Tobacco.org

Oakland No. 1 against smoking, lung group says 

Oakland may have its problems, but when it comes to tough anti-tobacco laws it ranks as the best among the state's most populous cities, says the American Lung Association of California.

In a report card issued Tuesday, Oakland garnered an overall grade of B for its municipal policies related to smoke-free outdoor air, smoke-free housing and efforts to reduce sales of tobacco products.

San Francisco earned an overall grade of C while San Jose notched up a D.

"Oakland gets such a rap for violence and other things - this is a good thing to celebrate," said Dr. Anthony Iton, director of the Alameda County Public Health Department. Many chronic health problems, including asthma, are directly tied to smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke, he said.

Jump to full article »

SILVERGLATE: Big Tobacco’s health research: What are these university folks smoking, anyway?  

One of the rare voices of sanity to come through this morass of pious bleating is that of researcher Rami Tzafriri of MIT. He defends his use of tobacco money “that does not compromise my independence.” It’s no coincidence, perhaps, that such sanity and honesty emanate from MIT, an institution still devoted to rational thought rather than to the latest intellectual and pseudo-political fashions of the day. . . .

But as long as the ACLU was in control of how the money was spent, Glasser rightly refused to knuckle under to the PC crowd.

Hey – if the universities decide to do investigations of the good moral character of their donors as well as the ways in which they made their fortunes, I’d like to volunteer to be on that committee. I can probably get material for a few truly awesome columns, if not a screenplay or two.

Jump to full article »

• College Students Continue To Use Tobacco  

According to an American Lung Association report released on Monday, roughly one in five college students in 2006 took up or continued to smoke cigarettes. The group is blaming aggressive tobacco industry marketing.

The report, "Big Tobacco on Campus: Ending the Addiction," was compiled from published research, surveys, and tobacco industry documents.

The American Lung Association reports says that in 2005 the tobacco industry spent over $1 million a day targeting college students.� In a recent survey, students at 109 of 119 surveyed colleges reported seeing tobacco promotions on campus.

Jump to full article »

New Report Shows 1 In 5 College Kids Are Smokers  

The American Lung Association has put out a new report shows shows that about 1 in 5 college kids are smokers.

The American Lung Association of New York put out a new report, showing that even though there are many smoke-free campuses across the U.S., many college kids are smoking.

There are 130 campuses in the U.S. where smoking is banned everywhere, while there are 500 campuses where smoking is banned in student housing.

The report though shows that 1 in 5 college kids still smoke.

Jump to full article »

Lung Association: NYC Smoking Data Shows Tobacco Tax Working 

The American Lung Association of New York today pointed to data released by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as evidence that the tobacco tax increase is working. In effect since June 3, 2008, the total tobacco tax of $2.75 is the highest in the nation and makes New York State the national public health leader in tobacco taxation. In New York City, an additional $1.50 cigarette tax makes the total tax $4.75 throughout the five boroughs.

Jump to full article »

• ACLU backing tribe in smoke-shop suit 

The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Congress of American Indians are backing the Narragansett tribe in challenging the state's raid on a tribal smoke shop.

The Rhode Island Affiliate of the ACLU, the national ACLU and the NCAI filed a friend-of-the-court brief Wednesday arguing that the highly publicized raid violated the tribe's sovereign rights.

"This case raises issues of enormous consequence for Indian tribes. We are hopeful that the court will agree that the state's heavy-handed raid was incompatible with long-standing principles of tribal sovereignty," Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island ACLU, said in a statement.

Jump to full article »

House Rules Committee Shuts Out Needed Patriot Act Reforms, Yet Adds "Smokeless Tobacco" Amendment 

Following a late night meeting of the House Rules Committee yesterday on legislation to reauthorize the Patriot Act, the American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its disappointment . . .

However, the Rules Committee did allow an amendment, offered by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), that would amend the Contraband Cigarette Trafficking Act to, among other things, extend its reach to cover "smokeless tobacco." The ACLU takes no position on the need to combat trafficking in chewing tobacco but expressed its disappointment that the committee rejected other amendments that were clearly germane to the excesses of the Patriot Act.

Jump to full article »

LETTER: Don't infringe on right to smoke 

Dr. Sams' crusade to eliminate smoking by Rapides Parish school staff members on school grounds appears to be infringing on their rights, yet Dr. Sams supports and advocates the American Civil Liberties Union that advocates civil rights/liberties on varied levels. So what gives here?

