Electronic cigarette tax vexes vapers

A hefty excise tax on wholesale tobacco products sold in the Matanuska Susitna Borough is under scrutiny. At last [Sept 15] week’s meeting of the Matanuska Susitna Borough Assembly, e -cigarette users spoke out against the new tax.

The new ordinance went into effect when it was passed in August. It puts a a 55 % tax on wholesale purchases of e cigarette products in the Mat Su Borough. That Borough ordinance, was followed by outcries from owners of fledgling ” vape ” shops. Those are the retailers providing the products used in e-cigarettes.

“Putting them out of business, running them out of the city, is not something that is going to help smoking, it’s not something that is going to help the economy, and you will lose the sales tax revenue you are currently generating from these businesses.”

That’s e-cig smoker Mark Sowers. The tax is passed onto consumers  through the retail price of the products.  Mat Su Borough Assemblyman Jim Sykes says there’s good reason for the high tax.

“The nicotine juices cost very little on wholesale and the markup is pretty high. so 55%…It’s 90 % in Minnesota, so there’s a lot of money being made here, that’s why shops are opening like crazy all over the country.”



Sykes says money from the tax goes into the Borough’s general fund, and is to  be used for anti smoking education, although the ordinance is not specific as to how the tax will be spent. Sykes says the high tax could help to sway young people from buying tobacco products.

The legislation, however, has raised complaints from e-cigarette smokers and owners of vape shops. It also has ping – ponged from approval to mayoral veto to override and then back to the Assembly, where it showed up on the agenda last week, waiting for an amendment that never materialized.

At the meeting , Ashley Peltier, applauded the Assembly’s action,  saying that the ordinance’s 55 % tax should stand.

“Presently, there is no oversight over these products. Therefore, there is no way the public health, the medical community or consumers to know exactly what chemicals are contained in or emitted from these devices, or what the short and long term health implications may be.

But a greater number of smokers came out swinging at the meeting, and claimed that “vaping”, or smoking e cigarettes, has  helped them stop smoking tobacco cigarettes. Many, like Mike McInnes, disputed the fact that vaping causes the same kind of damage that smoking tobacco does.

“If anything should be taxed, it should be the nicotine. We should not be punishing people that are vaping at zero milligram nicotine. We should not be taxing the equipment itself, especially the batteries that can be bought at all kinds of different places. ”

According to Assemblyman Sykes, the ordinance is copied from one now in effect in Juneau, only with a ten percent higher tax rate.

Resource : http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/09/22/e-cig-tax-vexes-vapers/

Kansas Cigarette Sales Up After Tax Increase But Further Hike Unlikely

The 2015 session of the Kansas Legislature began with a budget crisis and Gov. Sam Brownback proposing a large hike in the state tobacco tax to help solve it.

The 2016 session is set to begin in January with the budget again in need of patching. But the kind of tobacco tax increase anti-smoking advocates believe would spur Kansans to kick the habit is less likely.

Last year’s temporary budget fix raised the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack. That was only one-third what Brownback had requested, but even that level of increase was a source of considerable angst for legislators.

Brownback said in October that he plans to balance the budget in the upcoming session without further tax increases. His spokeswoman, Eileen Hawley, said in an email Friday that he will not propose another cigarette tax hike, even after revenue estimates were lowered in November, leaving another budget hole.

But the fears some legislators voiced about last session’s tax increase have not come to pass, which could crack the door for another increase if the Legislature finds itself scrambling against the clock to balance the budget again.

Taxes on smokeless tobacco products also could be part of the discussion, and hearings on electronic cigarette legislation are almost a certainty.

Border issue

Happy Patel is a big fan of the cigarette tax increase that the Kansas Legislature enacted last session. He believes it’s helped his business.

Patel owns Discount Smokes & Cheap Smokes, a tobacco shop on the Missouri side of State Line Road in Kansas City. Missouri has the lowest cigarette tax in the nation at 17 cents per pack. Across the street in Kansas the tax is now $1.29 per pack, and those who usually shop on the Kansas side of State Line Road seem to like his prices.

“They say, ‘We buy it in Kansas,’” said Patel, adding that customers say the prices at his store in Missouri are much lower.

Patel’s windfall was the nightmare scenario for Kansas legislators. They disregarded Brownback’s larger tax-increase proposal in part because they feared Kansans in border counties would flock to Missouri to buy their cigarettes, nullifying the revenue boost needed to balance the budget.

Despite anecdotes like Patel’s, the aggregate data shows that so far cigarette tax collections in Kansas haven’t suffered.

Since the state tax rose from 79 cents to $1.29 per pack — a 63.3 percent increase — revenue from tax stamps is up 65.5 percent over the same period in 2014. That means cigarette sales actually have climbed a bit in Kansas for the first five months of the higher tax.

Kansas isn’t losing much cigarette business to Missouri. Nor have Kansans cut back on their cigarette use.

“We haven’t seen the decline in consumption that was expected, but don’t have an explanation,” Jeannine Koranda, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Revenue, said in an email.

Public health advocates had warned that the 50-cent increase wasn’t likely to be nearly the deterrent that Brownback’s proposed $1.50-per-pack hike would have been.

But they still expect it to help lower smoking rates somewhat in the long run.

“Regular and significant tobacco tax increases are an effective strategy for reducing tobacco use, particularly when the increase is coupled with funding for proven cessation programs,” said Kevin Walker, regional vice president of advocacy for the American Heart Association, which was part of a coalition of public health groups that pushed for the governor’s $1.50 increase.
Anti-smoking advocates say the state is paid back several times in public health savings for every dollar lost in tobacco taxes when a person quits.

But in the short term, the extra revenue from Kansans continuing to buy cigarettes looks good to legislators weary of budget crises.

Addressing an interim committee last month, Chris Courtright, the legislative research department’s top economist, called the higher-than-expected cigarette tax revenue “the biggest piece of good news” after months of lackluster reports from other revenue streams.

But Courtright also warned that recent history suggests anti-smoking advocates may be right.

“There may be some early indication that the slippage model developed by the Department of Revenue may have overestimated consumer behavior in response to this particular tax increase,” Courtright said. “But I would hasten to add that the last time the state raised cigarette taxes back in 2002-2003, the major slippage for some reason really began showing up in the second fiscal year. So this one will also bear some close scrutiny, I think, over the next 18 months.”

Walker offered a possible explanation for the delayed consumer reaction. Tobacco companies often use coupons and rebates to buffer the effect of a tax increase and ease smokers into paying more.

Walker expects cigarette purchases to fall but said Kansas policymakers still have work to do to deter smoking. The tax rate remains in the bottom half of states nationally, and Kansas doesn’t fund programs that help people quit at recommended levels.

Other products

Brownback’s proposal for the last legislative session would have raised the tax rate on other tobacco products as well, but legislators stripped that part from the final package.

The current tax of 10 percent of wholesale price on products like smokeless tobacco and cigars has not changed in decades. Jodi Radke, regional advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said not keeping the smokeless tobacco tax in line with the cigarette tax gives smokers an incentive to shift their addiction to smokeless tobacco rather than quit.

“The Legislature’s decision to not include other tobacco products in the final package last session, despite Gov. Brownback’s inclusion in his budget proposal, was disappointing and a missed opportunity that encourages users to choose alternate products to evade the current taxation on cigarettes,” Radke said.

Smokeless tobacco users remain a much smaller share of the overall tobacco market than cigarette smokers, but their numbers have been growing in recent years while cigarette use has declined.

Radke said if the Legislature is willing to consider increasing the tax rate on other tobacco products in the upcoming session, her group would support that.

Anti-smoking advocates will be taking more of a “wait-and-see” approach on e-cigarette taxes, she said.

Last year’s tax package included a levy on the liquid nicotine that e-cigarettes burn to produce an inhalable vapor. The tax goes into effect in July 2016, but e-cigarette industry representatives have called it unworkably vague, given the variation in e-cigarette liquids.

Tax committee leaders have said they’ll take another look at it during the 2016 session, and Radke said anti-smoking advocates will watch what comes of those talks.

“We anticipate that the introduced language last session may change, and thus, will need to see the language before determining any level of involvement or position,” Radke said.

Other health advocates have said they’ll push for e-cigarettes to be included in the state’s smoking ban during the upcoming session. In August, Topeka became the sixth Kansas city to add them to local smoking bans.

Andy Marso is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach him on Twitter @andymarso

Resource :http://salinapost.com/2016/01/10/kansas-cigarette-sales-up-after-tax-increase-but-further-hike-unlikely/

Legislation would prohibit use of e-cigarettes in restaurants

By JOHN REID BLACKWELL Richmond Times-Dispatch

State lawmakers will tackle at least one proposal during this General Assembly session to restrict the use of electronic cigarettes in some public places such as restaurants.

