Tobacco.org

Smoking to be banned at Grossmont, Cuyamaca  

Smoking will be prohibited at Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges, which have about 27,000 students, beginning Thursday.

The new policy will be mostly self-enforced, though public safety officers or designated employees will have authority to issue warnings or citations.

The Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District will join other local jurisdictions that have adopted similar policies in recent years.

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• Electronic Clearing House, Inc., Agrees to Stop Enabling Online Tobacco Sales 

An electronic payments processor has agreed to stop handling transactions for the illegal online sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Attorney General Lawrence Wasden and the attorneys general of New York and California reached the settlement with Electronic Clearing House, Inc. (ECHO), of Los Angeles, California.

"Online tobacco retailers are a major source for young people to buy cigarettes illegally," Attorney General Wasden said. "Stopping the illegal sale of cigarettes, especially to minors, is a major step in protecting public health. ECHO has acted responsibly in agreeing to stop processing payments for these illegal sales, and we hope other companies and banks involved in online tobacco sales will follow their lead."

The three states began an investigation of ECHO following a lawsuit Wasden brought against Scott Maybee, one of the highest volume Internet cigarette sellers. Maybee was ordered to pay Idaho more than $160,000 for illegal Internet sales of millions of cigarettes into Idaho.

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• L.A. company agrees to stop processing online tobacco sales in Idaho, elsewhere  

An electronic payments processor has agreed to stop handling transactions for the illegal online sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden's said.

Wasden and the attorneys general of New York and California reached the settlement with Electronic Clearing House, Inc. of Los Angeles -- often called "ECHO.".

"Online tobacco retailers are a major source for young people to buy cigarettes illegally," Wasden said in a release. "Stopping the illegal sale of cigarettes, especially to minors, is a major step in protecting public health. ECHO has acted responsibly in agreeing to stop processing payments for these illegal sales, and we hope other companies and banks involved in online tobacco sales will follow their lead."

The three states began an investigation of ECHO following a lawsuit Wasden brought against Scott Maybee, one of the highest volume Internet cigarette sellers, Wasden's office said. Maybee was ordered to pay Idaho more than $160,000 for illegal Internet sales of millions of cigarettes into Idaho.

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Editorial: Obama should quit smoking  

Quit smoking. Now. Really. For good.

We know it's hard. If it weren't, nobody would smoke anymore. And we know quitting just as you're taking on one of the most stressful jobs in the world — well, it's not great timing in that sense.

But it is in another: Everybody's watching. Especially kids. . . .

That's not surprising. Well over half of those who try to quit fail. And most of them don't also happen to have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

But for a president who wants to bring about change, it's hard to imagine a finer goal than slowing the march of young people into a habit that leads to an early grave.

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Program seeks to discourage restaurant patio smoking  

OROVILLE -- Somewhere between a handful and dozens of restaurants in Butte County may still allow smoking in outdoor dining areas, but health officials would like to see that end.

The results of a phone survey recently completed for the Butte County Health Department reveals that two-thirds of those contacted would encourage the enforcement of smoke-free patio and outdoor dining, and be more likely to patronize restaurants that do.

Raul Raygoza, with the county's tobacco education program, said 134 restaurants in Chico and Oroville were placed on a list to be contacted.

Raygoza said the list was compiled with the help of restaurant health and safety inspectors, who kept track of eateries with outdoor seating that don't appear to specifically prohibit smoking.

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Portrait of a Smoker: A Personal History 

Tiedge is one of many students who smoke and holds an ambivalent opinion on state law banning smoking within 20 feet of a district-owned building. His feelings stretch over to a similar citywide ban prohibiting smoking in outdoor dining and shopping areas and within 20 feet of building entrances, which was officially passed by the Pasadena City Council on Oct. 20.

"As far as the law goes, I don't know how they're going to enforce that," he says, echoing a common bemusement.

The 21-year-old English major is an interesting case study, because he's a new smoker - a year and a half fresh - as well as a second-generation smoker.

He's also a member of a dance club. You might think smoking would exact a physical toll on him at odds with his smoking habit, but Tiedge is not eager to quit.

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Effect of the California Tobacco Control Program on Personal Health Care Expenditures 

Background

Large state tobacco control programs have been shown to reduce smoking and would be expected to affect health care costs. We investigate the effect of California's large-scale tobacco control program on aggregate personal health care expenditures in the state.

