted of a DUI or other similar violation in their "personal" vehicles, they can lose their drivers licenses and NOT be able to get a work permit.
HB1055 passed the House and is related to the SDDS settlement fund. This involves the case of the waste disposal site out in western South Dakota in 1993. The state granted a permit to construct this disposal site, and the company put financial resources into the project. The permit was contested and brought before the people for a vote. The citizens of South Dakota voted to deny the permit. The company sued and initially won a $15 million lawsuit, but a technicality caused to go back to court. The case has been in court for 12 years and, at this time, there is a $5.2 million settlement on the table that will put this whole mess behind us. If it does go back to the courts, there is a good possibility that a new trial and unknown judgment could cost us a lot more.
I have received a lot of mail regarding section 269 of Senate Bill 43. This attempts to fix the amendment that was tied onto a Federal Lautenberg Domestic Gun Ban in 1996. This is a bad bill in that, if you're involved in a misdemeanor domestic violence act, you lose your gun rights for the rest of your life. This is not intended to make domestic violence a lesser crime but it did have very harsh (lifetime) affects on people who passionately like to hunt. This bill is in effect for those states like South Dakota which do not have domestic violence gun laws. The attempt of section 269 of SB43, as the state's attorney informed us, is that it is very likely that once the state establishes its own laws on this issue, it would satisfy the Federal Lautenberg clause. This is where section 269 comes in because it places a one-year ban on offenders of domestic violence as long as it is a misdemeanor. Ask yourself what is better: a one-year ban or a lifetime ban? The NRA is aware of and strongly supports this legislation. Be careful of the requests for money you are receiving out there, and make sure they are working in your best interest and not just for personal gain.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. This has been an invaluable learning experience for me and I hope to improve more each week. Feel free to contact me with questions or concerns at rep.boomgarden@state.sd.us.
Remember the troops and their families in your thoughts and prayers as they go through these tough times.
http://www.yankton.net/stories/013105/community_20050131015.shtml
City's No-Smoking Section Gets A Lot Bigger -OH
Smoking Ban Goes Into Effect January 31, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The city's smoking ban went into effect at midnight Monday, NBC 4 reported.
The ordinance, which was upheld by voters in November, outlaws smoking in all enclosed places of employment and public places within the city's corporation limits.
The banned areas include all places of employment, including restaurants and bars; all enclosed areas, including buildings and vehicles that are owned, leased or operated by the city of Columbus; and all areas near entrances and exits of a smoke-free building, so that smoke does not enter through doorways, windows or ventilation systems.
Smoking is still allowed in private residences, but is prohibited in those that are licensed childcare facilities, adult daycare facilities or healthcare facilities. Smoking is also allowed in hotel and motel rooms designated as "smoking;" family-owned and operated businesses and offices of self-employed people; retail tobacco stores; outdoor patios that are physically separated from the enclosed area of the establishment and do not allow smoke to enter open windows and doors; and private clubs with a valid D-4 liquor permit.
If smoking occurs illegally, the Columbus Board of Health will issue a warning letter to the proprietor. The second occurrence is considered a minor misdemeanor offense and carries a maximum fine of $150.
At least one local restaurant is welcoming the change.
"We actually had some new customers come in because they knew we were smoke-free and they didn't like the smoke," said Tom Kraft, of Tee Jaye's Country Place. "We'll do all right."
A local group is collecting signatures to put a referendum on the May ballot that would exempt bars from the ban.
Several other Central Ohio communities are considering their own smoking bans.
The city of Heath in Licking County is working on a smoking ban proposal that would forbid smoking in all public places. A vote could be made by city leaders by the end of February.
Newark and Granville also are considering smoking bans.
http://www.nbc4i.com/news/4145486/detail.html
WHO critical of on-screen smoking in Bollywood -India
MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 12:00:01 AM
Movie stars are actors, not role models
This is the age of stifling political correctness. These 'democratically' acceptable attitudes to everything colour our vision in all things socio-cultural. In the past few weeks, from Prince Harry to Harvard's Lawrence Summers, the media appears to have declared open season on anything remotely controversial. Another example of this is the WHO report which states that Bollywood stars smoke far too frequently on screen. It says this unfortunate depiction could lead more young people to take up this deadly habit. This is to confuse a problem with a symptom. No one denies that smoking is injurious to health, or that it is a serious public health issue. But to expect our movie stars to foster clean habits in people is irrational. Cinema, like all art, only mirrors prevailing social contexts and situations. If directors are making stars smoke, it is, as they point out, because the role calls for it. Nothing more.
A good case in point is the criticism that Pierce Brosnan was subjected to, for a similar 'indiscretion' in his last portrayal as James Bond. He was shown lighting up a cigar in a scene set in Cuba. It led to a spate of condemnation in the media. From anti-tobacco campaigners to civil rights organisations, everyone criticised the depiction of Brosnan smoking. All of this was ostensibly to prevent unwary young men who know no better from being misled by the habits of the man who played Bond. The fact that the actor was playing a deceitful, ruthless, oversexed spy, who usually has no qualms about despatching diabolical villains and their henchmen to their dooms, seems lost on the cigar haters. Clearly, this is a case of political correctness run amok. Better education and awareness of public health is the need of the hour, not castigating our actors for their celluloid portrayals of social mores. They are just doing their jobs, let's not expect them to be real life role models.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1005407.cms
Carving a business out of the non-smoking campaign
Monday, January 31, 2005
EAST BAY - Broad new prohibitions on smoking, along with enhanced enforcement mechanisms, will have a big effect on area restaurants and workplaces in the state when a new law goes into effect on March 1. The new law targets second-hand smoke and is designed to protect workers and the public from its hazards.
