One year after the new tobacco control law passed first reading at the Legislative Assembly (AL), the Government has sent a second draft for lawmakers to analyse. The new proposal allows casinos to set up designated smoking areas but removes the exemptions for saunas, massage lounges and dance halls initially proposed. According to the draft sent to the AL on Friday, casinos have a one-year period to create smoking areas “up to a maximum of 50 percent of the total public area, as long as they are physically separated from the remaining facilities”. These designated areas will also have to ... Jump to full article >>

In pushing the state senate toward increasing state cigarette taxes up to $1.99 per pack, the Journal Star has put itself squarely into an overwhelmingly anti-business position that ignores the realities of current economic and political realities that Nebraska citizens and key small businesses now face going into our third year of the worst recession of our lifetimes. First, since it takes a state senate majority plus the signature of the governor to enact any tax, passing such huge cigarette tax hikes seems a “pipe dream” of just one state senator against the strong statement of ... Jump to full article >>

Cigarette maker PMFTC Inc. is confident of hurdling the government’s stringent criteria for a technology-based solution that aims to improve tax collection and curb tobacco smuggling. PMFTC president Chris Nelson said the government’s plan to conduct a procurement program under clearly defined rules and in an atmosphere where proposals had equal weight could work on the company’s favor. He earlier said while PMFTC’s Codentify system of affixing bar coded information on cigarette packs and alcohol bottles was unsolicited, the system’s efficiency and low-cost properties could not be ig ... Jump to full article >>

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs Recreation Department and the Southern Adirondack Tobacco-Free Coalition are joining forces to ensure smokers steer clear of the Saratoga Springs Recreation Center. New signs declaring “This is a Tobacco-Free Recreational Site” will be placed inside and outside the recreation center, the North Side Recreation Field and the Veteran’s Memorial Park at Geyser Road. The East and West Side recreation fields already have signs in place because they are owned by the school district and are therefore legally designated as tobacco-free areas. The City Cou ... Jump to full article >>

The small group that gathered at lunchtime inside a strip-mall storefront in Skokie had not come to eat. They had come to Smokes & Such to admire the new $30,000 machine that spits out a carton of custom-made cigarettes in eight minutes flat — at $27 a carton. That’s $2.70 a pack, or about a third of what smokers would pay at the CVS pharmacy across the street. The cigarettes are so cheap because the machine uses pipe tobacco instead of cigarette tobacco. There’s not much difference between the two. The pipe tobacco is a coarser cut, but more important, it’s taxed at roughly $2.8 ... Jump to full article >>

CIGARETTES have shot to the top of the list of smuggled dutiable items in the country following a price hike in tobacco goods in November 2010. This was disclosed during a meeting between Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) officials and grassroots leaders of Mukim Pengkalan Batu. Mouse trails are being used to transport the undeclared goods into the country and RBPF is deploying forest rangers to combat smuggling activities. Chairing the meeting yesterday, Superintendent (Supt) Pengiran Hj Zamani Pengiran Hj Ahmed said that while inspections made at customs checkpoints were clear, smugglers are ... Jump to full article >>

Two proposals to raise taxes on cigarettes in Missouri have been filed in the State House. Missouri currently has the lowest cigarette tax in the nation at 17 cents a pack. One bill would raise the tax by 12 cents a pack, while the other would raise it by a dollar per pack. Republican House Speaker Steven Tilley remains opposed to raising taxes on anything, cigarettes included, but says he won’t block either bill. “They’ll be referred just like any other bill,” says Tilley. “That’s something I pretty much told everybody that we’re going to do a little ... Jump to full article >>

Prisoners forced to share their cells with smokers have lodged compensation claims against the Scottish Prison Service. The situation emerged after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a murderer in Romania whose health had been damaged by spending six years of his sentence incarcerated with three smokers. The court judged that Anesti Elefteriadis had his rights violated under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment. Elefteriadis had been declared medically fit when sentenced in 1992 but, by 1999, he had been diagnos ... Jump to full article >>

Budget cuts threaten tobacco prevention: kxan.com If you search the web workings of the Texas Department of State Health Services , you will have a tough time missing a somewhat morbid feature – worthit.org . The link takes you to a separate website dubbed by some health groups as one of the best tools in telling Texans the dangers of tobacco use. Type in your friend’s name, birthday, and email address. Then there is the “deathly” detail – picking the epitaph for your friend’s virtual tombstone. “We will never forget his tar-stained smile,” “He spent thousands on cigare ... Jump to full article >>

Cigarette maker Altria Group, Inc. on Thursday reported a 27 percent increase in profit for the fourth quarter as lower costs and higher prices offset a decline in revenues. In addition, the company’s board approved a new $1 billion one-year share repurchase program, replacing the previous program that was suspended in September 2009. Net earnings attributable to Altria Group for the fourth quarter increased to $919 million or $0.44 per share from $725 million or $0.35 per share in the year-ago period. According to the company, the latest quarter’s results benefited from higher op ... Jump to full article >>

Bar and restaurant owners took to the streets of Palencia yesterday to call for an “immediate lifting” of the anti-smoking laws. Almost five hundred protestors joined the march, leaving almost 70% of bars closed for the day. The protestors marched through the streets of the city, jeering and whistling as they passed bars and restaurants that were open, and waving slogans like “if we don’t smoke, we don’t earn any money” and “I pay my taxes, I decide whether people can smoke in my bar” and lamenting the total prohibition of smoking as the “ ... Jump to full article >>