Japan Tobacco to Pay $450 Million for Sudan Cigarette Maker

Japan Tobacco Inc. agreed to pay $450 million for a cigarette maker operating in Sudan and oil- rich South Sudan, which gained independence this month after a rebellion that lasted almost 50 years.

Haggar Cigarette & Tobacco Factory Ltd. controls 80 percent of the market in Sudan and is "well established" in the Republic of South Sudan, the Japanese company said. The deal values the maker of Bringi cigarettes at 9.9 times last year's underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, Japan Tobacco said in a statement yesterday.

Japan Tobacco, the world's third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, plans to boost overseas profit by at least 10 percent as an aging population and a higher cigarette tax weaken demand at home. Net income may expand 11 percent to 161 billion yen ($2.1 billion) this fiscal year on increased prices in Russia and other markets abroad, the Tokyo-based maker of Mild Seven, Camel and LD cigarettes said yesterday.

"This acquisition is positive because it shows the company is eager to grow overseas," said Mikihiko Yamato, a Tokyo-based analyst at Japan Invest KK. "The company prefers making acquisitions in Asia, but it is difficult to find candidates in the region."

Japan Tobacco gained 3.7 percent in Tokyo trading to close at 350,000 yen, the highest level since Feb. 17. The stock has gained 16 percent this year, compared with a 6.4 percent drop in the broader Topix index.

Court Smokes Out Tobacco Company for Cartoon Ads

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco violated a ban on the use of cartoon advertising with its 4-page spread in the 40th anniversary issue of Rolling Stone, an Illinois appeals court ruled.
According to a 1998 settlement agreement, Reynolds is no longer allowed to use cartoons in its advertisements, as it did for many years in the promotion of its Camel cigarettes.
In 2006, Reynolds unveiled its "Camel Farm" promotion, a partnership with independent record companies.
"The Farm Free Range Music" was the title of the four-page ad in the Nov. 14, 2007, issue of Rolling Stone. It included images of a flying radio and speakers growing like flowers out of the ground.
Illinois protested in court that Reynolds' ads in Rolling Stone, its website and a live concert violated the cartoon ban.
The state also complained that Reynolds should have told Rolling Stone not to use cartoons in a five-page editorial section on independent music, right beside the Camel Farm ad.
Though the trial court ruled in favor of Reynolds, stating that the ads did not portray the powers of a superhero, Illinois prevailed in the Chicago-based First District Illinois Court of Appeals.
"An eagle flying with a hand protruding from a picture frame clutched in the eagle's claws is 'unnatural' because it varies from what is normal or expected," Judge David Sterba wrote for the court.
"Moreover, the images of radios, speakers and a television, which have a unifying trait of emitting sound, are also 'unnatural,'" he added. "In the advertisement, radios, speakers and a television are each placed on a plant stem to resemble flowers and to be representatives of seedlings rising from the underground."
The court also ruled, however, that the images on the website and the concert did not violate the cartoon ban.
While the case must return to court for a determination of attorneys' fees, Reynolds will not have to pay a $6.5 million sanction, which Sterba wrote was properly denied by the trial court.

Illegal tobacco seized in ATO raids

The seizures come as the tobacco industry warns the Government's plain packaging laws and high excise taxes will lead to a growth in the black market - a claim rejected by public health experts.

Australia's commercial tobacco-growing industry shut down in 2006, but Australian Tax Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston says there are a few people in Sydney's west who appear intent on growing their own and selling it.

"There was an estimated amount of up to 20 tonnes seized today by the Australian Taxation Office from 12 greenhouses in Western Sydney," he said.

"Twenty tonnes would have an estimated excise value of about $5 million."

The ATO has conducted six similar raids since the industry was shut down, and Mr Cranston says it is an ongoing concern.

"We work with the community in relation to obtaining intelligence, we work very closely with law enforcement," he said.

"Today's seizure was a result of finding a particular truck that had tobacco and the operation then led us to these greenhouses.

"Other times we actually conduct aerial surveillance on properties of high risk to also look for illegally-grown tobacco."