Yet at least one entrepreneur, Portsmouth resident Jay Massa, owner of Stafford Design/Build in Fall River, sees opportunity caused by the smoke-free laws. A non-smoker himself, he nonetheless believes smokers have rights to gather and enjoy smoking as part of the experience of eating out.
"There needs to be some accommodation for the smoker," Mr. Massa said, "while protecting the non-smoker from toxic gases. At the board of health level they would like to see every smoker stop smoking, but the reality is that's not going to happen."
He has designed what he calls a "hot spot smoking shelter" constructed of aluminum rods and supports, numerous removable panels, and roofed with durable flame retardant fabric. The shelter has a 12-foot by 15-foot footprint, is 9-feet high, rests on a wooden platform, and is designed to be free-standing outside and next to a restaurant.
The only one that exists so far, at Magoni's Restaurant in Somerset, contains a Keno TV and a standard TV set, an exhaust fan, a heating system, lights, carpeting, chairs, tables and ashtrays. It is enormously popular, he says. "It provides a space where smokers can go and not bother other people." Mr. Massa notes that "in New York, nightclub owners have rented limousines so people can go outside and smoke."
"What's the difference between a limo, or a Winnebago, or a mobile home, or a hot spot smoking shelter," he asks.
However, health authorities in Massachusetts aren't so sure the "hot spot smoking shelter" complies with that state's laws. Eileen M. Sullivan, who directs tobacco control policy in the Massachusetts department of public health, said that reports that "made it sound as though we had approved the smoking shelter at Magoni's were not correct. We had not." According to Ms. Sullivan, "It appears the smoking shelter is being used as an enclosed smoking room, and our law does not allow for enclosed smoking rooms."
The health official with direct jurisdiction over the shelter at Magoni's restaurant is Christina A. Wordell, an agent with the Somerset board of health. While expressing sympathy for the idea of providing an alternative for patrons who like to smoke, Ms. Wordell states that the shelter "does not meet the no-smoke-in-the-workplace law," and that she "will defer to the state department of public health which is about to issue regulations enforcing the law." Magoni's owner declined to comment.
The fate of such shelters in Rhode Island is distinctly uncertain. Mr. Massa said he's received "nothing but negative comments" from state officials and that the "health department people have not been very supportive."
According to Elizabeth Harvey, who directs the tobacco control program in the department of health, an official legal opinion, responding to a specific description of the "hot spot smoking shelter," and how it would function in relation to a restaurant or other business, would need to be issued before the department of health could approve it.
It does not look encouraging, she said. "[Mr. Massa's] shelter would appear to be enclosed, not open, is likely to be part of a workplace, if only for maintenance, is open to the public, and is under the control of an employer. My read is that the new law would probably prohibit smoking in such a structure."
What restaurant owners think
Rhode Island restaurant owners have mixed reactions to the upcoming new law. John Silva, co-owner of Barcellos Family Restaurant in Tiverton, anticipates that business will "definitely" drop, and that take-out orders will increase. He believes smoking policy "should be left up to the owner and customers should be warned and free to choose."
"I've never had a customer leave due to smoking," said Mr. Silva, who also said he'd never received a complaint about smoking in his restaurant. "As for employees, a lot of them smoke, and a lot of them that don't smoke don't mind if others do," he said.
On the other hand, John Louglin, owner of the Crossroads Restaurant in Warren, said "we initiated non-smoking in all our dining rooms five years ago. At first a lot of customers were upset, but in the long run we've seen more people and more families coming in than before." Acknowledging that currently allowed smoking in the bar area of his restaurant will soon be banned, Mr. Louglin said, "A lot of smokers know the law's coming, and they'll just have to adjust to it."
Ms. Harvey is optimistic about the impact of the new law. "Other states that have gone this route," she said, "have been very successful and have not had serious enforcement problems."
"At the beginning," Ms. Harvey said, "there will be complaints from people who don't know how others elsewhere have fared. But leveling the playing field helps. Most restaurant owners do better. People will still eat out, and some people will eat out more often, and some who didn't eat out before because of smoke in restaurants will start eating out."
"It's not a huge economic problem," she continued. "A lot of scare tactics came from the tobacco industry trying to thwart this new law."
"Don't forget," said Ms. Harvey, "that 70 percent of Rhode Island smokers want to quit. People forget how powerful the addiction is. With nicotine, you get 80 doses per cigarette. It's the most addictive drug we've encountered."
At a glance: The new smoking ban
"Rhode Island is leading the way in strong tobacco control policies in this country," said Deborah Ruggiero, president of the American Lung Association of Rhode Island. Once implemented, the law "will be one of the strongest smoke-free laws in the country," she said. The new law requires that:
* All restaurants must be completely smoke-free after March 1. This includes bar areas in restaurants. Separate smoking and non-smoking sections will no longer be permitted.
* Outdoor areas of a restaurant where smoking will still be allowed must be physically separated from the enclosed establishment so as to prevent the migration of smoke into the restaurant.
* Until Oct. 1, 2006, smoking will still be allowed in Class C (stand-alone bars) and Class D (private clubs) license holders with fewer than 10 employees.
* All businesses and workplaces inside will need to become completely smoke-free, without any "smoking rooms."
