Tobacco News

Jim Gibbs fears the days may be numbered for his South Salt Lake tobacco shop.

His business at The Tobacco Store has dropped sharply — a trend he blames on the long-running recession and a sharp increase in Utah’s tobacco tax. He’s already had to lay off one part-time worker and is probably going to have to cut his own salary in half.

“I might be on a slow decline of going out of business,” Gibbs said. “I’m just barely hanging on.”
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A notification, aimed mainly at checking minors falling prey to the clutches of tobacco, has been sent for the Law Ministry’s approval, after wh­ich it will become operational.

“The notification has been sent to the Union Law Ministry. We hope to release it in two weeks,” Kesav Desiraju, additional secretary in the Union Health Ministry said.
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The Iron County Sheriff’s Office confirms it was involved with raids of two marijuana farms Thursday that reportedly yielded nearly 20,000 plants.

The illicit farms, in remote locations roughly 10 miles northeast of Cedar City in the Summit Valley area, were discovered and reported to authorities early last week.
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For Marty Ginsburg, the St. Louis County smoking ban hasn’t been a boon to his business.

Ginsburg – the owner of the Chesterfield-based Sports Page Bar & Grill – told the St. Louis County Council on Tuesday that the nearly seven-month old ban on smoking inside most public buildings hasn’t produced a “level playing field.” That’s because exemptions allow numerous bars that primarily serve alcohol to escape the ban’s reach.
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ITC Ltd led a handful of shares in the Sensex basket that bucked a decline on Thursday. The cigarette major’s share rose by 2.6% on a day when the Sensex fell 1.2%, as investors warmed up to its June quarter earnings.

In 2010-11, the company’s volume growth had been affected by a sharp hike in prices to compensate for higher excise levies. But the Union Budget 2011 was kind enough to spare cigarettes from any further excise hikes. Investors were hopeful this could lead to better volume surge, with price hikes providing further impetus to growth. Ream more »

Minister for Health Dr James Reilly has said it is ‘irresponsible’ of parents to smoke in the presence of children, given the evidence that tobacco smoke is a carcinogen which shortens lives.
He said he favoured introducing legislation, as early as possible next year, to ban smoking in cars when children are present.
The minister said the State had a duty of care to minors and he wanted to start a public debate on the issue.
However, he is not proposing a total ban, as suggested in some newspaper reports today. Ream more »

The Gazette has shown leadership over the years on tobacco control, from its investigative reporting to its editorials. For this, Quebec, and indeed all of Canada, should be proud.

But I must disagree with your editorial. Many governments have focused on goals for reducing smoking by young people and have been disappointed. And scientific articles underline what many in tobacco control know: young people aspire to reach the next-older age group. and teens aspire to be adults.
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A coalition targeting Alberta’s smoking laws will be hitting Grande Prairie Thursday at the PC Candidates’ forum.

The campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta is launching a Vote for Health initiative set on targeting the leadership candidates of Alberta’s Conservative and Liberal parties to gain support for steps toward preventing tobacco use amongst the province’s youth.

Les Hagen, executive director for the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says that the province’s projected targets on reducing smoking amongst teens between the ages of 12 and 19 to 10% were not met since their first anti-smoking initiative in 2006. Ream more »

Register to vote and you could get free pot. One medical marijuana shop in Lansing is using that incentive to entice its clients. The clinic claims it’s just doing its civic duty, but is it going too far? It’s advertised on their Web site as plain as day —- register to vote and you can get free medical marijuana.

“It wasn’t ever to lure patients or try to buy their votes — no, not at all,” said Shekina Pena, the owner of “Your Healthy Choice Clinic” on Michigan Avenue in Lansing. For the past month and a half she and other dispensaries in the area have been running a voter registration campaign. She says she’s been educating patients and caregivers on the medical marijuana ordinance and who on city council supports it.
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The recent crackdown on hookah lounges in the city has made the lounge owners pull up their socks.

The result — sale of hookah has come to a standstill — until the corporation issues fresh guidelines.

Hari Krishnan, manager of a hookah lounge-cum-café in Nungam- bakkam, says, “We stopped selling shisha from the ninth of this month. The corporation came on a surprise check and asked us to stop selling hookah.”
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