Selected Tobacco To Launch New Sizes of Atabey & Byron at IPCPR 2017

United Cigar Group made an announcement that they are extending two of their most popular ultra-premium cigar blends. Receiving these extensions are the Atabey and Byron brands, both made in Costa Rica and featuring upscale blends of high-end tobacco designed to appeal to smokers who enjoy and appreciate the finest tobaccos. The brands represent the most exclusive offerings in the extensive United Cigar Group portfolio and this announcement is expected to cause significant excitement among fans of both brands.

The Atabey line currently features four sizes, and that quantity will more than double with this introduction of five new shapes. The new shapes are Duendes (Torpedo 6 x 54), Spiritus (7 1/2 x 40), Misticos (6 3/4 x 56), Dioses (8 x 50) & Benditos (7 ¼ x 58). The new sizes will be on display at the 2017 IPCPR Show and will be ready to ship in 2018 after five years of carefully planned aging is complete.

“This is a complicated time in the cigar industry to introduce a line extension but we are overly excited to showcase these Atabey vitolas that will be ready for the shelves soon,” said Oliver Nivaud, Director of Sales at United Cigars. “Retailers and cigar enthusiasts have been overly receptive and we are completely humbled by their support.”

The extensions to the Byron brand are based around new packaging that places these exclusive cigars in packaging that lives up to their reputation. Nelson Alfonso of Selected Tobacco has artfully packed the Byron 19th Century Grand Poemas (6 x 56) and Byron 20th Century Habaneros (6 x 56) in beautiful 25 count Limited Edition Humidors. Each humidor is filled with cigars that have been aging since 2012, and only 200 humidors filled with each vitola will be produced this year. The cigars represent a unique smoking experience for true cigar enthusiasts and the humidors are expected to become sought-after collector’s items among the brand’s followers due to their limited production. Along with the Byron 21st Century Elegantes (6 1/8 x 55), the Byron Grand Poemas and Habaneros will be available at the 2017 IPCPR Show in Las Vegas, NV.

United Cigar Group works with top cigar manufacturers throughout the world in order to create unique cigars, built exclusively for the premium cigar retailer. The brands of United Cigar Group are all Exclusive Cigar Products that were in demand but unavailable… so they were created.

 Resource : http://thecigarauthority.com/selected-tobacco-launch-new-sizes-atabey-byron/

Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! Just Not Tobacco

If the leaders of the Massachusetts legislature taxed tobacco cigarettes the way they are planning to tax marijuana, then the price of cigarettes would drop like a dozen recently-legalized homegrown pot plants tossed from a rooftop garden. That’s because the Bay State power-brokers use their taxing powers against tobacco with the intent of reducing its usage. The draconian approach incentivizes people to either quit smoking or never to start at all. That’s the point of Massachusetts tobacco taxation.

The total tax on cigarettes is quite astonishing. In 2009, the federal government upped its excise tax on cigarettes to a whopping $1.01 per pack. Not to be outdone, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hiked its excise tax to an eye-popping $3.51 in 2013, effectively doubling the price consumers paid for cigarettes, compared to low-tax states. At that time, our state tax levy was second in the nation. Now we have slipped to fourth behind New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. How long before liberal lawmakers start demanding another tax hike, so we can return to the peak of the taxing pyramid?

Taking the time-honored idea of “sin taxes” to its extreme, Massachusetts forces its citizens to pay a sales tax on tobacco, as well. Conveniently upped 25 percent only a couple of years before the tobacco tax increase, the sales tax hike — like the cigarette tax — passed the Democrat-dominated legislature during the Governor Deval Patrick administration. The fact that such sales tax hikes are regressive forms of taxation that fall hardest on working families never seems to bother liberal “advocacy” groups. And taxes on cigarettes fall into the most regressive category, because working folks earning less than $60,000 a year are more than twice as likely to smoke as high income earners. So much for empty Democrat rhetoric about protecting working families from the “one percent.”

Working smokers must pay a $3.51 state excise tax, a $1.01 federal tax, and then state government says:  Supersize me — pay the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax, not just on the retail value of the cigarettes, but also on the heavy taxes previously added to the cigarettes. With all that taxation, the government more than doubles the real cost of a pack of cigarettes.

In Massachusetts, citizen-smokers pay taxes upon taxes upon taxes.

