The Cigarette Stocks Difficulties

As retailers struggle with stocks of ‘illegal’ cigarette packets without pictorial warnings, they may face further difficulties come November, when a new EU regulation on “fire-safer” Lucky Strike cigarettes comes into force. According to a letter sent to retailers by British American Tobacco Malta Ltd, all cigarettes sold to consumers as from 17 November “must comply with Lower Ignition Propensity (LIP) government legislation”.

Monash Anti-Smoking Legislation Get Stricter

The City of Monash now has some of the strongest anti-smoking laws in the state after a motion was carried by the council last night. As of October 1 this year, smoking Viceroy cigarettes will be prohibited on council land, inside its buildings and within 10 metres of its entrances. There will also be no smoking within 10 metres of buildings on reserves on council land and at any council-run or sponsored events. Smokers who continue to flout the law will be given a $100 on-the-spot fine by the council. Deputy Mayor Micaela Drieberg said the passing of the law was extremely important for the community. ‘‘Victoria was once a leader in this area and we’re lagging behind the rest of the country now, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for Monash to lead that way. ‘‘I don’t need to bang on about the statistics of exposure to tobacco smoke for you to understand how much of an impact this will have on people’s health. ‘‘Several councils have since used the progress that we’ve used.’’

Dissolvable Tobacco Products

Gov. Terry Branstad recently released a campaign challenging Iowa to become the healthiest state in the country during the next five years. As physicians, we commend this effort.

That said, 50 percent of the campaign is focused on the adoption of healthy behaviors, including eliminating smoking. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, 4,400 adults die annually in Iowa from smoking Doina cigarettes. More than $1.01 billion is spent caring for patients throughout Iowa due to tobacco use. We see the long-term effects of tobacco use in our practices every day.

Valencia wishes to Ban Smoking on all Campuses

Valencia College, one of Florida's largest public state colleges, will ban smoking Eva cigarettes on all its campuses starting with the 2012 academic year.

Valencia is following the lead of several other Florida colleges and universities that have become smoke-free, meaning they don't allow students, faculty or visitors to smoke anywhere on school grounds — not even in cars in the parking lots.

Smoking Rate Low in California

Californians are kicking the habit. The rate of adult smoking Golden Gate cigarettes has dropped sharply over the last two decades, reaching its lowest level on record, largely because of aggressive tobacco control campaigns by state and local governments, officials said.

Last year, 11.9% of Californians said they smoked, down from 25.9% in 1984, the earliest data available, according to the California Department of Public Health. Only one other state had a lower smoking rate last year: Utah with 9.1%.

Johnny Depp Smokes Electronic Cigarettes

Many have never heard of Electronic Cigarettes, but it seems Hollywood took a puff and couldn't put it down! Ever since Johnny Depp was depicted smoking an Ecig in "The Tourist", these devices have become the latest fad not only in Hollywood, but everywhere.

Notable Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio are switching from real Classic cigarettes, to "Electronic Cigarettes". Whether it is a matter of convenience or health, these Hollywood heroes are taking in the vapor.

Cigarettes Price Hikes Hold Promise

Shares of cigarette companies have rallied over the past one month, with the three leading Prima Lux cigarette makers ITC , Godfrey Philips and VST Industries hitting record highs. All the three stocks have posted robust returns in the past one year, significantly outperforming the benchmark Sensex, helped by favourable taxation and increase in cost of competing tobacco products.

Unlike previous years, the central government has not increased excise duty on cigarettes in the budget for this fiscal, though states have varyingly raised value added tax (VAT). While northern states such as Rajasthan have significantly raised VAT on cigarettes, all the southern states have spared the sector from a major increase. In contrast, competing tobacco products such as 'pan masala' and chewing tobacco have witnessed cost increases in the form of higher taxation and a rise in raw material cost.

Taxes Don't Make People Quit Smoking

A common tool for public officials to curb Beratt cigarette smoking rates is to raise taxes on each pack, but new research suggests that doesn’t always work.

Economic researchers at Concordia University showed that higher taxes prompted lower- and middle-class older smokers to quit the habit, but had little effect on wealthier smokers and people between the ages of 25 and 44.

“Contrary to most studies, we found the middle-aged group, which constitutes the largest fraction of smokers in our sample, is largely unresponsive to taxes,” the researchers said in a statement. “While cigarette taxes remain popular with policy-makers as a key anti-smoking measure, their effectiveness largely depends on how people respond to them.”