Andrew Card elected to Lorillard board

Cigarette maker Lorillard says former White House chief of staff Andrew Card is joining the company's board of directors.

The nation's third-biggest tobacco company announced Card's election to the board on Thursday.

Card said he's eager to play a role in helping the maker of Newport and Maverick brand cigarettes responsibly achieve its long-term objectives.

CEO Murray Kessler said Card's experience in government and industry will further strengthen the Greensboro, N.C.-based company's board.

Card served President George W. Bush as chief of staff and his father, President George H.W. Bush, as deputy chief of staff and as transportation secretary. He also worked in the Reagan administration.

With the addition of Card, Lorillard's board is comprised of nine members, eight of whom are non-executive independent directors.

Canada's top court to rule on tobacco liability

Canada's Supreme Court will decide on Friday whether the federal government should be partly liable for damages, possibly amounting to many billions of dollars, stemming from lawsuits against tobacco firms.

The tobacco industry -- facing suits from several provinces seeking to recoup healthcare costs -- says that, if it loses, the government should pay at least part of the damages because Ottawa allowed and regulated the use of tobacco.

The court is scheduled to deliver its ruling at 9:45 Eastern (1345 GMT).

Ottawa is fighting a decision by an appeals court in the province of British Columbia, which ruled in 2009 that the federal government should be a co-defendant and therefore share in any liability awarded by the province's courts.

British Columbia is suing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co (RAI.N), Japan Tobacco's (2914.T) JTI-Macdonald unit, Rothmans Benson & Hedges Inc, which is partly owned by Philip Morris (PM.N), and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd, a unit of British American Tobacco (BATS.L).

Several of Canada's 10 provinces have sued or say they will sue the tobacco industry but British Columbia filed first and Canadian courts are using it as the lead case.

British Columbia declined to say how much money it was seeking in damages. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, launched a suit against the companies in 2009 seeking C$50 billion ($53 billion).

The Supreme Court will also rule in a separate but similar case in which Imperial Tobacco wants Ottawa to be liable for any damages awarded against it in suits alleging the company wrongly marketed some tobacco products as "mild" or "light".

Now, drug from tobacco plant to help fight HIV

UK regulators have approved the first clinical trial of specially designed antibodies that stop the virus passing from person to person.

At the University of Surrey Clinical Research Centre, eleven women will be treated with the topical treatment, which has been created from genetically modified tobacco plants.

It is believed that the antibodies will reduce the risk of treated women from catching the disease.

"This is a red letter day for the field," the Daily Mail quoted project researcher Professor Julian Ma, at St George's, University of London, as saying.

"The approval from the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) for us to proceed with human trials is an acknowledgement that monoclonal antibodies can be made in plants to the same quality as those made using existing conventional production systems.That is something many people did not believe could be achieved," he added.

The genetically modified tobacco plants producing antibody called P2G12 were grown in containment greenhouses at the Fraunhofer Institute in Aachen, Germany.

Commissioner concerned over tobacco money

Cleburne County Commissioner Emmett Owen said in an interview Tuesday morning that he is concerned about how tobacco tax money is being used in the county.

Owen told The Cleburne News that since its’ inception some $600-$700,000 has been collected, all of which has been used on road projects including maintenance and resurfacing.

As he sees it, the money should be going to economic development and expansion of parks and recreational programs. “I am not against the money being spent, I am just against what it is being used for,” he said.

According to Section 45-15-243.04 of the bill establishing the tobacco tax, the funds “shall be distributed to the Cleburne County General Fund to be expended for the purposes of economic development, the development of parks and other recreational programs and facilities, and for the promulgation of public health programs and facilities.”

“No where in that do I see where we need to be maintaining or resurfacing roads with that money,” Owen said.

He apparently is not the first to be concerned because the Attorney General was asked for an opinion in May 2009 “Does the provision in Section 5 of Act 2003-323 authorizing the county commission to expend the proceeds of an additional tobacco tax for economic development, among other things, authorize the county commission to expend the funds for transportation infrastructure, maintenance, and improvement?