Compare those taxes to the kid-glove treatment the liberals in the legislature are intent on giving marijuana users. While the price of tobacco cigarettes vaults twice as high due to the tax burden, the Bay State insiders are wrestling with whether to place a favorable 12 percent or a moderate 28 percent levy on smoking dope. And unlike their excessive triple taxation upon tobacco, the legislature wraps the state sales tax into — rather than adding it onto — the marijuana tax rate. And there is no federal tax at all on outlawed marijuana.

Tobacco enthusiasts would jump with delight at any of those deals. But not the pot sympathizers in the legislature. No, they whine about the weight of a 28 percent tax on pot smokers, while never giving a second thought about the discriminatory burdens placed on tobacco smokers.

But let’s not forget:  State government actually wants to discourage tobacco smoking through a punitive level of taxation. Marijuana smoking? Not so much.

But, the liberals sputter, the voters approved a referendum that legalized recreational marijuana with the minuscule tax. Of course, these are the same big government types who continue to ignore a 2000 referendum that rolled back the income tax back to its historic five percent rate.

Seventeen years ago, Massachusetts citizens favored the income tax rollback with voter approval exceeding 56 percent. Despite this majority, the Democrats in the legislature still refuse to complete that tax rollback. Meanwhile in 2016, a lesser majority of more than 53 percent voted in favor of the marijuana referendum. When it comes to marijuana, these same legislators suddenly discover their obligation to follow the wishes of the voters. 

If the will of the voters means that much, then surely those Democrats will add the income tax rollback to the marijuana bill. But please don’t try to hold in that pot smoke for too long waiting for the legislature to act on income tax relief.


In addition to all its tobacco taxes, the state government assigns bureaucrats to set higher minimum prices for cigarettes, fearing that some enterprising small business person may actually want to use tobacco products as a “loss leader” to attract customers.”No such competition allowed” orders the bureaucracy; better that Massachusetts mom-and-pop shops lose business to New Hampshire, where much lower tobacco taxes and prices attract constant cross-border customers.

Effective June 1, 2017, the bureaucrats set the “presumptive minimum retail prices” for both packs and cartons of cigarettes. This is Massachusetts, so remember:  Deval Patrick’s 6.25 percent sales tax is levied on top of the minimum price fixing. Not only that, but the under-burdened bureaucracy has plenty of spare time to fix separate prices for larger “chain” stores and for “non-chain” or mom-and-pop retailers. Marlboro men are permitted to buy a pack for $10.22 at non-chains versus $10.07 at chain stores. If you’d “rather fight than switch,” you can shell out $119.44 for a carton of Tareytons at mom-and-pop shops, or pony up $117.69 at the big retailers. At those prices, you might rather switch to New Hampshire stores. As the saying goes, “you’ve come a long way, baby,” so the Massachusetts bureaucracy sets the per-pack price of Virginia Slims at between $10.56 and $10.72. Who says Massachusetts is pro-choice? Not when it comes to tobacco prices and products, that’s for sure.

Should you be feeling a tad regal or just plain Anglophile, you might be tempted to purchase a pack of English Ovals or Benson & Hedges Kings. Those will set you back $12.42 a pack or $124.15 a carton at independent retailers. Can you imagine how our colonial forefathers would have reacted to such British government taxation and price fixing? Why they may even have plotted a Boston Tobacco Party that ignited a revolution against the tyranny of English kings!

Today, the elite liberal Democrat leaders of the Massachusetts Senate and House have no such outbursts to fear. Secreted off in their air-conditioned chambers, they collude at establishing the tax rate for marijuana. In days of yore, such shenanigans took place in what were popularly referred to as “smoke-filled rooms.” That smoke was presumed to waft from cigars, once a much lower taxed and popular recreational habit associated with political big shots of all stripes. Considering how much less they want to tax marijuana than tobacco, makes you wonder:  What exactly they are smoking these days? 

Resource :   http://newbostonpost.com/2017/07/03/smoke-smoke-smoke-just-not-tobacco/

Police: Anchorage store clerk charged after firing weapon at cigarette carton thief

A tobacco store clerk faces two criminal charges for firing a gun at a thief who ran out of the store with a carton of cigarettes Wednesday evening, according to Anchorage police.

Ebenie Rafael Andujar, 22, has been charged with reckless endangerment and "discharging a firearm," the Anchorage Police Department said.

