Woman held up servo to steal cigarettes

Police say a woman drew a knife on staff at a service station in Sydney's northwest before demanding West cigarettes and escaping with the full force of the law on her tail.

Local officers, PolAir and the dog squad all played a part in the capture and arrest of the woman, who was found near the Dural service station she'd robbed shortly before 8.30am (AEST) on Tuesday.

She was refused bail to appear in Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday, charged with robbery while armed, assaulting police, custody of a knife in a public place and negligent driving.

Navy prevents tobacco smugglers from reaching Gaza

The Israel Navy captured two Palestinians with dozens of bags of tobacco worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, destined to be smuggled from Egypt to the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced Tuesday.

The Navy identified a fishing boat heading in the direction of moorings in the southern Gaza Strip. The boat was heavy in the water; a fact that indicated it was carrying a great deal of weight on board, in contrast to other fishing boats.

The two Palestinians on board the boat only surrendered after Military forces on board the Dvora Reconnaissance boat fired in the air.

They were transferred to the Ashdod port for Shin Bet questioning in order to determine if they were connected to terror organizations or whether the smuggling attempt was criminally motivated.

BOE: Tobacco prevention efforts working

Efforts to combat teenage tobacco use and perception appear to be winning, while alcohol and marijuana use continue to be a popular choice among high school students.

Those were among the findings discussed at Tuesday evening's Cabell County Board of Education meeting by Anne McGee, the project director of the Cabell County Substance Abuse Prevention Partnership. The data shared came from more than 3,200 sixth- through 12th-grade students who took the PRIDE Survey during the 2010-2011 school year.

Created in 1982 by professors at Georgia State University and Western Kentucky University, PRIDE Surveys were adopted nationally by federal law in 1998 as an official measurement of adolescent drug use in America.

Cabell County started asking students to anonymously fill out the surveys in 2002, then using it again for the 2004-2005, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 school years before resuming it last year.

"Most of our students are making the right choices," McGee said, citing several areas of encouraging feedback.

Each year the eighth-grade students have taken the survey, results have shown a decline in the percent of students who said they had used alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other illicit drugs in the previous 30 days. Marijuana went from about 16 percent in 2002 to just under 10 percent in the past year's survey. Alcohol fell sharply from about 23 percent in 2002 to about 10 percent in 2010-2011. And tobacco fell from about 21 percent in 2002 to about 10 percent last school year.

In addition, the age of first use has risen a full year since 2002 to 131/2-years-old.

McGee said tobacco prevention has made the greatest strides, according to the survey results as a whole. The perception of risk of tobacco was pretty consistent among all middle and high school students at about 88 percent. Alcohol and marijuana, meanwhile, showed a decline in students' risk of perception from sixth-grade on to juniors and seniors, dropping from 80 percent to 70 percent for alcohol and 86 percent to 65 percent for marijuana.

"They're getting the message about tobacco," McGee said. "We've got to work on alcohol and marijuana."

Tobacco use, however, is still higher than McGee said they want it to be. Nearly 20 percent of students reported to have used tobacco in the pervious month, and about 29 percent indicated they'd used it in the past year. Alcohol was at 22 percent in the past month and 43 percent in the previous 12 months.

McGree said the monthly figures are the most telling of how many students are using drugs, alcohol or tobacco on a regular basis. Among the illicit drugs, marijuana was above and beyond other narcotics. Nearly 17 percent had reported using it in the previous month, with 25 percent saying they had used it the past year.

Cocaine, uppers, downers, inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, steroids, ecstasy, meth, prescription drugs, pain killers and over-the-counter drugs were all reported at less than 6 percent in the previous month and less than 8 percent in the previous year.

Focus groups conducted by two Marshall University psychology professors earlier this year found that students are keenly aware of the drug usage problems among their peer groups. Students felt that community efforts have not been effective and efforts had been pushed aside. They also want community leaders speaking out more on the issue, harsher penalties and more activities for youth.

Imperial Tobacco shares rise despite Spanish cigarette price war

A cigarette price war in Spain will hit Imperial Tobacco's revenues this year, but the company's confidence about the outlook has given a lift to its shares.

In a trading update Imperial said its full year performance was in line with expectations, despite total revenues rising just 2%. The effect of the Spanish price war - which has now been halted - has been offset by strong performances in eastern Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Imperial said recent price rises in Spain - its third biggest market after Britain and Germany - would help make up for a delay in raising prices in the UK. Martin Deboo at Investec said:

According the Spanish tax authorities, [recent price rises] have restored Imperial's key brand Fortuna to its pre-price war price point of €3.85 per pack. (Market leader Marlboro has also moved back to its pre-price war level of €4.25 per pack).

