Hospital smokers abuse staff and public

An Evening News investigation found 23 people smoking near, or outside, the entrance of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in little over an hour.
All hospital sites are due to go smoke-free by 2015 under Scottish Government legislation but anti-smoking campaigners and patient groups said action was needed now.
It comes as Unison chiefs warn there was at least one report of verbal abuse per week from NHS Lothian staff who have approached visitors, patients and colleagues asking them not to smoke outwith designated areas.Pall Mall cigarettes.
One senior NHS insider called the “foul-mouthed” abuse of staff by smokers “a real problem”.
It should be a place where the sick get better. But instead, the outside of our hospitals often resemble an advertisement for everything that is wrong with Scottish health.
Patients standing in their pyjamas, some attached to drips, smoke cigarette after cigarette, oblivious as the carcinogenic smoke blows back into the wards.
Alongside them are NHS Lothian staff who, like the patients, seemingly cannot be bothered walking the short distance to the designated smoking shelter.
Above is a large red sign that is ignored by all: No Smoking In This Area.
Frustrated staff who call security demanding action are told there’s nothing that can be done. “They just shout and swear at us. We can’t 
intervene.”
But today – amid a groundswell of support for action – NHS Lothian has been urged to immediately end its informal acceptance of smoking outside hospitals by staff and patients. Parliament cigarettes.
Health chiefs are facing demands to get tough after the Evening News captured staff and patients brazenly flouting rules at the flagship Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
We photographed dozens of uniformed staff and patients ignoring the warning signs and smoking just yards from the hospital building.
Though building work currently taking place has led to the smoking hut positioned outside A&E being cordoned off, over a 70-minute period only six people out of 29 observed smoking outside the building made any effort to stand near the smoking area. Eight people, including five who could be easily identified as hospital workers, were seen smoking directly outside one of the entrances to A&E – underneath a sign which clearly states smoking is prohibited.
All but one of the people seen smoking in this area used plastic chairs which appeared to have been left there specifically for people to sit on during a cigarette break.
Indeed, smoking directly outside has become so common that staff from Consort – which manages the ERI site – have been seen using leaf blowers to move the large number of cigarette butts lying on the ground.
NHS smoking policy states that staff who smoke are only permitted to do so “off NHS Lothian premises”. The 2006 policy also goes on to state: “They should also be aware that smoking during business hours, or whenever in uniform or wearing an identity badge, compromises the public health message.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Lothian said no decision had been made regarding a penalty for staff who continue to flout the rules, but said discussions were ongoing.
All hospital sites are due to go completely smoke free by 2015 under Scottish Government legislation but anti-smoking campaigners and patient groups said action was needed now.
Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said: “Genuinely smoke-free hospitals have an important part to play in changing the culture of our society, helping the next 
generation to grow up free from tobacco.
“We understand that nicotine is highly addictive and it is not always easy for patients to quit abruptly when admitted to hospital. But stop-smoking support should be available – and we need to see leadership from NHS staff, who have no excuse for not following their own policies.”
Union reps and disgruntled staff have been receiving abuse from smokers who refuse to stick to the rules.
Unison’s Tom Waterson said: “We have had reports from NHS Lothian staff members who unfortunately have been verbally abused by members of the public who they have approached and asked not to smoke outwith designated areas.
“I would estimate that at least once a week we hear concerns from staff members who have asked people to move to a designated area and who have been hassled as a ­result.”
One senior NHS insider called the “foul-mouthed” abuse of staff by smokers “a real problem”.
He said: “As a non-smoker I find it particularly galling that I’ve got to walk by people exhaling a cloud of cancer-causing smoke to get to my work.
“It’s a real problem. I have noticed patients have been getting a lot more abusive and gravitating away from their smoking shelters at a number of hospitals.
“Like most things, time passes, and people get lazy or forget what they’re supposed to do. But that’s never an 
excuse for people to direct foul-mouthed vitriol at staff asking them to do the correct thing and stub their cigarettes out.”
He added: “At the end of the day, we’re the people who deal with the other end of it – the throat and lung cancers and the heart attacks caused by smoking. It’s funny how unabusive people then can be when they’re in a room with us and really need us.”
The Scotland Patient Association has called on staff to set a better example but said more support from higher up was necessary to help them kick the habit.
Dr Jean Turner, of the Scotland Patient Association, said: “For many years now there have been large signs at hospital entrances saying you are entering a no smoking area, but it’s been plain to see that’s simply not true.
“A lot of the time you practically have to hold your breath when you’re walking to the entrance. You pass patients with drips smoking in their pyjamas and you’ll also see uniformed staff members smoking outwith the designated smoking shelters.

Pallmall 's Site on Strikingly

Pallmall 's Site on Strikingly

CST Brands reports slight decrease in revenues

Customers may see new soda and electronic cigarette offerings at some of CST Brands Inc.'s convenience stores as the locally based company aims to increase same-store sales in the second half of the year.
During CST's first earnings call since its spinoff from Valero Energy Corp. in May, executives said ZIP code-level data will help determine which cigarette promotions it will feature at each store and which nontraditional items, such as milk and ice, draw more customers.
At about 22 stores in San Antonio, the company already has tested new soda fountains that offer 120 drink choices, Chief of Marketing Hal Adams said. Also, CST plans to expand its highly profitable private-label products to locations in Canada.
CST released details of the new marketing initiatives, some of which have been in place for months, after reporting second-quarter earnings that showed same-store sales remained flat compared to the same period last year.
At existing U.S. stores, merchandise sales per site per day hit an average of $3,492 during the three months ending June 30, down 1 percent from the second quarter of 2012. The gross margin on those items, including cigarettes, also remained flat at 30 percent.
“It's just our normal course of business,” Adams said of the marketing plan. “We are a new company, but we are not a new business.”
When Valero spun off its nearly 2,000 retail stores in the U.S. and Canada, CST instantly became one of North America's largest independent retailers of transportation fuels and convenience merchandise.
“We have the advantage of having this momentum and a team that's been together for a very long time,” Adams said. Because of the spinoff, “we now have a little bit more resource to put (behind) retail rather than just being a subset of large Valero.
“There isn't any magic to those initiatives that we're working on, but they're definitely initiatives (aimed at) growing our same-store sales business,” he added.
In its earnings report, CST reported revenues of $3.2 billion, a 4 percent year-over-year decrease that still beat analysts' expectations. However, net income in the second quarter came in at $43 million, or 57 cents per diluted share, compared with $108 million, or $1.43 per diluted share, for the same three months last year.
Chief Financial Officer Clay Killinger explained that virtually the entire 60 percent drop in net income stemmed from a decline in CST's motor fuel gross margins.
Killinger estimated that CST ended its most recent quarter with more than $300 million in cash on hand. That should fund its plan to double the number of stores built in the U.S. next year while maintaining the current level of new construction in Canada, Killinger added.
Between January and June, CST opened five new stores, including its largest, in Three Rivers in the heart of the Eagle Ford Shale boom.
During a conference call with analysts Tuesday, CEO Kim Bowers said sales in Canada had suffered from a strike among construction workers, whom she described as CST's “bread and butter” customers.
In contrast, the recovery of the U.S. housing and construction markets, especially in Texas, has led to much better sales here.
“We look at the Texas market as probably our strongest market in our network simply because it's backed by the oil workers (and) construction workers,” Bowers said. “They come in for breakfast, they come back at lunch (and) we usually see them after work when they pick up their beer and go home.”
The company's stock closed Tuesday at $33.26 on the Nasdaq, up 38 cents a share from the previous day's trading.