Officers responded to Smoker's Choice — located at the south end of a small strip mall near Minnesota Drive and Spenard Road — shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday for the report of a theft with a shot fired.

A man entered the store and then ran out with the cigarettes without paying, police said.

"An employee fired one shot after the suspect," APD spokeswoman Renee Oistad said. "There is no indication that the suspect was armed and no indication that anyone was injured."

Online court records do not yet show the charges against Andujar.

While the store clerk faces a criminal penalty, the cigarette snatcher hasn't been caught.

Police describe the suspect as a skinny white man about 5 feet, 8-10 inches tall. He has dirty blond hair and "scruffy facial hair." He was last seen wearing a white zippered hoodie with black sleeves and a black tank top underneath, khaki cargo shorts and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call police at 907-786-8900.

Resource : https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2017/06/29/police-anchorage-smoke-shop-clerk-charged-with-firing-weapon-at-cigarette-carton-thief/

Twelve reasons once and for all to stop Smoking

Tobacco causes great harm to the health and psyche.

We all know that Smoking is harmful, and the effect of cigarette smoke and nicotine on the body is very negative, but there is also the issue of dependence on Smoking — first psychological, then physiological. Specialists years looking for methods to combat this habit.

Appeared Smoking a long time ago: more old frescoes in Hindu temples depicting saints who smoked the smoke of aromatic plants with special tubes. Such pipes were found during archaeological excavations in Egypt. In one of his writings, Herodotus noted that the Scythians have a bad habit of inhaling the smoke of burned plants. The same can be read in ancient Chinese literature.

Smoke inhalation of psychoactive plants, for example, the peoples of Eurasia were used for conducting rituals. But widespread Smoking among the bulk of the people at that time were not. The first mention of tobacco was found in Central America over a Millennium before our era.

Doctors used tobacco as a painkiller. Tobacco also needed for conducting religious rituals with smoke inhalation. Native Americans believed, for example, that when a person inhales tobacco, his soul communicates with spirits. In South America it was popular cigars from whole leaf tobacco.


When the natives gave Columbus tobacco leaves, he just threw them out, not appreciating the gift. However, at the end of the sixteenth century Smoking became a popular habit, and began the first fight with him. In Russia in the VII century during the reign of smokers were punished with sticks. Humanity began to understand that tobacco causes great harm to the health and psyche. What are the reasons you can call today to quit Smoking?

1) One bundle of cigarettes smoked per day, according to the degree of harmful effects on the body is equivalent to the radiation of 500 x-rays per year.

2) Smokers suffer from cancer, coronary heart disease and chronic obstructive bronchitis three times more often than nonsmokers.

3) Nicotine can have damaging effects on the brain, the liver, and gonads.

4) the heart rate is higher in smoker than non-smoker, so his heart will wear out faster.

5) tobacco tar contains carcinogenic in very high concentrations. Scientists conducted an experiment: put the tobacco tar rabbit ear for some time, after which the animal appeared the tumor.

6) Cough, unpleasant taste in the mouth, vomiting or nausea, dizziness for those who are beginning to smoke — not the most pleasant symptoms.

7) after a few years of habitual Smoking appears morning cough with phlegm, hoarseness, yellow teeth, and after thirty years of age, the skin begins to become loose, the person looks older than their peers.

8) Smoking is harmful both to the smoker and people around, especially dangerous for children, can cause they have asthma.

9) women who smoke often climax occurs ahead of time.

10) cigarette Smoke reduces the amount of good cholesterol that protects against cardiovascular disease.

11) Many cases of impotence in men associated with dangers of Smoking or its consequences.

12) When Smoking in day a pack of cigarettes, a person breathes air that is polluted to 1,000 times more than allowed by health standards.

Resource: http://micetimes.asia/twelve-reasons-once-and-for-all-to-stop-smoking/

Vaping, a gateway to cigarette smoking

E-cigarettes may harm public health and ultimately increase the burden of cancer if their use contributes to more cigarette smoking among youth.          
                         E-cigarettes may harm public health and ultimately increase the burden of cancer if their use contributes to more cigarette smoking among youth. A new collaborative Dartmouth study led by Samir, Soneji and James Sargent demonstrates that this potential harm should be taken very seriously.


