Brazil to Become World’s Largest Smoke-Free Country
Historic Tobacco Control Law Adds Momentum to Latin America’s Progress In Fighting Tobacco Use The Brazilian government has taken historic action to protect the health of the nation’s more than 190 million citizens by enacting a comprehensive tobacco control law. Signed by President Dilma Rousseff today, the new law will make Brazil the largest country in the world to go completely smoke-free, adding momentum to a movement sweeping across Latin America to protect citizens from the deadly toll of tobacco use and secondhand smoke. The new law requires all enclosed workplaces and public places to be smoke-free, bans tobacco advertising at point of sale, increases tobacco taxes and requires large health warnings on both sides of cigarette packs (current law requires graphic warnings covering the entire back of the pack, but no … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco laws, Tobacco news
Cigar smokers resist possible FDA rules
Cigar smokers are trying to raise their profile in Washington, D.C., in advance of what they expect will be new regulations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Cigar Rights of America, a group that represents smokers, filed registration papers on Thursday to lobby Congress on legislation that would eliminate any FDA authority over cigars. It is the first time the group has registered to lobby. The group was founded in 2009, the same year that Congress, after decades of debate, granted the FDA the authority to regulate cigarettes and other items that the agency says fall within the law’s definition of “tobacco products.” “The cigar consumers of America have basically never thought a lot of the things that have happened would happen to them,” said Glynn Loope, the Cigar Rights of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news
Smoke shacks have plenty of customers
So-called “smoke shacks” may have their detractors, but there’s no denying their popularity. During one afternoon last week, The Observer monitored a Christina Street 7/11 store for one hour and saw two packs of cigarettes sold. During another one hour period on the same day, 56 cars drove up to a smoke shop on Indian Road, a roadside trailer advertising food, drinks, and “$2.00 Royals.” It’s possible all those motorists drove to Highway 40 to buy soft drinks from someone in a trailer. But probably not. Jacqueline Bradley, the executive director of the National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco, said the more than 300 smoke shacks selling cheap tobacco in Ontario and Quebec represent a significant cash loss to convenience store retailers. What also concerns Bradley is the lack of controls in place to protect children. “I was … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news
Stable outlook for global tobacco companies in 2012
Fitch Ratings says the outlook for global tobacco companies in 2012 is stable, based on evidence of good pricing power, scope for further cost rationalization and manageable levels of dividend payments and share repurchases. Despite the expectation of continuing regulatory pressure, elevated packaging and distribution costs and, for the international market (excluding the US and China) an overall low single digit decline of cigarette volumes sold, Fitch believes that global tobacco companies should maintain low single-digit organic revenue growth and at least mid-single profit growth in 2012. The concentrated structure of national tobacco markets, combined with low price elasticity by consumers and most governments’ preference to avoid abrupt excise duty increases supports the pricing power of industry players. In November 2011, the Australian government approved a plan to ban brand graphics on tobacco … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco companies, Tobacco news
Blunt response to tobacco suit against Worcester
The blunt wrap tobacco industry has decided to drop its federal court challenge into the legality of the city’s ban of the sale of blunt wraps — a thick cigarette-like rolling paper usually made from tobacco leaves. City Solicitor David M. Moore said the blunt wrap companies that had sued the city decided to dismiss their case in light of the state Supreme Judicial Court’s refusal to hear their appeal of a court decision that upheld Boston’s blunt wrap sales ban, as well as comments and questions made by the federal judge at the Nov. 9 hearing on their challenge to the Worcester ordinance. Mr. Moore said he was told yesterday about the companies’ decision to withdraw their case against the city. Earlier this year, the City Council adopted a series of amendments … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco companies
Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat
“Reality and perception are entirely different things, and let me tell you, Floyd, reality is the lesser of the two.” – Deaps Andrez Bergen’s Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat (TSMG) is set in a post-apocalyptic Melbourne, Australia at an unspecified point in the future where the fortunate ones live an opulent life secure under the high tech Dome which encases the city. The less fortunate live a harsh existence in rundown areas on the outskirts of the Dome in a world where the sun seldom shines and acid rain seems to fall endlessly. Our narrator, Floyd Maquina, is a Seeker. Employed by the government to hunt down so-called Deviants for what is euphemistically called “hospitalization,” Floyd has the authority to terminate those who won’t come along peacefully. It’s something he’s only had to do … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news
Tobacco support price: a sign of hope or a disappointment?