Smoking conventional cigarettes has been prohibited inside Virginia restaurants since 2009, with an exception for eateries that allow smoking only in separately enclosed and ventilated rooms.

A bill introduced by Sen. John C. Miller, D-Newport News, would expand that prohibition to include electronic cigarettes, the battery-powered devices that some smokers use as an alternative to conventional cigarettes.

Miller’s bill, which has been referred to the Senate committee on local government, seeks to broaden the definition of “smoking” in the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act to include e-cigarettes, also known as vapor products.

The bill is facing opposition from the Virginia Smoke Free Association, a trade group that was formed last year by electronic cigarette retailers to advocate for the burgeoning e-cigarette industry. The group currently has about 50 members.

Miller said he introduced the bill to protect people from exposure to e-cigarette vapor in restaurants.

“A few years ago, we banned smoking in restaurants, and I think that is a good thing,” Miller said. “It protects folks from secondhand smoke and makes the dining experience much more enjoyable.”

“What we didn’t do is account for e-cigarettes,” he said. “You walk into a restaurant and there is somebody puffing away on an e-cig and spewing God knows what into the atmosphere.

“I just think, if we have banned smoking in restaurants, it is logical that we ban e-cigarettes in restaurants as well.”

The bill also would bar e-cigarette use in such areas as elevators, cashier lines, schools and school buses and day care centers.

Jay Taylor, owner of the Voltage Vapin’ store in Chesterfield County, contends it is unfair to lump e-cigs with conventional cigarettes. His store sells various electronic cigarettes and “vaping” products.

Research indicates that e-cigs contain far fewer toxins and carcinogens than conventional cigarettes, said Taylor, who is acting president of the Smoke Free Association.

Public health groups say that, because e-cigarettes are not regulated, there is no way to know what ingredients they might contain and their health risk.

The devices do not produce smoke from burning tobacco. Instead, they heat a liquid solution of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin and nicotine, producing a vapor that the user inhales. The practice has come to be known as “vaping.”

“The reason I started this organization is to protect this industry for our consumers,” Taylor said. “I started my business because I was a three-pack-a-day smoker, and I was able to get off cigarettes within 48 hours by using these products. I knew if it would work for me, it would work for anybody.

“I have got thousands of customers that I have helped switch from traditional tobacco to electronic cigarettes, or vapor products,” he said. “I really feel like it is my duty to help protect this industry.”

To lobby on its behalf, the Smoke Free Association has retained Steve Baril, a partner with Kaplan Voekler Cunningham & Frank PLC in Richmond.

“Our agenda is not to advocate for the right to vape anywhere,” Baril said. “The way it stands now, any particular restaurant has the prerogative to ask a customer not to do that.”

Most chain restaurants have voluntarily banned e-cig use, Taylor said, based on anecdotal information. Independent and mom-and-pop restaurants have tended to be more open to vaping, “as long as you are not being obnoxious,” he said.

The Smoke Free Association also was gearing up to fight a bill introduced by Del. Paul E. Krizek, D-Fairfax, that would levy a 15 percent wholesale tax on e-cigarettes.

But Krizek said last week that he intends to withdraw the bill for this legislative session. He said he plans to work with public health groups to introduce a more comprehensive tax bill next year.

Resource :http://www.newsadvance.com/work_it_lynchburg/news/legislation-would-prohibit-use-of-e-cigarettes-in-restaurants/article_b1b99a36-c350-11e5-8e73-2b8fb24b30bf.html

Hookah pipes escape bong ban

THE impending State Government ban on the sale of bongs will not include hookah pipes because of cultural reasons, after consultation with members of Melbourne's Arabic community.The exemption has been criticised by anti-smoking groups, who argue that all cultural groups should be entitled to a safe, smoke-free environment.A Bailleau Government spokesman confirmed that Hookah pipes - also known as shisha, narghile or goza - would still be available, although there will be restrictions on their display."As we understand it, they [hookah pipes] are used primarily for cultural reasons and the ban is more focused on illicit drug use," the spokeman said.

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The new laws will make it an offence to have more than three hookah pipes on display in a retail outlet, with the intent of limiting their visibility and reducing the uptake of tobacco smoking. All bongs will be banned, including components and bong kits.Health Minister Mary Woolridge said in Parliament last month that representatives from Middle Eastern and Arabic communities were consulted on the new legislation that will be introduced this week.
Fiona Sharkie, executive director of Quit, said hookah pipes should not be exempted for cultural reasons, with Victoria the only Australian state to permit their use inside cafes and bars. She said hookah pipes and bongs were essentially the same thing.


"All patrons and hospitality workers, regardless of their cultural background, should be entitled to a healthy, smoke-free environment," she said.The loose definition of tobacco in the Tobacco Act had created a loophole, which was increasingly exploited by venues, according to Ms Sharkie.Ms Sharkie called for a ban on the smoking of tobacco in all water pipes inside venues."There is a perception that because the tobacco is smoked through water or flavoured with fruit that it's not as harmful as other tobacco products. But the reality is that hookah or shisha pipes are just as harmful and people should not be deluded," Ms Sharkie said.


Resource: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hookah-pipes-escape-bong-ban-20110910-1k3lb.html

Toronto council could outlaw all hookah lounges

City councillors could this week outlaw dozens of hookah lounges across Toronto, but a councillor who regularly smokes a water pipe is floating a compromise.

Toronto’s public health department is urging council to ban the use of hookahs in all city-licensed businesses. The growing international popularity of hookah lounges, especially with young adults, has sparked concern.

Ontario law already bans tobacco smoking in indoor public spaces. The city’s medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown is warning that pipes using charcoal to burn herbal mixtures, instead of tobacco, still carry health risks and help make public smoking socially acceptable.

A city staff report that says about 70 Toronto businesses allow customers to use hookah is going to council Tuesday with no recommendation because licensing committee members were deadlocked on the merits of a blanket ban.

One of them, Jim Karygiannis (Ward 39 Scarborough-Agincourt), plans to ask council to regulate the businesses in a special category with rules including no children or alcohol, serving only juice, pop and coffee.

“Let’s license them so we regulate them and don’t drive them underground,” Karygiannis said Monday, adding that for the past dozen or so years he has smoked in a hookah lounge near his home about once a month.

“It’s relaxing, you have a conversation with a couple of friends,” said the rookie councillor and former Liberal MP who also smokes Cuban cigars. “It’s a cultural aspect from the Middle East and is becoming popular in Greece and other places. If we make people smoke at home, you can bet they are using tobacco.”

Ashraf Hasouna, owner of Alexandria Café in Scarborough, says the ban would impact a large part of Toronto’s immigrant population that does not drink alcohol and “do not enjoy the nightclub as it is not in their culture,” he wrote in a presentation submitted to city council’s June 25 meeting.

“When they’re finished their time here, they go fully conscious, happy, no harm on them or the society, or the neighbourhood,” he told the Star of his clientele Monday evening. “If that is banned, the question is: where will those people go?”

Hasouna estimates 65 per cent of his business’s revenue stems from shisha and the other 35 per cent, mostly food and drinks, is “linked totally to shisha” because that’s what customers come to the establishment for. He says he wouldn’t be able to pay rent for the 3,600-square-feet restaurant without it.

It’s possible to burn hookah using electronic charcoal, Hasouna added, saying, “We are willing to work closely with the city if they give us a chance to work with alternatives.”

Noel Gerry, a lawyer representing 14 owners of hookah establishments, said his clients are “ready, able and willing to be regulated. They are small businesses, they support families and employees’ families, and they want to stay in business.”

Joe Mihevc, chair of the city’s public health board, is going to push for an outright ban.

“By quality, the negative health impacts of smoking shisha or tobacco are in the 1,000-times greater than any other product,” he argued.

When a reporter noted the city routinely authorizes new liquor licences, and that alcohol causes well-known health and social harms, Mihevc said: “Smoking has a very negative health impact for both the smoker and the people who inhale the second-hand smoke, a very serious potential level of harm for human health.

Resource:http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2015/11/02/toronto-council-could-outlaw-all-hookah-lounges.html

Hookah steam stones loaded with carcinogens

Hookah, shisha, or smoking the nargila is a staple of any Middle Eastern experience. But more and more research suggests that this form of smoking is more damaging than regular cigarette smoking. Send this one to all your pipe smoking friends.