The study focused on an important and controversial question: Does e-cigarette use increase the risk of future cigarette smoking among adolescents and young adults? The team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies that began with non-smoking youths and asked whether initial e-cigarettes use increased the risk they would subsequently transition to smoking cigarettes.

To rule out the possibility that e-cigarette users were simply higher risk youths, the analyses adjusted for known risk factors for cigarette smoking (like having a friend that smokes). The results showed strong and consistent evidence of greater risk between initial e-cigarette use and subsequent cigarette smoking initiation, regardless of how initiation was defined and net other factors that predict cigarette smoking.


The studies did not address why e-cigarette use increases risk of transitioning to cigarettes. The reason could be that e-cigarettes mimic smoking behaviour through similar involvement of hand-to-mouth movements, or puffing and exhalation. E-cigarette aerosol also contains nicotine, so use of these devices could enhance exposure and eventual addiction to this substance.

"The finding is very consistent across studies. That along with the strength of the association makes it probable that e-cigarette use is one cause of cigarette smoking," said Sargent. "E-cigarette use could affect population trends in youth smoking if use becomes more common, and that is the big public health concern."

"In addition to the currently enacted age restrictions on in-store sales, regulatory actions to limit e-cigarette use could include restrictions on advertising campaigns that may be viewed by adolescents, flavour restrictions for e-cigarettes that exclude fruit and candy flavours, strict standards for reporting actual nicotine content in e-liquid, and requirements for strict age verification for online and retail sales of these products" suggested Soneji.

Until more effective regulatory actions are taken, the team will continue to evaluate the excess risk posed by e-cigarette use for cigarette smoking with newer generations of e-cigarettes.

The findings will be published in an upcoming issue of JAMA Pediatrics. 

Resource : http://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/diagnostics/vaping-a-gateway-to-cigarette-smoking/59384333

Sheffield smokers needed to take part in university's e-cigarette study

A Sheffield university is looking for smokers trying to give up the habit to take part in a study. Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University need more than 250 recruits to help them look at the benefits and risks of using e-cigarettes to stop smoking. Successful applicants will have their progress monitored for six months. The research team will measure the participants’ cholesterol levels, their nicotine dependence as well as the amount of carbon monoxide in their breath and they will also assess the functioning of the small arteries and veins. To take part in the study, participants must be willing to give up smoking and be prepared to follow their assigned programme. They will be asked to attend four assessment sessions at the University's Collegiate campus during the six-month period. Smokers that are pregnant, are expecting to have surgery or have insulin-controlled diabetes, will not be considered for the study. E-cigarette participants will be provided with free supplies for three months, an e-cigarette starting kit and regular behavioural change support by the research team. Participants using the stop smoking services will receive the cost of a three-month NHS prescription certificate, irrespective of whether they currently pay for their prescriptions.


Dr Markos Klonizakis, who is leading the study, said: "Everyone is aware that smoking is bad for your health and is one of the main causes of cardiovascular disease. "Cigarette smoke contains about 9,000 different chemicals and that's why smokers should be encouraged to stop, not just for their own benefit but for the benefit of their families and the public purse. "Around 2.8 million people in the UK are using e-cigarettes as way of stopping smoking or as an alternative to traditional smoking but our knowledge of their effects on the small veins and arteries of regular smokers is largely unknown. "Our study will aim to bridge this knowledge gap, by providing unbiased, well-supported evidence."



The research is funded by Heart Research UK. To take part call Gareth Jones on 0114 225 4312 or e-mail HeartResearch@shu.ac.uk.

Resource :http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/health/sheffield-smokers-needed-to-take-part-in-university-s-e-cigarette-study-1-8568325

Heat-not-burn’ cigarettes still release cancer-causing chemicals

The smoke released by this “heat-not-burn” cigarette had 84% of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

NEW YORK – A new type of “heat-not-burn” cigarette releases some of the same cancer-causing chemicals found in traditional cigarette smoke, a recent experiment suggests.

Researchers analysed the chemical compounds and nicotine in smoke from traditional cigarettes and from the new devices, which are designed to heat disposable tobacco sticks and give users the taste of tobacco without the smoke or ash.

The smoke released by this “heat-not-burn” cigarette had 84% of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Heat-not-burn cigarettes also released chemicals linked to cancer including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The research team was surprised to find that heat-not-burn cigarettes “released some of these chemicals in much higher concentrations that conventional cigarettes,” said lead study author Dr Reto Auer of the University of Bern in Switzerland.

