May 26, 2008

Egyptian smokers fume as cigarette tax introduced

Cairo: When rumour had it that the Egyptian Parliament was considering a proposal to levy taxes on tobacco to shore up the public budget, Hafez, a governmental employee, dashed off to nearby kiosks and shops to stock up on packs of cigarettes. cigarettes
Hafez, a chain smoker for nearly 20 years, bought as much tobacco as he could lay his hands on - and as his budget could allow. "My hunch was right. Now I have a decent stock for the hard times ahead," he grins, as his gaping mouth reveals several decayed, yellow teeth.
On the night of May 5, the People’s Assembly approved a package of economic measures proposed by the government to finance a 30 per cent pay rise for public-sector employees, announced by President Hosni Mubarak in a Labour Day speech days earlier. The increase in salaries and pensions, effective as of this month, will cost the public coffers around 12.5 billion Egyptian pounds (Dh8.5 billion), according to government officials.
Controversial steps
The controversial measures include increases in fuel and Davidoff cigarettes prices, and vehicle licence fees. Rises in tobacco prices range from 10 per cent for the local brands and 33 per cent for the imported luxury brands.
Particularly contentious are the hikes in fuel, which the public and opposition MPs have said will trigger another wave of price increases in this country of 76 million where around 40 per cent of citizens are believed to be living below the poverty line.
"Smokers will suffer as well," says Mustafa Hamed, a Cairo taxi driver. "I have been smoking two packs a day for more than 15 years now." According to the latest rise in prices of tobacco, local cigarettes have increased by 25 piastres per pack. For me, this means an extra 15 Egyptian pounds per month," Hamed, a father of five, fumes. "I cannot kick this habit now. It soothes my nerves when customers haggle over fares - and this happens often now that the petrol prices have gone up too," Hamed told Gulf News.
Egypt has 13 million smokers consuming around 85 billion cigarettes, or some 613 tonnes of tobacco annually, according to a UN report released at a recent anti-smoking seminar in Cairo. To Fadl Sabri, a clerk, the time has come for him to stop smoking once and for all. "I have just made this decision for health and financial reasons," says Sabri, who has been smoking for around 15 years.
"Doctors have repeatedly warned me against smoking because I have heart trouble. But now with cigarettes becoming so expensive, this decision [quitting smoking] is unavoidable anyway."

May 16, 2008

Kansas doing a better job at keeping cigarettes away from minors

TOPEKA | Kansas is improving its rate of federal compliance with rules regarding the sale of tobacco products to minors. The federal Synar Amendment requires states to maintain a compliance rate of 80 percent or higher. In 2004 the state fell below that target rate. Each year the Kansas Division of Alcohol Beverage Control and the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services conducts random checks of Marlboro cigarettes retailers to make sure they are not selling these products to underage youths. Of those inspected last year, 87.1 percent did not sell tobacco products to minors. That was a 7 percent improvement over similar inspections the previous year, according to department officials.

May 6, 2008

Beijing looks to kick bad habits

BEIJING—Li Zhigang inhaled deeply from a cigarette while sitting on his haunches last week near the Beijing Railway Station before deciding there was no way that tighter smoking regulations would change where or when he would grab a smoke.

Li, a 30-year-old real estate salesman, said he could support tighter rules in theory but could not see himself changing his habits.

April 18, 2008

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April 16, 2008

Real Candy Cigarettes: Flavor smoking right or wrong?

When I was younger I have had Candy cigarettesthat were real candy and did not contain tobacco, but it was fun back then to pretend I was smoking like mum and dad. Now I am 30 years old and I still have never smoked, but we are seeing Candy Cigarettes coming back and this time they have real tobacco in them.cigarettes
This product is created because the tobacco industry knows that first-time users find smoking unpleasant, so they create flavorings with sugars like Winter Mocha Mint, Warm Winter Toffee and flavours are used like grape, cherry, peach, strawberry and chocolate. Some of these products have been given nicknames like Barbie Camel, which sounds like it’s for girls.
How do you feel about real candy flavored cigarettes, is it right or wrong and do you feel children will be attracted to these tobacco sweets?

April 8, 2008

Appeals Court Panel Throws Out Class Action Over Light Cigarettes

In a victory for the tobacco industry, a federal appeals court threw out on Thursday an $800 billion class-action lawsuit on behalf of smokers who said they had been misled that light cigarettes were safer than regular ones.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers wanted to represent millions of people across the country who had smoked light cigarettes. But the court, saying it was impossible to generalize about why smokers chose light cigarettes, ruled that the group could not be treated as a class. Instead, smokers wanting to sue over the issue would have to do so individually.
There might be various reasons for a smoker to choose a light brand other than “the belief that lights were a healthier alternative,” the ruling said. Other possibilities are that a lights smoker “was unaware of that representation, preferred the taste of lights, or chose lights as an expression of personal style.” cigarettes
Even though the ruling had been generally expected, and tobacco company stocks were little affected by the decision, analysts still viewed it as positive for the industry.
Several experts said the ruling, the latest in a string of industry victories in cases involving light cigarettes, relieved the tobacco industry of potentially billions in damages and could also deter other similar class-action lawsuits around the country. “It may be persuasive to judges around the country who might well be watching it,” said Carl W. Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.