Hookah pipes don’t use filters so you are potentially inhaling a lot more particulate matter than when you smoke filtered cigarettes. New research suggests that when you smoke hookah with steam stones, the consequences can be even more disasterous.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati found that smoking a hookah loaded up with the stones actually delivers an extra cloud of toxic metal residues — including the chemicals of chromium, arsenic and cadmium — all released from the charcoal used to keep the hookah pipe burning.

We hate to say it but time to go back to smoking old smelly cigars?

Resource: http://www.greenprophet.com/2015/05/hookah-smoking-dangers/

Hooked on the hookah! Water pipes more harmful than cigarettes?

LONDON, March 20 — World health experts warned yesterday that smoking water pipes, long popular in the Middle East and North Africa and with a growing fan base elsewhere, can be more harmful than cigarettes.

“A single puff from a water pipe is nearly equal to the volume of smoke inhaled from an entire cigarette,” said The Tobacco Atlas launched at the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Abu Dhabi.

And World Health Organisation tobacco expert Edouard Tursan d’Espaignet said “one session of shisha (water pipe) can be equal to smoking 20 to 30 cigarettes in one go, which can be very dangerous.”

The water pipe, variously known as a hubbly-bubbly, hookah, shisha or nargileh, has become a major worry for anti-tobacco campaigners as its is popularised across university campuses, overlooked by regulators.

In recent years, its use has spread to the United States, Europe and, to a lesser extent, South America.

Gemma Vestal of the WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative told AFP that while shishas were previously the domain of older males, “younger people between 18- and 24-years old living in cities and educated” are increasingly smoking them.

The chairman of pathology and laboratory medicine at the American University of Beirut, Ghazi Zaatari, says aromatic flavourings known as maasal added to the tobacco offer younger smokers a “smoother and more tolerated” alternative to the taste of traditional tobacco.

And the “water pipe has an interesting design because it somewhat engages your five senses. You’re holding the hose, there’s something you’re looking at, there is the aroma, there is the sound of the bubbling and there is this kind of sensational thing with the social gathering.”

In social gatherings that last for an average of an hour, the smoker can quickly get “hooked on it because of the nicotine.”

Moreover, the smoke from charcoal used to heat the tobacco contains toxins.

The WHO said harmful effects include impact on the “respiratory system, cardiovascular system, oral activity and teeth.”

In addition

to the dangers of lung cancer, data also suggest probable associations with oral, oesophageal, gastric, and urinary bladder cancer, as well as chronic bronchitis, cardiovascular disease, stroke as well as other illnesses.

Global tobacco companies are increasingly investing in the water pipe business, experts say, while little has been done to curb their use, despite a crackdown on cigarettes.

According to The Tobacco Atlas, “water pipes fall into a less heavily or un-regulated group of tobacco products” in most countries.

”There has been a gap for a while and now hopefully, with this global effort, they (tobacco regulators) are coming back to emphasise the importance of including the water pipe in all these policies and regulations on tobacco,” Zaatari said.

Brazil has taken measures to ban flavourings, while Turkey has extended warning labelling from cigarette packets to include the water pipe.

And the ruler of the  UAE emirate of  Sharjah has banned the use of water pipes altogether, earning him an award this week from the WHO. — AFP-Relaxnews

Resource: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/features/article/hooked-on-the-hookah-water-pipes-more-harmful-than-cigarettes

Shisha cafe workers face lung disease risk from passive smoking

Individuals working at shisha cafes are more likely to have lung and heart disease than those who are not part of such work force, according to a new survey.

Shisha smoking is growing trend worldwide particularly in the western countries. It is often labeled as a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. Shisha, also known as hookah, is a water pipe of Middle Eastern origin, which is used to smoke tobacco with flavors including apple, grape, cherry and watermelon.

The health officials describe the shisha as “at least as toxic as cigarette smoking. Previous survey showed that one shisha session delivers about 125 times the smoke of one cigarette.

A team of researchers from College of Global Public Health, New York examined 10 shisha café employees from four different bars at the end of their work shift. The investigators found that the employees had higher levels of toxins and inflammatory markers usually associated with and pulmonary and cardiac disorders.

Moreover, some of the participants had toxin levels similar to heavy cigarette smokers. The scientists also discovered the workers had inhaled high levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine while doing their job. The blood levels of inflammatory mediators were also higher at the end of the shift, putting them at risk of heart disease and cancer.

“Hookah use is often exempt from clean indoor air laws that protect people from secondhand smoke. Ours is the first study that links poor hookah bar air quality to damaging effects in workers and the results recommend closer monitoring of this industry to protect the public, said Dr. Terry Gordon, a toxicologist and senior study author.

The most notable health risks of water pipe smoking include exposure to toxic chemicals that are not filtered by water and risk of infectious disease when hookahs are shared. Despite of aforementioned health risks, the hookah cafes around the world are becoming more and more popular. IMAGE/HuffingtonPost

Resource: http://freedistrict.com/discover/health/shisha-cafe-workers-face-lung-disease-risk-passive-smoking-16436.html

Phillip Tutor: An awful idea for Anniston -- hookah bars

David Reddick, the Anniston councilman, is right.

Anniston has a strong no-smoking ordinance, but last month three council members OK’d an exemption for cigar bars. He now wants that exemption broadened for others.

It’s basic logic.

But David Reddick is also wrong.

He wants that exemption to include hookah bars, which is an awful idea. Anniston may need the dribble of sales-tax revenue those businesses might create, but it shouldn’t import an activity that’s a bonafide health risk. Science has proven it. Pretending you’re a 19th-century Persian nomad while smoking liquid tobacco through a hookah pipe is terrible for your body — and for others’, as well. You might as well suck on the tailpipe of a ’53 Chevy. It doesn’t make you cool or hip. It clouds your lungs and, if you smoke it enough, it may shorten your life. So puff away, if that’s your thing.

But don’t listen to me on this.

Instead, listen to these guys:

From New York University’s College of Global Public Health: “Tested (recently) as they left their shifts, ten hookah bar employees were found to have elevated levels of toxins and identifiable markers of inflammation that are linked to airway and heart diseases. In fact, some of those tested had results akin to those seen in heavy cigarette smokers.”

From toxicologist Terry Gordon, an NYU professor: “Our findings challenge the belief that secondhand exposure to hookah smoke is safe.”

From the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, via the Johns Hopkins News-Letter: “One hookah session produces 2.5 times more nicotine, 10 times more carbon monoxide, 25 times more tar, and 125 times more smoke than a single cigarette.”

And, one more from NYU: “Specifically, researchers found that the average level of exhaled carbon monoxide rose markedly after the (hookah bar) workers’ shifts, with readings from two of the 10 workers greater than 90 parts per million, which is similar to those seen in heavy tobacco smokers. Additionally, blood levels of inflammatory signaling proteins were found to be significantly higher in workers after their shifts. Such proteins are part of normal immune responses, but also central to heart disease and cancer when present in too high levels.”

So, Mr. Reddick, you still support bringing this to Anniston?

Boiled down, this hookah nonsense wouldn’t be an issue had the council refused to exempt cigar bars from the city ordinance — an ordinance, mind you, that’s well-crafted and took a significant amount of political muscle to pass. It’s a challenge to suggest a more important vote taken by the Stewart City Hall than the one that outlawed smoking in public places.

That other Alabama cities with smoking bans have welcomed cigar bars is irrelevant. In this regard, keeping up with the Joneses is silly. What Birmingham and Gadsden do is their business, their mistakes. Anniston’s decision to carve out an exemption weakens its ordinance and allows regrettable proposals like Reddick’s to gain traction.

If you’re going to ban smoking in public places, then ban smoking in public places. No exceptions.

By the way, Reddick also wants a public-place exemption for e-cigarettes. Well, that’s dandy. That would please Anniston’s vapers. But this month, published studies have shown that e-cigs (a.) hinder the immune system; (b.) may cause long-term hearing loss; and (c.) are bad for teenagers, who are three times more likely to take up regular cigarettes within a year of starting to vape.

Saying e-cigarettes aren’t harmful is like saying Jose Cuervo isn’t alcohol.

Of all the things on City Hall’s plate, the exemption of hookah bars isn’t high on the agenda. If anything, it illustrates the pull-and-tug councils go through when choosing what businesses they approve and where they allow them. They’re usual questions. And they’re not rocket science, either. Common sense and a little research can work wonders.

Mayor Vaughn Stewart isn’t a fan of Reddick’s proposals. “I was not in favor of cigar bars and I’m not in favor of hookah bars and I couldn’t vote for vapor either,” Stewart said. Neither is Councilman Seyram Selase. Two votes. I expect a third will follow.

The only reason Reddick’s proposals will live on is if the council decides small additions to the city’s sales-tax base and bar scene trump residents’ health. The answer is clear, even through all this needless smoke.