“We need more studies to find out about the health consequences” of smoking heat-not-burn cigarettes, Auer said by email.

“However, there is no safe minimum limit for some of the chemicals” in heat-not-burn cigarette smoke, Auer added, “and some of these chemicals may contribute to the high mortality rate of smokers.”

To see how heat-not-burn cigarettes compared to conventional cigarettes in terms of chemicals released, Auer and colleagues analysed the smoke from Lucky Strike Blue Lights and the newer alternative tobacco devices using a smoking device developed to capture fumes from traditional and electronic cigarettes.

They looked at the contents of the I-Quit-Ordinary Smoking (IQOS) product from Philip Morris International with an IQOS holder, IQOS pocket charger, Marlboro HeatSticks regular and Heets.

While more studies are needed to determine the long-term health effects of heat-not-burn cigarettes, their use should be restricted until more is known about them, Auer argues.

“Harmful chemicals were present in IQOS smoke, though in lower concentrations, on average,” Auer said. “We need to conduct more studies to find out whether IQOS are safer for users or bystanders.”

Based on their findings, the authors conclude that heated tobacco products should fall under the same indoor smoking bans in place for conventional cigarettes to prevent bystanders from breathing the fumes.

That’s because the new tobacco products threaten the progress that has been made on decreasing the harms of second-hand smoke, because existing bans may not apply to heat-not-burn cigarettes, Dr Mitchell Katz, deputy editor of JAMA Internal Medicine wrote in an editor’s note accompanying the study.

“There is concern that heat-not-burn tobacco will skirt local ordinances that prevent smoking in public areas,” Katz, director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, said by email.

“This would harm public health by eroding social norms about the use of tobacco,” Katz added. “In addition, the article demonstrates that heat-not-burn products release carcinogens, so the use of these products in public space would harm the health of both the user and those around the user.”

NEW YORK – A new type of “heat-not-burn” cigarette releases some of the same cancer-causing chemicals found in traditional cigarette smoke, a recent experiment suggests.

Researchers analysed the chemical compounds and nicotine in smoke from traditional cigarettes and from the new devices, which are designed to heat disposable tobacco sticks and give users the taste of tobacco without the smoke or ash.

The smoke released by this “heat-not-burn” cigarette had 84% of the nicotine found in traditional cigarettes, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Heat-not-burn cigarettes also released chemicals linked to cancer including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The research team was surprised to find that heat-not-burn cigarettes “released some of these chemicals in much higher concentrations that conventional cigarettes,” said lead study author Dr Reto Auer of the University of Bern in Switzerland.

“We need more studies to find out about the health consequences” of smoking heat-not-burn cigarettes, Auer said by email.

“However, there is no safe minimum limit for some of the chemicals” in heat-not-burn cigarette smoke, Auer added, “and some of these chemicals may contribute to the high mortality rate of smokers.”

To see how heat-not-burn cigarettes compared to conventional cigarettes in terms of chemicals released, Auer and colleagues analysed the smoke from Lucky Strike Blue Lights and the newer alternative tobacco devices using a smoking device developed to capture fumes from traditional and electronic cigarettes.

They looked at the contents of the I-Quit-Ordinary Smoking (IQOS) product from Philip Morris International with an IQOS holder, IQOS pocket charger, Marlboro HeatSticks regular and Heets.

While more studies are needed to determine the long-term health effects of heat-not-burn cigarettes, their use should be restricted until more is known about them, Auer argues.

“Harmful chemicals were present in IQOS smoke, though in lower concentrations, on average,” Auer said. “We need to conduct more studies to find out whether IQOS are safer for users or bystanders.”

Based on their findings, the authors conclude that heated tobacco products should fall under the same indoor smoking bans in place for conventional cigarettes to prevent bystanders from breathing the fumes.

That’s because the new tobacco products threaten the progress that has been made on decreasing the harms of second-hand smoke, because existing bans may not apply to heat-not-burn cigarettes, Dr Mitchell Katz, deputy editor of JAMA Internal Medicine wrote in an editor’s note accompanying the study.

“There is concern that heat-not-burn tobacco will skirt local ordinances that prevent smoking in public areas,” Katz, director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, said by email.