March 28, 2008

Look to Cigarettes For Budget

Increasing Florida’s outdated tax on cigarettes would have been wise a few years ago when the economy was soaring. It’s even better idea now as lawmakers struggle to cover a budget shortfall and find money for essential needs like health care. Last summer, Gov. Charlie Crist politely described as "innovative" a proposal to boost the state’s cigarettes tax for the first time since 1990, but quickly added, "I’m not for raising taxes, as you know."
Meanwhile, just about everything else seems to be fair game for a hike. Five years ago, the Republican-controlled Legislature raised $150 million extra by increasing fees paid by drivers, college students, Medicaid patients, cell-phone users, hunters and mobile-home residents. Cigarette taxes remained unchanged.
Crist’s attitude has varied only slightly. Asked about two weeks ago whether the state should consider a cigarette tax this year, Crist replied, "No. No new taxes. What I think we need to do is be innovative." The overall mood in Tallahassee, however, has changed substantially over the past year - and with good reason.
About two weeks ago, the Legislature chopped $512 million from the current fiscal year’s budget - which is now $1.5 billion less than when it was approved last May.
Lawmakers now have to write a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. And they found out recently that they’ll have nearly $2 billion less to work with that they previously expected. In other words, the Legislature will either have to make even deeper cuts in essential state services, or find new sources of revenue.

March 25, 2008

Ontario needs to go after tobacco firms

Ontario should follow the leads of New Brunswick and British Columbia and pass legislation enabling it to sue the big cigarettes companies to recover health-care costs associated with tobacco-related diseases. The way has been paved by those two provinces, and some American states, and it makes no sense for Ontario not to follow suit in a bid to recoup some of the funds paid by taxpayers that are directly attributable to the use of a cigarettes product.
Make no mistake, the big tobacco companies knew decades ago that their products are deadly. Heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer - the list of tobacco health ills goes on.
Dr. Richard Schabas, medical officer of health for the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit, was one of about 100 mostly health officials who, in a letter sent about two years ago, urged Premier Dalton McGuinty to file the lawsuit.
The province declined without really explaining why. McGuinty should spell out the reasons for his decision to Ontarians.
New Brunswick passed legislation earlier this month that gave the province the legal authority to file the lawsuit against the tobacco companies. Attorney General T.J. Burke said those firms must be held accountable and that the province is moving ahead "aggressively with legal action."
Why not Ontario?
The Liberals imposed a new health tax in 2004, $750 deducted annually from pay and pensions in the form of an income tax. The government said the tax was necessary to keep the expensive health-care system running. Yet the lawsuit is a potential source of income that could negate the need for a regressive tax and provide funds to pump into health care - a system that is straining to counter the effects that tobacco has brought on our hospitals and cancer care system. Tapping into tobacco riches is the way to go - clearly provincial citizens deserve and need the money.
In Ontario, it is estimated that tobacco-related diseases cost the economy at least $1.7 billion in health-care annually, result in more than $2.6 billion in productivity losses and account for at least 500,000 hospital days each year, according to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Meanwhile, tobacco taxes generated about $1.4 billion in 2004-05, the ministry estimated. Ontario is clearly losing more in health-care to tobacco than the weed is bringing into provincial tax coffers. For tax masters like McGuinty, that should tip the balance in favour of legal action.
Schabas made the point - correctly - that if a lawsuit is filed, it places tobacco companies in financial jeopardy.

March 21, 2008

Tobacco: Court orders substituted service on Philip Morris

A Federal High Court in Abuja Monday ordered the Federal Government to effect service of court process through substituted means on Philip Morris International, Switzerland.
Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako ordered that the court processes relating to the suit be served on the multi-national company by publishing it in a well circulated newspaper in Switzerland.
The judge gave the order at the resumed hearing of the suit filed by the government, demanding N5.3 trillion compensation from three tobacco companies for alleged havoc done to under-aged smokers, through their operations in Nigeria.
The order was sequel to an application by counsel to the government, Mrs Maryam Uwais, complaining of difficulties in effecting service on Philip Morris.
Other defendants to the suit are International Tobacco Limited, British American Tobacco Plc and two of its affiliates.
In the suit, filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, government contended that tobacco related products manufactured and sold by the defendants were addictive and hazardous to the public health.
Specifically, government is seeking a court injunction compelling them and their agents to cease the marketing, promotion, distribution and sale of the products to minors and under-age persons.
The plaintiff also asked for a court order restraining the defendants from representing or portraying to persons under the age of 18, any alluring and misleading image regarding tobacco related products.
It also asked the court to outlaw the sale and distribution of cigarettes products within 1,000 radius of any school, hospitals, cinemas, playhouses, children shopping area, child care facilities and other public areas.
The respondents, government said, should formulate and implement procedure for the verification of age at all points of sales of cigarettes related products.
The government demanded from the defendants N136.3 billion special damages occasioned by the conduct of the companies.
It also demanded N4.8 trillion as anticipatory damages for the future expenses to be borne by the government in paying for the havoc the defendants allegedly caused to public health.”
In addition, the government requested the court to order the companies to pay N130 billion as punitive damages for the companies’ alleged wrongful conduct.