Tobacco tax makes sense

I am pleased to see that a coalition of Minnesota health and nonprofit organizations are supporting a $1.50 per pack price increase on tobacco.

We all know the tragic consequences of tobacco use, and a $1.50 price increase would really help reduce the harm that affects us all. A $1.50 per pack increase would raise nearly $400 million in the next two years, it would also encourage 28,100 adult smokers to quit.

Even better, increased tobacco prices have been shown to be the most effective way to discourage kids from starting tobacco use. Rarely does a proposal come along that contains both financial and health benefits to our state. A $1.50 increase on tobacco is the exception and definitely deserves our elected officials attention

6 Tobacco Stocks With Smoking Dividend Yields

Cigarette companies are among the top dividend payers in the consumer services industry. Many prominent investors garner safe and high returns from the tobacco business.

Although their products are subject to a tremendous amount of different types of taxes, these companies keep on making profits. (You can buy a pack of Marlboro for $1 in Ukraine, whereas the same pack costs $11 in New York City.)

Here, is a fundamental analysis of 6 tobacco companies that pay substantial dividends and sport a minimum market cap of $1 billion. I also estimated their fair value using the FED+ (Future Earnings Discounted + Equity) model. Data is derived from finviz:

British American Tobacco (BTI) is one of the largest cigarette makers around the world. The company is best known for its Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Viceroy Brands. The U.K.-based British American Tobacco was founded in 1902.

As of June 28th, the stock was trading at a P/E ratio of 18.66, and a forward P/E ratio of 19. The company offers a yield of 4.31%. Book value per share is $14.97, and analysts estimate an EPS growth of 9.3% for the next 5 years. Based on these estimates, my fair value estimate for British American Tobacco is $80. At a price of $86, the stock is slightly over-priced.

Lorillard (LO) is a very interesting company. After the courts ruled in favor of flavored cigarettes, the stock went berserk. In the following weeks, the stock retreated below $100, before bouncing back to the $110 level. It is surely not a stock for the faint hearted.

As of June 28th, the stock was trading at a P/E ratio of 15.93, and a forward P/E ratio of 13.14. Lorillard is one of the best dividend payers in the sector with a yield of 4.68%. Analysts estimate an EPS growth of 9.33% for the next 5 years. While I like the company’s yield and high-growth expectations, the company is subject to negative equity. Thus, I am not sure for how long Lorillard can keep paying dividends. My FED+ fair value estimate for Lorillard is $96, which is 13% lower than the June 28th price of $109.

Established in 1919, Virginia-based Altria Group (MO) is one of the oldest companies in the U.S. The company is best known for its Marlboro, Virginia Slims, and Parliament brands. Altria is also diversified into different business, maintaining a portfolio of leveraged and direct finance leases in transportation, as well as power generation and manufacturing equipment.

As of June 28th, the stock was trading at a P/E ratio of 13.87, and a forward P/E ratio of 12.28. The company is a nifty dividend payer with a yield of 5.68%. However, analysts have a relatively low EPS growth estimate of 6.48% for the next 5 years. Based on these values, my FED+ fair value estimate for Altria is $30. Thus, the stock is currently trading 15% below my fair value estimate.

Philip Morris (PM) is an international player in the cigarette business. While Altria does business primarily in the U.S.A, Philip Morris operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada and Latin America. Thanks to its gigantic market size, the company successfully competes with local companies throughout the globe.

As of June 28th, the stock was trading at a P/E ratio of 16.12, and a forward P/E ratio of 13. Its yield of 3.88% is not the best in the business, but its EPS growth estimate of 9.8% is one of the highest. The company is trading way above its book value of $2.19. Thus, expectations are quite high. My FED+ fair value estimate for Philip Morris is $60, which is slightly below the June 28th price of $65. However, I like Philip Morris and its exposure to emerging markets. That’s why I think it is a diversified dividend pick for the ultimate retirement portfolio.

North Carolina-based Reynolds American (RAI) was founded in 1875 in Winston-Salem. Its best known brands include Winston, Salem, Camel, and Pall Mall. Reynolds American also manages several licensed brands, including Dunhill and State Express 555.

As of June 28th, the stock was trading at a P/E ratio of 15.70, while the forward P/E ratio is expected to fall as low as 13. Reynolds American has a nifty dividend yield of 5.7%. However, similar to Altria, the 5-year annualized EPS growth estimate of 6.7% is lower than the industry average. Still, my FED+ fair value estimate for Reynolds American is $45. I think the stock is underpriced by 15%.

