Customs seize illegal knock-offs, tobacco and subsidised fuel

Customs said on Thursday they had made a number of seizures of counterfeit products, tobacco and cigarettes smuggled from the north, hookah pipe tobacco being sneaked though Larnaca airport and subsidised diesel being used in private saloon cars.

In a press release Thursday announcing their successes Customs said police on Wednesday night had stopped and searched a car with Turkish Cypriot plates being driven by a Turkish Cypriot attempting to cross into the government controlled areas through an unauthorised area.

Police discovered 102 shirts and 302 pairs of shoes, all knock-offs of famous brands as well as 800 empty watch boxes also fakes of well-known trademarks in the car. The driver was arrested and the vehicle seized for further scrutiny.

Meanwhile on Thursday morning during a check by customs officers of a passenger arriving on the Qatar flight, an undeclared quantity of 10 kilos of hookah tobacco for nargile pipes was discovered. The traveller was arrested and the tobacco seized. The man was released after agreeing to paying a €2,100 fine and forfeiting the tobacco.

Customs were also kept busy in the areas in and around the British military base of Dhekelia on Thursday when they joined up with the SBA Police to carry out checks to combat the illegal use of tax-free diesel.

A total of 35 cars were tested to see if they were being illicitly fuelled by agricultural, industrial or domestic heating diesel oil. Two of the cars tested were found to be running on industrial diesel while one contained agricultural diesel. All three vehicles were seized but were returned after a total of €2,050 in fines was paid to customs by the owners.

Near the other side of the island, again on Thursday, a coordinated operation by customs and the police took place at Zodia and Astromeritis. Two properties located near the villages, in the buffer zone were search after warrants were issued. Investigators found and seized a total of 350 grammes of tobacco and three cartons of cigarettes which appeared to have been smuggled from the north. Customs came to a €300 out-of-court settlement with the perpetrator.

Resource :http://cyprus-mail.com/2016/06/09/customs-seize-illegal-knock-offs-tobacco-subsidised-fuel/

Government cracking down on hookah bars, e-cigarettes

The provincial government will be regulating e-cigarettes, flavoured tobacco and hookah bars, in legislation, which will be debated in the House of Assembly this afternoon

In many ways, e-cigarettes will be regulated the same way as traditional tobacco products, with bans on selling to people under 19, and bans on certain forms of in-store displays like super-walls.

Flavoured tobacco, including menthol cigarettes, will also be banned.

When the law comes fully into force on July 1, 2017, the changes to the law will also ban hookah bars in Newfoundland and Labrador, and limit the sale and smoking of non-tobacco hookah products.

A few of these measures will come into effect as soon as the bill becomes law — forbidding the sale of shisha and e-cigarettes to people under 19, and smoking e-cigarettes in cars where there’s somebody under 16 in the vehicle.

The bigger chunk of the law — forbidding the sale of flavoured tobacco, banning hookah bars, and bringing e-cigarette regulation in line with tobacco — comes into force on July 1 of next year, a move which is designed to give businesses time to clear inventory.

Ministers Sherry Gambin-Walsh and John Haggie held a news conference Monday to announce the changes.

Both ministers stressed the health reasons for the changes, and Gambin-Walsh said that all the regulations are in line with what other provinces are doing.

jmcleod@thetelegram.com
Resource : http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2016-06-06/article-4551008/Government-cracking-down-on-hookah-bars,-e-cigarettes/1

Tobacco-only hookah ruling misinterpreted: crusaders

The recent ruling by the Karnataka High Court stating that there is no need for a separate license for serving tobacco-only hookahs has raised many eyebrows. The anti-tobacco crusaders say that the judgment has been misinterpreted and there is a mushrooming of hookah bars in the city in the past one month. The joy of the restaurants which have started serving hookahs may be short lived as the rules surrounding serving of hookahs will just get more stringent.

