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How Big Tobacco Got its Way in The Florida Legislature
By Matt Dixon
TALLAHASSEE - It was February 2009, and things were looking good for the tobacco industry.
“There are an estimated 60 million adult consumers participating in the total tobacco space in the United States,” said Michael Szymanczyk, CEO and chairman of the Altria Group, one of the world’s largest tobacco companies. “These adult consumers spent an estimated $80 billion on tobacco products at retail in 2008, an amount that has been increasing over the past few years.”
His message during a conference at the posh Boca Raton Club and Resort was in the industry’s public statements and filings with regulatory authorities. It’s not what was being told to Florida lawmakers... Read More
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'Addictive' Cigarette Smoking Games On Smartphones Target Kids
by Michaeleen Doucleff
You can do just about anything with your phone these days. Take an electrocardiogram. Confess your sins. Even smoke a cigarette
Yup, you read that correctly. Android and Apple offer apps that let you light and smoke a virtual cigarette. You simply blow into the microphone, or onto the screen, and an image of a cigarette glows red and "burns."
Some apps time how long it takes to puff the whole fag, while others have a virtual ashtray that pops up messages like, "Would be even better with a beer in your hand!"... Read More
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Sarasota County Can't Ban Smoking, Says its Attorney
By Jeremy Wallace
SARASOTA COUNTY - All those “No Smoking” signs at county beaches and parks are flat-out wrong, it turns out.
Sarasota County discovered Tuesday that it is powerless to stop smoking at public beaches, parks, youth sports fields or even in front of public libraries despite years of passing laws to the contrary.
County attorney Stephen E. DeMarsh told county commissioners that the nearly five-year-old law banning smoking on public beaches is likely unenforceable, as is the roughly $100 fine that can come with each violation. Dozens of other smoking bans passed by local governments around Florida also could be in jeopardy... Read More
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Senate Democrats go after tobacco tax loophole to increase revenue
By Ramsey Cox
A group of Democratic senators introduced a bill on January 31, 2013, that would close tax loopholes for tobacco companies, generating $3.6 billion in revenue over 10 years.
Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) introduced the Tobacco Tax Equity Act, S. 194, which would close tax loopholes that allow tobacco companies to avoid the federal cigarette and roll-your-own tobacco tax, by making taxes on pipe tobacco equivalent to cigarette tobacco.
“The current loopholes in the taxes on tobacco products encourage the use of products like pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and 'nicotine candies' as a cheap source of tobacco, particularly among young people,” Durbin said... Read More
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Graphic Cigarette Labels Can Influence Smokers Who Know Less About Health
By Join Together Staff
Graphic cigarette warning labels that show the health consequences of smoking can influence a wide range of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, a new study concludes.
The study included more than 3,300 smokers, MedicalXpress reports. Researchers viewed graphic cigarette warnings or text-only warnings, and reported their reactions. The warning labels with pictures had a greater impact compared with the text-only warnings, the findings suggest. This was true regardless of participants’ race, ethnicity, education or income... Read More
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Opinion: E-Cigarette Makers Want to Have it Both Ways
By Stanton Glantz, Ph.D.
Several of my colleagues and I submitted a public comment to the FDA docket regarding a “Report to Congress on Innovative Products and Treatments for Tobacco Dependence.”
We commented on the fact that at least two e-cigarette companies, Sottera, Inc., which promotes the e-cigarette brand NJOY, and VMR Products LLC, which promotes the e-cigarette brand V2Cigs, along with the e-cigarette industry’s trade association, Smokefree Alternatives Trade Association (SFATA), directed their consumers to provide public comment to this docket on “treatments for nicotine dependence” in direct e-mails to consumers and on their websites. The companies’ action was important because Sottera, Inc. had successfully sued the FDA to stop the agency from regulating e-cigarettes on the grounds that they were not therapeutic drugs and/or devices... Read More
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