Tobacco News

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.
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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.
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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.
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South San Francisco students urged the city council Wednesday to support a resolution asking the Motion Picture Association to limit images of smoking and tobacco products in movies.

As part of the Smoke-Free Movie Campaign, students of the Youth Leadership Institute met with Mayor Richard Garbarino last week and gave a presentation concerning the negative affects of smoking and promoting tobacco products in the mass media. Ream more »

When it comes to New York’s groundbreaking efforts to cut the rates of smoking among adults and teenagers, recent days have brought good news and bad news.
The good news first. Smoking rates among New York City residents have dropped to just 14 percent, more than a third less than when the city passed the Smoke-Free Air Act in 2002. This represents over 450,000 people no longer smoking.
Among teenagers, who are targeted by Big Tobacco as new customers, the rate dropped to just seven percent, still too high but far below the national average of 20 percent. Ream more »

The Casper City Council agreed Thursday to continue on schedule with consideration of a smoking ban proposal.
Initial discussion of the proposal is scheduled for Feb. 13 and a detailed ordinance has yet to be constructed. Mayor Kenyne Schlager suggested during the work session that a separate public meeting be held at a later date to debate the issue. Councilman Paul Bertoglio agreed, adding that two meetings may be necessary. Ream more »

“Last night, between 4 and 5 P.M., we had an 18-year-old boy overdose on synthetic marijuana, so it’s getting to be more of a common occurrence in this area,” explains Laurel County Sheriff John Root.

That growing problem led Sheriff Root to back an ordinance banning the sale or possession of synthetic marijuana. Thursday night, the Laurel County Fiscal Court unanimously gave it final approval.
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Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown (D) joined a group of health advocates in Annapolis on Thursday to push for an increase in the tax on non-cigarette tobacco products, which were not affected when lawmakers voted to double the cigarette tax to $2 per pack in 2007.

The tax increase would generate an estimated $19 million for the state, according to the budget Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) proposed last week. Brown was quick to mention the anticipated revenue when he spoke to attendees, including the American Cancer Society, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and MedChi, the state’s medical society.
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