* If an employer wants to allow smoking by employees, the area must be outside and must be physically separated so that smoke cannot "migrate" back inside. The department of health recommends that any outdoor smoking area be at least 50 feet from the building.
* Smoking is prohibited in vehicles owned by a business and used by more than one employee.
* Smoking is prohibited in private offices, even the office of the owner or head of the business.
* Child care, adult care and health care facilities must be smoke-free, even when located in a private residence.
* The smoking prohibitions covering restaurants and workplaces apply to everyone entering the location: customers, patrons, visitors, employees and others alike.
* There are limited exemptions for retail tobacco stores, "smoking bars," hotels, private rooms in assisted living facilities and designated, separately ventilated areas in Newport Grand and Lincoln Park.
* Signs with approved language must be posted at all entrances to restaurants and workplaces with mandated language stating that smoking is prohibited and providing a telephone number and contact information for the filing of a complaint. Present and future employees are required to be told the establishment is smoke-free.
* Any individual — employee, customer, patron or member of the public — who wishes to register a complaint can do so by calling or writing the state department of health. Health and fire officials conducting routine inspections for other purposes can also file a complaint. It's anticipated that local substance abuse task forces will provide community support for complaint mechanism.
* Enforcement will be complaint-driven by the health department office of environmental health risks assessment (Robert R. Vanderslice, Ph.D., director).
* A first complaint will result in direct notification by the health department to the employer, whether a restaurant or other business, demanding immediate corrective action. Any second and subsequent complaints will be forwarded to the solicitor for the town where the license holder is located. The solicitor must then "without delay" initiate an injunctive action against the employer.
* Civil penalties for a first violation are $250, for a second $500, and $1,000 for a third and each subsequent violation. Each day a violation occurs is a separate violation. Failure to post signs is a violation. Allowing smoking, not just smoking itself, is a violation.
______________________________________________________________________________
Rhode Island's smoking grades
Tobacco prevention and control spending: F
* FY 2005 tobacco prevention and control appropriations:* $3,609,989 (actual)
* CDC best practices minimum state spending requirement: $9,890,000 (recommended)
* Includes FY 2004 funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Smoke-free air: Incomplete*
Overview of smoke-free air law(s):
* Government workplaces: Bans
* Private workplaces: Bans
* Schools: Bans
* Childcare facilities: Bans
* Restaurants: Bans
* Bars: Restricts
* Retail stores: Bans
* Recreation/cultural facilities: Bans
* Penalties: Yes
* Enforcement: Yes
* Preemption: Yes
* Citation: GEN. LAWS OF RI § 23-20.6-1 et seq. & 11-19-32 & 23-28.15 & 23-17.5-26
*Incomplete: Rhode Island's smoke-free air legislation is effective March 1, 2005. Exemptions include 50 percent of hotel/motel rooms, retail tobacco stores, smoking bars and facilities with Class C & D liquor licenses with no more than 10 employees until Oct. 1, 2006. The American Lung Association of Rhode Island expects the grade to be changed from an incomplete to an A with the enactment of the smoke-free air legislation on March 1.
Cigarette tax: A
* Tax rate per pack of 20: $2.460*
* On July 1, 2004, the cigarette tax was raised from $1.71 to $2.46 per pack
Youth access: A
Overview of youth access law(s):
* Minimum age requirement: Yes
* Packaging: Prohibits all cigarette sales other than in a sealed package conforming to federal labeling requirements: Yes
* Clerk intervention: Prohibits access to or purchase of tobacco products without the intervention of a sales clerk: No
* Photographic identification: Require merchants to request photographic identification for customers who appear to be under 21 years of age: No
* Vending machines: Restricts
* Free distribution: Bans
* Graduated penalties or fines on retailers: Yes
* Establishes random, unannounced inspections: Yes
* Establishes statewide enforcement agency: Yes
* Preemption: No
* Citation: GEN. LAWS OF RI § 11-9-13 et seq.
Source: American Lung Association
______________________________________________________________________________
Facts & figures , A few interesting Rhode Island statistics pertaining to smoking:
* Every year, 1,800 Rhode Islanders die from smoking
* 200 people annually die in the state from exposure to second-hand smoke.
* 19% of high school students and 9% of middle school students smoke.
* 5% of high school males use smokeless tobacco.
* Every year 2,700 children in Rhode Island become established daily smokers.
* 22% percent of Rhode Island adults smoke.
* 53,000 children are exposed to second-hand smoke at home, and are more likely to get colds, allergies, asthma and ear infections as a result.
* Babies of smoking parents are twice as likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
* 0.9 million packs of cigarettes each year are illegally sold in Rhode Island to children and youth.
* Health care expenditures directly related to tobacco use exceed $396 million every year.
* Tobacco costs Rhode Islanders $170 million in taxes for health care and $90 million in Medicaid payments.
* Additional annual expenditures in Rhode Island for babies' health problems caused by smoking or being exposed to second-hand smoke during pregnancy is $4 to $13 million.
* Second-hand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known to cause cancer.
* Waitresses have higher rates of lung cancer and heart disease than any other traditionally female occupation.
* One 8-hour shift in a smoke-filled bar is the same as smoking 16 cigarettes.
* Smoking is worse for women than it is for men. Women are more likely to get lung cancer than men, and more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer.
