UCSF To Receive Tobacco Papers

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a proposed consent order today with a federal district court that finalizes requirements for three major cigarettes online companies to make internal documents public in accordance with an earlier ruling that the companies violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The documents will be archived in UCSF’s Legacy Tobacco Documents Library (LTDL).

The order, once approved by the court, will be part of the remedy phase of the largest civil racketeering case in the history of the United States.

The order specifies that the companies provide $6.25 million to the court to improve free public access to the documents via the Internet. The court will provide this money to the UCSF Legacy Library for this purpose. The order also specifies how the companies are to index the documents.

The UCSF Legacy Library, first launched in 2000 with a major gift from the Washington, D.C.-based American Legacy Foundation, now has 13.7 million documents (79 million pages) released as a result of litigation against the major cigarettes companies related to their advertising, manufacturing, marketing, sales, political, public relations and scientific activities.

An earlier order by Federal Judge Gladys Kessler, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., requires the buy cigarettes companies to continue to release documents through 2021. The UCSF Legacy Library has been growing by about 700,000 documents in each of the past three years.

Each month, the Legacy Library is used by an average of 16,000 academic researchers, tobacco control advocates, lawyers, journalists and students internationally who view an average of 227,000 pages. Last year, visitors came from 190 different countries to use it. Close to 600 peer-reviewed journal articles and 130 other publications, including government reports, books and newspaper articles based on research at the library have been published. The new funds will allow all of that information to be digitized for early access online.

“These funds will allow us to substantially improve the way investigators, the media and the public are able to research how tobacco companies produce, price and market their products, as well as protect their political interests globally,” said Kim Klausner, UCSF Industry Documents Digital Library Manager.

Sam Hawgood, MBBS, dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and vice chancellor for medical affairs, said the University is “gratified that the court recognizes the important contributions that UCSF has made, and will continue to make, to global public health through the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library. Making these documents freely available to everyone is an important element of UCSF’s contribution as a public university,” he said.

The defendant tobacco companies that agreed to the proposed court order are Philip Morris USA, Inc, Altria Group, and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. The proposed consent order is subject to court approval and is not final until it is signed and entered by the court.

“Research based on the documents has provided a unique insight into how the tobacco industry manipulates scientific and political processes and engineers its products and marketing to maximize its sales,” said Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, UCSF professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UCSF. “By revealing the industry’s behind-the-scenes strategies and involvement, this understanding has transformed public health from city councils to the United Nations.”

UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.

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Policy Bans All Tobacco On All County Property

Commissioners discussed a new policy Tuesday that bans all cigarettes use on all county property including boat ramps, parks, trails and the sports complex, which will roll out in three phases starting Jan. 1 2012.

"It is cheap cigarettes free. It does not just cover smoking cigarettes, it is all cigarettes online products," said Assistant County Administrator June Fisher told the board.

Phase 1, which includes the downtown Sebring campuses like the Government Center, Courthouse, State Attorney, Public Defender, Government Annex, Facilities Office, the Children's Advocacy and all EMS centers.

Phase 2 also begins on Jan. 1 of 2012, and includes all fire stations, the landfill, all libraries and community centers.

Phase 3, whose roll out date is to be announced, includes all county property like parks, boat ramps and trails.

"How are you going to enforce this?" asked Commissioner Ron Handley.

Fisher replied that enforcement would depend on county employees reporting other employees and violators.

"It is not going to go flawless, there are probably going to be gray areas. But this is the right thing," said Highlands County Health Department Administrator Robert Paluszak.

The policy also forced potential county employees to sign an affidavit stating they have refrained from tobacco use for up to a year prior to applying to the county.

Fisher even discussed other counties that drug test for tobacco use prior to applying for a county position.

Commissioner Don Elwell took exception with that section of the policy.

"I think this section is unnecessary," Elwell said. Elwell further argued that the new policy could "severely limit" the county's application pool for employees.

"We are trying to enforce actions before they are even employees," Elwell added.

