Tobacco News

The outgoing leader of the University of Missouri System’s Board of Curators plans to spend the coming year helping persuade Missourians to increase the state’s tobacco tax. Warren Erdman, who ends his term as board chairman next month, is involved in a group planning to pitch an initiative that would place a 73-cent tobacco tax hike on the November ballot.

The language still needs approval from the secretary of state, and organizers would have to collect roughly 100,000 signatures from registered voters to get it on the ballot.
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Following an announcement Wednesday that Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA is raising its cigarette prices, Reynolds American Inc. also confirmed a five-cent list-price increase. And Lorillard Inc. is also reportedly instituting a six-cent increase.

David Howard, spokesperson for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds, told CSP Daily News, that its increase affects its growth brands of Camel and Pall Mall, as well as its support brands of Winston, Salem, Kool, Doral and other others. The increase went into effect December 9.
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Philadelphia is handing out a holiday stocking stuffer that could save lives.
Adult smokers can get a month’s supply of nicotine replacement patches to help curb cravings.
Health commissioner Donald Schwarz said people often rely on stop-smoking aids for longer than 30 days.
“There’s a step down process, so this gets people started, and we know that once started that people –by a month–should be feeling the benefits,” he said. Ream more »

Insurance companies have put forward a proposal to charge a higher premium for covering smokers as a new form of motivator for individuals to quit their cigarette habit.
WalMart is among the organizations spearheading this effort to make it more expensive for smokers to obtain health insurance coverage. However, whether or not it is right for medical insurance to make this choice is just as important as whether or not people will actually take control over their own health risks and stop their smoking habit. Ream more »

The Austin City Council voted Thursday to ban smoking in city parks. The time for such a ban has come.

Cities have been moving away from tolerating smoking in public places for a few decades; proposals to ban smoking in city parks are now part of that trend. Hundreds of cities in the United States have banned smoking in their outdoor spaces. We support the council’s decision to make Austin one of them. Ream more »

While the majority of students drink once they get to college, whether it’s explicitly legal or not, many also try smoking around the same time.

For many people, it’s a Right of Passage into the college scene. Whether it’s bumming a menthol off a stranger at a party or going with a group of friends to a hookah lounge, smoking is a part of college life.

According to the American Lung Association, 85 percent of people who smoke regularly began smoking by the age of 21, the majority of those were college students. Ream more »

A week after Gurgaon banned hookah zones in its municipal limit, the Jaipur Police imposed a blanket ban on all bars, restaurants, lounges or coffee shops in the city from serving hookah.

The prohibitory order was imposed by Jaipur Police Commissionerate on Friday by enforcing provisions of Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Any violation of the prohibitory order will amount to criminal prosecution of violators under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.”All police stations have been directed to strictly implement the order,” Jaipur police commissioner BL Soni said. Ream more »

On Nov. 9, St. Joseph’s Hospital hosted the New York State Smokers Quitline’s “Action to Quit” summit. This important program brought employers, health care facilities, insurance companies and county government together in an effort to improve the physical and financial health of our community by developing more tobacco-free workplaces and by enhancing smoking cessation health benefits for employees.
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At ePuffer we are now firmly established as a world leader in the fast-growing electronic cigarette market. We have won awards for our innovation; we have won praise for our products and we are proud of what we’ve achieved so far. But it is only the beginning…

So we are delighted – and excited – to be launching a host of new developments, products and cutting-edge initiatives that will set new standards in the electronic cigarette market.
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Repeated pleas to derail, or at least delay, sending a smoking restrictions proposal to Hannibal voters next April went up in smoke Tuesday night when the city council approved allowing the matter appear on the ballot by a 4-3 vote.
Tuesday’s vote was closer than when the measure came up for a first reading on Nov. 15. That vote wound up 5-2. Switching camps Tuesday night was Councilman Barry Louderman, who indicated prior to the vote he is not opposed to a smoking ban. Ream more »