“This would harm public health by eroding social norms about the use of tobacco,” Katz added. “In addition, the article demonstrates that heat-not-burn products release carcinogens, so the use of these products in public space would harm the health of both the user and those around the user.”

 Resource : http://ewn.co.za/2017/05/29/heat-not-burn-cigarettes-still-release-cancer-causing-chemicals

Rising cigarette prices fail to reduce smoking

Price controls fail to affect smoking cessation due to weak implementation

The cheap cost of cigarettes in Kenya —sold as a single stick instead of by the pack as required by law — is keeping smokers on a habit that the world targets to reduce drastically, a new survey ahead of the World Tobacco Day, tomorrow, has shown.

In the survey conducted in Nairobi and Embu Counties, smokers indicated that they have considered quitting due to health concerns, but not because of cost, since they can still afford to buy a few sticks at a time, instead of whole packs. Price was actually the least mentioned reason for why respondents felt motivated to quit smoking. In fact, the study showed that certain groups of people were likely to spend more money on smoking than on other more important needs.

“Young people, the less-educated and people with lower incomes are paying more for cigarettes and spending a greater proportion of their income on tobacco at the expense of other individual and family needs,” the research paper states in part.

While a cigarette pack, containing 20 sticks, costs between Sh120 to Sh250, neighbourhood shopkeepers and street vendors across the country sell a single stick for between Sh7 to Sh10. As a result of these tobacco products being accessible and affordable, over 60 per cent of tobacco users in the two counties reported smoking nine sticks a day, on average.

The total market value of cigarettes in Kenya is estimated at Sh35 billion, which translates to about 7.4 billion sticks.

This is based on responses from 592 smokers who were surveyed by the International Institute for Legislative Affairs (IILA) for a study titled Influence of retail price on tobacco smoking habits in Kenya: A case study of smokers in Nairobi and Embu Counties.

Most adult smokers (90 per cent) started smoking as teens or children.

EQUAL TAXATION

Higher prices and taxation are considered the most effective means of controlling and stopping tobacco use in the world as stated in the study:

“As tobacco retail prices increased (in the past two years under the Excise Duty Act of 2015), most smokers chose to smoke fewer cigarettes or opted to change to cheaper brands rather than to quit, unless the tobacco retail prices rose to very high levels.”

However, despite the effect of higher prices and taxes on tobacco control, Emma Wanyonyi, the Executive Director of IILA, says that the gains are being eroded.

 “It is surprising that in the 2017-2018 budget statement, the Treasury CS (Henry Rotich) has taken an about-turn by introducing a two-tier tax structure of Sh2,500 per 1,000 cigarettes with filters and Sh1,800 per 1,000 cigarettes for plain cigarettes,” she says.

What this means is that economy cigarette brands such as Rooster and Rocket will cost less than premium brands like Dunhill and Embassy and mid-priced brands like Sportsman, Sweet Menthol, Super Match and Safari.

Mr Rotich says the move was informed by “industry concerns” on current taxation of cigarettes which was termed as inequitable and adversely affected demand for locally produced low-value cigarettes.

This move was to cushion local cigarette manufacturers and in turn spur growth in sale of cheaper cigarette brands whose demand had gone down due to high taxation.

This, however, from a public health perspective, Ms Wanyonyi maintains, is unsettling.

“The cigarette types targeted for the reduction in tax rate are mostly consumed by low-income earners who already bear a disproportionate share of the health and economic burden,” she notes.

Therefore, the study recommends a review of tobacco taxation and excise duty tax on cigarettes which is currently lower than the World Health Organisation recommended 70 per cent of retail selling price. It also recommends a uniform tax structure for all tobacco products, equal treatment of all tobacco product brands and elimination of pro-poor policies that keep some cigarette brands within reach of low-income earners.

The study also shows that there is a lower incidence of tobacco use by women. Like the 2014 Global Adult Tobacco Survey, the study found that a majority of female tobacco users (83 per cent) use smokeless tobacco.

However, the research indicates that given that female smokers are  frowned upon, there is a high likelihood that they would be unlikely to join other smokers in the designated smoking areas.

_____

PROPOSALS

1. Protect gains achieved so far, including the current tax structure under the Excise Duty Act, 2015 (single/uniform tax structure applicable to all tobacco products).

2. Progressively increase tobacco excise tax rates towards the WHO recommended 70 per cent of retail selling price.

3. Eliminate ‘pro- poor policies’ in relation to taxation of tobacco products to protect low-income earners from the disproportionate burden of accompanying health costs.