"The idea behind that policy is to improve the risk pool of your insurance policy," County Attorney Ross Macbeth told the commissioners.

Macbeth clarified further that the if an applicant was tobacco free for up to a year before applying for a county position, then that would lower the county's insurance costs over time.

The policy further states that the county will provide tobacco cessation programs to the employees who request it, and the health departments are currently offering free nicotine patches and a five-week cessation program at no cost for the public.

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Big Tobacco Trial In Sebring

In a Dec. 3, 2008 online posting, Jane Akre, writing for Injury Board National News Desk, predicted: "A lawsuit by the widow of a Cooper City man who smoked up to 40 cigarettes a day for 40 years is under way — the first of 8,000 similar lawsuits to be heard in Florida against Big Tobacco."

While there is no official count of the number of Sunshine State cheap cigarettes suits, a February Associated Press story said jurors have sided with smokers or their families in about two-thirds of the 34 cases tried during the two years. They have won awards ranging from $2 million to $80 million.

Tobacco companies are appealing all the awards. However, in a July 20 decision, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear R.J. Reynolds' appeal of a $28.3 million verdict in the death of a Panhandle smoker. That could strip R.J. Reynolds and other cigarettes online companies of a key defense to Florida lawsuits filed by sick smokers or their survivors.

In Highlands County, jury selection begins in January for Hallgren v. R.J. Reynolds, Phillip Morris, Lorillard, Liggett and Vector group. The product liability case was filed June 22, 2010, by Theo Hallgren, for the estate of Claire Hallgren, represented by Calvin Carriner III of Palm Beach.
"Plaintiff was an Engle class member," Carriner's filing said.

The December 2006 Engle case was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court as a class action case, but the justices detailed findings that could be used in later cases: buy cigarettes cause a wide range of diseases, nicotine in buy cigarette online is addictive, and cheap cigarette online companies concealed information about the effects of smoking cigarettes.

"Which are," Carriner's filing said, "that smoking cigarettes discount cigarettes causes aortic aneurysm, bladder cancer, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease," and other illnesses.

"The smoker bears some measure of fault, but less than 100 percent of the applicable fault, for causing her smoking cigarettes-related injuries," Carriner's filing said. The suit seeks monetary damages, loss of earnings, and the value of lost support for Claire Hallgren's husband and children.

The 2006 Florida Supreme Court ruling that threw out a $145 billion Engel award may have seemed like a blessing for cigarette makers at the time; now it's a curse on Big Tobacco, making it dramatically easier for thousands of smokers to sue and turning Florida into America's hot spot for damage awards.

In the closely watched July 20 decision, R.J. Reynolds challenged the way lower courts applied the Engle decision, arguing the widow of Benny Martin was not forced to prove the company's liability. The cigarette maker had used the same strategy in defending other cases, such as a $15.75 million verdict in the death of an Alachua County smoker.
"Today, the Florida Supreme Court said, 'No, we're done hearing this,'" said Matt Schultz, a Pensacola attorney who represents the widow, Mathilde Martin.

R.J. Reynolds vowed to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Benny Martin, who died of lung cancer in 1995, was a longtime smoker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, which were made by R.J. Reynolds. An Escambia County jury awarded $5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages to his widow, reduced to $3.3 million because Benny Martin was found partly responsible for his death.

The Martin case is another Engle progeny. In Martin and other cases, tobacco companies argued that Engle findings were not properly carried out. For example, R.J. Reynolds argued that Martin's attorneys were not required to prove that the deceased smoker relied on deceptive advertising about the dangers of smoking cigarettes.

Tobacco company lawyers insist the process is rigged. "We believe the trial courts have used trial plans that are so fundamentally unfair they violate due process and Florida law," said Murray Garnick of Altria Client Services, a subsidiary of Philip Morris USA. "Each case must be judged on its own facts."

Now tobacco companies are losing other types of cases. In Connecticut, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, maker of Skoal and Copenhagen, agreed to pay $5 million to the family of a man who died of mouth cancer in what was believed to be the first wrongful-death settlement won from a chewing tobacco company.