San Marcos City Council considers tougher smoking ordinance

San Marcos City Council has scheduled a public hearing Sept. 3 to gauge whether residents want to strengthen the city's smoking ordinance. The hearing is set for 7 p.m. at San Marcos City Hall.

San Marcos' current ordinance allows smoking in public places such as bars and restaurants. Since the ordinance was enacted in 1995, a number of other Central Texas cities—including Austin and San Antonio—have decided to ban smoking in most public indoor areas.
"Most people are surprised when you come to San Marcos and you can smoke in bars," Councilwoman Kim Porterfield said during a council meeting Aug. 20.
In a community survey conducted this spring, 47 percent of San Marcos residents agreed the city should enact stricter smoking regulations, while 26 percent disagreed, 21 percent were neutral and 5 percent said they did not know. Karelia cigarettes.
Council members directed city staff to draft a smoking ordinance that is a hybrid of Austin's 2005 ordinance and San Antonio's 2010 ordinance. Both ordinances establish nearly all indoor public places and all public parks as smoke-free areas. The ordinances exempt private residences, private clubs, outdoor areas of workplaces, retail tobacco stores and designated smoking rooms in hotels and motels.
"This is a lifesaving effort," San Marcos Mayor Daniel Guerrero said. "This is one of those health initiatives that will save lives, whether of someone working at that establishment or an individual frequenting that establishment."
Council members also discussed the possibility of exempting or grandfathering some businesses that allow smoking.
"We all agree smoking is bad for you," Councilman Wayne Becak said. "My concern is [for] individual property owners. I think there are some unique places in San Marcos, entertainment venues or whatever that allow smoking, and there are a certain amount of citizens who will always want to go to them."
The Aug. 20 discussion did not require a vote. However, council members said they believed City Council was the appropriate governing body to decide on changes to San Marcos' smoking ordinance. They did not discuss the possibility of placing the item on a future ballot for voters to decide.
In 2011, the city considered putting the item before voters in the November election but ultimately decided not to do so. That July, 97 people attended two open houses regarding public smoking in San Marcos.
At the open houses, 56 percent of attendees said smoking and second-hand smoke are problems in San Marcos, compared with 42 percent who said smoking and second-hand smoke were not a problem and 2 percent who had no opinion. When asked whether the city should further restrict smoking, 51 percent said yes, 48 percent said no and 1 percent had no opinion.
On Aug. 20, Sam Huenergardt, the president and CEO of Central Texas Medical Center, urged council members to strengthen the city's smoking ordinance.
"We have an opportunity here to take a step forward as a community," Huenergardt said. "We have a lot of business opportunities in front of us with companies looking at our workforce and evaluating, 'Is this a healthy workforce or not?' This can help us show that our city and citizens are dedicated to creating a better environment for each other."

Lodge bans smoking, sees membership surge

Toni Schaberick has tended bar at Venice Moose Lodge 1308 for quite a while.
"Long time," said Schaberick, "six and a half years."

She's also a smoker. So when she heard the lodge, the kind of place known for attracting smokers, was going to become smoke-free, she was skeptical.
"It's mixed feelings for me, because when I go out, having a drink, I like to be able to smoke at the bar," said Schaberick."
She admits though, the ban has made for a more enjoyable place to work; and the customers don't seem to mind it either.
"They love it," said Schaberick, "and I don't blame them there I don't like smoke when I'm eating either."
In fact, lodge leaders say their membership has exploded since passing the ban. They're now at more than 4,000 members. Classic cigarettes.
"I think what it's done is attract more of the non-smoking population which is ever increasing in our area of course," said current lodge governor Gil Nalley.
Not just in the area, but across the whole country. Data from the CDC shows that in 2012, the number of smokers fell from twenty-eight percent of the population to twenty-three percent.
"I think it's definitely the trend in terms of health...the trend of non-smoking and I think this dovetails right into that trend," said Nalley.
The lodge still keeps a smoking section on a connected patio, but says more members are joining because there's less smoke.
"I had seven couples that wouldn't join," said member "Junie" Fontana, "the minute we went non-smoking, all seven couples joined."
And as the number of smokers continues to fall, some say so to will the number of establishments offering a place to light up.
"I wouldn't doubt very shortly that all the lodges are going to go non-smoking," said Fontana.

Smoking ordinance could be revisited

Representatives with the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living will ask the city of Monroe to revisit the 100 percent smoking ban the City Council approved last week by reducing the distance smokers have to light up from bars and bingo halls.
The ordinance approved by the City Council requires smokers to smoke at least 15 feet from facilities located in Monroe.
Jennifer Haneline, regional coordinator for The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, says she hopes the city of Monroe will reconsider the ordinance to reduce the required distance from 15 feet to 5 feet.

Smokers have higher complication risk after colon surgery

Smoking increases the risk of complications and death following colorectal surgery, a new study says.
The study is based on an analysis of data from 47,000 patients in the United States who had major, non-emergency colorectal surgery. Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York found that smoking raised the risk of complications such as pneumonia and other infections by about 30 percent.
"Anecdotally, we know that many patients don't take the opportunity to quit or join a smoking cessation program before surgery," study lead author Dr. Fergal Fleming, an assistant professor in the department of surgery, said in a university news release. vogue cigarettes.
"We want to find out what motivates patients, how can we make them a major player in their own care, and how can we as physicians do a better job of explaining issues like this to patients," Fleming explained.
The study, published in the August issue of the journal Annals of Surgery, looked at 26,000 patients who had surgery for colorectal cancer, 14,000 operated on because of diverticular disease (small, inflamed pockets that form along the colon wall), and 7,000 who had surgery for inflammatory bowel disease.
Twenty percent of the patients were current smokers, 19 percent were former smokers and the rest had never smoked.
After taking age, body fat, alcohol use and other health conditions into account, the researchers concluded that current smokers still had an estimated 30 percent higher risk of dying or developing complications following colorectal surgery compared to those who never smoked.
Current smokers -- who were younger than ex-smokers and never-smokers -- had the highest rates of pneumonia and infection, were more likely to require additional surgery and had much longer hospital stays, the researchers said.
They also found the rates of all complications and the risk of death were significantly higher in patients who smoked two packs a day for more than 30 years.

Lawmaker: No smoking with kids in the car

A local lawmaker just filed a bill to ban Floridians from smoking in their cars if a kid is inside.

There are plenty of rules of the road. State Rep. Charles McBurney said he just filed brand new legislation trying to ban people from smoking while minors are in the car. He told Action News it's not about the government telling people they can't smoke. "This quite frankly isn't about Big Brother, but little brother in the back seat in the car seat," said McBurney.

Smokers we spoke to didn't want to talk on camera about their habit. While some agree with the proposal, others said it's not fair.

Right now it is just a proposal in the House. A bill in the Senate has not been filed yet. We're told the legislation will be taken up in March.

Copyright 2013 Cox Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.  