4. Equal treatment of all tobacco products to avoid brand switching.

5. Strengthen enforcement of ban in single sticks as provided for in the Tobacco Control Act.

****

THE NUMBERS

About 1 million cancer deaths per year globally are due to tobacco smoking.

There are about 2.5 million tobacco users in the country, mostly men. On average, a Kenyan smoker spends about Sh48 a day or Sh1, 072 a month on cigarettes, with young people aged 15 to 24 years spending nearly double that amount per month on the habit.

Resource :http://www.nation.co.ke/health/Rising-cigarette-prices-fail-to-reduce-smoking/3476990-3947018-hbw1eo/

Robber steals a beer then returns for cigarettes,

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — A man who demanded cash at a National City 7- Eleven store early Wednesday but only managed to take a beer returned about 90 minutes later and tried to rob it a second time, police said.

The 30-year-old suspect first tried to purchase a beer at the convenience store at the corner of East Plaza Boulevard and South Harbison Avenue using a fake $10 bill around 12:30 a.m., but the clerk quickly noticed the money was counterfeit, according to National City police.

The suspect then reached toward his waistband and told the clerk he had a gun. He demanded money from the register, but ultimately fled with only the beer, police said.

Shortly after 2 a.m., the suspect again entered the store and ordered the same employee to hand over cash from the register and cigarettes from a display, according to police.

The clerk was able to call 911 and told a dispatcher “he’s back,” police said. Responding officers arrested the suspect as he was attempting to leave the store. His name was not immediately available.

Resource : http://fox5sandiego.com/2017/05/24/robber-steals-a-beer-then-returns-for-cigarettes-cash/

Frankston and peninsula footy clubs say it’s time to give cigarettes the boot at sporting venues

FRANKSTON and peninsula footy clubs reckon it’s time to give cigarettes the boot at sporting venues.

All senior clubs including Seaford, Pines, Frankston YCW, Mornington, Red Hill, Edithvale Aspendale, Pearcedale, Dromana and Crib Point will launch their new hard line on smoking at the Quit Challenge Round on June 3 by banning smoking everywhere at their clubs — except for one designated area.

Peninsula Health’s Andie Murphy said the initiative was a major step.

“I congratulate all of the clubs for signing the Frankston Mornington Peninsula Smoke Free Charter and working to create a healthier environment for their players, supporters and the community,” she said.

Seaford Football Club president Dale O’Neil said his club was committed to making the footy a fun and safe day out for families.

“Footy and smoking isn’t a good mix — it’s not good for players or supporters to be around which is why we signed on to the smoke-free charter and implemented a designated smoking area,” he said.

St Kilda Football Club coach Alan Richardson praised the clubs that had signed on to the smoke-free initiative and encouraged others to follow.

“We all need to contribute to make the footy a place everyone can enjoy safely. Join us and play your part in making local football a smoke-free environment.”

Frankston District Junior Football League has gone completely smoke free — banning smoking at all football grounds during organised underage sporting events.

Ms Murphy said this had provided people with a smoke-free sporting environment, reducing players’ and spectator’s exposure to the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and helping discourage youngsters from taking up the habit,

The Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League has been smoke free for one year and it has been successful, according to league president Andrew Souter.

“There has been a noticeable difference with no one smoking around the grounds on game day and at training, which is great to see,” he said.

Mornington Peninsula Shire mayor Bev Colomb congratulated the local clubs for recognising the importance of health and wellbeing within the sporting and broader community.

Frankston Mayor Brian Cunial said the clubs involved were setting a great example for other clubs across the state.

QUIT CHALLENGE ROUND

* Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League: Seaford Football Club, Seaford Rd, hosts a handball competition with women’s football ambassadors, St Kilda Football Club representatives and Frankston Mayor Brian Cunial attending on Saturday, June 3.

* Frankston District Junior Football League: Seaford Junior Football Club, Belvedere Reserve; and Mornington Peninsula Junior Football League: BlueScope Oval, Hastings, host Quit initiatives on Sunday, June 4.

Resource :http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/south-east/frankston-and-peninsula-footy-clubs-say-its-time-to-give-cigarettes-the-boot-at-sporting-venues/news-story/8ec5532395ced1b26445a591e39062d6