Tobacco growers breathed a sigh of relief as they returned to their crops after the much-awaited announcement of tobacco support price. Sentiments of hesitation and uncertainty about the returns raced amongst growers, which hampered the finalising of tobacco contracts between farmers and the companies. The announcement is expected every year towards the end of October. However, CY11 saw a delay of over a month as the authorities were striving hard to reach a price with the consensus of all stakeholders – the farmers, tobacco exporting and manufacturing companies, and the Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB). brecorder.com The minimum support price of Rs117/kg Virginia tobacco which is the most commonly produced type of tobacco in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, saw an increase of about 13 percent compared to last year. It is meant to provide relief primarily to the farmers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cigarette taxes, Tobacco news
Use Tobacco to Save Soldiers From Nerve Gas
Nerve agent poisoning ain’t pretty: think convulsions, diarrhea and difficulty breathing. Those dangers prompted the Pentagon’s far-out research arm to come up with a stellar new plan to combat the nasty chem threats. A plan that involves harvesting human liver enzymes. And, uh, growing them inside tobacco plants. For years, the agency’s been trying to come up with better antidotes for all kinds of chemical threats and other weapons of mass destruction. Recently, it’s thrown money into a project that’d stave off widespread outbreaks by culling an infected person’s antibodies. It’s even trying to come up with insta-vaccines that can thwart just about any bug. Detecting chem and bio threats before they wreak havoc is a top priority, too: Nano-sensors and cyborg bugs are both in the running to sniff out … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news
Making Big Tobacco pay smokers’ health bills
Reports that Nicola Roxon plans to encourage state governments to consider legal action to recover around A$31 billion in smoking-related health-care costs from the tobacco industry highlight the incoming attorney-general’s commendable commitment to reducing the impact of smoking-related illness and mortality. Such litigation is a potentially powerful way of countering the tobacco industry, but has been largely limited to the United States to date. As part of preliminary work on the proposal, Roxon has brought Matthew Myers, president of the leading US tobacco control organisation, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to Australia to discuss litigation with state officials. Myers, as The Australian points out, advised US attorneys-general during litigation against the tobacco industry in the late 1990s, and played a key role in negotiations that resulted in the controversial 1998 Master Settlement Agreement … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news, Tobacco-general info
SON Raids Tobacco Factory
The trade in illegal cigarettes has been dealt a fresh blow in Niger State. The enforcement team of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria(SON) yesterday swooped on a tobacco manufacturing company, Leaf Tobacco & Commodities (Nig.) Limited along Kaduna Road,Niger State,and confiscated 1149 cartons of Peterfield Special Menthol Cigarette worth about N25 million as part of a crackdown on illegal tobacco products. The crackdown by the enforcement team from Abuja was part of a sweeping enforcement campaign to stub out a deadly trade by the agency. The cigaratte currently in the market has no best before date, number on the NIS logo,production date, and batch number which indicated non- certification of the product and the address on the pack … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news
Cigarette tax
Warren Erdman, ending his term as president of the University of Missouri Board of Curators, turns his attention to increasing the cigarette tax by 73 cents per pack, still far below the national average. Erdman joins Rep. Mary Still, who for years has promoted a cigarette tax increase, so far without success. I’ve been a skeptic of this particular tax because for many it is an attempt to punish use of a particular product on behavioral grounds, but many others, like Erdman and Still, see public revenue gain as the main benefit — an argument bolstered politically by the fact all other states are ahead of us. For Missouri to remain lowest in the nation at 17 cents a pack seems vaguely out of step, if not stupid. Erdman wants to earmark the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Cigarette taxes
Virginia tobacco suport price fixed at Rs117/kg
he minimum support price of Virginia tobacco has fixed at Rs 117/kg for the current season with consultation of growers, tobacco exporting and manufacturing companies and members of Pakistan Tobacco Board with 13 percent increase as compared to last year. The growers and tobacco companies have developed consensus on fixing of prices in a meeting held here at Pakistan Tobacco Board (PTB) chaired by Commissioner Minor Crop/P&D Food Security and Research, Ministry of Food and Security, Dr Mohammad Aslam here on Wednesday PTB secretary, Noman Bashir, members tobacco manufacturing and exporting companies, representatives of growers, and members Cost of Production were present in the meeting. The participants supported the fixing of prices of Virginia tobacco as per cost of production, which could be beneficial for both growers, and tobacco companies. They stressed for yielding … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tobacco news
Tobacco facts
- Are state employees not fussing up to tobacco use? February 3, 2012
- Tobacco Lawsuit Helps Oregon February 2, 2012
- Can tobacco be used to treat cancer? February 1, 2012
- Tobacco sales tax January 31, 2012
- Tobacco giant January 30, 2012
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