Japan Tobacco to buy UK e-cigarette brand E-Lites

With summer in full swing, smokers may wonder whether they can light up during certain outdoor events.  According to the recently passed ordinance, smoking is only banned in enclosed places. Debra Bradley, health director, said there is no provision that prohibits smoking in public parks.  “It’s just enclosed places,” she said. 

Those who do choose to smoke in parks, however, still need to stay at least five feet away from doors, windows and air intake systems.  St. Joseph voters in April passed a clean air ordinance that banned smoking in all indoor places of employment, except for the St. Jo Frontier Casino gaming floor. It garnered nearly 53 percent of the votes. 

Ms. Bradley said some citizens may be confused that the title of Section 17-327 —”Application of article to City-Owned Facilities and Property” —does not specifically clarify indoor or enclosed property.  “The meat of the paragraph is what is the law,” she said.  It reads: “All enclosed areas, including buildings and vehicles owned, leased or operated by the City of St. Joseph shall be subject to the provisions of this article.”  So events like tonight’s Parties on the Parkway at the Southwest Parkway or this weekend’s Coleman Hawkins Jazz Festival at Felix Street Square will still be smoking areas.

 However, there is a provision in the ordinance (Sec. 17-334) that allows for any “owner, operator, manager, or other person in control” of an outdoor area to declare it a nonsmoking zone.  “If the people who are running the program want to make it a nonsmoking event, they could,” Ms. Bradley said. “If they chose to be nonsmoking, they don’t have to have a sign.”

‘Mental illness more potent killer than heavy smoking’

“We found that many mental health diagnoses are associated with a drop in life expectancy as great as that associated with smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day,” said Seena Fazel from Oxford University.
The researchers looked for the best systematic reviews of clinical studies which reported mortality risk for a whole range of diagnoses – mental health problems, substance and alcohol abuse, dementia, autistic spectrum disorders, learning disability and childhood behavioural disorders.
They repeated searches for studies and reviews reporting life expectancy and risk of dying by suicide, and compared the results to the best data for heavy smoking.
The average reduction in life expectancy in people with bipolar disorder was between 9-20 years, it is 10-20 years for schizophrenia, between 9-24 years for drug and alcohol abuse, and around 7-11 years for recurrent depression.
The loss of years among heavy smokers was 8-10 years, they found.
“High-risk behaviours are common in psychiatric patients, especially drug and alcohol abuse, and they are more likely to die by suicide,” Fazel said.
“The stigma surrounding mental health may mean people aren’t treated as well for physical health problems when they do see a doctor,” he added.

American Tobacco Company

American Tobacco Company, American industrial conglomerate that was once the world’s largest cigarette maker.
The history of the American Tobacco Company traces to the post-Civil War period in North Carolina, when a Confederate veteran, Washington Duke, began trading in tobacco. In 1874 he and his sons, Benjamin N. Duke and James Buchanan Duke, built a factory and in 1878 formed the firm of W. Duke, Sons & Co., one of the first tobacco companies to introduce cigarette-manufacturing machines.
Entering the “cigarette war,” the Dukes eventually established the American Tobacco Company in 1890, with James as president. Through mergers and purchases, the Duke brothers eventually acquired corporate control of virtually the entire American tobacco industry—some 150 factories in all. In 1911, however, after five years of litigation, a U.S. Court of Appeals judged this tobacco trust in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and ordered it dissolved. The main manufacturers to emerge, in addition to American, were R.J. Reynolds, Liggett & Myers, and Lorillard.
In 1916 American introduced its most popular cigarette brand, Lucky Strike, and in 1939 it introduced one of the first king-size cigarettes, Pall Mall (an old name reapplied to a new cigarette). The sales of these two brands made American Tobacco the most successful cigarette manufacturer of the 1940s. The company failed to establish equally strong brands of filter cigarettes in the 1950s, however, and by the 1970s it had slipped to a minor position among U.S. tobacco makers. With further diversification and dilution in the later decades of the 20th century, the company—which had been renamed American Brands in 1969—took on a different identity, and by the end of the century it had become known as Fortune Brands, formally departing from the tobacco industry.