Tobacco Shops Online and Cheap

Tobacco Shops Online and Cheap

Want To Quit Smoking Start With Monday

Want To Quit Smoking Start With Monday

Lady Gaga Used Marijuana as Pain Reliever

Lady Gaga Used Marijuana as Pain Reliever

BIG anti-smoking messages on the front of cigarette packets

BIG anti-smoking messages on the front of cigarette packets do help deter youngsters tempted by tobacco - but only if they're on the front of the pack, research has found. Touching on a subject that has stirred controversy in countries where pro- and anti-tobacco lobbies are fighting over smoking controls, investigators looked at data from a large survey among British teenagers. More than a thousand 11- to 16-year-olds took part in the survey, which unfolded in two waves, in 2008 and a followup in 2011. In 2008, cigarette packets sold in Britain had large text warnings on the front and back. In 2011, these were joined by anti-smoking pictures on the back panel of the pack. Between two-thirds and three-quarters of respondents in the survey had never smoked. Between 17 and 22 percent had experimented with cigarettes. Around one in 10 were already "regular" smokers, defined as smoking at least one cigarette a week. All were asked if they recalled the text message or the picture, and say which warning was likely to discourage them from smoking. The most commonly recalled messages were the two types of general warnings on the packet front. "Smoking kills" was remembered by 58 percent in 2008, while "Smoking seriously harms you and others around you" by 41 percent. These rates fell to 47 percent and 25 percent respectively in 2011. In contrast, the more specific text messages on the back of the pack were recalled by less than one percent of participants both 2008 and 2011. Recall of the back-of-the-pack images was generally below 10 percent in both waves. The exception was three scary pictures of rotting teeth, diseased lungs and neck cancer, for which recall increased between 2008 and 2011, reaching a maximum of 33 percent for the diseased lung image. The research say the pictures had most effect on "never" or experimental smokers. But the impact was negligible on regular smokers -- except to prompt some of them to buy special "hiding packs" to mask the nasty images. "As warnings need to be salient to be effective, positioning pictorial warnings only on the less visible reverse panel limits their impact," says the study. "While recall was high at both waves for pack-front (text) warnings, it was low -- below 10 percent -- for the pictorial warnings on the pack reverse, fear-appeal pictures aside." The study, appearing in the specialist journal Tobacco Control published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), also points to the "wear-out" factor, of text and visual warnings that go unchanged for years and fail to make an impact on regular smokers. More than 60 countries now require pictorial health warnings on packs, according to the paper. In five countries - Australia, Brunei, Canada, Sri Lanka and Uruguay - the law stipulates that they cover 75 percent of the main surfaces. European Union (EU) countries must follow a 2001 directive that gives one of two general warnings covering 30-35 percent on the pack front, and 14 specific warnings, covering 40-50 percent of the reverse. There are also 42 possible images that member states can use on the reverse of packs. Less than half of the EU's member-states have adopted these pictorial warnings, and none has warnings covering 50 percent of the main pack surfaces overall, a guideline set by the UN's World Health Organisation (WHO).

NY parks are ordered to halt outdoor smoking ban

New York state parks officials must stop enforcing their recent ban on outdoor smoking, a state judge ordered, agreeing with a smokers' rights group that the state exceeded its authority.
The February rules establishing no-smoking areas at various parks, including popular beaches and all nine state parks within New York City, aren't supported by any policy set by the Legislature, state Supreme Court Justice George Ceresia said. The city has a separate outdoor smoking ban for its parks and beaches that wasn't challenged in this lawsuit.
The judge noted that while lawmakers enacted restrictions on indoor smoking, the Assembly and Senate have attempted but failed to target smoking in outdoor parks. "In the court's view, this is a strong indication that the Legislature is uncertain of how to address the issue," he wrote.
Officials from the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation said they enacted the rules to protect visitors from secondhand smoke.
The parks office said Friday it's considering an appeal and that officials believe they have authority to manage the often conflicting park use of patrons, extending to regulation of outdoor smoking on playgrounds, swimming pools, beaches, and other places children and visitors congregate.
Ceresia wrote that the broad language of the state parks law doesn't empower the office "to promulgate rules regulating conduct bearing any tenuous relationship to park patrons' health or welfare." He ordered parks officials to take down the no smoking signs related to the outdoor ban.
While acknowledging the state's position that you don't need to be an expert to understand that secondhand smoke is "deleterious to the health of nonsmokers, especially children," the judge wrote that he was expressing no opinion on the wisdom of outdoor smoking regulations should they be enacted with proper authority to do so.
The lawsuit was brought by NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment. "This ban was imposed by bureaucratic fiat, not legislated law, and on that basis, alone, it's unconstitutional," said Audrey Silk, the group's founder.
"It was certainly a vindication of individual rights in the face of government overreach," said attorney Edward Paltzik.
Brett Joshpe, his co-counsel, said the issue with the parks under New York City jurisdiction is different, since those restrictions have City Council backing, but there may be another avenue of legal attack there.

Why Is The FDA Shielding Smokers From The Good News About E-Cigarettes?

Any clear-thinking health professional would agree that cigarette smoking is without question the most devastating and preventable public health risk that we need to address in this country. And now, four-plus years after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was given legal authority over tobacco products, the regulatory agency faces arguably its most important public health decision in its history. The time has come to confront their responsibility to smokers trying to quit and their families.

The worldwide death-toll of cigarette smoking is reliably predicted to hit one billion this century. Despite this depressing fact, the measures implemented by the FDA thus far, ostensibly to reduce the toll of smoking, have been almost entirely lip service, without making any real impact. A relatively new method of helping addicted smokers quit has been adopted by millions of smokers – many of whom are now ex-smokers — over the past few years. I refer of course to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Concurrent with the dramatic spike in sales of this device comes word of historic declines in the sale of real cigarettes.
E-cigarettes work by delivering a potent “hit” of nicotine in water vapor, with flavorings and propellants of no significant health concerns — neither to the “vaper” (as they call themselves), nor to bystanders. Most of them resemble cigarettes — which is both their blessing, and their curse.
Astoundingly, this nascent public-health miracle has been met with something between derision and hysteria by anti-tobacco groups worldwide: globally, the WHO, health-oriented NGOs, the British regulator MHRA, and many nations are sparing no effort to discourage smokers from trying them, employing misleading (even false) alerts and dire website warnings, phony surveys, and exaggerated concerns about youth being led astray. Unfortunately, and embarrassingly for science-based public health policy, our FDA and CDC have been willingly complicit in this widespread disinformation campaign. Meanwhile they purposely ignore studies that indicate the benefit of e-cigarettes for helping smokers quit. I ask, “How could this be?”
The possible explanations are not pretty: willful ignorance, dogma based on experiences garnered in the 20^th century, or greed.
I accuse those responsible for impeding truthful communication about the real risks of e-cigarettes of collaborating in a “cigarette-protection campaign,” whose effects will be to discourage smokers from quitting, leading to more dead smokers. Consider this: those who stand in the way of acceptance of e-cigarettes are acting from motivations that are far removed from public health. The nonprofit groups in the forefront of anti-e-cigarette activism are also heavily funded by pharmaceutical companies in the business of selling near-useless cessation drugs — a fact which they conveniently neglect to disclose. If tobacco companies carried on the same way, they would be hauled into court by the FDA in a heartbeat. Meanwhile, the net result of the official campaigns: cigarette markets protected, worthless cessation aids promoted. Who profits? Not addicted smokers.
Despite the pervasive anti-smoking campaigns, a handful of marginally successful cessation drugs and the “denormalization” measures, the addictive drumbeat goes on.  In our country alone, cigarettes exact an annual sacrifice of about 450,000 prematurely dead. Another 8 1/2 million people and their families suffer lingering ills thanks to smoking. And still, near twenty percent of our population continues to smoke, with little change over the century’s first decade.