 Resource: http://www.annistonstar.com/opinion/phillip-tutor-an-awful-idea-for-anniston---/article_4e04f7a6-c620-11e5-b617-2fbed2200d91.html

BWW Recap: A Hookah Smoking Gallagher on SHAMELESS

The Gallaghers have never been ones to shy away from fertility and boy did they prove that this week. Debbie went from sweet little sister to devil teenager... but then, who doesn't?

Debbie, Debbie, Debbie... what are we gonna do with you? Well, if it were up to Fiona, it's all about the abortion. But Debbie isn't having it. All she wants is to prove to everyone is that she can handle high school and her baby. She takes a sack of flour with her to school to illustrate her point, but, as it turns out, nobody is really taking her seriously. Not to mention the actual teen moms who inform her that being a teen mom isn't really that great. She heads to visit Derek's sister-in-law to ask her why Derek's parents won't let her see him and is informed that it is Derek who willingly escaped to Florida to get away from Debbie. Turns out she's a bit obsessed with the baby. Distracted by the news, she accidentally leaves her "child" on the bus.

Lip is still sleeping with Helene even after he beat up Dylan. Helene gently suggests maybe he should kill her husband, but he isn't quite sure if she was joking. When her husband subtly threatens him for beating up his son, did Lip get a moment of clarity at how messed up this situation actually is? His Professor he TA's for offers him a summer internship and blackmails Lip into taking it in exchange for borrowing his car.

Ian is in the dumps of his bipolar-ness and winds up quitting the diner after Fiona irritates him. And Carl is selling guns at school to make money with his friend, Nick. At The Alibi, they are named the "S**ttiest bar on the South Side" which makes them even more popular with the hipsters. Svetlana adds an espresso machine, hookah pipes and a karaoke machine to accommodate. Kev rakes in the money by overcharging. Kev and V's neighbor, Yanis, is still in a battle royale with the Lisas. Fed up, Kev cuts his throttle cable to quiet his motorcycle and stop waking up the babies. Turns out, he accidentally cut the brake line and Yanis is hit by a car.

Frank is still grieving and decides to do a cleansing ritual at the hospital by burning all of Bianca's things. Bianca's friend consoles him, but laughs off his advances informing him that Bianca was only with him because she had Stage Four Cancer. Naturally, Frank heads to the oncology floor to find a new hookup. He finds Hillary and takes her to smoke crack where she immediately OD's and dies.

Fiona is out of her mind with stress over Debbie and Ian and her new position at the diner which involves turning on all of her old friends as their new boss. When she can't take it anymore, she complains to Sean and he admits that he shot up. She realizes she's again in love with an addict and even more distressing? She's pregnant too.

I'm really starting to feel bad for Lip. He really is trying to make something of himself, even if he is in an awfully strange situation with his Professor but he cannot help being dragged in with his family's messes. What is Debbie going to do when she finds out that Fiona, who has been preaching to her about responsibility is pregnant as well? It seems to me that after all these years, you would think they would all grow up and be a little bit more together, but it seems that everyone is in a downward spiral at the moment. And it's only episode two? Are they able to turn it all around? Kev seems to be the only one thriving so far this season by taking advantage of gentrification. And why shouldn't he?

And where is Sammy? Is she still all mad that Mickey tried to kill her and no one cared? Geez... get over it already!

Photo Credit: SHOWTIME

Follow me on Twitter @eponineq and follow @BWWTVWorld for all the latest updates, scoops and recaps

Resource: http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/PENDING-BWW-Recap-A-Hookah-Smoking-Gallagher-on-SHAMELESS-20160117-page2

Hookah vs. Cigarettes: Water Pipe Smoking Not As Harmless As Many Think

As people steer away from cigarettes, more are smoking tobacco from hookahs, large communal pipes that draw tobacco smoke through water. It appears though that while smoking cigarette has long been acknowledged to be bad for the health, the alternatives are not at all safer and healthier as some have come to believe.

Some hookah smokers' think that the practice is less harmful compared with smoking cigarettes but water pipe smoking has many of the health risks associated with cigarette smoking.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hookah smokers are at risk of the same diseases and health problems that threaten cigarette smokers.

Hookah tobacco and smoke are known to contain toxic agents that can cause bladder and lung cancers, clogged arteries and heart disease. Tobacco juices from hookahs may also irritate the mouth and up risks for oral cancers.

Because hookah smoking is often done in groups with people using the same mouthpiece, infections may be passed from one smoker to another. Pregnant women who smoke water pipes everyday are likewise likely to have babies that weigh less at birth and are at an increased risk for respiratory diseases.

Secondhand smoke from hookahs also poses health risks for nonsmokers because this contains smoke from both the tobacco and the heat source used in the hookah.

A new study offers new evidence of the dangers of hookah smoking and the results suggest smoking hookah may even be more dangerous than smoking traditional cigarettes.

For the study published in Public Health Reports, researchers from the Pittsburgh School of Medicine reviewed 542 earlier studies on cigarette and hookah smoking and found 17 that offer sufficient data for them to estimate the toxicants inhaled by hookah smokers and regular cigarette smokers.

The researchers' meta-analysis revealed that a single smoking session from hookah delivers 25 times the tar, 10 times the carbon monoxide and 2.5 times the nicotine of a single cigarette.

Study author Dr. Brian Primack said that their findings show that hookah smoking poses real health concerns that need to be monitored closely with the rising popularity of hookah among young people and hookah cafés gaining popularity worldwide. Some products also claim that their users can enjoy the same taste of tobacco sans the harmful effects.

"Similar to cigarettes, hookah smoking delivers the addictive drug nicotine and it is at least as toxic as cigarette smoking. While many hookah smokers may consider this practice less harmful than smoking cigarettes, hookah smoking carries many of the same health risks as cigarettes," CDC said.

Primack and colleagues, however, noted that comparing a hookah smoking session to smoking cigarette is actually complex due to differences in smoking patterns. Frequent cigarette smokers, for instance, may puff 20 cigarettes in a day while frequent hookah smokers may only participate in a few hookah sessions per day.

"The estimates we found cannot tell us exactly what is 'worse.' But what they do suggest is that hookah smokers are exposed to a lot more toxicants than they probably realize," Primack said.

Resource: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/124068/20160114/hookah-vs-cigarettes-water-pipe-smoking-not-as-harmless-as-many-think.htm

​Smoking a hookah pipe is 25 times more dangerous than smoking a cigarette, research warns

Smoking a hookah pipe delivers twenty five times as much cancer causing tar as a single cigarette, according to new research.

Smoking a shisha has become increasingly trendy as an alternative to cigarettes.

The sticky brown tar is the main cause of lung and throat tumours in cigarette smokers, and can also cause unsightly yellow-brown stains on fingers and teeth.

But one session, which normally lasts around 40 to 45 minutes, also produces 125 times the smoke, ten times the carbon monoxide and two and a half times the nicotine of a cigarette, warn scientists.

The alarming findings published in Public Health Reports show the ancient form of smoking, popular in Arab countries, is much more harmful to health than previously believed.

It involves charcoal heated fruit scented tobacco or non tobacco based shisha smoke passing through an ornate water vessel before being inhaled through a hose.

The custom is becoming increasingly popular among young people in the UK and other western countries.
Shisha bars, which are typically decked out with low stools and soft cushions to create an inviting atmosphere, have become common in cities across the UK, especially in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
In the study researchers reviewed 542 scientific articles related to cigarettes and smoking hookah, pooling data from 17 of them to develop accurate and comparable estimates of the toxins humans breath in when they smoke.
Dr Brian Primack, of the University of Pittsburgh, said: "Our results show hookah tobacco smoking poses real health concerns and it should be monitored more closely than it is currently.

"For example, hookah smoking was not included in the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey System questionnaire, which assesses cigarette smoking, chewing tobacco, electronic cigarettes and many other forms of substance abuse."As cigarette smoking rates fall, more people are smoking tobacco from the communal pipes that have been viewed as a safer alternative as they enable users to draw tobacco smoke through water. But the research shows they are inhaling a large load of toxicants.Dr Primack and colleagues realised comparing a hookah session with a single cigarette is complex because of the differences in smoking patterns.

A frequent cigarette smoker may smoke 20 cigarettes a day, while a frequent hookah smoker may just participate in a few sessions each day.Dr Primark said: "It is not a perfect comparison because people smoke cigarettes and hookahs in very different ways."We had to conduct the analysis this way - comparing a single hookah session to a single cigarette - because that is the way the underlying studies tend to report findings. So, the estimates we found cannot tell us exactly what is 'worse.'