15 Facts About The Cigarette Industry That Will Blow Your Mind

Though cigarette consumption is no where near as prevalent as it was in the last century, the tobacco industry is still raking in massive money. It made $614 billion in 2009.
Cigarette consumption in the U.S. may be in decline, but according to Citi this has simply forced tobacco companies like Phillip Morris to find other markets, mostly in emerging countries like Indonesia and the Philippines.
China too is a booming market for cigarette consumption, with its size quadrupling since the 1970s.

Australian court throws out cigarette plain packaging challenge

Tobacco group have experienced important hold up in their effort to block UK Government strategies to initiate plain packaging for cigarettes, after they misplaced an officially allowable confront to avoid analogous events in Australia.

The overwhelm in Australia will make it more difficult for businesses comprising Imperial Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and British American Tobacco (BAT) to put off Britain from accepting its own hard anti-smoking events.

Under laws that come into effect this December, Australia will become the first country to require cigarettes to be sold in drab, olive packets with graphic health warnings and no logos.
The laws have been tipped to trigger an “olive revolution”, with similar measures being considered in Britain, Canada, New Zealand, China, France, India, South Africa, Norway and Uruguay.
Australia’s High Court yesterday dismissed a challenge by BAT, Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and JTI.
The companies claimed that the laws unlawfully extinguished the value of their trademarks without providing compensation.
The court has not yet released its reasons but published its finding and awarded costs against the tobacco companies.
The ruling saw shares in both BAT and Imperial fall nearly 2pc.
The decision was hailed by the Australian government as a “massive victory” which would save lives and help reduce smoking rates. It clears the way for the government to ban all brand marks and logos on cigarette packets from Dec 1.
The packets will feature large graphic health warnings while the brand name will be written in a small generic font.
“This is good news for every Australian parent who worries about their child picking up an addictive and deadly habit,” said Australia’s Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon.
BAT said there was no evidence that plain packaging prevents people from smoking and called for a review of the laws.
The London-listed group also argued that the Australian decision should not impact its case against plain packaging in the UK.
“There are still significant domestic and European Union-based legal obstacles to the introduction of plain packaging in the UK, notwithstanding the Australian High Court decision, which consequently should have no bearing on the UK Department of Health’s consultation on plain packaging,” it said.

Menthol cigarettes and onscreen smoking…not kool

Cigarette smoking continues to be a major cause of preventable illness and death in the United States.
The rate of cigarette smoking has decreased over the last few years in adults, but not for youth and African Americans. According to the surgeon general’s 2012 report, each day in the U.S., 3,800 young people (ages 17 and under) smoke for the first time, and approximately 1,000 become daily smokers.
Among young adults (18-25), the rate of menthol cigarette use has continued to increase, with the highest rates among African Americans. A majority of new African American smokers reportedly smoke menthol cigarettes.
Menthol is an additive that enhances the flavor of tobacco. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that the cooling and numbing effects produced by menthol reduces the harshness of smoking, which may make quitting more difficult.
In 2009, the Tobacco Control Act banned cigarettes containing certain flavoing, such as clove, fruit and candy, but menthol was not included in the ban. Since the 1960s, tobacco companies have targeted the African American community with menthol cigarette advertising and promotional materials.
We can see such ads today in many Afrocentric magazines, at ethnic music festivals and events and in convenience stores in communities of color. Examples of menthol cigarette brands include Kool, Salem, Newport and Marlboro menthol.
The preference among African American for menthol-flavored cigarettes crosses all socio?demographic and smoking?related categories, whether stratified by income, age, gender, marital status, region of the country, educational level, age of initiation, and length of time smoking.
Another troublesome trend is the increase in onscreen. The surgeon general has found a causal relationship between depictions of smoking in the movies and smoking initiation in youth. Young people who are heavily exposed to onscreen smoking are 2-3 times more likely to begin smoking than youth who are lightly exposed.
Onscreen tobacco use also was on the decline from 2005-2010, but published data for 2011 showed a rebound in tobacco use in youth-rated movies -- more than one-third higher than in 2010.
What can you do to help?
First, if you smoke or use smokeless tobacco, quit. Most states have programs to assist with smoking/tobacco cessation. In North Carolina, QuitlineNC, www.quitlinenc.com, provides free cessation services. QuitCoaching is a program available in different forms, which can be used separately or together, to help tobaccos user kick the habit.
Second, talk to your children about the dangers of smoking. If you smoke, understand that children of tobacco users have higher rates of smoking, have increased incidence of respiratory illnesses and more severe asthma.
Finally, take action. Speak out against the way tobacco companies target the African American community.