The tobacco companies have settled in the past. The biggest came in 1998, when four cigarette makers and 46 states settled on $206 billion in a series of lawsuits claiming that smoking cigarettes drove up public health costs.

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R.I. Anti-smoking Funding Falls Short

A recent report from a coalition of anti-smoking cigarettes organizations ranked Rhode Island's funding for anti-smoking cigarettes programs 38th in the country. The state spends $373,000 yearly on anti-smoking cigarettes efforts, only 2.5 percent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommended level of $15.2 million, according to the report. Alaska ranks first, spending $10.8 million on prevention programs, 101.3 percent of the recommended level.

The coalition's annual report evaluates states' expenses in comparison to the federally recommended levels. The report aims to "raise awareness," said Dan Cronin, state communications director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, one of the organizations in the coalition. "We want to do the report to see if states are actually doing what they're supposed to be doing" with the money they have received from settlements with cigarettes companies and the revenue they collect from cheap cigarettes taxes, he said.

"Unfortunately, Rhode Island is not doing as well as it should be," he added.

This year, Rhode Island will bring in $183 million in revenue from buy cigarette online taxes and settlements, Cronin said. "That's a big difference," he said of the gap between state revenues and expenditures on anti-smoking cigarettes programs. "A lot of times, people forget that this is an issue," Cronin said, though "the tobacco companies are not stopping."

But Cronin also pointed to the state's achievements. Rhode Island has the second-highest cigarette excise tax in the country, at $3.46 per pack. Last year, the Rhode Island Department of Health Tobacco Control Program successfully combated efforts to reduce the excise tax by a dollar, wrote spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth in an email to The Herald.

The Department of Health is currently working with the Rhode Island Tobacco Control Network, the American Cancer Society and community groups to support efforts to further reduce smoking cigarettes trends. Such efforts include reclassifying small cigars to apply the same excise tax requirements as cigarettes, raising the cigarette excise tax to produce more funding to help offset the cost of second-hand, smoke-related disease and establishing smoke-free housing initiatives that would expand the existing Public Health and Workplace Safety Law.

Students generally perceive Brown as a smoke-friendly campus. "I was surprised by the number of student-smokers on campus, especially cigarette smoking cigarettes," said Mary Sketch '15. "I didn't realize it was as much a part of college life."

"It's accepted, and if you want to be a part of that community, then you can be," said Lucy Fernandez '14. "But if you don't want to, that's fine too."

In 2009, a survey conducted by the Public Health and Health Education programs at Brown found that 85.6 percent of the student body reported smoking cigarettes or using chewing tobacco five times or fewer over the previous academic year, wrote Frances Mantak, director of Health Education, in an email to The Herald. The Health Education website offers a variety of resources on smoking cigarettes, including lists of reasons and methods for quitting.

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DHH Clinics Go Tobacco Free

Starting New Year's Day state-operated community behavioral health clinics in Region 8 will become cigarettes store free.

Patrons and employees will not be allowed to light-up or use any cigarettes online products on the grounds of these northeast Louisiana state-operated clinics: Monroe Behavioral Health Clinic, Tallulah Behavioral Health Clinic, Ruston Behavioral Health Clinic, Columbia Behavioral Health Clinic and the Bastrop Behavioral Health Clinic.

The new policy is part of DHH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein's initiative to help make Louisiana healthier, this includes making all DHH campuses online cigarettes free.

"Each year tobacco claims 6,400 lives in Louisiana and costs the state $1.5 billion in health care," Greenstein said. "We all own our own health. Every day we have to make decisions to make ourselves, our families, our communities and our state healthier. I commend our behavioral health staff in these communities for leading this effort, which will only spread throughout DHH campuses in the coming year."

Earlier this year, the regional behavioral health clinics began preparing for the move to tobacco-free campuses. Preparation activities included educating clients, staff, contractors and Regional Advisory Council members on the new policy, providing tobacco cessation resources and posting signage and displaying educational materials in each clinic lobby.