Vector Group Ltd (VGR) is another interesting stock to watch. Besides its tobacco business, the company engages in residential brokerage and real estate operations. The stock is highly volatile, sometimes going up and down unexpectedly on pretty high volume.

While Vector’s 8.8% dividend yield is the best in the industry, it is unlikely that the company can keep paying dividends at this rate. The balance sheet shows a negative equity of -$0.84 per share. The P/E ratio of 22.8 is also the highest among the group. Analysts estimate annualized EPS growth of 11% for the next 5 years. Based on these parameters, my FED+ fair value estimate for Vector Group is $10.27, which is much lower than the June 28th price of $17.63.

Tobacco companies fall

Shares of tobacco companies that serve the U.S. market fell Tuesday after the Food and Drug Administration said it is conducting an independent review of research on the public health impact of menthol cigarettes.

Menthol cigarettes are one of the few growth areas in the cigarette industry.

The federal agency said Monday that members of its Center for Tobacco Products will gather menthol studies and submit its review of them to an external panel next month with a report due by fall.

In March, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit public health because the minty flavoring can attract new smokers and make quitting more difficult. The Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee stopped short of recommending a ban and said the FDA should consider other factors, including whether a ban could increase counterfeiting and smuggling of cigarettes.

But Monday's news hit tobacco companies hard.

Shares of Lorillard Inc., which makes the nation's top-selling menthol cigarette, Newport, fell $1.30 to $109.89. Newport has roughly 35 percent of the U.S.market.

Altria Group Inc. shares fell 66 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $26.11 by mid-afternoon. Reynolds American Inc. shares fell 11 cents to $37.11.

Neon Trees in dispute over cigarette ads at Indonesia event

Provo-based band Neon Trees is under fire for performing at a music festival in Indonesia - because the event is sponsored by a cigarette company.
The Java Rockin'Land festival in Jakarta, set for July 22-24, is sponsored by Gudang Garam, a major producer of clove cigarettes. According to Mother Jones magazine, Martia Hefler, a public-health doctoral student in Australia, has started an online petition urging bands performing at the event -- which include Good Charlotte, 30 Seconds to Mars, the Cranberries and Happy Mondays - to protest the cigarette company's sponsorship.

The tobacco issue is particularly thorny for Neon Trees, whose members also belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (you know, the Mormons), and have spoken out publicly about their refusal to support alcohol or tobacco advertising.
Earlier this month, Hefler pestered Neon Trees drummer Elaine Bradley about the cigarette sponsorship via Twitter. Bradley tried to deflect the criticism, posting one tweet that read, "Venues and promoters overseas have sponsors of their choosing. We see no money from them. Write someone else." In another tweet, Bradley wrote, "I hear you. It's less than ideal. You can stop tweeting me about it."

"We thought the social activism of many of the bands, in particular the public stance of Neon Trees against tobacco, meant they would be horrified to learn they were part of a tobacco promotion, and would immediately take steps to remove the association," Hefler told Mother Jones. "Obviously we were wrong."

Fake cigarettes go up in smoke

Millions of fake cigarettes were destroyed in Durban on Friday, the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa said.

“Over 5 million counterfeit cigarettes bearing Philip Morris International trademarks were seized in the port of Durban in 2008,” said the institute’s Chairman Francois van der Merwe.

The Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa was assisted by the South African Revenue Service (Sars) to burn the cigarettes which bore Philip Morris International trademarks, but were not made by that company, he said.

Van der Merwe said more than R2 million in excise tax and VAT would have been lost to Sars if the cigarettes found their way into the South Africa market.

“The illicit trade in cigarettes currently comprises more than 20 percent of the total cigarette market in South Africa, which equates to approximately 6 billion illegal cigarettes per year,” he said. – Sapa

Japan Tobacco Rises as Domestic Shipments to Recover Earlier Than Planned

Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914) rose the most in almost two months in Tokyo trading after the company said it planned to resume shipments earlier than previously announced for all cigarette brands disrupted by the March 11 earthquake.
The world’s third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker by volume climbed 4.5 percent to 313,000 yen at the 3 p.m. close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, its biggest gain since May 2. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.5 percent.

