California City Bars Smoking In Duplexes, Condominiums And Other Multi-Family Homes

A San Francisco suburb on Monday banned smoking in duplexes, condominiums and other multi-family homes, with city leaders saying they hoped to lead a wave of such regulations across California and ultimately the country. The City Council in San Rafael, a community of 57,000 people about 15 miles (24 km) north of San Francisco, voted unanimously for the ban, following a handful of other California municipalities that have outlawed smoking in buildings with as few as two units.

"We are happy to blaze a trail," Mayor Gary Phillips said before the vote. "We're most happy to be in the forefront of the issue because we think it will greatly benefit our residents and those visiting San Rafael, and we think it will set the tone for other cities as well." Tobacco-control experts predicted that the tough smoking ordinance in San Rafael could touch off a larger movement in other states and cities. "The San Rafael ban is a very significant event because it will spread," said Robert Proctor, a Stanford University history of science professor.

"We're on the downslope of a big curve. Smoking peaked in 1981 with 630 billion cigarettes sold in the United States. Now it's down to 350 billion. And that number will keep on going down until smoking is a distant memory." San Rafael is the state's ninth municipality to completely restrict smoking in multi-unit housing, said Pam Granger, advocacy manager for the American Lung Association in California. Granger said California was the only state where local jurisdictions have banned smoking in homes. The ordinance has generally been supported by residents who have spoken at city council meetings, although two smokers came out to oppose the ban on Monday evening.

Survey finds customers like Reynolds American

Customer satisfaction with Reynolds American Inc. increased by 4 percent to a score of 81 out of 100, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index by the University of Michigan. The study was released today. Reynolds edged Philip Morris USA as the industry leader, whose score of 80 was unchanged from 2011.

Overall customer satisfaction with tobacco products was up for a third consecutive year to an average score of 79. This year's increase completes the cigarette industry's recovery from a sharp downturn in customer satisfaction reported in the 2008 index when new tobacco taxes drove up retail prices.

“In the midst of a weaker economy, price plays a role in both slowing consumption and keeping the cigarette industry’s satisfaction lower relative to other nondurable categories,” according to Claes Fornell, founder of the index. “At the same time, tobacco users continue to view the quality of cigarettes to be quite high.”

Smoking ban to be considered in Arlington

If you want to have a smoke while you shoot pool in Arlington, you might be out of luck. The city council Tuesday night will consider a ban on smoking in certain businesses. According to the council's agenda, members will consider altering the current smoking ordinance, last updated four years ago.

If approved, smoking would be banned at billiard halls, nightclubs, public parks, bowling alleys and strip clubs. Also included are the private clubs at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Currently, these kind of businesses are allowed to have smokers as long as they don't employ anyone under the age of 18, have proper HVAC systems, and their business doesn't open into a hotel or other public place. Smoking is already illegal in Arlington restaurants.

E-Cigarette Coupons from Professional Electronic Cigarette Maker Brand

E-Cigarette Coupons from Electric-Cigarette-Maker.com are offered now, and this will end until Oct. 27, 2012. Electric-Cigarette-Maker.com introduced its new micro electronic cigarette on July 29 for the UK sector, and the response continues to be incredibly good about this new item, which often can enable customers quit smoking speedily. According to the Electric-Cigarette-Maker.com marketing and advertising division, micro electronic cigarette sells nicely in Britain industry, and among the all e-cigarettes products and solutions, micro electronic cigarette continues to be the most effective vendor of electronic cigarette goods in the UK.

Mr. Rogers, a senior supervisor of Electric-Cigarette-Maker.com, mentioned, "Thanks for your digital cigarette testimonials from UK shoppers actually. Like some major electronic cigarette manufacturers, we are going to do our finest in the future. Electronic smoking cigarettes are a product composed of a microprocessor, a vaporizing engineering in addition to a nicotine solution filled chamber. It's operated by rechargeable lithium batteries and is particularly out there in a number of attractive flavors to assist people today switch to your more significant smoking cigarettes doing the job encounter.

We have now been a person of the greatest e cigarette supplies, and therefore are sending out e cigarette coupons for e-cigarette sale now. Now we have a top of the range creation line, so we've self confidence on everything we have been selling which has a life span guarantee. Why can micro electronic cigarettes help quitting using tobacco? Mr. Rogers, defined, "Electronic cigarettes adopt the normally used Nicotine Swap Treatment, that is guaranteed to continuously lower the quantity of nicotine inhaled.

Other than adopting Nicotine Swap Treatment method, digital cigarettes hardly ever modify the smokers' habitual conduct, that is the most important advantage of them. Its effect genuinely is substantial towards the people who smoke, who utilized to fail to stop smoking just before. E-cigarette, which will not include the hundreds of poisons generally current in tobacco goods, can bring the digital cigarette marketplace additional rewards.

Marijuana backers courting conservatives

Campaigns to legalize marijuana for recreational use in three Western states are courting conservatives to endorse their cause. Most Republicans — including Mitt Romney — oppose making pot legal in Colorado, Oregon and Washington. But a handful of conservatives have signed on. They include former presidential hopefuls Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul, as well as the Libertarian Party's presidential candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.

Legalization activists are appealing to Western individualism, states' rights and a mistrust of federal government to make their case to conservatives. Tancredo, a former Republican congressman from Colorado, compares the federal government's prohibition on marijuana to New York City's ban on sugary sodas.

Group rallies in support of marijuana legalization

About 75 people, many of them women, gathered at the Capitol on Monday for a rally in support of marijuana legalization proposed in Measure 80. “People want marijuana and they are going to get it? Why not tax it?” asked Madeline Martinez, sole owner of the nation’s first cannabis café, which opened in Portland in 2009. She is also a former peace officer.

Supporters of Measure 80 said that cards for the state-run medical-marijuana program are becoming increasingly costly, and that would-be recipients cannot get access to doctors willing to grant the necessary permission and supplies of the drug for those who do not grown their own or have a designated caregiver do so. Oregon’s 1998 law does not permit sales. The ballot measure would allow adults to grow their own or buy it from state-licensed stores, where it would be taxed.

Imperial Tobacco Group Rating Lowered to Reduce at Nomura (ITYBY)

Imperial Tobacco Group (NASDAQ: ITYBY) was downgraded by research analysts at Nomura from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report released on Monday. Shares of Imperial Tobacco Group opened at 76.37 on Monday. Imperial Tobacco Group has a 52 week low of $66.89 and a 52 week high of $84.01.

The company has a market cap of $38.215 billion and a P/E ratio of 14.08. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (Imperial Tobacco) is a tobacco company. Through the Company’s total tobacco portfolio it provides consumers a range of brands and products, including cigarettes, fine cut tobacco, cigars and snus.