Jump to full article »

Employer on Good Footing with Smoking Ban, Experts Say 

Michigan smokers can fume all they want, but there's no law preventing employers from refusing to hire them or even firing them if they refuse to quit.

That's the judgment of legal experts interviewed by many news organizations after Weyco Inc., a medical benefits administrator based in Okemos, Michigan, saw four of its approximately 200 employees quit in January, rather than submit to a mandatory smoking breath test. . . .

A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan told the Detroit News that her organization decided not to challenge the Weyco policy because there is no state law prohibiting employers from controlling behavior outside the workplace.

Jump to full article »

• Costs Make Employers See Smokers as a Drag 

Pointing to rising health costs and the oversized proportion of insurance claims attributed to smokers, some employers in California and around the country are refusing to hire applicants who smoke and, sometimes, firing employees who refuse to quit.

"Employers are realizing the majority of health costs are spent on a small minority of workers," says Bill Whitmer, chief executive of the Health Enhancement Research Organization, an employer and healthcare coalition in Birmingham, Ala.

Federal and state laws bar employers from turning down applicants or firing workers based on race, religion or gender. Some states have enacted laws offering similar protections for smokers. But experts say workers in nearly half the states, including California, have few legal options if employers decide to prohibit them from smoking outside the workplace.

Jump to full article »

What you do in your own home after work or on the weekend is none of your bosses' business. The last time I checked, tobacco is a legal product.
Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute in Princeton, N.J., a spinoff of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Employers are realizing the majority of health costs are spent on a small minority of workers.
Bill Whitmer, chief executive of the Health Enhancement Research Organization, an employer and healthcare coalition in Birmingham, Ala.

Groups file lawsuit for smoking initiatives 

A lawsuit challenging the disqualification of Nevada initiative petitions to legalize the use of marijuana and to limit smoking in public places has been filed in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project, seeks to force Secretary of State Dean Heller to forward the initiative petitions to the state Legislature.

Heller rejected the petitions in December and cited an attorney general's opinion that the groups circulating the measures didn't collect enough valid signatures. He rejected two measures to regulate smoking and the marijuana measure. . . .

"We followed all the state's rules from day one," said Neal Levine, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Then, without warning, they changed the rules after we turned in the petition. They have violated our right to due process, and we fully expect to win in federal court."

Jump to full article »

County commissioners to again consider heated issues 

Also on the agenda is a committee Dunn set up to study the county’s 2-month-old smoking ordinance.

While few restaurateurs showed an interest in the decision when it was made late last year, dozens showed up to protest after the new law went into place in April. . . .

Dunn hopes to place two men from opposite sides of the debate on the five-person committee — Steve Coldiron, the chairman of Smoke-Free Gwinnett and one of the biggest proponents of the law, and Bill Gentry, owner of Gwinnett’s only indoor entertainment hall, Wild Bill’s, who asked for an exception and considered a lawsuit over the ordinance.

Jump to full article »

LETTERS: Smoking Out Some Truth On Nyc Cigarette Ban 

Study Reveals Tobacco Industry Political Spending, Influence 

SACRAMENTO, June 2 (AScribe Newswire) -- Tobacco control advocates are citing a new study released today as evidence to support their proposal to increase California's tobacco tax by $1.50 per pack of cigarettes and earmark 20 cents for the State's Tobacco Control Program.

The study, "Tobacco Policy Making in California 2001-2003: No Longer Finishing First" was co-authored by University of California, San Francisco professor, Dr. Stan Glantz, Ph.D., a renowned expert on the effects of tobacco use. The study concludes that the tobacco industry has been extremely effective at thwarting public policies aimed at strengthening the California Tobacco Control Program and reducing smoking statewide. This study also reveals that the tobacco industry has stepped-up its efforts in Sacramento to court legislators, legislative candidates, political parties and constitutional officers.

Jump to full article »

Armey considers post with ACLU 

House Majority Leader Dick Armey did not win the flat tax that spurred him to run for office, but he departs Washington with his cowboy-boots image and one more surprise as he exits the stage: He may go work for the ACLU.

A conservative Texas Republican with a libertarian bent, Mr. Armey says he is considering consulting with the American Civil Liberties Union on privacy issues now that he is retiring from Congress after 18 years. It's not as big a leap as it may appear, despite the ACLU's left-leaning image. . .

"Armey culturally, definitely represented the sagebrush rebellion with cowboy boots, a deep tan, his deep smoker's laugh," said Kenneth R. Weinstein, director of the Washington office of the Hudson Institute

Jump to full article »