Tobacco News

Advocates for the legalization of marijuana got a new, unprecedented member of their ranks: the California Medical Association, which has adopted an official policy that recommends the legalization and regulation of cannabis.
The board of trustees of the CMA, the largest physician group in California, adopted the policy unanimously at its meeting in Sacramento, according to a statement on the CMA website.
California is one of 16 states where medical marijuana is legal, making it possible for doctors to recommend the drug to their patients. Ream more »

Illegal tobacco sales to minors have fallen to their lowest level on record in California.

Sixteen years ago, teens were able to buy tobacco products 37 percent of the time. State health officials say that’s dropped to 5.6 percent this year.

The prevalence of adult smoking, meantime, is just under 12 percent, the second-lowest in the nation.
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Trendsettah USA, Inc., a California-based company, is promoting flavored cigars called Hoodwraps to inner-city youth, a practice that has upset members of the community.
Some Hoosiers at a downtown gas station were approached by the Trendsettah street team on Thursday.
“It’s dirty. I think it’s a dirty thing to do,” resident Unique Woods said. “Why would they be on the streets handing out cigars? I’m very shocked.”
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Hunters discovered a marijuana harvest in progress on Saturday.
Lt. Charles Redfern with the Creek County Sheriff’s Office said hunters had stumbled upon five Hispanic males dressed in cammo harvesting marijuana near 217th West and Highway 33, west of Sapulpa near Sheppard Point on Heyburn Lake. The suspects offered money to the hunters to keep quiet, but they contacted local authorities instead.
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Wide variation in sales rates was seen across cities within the county. Lompoc had the highest rate of illegal tobacco sales to minors at 31%. Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria, Guadalupe, and unincorporated parts of the county also exceeded the state rate of sales to minors. Solvang and Buellton had no sales of tobacco to minors, and Santa Maria sales rates were comparable to the state average.
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Convenience stores in England are reporting moderate rises in their tobacco sales following the ban on tobacco vending machines, which came into force on October 1.

It is now illegal for pubs, clubs, hotels, cafés and bookmakers in England to sell tobacco products from vending machines. The law is as yet unchanged in the rest of the UK, although Scotland and Wales are expected to implement similar bans next year.
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The minister was speaking shortly after visiting the Maputo offices of British American Tobacco (BAT).

Inroga stressed the importance of the tobacco industry to Mozambique’s economy, despite the dangers to health caused by smoking.

He pointed out that the tobacco crop is the main livelihood for a large number of families in the provinces of Nampula, Niassa, Tete and Zambezia.
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Smoking ban: Kay Lazar has more on efforts announced yesterday to curb smoking in rental units in Boston, including a ban in public housing set to take effect in September 2012.

Doctor shortage: Tanya Albert Henry of American Medical News takes a look at the effects of expected shortages in physicians, including primary care doctors, outlined in a report released last month by the Massachusetts Medical Society.
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Should government-run companies invest in tobacco firms? This is the question that Voices of Tobacco Victims (VoTV), an NGO working for cancer patients, has raised after its recent query under the RTI Act revealed that the Life Insurance Corporation of India has invested up to Rs 3,500 crore in various tobacco companies.

“It’s the greatest irony that the government spends Rs 10,000 crore on treatment of tobacco-related illnesses while investing Rs 3,500 crore in the industry causing it,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a senior cancer surgeon with Tata Memorial Hospital who is associated with VoTV. Ream more »

A Greene County court has upheld the city of Springfield’s smoking ban, but the court challenge is likely not over. Jean Doublin, owner of Ruthie’s Bar on Commercial Street, filed the lawsuit seeking to stop the ban in June.
The lawsuit claimed the Springfield ordinance violates state law and therefore is invalid.
The suit cites Missouri law which allows taverns to make nonsmoking areas unavailable indoors as long as signage is posted outside the bar that says “Nonsmoking Areas are Unavailable.”
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