And a second question asked, “Assuming the answer to Question 1 is yes, if the county commission opts to expend proceeds of the tobacco tax for transportation infrastructure, maintenance, and development, must the county commission identify a specific, delineated, economically sensitive development purpose for expending the funds, or may the county commission treat general transportation infrastructure, maintenance, and improvement as economic development use because such transportation infrastructure, maintenance, and improvement serves as a primary stimulus for all economic development?”

The Attorney General, Troy King at that time, responded by saying that in his opinion the act “does not specifically authorize the county commission to use the tobacco tax funds for transportation, infrastructure, maintenance, and improvement in the county” and “the term ‘economic development’ is not defined in the act, and there is no general definition of the term found in the Code of Alabama, Thus, the term must be given its commonly accepted meaning. . . .This Office has recognized that an economic development project may include transportation infrastructure, maintenance and improvement.”

The AG further states that it is his opinion “that the term ‘economic development’ includes transportation infrastructure, maintenance, and improvement” and that use of such funds “must be related to economic development.”

The opinion further states, “the act requires the county commission to find that a particular expenditure for transportation infrastructure, maintenance, or improvement serves an economic development purpose” and the commission “must make a determination that the expenditure for a particular road will serve to enhance or stimulate economic development in a specified area.”

Owen said he opposed bringing up a resolution for adoption in Monday afternoon’s commission meeting because he feels the tobacco tax money should be distributed more equally among the districts and used for what he feels should be as set out in the original law and not for road maintenance.

The resolution needed full support of the commissioners to be considered and Owen opposed it.

The resolution stated, in part, that the county has “authorization due to an Attorney General’s Opinion to apply proceeds from the existing tobacco tax to economically sensitive county road infrastructure within the county”

Owen said anyone can get an AG opinion and he feels a final decision should be left up to a judge to rule on the issue. The resolution seeks to use $100,000 of the tobacco tax proceeds in FY 2011 to improve county roads 11, 49 and 65 due to their use by heavy trucks and equipment serving the timber, construction and agriculture industries hauling timber, baby chickens, poultry, hay, livestock feed, commercial nursery plants and a winery.

“As far as I know none of the tobacco tax money has ever been spent in Districts 1 and 2 and certainly not on any new projects,” Owen added.

Owen noted that the Cleburne County Chamber of Commerce hopes to get $10,000 next year from the commission. “That is really a small amount of money and they can’t even expect much out of us while all this money is being spent on road maintenance. I don’t think it is right,” he said.

Following the commission meeting Monday night, Owen said he attended a meeting of the chamber where he also voiced his concerns over how the money is being used.

Cleburne County Commission Ex-Officio Chairman Ryan Robertson said the matter could come up for a vote at a future commission meeting.

Read more: Cleburne News - Commissioner concerned over tobacco money.

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African Americans and tobacco: It’s time to ‘butt’ out

“Big Tobacco” may be on the ropes again after a recent court ruling requiring that one company, Lorillard, pay out $152 million in a wrongful death suit. A Massachusetts court has ruled in favor of the family of Marie Evans eight years after she died from lung cancer. The case was strengthened by documents used in the trial that showed Lorillard purposely marketed its Newport cigarettes to African Americans such as Evans when they were teenagers.

Another document in the case, a Lorillard company memo stated, “the base of our business is the high school student.” Court testimony revealed Lorillard gave out sample packs of its menthol-flavored cigarettes to teenagers in minority enclaves such as Roxbury in Boston. That included giveaways outside of neighborhood middle schools. Lorillard is appealing the decision.

It’s not surprising that tobacco companies such as Lorillard gave away menthol cigarettes. According to a recent FDA report, menthol-flavored cigarettes can be more addictive. That’s because menthol acts as an anti-irritant and also masks tobacco’s unpleasant taste. That also makes the cigarettes more appealing to kids.

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Studies, such as one published in Addiction, have shown African Americans and young adults are the biggest menthol smokers. Studies also have shown menthol cigarettes are harder to give up than non-menthols. One study of 7,000 smokers recently published in Preventive Medicine showed that 62 percent of African Americans and 61 percent of Hispanics who attempted to quit smoking non-menthol cigarettes did so. Yet only 44 percent of African Americans and 48 percent of Hispanic menthol smokers could quit.