New study finds smoking even more deadly than thought

It didn't seem possible for there to be any more bad news about the health effects of smoking.

There is.

An Australian study suggests that smoking is even more dangerous than previously thought, with cigarettes linked to the cause of death of more than 60% of smokers and shortening the life of an average smoker by 10 years.

The previous estimate for cigarettes causing the deaths of smokers was 50%

The study required a four-year analysis of the health records of more than 200,000 Australians. The Sax Institute's report suggests that even those who are moderate smokers are jeopardizing their health.

Finding that there is no such thing as a safe level of smoking, the study found that the risk of death is doubled among those who smoke an average of 10 cigarettes a day.

The more a person smokes, the greater the health risks, the report concluded.

Smoking During Pregnancy Increases Asthma Chances Among Great-Grandchildren

Smoking during pregnancy increases asthma risk in great-grandchildren, a latest study reveals.
Researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor - UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) Medical Center (LA BioMed) conducted a study on mice to find out the side effects of smoking on great-grandchildren.
The pregnant rats were divided into two groups. The first group was injected with a dose of nicotine every day by researchers starting on the sixth day of pregnancy and continued for 21 days post-birth. The babies were breastfed until they were weaned at three weeks. The second group was given a placebo drug injection and the same routine was followed.
The researchers studied the third generation of the rats, the great-grandchildren of the original set of mice. They tested their lungs and found that rats whose great-grandmothers were given daily doses of nicotine had asthma indications.
The study results concluded that smoking can have long-term side effects. Although the study was done on mice; the results showed that smoking carries genetic risk of disease among smokers.
The study was published in the 'American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.'
In the U.S. smoking and tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable diseases and deaths. Nearly 40,000 deaths due to tobacco abuse are reported every year in the country. The government spends $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in health care expenditures every year due smoking and tobacco use.
Another study stated that quitting smoking can help people get a good night's sleep.

Anti-smoking campaign surpasses expectations

Graphic ads depicting the ravages of smoking have generated a bigger than expected response, federal health officials said Thursday.
The Tips From Former Smokers campaign -- which includes TV ads in which ex-smokers tell of their smoking-related health problems, such as amputations and cancer -- resulted in even more calls to the campaign's toll-free quit line than anticipated, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We saw 150,000 people call 1-800-QUIT-NOW over and above what we would have expected," said Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health.
In total there were 353,000 calls, and "we had about 2.8 million unique visitors to the TIPS website," McAfee said. "We know that the number of people who seek help is the tip of the iceberg of people who make quit attempts, so we are very excited by these results."
During the campaign, there was a 75 percent increase in calls and a nearly a 38-fold increase in unique website visits compared to the month before the campaign began. In the month after the campaign ended, weekly calls dropped by 41 percent and website visits fell 96 percent, according to the report.
Terrie Hall, one of the people featured in the ads, lost her 13-year battle with smoking-related cancer this week, McAfee said. "Terrie's desire to share her story in effort to help others know the dangers of smoking is truly a public-health inspiration," he said.
Hall was diagnosed with oral and throat cancer and had her voice box removed years ago. The cancer, which spread to her brain this summer, was caused by the cigarette smoking she began in high school, according to CDC officials.
In her first ad, Hall was shown putting on a wig, inserting false teeth and using a scarf to cover a hole in her throat. It was the campaign's most popular ad.
Another ad featured Hall speaking with her artificial voice box and advising smokers to make a video of themselves singing or reading out loud. "I wish I had," she said. "The only voice my grandson's ever heard is this one."
The new report was published Sept. 20 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
These ads work because they show the horrendous effects of smoking that young smokers rarely consider, McAfee said.
"People start smoking in their teens and then they smoke in their 20s and 30s, and then people start really suffering the serious consequences," he said. "We as human beings are not really very good at making decisions in the present based on risks that are decades away, and when people see statistics they just blow them off."
The people who appeared in the ads wanted to show others the real consequences of smoking, McAfee said. "Basically, they are saying, 'The reason I quit is because I got my leg cut off,' or 'I had fingers cut off,' or 'I got lung cancer or throat cancer,'" he said. "They said, 'Gee, I wish somebody had told me this, in a way that I would understand.'"
The Tips From Former Smokers campaign was designed to counter the more than $8.3 billion spent by the tobacco industry each year to make cigarettes more attractive and more available, particularly to teens and young adults, according to a CDC news release.
"The 2013 campaign cost $48 million to develop and implement -- less than the amount the tobacco industry spends on promoting and marketing cigarettes in just three days," the agency noted.
An anti-smoking advocate praised the federal government campaign and said its success needs to be followed up and sustained.
"Imagine what such campaigns could accomplish if they were better funded and lasted year-round," said Danny McGoldrick, vice president for research at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "It is encouraging that the CDC plans to conduct a third round of the campaign next year."
McGoldrick said state programs also are important. "The states must also do their part by using more of the nearly $26 billion a year they collect from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes to fund tobacco-prevention programs, including media campaigns," he said.

City officials consider smoking ban

How would you like your favorite park to be smoke-free? City officials want to make that happen.
News10NBC has learned about a proposal to ban smoking in all city parks and outdoor recreation areas. The goal is to keep secondhand smoke and litter out of parks and away from children. Officials hope it will also encourage smokers to quit.
In July, a statewide ban on smoking at playgrounds was passed by state lawmakers. Officials hope to bring this proposal to city council by November.

Rob Ford admits he has smoked ‘a lot’ of pot

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is adding fuel to the controversy surrounding his alleged use of illegal drugs by publicly admitting that he's smoked pot — "a lot of it."

Ford is the latest Canadian politician to make a pot confession, after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau admitted last week that he took a pull on a joint at a dinner party three years ago, while he was an MP.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also came clean Wednesday that she puffed a little pot, but she said it's been 35 years since the last smoke.

Kenai Peninsula Fair goes smoke-free

In an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle, the Kenai Peninsula Fair is going smoke-free.
The fair, which opened Friday and continues through Sunday in Ninilchik, will only provide a designated smoking area near the rodeo grounds and in the beer garden, the Peninsula Clarion reported

The regional fair's move comes two years after the Alaska State Fair in Palmer went smoke-free.
Kenai Peninsula Fair Manager Lara McGinnis said the move to a smoke-free fair accomplishes three goals. It affirms a family-friendly atmosphere, reduces the potential for children to associate smoking with a healthy lifestyle, and protects fair workers and attendees from smoking and tobacco related litter and pollution, she said in a statement.

Quitting smoking post-angioplasty tied to longer life

People who quit smoking after a balloon angioplasty to improve blood flow to the heart live an average of two years longer than those who keep smoking, a new study suggests.

Researchers found people who were undergoing balloon angioplasty in their 50s, on average, and quit smoking within one year after the procedure lived another 18.5 years. In contrast, those who continued to smoke lived about 16.4 years, on average, after angioplasty.