— Source: Rhode Island Department of Health, American Lung Association of Rhode Island
______________________________________________________________________________
Resources
* To file a complaint about smoking in any restaurant or business, call 222-3293; online, log on to http://www.health.ri.gov/disease/tobacco/workplacelaw.php and click on link marked "No Smoking Non-compliance Complaint Form"
* If you smoke and want to stop, or want to support employees or patrons who want to quit (free patches, free gum, free counseling), call 800/879-8678 or log on to http://www.health.ri.gov/disease/tobacco/tobaccobenefits.php
* To learn about Rhode Island's Tobacco Control Program, signs, enforcement, guidance, education, definitions of terms, visit http://www.health.ri.gov/disease/tobacco/index.php
* To read the new state law, known as Chapter 20.10, General Laws of Rhode Island, the "Public Health and Workplace Safety Act," visit http://www.hrcomply.com/law/RI.8392.html
* To read Department of Health "Rules and Regulations Pertaining to Smoke-free Public Places and Workplaces" implementing the new state law, visit http://www.rules.state.ri.us/rules/released/pdf/DOH/DOH_3258.pdf
* For National Cancer Institute findings about second-hand smoke, visit http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/10_18.htm
* For Environmental Protection Agency findings about second-hand smoke, visit http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=2835
By Tom Killin Dalglish
http://www.eastbayri.com/story/295247238659417.php
Indicting Big Pharma
Arthur L. Caplan
The Truth about the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What To Do about It. Marcia Angell. xx + 305 pp. Random House, 2004. $24.95.
On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health. Jerome P. Kassirer. xx + 251 pp. Oxford University Press, 2005. $28.
Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs. Jerry Avorn. viii + 448 pp. Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. $27.50.
Is the pharmaceutical industry a dangerous and crooked business that federal and state authorities need to bring to heel? Should those who develop, market or prescribe drugs hang their heads in shame when faced with the stark reality of what they do to earn a living? Is Big Pharma in fact the moral equivalent of the tobacco industry? One could well come away from Marcia Angell's The Truth about the Drug Companies or Jerome Kassirer's On the Take thinking so. In both books, the sort of moral opprobrium once directed against Big Tobacco is aimed squarely at the pharmaceutical industry, along with its legions of lobbyists, the politicians awash in its campaign contributions and the doctors it has bought, free meal by free meal, junket by junket, free sample by free sample and trinket by trinket.
Kassirer and Angell, who are physicians at Tufts and Harvard, respectively, and who are both former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine, are not the only authors currently taking a critical look at industry excesses. Harvard physician and pharmacoepidemiologist Jerry Avorn also has a new book examining some of the problems with the way prescription drugs are brought to market, the thoughtful and incisive Powerful Medicines.
It's not hard to see why demonization of the pharmaceutical industry has become such a popular sport. As Avorn points out, drug companies are now so obsessed with profits that they are no longer willing to pay for the innovative research that they claim justifies the high cost of their products. He and Angell each demonstrate that the numbers do not support the contention that without high prices there would be no money for the next generation of miracle drugs. Avorn notes that data from financial reports submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission by nine of the largest U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies show the hollowness of this rationale for exorbitant prices. He cites a 2002 report by Families, USA, which indicated that these companies spent the greatest proportion of their revenues (27 percent) on marketing, advertising and administration. Next came profits at 18 percent—a rate of return that almost no other industry expects or can match. Money spent on research and development ran a distant third, at 11 percent of revenues. No matter how hard drug companies spin these numbers, they reveal priorities that serve neither patients nor the general public.
Other data in these three books strengthen the moral case against the industry. In the United States, patented, brand-name drugs sell on average for 80 percent more than in Canada and 100 percent more than in France and Italy. Efforts to redress price inequities by allowing the importation of drugs to the United States from Canada have met with fierce resistance from Big Pharma, which has waged a bizarre and deceitful campaign to impugn the safety of Canadian drugs. The campaign would be laughable had it not been so effective in keeping Canadian drugs in Canada.
The sins do not end with high prices, huge budgets for marketing and advertising, and efforts to restrain free markets. Drug companies, Angell and Kassirer remind us, have connived to do everything they can think of to capture the attention, allegiance and gratitude of physicians. And they have been able to think of quite a lot.
Dip anywhere at random into The Truth about the Drug Companies or On the Take and you will find disturbing passages such as this one (from Angell's book):
Suppose you are a big pharmaceutical company. You make a drug that is approved for a very limited use. . . . How could you turn it into a blockbuster? . . .
. . . You could simply market the drug for unapproved ("off-label") uses—despite the fact that doing so is illegal. You do that by carrying out "research" that falls way below the standard required for FDA approval, then "educating" doctors about any favorable results. That way, you could circumvent the law. You could say you were not marketing for unapproved uses; you were merely disseminating the results of research to doctors—who can legally prescribe a drug for any use. But it would be bogus education about bogus research. It would really be marketing.
Angell goes on to show that this is exactly what many pharmaceutical companies have done. In the name of "research," they have subtly encouraged doctors to use drugs for unapproved purposes, or for groups of patients (children, for example) in whom the agent's effectiveness has never been studied. The industry has also encouraged "innovative" prescription practices on the part of doctors who are not equipped to safely monitor and to learn from what they are doing. Outrage about this sort of conduct infuses every page of her powerful book.
Kassirer, like Angell, is no slouch at condemning ethical shenanigans:
Big business and physicians alike are involved in a massive charade. Representatives of the drug companies claim repeatedly that marketing serves an essential function in the health-care delivery system by helping to educate doctors so they can prescribe drugs more appropriately. At the same time, they press their drug salesmen to push the newest (and usually the most expensive) products, and their surrogate intermediaries, the medical education companies, are advertising their services as "persuasive" education.