In Children’s Hands, E-Cigarettes Can Be Deadly

Poison centers are experiencing a spike in calls concerning children exposed to liquid nicotine, from one call a month in September 2010, to 215 calls a month in February 2014. The new findings are just the latest in increasing skepticism over e-cigarettes' safety

Update: Thursday April 3, 2014 4:00 p.m.
E-cigarettes have been criticized for targeting children, since many brands come in bright colors, and candy and fruit flavors. While some worry about tempting kids with an addictive habit, e-cigs can also be deadly for them.
On Thursday, the CDC released a report indicating a “dramatic” rise in e-cigarette-related calls to U.S. poison centers, from one call a month in September 2010 to 215 calls a month in February 2014. More than half of the calls involved children age five and under, while 42% involved people ages 20 and older. The nicotine in e-cigarette comes in a liquid form, which when ingested can lead to vomiting, nausea, and eye irritation.
“E-cigarette liquids as currently sold are a threat to small children because they are not required to be childproof,” said CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden in a statement. “Use of these products is skyrocketing and these poisonings will continue.”
The study follows a New York Times report about the dangers that “e-liquids” pose, where small amounts can cause vomiting and larger amounts can lead to seizures and even death. “A teaspoon of even highly diluted e-liquid can kill a small child,” according to the Times.
The new findings are just the latest in increasing skepticism over e-cigarettes’ safety. The support for these cigarette alternatives is manifold: people argue they are are healthier than conventional ones because they don’t contain tar and tobacco, that pushing people towards lower spectrum nicotine carriers is ultimately better, and that they may help people kick their conventional smoking habit.
But evidence against them is mounting. Just last month, a small study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine reported that smoking e-cigs doesn’t help people smoking conventional cigarettes quit. Another study found that young people who smoke e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke regular cigarettes as well. Whether e-cigs are a gateway to the real thing remains unclear.
It’s too early for a definitive conclusion on e-cigarettes’ full spectrum of risks and benefits, but the CDC warns that they may be an emerging public health issue. In response to the study and growing concerns over safety, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg pushed senators at a Congressional budget hearing on Thursday to allow the FDA to establish regulation authority over e-cigarettes, Reuters reports. The FDA’s proposed rule is currently being reviewed by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.

Smoking, drinking, gambling, and other vices.

“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world! I’ve done it a thousand times.” Of course, this is an old joke that illustrates how difficult it is to ditch some bad habits— smoking, drinking, gambling, and other vices.

The quote has been attributed to American author and humorist Mark Twain, although some would trace its beginnings to writers such as W. C. Fields and Harris Dickson, even Anonymous. Well, its origin is not as important as the truth it tells about the struggle of any smoker who wants to kick the habit for good.

I have been a smoker for almost 33 years. I never counted the number of times I tried to quit, nor did I keep track of my reasons for trying. The author, who has been smoking for almost 33 years, can no longer remember the number of times he tried to quit the habit.  Karelia cigarettes.

The last time I tried—with the help of the smoking cessation program at the Philippine General Hospital—was on February 24, 2014, my quit date. I succeeded for two weeks. But I’m still willing to set other quit dates, convinced that real success can only come once.

I have the most urgent of reasons to be kicking the habit, more than anyone in my family and my non-smoking circle of friends. I have this irksome cough every morning, which they don’t have, and sometimes I feel a shortness of breath that they have never experienced.

Some time ago, two co-workers approached me to say they can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke around me as I enter the newsroom every morning. One of them requested to be transferred far from where I was seated. The request was granted, and my smoking continued.

As for other consequences, well, I have been fined twice for smoking and littering. Also, most of my tardiness at work is due to smoking. I linger outside the office as I squeeze in a few last puffs before the hell of a non-smoking environment.