All that marketing – an explanation

According to study co-author, Dr. Cristine Delnevo, tobacco companies target minority populations when marketing menthols. So although minorities smoke at about the same rate as Caucasians, more smoke harder to quit menthol cigarettes. Dr. Delnevo also thinks that helps explain why minorities suffer higher rates of tobacco-related disease and death.

Big Tobacco is facing a possible FDA ban of all menthol cigarettes. Makers of menthols have been arguing against the ban. In March, the FDA’s own Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee failed to make a clear recommendation on the proposed ban. One reason was the tobacco company claim that a ban could lead to a black market demand for the cigarettes.

The decision is now up to the FDA. But from a sales standpoint, tobacco companies have a lot to loose. Menthols make up a third of the U.S. Market. One study showed 40 percent of menthol smokers would quit if they were banned. The National Cancer Institute estimates that by 2020, a ban would result in 17,000 fewer premature deaths and 2.3 million fewer smokers.

As Delnevo noted, minority populations suffer higher rates of tobacco-related disease and death. A recent study may help explain some of the reasons for the “survival gap” – that mistaken attitudes on lung cancer have a negative effect on survival. Published in the journal Cancer, researchers surveyed the attitudes of 1500 African Americans and whites with lung cancer, a very deadly form of cancer. It revealed that African Americans had a “mistaken, fatalistic” belief about lung cancer that may have delayed diagnosis and treatment. The African Americans in the study tended to wait until obvious lung cancer symptoms such as pain and coughing-up blood appeared. Unfortunately, a delayed diagnosis makes it more difficult to treat lung cancer successfully.

Cancer misconceptions

The study also showed that African Americans “grossly underestimated” the seriousness of lung cancer. And after diagnosis, they were more pessimistic about survival outcomes. That may have interfered with them choosing aggressive treatment. The researchers noted the African-American community needs to be educated on the actual risks of lung cancer and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.

Smoking and joints

It’s a well-established fact that smoking can cause lung cancer. What is not so well known is that smoking also contributes to the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Now a study shows that for African Americans, that is also the case. The study, published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, compared the rates of RA among never smokers with smokers. The study showed the African Americans in the study with RA were more likely to be smokers. The rate of RA was strongly related to smoking more than 10 years.

3 Food, Beverage & Tobacco Stocks Insiders Are Buying

When insiders buy shares on the open market, their companies could enjoy bullish times ahead. Corporate insiders often have the inside track on their companies' prospects, and many of them get paid largely in stock options or restricted shares. Besides, insiders probably wouldn't risk plowing too much of their own money into their own company's stock -- reducing their portfolio's diversity, and increasing its risk -- unless they thought the stock might rise.

With that in mind, I screened for companies where at least one insider made an open-market buy in the last 30 days.
When it comes to the number and total value of insider open market buys, more can be better; I've sorted this table accordingly. Insiders at Smithfield Foods made two open-market purchases worth a total of $453,000, while a Philip Morris insider spent $76,000 on a single open-market buy. Both are bullish signs, but the Smithfield Foods purchases look more promising.

Foolish takeaway
Insider buying signals that someone who should be in the know is betting that the stock will rise. You can use this list of recent insider purchases as a starting point for further research -- or a good reason to make a contrarian play.

Are these insiders right? To help you find out, the Motley Fool recently introduced a free My Watchlist feature.

Holistic Approach to Tobacco Addiction Revealed

Holistic healers have long treated patients for tobacco addiction with beneficial in-office therapies, but there has never been a good product for use between office visits that didn’t include nicotine replacement or pharmaceuticals, until now. Quit Tea LLC has partnered with Chiropractic Outfitters and K-Med Services to distribute Quit Tea, their natural stop smoking aid, to the chiropractic and acupuncture markets.