Kassirer does not write with the same overt anger as Angell, but his quiet fury is palpable as he watches his beloved medical profession being corrupted by businesses willing to do whatever it takes to get their drugs prescribed.
It turns out to be relatively easy to make the case against bloated profits, the herd mentality of companies looking for blockbusters, dishonesty in marketing and crass schemes to pay off doctors, politicians and the media. No one can read these books and not believe that something needs to be done to reform the way drugs are discovered, patented, sold and used in the United States and around the world. But these books are far less satisfying when it comes to providing solutions.
Despite all the corruption documented by Angell, Kassirer and Avorn, the pharmaceutical industry is not the tobacco industry. Its products may sometimes be sold at bloated prices and marketed using techniques more commonly associated with used car dealers and Internet mortgage brokers. And some of those products may even turn out to be dangerous or ineffective. But Big Pharma, unlike Big Tobacco, is not selling inherently evil products. Many Americans have benefited from pharmaceuticals, and more do so every year, which is as much a cause of higher total expenditures for the nation as are increases in the prices of individual drugs. So medicine has no real choice but to deal with Big Pharma; nobody wants it just to go away. But clearly the drug industry must be better regulated.
Angell and Kassirer take a fairly straightforward route in their prescriptions for reform: Get the pharmaceutical industry away from the medical profession. Prohibit the drug companies from underwriting continuing medical education, get their sales representatives ("detail" people) out of hospitals and doctors' offices, and shut off the junket pipeline. And stop the industry from flooding the airwaves with ridiculously deceptive direct-to-consumer advertising.
Easy enough to say, but these are deeply ingrained practices that will prove next to impossible to eradicate. If you take the detail men and women out of doctors' offices, they will quickly reappear in the homes, country clubs, civic organizations and vacation spots of physicians. Companies are willing to invest heavily in these activities, which means that control (rather than eradication) is probably the most realistic goal.
Nor is there a lot of sentiment in Washington to take on Big Pharma. In the recent election the American people made it clear that they do not want or trust the federal government to regulate much of anything.
What Angell and Kassirer, for all the power of their books, fail to convey is that the activities they rightly condemn are all symptoms of deeper, more serious problems in the pharmaceutical industry. As Avorn correctly notes, it is a lack of science as much as venality that is responsible for the conflicts of interest and inefficiencies that are rife in medicine's relationships with the drug business.
Americans think that the U. S. Food and Drug Administration provides tight oversight ensuring the safety and efficacy of drugs. But the FDA lacks the authority and resources to do this job well. The FDA and its European counterparts can demand that pharmaceutical companies provide them with data to show that drugs are efficacious. But they have no mandate to show that drugs are effective—that they will work not only in closely monitored clinical trials but also in the real world under a variety of conditions. Nor is there any systematic, independent source of evidence about the comparative value of drugs and medical technologies. Head-to-head trials comparing a drug with a rival company's similar product or generic version are almost nonexistent. There are no databases that report the results of all trials in a standardized way, describing adverse events and efficacy in various subpopulations. "The initial FDA approval of a drug should be seen as the beginning of an intensive period of assessment, not the end," Avorn says. But that's not the case. And into this data vacuum rush the detail men and women bearing gifts.
Doctors, patients, policy makers and regulators are all blind as bats when it comes to having the data needed to rein in the huge excesses of the pharmaceutical industry. If no one can really say which drugs are the most effective for whom and which will get the job done most cheaply, then marketing based on trinkets, junkets and hype will continue to flourish. If no one challenges the industry to live up to its stated ethical goal of using science to benefit patients, then simply telling the industry's detail men and women to keep out of the lecture halls at medical schools will do little to weaken their influence.
Not only is there insufficient science guiding the pharmaceutical business, the financial incentives it has are pointing in the wrong direction. Big Pharma still looks to make its breakthroughs and find its blockbusters by creating pills that lots of us can take every day for most of our lives. This means that the supply of birth control pills, remedies for toenail fungus, cholesterol blockers and antidepressants is ample, whereas vaccines are scarce. Big Pharma and its university partners pay little attention to public health and the ailments of the poor because there is little money to be made from them.
To have drugs, we must have a pharmaceutical industry. The key to reforming it in the short run is, as these books show, going after its worst excesses and tamping them down. In the long run, more serious measures are needed. With its self-proclaimed ethical mission in mind, the industry must be restructured. It needs to be firmly grounded in science and properly motivated to provide us with the drugs that will do us all the most good. Accomplishing that is a matter of dialogue and redirection, not demonization.
Reviewer Information
Arthur L. Caplan is Emmanuel and Robert Hart Professor and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He is the author or editor of many books; recent volumes he has coedited include The Human Cloning Debate (Berkeley Hills Books, 2004), Health, Disease and Illness: Concepts in Medicine (Georgetown University Press, 2004) and Who Owns Life? (Prometheus Books, 2002).
Widening U.S. income gap may portend poorer health- PA
By Dr. Jeffrey A. Ratner Posted on Mon, Jan. 31, 2005
It is becoming clearer that at any given level of overall economic development for a country or region within a country, the populations of countries and regions with smaller gaps between rich and poor, in general, are healthier than the populations of countries and regions where the gap is larger.