Perhaps more than anyone else, we smokers are aware of the effects of smoking— bad breath, dirty teeth, gum infection, smoker’s cough, lung cancer, and a host of diseases caused by tar, nicotine, and dozens of harmful chemicals found in every cigarette.

I am aware that 20 minutes after quitting, my heart rate and blood pressure will drop. I was told that 12 hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in my blood will drop to normal and that two weeks to three months after quitting, circulation improves and my lung function increases.

Moreover, I learned that one to nine months after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) start to regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

We can easily find online a long list of health benefits over time, from the moment a smoker quits the habit to several years on.

I am convinced that I must stop smoking, but I just can’t. In my case, it goes beyond logic, and I know addiction is always illogical. I have been through therapy sessions and counseling that led me to quit for a while. But still, I go back to smoking.

Thousands of smokers, however, have succeeded in kicking the habit through sheer willpower. They decided to quit just like that. I envy them.

I guess people like me deserve a harsher environment. Smoking should be made difficult for us.

In one of my sessions at the PGH, the doctor told me: “Make the act of smoking difficult, it might work for you.” For instance, he said, “If you are right-handed, use your left hand when you smoke.” Also, he said buying a brand I dislike might also help.

None of these techniques worked. Once, I even tried puncturing my cigarettes with a needle. The smoking experience becomes nastier as the number of holes in the butt increases. But this did not work either.

Stricter laws against smoking might work for me. If government would make it a little less than a crime, so much the better.

In the ‘80s, we could smoke while in a jeepney. No one would complain. Now we can’t do that anymore without getting ostracized. When the smoking ban in PUVs became widespread, it translated into four less sticks of cigarettes a day for me.

Maybe the government must strictly implement the sin tax law. Honestly, during the law's first year, I felt that it was working. I might succeed in quitting if a stick of cigarette already costs P10.

But I feel I must stop smoking for good soonest, before it will have the chance to stop me. I know for sure it will stop me without a warning.

Gauloises Cigarettes Relocated To Poland From France

Gauloises Cigarettes Relocated To Poland From France

Fewer Northland teens now smoke

Fewer Northland Year 10 students are trying smoking, figures show.
In 2013, over 75 per cent of 14 to 15-year-old students in the Northland District Health Board area said they were never smokers, up from 63 per cent the year before, Action on Smoking and Health's (ASH) Year 10 smoking survey found.
The number of student who considered themselves regular smokers had dropped from 9.4 per cent to 7.62 per cent. However, slightly more students smoked daily, at 4.85 per cent up from 4.6 per cent.
In March ASH announced a nationwide drop in youth smoking rates, with only 3.2 per cent of pupils in the 14 to 15-year-old age group smoking daily last year, compared to 4.1 per cent in 2012.
Manaia Primary Health Organisation respiratory nurse specialist-educator Sue Armstrong said the results were encouraging, particularly considering Northland's high Maori population.
"We know through statistics a very high percentage of Maori do smoke."
Maori women in particular tended to be smokers and were also usually the main caregivers in families, she said.
For teenagers, the likelihood of them "picking up ciggies" was much higher if their parents smoked.
ASH director Stephanie Erick said while it was great to see youth daily smoking decreasing nationwide, it was important to be mindful of "smoking inequalities" such as Maori daily smoking rates which remained higher at 8.5 per cent, but had dropped from 30.3 per cent in the first survey in 1999.
Quitline chief executive Paula Snowden said Quitline was thrilled to see the continued decline in youth smoking rates in the ASH survey.
Achieving the Government's goal of Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal was a two pronged attack: preventing young people starting smoking and helping addicted smokers to break their addiction, she said.
"The ASH survey tells us we are making great progress in reducing uptake with 14-15 year olds, and Census 2013 tells us that we are also making progress in getting people to quit, with smoking prevalence falling from 20.7 per cent prevalence in 2006 to 15.1 per cent in 2013.
"Today, there are half as many smokers aged 15 to 19 compared to 2006."
She was pleased the decline was seen across all groups. The results highlighted the fact fewer people were starting to smoke and more people were quitting, which was testimony to the effectiveness of the Government's tobacco control policies, she said.