Japan Tobacco will restore deliveries of all brands by July 18 instead of early August, as it had planned earlier, the company said yesterday. The 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami forced Japan Tobacco to suspend all domestic shipments for 12 days, with cigarette brands gradually returning to production after that.

“Japan Tobacco can finally move on,” Mitsuo Shimizu, an equity analyst at Cosmo Securities Co. in Tokyo, said by telephone today. “The impact from the earthquake has started to diminish.”
Domestic sales fell 38 percent to 7.2 billion cigarettes in May, the Tokyo-based company said June 10. They plunged 81 percent in April.

Ban extended on taxing Indian cigarette sales

The state will not be able to collect taxes on cigarettes sold by Indian retailers to non-Indians for another week as a judge considers a Seneca Nation bid to force the state to reconsider how it will enforce the law.

After hearing about 80 minutes of arguments, State Supreme Court Justice Donna M. Siwek on Wednesday left in force her May 10 temporary restraining order barring the collection of all taxes on reservation cigarette sales. She promised a decision in a week.

Seneca President Robert Odawi Porter said after the hearing that the nation wants the judge to order the state to “start all over” and follow state administrative procedure laws in assessing the law’s impact on the Seneca economy and jobs.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew D. Bing insisted to the judge the tax agency’s rules “would have no impact on jobs” if taxes are collected on non-Indian cigarette buyers.

The nation’s complaints about job loses are “the result of statutory choices the [State] Legislature made” and not due to the tax agency’s proposed regulatory mandates on enforcement of the law, he said.

Nation attorney Carol E. Heckman argued that the proposed regulations on enforcement of the cigarette tax law have overlooked other laws mandating that the effect of a new law on jobs and the regional economy be considered.

State tax officials “have refused to address” job impact in publishing their proposed tax collection regulations, she said.

At issue in the state and federal court fights are state estimates on the nearly $1 billion a year the state government loses on reservation cigarette sales to non-Indians. The state budget assumes Albany will finally begin collecting more than $100 million in taxes on reservation cigarette sales this year.

SEA countries bolster efforts vs cigarette use

Health officials, doctors and anti-tobacco advocates from eight Southeast Asian countries gathered here yesterday for a workshop to bolster efforts against cigarettes which kill 600,000 non-smokers in the region every year.

The workshop was focused on discussing strategies that can be used to implement Article 13 of the World Health Organization-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC). It was organized by the Thailand-based Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance.

Article 13, which pertains to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS), is a key strategy in the FCTC that has already been either signed or acceded by 172 countries, including the Philippines.

The participants came from Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Brunei, Laos, and the Philippines.

SEATCA director Bungon Ritthiphakdee said the FCTC “calls for inter-sectoral approach to tobacco control” in the wake of the tobacco industry’s aggressive and constantly changing strategies to promote cigarettes.

“This workshop will be another important platform that will strengthen our effort, our capacity and our collaboration to de-normalize the tobacco industry. Selling a product that kills its customers and causes its customers to fall ill is not a normal industry and should not be treated as one,” she said.

Ritthiphakdee said, “It is our duty toward the future generation” to stop TAPS in Southeast Asia.

“Our children and grandchildren will expect us to do our utmost to protect them from a predatory industry,” she added.
In a presentation, Dr. Susan Mercado, WHO-Western Pacific Region Office regional adviser for the Tobacco-Free Initiative, said that tobacco “is the only legal consumer product that kills half of its users when used as directed by the manufacturer.”

“The tobacco epidemic is about to get much worse. It currently kills more than six million per year (in Western Pacific) but this will increase to more than eight million in a few decades,” she said.

The use of cigarettes, which have 7,000 toxic chemicals — 70 of which are carcinogenic — is a “risk factor” for eight leading killer diseases in the world. 

These are ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, lower respiratory infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, trachea, tuberculosis, bronchus, and lung cancer.

But what is more alarming, Mercado said, is that 600,000 non-smokers die yearly from second-hand smoke in Western Pacific and 28 percent or 167,000 of them are children.

“Tobacco is a lethal and endemic product… Tobacco control is one of the most concrete practical things that a country can do to stop non-communicable deaths,” she added.

Mercado urged the public not to tolerate smokers. She warned that “there is strong and indubitable evidence to show that second-hand smoke kills” and can cause immediate damage to the DNA and is responsible for many debilitating conditions like asthma, and acute respiratory infections, especially among children.

