Former smoker John McCracken says he has been able to keep his 11 grandchildren — ranging in age from preteen to young adult — from using tobacco. However, the Aurora resident said he’s worried about his success rate in the face of the dissolvable products now being test-marketed in Colorado. Testifying Wednesday at a state board of health meeting, McCracken was one of about 20 speakers weighing in on the controversial smoke-free creations, which look like breath mints, toothpicks or even candy — which critics argue is a means for marketing them to children and young adults. But Brad Rodu, a University of Louisville professor, said the products are a less dangerous form of tobacco use and a key element in “harm reduction.” “You … Read entire article »

Three city businesses were cited Wednesday for selling tobacco to minors during an unannounced compliance inspection. The city’s police department, along with the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program, conducted the inspections. Under the direction and supervision of DMHAS investigators, an underage youth, employed by the Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program, went into the businesses and tried to buy tobacco products. Twenty-one businesses were found in compliance, according to a news release issued by the New London Police Department. The clerks in the three stores were issued $200 infractions for sale of tobacco to minors under 18 and the Cigarette Dealer license holder at each also faces additional administrative sanctions from the state Department of Revenue Services. The three stores found … Read entire article »

Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced that Eduard Ifraimov was sentenced to 21 months in prison for trafficking in untaxed cigarettes, receipt of counterfeit cigarette tax stamps, and money laundering. Ifraimov also was sentenced to three years of supervised release, which will commence following his prison term. Eduard Ifraimov is a 39 year old, New York City resident who emigrated to the United States from Russia in 2002 and became a naturalized citizen in 2009. In the summer of 2008, investigators learned that for two years Eduard Ifraimov had been purchasing large amounts of cigarettes, taxed and untaxed, in Delaware and transporting them back to New York City where he sold them, avoiding the New York State and City cigarette taxes. An undercover ATF special … Read entire article »

The use of tobacco products, including smoking cigarettes, remains a serious public health issue in the U.S. Despite many efforts, the CDC estimates that over the past 5 years, the rate of tobacco use has not significantly changed. About 1 in 5 adults in the USA continue to smoke regularly and over 50 percent of children are exposed to the deleterious effects of second-hand smoke. Tobacco companies work daily to find new ways to keep current tobacco users addicted. They know that point of purchase sales, like full wall displays of cigarettes behind cash registers, attract buyers and increase purchases. Big Tobacco actively recruits businesses, including those that house pharmacies, to sell tobacco and target current smokers and younger “replacement smokers.” Efforts … Read entire article »

Touted as a safer alternative to traditional smoking, electronic cigarettes are supposed to give smokers their nicotine fix without the cancer-causing side effects of tobacco. But some have serious concerns that the battery-operated vaping devices may actually pose more dangers to users. Florida banned smoking in most public places more than eight years ago, but some 40 years after Gwynne Chesher started lighting up. “In 1965, everybody smoked, it was an acceptable thing to do back then.” At her worst, Chesher was puffing a pack a day and eventually, she tried to stop.  “I tried the gum; It gave me a stomachache. Tried the patch; it made my heart beat fast and scared me.” So when her son, recently suggested yet something else, Gwynne … Read entire article »

A photo posted to the official White House Flickr stream contained within it — as identified by the eagle eyes of Politico’s Josh Gerstein — a single morsel of Nicorette chewing gum sitting on the Oval Office desk. The past weeks of debt ceiling tsuris would have broken far stronger men, however, so we should perhaps give thanks that the strongest thing the president’s been craving lately is a Marlboro Red. … Read entire article »

Four tobacco companies filed a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over what they say are unconstitutional requirements for warning labels on US cigarette packaging.The third largest cigarette manufacturer in the United States, Lorillard, Inc., said they were “challenging nine new cigarette warnings as an unconstitutional way of forcing tobacco manufacturers to disseminate the government’s anti-smoking message,” in a statement Tuesday. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., producer of Camel cigarettes Commonwealth Brands, Inc., and Liggett Group LLC joined Lorillard in the suit, which was filed in a federal court in Washington. Under recently announced FDA regulations, cigarette packs, cartons and all cigarette advertising must display graphic warnings by September 22, 2012. “The regulations violate the First Amendment,” said Floyd … Read entire article »

A federal judge has sentenced a Charleston man to five years in prison for his role in selling and distributing about 3.4 million contraband cigarettes. Basim Ali Talouzi pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to transport, receive, possess, purchase and sell contraband cigarettes from July 2010 until this past January. He also pleaded guilty to selling oxydocone tablets to undercover federal agents. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers also imposed a $5,000 fine on Talouzi at Monday’s sentencing. The U.S. Attorney’s office said Talouzi arranged for the sale and distribution of 17,112 cartons of cigarettes, resulting in a loss of more than $94,000 in excise taxes to the state of West Virginia. … Read entire article »

Every afternoon at about 3 p.m., Chris, a 40-year-old marketing exec in Manhattan, takes a smoke break — without leaving the comfort of his cubicle. “I just sit here and lean back in my chair with a cup of coffee,” he explains. No, Chris hasn’t let “Mad Men” go to his head. Just some flavored menthol vapor, courtesy of his electronic cigarette habit. “I’m actually more productive because I’m not taking those 15 minutes to go in the elevator, go downstairs, smoke [a regular cigarette] and go back up.” With NYC smoking bans on the rise, it was inevitable that nicotine junkies would be on the hunt for a new way to get their fix. Conveniently for them, e-cigarettes — electronic devices that look like real … Read entire article »