Advisers question American Tobacco Trail expenses

A member of a key advisory board says Durham officials need to look harder at why the bids for an extension of the American Tobacco Trail came in about 38 percent higher than expected.

The $2.1 million overrun “indicates the possibility of a serious error in judgment” by the engineers who designed the project and the city staffers who worked with them, said Toby Berla, a member of the Durham Open Space and Trails Commission.

Berla told fellow commission members last week that an architect and engineer he’d spoken to about the project were “not at all surprised” that the trail extension and its associated bridge over Interstate 40 had come in as high as they did.

“I don’t mean to start pointing fingers in the middle of a crisis, but I also don’t think we can just look the other way and pretend that nothing went wrong,” Berla said in an email to his colleague. “A $2 million underestimate on a project of this scope is huge, and demands a clear explanation of what went wrong.”

Berla’s comments came as he and other members of the trails commission — one of two advisory panels involved in the matter — began weighing their response to the city’s plan for covering the overrun.

Administrators intend to raise additional monies by draining construction reserves for four sidewalk-and-bicycle-lane projects in other parts of the city.

All told, they’re looking to push the trail’s construction budget up to $9.6 million, enough to cover the overrun plus a generous contingency. The trail is a 22-mile path for cyclists and pedestrians from just south of the West Point on the Eno city park in Durham to the Jordan Lake game lands in Wake County.

The prospect of taking construction money away from the sidewalk projects troubled some commission members, among them the panel’s new chairman, Duke University professor Will Wilson.

“The thing is, it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Wilson, who is among a slate of candidates vying for an appointment to a vacant County Commissioners seat. “We just don’t know what to think right now.”

Wilson’s emails to other commission members indicated he was especially bothered because one of the sidewalk projects targets a stretch of Hillandale Road he considers a danger to bicyclists.

But he and Berla both indicated that the trails commission could come down in favor of keeping the Tobacco Trail on track, despite members’ qualms.

Completion of the American Tobacco Trail has been a high priority for the commission and other pedestrian-and-bike advocates for years.

Read more: The Herald-Sun - Advisers question American Tobacco Trail expenses

Popularity of smokeless tobacco on the rise

We were discussing teenagers, and my patient's mother shared how lucky she felt to have a teenage son who was a fine student and gifted athlete who never got into trouble. In fact, the young man not only had no bad habits, but he also tried hard to be a good role model for his teammates. His most recent efforts involved discouraging the other boys from using chewing tobacco.
While older men once were the main users of smokeless tobacco products, the addiction referral organization Teen Drug Abuse notes that young men and teenage boys now make up 92 percent of smokeless tobacco consumers. Smokeless tobacco use among boys is on the rise, with 15 percent of U.S. high school boys admitting current use. Smokeless products also tend to attract kids even before their teen years, with an average start age of 12 years for smokeless tobacco use compared to 14 years for cigarette smoking.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that chewing tobacco and snuff are the two most popular smokeless tobacco products in the United States. Users typically put the tobacco between cheek and gum, suck or chew the product, and then spit out or swallow the remaining tobacco juice and saliva.
The CDC cautions that even though these tobacco products are usually not inhaled by the user, smokeless tobacco actually contains 28 known carcinogens and should never be viewed as a safe alternative to cigarettes.
Carcinogenic chemicals in smokeless tobacco include nitrosamines, which are formed during tobacco processing, along with radioactive polonium-210, an element found in tobacco fertilizer.
National Cancer Institute research shows that smokeless tobacco use causes oral, esophageal and pancreatic cancers, and has been linked to the development of precancerous white patches in the mouth (leukoplakia), gum disease and heart disease.
Experts at the NCI explain that smokeless tobacco, like all other tobacco products, contains nicotine, an addictive stimulant. Smokeless tobacco use can therefore lead to nicotine addiction and dependence. Medical studies reveal that users of smokeless tobacco products have blood nicotine levels similar to cigarette smokers, and that these blood levels linger longer in smokeless users than in smokers.

UM campus goes tobacco free on Monday

As students back their bags with books and laptops, the University of Montana says don't bother packing your cigarettes or dip.

The UM campus goes tobacco free on Monday.

Vice President Jim Foley says the University will discourage students, faculty and staff from using tobacco products. If people do want to smoke they'll have to leave campus.

The new tobacco free campaign applies to all events at the University Griz games and tailgating included. Season ticket holders already received the tobacco free notice with their tickets in the mail.

Vice President Jim Foley says other campuses have done it and Missoula can kick the habit as well.

"But is smoking going to go on a little bit on this campus still? Of course it is but we're just going to try to educate them as best as we can, with the idea that we want to get to a place where there's no smoking on this
campus," said Foley.