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Delaware Tops Quit-friendly States For Smokers

While Delaware is ranked as the third most quit-friendly state for smokers in the American Lung Association's "Helping Smokers Quit: Tobacco Cessation Coverage 2011" report, a couple of its neighbors rank toward the bottom.

According to the ALA, there is an uneven patchwork of quit-smoking cigarettes treatments and services made available nationwide. Among the states that are the least quit-friendly for smokers is Maryland, ranked tied for 42nd out of 45 states ranked.

States were ranked based on cessation coverage in Medicaid plans and state employee health plan coverage, cost per smoker for state-run quit lines and standards for private insurance coverage.

Delaware's Medicaid program recently expanded coverage for cheap cigarettes cessation counseling to all enrollees, making its cigarettes online cessation benefit completely comprehensive. The state also provides cigarettes cessation treatments to its state employees and their family members.

In Delaware, the adult smoking cigarettes rate is 18.3 percent, compared to the national rate of 20.6 percent. Annual health care costs directly caused by smoking cigarettes in the state is $284 million. The tobacco industry spends $106.7 million on marketing expenditures in Delaware.

Additionally, the Delaware quit line is funded at a rate of $7.33 per smoker, which is below the national minimum standard of $10.53 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends to reach an adequate number of smokers in every state.

Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health, said tobacco prevention and cessation are priorities for the state, and she is grateful the state has public officials and a Delaware Health Fund Advisory Committee that understand how important these issues are, as tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the state, as well as the nation.

"Because of the commitments of these individuals and groups, we've been able to fund the important initiatives we have for tobacco prevention and cessation," she said. "We have seen a decrease in smoking cigarettes and tobacco use in the state. We've made progress, but we still have a ways to go."

For those in Delaware who want to quit smoking cigarettes but need help, they can call 211 to access the quit line, where they can develop a plan with someone on how to quit and get medication to help them do so.

Meanwhile, in Maryland, the state is ranked the third least quit-friendly state for smokers according to the ALA because there are too many smokers in Maryland who are not able to get the help they need to quit smoking cigarettes.

The state government does not offer tobacco cessation benefits to state employees, and the state's quit line is funded at $1.20 per smoker for fiscal year 2012. Some low-income Medicaid enrollees in Maryland do have access to tobacco cessation treatment, but it is not guaranteed for all Medicaid enrollees.

"There is absolutely no excuse for these states' tragic failure to help its smokers quit," said Dennis Alexander, regional executive director of the American Lung Association in Maryland.

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Connecticut Smoking Prevention Programs

Connecticut is tied for last in the nation in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking cigarettes and help smokers quit, according to a national report released recently by a coalition of public health organizations.

Connecticut is one of five states that have budgeted zero state funds for cheap cigarette online prevention programs this year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that Connecticut spend $43.9 million a year on cheap cigarettes prevention. Other key findings for Connecticut include:

• Connecticut this year will collect $509 million in revenue from the 1998 buy cigarette online settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend none of it on tobacco prevention programs.

• Since 2009, Connecticut has cut state funding for tobacco prevention from $7.4 million to zero.

• The tobacco companies spend $98.4 million a year to market their products in Connecticut.

The annual report on states' funding of tobacco prevention programs, titled "A Broken Promise to Our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 13 Years Later," was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights.

For years, Connecticut was one of the worst states in the nation in funding tobacco prevention, providing little or no funding. Connecticut improved significantly in fiscal year 2009, but has again eliminated funding and fallen to last in the nation.

"By eliminating funding for tobacco prevention, Connecticut's leaders have let down the state's kids and put the state's progress against tobacco at risk," said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "To continue reducing smoking cigarettes, it is critical that Connecticut quickly increase funding for tobacco prevention. Even in these difficult budget times, tobacco prevention is a smart investment that saves lives and saves money by reducing tobacco-related health care costs."

