Tobacco.org

New York lost $16.9 million from tobacco tax loophole 

New York lost an estimated $16.9 million in potential tobacco tax revenue during the first 28 months following a federal excise tax increase on cigarettes, small cigars and roll-your-own tobacco.

That's the finding of a new report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said states collectively lost $374 million in tobacco revenue from April 2009 to August 2011 because of a market shift to lower-priced pipe tobacco to make roll-your-own cigarettes.

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• New Senators Respond to New Data on Tobacco Tax Loophole 

Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) expressed concern about the findings of a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealing more than $1.3 billion in lost state and federal revenue by tobacco manufacturers relabeling roll-your-own tobacco as pipe tobacco.

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• Tobacco bill proponents push back  

Proponents of a bill to allow exemptions to the state smoking ban for over-21 establishments are pushing back against American Cancer Society claims that Big Tobacco is behind the effort.

Sheila Martin, an advocate of the bill who owns a Hutchinson club that is already exempt from the ban, took great exception to a ACS email encouraging supporters to "Help Turn Back New Assaults from Big Tobacco."

"Not one penny has been given to us from RJ Reynolds or Phillip Morris," she said. "This is a bald-faced lie."

Martin said she approached an RJ Reynolds official about supporting the bill, but he declined.

Christopher Masoner, the cancer society's chief lobbyist in Kansas, said RJ Reynolds testified at the same hearing in favor of another tobacco bill that would direct the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to explore whether smokeless tobacco is safer than cigarettes.

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Health groups pan committee's tobacco votes 

Representatives from the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association harshly criticized two tobacco-related bills passed by a House committee Tuesday.

Kevin Walker, of the heart association, said one bill would gut the state smoking ban by allowing businesses to establish smoking sections in which all patrons and workers would have to be 21 or older. He said the other bill is a House resolution that would ask the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to explore whether smokeless tobacco products are less harmful than cigarettes.

"Taken together, these would set us back 10 years, at least," Walker said.

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Bill seeks to allow smoking in Kansas bars  

Another round of discussion on smoking ban exemptions  

• Bill would restrict efforts by cities, counties to ban smoking 

A Springfield, Mo., legislator is proposing to prohibit Missouri cities and counties from banning smoking in establishments where at least 60 percent of retail sales come from alcohol, tobacco or entertainment.

The legislation, if passed, would mean that many more bars, bowling alleys, bingo halls, billiard parlors and movie theaters, among other businesses, could be exempted from smoke-free ordinances. Casinos would fall into that category.

Restaurants probably would not be affected, said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Melissa Leach, R-Springfield.

The bill will be heard today by the House Small Business Committee.

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A look at 2 challenges to Michigan smoking ban 

VIDEO: City Council Mulls Smoking Ban Amendments as Repeal Vote Nears 

Springfield Council Meets On Smoking Ban  

EDITORIAL: Our view: Smoking ban is good, or bad, for all  

Council to Consider Smoking Ban Amendment Bills Monday 

• Some bars, eateries still let patrons light up  

Pennsylvania's Clean Indoor Air Act, which took effect in September 2008 after more than a decade of legislative wrangling, was supposed to protect employees and customers from the dangers of secondhand smoke by prohibiting smoking in most workplaces.

From the beginning, certain businesses were automatically exempted from the law, such as private clubs, certain truck stops and up to half of the gaming floor at casinos. The law also lets some businesses apply for an exemption to allow smoking, most notably bars, as long as food accounts for 20 percent or less of overall sales and no one under 18 is permitted to enter.

Hundreds of businesses across the state have been granted exemptions, with some 2,800 drinking establishments, cigar bars and tobacco shops holding an exemption at the end of 2011, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which is charged with approving the waivers. The American Lung Association estimates 60 percent of bars in Allegheny County are exempt from the law.

But the Rosecliff isn't one of them.

That hasn't stopped the bar from describing itself as a "smoking establishment" on its website. "We even have a cigarette machine in case you run out," the site said as of Friday.

Rosecliff owner Josh Parente said two weeks ago that he was "pretty sure" he had the waiver to allow smoking. "I would have to check that," he said.

The health department confirmed The Rosecliff does not have an exemption.

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Two proposals would revise state’s smoking ban 

Debate lights up over smoking ban