Methods and Findings

Cointegrating regressions were used to predict (1) the difference in per capita cigarette consumption between California and 38 control states as a function of the difference in cumulative expenditures of the California and control state tobacco control programs, and (2) the relationship between the difference in cigarette consumption and the difference in per capita personal health expenditures between the control states and California between 1980 and 2004. Between 1989 (when it started) and 2004, the California program was associated with $86 billion (2004 US dollars) (95% confidence interval [CI] $28 billion to $151 billion) lower health care expenditures than would have been expected without the program. This reduction grew over time, reaching 7.3% (95% CI 2.7%–12.1%) of total health care expenditures in 2004.

Conclusions

A strong tobacco control program is not only associated with reduced smoking, but also with reductions in health care expenditures.

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LEE: Tobacco Control Yields Clear Dividends for Health and Wealth 

This Perspective discusses the following new study published in PLoS Medicine:

Lightwood JM, Dinno A, Glantz SA (2008) Effect of the California Tobacco Control Program on personal health care expenditures. PLoS Med 5(8): e178. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050178

Stanton Glantz and colleagues find that the California state tobacco control program is associated not only with reduced smoking, but with reductions in health care costs as well. . . .

As well as challenging industry claims that tobacco is a necessary economic evil, therefore, Glantz and colleagues raise questions about the spending priorities of governments on public health. As tobacco is the leading cause of premature death and disease, responsible for 5.4 million deaths each year [9], it is an anachronism that tobacco control programmes still remain among the most poorly funded. Donor agencies are equally culpable. While the FCTC pushed tobacco control far higher on national and global policy agendas than ever before, concrete commitments to implement the wide-ranging provisions of the treaty have been disappointingly lacklustre. Implementation, especially in low- and middle-income countries, remains handicapped by a lack of resources. As the tobacco industry itself has become fond of arguing, low- and middle-income countries have other priorities, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, which demand the immediate attention of policy makers. Most political systems remain more attuned to acute rather than longer-term needs, even if the latter eventually cause greater burdens of death and disease. Yet, as this new research by Glantz and colleagues shows, substantial returns are both immediate and long-term. The announcement in July of New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's Global Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which includes a combined commitment of US$500 million to “help governments in developing countries implement proven policies and increase funding for tobacco control” [11], is an important step in correcting the longstanding imbalance in costs and benefits from tobacco use. Funding of this magnitude, as Glantz and colleagues demonstrate, can be a sound investment that rapidly and significantly reduces health care expenditure and saves valuable human lives.

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Outdoor smoking ban under consideration in San Luis Obispo  

In 1990 the city passed a ban on smoking in public buildings, including bars and restaurants. It was the first of its kind in the country.

California adopted a statewide law in 1994, adding bars to that list four years later.

San Luis Obispo City Council members are considering a ban on outdoor smoking in public places. It is an issue that has some smokers fuming. Talk of a ban on smoking outside in San Luis Obispo has some smokers fearing some of their personal freedoms are vanishing.

"It's a little ridiculous, honestly. It's a free choice that people have. It's kind of like banning drinking," said smoker Janine Thompson.

Complaints to the city council about second-hand smoke and litter from cigarette butts is prompting council members to take action.

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• EDITORTIAL: Outdoor ban request prompts Escondido smoke screen 

Fourteen cities, the county and the port have adopted smoke-free ordinances for public outdoor spaces.

And then there is Escondido . . .

Members of Escondido's Youth Commission on May 23, 2007, asked the City Council to consider a smoking ban at parks, trails and other open spaces. . . .

This fall, youths organized by the Vista Community Clinic and other nonprofits swept 11 Escondido parks and picked up 26,456 cigarette butts. They made a presentation last week . . .

Councilman Sam Abed was not supportive: “Personally, I am against government regulations – especially on personal issues ... to have a blanket regulation, it violates the people's right to smoke ... definitely you are going to see a good democracy here.”

Pardon us, councilmen, but what we are seeing is bad democracy here. . . .

Two-thirds of cigarettes are sold at convenience stores nowadays. The average convenience store, according to an industry association survey, sold $393,327 worth of cigarettes in 2006.

Abed owns a gasoline station that sells cigarettes, revenues undisclosed. . . .

By standards of morality and fair play, Abed needs to recuse himself from council discussions and votes about smoking. . . .

The Fair Political Practices Commission, which oversees California's Political Reform Act, has an informal eight-step test to guide public officials on potential conflicts of interest. . . .

On one side are Escondido residents wanting to enjoy publicly owned outdoor spaces without having to inhale secondhand smoke, youth activists, nonprofits, and such damning statistics as 100 Escondidans will die in 2009 from the effects of smoking.