Montana Tech in Butte and MSU in Billings have also gone tobacco free on their campuses as well.

NY man gets prison term for trafficking in untaxed cigarettes in Del.

A 39-year-old New York man was sentenced Tuesday to 21 months in prison for purchasing cigarettes in Delaware bearing counterfeit state tax stamps and selling them for a profit in New York City.

Eduard Ifraimov, who emigrated from Russia in 2002 and received his U.S. citizenship seven years later, was arrested April 23, 2010, on charges of trafficking in untaxed cigarettes, receipt of counterfeit cigarette tax stamps and money laundering following a two-year investigation.

The investigation was conducted by the Delaware Division of Revenue, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other law enforcement agencies.
At the time of his arrest, investigators said Ifraimov had avoided paying more than $975,000 in taxes on the cigarettes purchased.

Ifraimov was sentenced by federal Judge Sue L. Robinson to serve 21 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, said Assistant U. S. Attorney Edmond Falgowski, who prosecuted the case.

The investigation found that Ifraimov was buying large amounts of cigarettes -- taxed and untaxed -- in Delaware and transporting them to New York where they were sold avoiding the New York City and state taxes.

An ATF agent, posing as a smuggler in untaxed cigarettes, worked undercover between August 2009 and Ifraimov’s arrest, purchasing more than 23,000 cartons of cigarettes for $900,000.

Falgowski said on each carton of bond cigarettes, Ifraimov avoided paying $42.50 in taxes.

Tobacco companies sue FDA over graphic warnings

If the FDA gets its way, by Oct. 22, 2012, every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States will carry one of nine graphic, full-color, gross warnings reminding people of just how horrible smoking is for their health. The image might be a pair of healthy lungs next to a pair of blackened and diseased lungs. Or a man smoking out of a hole in his throat. Or a mouth with sores on the lips and teeth all yellowed and decayed.

But tobacco companies are fighting that plan. On Tuesday, five U.S. tobacco companies sued the federal government, saying the mandatory warnings would violate their free speech rights.

"Never before in the United States have producers of a lawful product been required to use their own packaging and advertising to convey an emotionally charged government message urging adult consumers to shun their products," the companies wrote in the complaint.

A copy of the complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, was provided to the Los Angeles Times.

The complaint also includes this line: "This is precisely the type of compelled speech the 1st Amendment prohibits."

It's a juicy issue, to be sure.

For more than 45 years, the FDA has required cigarette companies to put surgeon general warnings on all their products and advertisements. (The complaint filed Tuesday notes that the plaintiffs never challenged that requirement legally.)

But this new requirement seems to be a different can of graphic worms. The warnings will be printed on the entire top half of the cigarette packaging, on both the back and the front sides. They'll also include a phone number for a stop-smoking hot line.

It's hard to argue that the packages are meant to send the message: If you use this product, you could die. Or get a diseased mouth. Or hurt your baby.

The five companies involved in the suit are R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Tobacco Co., Commonwealth Brands Inc., Ligget Group LLC and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. Inc.

Perhaps it should be noted that Altria Group Inc., the parent company of the nation's largest cigarette maker, Philip Morris USA, is not part of the lawsuit.

In a statement, Martin L. Holton III, executive vice president and general counsel for R.J. Reynolds, said: "Rather than inform and educate, the graphic warnings include nonfactual cartoon images and controversial photographs that have been technologically manipulated to maximize an emotional response from viewers, essentially turning our cigarette packs into mini-billboards for the government’s anti-smoking message.”

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He said people should be educated on the dangers of smoking, "but this regulation completely disregards core constitutional principles."

The FDA isn't commenting on the litigation at the moment.

But in a news release from June 21, when the agency selected the nine images, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, "These labels are frank, honest and powerful depictions of the health risks of smoking and they will help encourage smokers to quit."

Smoking ban challenge lacks real merit

Delaware County's expanded ban on smoking in bars, taverns and private clubs is set to take effect on Aug. 11, despite a lawsuit filed challenging the legality of the ordinance.

The Delaware County Licensed Beverage Association, American Legion Posts 19, 167 and 446, AmVets Post 12 and Low Bob's Tobacco filed suit against the Delaware County commissioners and the county health department, seeking to have the ban declared unconstitutional.

While we're not legal experts, we think overturning the ordinance has a slim chance of success, based on similar ordinances and court decisions in other states.
Judge Linda Ralu Wolf removed herself from hearing the case because her husband is a member of AmVets Post 12, one of the litigants. No new judge has been selected, and based on the speed of our legal system, it's likely the ban will become law before another hearing can be scheduled.

