Email
Password
(Forgot Password?)
Two of the nation's top tobacco-producing states are weighing whether to raise cigarette taxes to plug budget deficits that have sent politicians scavenging for sources of revenue.
The governors of Virginia and Kentucky have each proposed raising their cigarette taxes -- each currently 30 cents per pack -- to help offset revenue shortfalls of $2.9 billion and $456 million, respectively.
Such a move was once unthinkable in Virginia, where Philip Morris runs the world's largest cigarette plant miles from the state Capitol, and ceiling murals in the rotunda include impressions of the golden-brown tobacco leaf.
"I wouldn't be surprised if all the tobacco-producing states aren't at least considering it before long," said Amy Barkley, who directs advocacy efforts in the major tobacco states for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. . . .
Lawmakers in the six major tobacco states -- North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia -- have historically been more reluctant than other states to turn to their cash crop for extra revenue.
But since 2002, 44 states and the District of Columbia have increased their cigarette taxes. Still, while the average tax nationwide is $1.11 per pack, it is 33.5 cents per pack in tobacco states.
"A while ago some people would have said there's no way there's going to be any tobacco tax increase in any of these states, but there has been and it's been because of these dire budget needs," Barkley said.
That doesn't mean the taxes have had an easy time passing.
Jump to full article »
With all the talk about tight government budgets and the hand-wringing Athens-Clarke County's mayor and commissioners reportedly went through to mitigate a property tax increase for this fiscal year, I was shocked to see a report in the Banner-Herald indicating we have county workers counting cigarette butts in the streets of downtown Athens (Story, "Art bins cutting down on cigarette butts," Monday).
They weren't estimating; they actually counted 6,207 butts.
I'm no expert on public budget waste, but cigarette butt counting is a government service we probably could live without.
DeKalb County firefighters Thursday morning battled a three-alarm blaze that destroyed a large warehouse off Lawrenceville Highway.
The fire apparently started before 6:30 a.m. in a storage trailer parked behind the A to Z Wholesale warehouse on Jordan Lane, according to DeKalb fire spokesman Fred Johnson.
The fire spread into the warehouse, eventually causing the roof of the building to collapse, Johnson said.
No one was in the building when the fire broke out, and no injuries were reported.
The company supplies cigarettes and other goods to convenience stores. . . .
"Those products are made to burn, so that's why the building is burning the way it's burning,"
Nita Cadic will never forget the momentous day of Jan. 25, 1984. She completed clinical training for a job caring for patients with emphysema and other lung ailments, often caused by smoking. It was that day she realized she must first take care of her own lungs.
She quit smoking.
Cadic, now a registered respiratory therapist at Piedmont Hospital, views today as one of inspiration for smokers yearning to kick the habit. It's the 32nd annual Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society, an event that urges millions of smokers to go at least one day without lighting up.
"A day like this can be a very powerful motivator," said Cadic, who also facilitates the "Freedom From Smoking" program at Piedmont. "The Great American Smokeout is one day, and it gives [smokers] an opportunity to think about setting up a plan, even if they start smoking again."
The Phenix City Coucil will be voting Tuesday on a smoking ordinance proposal. If approved it would be the first time such a measure has been in place in the city. According to Mayor Sonny Coulter, it appears the council is in favor of passing the smoking ordinance and may vote to approve the measure.
Patrick Reynolds calls himself the "white sheep" of the famed tobacco family.
The grandson of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds is now a well-known anti-smoking crusader who works on smoke-free ordinances and cigarette tax increases across the country as a way of helping to undo some of the damage the family has done. He will be in Augusta on Thursday -- Great American Smokeout Day -- to help University Hospital kick off its tobacco-free campus.
Clayton 'Wayne' McKinnon of Douglas was recently named Georgia Farmer of the Year. He will now compete for the Southeastern Farmer of the Year title, the winner of which will be announced Oct. 14 at the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo in Moultrie. . . .
Over the years, flue cured tobacco has been a mainstay crop. He built his first bulk barn for curing tobacco in 1974, and then phased out the use of old stick barns.