Old tobacco playbook gets new use by e-cigarettes

Companies vying for a stake in the fast-growing electronic cigarette business are reviving the decades-old marketing tactics the tobacco industry used to hook generations of Americans on regular smokes.

They’re using cab-top and bus stop displays, sponsoring race cars and events, and encouraging smokers to ‘‘rise from the ashes’’ and take back their freedom in slick TV commercials featuring celebrities like TV personality Jenny McCarthy.

Meditation Could Help Smokers Cut Down, Study Hints

Learning a type of meditation technique might make it easier for smokers to cut down, at least on a short-term basis, new research suggests.
The finding is based on the experiences of just five smokers, and could be purely coincidental. Researchers found, however, that training other smokers how to relax had no effect on how much they smoked, a sign that there may indeed be something to the meditation approach.
So should smokers meditate if they want to smoke less?
"Sure, why not?" said study co-author Michael Posner, professor emeritus at the University of Oregon's department of psychology. "[Still], I can't say that all forms of meditation will produce these affects. It's likely that it depends on the brain state that the person is in, and there may be other ways to get into it."
Researchers have linked

Smoking kills, they said in their hollow voices

Gowramma, 48, lost her voice box and the entire food pipe to cancer caused due to tobacco chewing for more than 12 years.

Post surgery, her food pipe was removed and her stomach is now just below her throat making it extremely difficult for her to chew food and digest it. Speaking in a hollow male voice using voice prosthetics, she said no one should suffer the way she has.

“Tobacco is an addiction, which does not kill you immediately. The suffering is prolonged and it kills you every minute,” she said.

Government rejects Labour's cigarette 'U-turn' claim

The government has denied claims it has caved in to the tobacco industry after plans to introduce plain cigarette packaging in England were put on hold.

A decision has been delayed so more time can be spent examining how similar plans have worked in Australia.
Health minister Anna Soubry said she "would never give into pressure" and awaiting more evidence was "sensible".
But Labour said it was a "humiliating u-turn" and questioned the input of Tory election strategist Lynton Crosby.Tobacco.
Health campaigners and doctors groups have criticised the move, which comes as the government confirmed plans to set a minimum price for alcohol in England are to be formally abandoned.
David Cameron was a vocal advocate of minimum pricing as a way of tackling drink-related health and social problems but he appears to have been defeated by ministers who feared it would not work and prove unpopular with voters.
BBC political correspondent Ben Wright suggested the Conservatives were trying to jettison potentially unpopular policies in order to focus on their core economic message in the run up to the next election.
Ministers had also been keen to go ahead with the cigarette packaging proposal, designed to discourage young people from smoking by making the packets less attractive, after the Department of Health held a consultation last year.
Under the plans, the standardised packets would all be the same colour, with the same font, and carry a prominent graphic warning.
'Polarised' But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government wanted to see how the policy had worked in Australia, the first country to introduce plain packaging last year, before making a "final decision".

He said a public consultation on the issue, the details of which have been published on Friday, had shown that the debate was "highly polarised" with "strong views" about the effectiveness of the policy on both sides.

In an urgent question in the Commons, shadow health minister Dianne Abbott said the "disgraceful" announcement showed the government had "caved in to big business" and the "health of the nation has been sacrificed to the interests of big tobacco".
"We have to ask on this side of the House what happened," she added. "We suspect that Lynton Crosby happened."
Mr Crosby's lobbying firm Crosby Textor was employed by British American Tobacco in Australia, but the company said the lobbyists did not work on its campaign against plain packaging there.
Asked what evidence Labour had of Mr Crosby's direct involvement, Mrs Abbott said she was not saying "he is influencing public health decisions per se" but suggested he had told senior Tories that this and other policies would give them "problems with UKIP".

But health minister Anna Soubry told MPs this was a "complete red herring" since Mr Crosby had not had any conversation with a health minister on the issue.

And No 10 said Mr Crosby had had "no involvement" in the decision and had never lobbied David Cameron on the issue.
The decision was criticised by Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, a former GP, who said many advances in public health - such as the ban on smoking in public places - were controversial at the time but now commanded overwhelming public support.
"My view unfortunately is that it's all about election strategy, she told the BBC. "The idea that public health is something which should be scraped off the boat as some election strategists have announced I think is entirely wrong."
But Conservative colleague Peter Bone said "evidence-based" policy making was right and changes should not be "rushed through".
'Key tool' Cancer Research UK claimed the decision would cost lives while the British Medical Association said it was "deeply disappointing" since packaging was a "key tool" for the industry to attract young smokers.
"This is another example of a government which claims to have prioritised public health putting vested interests over those of the public," Dr Vivienne Nathanson, its director of professional activities, said.
But pro-smokers' group Forest said ministers had "listened to ordinary people" and it was good news for those who "believe in consumer freedom and are opposed to excessive regulation".
The Tobacco Manufacturers Association said the government should look at alternative measures, such as tackling the black-market trade and sales to under-aged smokers.
"Plain packaging would have been an assault on UK business in the midst of difficult economic times," it said. "Plain packs would be far easier to copy and would have therefore been a gift to the criminal gangs behind the increasing illegal trade in tobacco."
The Scottish government says it is "still committed" to introducing plain packaging and is expected to press ahead with its own plans.
The Welsh government said it was "disappointed" by the delay and would consider "the way forward" while the Northern Ireland executive said it would like to see a "UK-wide" response to the issue.

Time to clear the air on cannabis

‘I live at home with my dad and I smoke weed in front of him and it doesn’t faze him in the least. There is no taboo with it anymore,” explains Pauline Scanlon, a singer from Dingle and a habitual cannabis user.

As cannabis users go, Scanlon is in fact in the minority. The majority of users, according to a National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACD) report published this week, are male. Of those who have tried it in their lifetime, 35 per cent are from higher socioeconomic groups such as professionals, managers or civil servants. Of the general population, one in four 15- to 64-year-olds have tried cannabis in their lifetime, which is an increase of 3 per cent on the last survey conducted in 2006/07.

Lifetime usage rates were also highest among those who ceased education at 20 or those who completed third level, compared with those who left school at 15, indicating its popularity among higher socioeconomic groups. Students and those dependent on State aid were most likely to have used cannabis in the past month.

The study also highlighted the increased preference for cannabis herb or weed over cannabis resin in recent years. In 2007, 53.8 per cent of cannabis used was hash, which declined to 22.6 per cent in 2011. The use of cannabis herb jumped from just 8.4 per cent of the cannabis used in 2007, to 46.5 per cent in 2011, as more drugs are being grown, harvested and consumed here. Smoking.

Socially acceptable
Despite a feeling among cannabis users that the drug has become more socially acceptable, the report found that 69 per cent of the general population is against legalising recreational cannabis use, while 66 per cent would be in favour of allowing cannabis use solely for medical purposes.

The Irish Medicines Board has received a market authorisation application from a pharmaceutical company for Sativex, a cannabinoid mouth spray. Following the publication of the NACD report, Minister Alex White said that plans are at “quite an advanced stage in preparing regulations to allow for a very limited availability of cannabis for medical purposes”.