Two Teenagers Arrested For Marijuana Possesion

Two Teenagers Arrested For Marijuana Possesion

Officially Permited Cannabis In More and More States

Officially Permited Cannabis In More and More States

Challenge the cigarette advertising

The High Court returned to the stage because it had to make decisions whether the state laws can be used to challenge the cigarette advertising. The Supreme Court has opened its 2008-2009 term with a very important case. Many justices were skeptical about the efforts made by the three Maine smokers to challenge the parent company of Philip Morris under state law. Phillip Morris in one of the best tobacco companies from the entire world.
Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy said he can not accept the position of the attorney for the smokers in that case.
Opening its business on the traditional first Monday of October, the court heard the cigarette advertising arguments while anti-abortion demonstrators rallied outside. Justices let stand without comment a lower court decision’s ordering Arizona to issue “choose life” license plates to those who wish them.
The “choose life” decision underscored the aging court’s political importance to both presidential candidates, either of whom could tip the court’s balance by appointing new justices. The business case heard Monday, on the other hand, epitomized the court’s more prosaic but commercially important work.
The issue in Altria Group v. Good is pre-emption: whether a federal cigarette-labeling law blocks state lawsuits charging deceptive practices. The stakes are high, and not just for an industry that spends upwards of $15 billion annually on advertising. Big business, in general, prefers dealing with one uniform law instead of 50 different state laws.
“If you’re going to conduct a national advertising campaign, you can’t do it based on what a jury might decide in Des Moines compared to what a jury might decide in Atlanta,” former Solicitor General Theodore Olson told the court.
Olson represents Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris. Stephanie Good, a Bangor resident who reports smoking one pack of Marlboro Lights every two or three days, joined two others in suing Altria under a state law that prohibits “deceptive acts or practices.” The smokers contend Marlboro Lights advertising tricked consumers into thinking “low tar and nicotine” cigarettes are less harmful than conventional cigarettes.
The Maine residents say the tobacco company knew smokers would compensate for the low tar and nicotine by drawing more deeply on the “light” cigarettes and thereby inhale a full complement of the dangerous and addictive chemicals.
“The Maine statute is not targeted at cigarette smoking,” attorney David Frederick told the court. “It’s targeted at deception.”
This is the crucial distinction. The federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act explicitly precludes states from imposing any advertising requirements “based on smoking or health.” Frederick was trying to convince the court that the smokers’ lawsuit had everything to do with false advertising and nothing to do with health.
Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito all joined in pressing Frederick hard. Even Associate Justice David Souter, not always a Roberts ally, was skeptical.
“Ultimately, you are proving a point that depends on the relationship between smoking and health,” Souter said, in what could be a fatal blow for the Maine smokers’ case.

Health warnings about the danger of smoking tobacco

Health warnings about thedanger of smoking tobacco have been existent for four hundred years. It all started with Fang Yizhi in China and King James I in England, both in the 17th century.

In 1960’s cigarette packs for the first time carried health warnings following the reports about smoking in the USA and UK. Those first warning were not so strong, that is why there had to be done more about that issue. Canadian warnings are the most contemporaneous and represent the most vivid in the entire world. They are a good example for other countries, like Brazil.

Even though there are some health warnings on the packs in some countries, they are not unequivocal or universal. Sometimes they are not even necessary. There are warnings which are not in the local language and not at all tobacco products.

A few reports were conducted in Canada and Australia. They suggest that plain packaging could increase believability and prominence of health warnings. In a plain packaging is no logo, no use of color or graphic design. There is only a cigarette pack with the brand name on it.

Health authorities recommend that on the cigarette packages should not be put the nicotine and tar levels, because they mislead the consumers. It is a difference between the smoking machines and people. Everyone has their own habit of smoking and the tendency for smokers to compensate to get more nicotine.

Other health authorities suggest that there should be better presented the situation how they really smoking. And this information to be included on the pack of cigarettes in a different section, for example: toxic constituents. This section would also include carbon monoxide exposure and the levels of carcinogens.