Since launching in May 2010, Quit Tea has been popular with chiropractors across the United States and Canada as a supplemental product to their holistic therapies, or as an option to recommend for tobacco addiction. Dr. Douglas Yost, a chiropractor in Shoreview Minnesota said “my patients love the flavor of Quit Tea, have had decreased cravings to smoke, and will definitely continue using the tea to help them quit smoking.”

The treatments performed by holistic healers include cold laser therapy, acupuncture, hypnosis, behavioral modification therapy, and nutrition. Quit Tea fits into this market of in-office therapies as an effective natural product that can be used in between sessions to greatly increase quitting success. Chiropractors want to be able to recommend and provide good natural products to their patients, and for smoking cessation, there are not many out there. Recently people have been turning to the holistic practices as an alternative to pharmaceutical products like Chantix, Zyban, and nicotine replacement products. These products can help, but are expensive, have many side effects, and often provide low rates of success.

There are over 49,000 chiropractors in the United States. Having chiropractors stock to resell or provide samples of Quit Tea to their patients helps create exposure and build credibility for Quit Tea as a serious smoking cessation aid. “We quickly realized there is a big opportunity in this market, which has been lacking good options” said Matthew Bucklin, president of Quit Tea LLC.

Quit Tea is available for wholesale direct to chiropractors or through our distributors Chiropractic Outfitters and K-Med Services. For more information go to http://www.quittea.com.

Quit Tea is a natural quit smoking aid that helps to relieve nicotine withdrawal symptoms, suppress appetite, improve lung function, detoxing the body, and more. Quit Tea is a product of Quit Tea LLC and has been on the market since May 2010. It is distributed and sold internationally online, and domestically in health food stores and pharmacies nationwide. Quit Tea LLC is a privately owned company based in Los Angeles, California that focuses on natural smoking cessation remedies such as herbal solutions, research, information, and behavioral modification therapy.

Authority, manufacturers to tackle illicit tobacco trade

THE Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority has signed and launched an Operations Agreement with British American Tobacco Fiji (BAT Fiji), to address the issue of illicit trade in tobacco products.

According to a statement, the deal marks "an exciting milestone for both FRCA and BAT Fiji" following the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2005.

"More importantly, it marks a significant step towards strengthening the cooperation in the fight to curb and deter any future illegal tobacco trade activities throughout Fiji and the region," the statement said.

It said globally the sale and use of illegal tobacco ù encompassing tobacco which is smuggled, counterfeit or tax-evaded ù continued to rise and present a large problem for customs and border control authorities.

Williamsville considers fining minors for possessing tobacco

Youths who smoke could face fines or community service under a proposal in Williamsville to ban the possession of tobacco products by minors.

Village trustees are scheduled to vote on the proposal Monday night. If approved, Williamsville would join communities including Springfield, Rochester and Pleasant Plains that have similar restrictions on the books.

The board’s public safety committee recommended the ordinance, which prohibits anyone under 18 years old from possessing tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco and electronic cigarettes.

Violators could be fined up to $100 the first time and up to $750 for subsequent offenses. In addition, minors may be asked to perform community service or complete a tobacco education program.

The ordinance was designed to give Williamsville police recourse when they encounter someone underage with tobacco products.

State law makes it illegal to sell tobacco products to minors, but does not provide a penalty for possession.

Trustee Scott Butterfield, chair of the public safety committee, said police brought the issue to the board’s attention.

Police Chief Richard Edwards said he’s encountered minors using tobacco products since he joined the force in 1999.

“It’s definitely gotten more prevalent here lately,” he said, though the department does not keep any records of tobacco use among minors.

“Sometimes, for example, there’s three (underage) people in a car and one person has marijuana and the other two have cigarettes. This way, we can stick something on all of them.”

Edwards said officers currently call a minor’s parents if a youth is found with tobacco products.

Butterfield said the village researched how other communities handle tobacco possession for minors and decided to base Williamsville’s proposed ordinance on Rochester’s rules.

Rochester enacted its ban in 1997. That ordinance provides for a fine of up to $25 for the first offense and a fine not to exceed $50 for a second or subsequent offense. A violator could also attend a class taught by Cpl. Jon Schwartz that demonstrates tobacco’s harmful effects on the body, according to Rochester Police Chief Bill Marasss.