"But what they do suggest is hookah smokers are exposed to a lot more toxicants than they probably realise.

"After we have more fine grained data about usage frequencies and patterns, we will be able to combine those data with these findings and get a better sense of relative overall toxicant load."

The research team also notes that these findings may be helpful in providing estimates for various official purposes.

Amanda Sandford, of Action on Smoking and Health, said: "We welcome this study. It confirms there is no safe level of tobacco smoke.

"There is a myth with sisha smoking that as the tobacco passes through water it is somehow diluted, but this does not diminish the risks at all.

"The message to come from the latest research is it is not a safer alternative to cigarette smoking."

As well as the cancer and heart disease risk of inhaling chemicals in smoke, high levels of carbon monoxide can lead to brain damage and unconsciousness.

Last year a survey of more than 12,000 UK adults found one in eight, or 13%, had ever smoked a hookah pipe, with one percent describing themselves as frequent users more than three to four times a month.

The research also showed the number of smokers who had turned to them rose from from 21% in 2014 to 24% in 2015.

Resource: http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/8203-Smoking-hookah-pipe-25-times-dangerous/story-28510045-detail/story.html

Holland's first hookah lounge provides gathering place, culture

    Holland’s first hookah lounge offers a new activity and culture for locals 18 and up.

    Hookah Lounge of Holland, located at 960 Butternut Drive in Holland Township, is owned by two brothers and their father who have experience in the business.

    Moe Shayeb, co-owner, moved to Holland from Chicago 4 years ago. He owns a hookah lounge in Chicago, and previously owned a cash for gold store in Holland.

    Shayeb started working toward opening the Holland lounge in September 2014.

    “Every time I wanted to smoke hookah, I had to drive all the way to Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo or to Allendale” he said. “When it’s snowing, I can’t drive. It clicked to me that I had to open up a hookah lounge in Holland because I really found out that there’s really nothing to do in Holland, especially for people 18 and up.”

    The lounge provides an alternative kind of hangout place for anyone 18 or older, Shayeb said.

    “It’s a new culture that I’m bringing to Holland Township,” he said.

    A hookah looks similar to a vase, and is used for vaporizing and smoking flavored tobacco, called shisha. The bottom of the hookah is filled with water, and the top is filled with shisha, which passed through the water basin before inhalation.

    At Hookah Lounge of Holland, the shisha comes in flavors such as white grape, passion kiss, tequila sunrise, watermelon and wildberry mint. The menu lists 31 flavors, and an option for custom mixes. The lounge will also substitute water with ice water, milk or Red Bull.

    Hookah is thought to have originated in the Middle East during the 1500s.

    Small studies of adults in the U.S. show high rates of hookah smoking among college students with past year use ranging from 22 percent to 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. The trend is also growing among high school students.

    “College students will come in during the day and just sit down, smoke hookah, have their music and do their homework,” Shayeb said. “It’s a gathering place.”

    The lounge does not serve alcohol or food. Food can be brought in by customers, but alcohol can not, he said.

    Shayeb owns the lounge with his brother Mike Shayeb and father Sal Ahmed.
Resource: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/article/20160130/NEWS/160139988

Ypsilanti Township moves to regulate hookah, cigar and smoking lounges

Ypsilanti Township is considering several new laws that would regulate its hookah and smoking lounges.

The move comes after the township encountered issues with the clientele at the Sphinx Hookah Lounge at 2720 Washtenaw Ave. The Sphinx's customers were generally men between 18 and 20 years old, Township Planning Director Joe Lawson said, and neighboring businesses regularly called over fights, drinking, loitering, drug use and other related problems.

In October the lounge caught fire and is closed, though it isn't clear if it's shut down permanently.

At its Tuesday night meeting, the Ypsilanti Township Planning Commission recommended approval of new zoning regulations and regulatory measures. The proposed legislation will go before the Board of Trustees for approval at a yet-to-be-determined date.

Lawson said two other hookah lounges are still operating in the township, and he wants regulations on the books to prevent any further issues.

"It's a super simplistic ordinance designed to get our arms around a use not contemplated when the ordinance was written. Questions like 'Where do we want to have them?' And unfortunately, we have to regulate them," he said.

The ordinance's language covers cigar bars, hookah bars, tobacco bars, tobacco lounges, tobacco clubs or zero percent nicotine establishments.

It would require lounges to operate in B3 General Business zones and be at least 2,500 feet from another smoking lounge. All lounge owners would be required to apply for a license from the township.

The ordinance would also require the businesses to close between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., and require those under 18 years old to be accompanied by an adult. Alcohol, nudity and controlled substances would be prohibited, and shops could face revocation of their license if patrons are loitering or disturbing the peace.

"The ordinance is designed to establish reasonable and uniform regulations to prevent potential adverse impacts relating to these establishments," Lawson said.

Resource: http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2016/01/ypsilanti_township_moves_to_re_1.html

1 hookah session has 25 times more tar than a cigarette

There's a common misconception that hookahs aren't very dangerous. A recent Rutgers University study revealed that 24 percent of both smokers and nonsmokers under age 25 believe hookahs— shared pipes that allow users to inhale tobacco smoke that's been passed through a water basin—are safer than cigarettes. But according to a new study from the journal Public Health Reports, this is an even bigger myth than thought.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that one hookah session produces 2.5 times more nicotine, 10 times more carbon monoxide, 25 times more tar, and 125 times more smoke than a single cigarette.

RELATED: The 10 States That Are Most Addicted to Smoking

To get their results, the team analyzed the results of 17 studies looking at the toxins inhaled through each type of tobacco product.

"It's not a perfect comparison because people smoke cigarettes and hookahs in very different ways," lead author Dr. Brian A. Primack, PhD, explained in a press release about the study. For example, cigarette smokers might smoke upwards of 20 cigarettes a day, whereas even frequent hookah smokers may engage in far fewer sessions throughout the same time period.

"We had to conduct the analysis this way—comparing a single hookah session to a single cigarette—because that's the way the underlying studies tend to report findings. So, the estimates we found cannot tell us exactly what is 'worse,'" he added. "But what they do suggest is that hookah smokers are exposed to a lot more toxicants than they probably realize."

RELATED: Think Hookahs Filter Out Tobacco Toxins? Think Again

What makes this even more troubling is that while smoking rates among U.S. adults recently dipped to a new low of just 14.9 percent, hookah and e-cigarette use is way up. According to the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey, hookah use actually doubled between 2011 and 2014—even as teen cigarette use dropped from 16 percent to 9 percent.

Resource: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/01/23/1-hookah-session-has-25-times-more-tar-than-cigarette.html

Hookah bar workers inhale hazardous levels of toxins: study

Workers at New York City hookah bars are inhaling hazardous levels of second-hand smoke, according to a study released Monday.

NYU researchers, who tested 10 hookah-bar workers when their shifts ended, reported finding elevated levels of toxins as well as evidence of inflammation linked to lung and heart diseases.

“Hookah use is often exempt from clean indoor air laws that protect people from secondhand smoke. Ours is the first study that links poor hookah-bar quality to damaging effects in workers,” said Terry Gordon, an NYU professor of environmental medicine.

Resource:http://nypost.com/2016/01/26/hookah-bar-workers-inhale-hazardous-levels-of-toxins-study/

Proposed hookah lounge draws opposition

Neighbors of the North Main Street location, the former Olive's nightclub, voiced concerns over loud music and issues with unruly patrons leaving at closing time

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — About 15 neighbors, including a lawyer for condo residents across the street, objected Monday to license transfers from the closed Olive's nightclub to the planned Olive's Hookah Lounge & Bar.

    Roger and Marina Kallab, of 10 West Park St., doing business as OH Night Lounge LLC, appeared before the Providence Board of Licenses with their lawyer on Monday, seeking a transfer of alcohol, food and entertainment licenses that had been held by Olive's Lounge Inc., for the 108 North Main St. location.

    Roger Kallab told the board he was investing more than $200,000 to open an upscale smoking lounge where deejays would select music and live jazz bands might play on the weekends.

    Marina Kallab, who said she has been the manager since 2005 of the hookah lounge at Providence Byblos, 235 Meeting St., described the new lounge as a place where people would come after dining to enjoy drinks and small plates while smoking from the elaborately decorated water pipes known as hookahs.

    Because smoking is prohibited at restaurants, the business has also applied for a tobacco vendor license, which requires that more than 50 percent of its revenue comes from tobacco sales.

    The Kallabs were not seeking the transfer of the old Olive's nightclub license, saying their redesign of the interior would eliminate the dance floor and replace it with booths, which would also reduce the old Olive's 225-person maximum occupancy.