These observations imply that the economic structure of a nation may be the most important determinate of the health of its people. To illustrate this, look at the health of people in the United States, measured by life expectancy. Fifty-five years ago, the United States was one of the healthiest countries in the world by this measure. Today, there are about 25 countries that are healthier than ours.
The United States has the highest infant-mortality rate, the highest child-poverty rate, the highest teen-pregnancy rate, the highest child-abuse death rate, and so on, among all rich countries. There are no indicators in which we excel, except in spending money on health care, for we spend half of the world's total healthcare bill.
Think of it -- for every dollar in the world spent on health care, 50 cents is spent here; yet, our residents are less healthy.
Japan has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world, yet there are twice as many smokers per capita in Japan than in the United States. To understand this phenomenon, we need to look at post-World War II Japan and the changes that occurred from 1945 to 1950, during the U.S. occupation: The first was demilitarization; the second was democratization, as U.S. policy-makers wrote the country's constitution, providing for representative democracy, free universal education and the right of labor unions to organize and engage in collective bargaining; and the third "D" was decentralization, when the 11-family zaibatsu that ran the huge corporations controlling the country was broken up. The most successful land-reform program in history was carried out. What this did was bring down the economic hierarchy and leveled the playing field. The resulting rise in health in Japan is the most profound ever observed on this planet.
So why do people with lower incomes get sick more? Is it because they smoke more (which they do)? Is it because they drink more (which they may do)? Is it because they use more heroin (which is true)? Is it because they eat more (which is true)? Is it because they don't exercise as much (because they don't)?
Studies have shown that even though these behaviors are considered bad for health, the excess smoking, drinking, heroin use and food consumption in conjunction with a lack of exercise, only explains about 10 percent of the reason that poorer people have poorer health. Learning this has been a revelation for me. I used to blame sick people for their behaviors that made them sick.
It is tempting to say that the reason low-income people get sick more is because they can't afford health care. But that isn't the case. Consider the Hispanic population: They don't access health care much, they tend to not have medical insurance and they tend not to go to the doctor. Yet, they tend to be much healthier than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.
The truth is that in the past 55 years, we have drastically changed the rules of who gets what share of the pie in regard to health care. Relative poverty, living in a large gap society is the worst part of poverty.
In next week's Health Break column, we will examine this tragic phenomenon between poverty and poor health.
Dr. Jeffrey A. Ratner specializes in pulmonary and internal medicine and is in private practice in State College. He is Chief of Staff at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/living/10775661.htm
Making advertising a scapegoat
Monday, January 31, 2005
For the second time in four years, this column is bearing the title, “Making advertising a scapegoat.” The first time was on April 9, 2001, when the Society for Family Health launched a radio campaign in its bid to fight sexually transmitted diseases especially HIV/AIDS. The ads advised the use of condom “when you no fit hold body” so as to prevent you from getting “any yama yama disease.” Many criticized the ads for encouraging promiscuity, forgetting that the scourge of HIV/AIDS was mightier than that of promiscuity. I could not but rise in the defence of the ads.
Once again, we have what I like to call strident criticism of an ad - the “MTN Na Boy” television commercial – for allegedly promoting discrimination against the female gender. I have watched the commercial several times and I don’t see any explicit (or even implicit) discrimination against or hatred for the female child. The fact is that a male child was born to a couple in a city and the husband used his cell phone to immediately announce the news to the mother in the village. On hearing the news, the mother and her neighbours were excited and danced jubilantly to the vigorous and pulsating “udje” music of the Urhobos, ending it with the usual chorus of the ethnic group while dancing or jubulating – eeeh eeyeh!
Perhaps one is too simple-minded or naïve. Otherwise, there is nothing in the commercial to suggest preference for the male child. Some mothers would have danced the same way on hearing the news of the birth of a female child, especially if they had been craving for one.
I see critics imputing motives or reading too much into the “na boy” TV commercial – all because there has always been discrimination against the female child worldwide.
The criticism strikes me as misplaced, unwarranted, unnecessary and even hypocritical. That’s why I am engaging in today’s update of my 9/4/2001 article. My main motive is, however, to draw the attention of practitioners to the fact that some of society’s ills are often blamed on advertising and that practitioners should not always succumb to such criticism. I am also seizing this opportunity to advise the regulatory body: the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), to avoid taking any hasty decision on the “na boy” commercial, if that body is not to be accused of strangulating rather than regulating advertising.
And now to some points I want noted once again about the criticism of advertising.
I would like it noted that it not unusual for advertising to be blamed for some of society’s ills. If anything, advertising is used to being made a scapegoat.
Frank Galbraith, an eminent economist, spent the greater part of the century just ended, lampooning advertising for making people buy what they don’t need. It never occurred to him to check whether the people he was referring to had any willpower or were mere zombies.
Some other eminent economist blame advertising for increasing the cost of goods, forgetting that advertising facilitates mass production which, in turn, helps in bringing down the unit costs of commodities.
Today, smoking of tobacco is blamed on advertising, drinking of alcohol is blamed on advertising, sexual promiscuity, which has bedevilled society since Sodom Gomorrah, is blamed on advertising, obesity is blamed on advertising and now the discrimination against women is being blamed on advertising.
Let’s first consider sexual promiscuity which some four years back had to be blamed on the condom ads by the Society for Family Health.
People so heavily criticized the ads that APCON had to suspend or ban them. Strictly speaking the SFH commercials were unparalleled in fighting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. How?
First, they were true-to-life. The situations painted were real and reflective of everyday happenings in the society.