Dr Chris Luke, consultant in emergency medicine at Mercy University Hospital in Cork, has given the news a guarded welcome but issued some reservations.

“So-called ‘medicinal use’ of cannabis, and products derived from the many ingredients of the cannabis plant, is arguably a Trojan horse for the liberalisation of cannabis availability,” he says.

“The scientific evidence supporting medicinal application of cannabinoids remains only marginally positive and the ‘medicalised’ version of the drug brings with it serious hazards, most notably cognitive impairment [of concentration and memory] and occasional ‘mental illness’.”

One of those patients currently relying on cannabis for medicinal purposes is 21-year-old Aodh Rua, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma two years ago. Prior to this, he had used cannabis recreationally, but he says he now relies on the drug to help him to get through chemotherapy.

Smoking ban effective today

As soon as copies of The Messenger hit driveways this morning, Troy’s new no-smoking ordinance will be in effect. That means bars that open up tonight will be smoke free establishments.
“Once the ordinance is published it becomes law and we are duty bound as the executive branch to enforce the laws of the city,” said Mayor Jason A. Reeves. “We will make every effort to educate our citizens and the public on what the law entails so they can be in compliance.”

The best cigarettes are  Davidoff cigarettes.

That includes the city providing a “Cliff’s Notes” version of the 15 page ordinance to business license holders in Troy so it’s easier to read what measures must be taken by business owners.
The city also plans to provide window decals for businesses, notifying patrons that the establishment is smoke free. The City of Troy License and Inspection Department will mail decals to every licensed business in the city limits.
The City of Troy Smoke Free Ordinance of 2013 was approved at Tuesday night’s council meeting where members voted unanimously to pass the law.
The ordinance extends current non-smoking rules to include all restaurants, bars, private clubs, single-tenant commercial office buildings, hotel/motels, tobacco specialty shops, child care and adult care facilities, elevators, health care facilities, apartment common areas, polling places, educational facilities, theaters, sports arenas, service lines and other enclosed places.
According to city officials, places such as the Half Shell and the Troy Country Club will not be grandfathered in. No business is exempt from the ordinance. Establishments with outdoor deck areas, such as Cheers and The Front Porch, will be allowed to modify or use those spaces and still be in compliance with the ordinance, as long as smokers are more than 20 feet from the door.
The ordinance also prohibits smoking within 20 feet of a business’ entrances and exits, operable windows and ventilation systems.
The ordinance does not include private residences or cars.
Any Troy Police Department on-duty officer is now authorized to enforce the ordinance, and the penalty is a $50 fine per individual offense. For businesses, the fine is $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense in the same year, and $500 for each subsequent offense in the same year.
Violations will be treated in the same manner as a traffic violation, according to the ordinance.
If a business owner or manager violates the ordinance, the law says suspension or revocation of any permit or license issued may occur.
To read a copy of the 15-page ordinance, visit troymessenger.com or troyal.gov.

Marlboro Cigarettes - noble sound of the word

In the United States of America published a book "101 most influential non-existent person." Its authors - Jeremy Salter, Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan and - tells the story of the most influential fictional characters. What do you think, who is leading the list, the most popular myths of our time? Oddly enough, this is none other than macho native of America, the famous Marlboro Man, who became something of a national symbol of the United States. His name he inherited from his famous Count, a military genius, a talented politician and diplomat John Churchill - the first Duke of Marlborough. The creator of Philip Morris brand was confident that his product should be different refined, but having sufficient weight to the title. For the idea had not far to seek: in the middle of the 20th century a very popular figure in the world was a prominent politician, Winston Churchill, who compared with the famous Count. Winston Churchill was born November 30, 1874 in Blenheim Palace, the ancestral estate of the aristocratic family of Marlborough (Marlborough).

Blenheim Palace family of Marlborough

Philip Morris had in mind the noble sound of the word, but that's writing itself was too complex and cumbersome - Marlborough. Because he decided to get rid of a little blood - cut a word, removing not pleasing to him a letter. Since then the brand «Marlboro» to cut off the end of the beginning of the procession on the planet.

More news and info about cigarettes see here.

However, all attempts to gloss and meet certain "elite" image - nothing more than a publicity stunt, which was coined by the best experts on public relations. The thing is that these cigarettes are initially directed their attempts at advertising the fair sex. "Soft as the breeze in May," in the 1920s, the tobacco industry products under the name "Marlboro" placed emphasis on the equality of men and women who follow fashion trends of emancipation. In the 1950s Philip Morris began to think about the need to change course. Not too popular brand tried to save his position, trying to avoid the disastrous results of actions of scientists. The thing is that at that time were released research data Luther Terry, under which he claimed a strong link smoking with lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. Such disclosure has long been feared all the tobacco corporations. And as it turned out, not without reason: in connection with an introduction to such information in 1953 in the U.S. for the first time the history of cigarettes significantly decreased their consumption. Of course, thinking about the health of ordinary American citizens, no one was going. The fact that cigarettes cause great harm to health, the owners of tobacco factories and heard, without any research, but do we know a lot of businessmen who care about something besides the well-being of themselves and their own family? So in this case, the actions were quite predictable. Tobacco companies immediately tried to refute this information, trying to convince Americans of the unreliability of research, and when such a move has not led to expected results, are recklessly accuse competitors in that they produce more harmful varieties. Of course, a large proportion of the charges were accounted for cigarettes, while products with the filter is completely harmless. At that time it was believed that these cigarettes - exclusively female domain, because brand "Marlboro" in this case was left on the horse. However, due to the reduction in cigarette consumption in general, Philip Morris might well fail, but because he urgently needed to teach American males to think that smoking cigarettes without a filter is not shameful. From now on, ladies' tobacco products were to become universal.

Online Petition Sparks Push for Stricter Tobacco Reforms in Indonesia

A grass-roots campaign to snuff out Indonesia’s ubiquitous tobacco advertising is gaining traction online as thousands of anti-smoking advocates urged the Ministry of Technology and Communication to ban cigarette ads in mass media.

Indonesia is the only country in Southeast Asia, and one of the few in the world, to still allow cigarette ads on television. Tobacco ads can air between 9:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. and are barred from showing people smoking or cigarette boxes under the country’s 2002 Broadcast Law.
The regulation has been seen as a limited attempt to rein in tobacco companies, which spent $202 million in 2010 advertising on everything from concert stages to motorcycle taxi stalls. But the law, which still allows print, radio and television ads, as well as corporate sponsorship and billboards, doesn’t go far enough, said Usman Hamid, co-founder of

It's the dangerous new way teens are getting drunk -- and it's going viral. Now doctors say it could be deadly.
It's called "smoking alcohol." You don't drink the booze, you inhale it. Sounds bizarre, but those vapors give you an instant high.
Here's the problem: Doctors say it's incredibly dangerous and can be extremely addictive. Pure alcohol shooting into your brain. Doctors are issuing an urgent warning: Don't try this at home.
Chances are your teenager

Domestic tobacco market specialists are cautious

An opinion survey , which was undertaken on RusTabak portal in October 2011, showed that tobacco market specialists see the following main reasons for the success of Donskoy Tabak: aggressive advertising targeting young people (40.35%), export to unrecognised republics (26.68%), and credit terms for trade partners (24.95%). Another 2.39% of respondents saw the reason in “dumping”, while 3.04% chose “all the above”. Only 2.59% attributed the company’s success to “other business practices”. These disheartening results from a survey of specialists gives evidence that the picture  portrayed by the factory for investors is very much different from what experts see.