Now, the state tobacco control committee has issued an advisory to the health department and the BBMP to immediately crack down on these hookah bars which are not complying with the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) regulations.
The advisory was issued by Dr Vishal Rao, member of the committee. Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, he said, "The recent order by the High Court has clearly laid down the guidelines for the licences and necessary clarifications with regard to the usage of hookah. But this has been misinterpreted by many people. Just like cigarette smoking, hookah-smoking has been linked to oral cancers, heart disease and other serious illnesses. Many hotels and restaurants are now openly selling hookah as they are under the impression that hookahs don't require licences. This may attract a lot of youngsters, posing a threat to their lives."
The petition was filed by Diamond Enterprises at Jayanagar 4th block. The petitioner had said that when he approached the BBMP to seek a licence, the officials had told him no separate license must be obtained to serve hookah to the customers. The petitioner also appealed before the court to restrain police interference.
Rao met the health minister and the BBMP on behalf of the committee seeking intervention in controlling these hookah bars. "Even though there is no need for a separate licence for the hookah bars, they have to be strictly regulated under the COTPA Act, which has regulations that any restaurant with less than 30 seats cannot have a smoking room and therefore cannot sell hookah as well. The hotels should have separate smoking rooms and there should be nothing else served in that room which includes food and alcohol. It should not be sold within 100 yards of any educational institution. There should be no advertisement at the point of sale of hookah. Wherever there is a sale of tobacco, there should be a pictorial representation suggesting its harmful effects but none of the places that sell hookah are following these rules and this has to be stopped completely."


WHAT LAW SAYS

Even though there is no need for a separate licence for hookah bars, they have to be strictly regulated under the COTPA Act, which says any restaurant with less than 30 seats cannot have a smoking room and therefore cannot sell hookah as well. Hotels should have separate smoking rooms and there should be nothing else served in that room

Resource :http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/crime/Tobacco-only-hookah-ruling-misinterpreted-crusaders/articleshow/49219285.cms

New FDA Guidelines to Include Hookah and Cigars

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – By now, we’ve heard all about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new e-cigarette guidelines, but did you know other tobacco products are included as well?

In 90 days, it will be illegal to sell e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco or cigars to anyone under the age of 18.

“Great progress in reducing the amount of kids that smoke cigarettes,” says FDA’s Mitch Zeller. “Here’s the problem…every single day in the United States, more teenage boys light up a cigar for the first time, then light up a cigarette for the first time. So, we have extraordinarily high use of cigars by kids.”

In addition, Zeller says a lot of kids are using hookah tobacco at parties, thinking it’s safer than cigarettes. he says a typical 45-minute hookah session can expose a user to extraordinarily high levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine.

(TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Resource : http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2016/05/09/new-fda-guidelines-include-hookah-and-cigars/

Is Hookah Really a Safer Way to Smoke?

Great news: Cigarette smoking rates are at an all-time low. Not-so-great news: Hookah—the ancient Indian method of inhaling tobacco via water pipe—may be on the rise, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Now, you know smoking is bad for you, but how bad is hookah specifically? Answer: Pretty bad.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh compared one hookah session—about 45 to 60 minutes or the length of time it takes to consume one bowl or head of tobacco—to cigarettes. Turns out, just one session was the equivalent of inhaling more than an entire pack of smokes. (Of course, multiple people usually split the bowl, but that's still a lot.) Worse, one hookah bowl had 125 times the smoke, 25 times the tar, 2.5 times the nicotine and 10 times the carbon monoxide of a cigarette. The study was published in Public Health Reports.

The problem isn't just what's in the hookah; it's also how it works, says Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ph.D., assistant vice chancellor for health and society at the University of Pittsburgh, and lead researcher of the study. "Because the tobacco is moistened, sweetened, and flavored, it can't be lit on fire and burn in a self-sustaining manner," he says. "So, a piece of charcoal is lit and put on top of the tobacco, and you also inhale the combustion products of the charcoal." Fun.

Hookah is a growing health issue as people are taking up the water pipe in record numbers. This type of smoking used to be seen as a sign of prestige and wealth but has only recently become popular in the west. It's especially trendy among younger people, with the CDC reporting that for the first time in history, hookah tobacco use is higher than cigarette use among young adults. One-third of college students say they've tried it and, according to University of Pittsburgh researchers, most of those individuals were not previous users of other forms of tobacco.

"I think that people get the sense that it is healthier," says Primack. "But while the water in the base makes it cooler and easier to use, it doesn't remove the toxins." He points to overwhelmingly positive YouTube videos about hookah, and cites his previous research that 92 percent of hookah-related videos were rated as positive but only 24 percent of cigarette-related videos got the YouTube thumbs up.