“Correct Babes” was the title of the first one. It began with a certain Celina crying and begging her friend, Sylvia, to escort her to a doctor to terminate her pregnancy. Sylvia said she would not escort her because she had terminated one some five months back and that correct babes “no dey carry anyhow belle.”
An authoritative male voice then took over to warn babes not to “scatter” their chances of making babies in the future or catching yama yama diseases like AIDS.
Additionally, he admonished brothers and sisters to use condom to “protect our today and tomorrow.”
Critics including APCON were perhaps holier than the pope by seeing obscenity or the encouragement of promiscuity in that commercial.
Abortion is an everyday occurrence. And AIDS is the greatest scourge in the African society today – especially in East, South and West Africa in that order. To checkmate AIDS and abortion, that commercial encouraged men and women to use condom.
Granted that the commercial did not preach abstinence from sex. But why bother to preach what the over-filled churches on Sundays and the electronic or Pentecostal Christian pastors have so ably preached without success.
The remaining two commercials - “Angelistic Angie” and “Evelyn Baby” - advised us to use condom if we “no fit hold body.” Is that obscene? Where is the obscenity in asking people to use condom so as to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases?
To me, the commercials were more beneficial than harmful to the society. Yet they were banned by APCON following some public criticism.
As I said then and I like to say now, sexual promiscuicity is not a creation of advertising. It was there in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Similarly, the discrimination against women is a worldwide phenomenon. It is there in churches and mosques and in government. Even civilized Europe and America do not yet have the culture of paying top female executives the same salaries they pay their males counterparts. And advertising has nothing to do with it.
Coming back to the MTN TV commercial, “Na Boy,” I would like to advise APCON to critically analyze the content and find out where it is really offensive. The actual content is definitely not offensive. What may be offensive is in the imagination of the critics and that should never be the reason for imposing a ban by a professional body.
Artistically, the commercial is first-class. It is true-to-life. It is striking. It is simple. It is memorable and entertaining. We need more commercials like it.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/columns/advertising/ad31012005.html
No-smoking backers to be anonymous -MS
By Graham Johnston January 31, 2005
Local business owners can throw their support behind a proposed no-smoking ordinance for Columbia. They just can’t expect to know who those supporters are.
The Boone County Coalition for Tobacco Concerns is quietly circulating a letter of support, asking area business leaders to endorse the measure. That support, though, is strictly behind the scenes.
“NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE,” reads the undated letter, which is in the form of a contract. “This information is for the Board of Health and City Council ONLY!”
The coalition has been passing out the letters on an individual basis rather than as part of a mass mailing. Lara Sansing, who is in charge of education and planning for the coalition, said that the individual delivery allowed the group to speak with each business owner.
Sansing said the decision to keep the identities of ordinance supporters under wraps was designed to win over hesitant supporters. Some businesses are afraid of losing customers if they openly support the ordinance, she said.
“There are a lot more people that are supportive of this than are actually comfortable saying they are,” Sansing said. “Our purpose in those letters (is) to get members of the business community who support this effort to have a chance to let their voice be heard.”
The coalition hopes this effort will show elected officials that the measure has the support of those with significant economic interests at stake, said Kim Waters, a coalition leader.
“(It is) obviously a concern to the City Council,” Waters said. “It’s a public health issue, but everyone else is concerned about the businesses and the ramifications there.”
The letter contains eight statements explaining the hazards of secondhand smoke and the status of no-smoking ordinances in other parts of the country.
But business owners may want to examine at least one of the statements a little more closely before deciding to sign.
The letter’s second statement cites a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic that says 53,000 nonsmoking Americans die each year as a result of secondhand smoke. But the latest information from CDC estimates the number of such deaths at 38,000, of which 3,000 are due to lung cancer and the remaining 35,000 from heart disease.
That number is not definitive, said Joel London, a spokesman with CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.
“We report at the very low end of the range,” he said. “Our numbers are actually underestimated.”
The coalition based its calculation of secondhand smoking deaths by taking the midpoint between the highest and lowest estimate from various sources, according to Waters.
After learning of the discrepancy, Waters wrote in an e-mail that, “It is not our intention to misrepresent any information. When you have many people working on an issue like this, it is possible to miss corrections that should have been made. Ineither case, the health effects are profound. We will make every effort to be sure our information is represented accurately in the future.”
Some businesses aren’t even aware of the letter’s existence.
Bill Woods, owner of two Steak ‘n Shake restaurants, one in Columbia and one in Jefferson City, wasn’t aware of it. Even though both his restaurants currently allow smoking, he accepts that he may soon have to change that policy.
“It’s a coming trend,” Woods said.
The smoker is used to getting kicked around, he said. Woods believes that in the future more emphasis will be placed on creating effective non-smoking sections.
“If you’re going to have a smoking section you’re going to have to spend the money to segregate the environment,” he said.
Woods is not the only owner left out by the coalition.
“I haven’t heard anything about it,” said Joel Thiel, owner of Otto’s Corner Bar and Grill downtown.
Thiel, though, is well aware of the proposal, and is adamantly opposed to the ordinance. He pointed out that Columbia residents seem to be more concerned about smoking cigarettes than they are about smoking marijuana, referring to the group of laws approved by voters in November that makes possession of small amounts of the drug comparable to a traffic offense.
After seeing a copy of the letter Thiel said he was concerned the coalition wasn’t seeking input from all area restaurants and bars.
