Tobacco.org

City advances scaled-back restrictions: smoking in parks  

Milpitas City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to introduce an ordinance amending the city's municipal code to enforce a total ban on tobacco smoking in all City of Milpitas parks.

The ban amends prior city laws restricting smoking near city-owned buildings and keeping smokers a distance of 25 feet from city playgrounds.

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• ARMSTRONG: The Tobacco Wars, Continued  

But a campaign funded by tobacco companies is spending millions on ads to mislead Californians about this life-saving initiative. Why? Prop 29 will add $1 to the cost of every pack of cigarettes sold in California, a state that currently ranks 33rd in the nation on the tobacco tax scale. So great is the power of the lobbyists and so deep are the campaign coffers that every bill or ballot initiative seeking to raise the cost of tobacco has been defeated since the last successful hike in 1988. Even though only 12 percent of Californians smoke. . . .

I also support Prop 29 because I resent the tobacco industry’s ability to influence public policy in their favor – to the detriment of Californians and their state economy – over and over again. . . .

we believe that California voters will see through the tobacco industry interference being doled out in 30-second increments on their televisions day and night between now and June 5th.

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MAYER: Need your YES vote on deceptive Proposition 29 

Campus smokers face $48 fine  

Cigar Club at CSUF 

VIDEO: Hookah lounges could be unhealthy trend in Kern County 

Donna Fenton is the chief environmental health specialist for the Public Health Department in Kern County. She said the public has been misinformed about potential health issues, and she is concerned about the atmosphere in these establishments that could be luring young people in who can't get into bars that serve alcohol, yet.

Eyewitness News saw video games, disc jockeys, big screen TVs and a lot of room to dance when we went inside Flames Hookah Lounge during our investigation. Wesson said they do target the younger age group, because most of their clients are 18 to 21.

Hookah lounges are exempt from the smoke-free workplace labor code, meant to protect workers, not the general public or customers. Fenton goes on to explain, "If they do not offer food or beverage at that location, then they are exempt from having to keep it outdoors, so it can be indoors if they do not serve food or beverage."

She said they are also not required to have signed warnings of health effects, but they do have to have signs posted that they will not sell tobacco products or hookah pipes to anyone under 18.

Another health concern? People sharing the tip of the pipe

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Vote on cigarette tax delayed  

The San Luis Obispo County Health Commission has postponed a decision on whether to endorse a June ballot measure that would increase cigarette taxes until it receives more information.

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Chelsea Handler: I paid $500 to have a pack of ‘Russian hooker’ cigarettes delivered to my home  

In a podcast interview with “WTF with Marc Maron,” which aired Monday, the outspoken host of “Chelsea Lately” admitted she recently paid $500 to have a pack of cigarettes delivered to her doorstep.

Handler, 37, recalled inviting some co-workers to have drinks at her Bel Air home, where the group ended up playing ping pong and watching the tear-inducing romantic-drama, “Like Crazy.”

“I smoke sometimes when I drink,” explained Handler, whose list of best-selling books includes “Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.” “I like to smoke when I drink so I only drink a couple nights a week, actually.”

“Around 1 in the morning, I decided I wanted a cigarette so we called Yummy.com,” she continued. . . .

“I called them back and said ‘I will give you $500 if you bring me a pack of Capris.’ And they’re like, ‘What are Capris?’” she said. “I’m like ‘They’re for Russian hookers and we need a pack of Capris and I will give you $500.’”

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Smokers could be paying $1 more per pack  

Policing Smoking Laws No Walk In The Park 

Research Tobacco Industry Funding 

As a result, based upon Office of the President (OP) guidance, the UCSD campus has established the following policy based upon a notice from the Chancellor dated April 29, 2008.

In accordance with RE-89, this policy requires that prior to submission of a proposal for research funding from the tobacco industry (or other tobacco entity):

* A scientific review committee composed of academic members with expertise in areas of science relevant to the proposal being submitted, will advise the UCSD Chancellor whether the proposed study uses sound methodology and whether it appears designed to allow the researcher to reach objective and scientifically valid conclusions.

* Also, please be aware that the Chancellor will issue a written determination approving or disapproving submission of the proposal, including a rationale of the determination. A copy of this determination will then be provided to the researcher, the UC President and The Regents.

OP has provided a preliminary list of companies and other entities that are considered part of and/or related to the tobacco industry.

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SMOKING FINE BURNS UP KIRSTEN DUNST  

Smokin' hot KIRSTEN DUNST got all burned up during lunch in the Chateau Marmont garden when a waiter told her to douse her cigarette pronto - or be liable for a $500 fine!

Snapped the "Spider-Man" sweetie: "I always smoke here!"

Sighed the waiter: "Not anymore!" - explaining that the hotel's now strictly enforcing the city of West Hollywood's no-smoking policies, which include fines for both the establishment and the smoker!

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Letter: Don't believe tobacco companies  

EDITORIAL: Endorsements: Yes on Prop. 29, tobacco tax increase  

Even so, the potential benefits of raising the tobacco tax outweigh the uncertainties posed by Prop. 29 governance. And that's the bottom line. To discourage smoking and save lives, California must again raise the tobacco tax. It must again overcome the specious arguments and hired guns of the tobacco barons.

It won't be easy – the tobacco industry could end up outspending supporters of the initiative by a 15-to-1 margin. But the cigarette companies and their minions have no credibility. All they have is a dangerous product to sell.

The Bee's past stands

"The tobacco industry, in the guise of Californians Against Unfair Tax Increases, is betting that $15 million in TV ads will create enough confusion to beat a cigarette tax initiative that voters had once heavily favored. There's a fair chance that it will win its bet."

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Editorial: Big Tobacco wants you to think doctors oppose cigarette tax