    John Garrahy, a lawyer for the condo association at 101 North Main St., was among those who argued against the license transfer. Opponents said patrons would exhibit the same obnoxious behavior as nightclub patrons at closing time, that the music could not be contained within the lounge's walls and that a hookah lounge was not a good fit for the neighborhood, where restaurants Mills Tavern, XO Cafe and Harry's work well with residents.

    Although the new lounge operators have met once with neighbors, the board suggested they meet again before Feb. 10, when the hearing will continue.

    dnaylor@providencejournal.com

    (401) 277-7411

Resource: http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20160202/NEWS/160209839

Hookah vs. cigarettes: New research challenges old beliefs.

A University of Pittsburgh meta-analysis shows higher levels of smoke, nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide result from waterpipe tobacco smoking sessions than from a smoking cigarettes.

With hookah use on the rise, particularly among young people, parents and educators may want to take note of new research that suggests that hookah smoke typically contains far more toxins than cigarette smoke. The findings appear to contradict the popularly held belief that passing tobacco smoke through water filters out harmful components.

A meta-analysis – compiling the results of 17 separate studies on the effects of tobacco use – concluded that smoking tobacco through a hookah, an ancient water pipe frequently used for communal smoking, produces several times more smoke and related toxicants than a single cigarette. (Some hookah users smoke flavored "shisha" which does not necessarily contain tobacco or nicotine. This analysis focused on tobacco use.)

The findings could have wide-ranging policy implications as some states consider raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. Hawaii became the first state to implement a higher smoking age this month, and eight states, as well as the District of Columbia, are considering similar measures. Communities that have adopted local ordinances to that effect have been careful to word legislation to include a wide variety of smoking products beyond cigarettes in response to evidence that many young people begin smoking alternative apparatuses, such as hookah or electronic cigarettes, rather than traditional cigarettes.
Recommended:Five US cities that ban smoking in public parks

The researchers, led by Dr. Brian Primack of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, sifted through 272 unique scientific studies to focus on the 17 that involved laboratory experimentation of single cigarette or water-pipe tobacco smoking (WTS) sessions, within a 95 percent confidence interval.


The meta-analysis estimated the relevant toxicants inhaled, including smoke, nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, per cigarette or WTS session. The results showed a higher presence of all four substances in WTS sessions than in a cigarette, including 120 times the volume of smoke, 25 times the amount of tar, more than 10 times the amount of carbon monoxide, and more than two times the amount of nicotine.

“Our results show that hookah tobacco smoking poses real health concerns and that it should be monitored more closely than it is currently," Dr. Primack said in a press release.

While the results point to higher levels of toxicants in hookah smoke, the study notes that the comparison between a single WTS session and a single cigarette is not exact as research does not generally report on a single puff or similar measurement of each consumption method. Smoking habits also differ from person to person and between both types of usage; the study notes that a heavy smoker may consume 15-25 cigarettes per day or 3-6 hookah bowls per day, but hookah bowls typically burn much longer than cigarettes do.

The measurement of tobacco in each puff may vary as well. The typical cigarette, for example, usually contains around one gram of tobacco while hookah bowls differ in size and can hold anywhere from 10 to 20 grams of tobacco. Tobacco in hookah bowls may also be wetter than in cigarettes and is frequently mixed with sweeteners and flavors, making a direct evaluation difficult.

The study concludes that while making conclusive comparisons between the two inhalation methods is not exact, it seems clear that WTS sessions produce a higher amount of toxicants for smokers than single cigarettes. The analysis also comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports hookah use by US youth has risen as cigarette use has fallen.

"It's not a perfect comparison because people smoke cigarettes and hookahs in very different ways,” said Primack.

"We had to conduct the analysis this way-comparing a single hookah session to a single cigarette-because that's the way the underlying studies tend to report findings,” he said. “So, the estimates we found cannot tell us exactly what is 'worse.' But what they do suggest is that hookah smokers are exposed to a lot more toxicants than they probably realize.”


Resource: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2016/0113/Hookah-vs.-cigarettes-New-research-challenges-old-beliefs

Long Valley man charged in Mount Olive with pot possession

MOUNT OLIVE TWP. – A 56-year-old Long Valley man was charged with possession of marijuana after his car was stopped on Wednesday for crossing the double yellow line of Route 206.

Officer Constantinos Pagonis was stopped on Route 206 on an unrelated motor vehicle stop at 8:59 p.m,. when he saw an Audi approach the rear of his patrol vehicle, and allegedly cross the double yellow lines into the opposing lane of travel to pass his patrol vehicle.

Pagonis stopped the Audi in the area of Hermaine Drive and spoke with the driver, John F. Rauchut. While speaking with Rauchut, Pagonis allegedly detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage, and asked Rauchut to exit his vehicle and perform field sobriety tests.

During a search of Rauchut, a wooden pipe containing suspected marijuana residue was located.

Rauchut was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, drunk driving, reckless driving, crossing a divided highway, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle, having an open alcohol container in a motor vehicle and having drugs in a motor vehicle.

Rauchut was released to a sober driver pending a court hearing.

• Malcom C. Downs 4th, 19, of Flanders, was charged with marijuana possession on Monday, Jan. 25, after police were called to an Oakwood Village apartment on a complaint of unwanted guests.

Officer Mark Reynolds assisted by Cpl. Paul Ottavinia and Officer John Bevacqua, went to the apartment at 8:11 p.m. and allegedly saw two bongs containing suspected marijuana residue in the apartment. A consent search of the apartment allegedly also produced a digital scale, a glass pipe containing suspected marijuana residue, and a baggie containing suspected marijuana.

Through the course of the investigation it was determined that the marijuana and paraphernalia allegedly belonged to Downs who was was charged with possession of marijuana and paraphernalia. Downs was released pending a court hearing.

• A Flanders man was arrested on Sunday, Jan. 31, and charged with marijuana possession.

Officer Andrew Spotts responded to the area of Oakwood Village at 7:18 p.m. for a complaint of possible marijuana use. Spotts arrived in the area and met with a man, James J. Devine.

A check of Devine’s apartment allegedly produced three pipes containing suspected marijuana residue, three grinders containing suspected marijuana, two plastic baggies containing suspected marijuana, and a pill bottle containing suspected marijuana.

Devine was charged with possession of marijuana and paraphernalia and was released pending a court hearing.

Resource: http://www.newjerseyhills.com/print_only/_headline_style/bold_36/long-valley-man-charged-in-mount-olive-with-pot-possession/article_98611978-7714-5938-afee-fb7da470caeb.html

Best Vaporizers: Vaped Micro Nectar Collector is a double-dipped sweet deal

Vaped and Nectar Collector have combined forces to deliver the best of both dabbing worlds to 710 enthusiasts.

The fresh new “micro” kit from the Northern California’s Vaped vaporizer company offers a portable and affordable version of the Nectar Collector line of vertical glass vaporizers.

The Micro Collector kit comes with everything needed for any type of dabbing situation. The Nectar Collector itself is a finely-made piece of glass that can attach to a titanium nail that can be heated with a torch at the bottom end. The user can apply the heated end to a dish containing a concentrate, providing huge cloud bursts of vapor through the water-filled glass chamber that diffuses the oil for maximum flavor. An electronic battery can also be attached in lieu of the nail, heating concentrates in a safer and more portable method while sacrificing the amount of cloud generated. The Nectar Collector can be stored in a carrying case containing all the components needed for any vaping circumstance, and can also be an affordable alternative to extract rookies hesitant to buying a full-on dab rig.

    Vaped Micro Nectar Collector
    Price: $129.99
    Compatible with: Extracts
    Special feature: Switch-Hit Technology
    Target demographic: Dabbers on the go and/or a budget

PROS
Versatile: Vaped Micro’s aptly-titled Switch-Hit Technology provides the perfect dab for any occasion. Interchangeable glass attachments can fit on either a titanium nail for home use or rechargeable battery that can heat concentrates on the go.

Elegant: The Nectar Collector piece itself is a beautiful work of glass any collector would love to introduce to their collection.

Complete: The Collector kit comes with everything you need for the optimal dabbing experience, including a convenient carrying case, home and portable chargers, a glass dish for extracts, and even a stand to keep users safe from the Collector’s nail when cooling down.

CONS
Personal: Unless you’re using the electronic battery attachment, the Nectar Collector is a single-hit unit and is inefficient for larger groups. But even using the battery provides a limited amount of draws before having to reload.

Extracts-only: The Nectar Collector can only be used with extracts, hence the name, leaving flower fans to choose an alternative.