She said that in Germany, Finland and United States, second-hand smoke is considered carcinogenic, while the United States classifies it along with arsenic, asbestos, benzene, randon and vinyl chloride as a toxic substance.

What Makes Smokers So Skinny?

If there’s one thing every smoker knows, it’s that cigarettes are terrific appetite suppressants. It doesn’t seem fair, but on average, smokers weigh less than non-smokers. Young women certainly know it. Consider the familiar image of smoking ballerinas and models--women performing in businesses where gaining two pounds can mean the loss of a job. Gymnasts, ice skaters, and other athletes have also looked to cigarettes for help with weight control. The average weight gain for women, writes researcher Cynthia Pomerleau, in her book, Life After Cigarettes, is ten pounds, with a quarter of female quitters gaining five pounds or less, and about a quarter gaining more than 15 pounds.

Is there a way to gain the benefits of this weight-loss effect, without all the lethal baggage of actually smoking? Big Pharma has been trying to bring a safe and reliable weight loss pill to market for years, and has only a string of spectacular failures to show for it—Fen-phen being one of the latest. But behavioral neuroscientist Marina Picciotto and coworkers have discovered an entirely new pathway through which nicotine influences eating. They used a mouse model to show that activating one particular subset of nicotine receptors caused the mice to eat less. What astonished the researchers was the strength of this special nicotine receptor, and its overwhelming effect on the weight of the test mice: “Their body fat dropped 15% to 20% over 30 days,” according to a commentary in Science.

Here’s what happens: Nicotine activates a chain of neuronal events that ends up releasing a hormone called melanocortin in the brain. And melanocortin inhibits feeding behavior. This was a surprise—scientists had assumed that appetite suppression was another result of nicotine’s effect on dopamine reward systems. But the new study suggests that appetite, as Sarah Williams wrote in Science, “has its own pathway.” One potentially huge hole in the study: It dealt with only male mice. Since women experience more weight fluctuation than men, Picciotto said she plans further experiments with female mice.

What does it mean? NIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow remarked that the results “indicate that medications that specifically target this pathway could alleviate nicotine withdrawal as well as reduce the risk of overeating during smoking cessation.” Picciotto thinks it may lead to a new treatment that accomplishes two things: By isolating and stimulating one particular kind of nicotine receptor, it may be possible to suppress appetite when smokers stop smoking. And a drug that stimulates only the targeted subset of nicotine receptors might lead to a safe and effective weight loss drug—the Holy Grail of the weight loss community

FDA To Unveil Final Warning Selections for Cigarettes

On June 21, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will unveil the final graphic health warnings chosen to appear on every pack of cigarettes sold and on all cigarette advertising in the United States. This represents the most significant change to cigarette labels in more than a quarter century and will affect everything from packaging to advertising. The labels combine graphic imagery with straightforward facts to make the message clear: smoking can kill you.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) requires that cigarette packages and advertisements have larger and more visible graphic health warnings. FDA issued a proposed rule, “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements,” that will modify the required warnings that appear on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements. These new required warnings would consist of nine new textual warning statements accompanied by color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking.

The Tobacco Control Act requires FDA to issue final regulations requiring these color graphics by June 22, 2011. It also specifies that the requirement for the new health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements will take effect 15 months after issuance of this final rule.

Visit the FDA’s tobacco products web page on June 21 to see the selected graphic images and text. Canada and the United Kingdom are both considering stringent and graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging.

Inmate sentenced for smuggling pot, tobacco into Whatcom County Jail

A Whatcom County Jail inmate who broke out a window in his cell to smuggle in marijuana and tobacco has been sentenced to eight months in jail.
Daniel J. Faix, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver marijuana Thursday, June 2, in Whatcom County Superior Court.
According to court documents, on March 22, jail staff received reports of a broken second-floor window in a cell that overlooks Prospect Street. A makeshift rope made from torn and knotted bed sheets was found in a nearby garbage can. When searched, Faix was found with tobacco.
Investigators interviewed inmates from the unit where the window was broken, and one said he heard Faix say he was "going to make something happen." The same inmate heard a window break at about 9:30 p.m. March 21.
Investigators listened to recorded calls that Faix made from the jail before the window was broken and heard him talking to Nicholas Faix, 21, and Stephanie Wheatley, 24, about plans to get marijuana and tobacco to him in the jail.
Nicholas Faix and Wheatley also were charged with conspiracy to deliver marijuana, but their cases were dismissed.