The real situation at the factory is such that its future is more than uncertain, regardless of whether it is sold now. It remains to be seen whether a decline will begin under its present owner or whether growth will continue, but it is quite obvious, that the new owners of Donskoy Tabak, whoever they are, will inherit a number of unsolved problems and questionable business practices and thus may eventually see the return on their investment being different

Read Discount Cigarette Brands Online Reading Articles Articles

Read Discount Cigarette Brands Online Reading Articles Articles

Marlboro maker Altria plans electronic cigarette as sales drop

Altria Group Inc., the largest U.S. tobacco company, said Thursday it will introduce an electronic cigarette this year amid a continuing slump in sales of its top-selling Marlboro brand.
Some of Altria's competitors -- including Lorillard Inc., with its blue eCigs brand, as well as smaller rivals such as NJOY -- have been quicker to seize on the rising popularity of e-cigarettes.Altria Group is alos producer of Bond cigarettes and Chesterfield cigarettes .
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat liquid nicotine in a disposable cartridge and produce a vapor that's inhaled. Consumers can buy refill cartridges in various flavors, often at a discount to what traditional cigarettes cost.
Altria's move could cannibalize sales of Marlboro and its other brands, but analysts say the company could grab a significant piece of the business in short order given its size and resources.
"We are pleased to announce another step in our efforts to address the changing preferences of adult tobacco consumers," Marty Barrington, Altria's chairman and chief executive, said Thursday. "In the second half of this year, Altria's subsidiary, Nu Mark, plans to introduce an electronic cigarette."
Despite increased use of e-cigarettes, they remain a relatively small part of the overall market, according to industry experts.
Some anti-smoking groups and lawmakers have called for more regulation of e-cigarettes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been reviewing the product category.
Altria reported Thursday that its cigarette sales volume fell 5.2% in the first quarter. The Marlboro brand's sales volume dropped 5.5%.
The company, based in Richmond, Va., said its first-quarter net income grew 16% to $1.4 billion, or 69 cents a share, from $1.2 billion, or 59 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue declined 2% to $5.5 billion.

Favor Legalization of Pot in USA

For the first time ever, a solid majority of Americans supports legalizing marijuana for recreational use: 56%, according to the most recent Rasmussen poll. Support for legalization has been growing steadily since the 1990s; in 1994, just 25% were in favor.
In November 2010, California residents voted on a ballot initiative to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana. Although the measure failed to pass — 46% to 54% — the fact that the initiative made it onto the ballot and garnered that much support was itself historic. Indeed, it was fear of the initiative’s passage that led then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to decriminalize possession of up to 1 oz. of pot shortly before the vote — a move that was intended to bleed voter support from the ballot question. Had it passed, California would have been the first state to legalize the drug outright. In 2012, Colorado and Washington State will vote on total legalization.
Because support for legalization tracks closely with age, change would seem inevitable in the long run. The most recent Gallup poll found that 62% of people ages 18 to 29 favor full legalization, compared with 31% of senior citizens. As far as medical marijuana goes, Americans are nearly unanimous in their approval: 70% or more support it.

Marijuana, Market Forces and Why Colorado’s New Pot Law Could Actually Be a Black-Market Boon

“What’s the price of an ounce of marijuana in Colorado these days?” I e-mailed a friend who I thought might know. The reply: for the top quality stuff, about as much as a share of Apple stock. Apple shares were going for $528 recently, which raises an interesting arbitrage possibility: What’s your guess about the price of Apple and pot a year from now, when Colorado’s legalization of personal pot possession establishes a legitimate commercial market for weed?

My play would be to go long on Apple and short hemp.
Colorado has made the possession of marijuana legal but hasn’t figured out much else. Looking at it from a classical economics perspective, the legitimization of marijuana raises the issue of what happens to the demand, quality, supply and price of a product that has now become legal after decades underground.

Tobacco industry makes inroads into Himachal

A labour-intensive bidi-making project that is expected to generate around 40,000 jobs in chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal's home district - Hamirpur - was cleared on Saturday by a high powered single window authority chaired by the CM.
The project proposal of West End Tobacco Pvt Ltd, along with eight other new proposals and 21 expansion plans, was given a clearance today, said a spokesman of the industry department.

Will plain packaging of cigarettes work? A look at the current evidence

Earlier this week an article announced that the UK is to bring in legislation that will force tobacco companies to sell their products in standardised plain packaging. This is similar to legislation Australia brought in last year.

Although there has been no official confirmation from the Department of Health (in fact, David Cameron stated the decision has not been made yet), the public consultation on plain packaging closed a while ago, so an official decision is likely to be reached soon.

At last glance there were more than 800 comments on the Guardian article. People are arguing strongly on both sides of the debate: is plain packaging another chip at our free will, undermining our freedom of choice, or a move to protect the most vulnerable in our society from a highly addictive, deadly habit?

Let's look at the evidence. What research has been conducted to assess whether plain packaging will make any difference to the uptake and maintenance of smoking habits, and indeed on shopkeepers who will be selling these non-branded packets?

I'll start with the money.

Tumorous cigarettes – and the rest of the year in shockvertising

What's bulbous, comically gruesome, and worth around £2.7m? The answer is not, in fact, Boris Johnson, but the government's new anti-smoking campaign, unveiled last Friday. The "hard hitting" initiative is the first graphic anti-smoking government campaign to run in the UK since images of fat-dripping cigarettes made the nation feel uneasily queasy in 2004.

After an eight-year hiatus from grimagery you'd think the Department of Health bods might now have something really quite sickening up their sleeves.

Tribal Cigarette Brands Take Shelf Space; Avoid State Excise Taxes

Less than two months after New York State lawmakers won a court battle to collect excise tax on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations to non-tribe members, some Native American tribes are taking to manufacturing their own cigarettes to avoid the levy.
In mid-June, the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court lifted a temporary injunction against the collection of the $4.35-per-pack tax. Immediately following that decision, Robert Odawi Porter, president of the Seneca Nation of Indians, said the tribes would turn to making their own cigarettes, therefore exempting them from the fee.
"While the state may be able to embargo through taxation premium brands from entering our territory, it cannot tax the brands made in our territory or any of the Six Nations," he said, as CSNews Online previously reported.

The Financial Benefits of Dropping the Cigarettes

If you smoke, you already know the average cost of a pack of cigarettes is somewhere around $5 (not including sales tax) in most states. However, depending on your circumstances and habits, the price of smoking could really skyrocket.
Here are just some of the costs you could encounter as a smoker:

The above figures demonstrate how the average smoker could easily pay $8,300 in one year as a result of their habit. But let’s not forget tax. The cigarette tax imposed varies drastically from state to state, but in California, for instance, the tax is only $0.87 while in New York, the tax jumps drastically to $4.35 along with an additional $1.50 municipal tax. This means New York residents could spend $2,106 per year in cigarette taxes alone.

