SUKHOTHAI : Nearly 10,000 families of Burley tobacco planters in Sukhothai have called on the Public Health Ministry to reconsider its plan to ban or phase out growing of two tobacco varieties. The ban on Burley and Oriental tobacco, in compliance with an international agreement on tobacco control, would leave only Virginia in the market, said Somnuek Yimpim, the headman of Thap Pueng subdistrict. The Public Health Ministry is preparing to ratify the pact initiated by the World Health Organisation in 2003. Three tobacco varieties now dominate the world market and Thailand grows all three: Virg ... Jump to full article >>

Pennsylvania received a significantly smaller payment from tobacco companies this year, and that has led to funding cuts for some state programs dependent upon tobacco money. The state Tobacco Settlement Fund received nearly $66 million less than in 2009. Activists attribute this to a marked decline in public smoking, while state officials say part of the drop is attributable to the absence of a one-time payment that temporarily boosted the total payment in 2009. The result of the mix of factors at work is that a half-dozen state programs designated to receive tobacco money have less funding u ... Jump to full article >>

South Dakota’s tobacco tax brings in millions of dollars every year, and some of that money has been earmarked for tobacco prevention in schools. But much of the funding has been cut from the state budget, and administrators are wondering how they’ll keep such education alive in their schools. In the Sioux Falls School District, around 24 percent of junior high and high school students say they smoke. But administrator Bill Smith says that number used to be 28 percent before tobacco tax money began rolling in back in 2007. “So in two years time, we had almost 400 fewer middl ... Jump to full article >>

A CAMPAIGN to stop children buying illegal cigarettes has been launched in a bid to stub out the problem in South Tyneside. Earlier this year, the Gazette revealed how children as young as eight were being sold cigarettes from more than 200 illegal ‘tab houses’ operating in the borough. Illegal tobacco sales are estimated to cost the country £2.5bn in lost duty, but of calls to South Tyne-side Council last year about the sale of dodgy goods, only two were about tobacco. This is because sellers are seen as ‘community champions’. But an initiative called Illegal Tobacco ... Jump to full article >>

Health officials in Chicago are lauding federal regulations taking effect Tuesday that limit tobacco marketing to kids. The Family Smoking and Prevention act includes new restrictions on the sale and promotion of tobacco. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin says the reforms end decades of tobacco industry deceit and targeting children. The regulations include larger health warnings on smokeless tobacco. They also require stores to place tobacco products behind the counter, and ban cigarette marketing terms such as “light,” “mild,” and “low-tar.” Dr. Bechara Choucair ... Jump to full article >>

Kenya and Tanzanian trade delegates are headed for another face-off as the anti smoking rule fronted by Canada comes up for review by the World Trade Organisation in Geneva on Tuesday. Tanzania has said its delegation will appeal against Canada’s proposed law which seeks to control smoking by encouraging alternative cash crops to tobacco, while banning other ingredients used in cigarette manufacturing. The proposed law, which is expected to come into force later this year, has since filtered into the draft guidelines of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health O ... Jump to full article >>

The American tobacco company whistle blower who inspired the Russell Crowe movie The Insider is coming to New Zealand next week to give MPs the inside picture on tobacco company tactics. Dr Jeffrey Wigand was head of research at Brown & Williamson – part of the British American Tobacco group – until he was sacked in 1993. The 1999 movie starring Crowe and Al Pacino was based on Dr Wigand’s fight with the company over his allegations, publicised in explosive CBS television interviews, that the industry had lied over its knowledge that nicotine was addictive and tobacco cou ... Jump to full article >>

Federal authorities targeting contraband cigarette sales arrested a group of suspected wholesalers on charges of dealing thousands of cartons of untaxed cigarettes and millions of counterfeit tax stamps. An unrelated investigation in Hampton led to state warrants lodged Wednesday against a number of businesses selling contraband cigarettes. Untaxed cigarettes purchased wholesale in Virginia can yield huge profits in other states with high excise taxes for tobacco products. At 30 cents a pack, Virginia has the country’s third-lowest tobacco excise tax. A lengthy investigation by the Burea ... Jump to full article >>

‘NO SMOKING’ signs are common inscriptions on and inside most public buildings, in Rwanda. However, these expressions are not backed by legislation that would otherwise serve to define penalties for offenders. Smoking poses one of the most hazardous effects to both smokers and non smokers. Tobacco contains as many as 400 toxic substances. Tobacco-related effects cause about 25 diseases that affect the lungs, the heart and blood veins. Depending on the nature of the substance, tobacco consumption causes lung and intestinal cancer and other diseases, as well as conditions such as heart attac ... Jump to full article >>

Industry and free-market advocates have joined forces to undermine tobacco research, and they’re doing so again on global warming. If some of the ongoing attacks on the credibility of climate science feel familiar, there’s a reason. With their unattributed claims downplaying the severity of the problem and their vague allegations of scientific impropriety, the assaults are the latest in a long tradition of organized efforts by industry and free-market enthusiasts to undermine the credibility of science they don’t like. One early campaign was launched by tobacco companies. Se ... Jump to full article >>

The ‘World No Tobacco Day’ has come and gone. And gone may be many of the messages preached on the day and before. This year the World Health Organisation (WHO) chose “Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women” as the theme for the next World No Tobacco Day. The theme was chosen out of the realisation that controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women is an important part of any comprehensive tobacco control strategy. Thus the day drew particular attention to the need to protect women and girls from the harmful effects of tobacco marketing and smoke. ... Jump to full article >>