"Now, tobacco harvesting is fully mechanized, and we don't physically handle the tobacco," he says.
After tobacco poundage quota was phased out several years ago, he more than doubled tobacco acreage.
School systems in Columbia and Richmond counties are strengthening policies that restrict tobacco products on school grounds. The Columbia County school board is expected to give final approval Tuesday to a policy prohibiting all tobacco on school property.
"It's more or less smokeless tobacco that is being targeted," Superintendent Charles Nagle said.
The Richmond County school board approved a similar policy revision earlier this month. It expands the definition of tobacco products, tobacco use and school property and stipulates that tobacco use is prohibited 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The school systems are updating their policies to support an initiative by Georgia's East Central Public Health District to create tobacco-free schools.
Since 2002, Keep America Beautiful and Philip Morris USA have implemented programs aimed at reducing cigarette litter throughout the nation.
According to the Philip Morris Web site, participating communities in the United States number 180, and as of 2007, cigarette litter was down in the targeted areas by 54 percent.
Recently, Keep Jones Beautiful Commission Director Judy Webb applied for a grant from the cigarette litter prevention program sponsored by Keep America Beautiful and funded by Philip Morris.
The Atlanta-based American Cancer Society has its own Olympics quest.
Dr. Otis Webb Brawley, the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, was in China this past weekend to launch an effort with more than 70 multi-national and Chinese companies to develop smoke-free worksites.
The launch coincided with the Beijing's hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
The society and consortium of Chinese partners are unveiling a new "toolkit" to help companies implement 100-percent smoke-free workplaces. More than 70 companies already have committed to become smoke-free at their Beijing facilities, and many also plan to implement those policies nationwide.
I read with interest the story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week that the state of Georgia has a $600 million shortfall and will be forced to take funds from its reserves to cover its bills for just the recent fiscal year ("Georgia Dips Into Savings," Page One, July 17). . . .
But there is a logical and more fiscally sound alternative to fill the huge budget gap, and it's a plan that 75 percent of Georgians say they support: Raise the excise tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. . . .
This plan is a win-win for everyone --- state government, the people of Georgia and, especially, Georgia's youth.
After reading the opinion column by my good friend and colleague Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) about raising taxes on hardworking Georgians as a solution to the revenue shortfalls in the state budget, I wanted to respond ("Hike cigarette tax to fund state budget gap, save lives," @issue, July 25). . . .
Putting the tax burden of an ever-growing state budget on the backs of hardworking Georgians that use a legal product is not what conservatives do. We cut the size of government. Is that not what we were elected to do?
No tax increases. Cut the size of government.
A dropped cigarette may have caused a fire in which a Houston County man died early Saturday in the mobile home he had recently moved into, authorities said Wednesday.
An autopsy determined that Robert E. Graham, 58, of 103 Sandy Run Road, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Houston County sheriff's Capt. Robert Clark said.
By 12th grade, most local students say they "agree" or "somewhat agree" that getting alcohol is easy.
The same students as a group agreed that it was even easier to get smoking tobacco . . .
Ringgold High School Principal Sharon Vaughn said she has been in education for 38 years. For her, the Georgia Student Health Survey II administered to 423 students in October is just a confirmation of what she already knew. . . .
Georgia Health Survey II results by grade The numbers are for grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 . . .
"I think smoking tobacco is harmful." Strongly agree 81 83 71 118 Somewhat agree 3 10 11 18 Somewhat disagree 1 2 2 0 Strongly disagree 13 6 2 2 Total 98 101 86 138
Stevens & Wilkinson Stang & Newdow, Inc. has been retained by The Simpson Organization to provide architectural and engineering services for the 125-year-old Cigar Factory in Charleston, SC. Stevens & Wilkinson Principal Ron Stang, AIA, made the announcement.
The Cigar Factory is a Victorian industrial building built in 1882 as the Charleston Cotton Mills. In 1903, the plant was leased to the American Cigar Company which operated the factory until 1973.
Listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places, the Cigar Factory is now being reinvented.