Westminster Wants to Ban Sale of Tobacco Products

The Board of Health in Westminster, a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, is examining the proposal to totally ban sale of products containing nicotine or tobacco. In case such a law will be adopted, Westminster will become the first town in the USA who banned all tobacco sales. The proposed law prohibits sale of regular

Cuba in bid to halt tobacco package plans

Plans in this country to introduce plain packaging for tobacco products have been challenged by Cuba. Ireland wants to follow in the footsteps of Australia by having non-branded cigarette and cigar packets.

But Cuba, famous for its cigars, has complained to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the move would violate the body’s protection of trademark rights. While Cuba acknowledges Ireland’s right to protect “the health of its people”, it cannot compromise its WTO commitments, the Caribbean country has argued.

Cuba stated it is difficult to understand the increasing numbers of countries planning to introduce plain packaging while challenges are under way. Last March, the WTO granted Indonesia the right to take on Australia’s plain packaging laws, it was reported.

Indonesia was disputing legislation requiring all cigarettes sold in Australia to have uniform green packets with white labelling. It made Indonesia the fifth country after Ukraine, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Cuba to be granted the opportunity to challenge the policy.

They argue the rules breach trade and intellectual property regulations. Now, Cuba wants Ireland to delay introducing its own laws until the WTO adjudicates.

Health Minister James Reilly said in December he expects the tobacco industry to take him to court over his plan to introduce plain packaging. He said he believes tobacco companies would argue that their intellectual property rights are infringed by graphic photographs on cigarette packets.

He said the strength of the opposition is a sign it will be effective. “I’ll be astonished if there isn’t a legal challenge,” he said.

But he said it would be an “extraordinary society” that put the intellectual property rights of an industry over the health of its citizens. If it goes to court, the Government will argue graphic photographs are “an appropriate measure to protect public health”, Mr Reilly said.

If you dislike the idea of plain packs, you may buy cigarettes online in normal packs at http://www.cigarettestrade.com/

Will Cigarettes Be Totally Banned?

Retailing of cigarettes is changing. CVS Caremark, the nation's second-largest pharmacy chain, announced last week it will stop selling tobacco products at its more than 7,600 drugstores. The company said it made the decision in a bid to focus more on providing health care, but medical and public health leaders predicted pressure will increase on companies like Walgreen Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to follow suit.

"I do think, in another few years, that pharmacies selling cigarettes will look as anachronistic" as old cigarette ads featuring physician endorsements look today, said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.

These developments have made many in public health dream bigger. It's caused Myers' organization and others to recently tout the goal of bringing the adult smoking rate down to 10 percent by 2024, from the current 18 percent. That would mean dropping it at twice the speed it declined over the last 10 years.

The bigger goal is to reduce U.S. smoking-related deaths to fewer than 10,000, from the current level of 480,000. But even if smoking rates dropped to zero immediately, it would take decades to see that benefit, since smoking-triggered cancers can take decades to develop. But while some experts and advocates are swinging for the fences, others are more pessimistic. They say the key to reaching such goals is not simply more taxes and more local smoking bans, but action by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate smoking.

A 2009 federal law gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products. The law barred FDA from outright blocking the sale of cigarettes, but the agency was free to take such pivotal steps as prohibiting the use of appealing menthol flavoring in cigarettes and requiring cigarette makers to ratchet down the amount of addictive nicotine in each smoke.

But nearly five years after gaining power over cigarettes, FDA has yet to even propose such regulations. Agency officials say they're working on it. Many believe FDA's delay is driven by defense preparations for an anticipated battery of legal and political challenges.

A spokesman for Altria Group Inc., the maker of Marlboro, said the company supports FDA exercising its regulatory authority over tobacco products. But as a whole, the industry has tended to fight regulation. Some of the nation's largest tobacco companies - though not Altria - sued to stop FDA-proposed graphic warning labels on cigarette packs. A federal court blocked the ads.

"The industry makes money as long as they can delay regulation," said Kenneth Warner, a University of Michigan public health professor who is a leading authority on smoking and health.

Warner and Michigan colleague David Mendez estimate that, barring any major new tobacco control victories, the adult smoking rate will drop from its current 18 percent only to about 12 percent by 2050. If health officials do make huge strides, the rate could drop as low as 6 percent, they think.

