MAASIN CITY, Philippines—City officials are butting out opposition from a multinational tobacco company to an ordinance that prohibits smoking in all public places and workplaces. Philip Morris has claimed that Ordinance No. 2009-042 was inconsistent with Republic Act No. 9211 or the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, which, it says, established a “balanced policy” in the use, sale and advertisements of tobacco products. In a press conference on Monday, Mayor Malone Samaco vowed that the city would continue to implement the city’s no-smoking drive, saying it had gained ground and would ma ... Jump to full article >>

Cape Town – A cigarette firm has labelled sections of the health department’s proposed amendments to regulations of the sale of cigarettes as “silly”. “What is the intent of the legislation? They’ve amended this legislation, looking to limit the independence of traders to communicate at the point-of-sale,” British American Tobacco regulatory affairs manager Jerry Gilbert told News24. “Small traders won’t be able to sell cigarettes within one metre of anything that might attract kids. The logic seems to be that seeing cigarettes will likely ... Jump to full article >>

Maharashtra government has collectedfine of over Rs 13 lakh in the first week of the drive againstsale of tobacco products in and around schools and colleges,and smoking in public places. “The government has collected over Rs 13 lakh by finingthose selling gutkha, cigarettes in school-college premises,or those smoking in public places,” Minister of State for HomeDepartment Satej Patil today said. The drive started on January 10. Mumbai yielded the highest amount in fine for smoking inpublic places (Rs 2,13,000). Nagpur division yielded Rs93,750 from fine collected from gutkha selle ... Jump to full article >>

The Board of Health will likely vote on whether or not to ban the sale of tobacco products in Walpole pharmacies at their next meeting. Walpole resident Dr. Joseph Dorsey first presented the tobacco prohibition to the board in February, arguing it didn’t make sense that pharmacies, which sell products to improve people’s health, would peddle cigarettes and tobacco products that clearly harm people. The measure would require a change in health regulations to forbid any store with a pharmacy from selling tobacco products. If the board did approve the rewrite, businesses that currently sell ... Jump to full article >>

A local council in Tasmania has urged the state government to impose a total ban on smoking and the sale of tobacco products, in a likely Australian first. The Burnie City Council, on the island state’s northwest coast, has unanimously passed a resolution supporting a “complete ban on the sale and use of tobacco products in Tasmania”. And if total bans are not possible, the council says government should instead ban smoking inside private homes where a child or dependent person is present, plus in “any outdoor area attached to a personal living space”. Anti-tobacc ... Jump to full article >>

Authority to regulate Internet cigarette sales made from an American Indian reservation in another state was upheld Wednesday in a ruling by the Oregon Court of Appeals. Scott Maybee, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York state, had argued Oregon law did not apply to the reservation and he was subject only to federal law. The court rejected his claims, ruling that Oregon law did not regulate his business operations on the reservation, and instead affected only the products his business sold in Oregon. In an opinion by Presiding Judge David Schuman, the Court of Appeals ... Jump to full article >>

A top legal expert has warned shops to prepare for a “bureaucratic logjam” when new restrictions on the sale of tobacco come into force. Audrey Ferrie, head of licensing at Scottish law firm McGrigors LLP, which has a branch in Aberdeen, has predicted a repeat of the fiasco when new alcohol licensing legislation was introduced last year. The Scottish Government was forced to postpone the introduction of personal liquor licences for a couple of months after protests from the trade over a huge backlog in applications. Under the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act retailers wi ... Jump to full article >>

Banning the sale of tobacco products by 2020 seems to be a done deal. The Maori Affairs select committee examining tobacco harm appears to be genuinely looking for ways to make it happen. The potential barriers to a ban appear to be the erroneous claim that an illicit trade would thrive driven by demand, and concern for smokers unable to stop by the time a ban on sales comes into effect. It is clear that the main argument for banning the sale of tobacco products is to reduce the high rates of death and disease that result from smoking. There are about 656,000 smokers in New Zealand and if they ... Jump to full article >>

An effort to extinguish the city’s ban on flavored chewing tobacco is up in smoke. The maker of Skoal and Copenhagen smokeless tobacco sued the city claiming only the feds can regulate the sale of tobacco products. Manhattan Federal Judge Colleen McMahon shot them down Wednesday, saying federal law allows communities to set their own policies about access to tobacco. “This decision … is not only a win for the children of New York City,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “Our law is a good progressive law that will protect our youngest New Yorkers. If toba ... Jump to full article >>

Sale: The BAT Artventure Collection Location: Sotheby’s, de Boelelaan 30, 1083 HJ, Amsterdam. Tel: +31 (0) 20 550 2200 Date: March 8. On view Monday (March 1) -Sunday, 10am-5pm. Catalogue online at www.sothebys.com Need to know: This is the largest and most valuable collection of postwar and contemporary art ever to have come to auction in the Netherlands. Its roots can be traced back to the 1950s when the late Alexander Orlow, then managing director of Dutch tobacco firm Turmac, had the visionary idea of brightening up the monotonous working lives of his employees by hanging paintings abov ... Jump to full article >>

A half-smoked cigar, abandoned by wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, is up for sale in Norfolk. The four-inch unfinished “smoke” could fetch more than £300 because it came from the lips of the famous cigar-smoking statesman before he dashed away to an urgent cabinet meeting. Proof of its owner is thanks to an enterprising Downing Street valet, Nellie Goble, who grabbed the cigar, and a sheet of number 10 notepaper, on which she penned a note to a friend saying: “Just a small souvenir to remind you at some future date of one of the greatest men that ever lived in Engla ... Jump to full article >>