Pleasant Plains charges the same fine amounts as Rochester.

In Springfield, minors who are cited for possessing tobacco face a minimum fine of $300.

Both Butterfield and Edwards said police won’t seek out ordinance offenders.

“It is something to help steer the kids away from (tobacco use) and let them know the dangers of it,” Butterfield said.

Edwards said the ordinance would be another way for police to discourage youths from engaging in illegal activities. He said the ordinance would also give officers some discretion in giving penalties.

“It’s not something we’re trying to make money off of. It’s just something to help track the tobacco program and let parents know this is what your kids are doing,” Edwards said.

Tobacco Tax Increase Would Save Lives, Money

Texas' current cigarette tax of about one-dollar-40-cents is not far behind the national average, but it lags behind the highest tax in the U.S. which is in New York at four-dollars-35-cents. Hansen says increasing the tobacco tax by one-dollar would also stop 150-thousand Texas kids from starting smoking and save more than 48-million-dollars in lung, heart and stroke-related health care costs.

County health agency funding anti-tobacco youth groups

Over the past few years, teenagers from across the San Gabriel Valley have been lobbying their cities for tougher regulations on tobacco sales.
They've formed groups such as Azusa Youth Against Smoking, Glendora Youth Against Smoking and the Alliance to Keep Youth Tobacco Free.

They attend city council meetings - presenting studies about tobacco sales to minors and pleading council members to help keep tobacco products away from children.

They put together Facebook pages, go to community events and set up booths, pass out fliers and survey residents on how they feel about youth access to tobacco.

If these groups seem like the outgrowth of a grass-roots effort against tobacco use, they aren't. And some city officials worry they are exaggerating their findings.

All of the community groups are funded by grants from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health's Tobacco Control and Prevention Program.

Linda Aragon, director of the program, said the grants of $100,000 per year are made available through Proposition 99, a tobacco tax enacted in 1988.

The goal is to convince city councils to pass ordinances requiring businesses that sell tobacco to have special licenses that cost a fee. The money col lected from the fees would be used pay for more police enforcement against stores that sell tobacco to kids under 18.

"In terms of addressing youth access to tobacco, we have eight community-based organizations working on this issue," Aragon said. "If there's not a local coalition, they develop a local coalition to address the issue."
In the San Gabriel Valley, two organizations are largely responsible for that effort.

The Search to Involve Pili pino Americans, a Fili pino- American advocacy orga nization, helped put together the Alliance to Keep Youth Tobacco Free, which operates in El Monte and West Covina. Dakota Communications, a Los Angeles-based public rela tions firm, organized the Azusa Youth Against Smoking and the Glendora Youth Against Smoking.

Aragon said she believes the "community-based" approach is more effective than if the Department of Pub lic Health were to issue adviso ries and recommendations to local cities.

"Their community is coming up to them and showing there is an alarming problem," she said. "I think it's a way to engage the community."

Fran Delach, city manager of Azusa, which has been targeted by the program, isn't so sure. He said city officials were never told Azusa Youth Against Smoking was backed by a county department.

"This mercenary-type tactic that was being used was, I think, wrong," he said. "It's not a problem that the issue be brought forward. I just think the whole way it was done was in poor taste or in poor ethics." Diego Gomez, a community organizer with the Azusa group, said he's not sure why city officials didn't make the connection.

"That's the first thing we say. On all the paperwork we have, it says we are funded by Prop. 99," he said.

Delach also had a problem with an undercover operation the group conducted that showed 44 percent of Azusa retailers were willing to sell tobacco products to minors - the highest percentage among surveyed San Gabriel Valley cit ies. The next highest city was Glendora, where 34 percent of retailers were willing to sell tobacco to minors, according to the organization's surveys. The figure in West Covina came in at 28 percent and in El Monte it was 20 percent.

But Delach didn't trust those figures. So he asked the Police Department to conduct its own study. Its findings were sub stantially lower.

