Tobacco News

When it comes to Tobacco Control 101, Montana earns a barely passing grade.
Last week, the American Lung Society released its State of Tobacco Control 2012 report that gave letter grades to every state, evaluating performance in four categories: smoke-free air, cigarette tax, cessation and tobacco prevention. The group has released a similar report each of the past 10 years.
Overall, the nation is losing ground in the fight against tobacco. States are doing less to keep kids from smoking, and the tobacco industry is taking advantage of state apathy to fight back, according to the study. Ream more »

When Virginia and a number of other states reached a legal settlement with the cigarette industry more than a decade ago, part of the deal was at least to put some of that money into tobacco-prevention programs. Those programs included efforts to expose young people — and adults — to the health hazards of smoking and using other tobacco products.

Virginia, in fact, has a statewide youth tobacco-prevention program managed by a foundation that received a portion of the state’s share of the 1998 national tobacco settlement.
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Veteran anti-smoking advocate Prakit Vathesatogkit was recently elected secretary-general of the International Network of Health Promotion Foundations. He talks to APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL about his work and challenges in advancing health promotion activities around the world.
What is the INHPF’s mission?

Prakit: Finance is the biggest battle Ream more »

The Legislative Assembly (AL) unanimously passed the new tobacco tax yesterday but several lawmakers urged the government to introduce stricter rules for duty-free cigarettes, similar to those enforced in Hong Kong.
Others said the MOP 6 tax increase is not enough and that Macau still lags behind other regions, while some lawmakers expressed concerns about the risk of tobacco smuggling.
The tobacco tax will increase by MOP 0.5 for each cigarette, in order to be in line with the ban on smoking in public places that comes into effect from January 1. Tobacco packs will increase by at least MOP 6. Ream more »

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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Cigar and pipe smokers and those who like to chew their tobacco would have to pay Chicago’s cigarette tax, under a crackdown proposed Wednesday to stave off budget cuts impacting libraries, mental health centers and 911 dispatch.

Aldermen Leslie Hairston (5th) and Matt O’Shea (19th) want to follow the Cook County Board’s lead and close a legal loophole that has allowed all tobacco products other than cigarettes to escape the city’s sin tax.
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Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is calling for more taxes on alcohol and tobacco products. Under her proposal, smokeless tobacco and cigars will be taxed the same as cigarettes. As for alcohol, taxes would go up by 50 percent in Cook County. That would add a few cents on beer and wine and not much more on hard liquor.

At a news conference Wednesday morning, Preckwinkle was flanked by medical specialists and experts as she touted the public health benefits of such taxes. Ream more »

The favorable WTO decision on the cigarette excise tax case filed by the Philippines against Thailand is expected to pave the way for unhampered exports of locally-produced cigarettes to the fellow ASEAN country without the threat of discriminatory tax treatment.

Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. managing director and president Chris Nelson welcomed the final decision of the World Trade Organization.
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A bill to renew part of the state’s cigarette tax won final legislative approval Thursday, setting up a confrontation with Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The measure, House Bill 591, won state Senate approval 29-8 after only a brief discussion.
Jindal opposes the measure, considers it a tax hike and plans to veto the bill.
Assuming that happens, the Legislature would have to mus-ter a two-thirds majority for the measure to take effect, which has only happened twice since the 1920s, according to the Louisiana News Bureau. Ream more »

Tax collection on tobacco sales on Indian reservations has been delayed again, one day after a federal appeals court ruled the tax could be collected.

Hours after that decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan, the State Taxation and Finance Department posted rules for collections. Seneca Nation lawyer Carol Heckman argues they did not do that properly. Ream more »