Gainesville Takes Stand Against Tobacco Usage in Public Places

What if the person who himself loves to smoke, is appointed as the head of the body that is to enforce the city’s anti-smoking ordinance. It seems to be a little startling but it has actually happened. Christopher Plateros, who himself has been a smoker since he was in high school has now been appointed as the head of a group that would enforce this city’s anti-smoking ordinance. It is very rightly said that the duty comes first. Christopher even considering his duty at forefront, quitted his habit of smoking.

Christopher even says that it was very hard for him to implement healthy initiatives while he himself continued smoking. The city government for now has moved on to strictly to implement the ordinance No. 2009-054 that not only bans smoking in the public buildings, churches, commercial establishments and stores but also at the same time it bans smoking within a radius of 100 meters from the public places.

For now, the city, Gainesville is all set to be deemed as a Smoke-Free Zone with consistent efforts being made by the anti-smoking body to ban the smoking in the city. Besides Gainesville there are other 41 cities and 10 counties that have made their policies and laws to strictly ban the tobacco usage in the parks and the other public places, as stated by the Department of Health.

What does tobacco have to do with gay pride?

A Capitol Hill-based gay health organization, Gay City, made headlines recently for spearheading a new requirement for Seattle PrideFest registrants. The requirement mandates that all vendors (including local non-profits) submit tobacco control policies in order to complete PrideFest registration. This left many organizations scrambling to make sense of why and what they were being asked (or, as some say, forced) to do. It seemed the “nanny-state” of public health was at it again and Gay City was to blame.

Admittedly, people don’t appreciate being told what to do—especially LGBT people who fight daily battles just to be themselves. Personal freedom is a quality that resonates with many LGBT people and allies. Unfortunately, the freedom to smoke is often wrapped up in that same sentiment. I say unfortunately because this is an argument that is neither innate nor beneficial to LGBT people.

The tobacco industry has capitalized and exploited LGBT people’s sense of personal freedom for decades—as evidenced by internal industry documents. Because of industry marketing that targets LGBT communities (through sponsorship of Pride events, funding for LGBT community organizations, and ads in LGBT publications), LGBT people smoke and die at alarming rates. In fact, more LGBT people die from tobacco than from alcohol, drugs, AIDS, gay bashings, and suicides COMBINED. And, as evidence from a 2009 National Cancer Institute report, the tobacco industry is to blame. The direct link from targeted marketing to higher tobacco use is no longer theory. Irrefutable evidence demonstrates a causal relationship.

Not only do more LGBTs start smoking compared to our straight counterparts, we also have a harder time quitting. In general, most smokers want to quit, over half try to quit each year, but only 5% of them succeed. To be fair, recent research shows that LGBT smokers want to quit just as much as straight smokers… and they try as often, too. But, compared to straight smokers, LGBTs are only half as likely to succeed at quitting. Why? Because nicotine is highly addictive and because the tobacco industry targets LGBT people. With those numbers, it’s hard to believe that smoking is really a personal choice.

Consider this: LGBT people smoke and die more from tobacco related illnesses than any other population in the U.S. Recent CDC data reveals that over 70% of queer youth have smoked, and data consistently suggests that 50% or more of LGBT adults continue to smoke. Why is this alarming? Because half of all adult smokers will die early from a tobacco-related disease. That means a quarter of the LGBT community will be eliminated because of tobacco. Even more will suffer from a nonlethal tobacco related illness. LGBT people don’t choose to smoke and die more, we do it because the tobacco industry exploits us. That is nothing short of genocide.

Tobacco commission extends deadline to August

In June the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission will make payments on 46,000 Phase I flue-cured and burley quota owner and producer claims totaling over $9.5 million.

The commission has extended the final deadline for 2011 Phase I Verification Forms and Applications for Payment to Aug. 5.

Completed and signed forms must be postmarked no later than Aug. 5 to be eligible for payment under the 2011 Phase I Program.

Claims postmarked later may not receive payment under this year's program.

Claimants who submit a Verification for Payment form or Application for Payment by the deadline will be paid in the second round of payments in September.

Since 2000, the commission has made available $298.6 million to Virginia's tobacco producers and quota owners.

In 2010, the commission announced that it is nearing the end of its indemnification obligation.

The 2012 payment is expected to be the final distribution of Phase I indemnification funds.