Primack adds that another reason people may think it's healthier is because it tastes better. While it's illegal to have cherry-flavored cigarettes, for example, hookah tobacco comes in every flavor imaginable, including trendy ones that would specifically appeal to women.

Lastly, Primack points out that there's a fundamental difference in how we treat hookah tobacco useage. "Many indoor spaces do not allow cigarette smoking but do allow hookah smoking," he says. "This may give young people the mistaken impression that the government has decided that hookah smoking is okay."

But just because something is legal does not mean it's good for you. This is one trend you'll definitely want to skip.
Resource :http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/is-hookah-bad-for-you

Controversial shop moves out of Glen Ridge

The Glen Ridge vape shop appears to have left as soon as it arrived.

The 201 Smoke Shop in the Arcade had closed its doors by the middle of May, nearly a month after it moved into the Arcade.

The shop was met with controversy when it opened; a number of residents were concerned about the shop opening in a location close to two of the borough's schools.

Residents sent in a petition with just over 200 signatures asking Glen Ridge to revisit its ordinance on prohibited businesses in a commercial area. Glen Ridge currently prohibits businesses such as tattoo parlors, pawn shops and wholesale warehouses; the residents asked the borough to consider adding "vape shops" to that list.

Vape shops are establishments that sell electronic cigarettes (or "e-cigarettes") and similar smoking devices, as well as their accessories.

The planning board formed a subcommittee to discuss how the ordinance should be updated, if at all.

Borough Administrator Michael Rohal said on Monday that the subcommittee would be moving forward; he said that the planning board had been preoccupied with the redevelopment plan for HackensackUMC Mountainside, but would be taking a look at the prohibited business ordinance soon.

A sign on the door said that the shop would be moving to a new location in Jersey City, and until that time invited customers to visit its location at 90 W. Palisade Ave. in Englewood, the same address as the Arcade's owners. However, a Facebook page for the Glen Ridge location was still active.

Rohal said he was unaware of the reasons why the shop had closed; he himself was not aware of it until he walked past the shop and noticed the sign on the door.

Email: roll@northjersey.com
Resource:  http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/controversial-shop-moves-out-1.1612722

E-cigarette users petition parliamentary committee over possible regulations of vaporisers

MORE than 100 electronic cigarette users have petitioned a parliamentary committee not to regulate the vaporisers in the same restrictive way as tobacco products.

Among the 105 people who filled out identical proformas distributed by the Adelaide-based Smoke-Free Traders Association were at least two people who were not even cigarette smokers.

The forms were distributed to stores which sell the vaporisers and then sent to state Parliament’s Select Committee on E-Cigarettes, which is expected to deliver its final report next week.

It is understood it will make 20 recommendations, from a total of 142 submissions and in-person evidence, including on public safety measures and the need for more research into the long-term effects of using the vaporisers.

There is strong debate over whether e-cigarettes encourage the habit of smoking or help people to quit by simulating the action without delivering the chemicals.

Battery-powered e-cigarettes vaporise a refillable cartridge of solution — which can contain nicotine — to create vapour which a user inhales.

SA law prevents the sale — but not possession or use — of any product “designed to resemble a tobacco product”, such as a cigarette.

The Smoke-Free Traders Association represents online and shopfront retailers and wholesalers of e-cigarettes, batteries, tanks and other accessories.

In its submission to the inquiry, it argues its members are “completely independent of Big Tobacco”.

It says regulation should encourage the use of e-cigarettes by adults trying to “reduce or cease smoking and to prevent relapse to smoking”.

“If the regulation of electronic cigarettes becomes an expensive burden for retailers, then the only industry that will be able to afford to adhere to those regulations will be the tobacco industry,” it says.

“Adult smokers must be allowed freedom of choice.”

Smokers who filled out the association’s forms included Rodney Webb, who smoked up to 25 cigarettes a day for 30 years before switching to a vaporiser.

He wrote that it “gives me the habit (of smoking) without the health risks”.

Smoker of 16 years Jay Woolford had been using a vaporiser for two weeks when he filled out a form.

“The use of my vape pen has taken me from smoking two packs of ciggers (sic) a day to smoking next to no ciggers,” he wrote.