In Connecticut, 15.3% of high school students smoke cigarettes and 4,300 more kids become regular smokers each year. Tobacco annually claims 4,700 lives and costs the state $1.6 billion in health care bills.

Nationally, the report finds that most states are failing to adequately fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Altogether, the states have cut funding for these programs to the lowest level since 1999, when they first started receiving tobacco settlement payments. Key national findings of the report include:

• The states this year will collect $25.6 billion from the tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes, but will spend just 1.8% ($456.7 million) of it on tobacco prevention programs. This means the states are spending less than two cents of every dollar in tobacco revenue to fight tobacco use.

• States have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by 12% ($61.2 million) in the past year and by 36% ($260.5 million) in the past four years.

• Only two states — Alaska and North Dakota — currently fund tobacco prevention programs at the CDC-recommended level.

The report warns that the nation's progress in reducing smoking cigarettes is at risk unless states increase funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking cigarettes and help smokers quit. The U.S. has significantly reduced smoking cigarettes among both youth and adults, but 19.3% of adults and 19.5% of high school students still smoke.

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing more than 400,000 people and costing $96 billion in health care bills each year.

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Some Shops Fail Cigarette Selling Sting In Milford

The Milford Police Department and staff of the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program, recently conducted unannounced compliance inspections at shops that sell cigarettes products. Several were cited for selling to underage purchasers.

The inspections were performed in an effort to determine compliance with state laws concerning the prohibition of the sale of buy cigarette online and/or discount cigarettes products to youth under the age of 18, police said.

Under the direction of Department of Mental Health investigators, an underage youth, employed by the Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program, entered the businesses and tried to purchase cheap cigarette online products.

A total of 24 unannounced compliance inspections were conducted. Of those, eight establishments were found to be in violation of the Connecticut General Statute 53-344(b) Sale of Tobacco to minors under 18, which carries a $200 fine. The offending clerks at these establishments were cited.

The cigarette dealer license holder at each establishment also faces additional administrative sanctions from the Department of Revenue Services, the state agency that issues cigarette dealer licenses.

The establishments found to be in violation are as follows:

Cumberland Farms at 1023 Boston Post Rd., Krausers at 631 Milford Point Rd., Woodmont Shell 190 Woodmont Rd., Sassy’s Liquor Locker at 965 Bridgeport Ave., Choe Food Mart Shell at 1345 New Haven Ave., Krausers at 361 Bridgeport Ave., Friendly Liquor Store at 240 Broad St., and One Stop Mart Sunoco at 298 Boston Post Rd.

Police also pointed out that the following businesses were found to be in compliance with the law and did not sell to the underage person:

BP Gas Station, Whiskey Barrel, New Town Market & Deli, Friendly 29 Sunoco, Milford Smoke Junction, Pete’s Deli & News, Napoli Deli, Buck Stop, One Stop Grocery & Convenience, Milford Tobacco Shop, Vineyard Package Store, Gromarts, News Den, Mobil on the Run and Milford Quick Mart Sunoco.

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Shame On Iowa For Diverting Tobacco Money

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids just came out with a report, “A Broken Promise to our Children: The 1998 State Tobacco Settlement 13 Years Later.”

This report details how much each state received in the cigarettes online settlement and how little of that money actually goes toward cheap cigarettes prevention. I am appalled to learn that in Iowa, only 1.1 percent of this settlement money goes to cigarettes prevention. The rest of it is put in the general fund.

With Big Tobacco pouring millions into our state daily to market its deadly product to youth, our elected officials should be ashamed that not only have they been cutting the tobacco prevention and education funding, but that they also don’t use the settlement money as it was intended.

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Hawaii Tobacco Sales To Minors Drops

Tobacco sales to minors in Hawai‘i fell below the national average according to a survey conducted by the state.

The Hawai‘i State Department of Health (DOH) Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) survey monitored the state compliance with regulations for the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.

Illegal cheap cigarettes sales to minors in Hawai‘i was 6.1%, below the 9.3% federal fiscal year 2010 national weighted average.