Castle Rock designates areas for medical marijuana gardens

The City Council approved interim zoning restrictions for group medical marijuana gardens Monday without discussion or audience comment — a far cry from boisterous earlier meetings about the topic.
The rules grew out of a state law in July allows medical marijuana patients to band together and form collective gardens. Previous meetings on the subject were heated, with medical marijuana supporters saying their rights were being restricted and opponents worrying that the city's children would be damaged if the gardens were allowed.
The emergency rules restrict the collective gardens to two "highway business district" areas near Interstate 5. Most of the land is east of the highway and away from the city's downtown and residential core. The council also set a number of restrictions, including requiring a city building permit and not allowing the plants to be seen from the street. By state law, the gardens cannot have more than 10 member patients and no more than 45 plants.
The emergency rules are in effect until January. The city Planning Commission will draft the city's final ordinances, which will be presented to the City Council for formal adoption in December.

Foreign Industry Groups Issue Fresh Warning on Cigarette Plain Packaging Bill

Camel and More cigarettes manufacturer JTI said Australia risks facing intellectual property disputes before the World Trade Organization (WTO) while the British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) threatened to sue the government if the legislature passes the bill.


The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) also warned of political backlash from countries to be impacted by the legislation. In Monday's Senate committee inquiry into the federal government's proposed law, KAM said Kenya's tobacco industry is a main source of revenue and foreign exchange, so a diplomatic fallout with Australia is possible.
KAM told the Senate inquiry that Australia should defer the plain-packaging laws and enter into talks with nations to be affected by the same laws requiring cigarette box labels to indicate only the brand name.


Business Europe warned that the bill is inconsistent with international treaties on intellectual property negotiated through the WTO and threatens to undermine the protection of intellectual property around the world.

Industry groups from Quebec, the Ukraine, Chile, Brazil, Peru and East Africa have also criticized the controversial bill being supported by political parties and health experts.

Authorities seek man in cigarette thefts

Officers from at least two jurisdictions are looking for a man who they believe is stealing cigarettes from area businesses.

Michigan State Police at the Brighton Post said the man walked into the Genoa Township Walgreen's on Grand River Avenue at around 9 p.m. Aug. 29 and asked for three cartons of cigarettes.

Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte said the man also hit the Walgreens at 10081 E. M-59 in Hartland Township at about 9:30 p.m. Aug. 29.

In both incidents, the man asked the store clerk for cigarettes, typically Newports and Marlboros, and fled with the merchandise without paying as the clerk began to ring up the purchase.

Bezotte said man also went to the Smoker's Depot on Sept. 2, taking off with cartons of Newport and Marlboro cigarettes.

A Smoker's Depot clerk followed the man outside and saw him get into a silver Chevrolet HHR, police said.

The thief is described as a white male in his early to mid-20s. He has a shaved head, thin build and may also have facial hair, including a goatee.

Police say the man also has lots of tattoos on both forearms and the left side of his neck.

Tobacco store owner gets 6 years for hiding $60M

The owner of a chain of south suburban tobacco shops was sentenced to more than six years in prison for hiding and failing to report more than $60 million in cash receipts from his business.

Abbas Ghaddar, 43, was also ordered to pay more than $5.45 million in back taxes for the scheme that helped fund his lavish lifestyle in Lebanon, where he built a luxurious home, purchased a farm worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and became the successful owner of a soccer club, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Receipts from Ghaddar’s Tobacco House Inc. stores showed that they generated more than $102 million in gross revenues, at least $60 million of which were cash receipts.

But Ghaddar deposited less than 1 percent of that into his corporate bank accounts and declared little, if any, on his corporate tax returns, prosecutors said. He also filed false federal income tax returns from 2003-05; failed to file returns from 2006-08; and filed false sales tax returns with the state from 2002-09. Ghaddar pleaded guilty in June.

Tobacco Outlet store robbed; shot fired at clerk

Police said employee Dee Kritchard, 51, was behind the counter at 400 Euclid Ave., when two men with handguns entered the store about 5:45 p.m. One of the men pointed a handgun at her. She told him to get out of the store.

The gunman responded, “Give me the money (expletive) or I will shoot you in the head.” He fired a shot in her direction but did not hit her.

Lynda Deeds, 63, an employee who was in a back room, walked into the main room to see what had happened. The second gunman threatened to shoot her and then demanded money.

The clerks handed over the cash and the gunmen left the store, heading south on Third Street.

Police said the clerks were threatened with death several times.

A manager came to the store while police were investigating to help officers review store video of the robbery. The manager said she works at the Southeast 14th Street store and she was robbed there two weeks ago as she was leaving the building. She said the man who fired the gun inside the store at 400 Euclid Ave., on Monday looked like the man who robbed her at the Southeast 14th Street store.