Tobacco News

A Buffalo woman who was convicted of attempted possession with intent to distribute marijuana, was sentenced to three years’ probation, including one year electronic monitoring, by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Jaleesa Findley, 24, was charged after a Drug Enforcement Administration agent on a tip regarding a shipment of parcels containing 200 pounds of marijuana that were due to arrive at a shipping company in Buffalo.
Ream more »

Teens struggling with smoking addictions have a new gizmo guide to help them get rid of that addiction.

Smokefree has launched its first text-only support program, which delivers a series of automated text messages directly to the smoker’s mobile phone over a period of up to 12 weeks, designed to help them kick the butt.
“Quit programs are often designed for adults, and teens are not little adults – they think and talk differently, and have different smoking patterns,” says teen smoking expert Dr. Yvonne Hunt of the National Institutes of Health. Ream more »

Perhaps pharmacy smoking cessation services are working with one hand tie behind their backs.
There are a number of issues I can think of that may be hindering the success rate of patients who use pharmacy;

Are these a less committed cohort of patients? We tend to opportunistically select patients who might be browsing the NRT products, or who we highlight during an MUR.
A little different from the COPD patient in the GPs surgery, getting yet another prescription for anitbiotics.
Ream more »

This year’s Tobacco-Free Oklahoma Week, which officially began Monday, is broadening its focus to include not only public awareness campaigns on the health effects of smoking, but also on the financial costs to smokers and non-smokers.

Gov. Mary Fallin issued the proclamation last Friday, designating Jan. 29-Feb. 4 as Tobacco-Free Oklahoma Week, “a week highlighting the price all Oklahomans pay for tobacco use, whether they smoke or not.”
Ream more »

The trustee for three bankrupt Mocksville tobacco manufacturers is trying once again to get the companies out of Chapter 11 protection.

But an escrow dispute involving the National Association of Attorneys General has become a big legal hurdle to exiting bankruptcy.

Peter Tourtellot filed a reorganization plan Monday that could enable Renegade Holdings Inc., Renegade Tobacco Co. and Alternative Brands Inc. to emerge from bankruptcy as early as late March. The companies have a combined 101 employees. Ream more »

The Berkeley City Council will consider recommending an analysis on an ordinance that would give landlords in Berkeley the power to ban smoking in their tenancies.
The recommendation, proposed by Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson and set to come up at the council’s meeting Tuesday, asks the city’s Community Health Commission and Rent Stabilization Board to analyze the possibility of crafting a smoke free housing ordinance similar to California Senate Bill 332, which went into effect Jan. 1and which gives landlords the right to make their rental properties smoke free. Ream more »

The University of California has proposed a plan that would permanently smother cigarette smoke, but UC Merced students including Diana Gonzalez aren’t worried.
Gonzalez, 18, supports the plan to make all UC campuses smoke- and tobacco-free.
She knows from personal experience that the effects of smoking can be deadly and devastating.
“I personally think it’s perfect, because I have family history where they smoked, and my grandma died because of lung cancer (and) brain cancer,” she said. Ream more »

One Stop Shop, at 237 Main St., was shut down after the end of a long-term multiagency police investigation into the illegal sale and distribution of untaxed tobacco, the Johnson City Police Department said Friday.

The Johnson City police and New York State Department of Taxation and Finance’s Petroleum, Alcohol and Tobacco Bureau seized a “large quantity” of untaxed tobacco and cigars from the business.
Ream more »

Business is delaying the introduction of the law to stop smoking in public places and regulate tobacco sale and production, a senior health official says.

At a meeting of the GCC Tobacco Control Committee, with representatives from all six Gulf states, Dr Mahmoud Fikri, the undersecretary for health policy at the Ministry of Health, said the law was in the final stage of approval and awaiting cabinet approval.
Ream more »

Postdoctoral physics student Patrick Coles has started a petition to ban smoking on the Carnegie Mellon campus.

As of last Thursday, the petition had received a total of 534 signatures on ipetitions.com. Coles said that he was “quite pleased by the support” his petition has received. “We are at the point where we should start talking to the administration,” he said. “The main issue is to protect people’s right to breathe clean air and to promote a healthy campus,” Coles said.
Ream more »