Peregrine Corporation, which owns 31 Smokemart stores in SA, argues in a separate submission that there is “strong anecdotal evidence that customers are using e-cigarettes as an alternative” to smoking tobacco.

However, a submission by the SA Health and Medical Research Institute warns there is “no substantial evidence that e-cigarettes are effective in assisting people to quit smoking”.

Resource: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/ecigarette-users-petition-parliamentary-committee-over-possible-regulations-of-vaporisers/news-story/a0237e3f0c0a054d95057d4e8af918a6

Mannheim Steamroller coming to Orpheum Theatre Nov. 18

SIOUX CITY | Mannheim Steamroller will perform at the Orpheum Theatre Nov. 18. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. July 25 at the Tyson Events Center box office, online at Orpheumlive.com or by calling 800-514-3849.

This will be the 32nd anniversary of the Christmas tour and release of Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.

Grammy Award winner Chip Davis will direct and co-produce tour performances with MagicSpace Entertainment. The show features classic Christmas hits from Mannheim Steamroller and dazzling multimedia effects in an intimate setting.

In addition to being a holiday tradition for many families, the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas tour regularly attracts repeat attendance from multi-generational guests and is one of the longest running tours in the music industry.

This year’s tour includes many of the performances in a PBS special broadcast airing this year, “Mannheim Steamroller 30/40 Live” featuring the group’s concert.

Mannheim Steamroller has sold more than 40 million albums, 28 million in the Christmas genre. Their holiday albums have become synonymous with Christmas and consistently occupy top spots on Billboard’s Seasonal Charts every year.

With 19 gold, 8 multi-platinum and 4 platinum-certified records, Chip Davis is among an elite group of artists that include U2, Jay-Z, and The Beach Boys with such certifications.
Resource:  http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/mannheim-steamroller-coming-to-orpheum-theatre-nov/article_30d39887-1039-5c3f-b4f8-91222a878f1d.html

Researchers emphasize need to rethink tobacco control strategies

The tobacco product landscape has changed significantly with the introduction of alternatives that are much less harmful than traditional cigarettes.

Compared to cigarettes, which kill 3 in 5 smokers prematurely, some non-combusted products — including snus, other smokeless tobacco products and electronic cigarettes or vapes — are estimated to be more than 90 percent less harmful.

But decades-old tobacco control strategies that rely on an "all or nothing" approach haven't kept up with these changes, and are confusing the general public. Writing in the journal BioMed Central Public Health, two researchers say it's time for tobacco control themes to be modernized.

"Not since the invention of the cigarette rolling machine in 1882 has the product landscape changed so dramatically. For the first time in over a century, there are products that could make the defective and deadly cigarette obsolete," says Lynn T. Kozlowski, PhD, a co-author of the paper and professor of community health and health behavior at the University at Buffalo.

"The dramatic landscape change warrants a rethinking of past tobacco control strategy, from an all-or-nothing approach to a harm-reduction approach," adds Kozlowski, who has written extensively on the need for including a harm-reduction approach in tobacco control efforts.

Kozlowski wrote the paper with David B. Abrams, PhD, executive director of the Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the Truth Initiative in Washington, D.C.

Abrams is also professor of health behavior and society at Johns Hopkins University, and an adjunct professor of oncology in the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center.

The researchers write that the long-held tobacco control strategy that lumps all tobacco products together — regardless of the differences in harm — is negatively impacting public health.

"In the past few years, more smokers now wrongly believe that Alternative Nicotine Delivery Systems, including electronic cigarettes, are as harmful or more harmful than cigarettes and are thus less likely to switch to them to quit smoking," says Kozlowski.

They argue that, while there is some risk in using any product that delivers nicotine, dramatic differences in harm exist between deadly cigarettes — by far the most lethal — and other products like e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and that these differences need to be communicated to the public.

"Smokers who cannot, or do not, wish to quit smoking can now switch to a substantially less harmful, but reasonably satisfying, alternative way to get their nicotine. People smoke for the nicotine but die mostly from the tar," said Kozlowski.

In their paper, Kozlowski and Abrams trace the history of tobacco control strategies in the U.S. since efforts began in 1964. They discuss the push that year toward low tar — or so-called "light" — cigarettes, sales of which boomed. At the time, public health officials believed that a smoker's risk of lung cancer could be reduced by lowering the amount of tar in cigarettes.