Lorillard Received FDA Approval for New Products

This week Lorillard Inc. declared that is has received from FDA a notification about two of its tobacco products (non-menthol cigarettes) that were found “substantially equivalent” to tobacco products previously permitted to be sold on the USA market. The finding made by FDA allows Lorillard to start marketing of the new products, which do correspond

Pack of cigarettes in Russia to bite smokers by 2020

Cigarettes can turn into even more expensive product in Russia and it will be more difficult to buy tobacco products, the Russian Ministry of Health alerts. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests Russia to increase the excise tax on tobacco products more than 5 times, precisely seven times. As outlined by the WHO demands, the

Cigarette Marketing Increases as Tobacco Use Drops

Cigarette volumes have been dropping for many years, but that has not prevented cigarette makers from launching their wallets for advertising and promotion dollars. As outlined by the Federal Trade Commission, the biggest tobacco firms invested $8.37 billion in 2011 on advertising and special offers in comparison to $8.05 billion in 2010. The boost primarily

Supermarkets launch ban to display cigarettes

Supermarkets were banned from displaying cigarettes and other tobacco products after new rule became effective on April, 29. Public Health Minister Michael Matheson states that this step is the “right step” to discourage the younger generation from start smoking. The open display ban was implemented as part of the Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland)

Kiosks to obtain new look as tobacco display ban takes effect

Cigarette kiosks in Scotland’s bigger stores and markets will soon enough obtain a very distinctive look The Scottish authorities’ ban on the cigarettes display, and other tobacco products, takes effect on April 29 this year. According to the new regulations, which are part of The Tobacco and Primary Medical Services (Scotland) Act 2010, bigger shops

Pipes, bongs and hookahs could disappear

Pipes, bongs and hookahs could soon disappear from shelves in Florida Rep. Darryl Rouson is supporting HB 49 that takes away exclusion in existing law that permits cigarette stores to sell smoking pipes. His bill would prohibit the selling all pipes in Florida. Nevertheless, the St. Petersburg Democrat’s bill does not presently present any exclusion

New York celebrated 10th anniversary of smoking ban

New York celebrated 10th anniversary of smoking ban public places such as bars and restaurants On March 27, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg celebrated 10th anniversary of smoking ban public places such as bars and restaurants. “Ten years ago when New York City banned smoking in restaurants and bars, many forecasted the end of

Greece to Introduce Smoking Ban

After several smoking ban laws in the last decade have been frequently forgotten about by Greeks, who use tobacco products more than any other European country, the government has promised yet another attack and said it will introduce stricter checks in public areas. The Health Ministry’s General Secretary, Christina Papanikolaou has released a circular calling

Ukrainian legal cigarette market to narrow in 2013

The Ukrainian legal cigarette market in 2013 could decrease to 75 billion cigarettes, in comparison to 80 billion items in 2012, states the director for corporate issues at Imperial Tobacco Ukraine, Yuriy Kyshko. Yuriy Kyshko mentioned that growth in 2012 in the smuggling of cigarettes was observed on the Ukrainian market. Imperial Tobacco Ukraine CFO

Graphic warning labels headed for Europe

Germans are currently informed that smoking is harmful to their health and to those near them. It was claimed that in the near future, pictures of smokers’ harmed anatomies will replace thousands of words. German famou paper “Bild” said on December 13 that the European Commission had decided on a common plan for tobacco products,

Seoul toughens smoking ban in restaurants

Smoking will be banned in restaurants, bakeries, coffee stores and bars with a surface place of 150 square metres or larger in South Korea beginning from December 8, the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Indoor as well as outdoor places of public buildings such as hospitals, libraries, government offices and commercial complexes will as well

Tobacco Review

Tobacco is a large perennial herbaceous blooming plant that belongs to the solanaceae or nightshade family. It is the world’s most commonly grown non-food plant and is selected by growers from more than 120 countries due to its performance under broadly different climatic and soil conditions to fulfill the requirements of many various markets. The

Tobacco industry claims on cigarette packaging are nonsense

Facts in the review – already confirmed in recent tobacco industry papers – demolishes reasons against the implementation of plain packages and demonstrates that counterfeit producers find all current packs easy to fake. Plain, standardised packages are not likely to result in a rush of new counterfeiters creating more packs. The review by Luk Joossens

Canada’s tobacco warnings move up to 4th in world

Canada’s globe ranking for cigarette pack warning labels went up to 4th in 2012 from 15th in 2010 when new Canadian health warnings covering 75% of cigarette pack were introduced, an worldwide review reveals. The Canadian Cancer Society posts a review every two years rating cigarette warning labels. The most recent review was launched on

Switzerland to Raise Tobacco Tax in 2013

In the course of a current sitting, the Swiss Federal Council gathered to discuss the ideas to raise the tax imposed on cigarettes and on other tobacco products in the Confederation from April 1, 2013. For that reason, the price of a packet of cigarettes is to increase by CHF0.10. A 50 gram packet of

Serving Cigar Smokers

Usage of little cigars, which have lower taxes and fewer marketing limitations than cigarettes, has enhanced significantly during the last three years. And while convenience store sellers can use the usual promoting strategies to them, an in-depth study of their potential, said one retailer, must begin. “There are two separate types of little cigars on

WHO urges tax hike on tobacco

China’s cigarette tax rate continues to be among the lowest all over the world, and the authorities must boost it to help control a smoking epidemic that affects more than 300 million people in China, based on the World Health Organization. Around half of Chinese smokers pay 5 yuan (80 US cents) or less on