"I believe it was around 20 percent," Delach said. "It was a huge difference. When the dust all settled, we don't think the problem was nearly as serious as the group claimed."

Even so, the community group's presentations to the Azusa City Council might just be working. They've swayed Mayor Joe Rocha. He said he supports the idea of requiring a $50 license to sell tobacco products in the city.

"They are people and kids who I know and trust who came forward with that infor mation," he said. "They found an uncomfortable percentage of retailers selling to minors."

Another mayor who may be coming around is Andre Quintero of El Monte. He said he's met with members of the Alliance to Keep Youth Tobacco Free and found some of their evidence compelling.

"All I know for sure is that the American Cancer Society has determined we're F-rated when it comes to tobacco poli cies," he said. Doug Tessitor, mayor of Glendora, wasn't familiar with Glendora Youth Against Smoking, despite their lobbying efforts. He said he didn't quite see the point of what they're doing.

"I think it's admirable that youth are trying to address this 'problem' - if it is a problem," he said. "Even 20 percent is too high, but I don't know why adding additional laws would change that significantly. If that isn't being enforced what makes them think this would be?"

Aragon said many cities have successfully adopted licensing for tobacco sales. In Burbank, sales to minors dropped from 26 to 4 percent after licenses were required, she said.

6 million may die of tobacco epidemic in 2011

A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) has suggested that the tobacco epidemic is likely to kill nearly six million people this year. As per the report, while more than five million of them will be users or ex-users of smoked and smokeless tobacco, more than 600,000 will be passive smokers. By 2030, tobacco could kill eight million people a year, it said.

The international health agency has, therefore, urged countries to make large graphic health warnings mandatory on tobacco packaging. According to WHO, which recommends the warnings among its six demand-reduction measures, the pictorial depictions have proven to discourage tobacco use.

“Large, graphic health warnings of the sort pioneered by Uruguay, Canada and a handful of other countries are an effective means of reducing tobacco’s appeal,” said Dr Douglas Bettche, Director of WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative.
After much struggle, India recently notified stricter pictorial warnings for tobacco products which will come to effect from December 1, 2011. “We are serious about the issue. The new findings of the WHO further ascertain that we are moving in the right direction,” said a senior official in the Union Health Ministry.

“Over one billion people in 19 countries are now covered by laws requiring large, graphic health warnings on packages of tobacco, nearly double the numbers two years ago,” said the WHO report, discussing the progress of tobacco control measures worldwide.

“We urge all countries to follow the best practices for reducing tobacco consumption and to become party to, and fully implement, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control,” says WHO Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, Dr Ala Alwan.

Iceland's cigarettes-on-prescription plan needs to be stubbed out

So apparently an Icelandic health minister is planning to make the sale of cigarettes illegal, and only allow smokers to procure their poison after being prescribed them by doctors. It probably won't happen, but this is the kind of story that punches above its weight, for it allows the health advocates and the libertarians to get into a massive argument, with the arguments generating plenty of heat (or should that be smoke?) but little light. Which is a shame, really, because each side has much to commend itself. The only problem is that they won't listen to each other.

Those who have seen my previous writings on smoking-related issues will know where I stand: outside, shivering and coughing with the smokers. Strangely enough, it was not always thus. But there is something about being told what to do that rankles, and when news of the forthcoming smoking ban was announced, I took up the habit again just so I could have a few more months of sitting in a smoke-filled pub. Four years later, I have yet to stop again.

Which is, of course, bad for me, but not, I think, bad of me. Others would insist that it is indeed very bad of me, what with all the proven data about secondhand smoke; but I am not sure that the data convinces me. This kind of thing can be cherry-picked, and you can say that smoking contributes far more in taxation than it costs society, or exactly the opposite, depending on how you massage the figures.

I have seen the human cost of smoking at first hand. No longer do I think it witty to quote Frederick the Great's exasperated cry to his retreating troops, "Dogs! Would you live for ever?" I have seen the most ghastly effects of cancer and do not need to be reminded that they exist.