Dropping the Habit Could Help You Save Money

Americans could easily save thousands of dollars every year in cigarettes and other related costs. Here are just a few ways that this money could be used in more productive ways:

• Savings: With the money you’re not spending on cigarettes, you could open a high-interest savings account, money market account or CD to not only store your savings but grow them as well.
• Investments: If you want to take that growth to the next step, investments like stocks, bonds and mutual funds are great ways to earn a higher return.
• Retirement: Did you know the average American will have to retire on $190 a month at the current retirement savings rate? You could always add the money you spend on smoking to your 401(k) or IRA account instead.
• Paying down debt: Another great way to make use of the money is to pay down your debt. Whether you’re reducing your credit card debt, paying off a car loan or paying off a collection account, you would have plenty of money to manage your debt.
• College savings: If you want to start saving for your child’s education, you could use money left over from dropping the habit to do so.

In addition to helping you save money, dropping the habit could also save your job. According to research from the Society for Human Resource Management, 1 percent of companies have chosen to steer clear from hiring smokers.
Further, as reported by MSN, Weyco, a medical-benefits administrator in Michigan that was opposed to employing smokers, fired four employees who would not submit a breath test. Employees with the company who do smoke are charged $80 per-month if their test isn’t clean.

The Cost of Quitting Isn’t So Cheap

Hopefully, the health risks associated with cigarette smoking (including lung cancer, nicotine addiction, heart attack, stroke, emphysema, COPD and pancreatic cancer, to name a few) are enough reason to quit smoking. If that isn’t a motivator, though, the cigarette cost itself should do the trick.
If you have decided that quitting the habit is for you, however, it’s good to know that you may have to use some of your smoking money to cover the cost of being weaned off of cigarettes.
According to SmokeFreedom.net, the cost of quitting cigarettes could vary significantly depending on your method. For instance, if you try the patch, you might pay $200 over a six-week period. However, if you use a nicotine inhaler for up to six months, the cost could average $3,100.
Of course, you could also try the cold turkey route, which means you simply stop buying and smoking cigarettes. For some, it’s just that easy and for others, assistance is necessary.
Most people try different methods of quitting cigarettes have to quit a couple of times before they actually kick the habit for good. So, if you’ve already broken down and lit up in 2011, don’t give up. Resolve to quit again in the coming weeks and this time, think about the money you’re saving.

New Zealand plans logo-free cigarette packs

Strict against smoking already, New Zealand plans to make tobacco companies remove their logos from cigarette packs but will wait until a challenge to a similar Australian law is resolved.
The packaging law "will remove the last remaining vestige of glamor from these deadly products," Associate Minister of Health Tariana Turia said in announcing the plan Tuesday.
New Zealand already has increased cigarette taxes and makes retailers hide packs below the counter. The new legislation would follow an Australian law that took effect in December and replaced logos on packs with graphic warnings including cancer-riddled mouths.

The story of John Rolfe and tobacco

In American history, Virginia, occupy an important position. In 1607, the United Kingdom in the state's Jamestown to establish the first one of the settlements in North America. Not only that, the state also was born to Washington, founding president of the United States as the representative of 8 president known as the "president of the township". It can be said that Virginia U.S.. However, little is known about 400 years ago, one named John Rolfe, the British tobacco Virginia economy has pulled back from the brink of recession. In June 1609, in the voyage from England to colonial Virginia, John Rolfe, a paradise island in an unscheduled extremely important stopover.

 Lasted four days the storm battered many vessels, Rolf and his wife, Sarah traveled on the ship aground on an island of Bermuda. In the second year, when the construction of approximately 100 persons in distress, "patience" and the "rescued" two new ships in order to complete the remainder of the voyage to Jamestown, Sarah gave birth to the daughter of Rolf - Bermuda. In May 1610, Rolf arrived in London, James, his wife and daughter died on the way, unfortunately. A few years later, his own plantation called "Bermuda 100" in honor of his daughter.

Studies show that nearly 40% of the cigarette in the U.S. state of Washington for illegal products

The Mai Kennuo Public Policy Center Michael La Feifu, said: "In essence, many government tobacco products as expensive as illegal drugs." Smuggled cigarettes on the Washington people, that is, do not need to pay $ 3.02 per pack state tax thing.

In 2010, Washington cigarette tax per pack increased $ 1, to make the state's cigarette tax to reach the fourth highest of the United States. The Washington Revenue Service Mike Geli Lao said the tax office will soon release their own smuggling cigarettes statistics, he expects the number of smuggling cigarettes approximately one-third.

What Are the Different Types of Menthol Ointment?

There are a number of types of menthol ointment. Menthol is a product that is derived from mint oil or made synthetically. It has various medicinal properties that make it a useful component of ointments. One of the most popular uses of menthol is in analgesic creams or gels used to treat pain from arthritis or other conditions. The menthol ointment is rubbed on the area of the body that is experiencing pain. Individuals often target muscle aches and strains with this type of ointment. It is important that individuals avoid using a heating pad on the areas that have menthol ointment applied, as serious complications can result. The ointment should also never be applied to damaged or cut skin. Another type of menthol ointment is decongestant ointment. Traditionally, the ointment is usually rubbed onto the chest or under the nose. This gives the feeling of clearing the nasal passages without actually doing so and allows for easier breathing. It is now believed that menthol decongestant ointment should not be used on children, especially toddlers, as it can cause complications such as respiratory infection. Adults are also now advised against applying the ointment under the nose. Menthol is also used in ointments to relieve itching skin and shampoos to ease discomfort from dry scalp and dandruff. Another use of menthol is in shaving creams. The menthol provides a pleasant cooling sensation, which makes it easier to tolerate shaving.

Tumorous cigarettes – and the rest of the year in shockvertising

What's bulbous, comically gruesome, and worth around £2.7m? The answer is not, in fact, Boris Johnson, but the government's new anti-smoking campaign, unveiled last Friday. The "hard hitting" initiative is the first graphic anti-smoking government campaign to run in the UK since images of fat-dripping cigarettes made the nation feel uneasily queasy in 2004. After an eight-year hiatus from grimagery you'd think the Department of Health bods might now have something really quite sickening up their sleeves. So what is it? Well, explains the chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies: "People will see a man smoking and then a cancer growing out of the cigarette." Um, excuse me while I am grossly underwhelmed. If Davies really thinks a CGI tumour is shocking then I hope to God she never looks at 4chan. In a world where you can watch execution videos on YouTube and torture-porn is a mainstream movie genre, it's getting increasingly difficult to shock people. And so, apart from a few of the usual suspects such as Peta, shock tactics have fallen somewhat out of favour as in advertising. As one New York Times critic yawned: "There's something hopelessly middle class about shock." But, let's face it, hopelessly middle class is what Guardian contributors do best. So here's a brief rundown of the year in shockvertising. The inevitable Photoshock fail While cigarettes lead to mutations, sugary drinks lead to amputations. At least that's according to the logic of a recent New York health department campaign about the perils of sugary soda. Illustrated with an image of an obese amputee, the blunt messaging was that binge fizzy-drinking will leave you legless. As it transpired, however, the man in the ad hadn't lost a limb to a Dr Pepper habit that had resulted in crippling type 2 diabetes. Rather, he'd lost it to Photoshop. When this was vociferously pointed out shock fizzled into sham and the campaign lost all credibility. The moral of this sad story is that the New York health department should probably hire a better ad agency. Another awful thing from People for the Erotic Treatment of Asparagus