Fragile: The Collector kit comes with several glass pieces including a dish, so just exercise a little caution when handling it or taking it for travel.

Resource:http://blog.sfgate.com/smellthetruth/2015/07/21/best-vaporizers-vaped-micro-nectar-collector-is-a-double-dipped-sweet-deal-review/

KC singer/songwriter Scott Hrabko plumbs his unique voice

Scott Hrabko’s initial foray into music came more than 30 years ago. He’d moved to Kansas City from St. Louis to enroll in the Kansas City Art Institute, where he was a painting major. That’s when he acted on an impulse.
“I had absolutely no music background,” he said. “But I thought I’d try it. Punk rock was still kind of happening and there was this idea that you could not be very good on an instrument or not really know what you’re doing at all but still make something interesting if you had the passion for it.”


So he started writing songs on guitar and started a couple bands. One of them, the Splinters, lasted a few years and booked gigs at the Grand Emporium and Parody Hall in its River Market reincarnation.
“We got lumped in with the cow-punk bands, which was sort of true,” he said. “But we mess around with a lot of styles.”
Hrabko would move to Chicago, where he met his future wife, then Austin, Texas, before returning to Kansas City in the late 1990s. He gave up music for a while, but that impulse never completely expired, and about five years ago, he responded to it again.

“I had bands in Chicago that never got off the ground,” he said. “The same in Austin. When I came back here, I played with the Original Sinners for a while, but then I stopped writing all together for years.”
Hrabko was raising a family in Kansas City and working as a freelance video editor, but around 2010, that voice within started talking to him again.

“The impulse to get back into music kept nagging me,” he said. “So I went back out and started doing solo/acoustic shows here and there.

“I was doing the singer/songwriter nights at Czar Bar, which were organized by Elaine McMilian. She really encouraged me a lot and did some booking for me. Things really took off from there, kind of unexpectedly.”
His style of music had evolved a lot since his punk/cow-punk days.

“When I was living in Austin, Rounder Records released a boxed set of Jimmie Rodgers and I bought it,” he said. “It blew me away, the coolest thing I ever heard. I really hadn’t gotten into too much old-time music until then. It became the blueprint for a lot of what I do.”

He also changed his songwriting style, though it still drew, in part, from some of the music he grew up with.
“I listened to a lot of prog rock and art rock and was always really attracted to complexity in music,” he said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the chops to emulate it.

“But I got into country and folk and old-time music and kind of put those ideas together. My songs had some interesting changes but were still in the traditional vein. I still don’t really know what I’m doing as far as theory goes, but if it sounds good, I follow it.”

Lyrics also became elemental to his songs, as you’d expect from a fan of Loudon Wainwright III, Randy Newman and, more recently, Michael Hurley.

“I’ve really come to value individuality in music,” Hrabko said, “people who remain themselves regardless of what goes on in the market place. And people whose lyrics are really revealing but are also really convincing. I can’t stop listening to (Hurley), who I just stumbled upon. He has all those qualities and a sense of humor.”
In 2013, Hrabko released “Gone Places,” his debut full-length. It was released under Scott Hrabko and the Rabbits, though the band was more of an informal gathering of skilled musicians.

“I brought in people to help me get the sounds I wanted,” he said. “Like the song ‘The Fool in the Song.’ I wanted it in this country-jazz vein Willie Nelson used to write in. I thought it would be great to have some very jazzy piano, so I got Pat Pearce to play on it and Matt Hopper, a jazz guitarist. It was like that for almost every song: ‘Who do I know that I can bring in?’ ”

“Gone Places” showcased the kind of lyrics that earned Hrabko comparisons to songwriters like Lyle Lovett or John Prine though, Hrabko said, “I don’t necessarily agree with the comparisons.”

From “Baby, You Know Me”: “I used to be the king bee of many a honeycomb / A collector of nectar everywhere I roamed / But, Lord, those days are over and now I’m just a working drone / But somebody’s wife is lonesome tonight / I’ll make a beeline home.”

As strong as “Gone Places” was, its successor, “Biscuits and Gravy,” released in 2015, is even better.
“I had a core band for that one,” Hrabko said. “Kirk Scott on guitar and Emily Tummons on harmony vocals. She’s amazing. And Josh Arnold on bass, who is also a great harmony singer. They all knew the songs. We’d performed them live quite a bit, so it was more natural to lay down the tracks. We didn’t have to fuss too much.”
“Biscuits” got a lot of love locally and nationally. In a review at NoDepression.com, Kansas City writer Mike Warren wrote: “Hrabko’s songwriting starts in traditional country veins and then works outward, with generous splashes of western swing and the blues, and with big doses of Jack Kerouac’s continental wandering and wordplay.”

Saturday night at the Ship, 1217 Union Ave., Hrabko and the Rabbits will deliver songs from both albums. After a lineup change last spring, the songs are sounding slightly different.

“Kirk moved away, and Emily is too busy to be in bands right now,” Hrabko said. “We still have Josh and Tim Higgins (drums) but we’ve added Marco Pascolini on steel guitar and Fred Wickham on lead guitar. We sound different, much denser. We’re having a lot of fun with it. Songs are interpreted in really interesting ways.”

His sound is a bit elusive. Hrabko said people cite Bakersfield influences. It’s country, but it’s also roots-y and blues-y. One of his favorite songs on “Biscuits” is “I Dreamed I Quit My Job,” which he described as “an experimental, almost R&B thing, which is out of our range. We had fun with that.”

Comparisons can be flattering, but like most artists and creators, Hrabko said he only aims to sound like himself, to listen most carefully to that voice, that impulse, that compels him to write and sing.
“There are singers who have influenced me,” he said. “When I was in art school, I’d drive my friends up the wall doing impersonations of Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music, which made me think, ‘Maybe I can sing.’ So he was an influence. So was Elvis. And Hank Williams.

“But mostly I think I sound like me. That’s what I feel most comfortable doing.”

Resource:  http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/back-to-rockville/article57961713.html

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/ent-columns-blogs/back-to-rockville/article57961713.html#storylink=cpy

 

 

Weed shops prep for a Super Bowl with (almost) legal pot

Daren Grant biked to the Bloom Room dispensary in San Francisco on Monday to pick up some "Big Kahuna." Instead, he walked out with two grams of "Carolina Cam Crush" and "Bronco Mile High."

Grant, 31, a waiter, considered what to do with his weed during the Feb. 7 football championship. Maybe every time a team scored, he said, he could take a bong hit of the corresponding strain. "I would definitely give it a toke," he said.

The San Francisco Bay area is the first region to host a Super Bowl in a state where marijuana is readily available, though technically only legal for medical purposes. And like other businesses, local pot shops are offering promotions aimed at the throngs of visitors in town for the festivities.

San Francisco's marijuana shops closest to fan events in the city's tech-heavy South of Market neighborhood are handing out coupons for free joints, offering discounts and renaming strains after the two teams set to face off in Super Bowl 50 -- the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. But out-of-towners are out of luck. Only California residents who have a medical- marijuana card can buy pot at the dispensaries, which operate as non-profits.

Colorado, home of the Broncos, is one of four states that's legalized recreational marijuana, and pot has legally been sold there since 2014. Two years ago, when the Broncos played the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl in New Jersey, the game was dubbed the "Stoner Bowl" since both came from states where recreational-pot use is legal.

Pot smoking in Denver has become as much a part of the tailgating experience as beer and burgers, and buying weed is as common as a trip to the grocery store. Games draw a rush of customers to the Mile High Green Cross recreational marijuana shop, located three miles from Denver's football stadium, owner Adam Ziegler said.

"It's a healthy alternative to drinking," Ziegler, 38, said by telephone.

In San Francisco, Stephen Rechif, 29, manager of the Bloom Room, said he planned to send an employee to Super Bowl City, the fan village at the base of Market Street in the city's Financial District, to hand out black-and-red coupons for a free pre-rolled joint and lighter. His dispensary, located a few blocks from the headquarters of Twitter Inc., Yelp Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc., features shelves lined with glass jars of marijuana plants and pot-infused foods, including bon-bons and chocolate truffles. The top-shelf Carolina and Bronco strains run $20 a gram.

The Green Door dispensary, a half block from where fans can snap photos with football stars, is running a Super Bowl 50 special on their Blackjack, Blue Dream and Krazy Glue strains, reducing the price to $35 for an eighth of an ounce. The dispensary has a smoking lounge upstairs, where patrons puff on bongs and joints as three flat-screen televisions are tuned into ESPN and Comcast SportsNet. A clock on the wall is set to 4:20, a pot-culture term noting the time to light up.