“I think it should be left up to the proprietor of the establishment whether or not they want to be smoke-free,” Thiel said.
http://columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=11805
Lawsuits can fight fat
By John F. Banzhaf III Mon Jan 31, 7:13 AM ET
It took lawyers and litigation to start the civil rights, environmental protection, disability rights and anti-smoking movements. Legislators wouldn't act until the lawsuits caused change and produced publicity that led to laws and other reforms. For example, lawsuits aimed at smoking did what Congress refused to do: slashed smoking rates and returned hundreds of billions of dollars to taxpayers.
Five fat lawsuits have already been successful and, as USA TODAY reported, they were a major factor in pressuring fast-food and other food companies to provide more nutritional information and more healthful alternatives, and to take other steps to reduce obesity.
A court of impartial federal judges has now unanimously held that the same legal rules that apply to hundreds of products, from cigarettes to automobiles, should apply to fast food, and that those who sell it should be liable for their fair share of the costs if they misrepresent or fail to disclose risks that aren't common knowledge.
USA TODAY opposes the suits, arguing for public education and personal responsibility. But expensive taxpayer-funded government educational campaigns weren't very effective in reducing smoking, race discrimination, sexual harassment or other behaviors, while lawsuits were. Face it, personal responsibility by itself simply hasn't worked for obesity any better than it did for smoking and the others, and it isn't likely to.
Juries continue to rule that, while smokers must bear much of the responsibility for their own health, Big Tobacco must share some responsibility if its misconduct contributed to it. Surveys suggest that juries will apply the same principle in obesity cases, especially where young children are the innocent victims. After all, we don't hold sick children liable for the faults of their parents.
Moreover, if fast-food companies are not held liable, or otherwise forced to change, the $117 billion-a-year cost of obesity will continue to be paid largely - and unfairly - by the non-obese in the form of higher taxes and bloated health insurance premiums.
That's why, until lawmakers legislate against obesity, lawyers will continue to litigate against it - and probably continue to win.
John F. Banzhaf III is a professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School and an adviser to the plaintiffs in the McDonald's lawsuit.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=679&ncid=742&e=18&u=/usatoday/20050131/cm_usatoday/lawsuitscanfightfat
Fewer businesses bust after smoking ban -NORWAY
The grim forecasts of widespread bankruptcies in the pub, bar and restaurant sector after Norway's introduction of a total ban on smoking in workplaces proved mistaken, at least so far. The smoking ban was in place for seven months in 2004 and the number of bankruptcies in the risky industry declined.
In 2003, 386 businesses in the sector went bust. In 2004 this declined slightly to 372, with 338 restaurants and 34 bars closing their doors.
The indoor smoking ban was set to be the toughest in the world, but Dagfinn Høybråten, then Health Minister, decided not to start the measure by sending smokers out into the wintry cold, and delayed the ban until June 1, 2004, allowing Ireland to enforce a similar law two months earlier.
Oslo had fewer restaurants go bankrupt in 2004 while the casualty count for pubs and bars remained the same. Møre og Romsdal, Buskerud and Rogaland counties saw a rise in closures in the sector.
(Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB)
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article959680.ece
Editorial: The Big Apple leads the way -CA
'Fire-safe' cigarettes for California?
January 31, 2005
In hopes of preventing house fires -- and the needless deaths -- caused by careless smokers, two state lawmakers have proposed that all cigarettes sold in California be self-extinguishing.
Pointing to the thousands of house fires caused by cigarettes in California over the past 10 years, Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, and state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, D-Sacramento, have co-authored Assembly Bill 178 that would prohibit the sale, manufacture or distribution of cigarettes in the state that are not wrapped in special slow-burning paper, starting in 2006.
"During the past decade in California alone, cigarettes caused more than 25,000 fires, killing 700 people and injuring almost 100 firefighters, Sen. Ortiz said. "This bill is crucial to protect California families and the men and women who risk their lives for us ever day."
Locally, officials said Ventura County firefighters responded to four fires in 2004 that were caused by smoking, including one in Meiners Oaks that claimed the life of a 47-year-old man. In all, the fires did more than $1 million worth of damage.
In many cases, the deaths, injuries and damages result from smokers falling asleep, allowing their cigarette to touch something flammable, such as clothing or furniture. Nationwide, more than one-third of cigarette-related deaths are children and adults who do not smoke.
Reason enough to support the long-overdue bill.
AB178 is modeled after a New York law, which went into effect last June after the cigarette industry finally met the required standards for manufacturing a fire-safe cigarette. Regulations call for cigarettes to be wrapped in ultrathin bands that serve like speed bumps to stop the burning of a cigarette not being puffed on.
It is hoped anti-smoking advocates, firefighters and consumer groups will rally behind this bill. Now that the technology for "fire-safe" cigarettes exists, there's no reason for cigarette manufacturers to object, especially since a recent Harvard University study of the New York law concluded that requiring slow-burning cigarettes did not result in higher costs, nor did it affect sales significantly.
Besides California, lawmakers in Maryland, Massachusetts and Oregon are seeking to pass similar laws, all which should serve to give Congress a needed push toward establishing a national standard for self-extinguishing cigarettes.
Although these cigarettes do not lessen the health hazards linked to cigarettes or reduce their toxicity, these new self-snuffing butts will make the habit of lighting up much safer for children and nonsmokers.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/opinion/article/0,1375,VCS_125_3509470,00.html
* notice that they never mention the combustibility of cloth. Exactly how did those fires start? They never mention what the evidence is Posted at 11:54 am by looped_ca
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