At that time, the commission will have satisfied its statutory obligation to indemnify burley and flue-cured producers and quota owners.

7 Electronic Cigarettes is Looking for Quality Distributors!

From consistency, reliability, and packaging, SS Choice’s LLC No. 7 Premium E-Cigarette has quickly become the most sought after e-cig brand in the electronic cigarette industry. The company currently sells domestically and internationally to wholesalers, online through a retail site, as well as to convenience stores, mini-markets, gas stations, bars, nightclubs, and casinos.

With the increase of smoking bans to include cities such as New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles, the No. 7 electronic cigarette has become a very popular option to smokers everywhere. Since E-cigs contain water vapor, not tobacco, they can be smoked in many areas where normal smoking bans are in place like bars, restaurants, airports and offices.

No. 7 Premium E-Cigarettes provides distributors with an array of products that will satisfy even the heaviest of smokers. They offer the #1 selling “500″ disposable electronic, good for 500 puffs, as well as a variety of rechargeable kits and accessories for the e-smoker wanting to make a long-term investment.

Located in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, No. 7 Premium E-Cigarettes delivers products quickly and efficiently to distributors of all sizes worldwide. They also offer numerous Point of Sale materials, including tiered acrylic displays, posters, and stickers.

In addition to the growth based on the convenience and benefits, more sales records are expected since the FDA made a recent decision to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products and not a drug delivery device. Kyle Newton, President of SS Choice LLC states, “The current climate of the industry demands that smokers do have a readily available and high quality electronic cigarette within easy reach of smokers looking for options other than traditional cigarettes and chewing tobaccos.”

No. 7 Premium E-Cigarettes have become the most recognizable luxury brand in the industry. With increased popularity in the electronic cigarette, No. 7 provides exceptional customer support and proficient delivery of product. The company works diligently to ensure they have the widest variety of the best luxury electronic cigarette products on the market.

NH Senate rejects bill cutting cigarette tax

It doesn't look like smokers will be getting a break on New Hampshire's tax on cigarettes anytime soon.
The state Senate killed a bill Thursday that would have dropped the tax rate a dime to $1.68 per pack.

It was the second time the Senate turned aside an attempt by the House to cut the tax. Earlier this session, the Senate tabled a House bill that would have cut the tax. The House then added the tax cut to a Senate bill and sent it back.

Supporters argued Thursday it would help New Hampshire businesses, particularly along the border.

Opponents said tobacco dealers, not smokers would pocket any savings.

The Senate voted 13-11 to kill the bill.

E-Cigarette Users Battle Smoking Ban

Ga. -- A proposed smoking ban in DeKalb County plan is finding opposition from an unlikely group -- some non-smokers.
A growing number of people have begun using electronic cigarettes as a way to kick the tobacco smoking habit. E-Cigarettes use a battery to heat up a nicotine-laced liquid. Users inhale the vapor, and exhale a water vapor that they claim is harmless to the environment and other people nearby.
Greg Hester first tried e-cigarettes two years ago, his last effort to kick a 21-year smoking habit.
"After four days, I had one final cigarette and I was halfway through it and I said, ‘I’m not enjoying this. I like the e-cigarette more,’ so I put that one out. They have completely turned my life around, to be honest," Hester told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas.
But DeKalb County's District Health Director isn't convinced there aren’t harmful long term side-effects to the relatively new device. Dr. S. Elizabeth Ford has included the e-cigarettes in her plan to tighten DeKalb County's smoking ban.
"Right now there is no scientific evidence to speak to their safety," Ford said. "The other piece is that many of them contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, so while it may not be a tobacco issue, it's certainly an addiction issue."
DeKalb’s current ordinance allows smoking at free-standing bars, adult entertainment businesses and outdoor venues, including parks. The proposal would ban smoking at all those places, plus playgrounds, entrances and exits to buildings and even lines at ATMs. The plan also decreases the number of rooms hotels can designate for smoking from 25 percent to 10 percent.
Health leaders said eliminating smoking in public places is a proven way to cut down on the number of tobacco related illnesses and deaths. Ford said e-cigarettes are a logical extension of the ban.
"We were sort of on the fence at first, but the more we've learned about them, the more uncomfortable we are about allowing them to move forward," she said.
But as Hester puffed his e-cigarette in a local park Thursday, he said he's not worried at all about any health risks.
"People ask me that and my answer to that is, ‘as opposed to cigarettes?’ Because I would still be smoking if it weren't for these," he said.
Hester said e-cigarette users, also known as vapors, and smokers shouldn't be lumped into the same category.
"I think it's based on a knee jerk reaction that they still think it's smoking. I consider myself and most vapors consider ourselves non-smokers, since we are not smoking. Why put us out with the smokers?" Hester said.
The DeKalb County Board of Health has approved the plan. It is now in the hands of the Board of Commissioners for a final decision.