But these are not automatic, and everyone can now make an informed choice, or a more informed choice than they used to. (Although I concede that at the age when many people start, they are unlikely to be in a position where they can make informed choices. This is why people drive slower and slower as they get older. The dangerous consequences of driving faster become more vivid to them.)

And surely capitalist, neoliberal governments are now cold-hearted enough to make an actuarial assessment of the dangers of the habit? If it takes, on average, seven years off your life (and, as a character of Martin Amis's novel The Pregnant Widow puts it, these seven years aren't the really cool ones between 28 and 35), then that is seven years' healthcare, pension and free bus rides the state no longer has to worry about. (And, unless I give up soon, I will be sparing my children the crippling burden of the care home.) Moreover, there is the matter of enormous tax revenue to take into account.

No, the problem is that there are simply some people – no, many people – who do not like the idea of people smoking at all, and the impression one gets that if it were not smoking which were the issue here, it would be something else with them, like eating chocolate, or masturbating, or some other common but unedifying pleasure. I once asked a doctor at a party whether she would still seek to ban the habit even if there were an almost costless one-a-day pill one could take which would negate every single adverse side-effect. I was much struck by the speed with which she said "yes". I was going to ask "why?" but saw a look in her face which made me think better of it. How, I wondered, could someone so notionally in favour of good health look so frighteningly toxic?

Roll-your-own cigarette shops popping up in region

Tom Maier smoked Winston cigarettes for 40 years.

Now in his 60s, he has decided to start rolling his own cigarettes at Cheap Smokes in White Center to save money. He said he didn't think he'd like the taste. But, it "turns out I like these better."

Maier sits on a stool catching his smokes in a plastic tub as they fly out of a slot at the bottom of the 600-pound maroon machine that hums and bangs like a beat-up washing machine.

He comes in once a week, adds loose tobacco to the top of the machine, adds 200 empty, filtered tubes and pushes a button. Eight minutes later, he has a carton of cigarettes at about half the cost he used to pay at a gas station.

"They're smoother and have no additives," Maier said. "Besides, the machine does it for me."

Health officials are concerned that the cheap cigarettes make smoking more available to those who usually would not be able to afford it. And the federal government is questioning the legality of the shops by arguing they are manufacturers.

But health concerns and a federal-court case aren't keeping the customers away. More than 30 shops with roll-your-own (RYO) machines have opened in the greater Seattle area in the last year, local shop owner Joe Baba said.

Shops popping up

The machines took a couple of years to gain popularity in Washington. Phil Accordino, president of RYO Machine Rental, said the Ohio company has 1,000 machines in 35 states.

"Retailers have been putting electric machines in their stores since the '90s for customers to use for a fee," Accordino said. His company started making the machines, which cost $32,500, in 2008. "Our machine is still very, very slow. If we've replaced the horse and buggy, we've replaced it with a Model T, not a Ferrari."

RYO shops made it to Washington when Baba was looking to buy a business in the spring of last year. He came across the machines online and decided to give it a shot. He opened Washington's first RYO store, Tobacco Joes, a year ago in Everett. He now has more than 400 repeat customers and two RYO machines.

Clint Hedin, owner of Cheap Smokes, did his own research and saw Baba's success. A nonsmoker, Hedin still saw the business potential. He's the only employee right now, but he said he has seen a steady increase in business and wants to hire five employees eventually.

Now, there are shops in Port Orchard, Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Fife, Graham, Arlington, Monroe and Renton, and the list goes on. Baba licensed the name "Tobacco Joes" to other stores, but he owns only the one in Everett.

The tobacco and tubes for 200 smokes and machine rental costs about $34. The state tax for pre-manufactured cigarettes was increased by a dollar to $3.025 last year, making a store-bought pack of 20 cigarettes cost around $8 and a carton around $70.

The machine presses the tobacco into a round log. A rod pushes that log of tobacco into a paper tube. The smokes are the same length as cigarettes but a little wider.

Hedin said his average customer is a 42-year-old male. Baba said his customers are usually 40 or older and blue-collar workers.

"This service that is provided by this machine and the stores that own them is catering to current smokers," Baba said. "I don't know of any customers in my store after a full year that started smoking because of the machines."