"Super Bowl is always a good week for us," Adam Rogers, 34, the shop's manager, said in an interview in his office, where large, clear bags of weed sat near his desk.

California has a longstanding history with marijuana, becoming the first U.S. state to legalize its medical use in 1996. Twenty-two states have followed, and since 2012, voters in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon have legalized its recreational use.

California voters may follow suit when they consider a legalization measure in the November election. If approved, California and its local governments could reap more than $1 billion in annual revenue from the sale of recreational marijuana, according to a December report by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office.

The Super Bowl festivities are cutting into sales at some dispensaries as regular customers who work downtown are staying home this week to avoid large crowds and road closures.

"It's hurt business," said Jesse Smith, 29, manager at Igzactly 420, located next door to the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, a non-profit group that trains and connects aspiring technology entrepreneurs. "People are turned off by the amount of traffic and the lack of parking."
Resource:http://www.adn.com/article/20160203/weed-shops-prep-super-bowl-almost-legal-pot

BPA-Free Plastic Alternatives May Not Be Safe As You Think

Your “BPA-free” plastic product may be no safer than the product it replaced, says a new UCLA study thatanalyzed the impact of a common BPA alternative on zebra fish embryos. The study joins a small but growing group of similar research sounding the alarm about so called “BPA-free” alternatives.

“Our findings are frightening and important,” said senior author and reproductive endocrinologist Nancy Wayne. “Consider it the aquatic version of the canary in the coal mine.”

After decades of animal research linked BPA (Bisphenol A), a known endocrine disruptor, to problems with brain and reproductive development, early puberty and a rise in breast and prostate cancer, many manufacturers stopped using the chemical to harden plastics, replacing it with “BPA-free” alternatives. The most common replacement is BPS (Bisphenol S), said Wayne.

Wayne and her colleagues exposed zebrafish to low levels of both BPA and BPS, and looked at the impact of the chemicals on genes and brain cells that control reproduction. Zebrafish have often been used to study the impact of plastic additives because their transparent embryos allow scientists to see and monitor cell growth.

“Our research showed that low levels of BPS had a similar impact on the embryo as BPA,” Wayne told CNN. “In the presence of either BPA or BPS, embryonic development was accelerated. Additionally, BPA caused premature birth.”

In addition to the effect on estrogen, the study also found both BPA and BPS affected the thyroid hormone system. “Because of thyroid hormone’s important influence on brain development during gestation,” said Wayne, “our work holds important implications for general embryonic and fetal development, including in humans.”
BPS research growing

In a 2013 study, Texas researchers found that as little as one part per trillion of BPS could interfere with the normal functioning of a cell, in some cases leading to cell death. Another study of zebrafish, out of Canada, found BPA accelerated neural cell growth by 180% for fish exposed to extremely low levels; it was even worse for BPS — neural growth exploded 240%. As adults, the fish exposed to both chemicals showed significant signs of hyperactivity.

Another study, this time in rats, found BPS caused heart arrhythmia when given in doses equivalent to those humans usually experience. In a press release, study author Hong-Sheng Wang, said, “Our findings call into question the safety of BPA-free products containing BPS.”

“It’s all pointing in the same direction: BPS is not harmless,” said Wayne about the results of her study in connection with prior research. “Consumers should be cautious about the assumption that ‘BPA-free’ means a product is safe.”

“This is a classic case of ‘regrettable substitution’ in which the replacement chemical is as toxic as the chemical it was replacing,” said Sharima Rasanayagam, director of science for the Breast Cancer Fund, which tracks environmental causes of breast cancer.

“The lack of transparency regarding the identity and safety of the chemicals used as BPA replacements makes it very difficult to assess the overall safety of the alternative,” said Rasanayagam. “It’s like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”

The American Chemical Council (ACC), which represents BPA manufacturers, disagreed with the UCLA study’s findings about BPA. “Many government bodies around the world have evaluated thescientific evidence on BPA and have clearly stated that BPA is safe for use,” the ACC said in a statement provided to CNN. “For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responded recently to the question, ‘Is BPA safe?‘ with one unambiguous word: ‘Yes.’ In comparison, the results of this new study on zebrafish provide little or no meaningful information to assess the safety of BPA.”

In 2012, the FDA banned the use of BPA in all baby bottles, sippy cups and infant formula packaging because the manufacturers had already dropped BPA in favor of “safer” alternatives. The agency says it’s continuing “in-depth studies to answer key questions and clarify uncertainties about BPA” in conjunction with the National Toxicology Program. The latest review reported by the FDA looked at more than 300 studies published between November 2009, and July 2013.

BPA is still available in many consumer products such as water bottles, food-storage containers and plastic tableware, as well as contact lenses, eyeglass lenses, compact discs, water-supply pipes, and some dental sealants and composites.

According to the Breast Cancer Fund, BPS has been found in “things printed quickly and at high heats,” such as body wash, hair care products, makeup, lotions and toothpaste, as well as some paper products such as flyers, tickets, mailing envelopes, airplane boarding passes and thermal receipts.

The Breast Cancer Fund recommends that consumers wishing to limit exposure to possible toxins in BPA, BPS and other alternatives use glass, stainless steel and food safe ceramic containers for food and water storage. They stress that it’s not safe to microwave in plastic. Other suggestions include using gloves to handle thermal paper receipts, and researching canned goods to find those that no longer use plastic liners.

Resource: http://5newsonline.com/2016/02/02/bpa-free-plastic-alternatives-may-not-be-safe-as-you-think/

Overtime deepens its role as serial central

And “Queen’s Castle,” which is nearing the end of its third season, remains a satisfying treat.

The first two shows in the Serial Box — “Rift Riders,” written and directed by Michael Burger, and “The Secret Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” written and directed by Alex Coy and Andrew Moritz — are both intriguing.

“Rift Riders” begins on a spectacularly lousy day for an air traffic controller named Foster (well-played by Venny Mortimer), who is already having a lousy day when he is abducted by aliens. The abduction isn’t shown. Instead, Burger wisely focuses on Foster’s disorientation upon discovering that he is no longer in the crappy apartment where he fell asleep. He is soon confronted by Rainya (the appealing Gina Hughes), a sharp young woman who has been on the ship longer and, in a particularly fun scene, initially thinks that he is the one responsible for her abduction.

The episode definitely whets the episode for more stories.

So does the first episode of the new Holmes series, titled “The Terrifying Tale of the Werewolves of Edinburgh.” The show has a monster-of-the-week premise, and a twist in which the Watson who chronicles the detective’s (Stephen Poer) adventures is not the good doctor (Chris Lombardo), to whom the stories are attributed, but his wife, Mary (Molly Walter).The premise is spelled out in the fun opening scene, in which Dr. Watson is quizzed at a press conference.

Walter radiates intelligence and an aura of all-round capability. And Poer captures Holmes’ impatience and arrogance well. They have nice chemistry together.

The large supporting cast for the episode is strong, too.

The story is engaging and entertaining, setting the stage for a fun season.

This weekend also included the fourth episode of the third season of “Queen’s Castle,” written and directed by Scott McDowell, who brought serials to the Overtime. The ep, titled “The Borrowers,”   was another satisfying outing, featuring a creepy trek through the Tweedles’ hideout by a group of unlikely allies led by the White Rabbit (Chris Kelly). The foursome — which also included the Mad Hatter (Nate Bizzell), Lt. Spade (Jenny Taylor) and Bill the Lizard (Brennan Loy) — went to the spot so that the rabbit could retrieve the looking glass. The magic mirror is key to rescuing Alice, who is trapped in there, and to eliminating the increasingly ill and unstable Dark Alice (Walter).

Meanwhile, Bale (Lombardo) headed to a witches’ council meeting to try to prevent them from dispatching the Wicked Witch of the West, who still doesn’t remember who she is.

Going forward, fans who missed the episode (spoilers ahead!) need to know that the Rabbit did get the looking glass, though he was seriously injured by the Tweedles in the process. Dorothy (Cristina Vasquez) has awakened from her coma, but is still weak. Bale was also hurt in a violent ambush led by Dark Alice (Walter).

In other words, McDowell has set up a lot of great stuff for the final two episodes of the season.



The first episodes of the Serial Box shows can be seen at 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays through Feb. 6; tickets range from $10-$15. The next performance of “Queen’s Castle”is at 10:30 p.m. Feb. 26-27; tickets cost $6. Performances are at the Overtime Theater, 1203 Camden St. Tickets to Overtime shows are available through Brown Paper Tickets. For more information,  call 210-557-7562 or visit the Overtime web site.
Resource : http://blog.mysanantonio.com/weekender/2016/01/review-overtimes-deepens-its-role-as-serial-central/