We've argued all along for a level playing field in regard to a smoking ban. Exempting bars and taverns from a ban that applied to restaurants (some serving alcohol) seemed unfair. Now the law applies to everyone (people, not businesses) which is what the 14th Amendment guarantees in the "equal protection clause." Every person who now enters a Delaware County business, club or fraternal organization is treated the same with regard to lighting up.

Some constitutional scholars have reported in similar smoking-ban challenges that plaintiffs are essentially arguing that smoking is a protected activity, something courts have been reluctant to rule in favor. It's hard to place the right to smoke on the same level as race, voting or reproductive rights.

Regarding whether bar and tavern owners "own" the air within their building, well, things get a little hazy. Government certainly can and does regulate workplace air quality or else there would be no need to protect workers engaged in removing asbestos from buildings.

Plaintiffs seem to be saying that laws don't apply within private property and they are free to engage in whatever activities they wish. That's certainly not true.

Liquor laws still apply, even inside private clubs or fraternal organizations. Food preparation and sanitation is still subject to government scrutiny. Why would regulating tobacco use be any different?

Smoking bans have been enacted in many other locations -- and have survived legal challenges. It's difficult to believe that Delaware County's ordinance will be overturned. But that's why we have a legal system, laws on the books and experts on all sides of the issue.

Souza Cruz Gains as Brazil to Set Minimum Prices for Cigarettes

Souza Cruz SA (CRUZ3), Brazil’s biggest tobacco company, rose for the first time in four sessions after a government official said Brazil will set minimum prices for cigarettes as it seeks to avoid tax evasion.
Shares climbed 0.5 percent to 17.82 reais at the close of trading at 4:15 p.m. New York time, after earlier jumping as much as 2.6 percent. The Bovespa tumbled 2.3 percent to 56,017.22.
A minimum price for cigarettes would be positive for big tobacco companies because it could stop smaller rivals from evading taxes in order to sell cheaper cigarettes, Caue Pinheiro, an analyst at SLW Corretora, said in a telephone interview. “This measure would be good for Souza Cruz.”
The government plans to release a decree with the minimum prices for cigarettes next week, Marcelo Fisch, an auditor at the tax agency, told reporters today in Brasilia

Investigators Think Cigarettes May Have Started Wildfire

A pile of cigarette butts could be to blame for a wildfire in Edmond on Friday that burned roughly 200 acres, fire officials said.
Crews from several area fire departments were called to an area near Coffee Creek and Sooner Road early Thursday afternoon and were still battling flames at 6 p.m. Homeowners in an addition near Sorghum Mill and Sooner roads evacuated voluntarily to avoid wildfire approaching their neighborhood.
Edmond Fire Chief Tim Wheeler said investigators found two dozen fresh Camel cigarette butts in an area where firefighters believe the blaze started.
No serious injuries were reported, but one firefighter was treated for heat-related problems.

Six Arrested in Los Angeles Marijuana Dispensary Raid

Los Angeles - Six people were arrested for conspiracy to sell cocaine and marijuana after a dispensary raid in the Devonshire area of Los Angeles turned up drugs and weapons on Wednesday, according to authorities.
The LAPD Devonshire Narcotics Enforcement Detail set up to serve a search warrant at the White Oak Healing Center, a so-called medical marijuana dispensary. This was the location of an attempted murder investigation late last year wherein the owner's son, Elias George, was shot multiple times in what had all the appearances of an organized crime style hit. The resulting attempt murder investigation by LAPD West Valley Area Homicide led to information that the store owner, Raymond George, was involved in the interstate transportation and sales of marijuana and cocaine to the Midwest.
A High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Team (Joint Federal and State Narcotics Task Force) in Ohio in coordination with LAPD Devonshire Narcotics Enforcement Detail investigated Mr. George and his associates. Over the next few months investigating officers learned Mr. George maintained residences in Los Angeles and the Cleveland, Ohio area. He ran the White Oak Healing Center as a retail storefront for the cultivation and sale of marijuana and as a location to facilitate the wholesale sale and distribution of cocaine. Devonshire Narcotics Enforcement Detail Detectives conducted their side of the investigation on the White Oak Healing Center including undercover purchases of marijuana determining it was being operated in violation of state law. They obtained a search warrant for the location and Mr. George.
While set up and staged to serve the warrant Devonshire, West Valley and Ohio HIDTA Officers received last minute information that Mr. George was inside the location armed with an AK 47 assault rifle, a .380 auto and his pet Pit Bull. Officers were aware the location was fortified with steel security doors front and rear, numerous security cameras and other interior fortifications. Further, it was located in a strip mall of other legitimate businesses and directly across the street from Pinecrest Elementary School. It had opaque windows with three large green crosses adorning its storefront location.