Religious Leaders Call a Strike On Tobacco

Religious leaders are hoping to hit a home run in a campaign to get Major League Baseball players to ban tobacco use on fields and dugouts of the national pastime.
More than two dozen members of the coalition group Faith United Against Tobacco wrote May 30 to Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, focusing on the hazards of smokeless tobacco.
“What players do on their own time is their business, but what they do when they are in uniform and on camera is all of ours, especially considering what’s at stake,” wrote the leaders, citing increased use of smokeless tobacco by high school boys, and players who have been sickened or killed after dipping or chewing tobacco.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has proposed that smokeless tobacco be banned just as it has been in the minor leagues; the proposed ban has already drawn support from politicians and medical groups.
Weiner has said the issue would be part of collective bargaining talks this year, but has called smokeless tobacco a legal substance that does not have the secondary health risks of cigarette smoke.
Leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations see baseball players’ role-model status as the biggest risk for young people.
“When the cameras are rolling and they zoom in on a player, the last thing we want our kids to see is a big wad of chewing tobacco in his cheek or under his lip, as if he’s an advertising spokesman for deadly tobacco,” said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Tobacco-control focus should shift to the black market

In her Opinion piece in The Gazette May 31 ("Smoking: no to complacency"), Flory Doucas ignores the unintended consequences of failed "good" policies given the emergence of a thriving black market. A closer look at the situation reveals a reality much different than the one described by Doucas. In fact, here's what we see:

--Provincial governments, with inexplicable disregard for basic market principles, pushing tobacco taxes well past the tipping point, and creating attractive blackmarket conditions for plastic bags of 200 low-priced, untaxed, illegal cigarettes that often sell for as little as one-tenth the price of legal cigarettes.

--Scaremongering anti-to-bacco lobbyists warning of the dangers of Big Tobacco's covert marketing activities even though display and promotional bans have been in place for almost 10 years in some provinces. (Please seriously ask yourself: when was the last time you actually saw a legal tobacco product openly displayed in a retail store?)

--Local health units' sending dressed-up teenage "mystery shoppers" to test and entrap clerks in law-abiding neighbourhood convenient stores, while turning a blind eye to the hundreds of "smoke shacks" where promotions such as free hockey tickets are advertised to consumers.

--The federal government stubbornly spending six years and millions of taxpayer dollars on developing an outmoded and impractical excise-stamp system designed to differentiate legal from illegal products, when everyone knows that the illegal products, being sold in transparent plastic bags, are easily identifiable.

--Health Canada's proposing new regulations to increase the size of the graphic health warning to 75 per cent, from 50 per cent, on legal cigarette packs, when the ubiquitous illegal products, which make up nearly half of all cigarettes in some markets, carry no health warning at all.

--Law enforcement's seizing thousands of illegal cigarettes every week while conceding that billions more are trafficked off First Nations reserves throughout the country by more than 175 organizedcrime groups, with shipments frequently finding their way into the hands of children.

I know that many readers will not agree with our views on this situation. Some will probably accuse us of trying to deflect attention from our own troubles. Others may even suggest that government needs to address both the legal and illegal markets. Fair enough. But does anyone truly believe that the nation's policy-makers have meaningful solutions to the new tobacco reality of today? Does anyone believe that governments have the political will to address publicly the source of the problem: the more than 50 illegal factories and more than 300 smoke shacks on First Nations land? Unfortunately, we remain doubtful, and without action these numbers will only increase in future years.

Politicians see tobacco as an easy win. They should open their eyes and see that the real tobacco problem in Canada is not the regulated and enforced legal industry, where already more than 200 laws and regulations exist, but rather the unregulated and growing illegal black market. Times have changed, and tobacco control must change, too. If not, government may succeed in handing over the tobacco trade to the underground and criminal market - a free-for-all market that is unregulated, unenforced and untaxed.

John Clayton is vice-president, corporate and regulatory affairs, Imperial Tobacco Canada.