On the other side are Escondido Councilman Sam Abed and a big red sign saying, “Cigarettes For Sale.”

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On one side are Escondido residents wanting to enjoy publicly owned outdoor spaces without having to inhale secondhand smoke, youth activists, nonprofits, and such damning statistics as 100 Escondidans will die in 2009 from the effects of smoking. On the other side are Escondido Councilman Sam Abed and a big red sign saying, 'Cigarettes For Sale.'
The San Diego Union Tribune tears into Convenience Store owner and City Councilman Sam Abed.

LETTER: Smoking ban: Casino discrimination  

Smoking in local casinos is something that I find very disturbing. It is a documented fact that second-hand smoke is harmful and that smoking itself is an extremely hazardous health risk.

It is gratifying to see that Valley View Casino in the San Diego cares enough about non-smokers to have added an addition complete with all the slots and games, bar and cashier to accommodate those people who are discriminated against in local casinos.

It would be gratifying if the local Indian tribes who do contribute their money to the local economy would also consider the safety and health of the patrons who are not smokers. Smokers are infringing on the civil rights of those who do not and California for the most part is a non-smoking state, so why are casinos exempt?

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Judge tosses suit over S.F. tobacco sales ban 

San Francisco's ban on tobacco sales in drugstores cleared another legal hurdle Friday when a judge dismissed a suit by Walgreens, which complained about the law's exemption for supermarkets and big-box retail stores that have pharmacies.

Judge Peter Busch of San Francisco Superior Court said city supervisors who passed the ordinance were entitled to conclude that selling cigarettes in drugstores, where customers go to improve their health, sends the wrong message to young people about the acceptability of smoking. That was a reasonable basis for prohibiting sales in stores such as Walgreens while allowing them in other stores that have pharmacies, he said.

Busch issued a similar ruling Sept. 30 in denying an injunction that would have prevented the ordinance from taking effect Oct. 1. . . .

Daniel Kolkey, an attorney for Walgreens, said the drugstore chain will appeal and is confident that the ordinance will be "struck down as arbitrary and discriminatory."

The measure "simply shifts tobacco sales from Walgreens to its competitors without reducing the sale of cigarettes one iota," Kolkey said. "The so-called purpose for this ordinance is to avoid an implied message that smoking is acceptable, but the Board (of Supervisors) nowhere explains how this is credible or how it can distinguish the implied message emanating from some businesses with pharmacies versus others."

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• S.F. Judge Throws Out Walgreen's Cigarette Lawsuit 

A San Francisco Superior Court judge threw out a Walgreens lawsuit Friday that attempted to stop the city's ordinance banning tobacco sales by pharmacies.

The ordinance, which went into effect Oct. 1, is the first ban of its kind in the country.

Judge Peter Busch, who in late September also refused to allow a preliminary injunction on the ban sought by attorneys for Walgreen Co., dismissed the company's lawsuit Friday that challenged the ban altogether, according to Matt Dorsey, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

Attorneys for the Deerfield, Ill.-based pharmacy chain had argued San Francisco's ordinance violated equal protection laws because the ban exempts supermarkets like Safeway and "big box" retail stores like Costco, which also contain pharmacies and sell cigarettes.

Pharmacies such as Walgreens, which operates more than 50 stores in San Francisco, and Rite Aid, are included in the ban, as well as smaller independently owned pharmacies.

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Teens ask for Escondido smoke ban 

A group of high school students is urging the Escondido City Council to ban smoking in parks.

The students told the council at its meeting Wednesday that most cities in the county have already banned smoking in parks and that Escondido should join them.

The group presented the council with 26,456 cigarette butts collected in Escondido parks during seven park cleanup campaigns in September, October and November.

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LETTER: SWEDA: Seeing through smoke  

Your editorial ("Burn these regs," Dec. 9) states: "San Francisco's pharmacy ban is being challenged in court; expect Boston to have to spend a fortune to defend itself against a similar legal action."

To follow that line of reasoning would effectively give special interests veto power over the Boston Public Health Commission's ability to carry out its mission. What your editorial neglected to mention is that attempts by Philip Morris and Walgreens to get an injunction to block the October implementation of San Francisco's ordinance failed. Furthermore, if Boston is sued over this policy, the city's attorneys should seek a court order assessing legal fees as a sanction against any company that files frivolous litigation against the city.

Edward L. Sweda Jr.

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