The utter failure of these low tar/light combusted cigarettes to actually be less harmful does not mean that the same is true for modern non-combusted products like e-cigarettes, the researchers say.

In the 1980s, broader bans on cigarette advertising were proposed, and the dominant theme was that smoking is bad and there are no other product options to consider.

"Since 1964, major themes missed a core principle: The substantially greatest harm is from the toxic smoke of combusted, inhaled tobacco," Kozlowski and Abrams write.

At the same time as a harm reduction stance is adopted for smokers of deadly combusted tobacco, it is important to complement the decades of successful tobacco control, to minimize the use of any nicotine-containing products by underage youth, they say.

The new tobacco rules the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed earlier this month now include the regulation of previously unregulated cigars of all types, e-cigarettes and hookah.

"Despite our best efforts to prevent youth tobacco and nicotine use, most adult users will still likely have begun in their youth, and these adult users need legal options that are much less harmful than cigarettes," Kozlowski warns.

"Regulation should be used to strike the balance so urgently needed between protecting non-users, especially youth, while maximizing benefits of newly regulated non-combustible e-cigarette products that have been shown to help current smokers either to switch or, ideally, to quit," Kozlowski added.

The regulations need to be reasonable and proportionate so as not to stifle innovation or make the least harmful products subject to the most burdensome regulations, while allowing the most harmful combustible products to be subject to the most regulations, according to the researchers.

Resource:  http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160525/Researchers-emphasize-need-to-rethink-tobacco-control-strategies.aspx

OUR OPINION: Reasonable rules for e-cigarettes

    Long-awaited federal rules to keep electronic cigarettes out of the hands of children finally arrived this month, and not a moment too soon. Use of the nicotine delivery devices has been growing rapidly among middle- and high-school-aged teens in the last few years.

    The rules, in the works since 2010, put the regulation of all tobacco products – including “novel and future” ones – under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration for the first time. This is a profoundly important step in reining in e-cigarettes, a popular product with unknown long-term health effects that has been virtually unsupervised by government until now. While e-cigarettes are not specifically a tobacco product – no tobacco is used in producing the liquid used in them – they are certainly a drug-delivery device, hence subject to FDA regulation.

    Now, manufacturers will be required to disclose the ingredients in the liquid nicotine used in “vaping” and allow government review of how the devices are made before they can be sold to adults in the United States. Currently, anything could be lurking inside that liquid. Consumers taking the vapor into their lungs have a right to information about its contents.

    That isn’t the only reason children shouldn’t be using electronic cigarettes. Even without the carcinogenic tar and smoke of regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, an addictive substance linked to heart disease. Children and adolescents are especially susceptible to nicotine addiction; responsible adults – and governments – should protect them from acquiring a habit that may dog them for a lifetime.

    Adults should be wary as well. Dangerous chemicals have been found in the electronic cigarette “juice,” such as a Diacetyl, a flavoring associated with lung illness.

    The devices themselves also can pose a threat to consumers, many of whom have been injured and disfigured in a spate of explosions. The battery-operated devices heat liquid nicotine into a mist that is inhaled. But neither the liquid nor the devices, most of which are made in China, must comply with any sort of safety standards.

    The federal rules announced this month include other controls on tobacco products – including e-cigarettes – such as not allowing them to be sold in vending machines and requiring warning labels. The government chose not to prohibit the use of flavors in liquid nicotine such as “Peanut Butter Cup” and “Candy Crush” that seem clearly aimed at appealing to young users, but the age limits should get at that.

    In several ways, vaping is significantly safer than smoking traditional cigarettes. It’s the other ingredients in tobacco smoke that are responsible for the most serious health hazards, not the nicotine. Many adults have taken to vaping in order to reduce consumption of tobacco cigarettes, though more research is required before declaring it to be a proven smoking cessation method.

While anti-tobacco activists have reflexively opposed e-cigarettes, the available research supports the FDA’s more limited approach. The priority should be keeping e-cigarettes – and all addictive substances – out of the hands of children.

Resource:  http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20160518/OPINION/160516031/?Start=2