Whether tucked in a burly athlete’s cheek or daintily positioned in a gentleman’s lip, smokeless tobacco has long been a public bane. So here’s a cheer for Commissioner Bud Selig’s timely proposal to ban pro baseball players from chewing tobacco in Major League games — and, while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and see that the chaw, snuff and other smokeless tobacco products disappear from use. Though minor league parks banned the chaw back in 1993, it has taken a sudden upswing in popularity among young men, after declining in the years 2000-2003. The Ce ... Jump to full article >>

Owners have to negotiate with players’ union MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Much to Commissioner Bud Selig’s chagrin, chewing tobacco has been almost as much a part of Major League Baseball over the years as “Play Ball!” and the seventh-inning stretch. It’s ingrained in the culture of the game and is evident anytime a player steps on the sticky floor of a big-league dugout. As owners and the players’ union begin negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, Selig hopes the time has finally come to rid the game of the unhealthy habit. In a letter to the Ca ... Jump to full article >>

A group of Louisiana lawmakers, including Senate President Joel Chaisson, is pushing to boost cigarette taxes by 70 cents per pack, with similar increases for cigars and chewing tobacco. The change would increase the state tax on cigarettes from 36 cents per pack to $1.06. The tax hike will be considered in the upcoming regular session. It faces a tough battle for passage, with significant Republican opposition and Gov. Bobby Jindal threatening a veto if the bill could get the two-thirds vote it needs. Supporters of the proposal — led by Bogalusa Rep. Harold Ritchie — say it would ... Jump to full article >>

A two-day national consultation will be held here April 4-5 by the ministry of health and family welfare in association with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to highlight the growing use of tobacco products other than cigarettes. A statement released Tuesday said that as per the recent Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) India Report, the current use of smokeless tobacco among adult males in India is as high as 32.9 percent and for females it is 18.4 percent. Overall, 26 percent of the adult population consumes smokeless type of tobacco. Smokeles ... Jump to full article >>

NEW DELHI: Can smokeless and chewing tobacco, India’s major public health problem, be called food items and then be tested and asked to reveal contents? That’s what the Union health ministry now wants to find out. The ministry has called a crucial consultation with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) — the nodal body to implement the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 — on April 4 and 5. The Act replaced the earlier Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954 in which smokeless tobacco was not considered a food item. The ministry now wants to see that if ... Jump to full article >>

From 1 March 2011, the industry has to adopt non-plastic packaging for products such as gutka and pan masala. According to Rajesh Malpani, secretary general of the Smokeless Tobacco Federation (India), 1 March is too tight a deadline to consider the cost effectiveness of any substitute and develop new packaging manufacturing systems to replace the banned plastic pouches for chewing tobacco which were banned due to complaints about their lack of biodegradability and recyclability. “I am not sure that any feasible option will come even in next six months,” he tells TJI. The most popular chew ... Jump to full article >>

It’s collective bargaining time for Major League Baseball and players may be weighing in on a vital public health issue: Whether to prohibit the use of chewing tobacco at all MLB venues — specifically in the dugout and on the field during televised games. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids recently joined forces with nine other groups, including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, to ask MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to ban the practice of chewing and spitting in baseball; more than one-third of MLB players use smokeless tobacco products regularly, ac ... Jump to full article >>

On a lazy afternoon in the Delhi University area, 19-year-old Naresh Singh is whiling away his break at a cigarette shop. As he leisurely chews on some gutka, he breaks into a laugh on being told that gutka sale in plastic sachets is banned. ‘Is it a joke? That is not possible, I just bought a regular plastic sachet of gutka from this shop,’ Naresh says, pointing towards the generous cache of sachets. Days after the implementation of a Supreme Court ban on sale of tobacco products like gutka and pan masala in plastic sachets, consumers and vendors seem to be indifferent. ‘It ... Jump to full article >>

NEW DELHI: Gutka and pan masala will not be sold in plastic sachets from March 1. The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Rs 300 billion gutka, pan masala and tobacco industry to get reconciled to the Centre’s February 4 order banning plastic sachets widely used to sell their products. The ban comes into effect 11 days from now in what is being seen as a big boost for the fight against oral cancer. The court’s insistence for strict implementation of the new rules notified by the environment ministry coincided with a report by National Institute of Public Health (NIPH), which term ... Jump to full article >>

Longtime readers are well aware of my steadfast rule: lips that touch chewing tobacco shall never touch mine. But Major League Baseball has no such code, and two Democratic senators — urged on by none other than Stephen Strasburg — are pushing to change the smokeless tobacco culture in MLB. Sens. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Dick Durbin of Illinois have sent a letter to commissioner Bud Selig urging him to ban smokeless tobacco at all Major League venues, claiming that dip and chew endanger players’ health and send “a dangerous message” to young fans. And Strasburg, who in add ... Jump to full article >>

A monk’s apparent inability to withstand a cursed Indian temptation has posed the first test for Bhutan after it renewed a 300-year-old drive to combat tobacco. A little over a month after a stringent anti-tobacco law kicked in this New Year’s Day, a 24-year-old Buddhist monk was arrested for smuggling in 72 packets of chewing tobacco (gutkha) from India. The new law has also banned the sale of tobacco products in Bhutan. Tobacco products can be brought into the country but only after paying a 200 per cent tax. The monk’s identity cannot be disclosed since he is still under trial but he ... Jump to full article >>