The state’s first survey results in 1996 showed a noncompliance rate of 44.5%. After the implementation of law enforcement operations, the rate steadily dropped. Hawaii has managed to maintain a rate of below 10% with the exception of 2008.

State health officials say that with stronger enforcement of cigarettes online laws being implemented, the aim is to eliminate teenage cigarettes use altogether.

Authorities say that it is still important to educate retailers because of the increase in the variety of tobacco products available.

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COMMUNITY COLLEGES PREPARE FOR TOBACCO BAN

A picture of untreated "hairy tongue," a jar of tar, another jar filled with green phlegm, a replica of stained teeth with ulcer-covered gums and tongue, a blackened lung, nail polish remover and rat poison all lined the IGNITE (Influence, Guide, Network for Inter-Collegiate Tobacco Education) table at Mesa Community College's student center.

Each item on the table demonstrated either what cigarettes online products can do to those who use them or illustrated the kind of chemicals and toxins found in cigarettes.

Most people who stopped at the table were nonsmokers or former smokers. Some hoped to pick up information about quitting for a family member or a friend. Others were drawn by the comparison of a healthy lung and a black lung. A few asked questions about the jars of gunk on display or the toxins found in cigarettes.

Deandre Dupis-Harrison, a sophomore, asked questions as he poked at the packaged pig lung that demonstrated what a human lung looks like after 15 to 20 years of smoking cigarettes.

"I bet people are still going to look at this and walk straight out that door and smoke cigarettes a cigarette," Dupis-Harrison said.

While he may be correct for now, that won't be the case for long. Starting July 1, 2012, smoking cigarettes and cigarettes products will be banned from Maricopa County Community College District property.

"As an educational institution, we have an obligation to lead the way in matters of health awareness and education," said Chancellor Rufus Glasper in a press release last month. "When this policy goes into effect, our district and its 10 colleges will join hundreds of other colleges and universities across the country in what is a growing trend."

About 500 American universities and colleges prohibit on-campus smoking cigarettes, cigarettes store or both.

And while the ban was announced in October, Nov. 16 marked the formal introduction of the Maricopa BreatheEasy initiative, a program designed to help those who work and learn at a Maricopa Community College school transition to a smoke- and tobacco-free campus. The formal announcement was in conjunction with the Great American Smokeout, a national campaign by the American Cancer Society to help people quit smoking cigarettes.

"We're announcing this change early because we recognize that it will require a change in behavior in a significant number of our students, faculty members and employees," Glasper said in a video announcement on the district's website.

The district is still trying to ensure people who work and learn on all its properties are aware of the upcoming change in the tobacco policy, said Angela Askey, MCC media relations coordinator.

"Right now, we're just trying to get the word out," Askey said.

Specific ways on how the district will enforce the ban haven't been finalized yet, and the district plans to explain how the ban will be enforced closer to the July start-date.

To help students and employees quit, the district has launched a website, breatheeasy.maricopa.edu, which has tips for quitting, resources for support, information about what tobacco use can lead to and an explanation as to why the school has initiated the program.

"Tobacco-free policies are not about forcing individuals to change their lifestyle or behavior," the online website states. "Rather, they intend to protect the greater campus community and district interests."

There has been some animosity toward the initiative, but on Wednesday, most of the people stopping at the display table at Mesa Community College liked the idea of a smoke-free campus. Nearly all the people who stopped by the table signed a pledge to not smoke cigarettes for 24 hours.

"It's better, it's healthier for everyone around (campus)," said James Palma, a freshman. "I don't know why people smoke. It's a nasty habit."

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Annual Underage Tobacco Compliance

Youth serving as underage decoys had a relatively difficult time buying cheap cigarettes products this year in Muskegon and Ottawa counties.

The annual Youth Tobacco Act compliance checks produced 91 percent compliant among Muskegon County retailers checked and 94 percent compliant in Ottawa County. Public health department officials in both counties reported their results Thursday.

Jenna Blamer, Public Health-Muskegon County's public health educator, said she was pleased with the results.

“Our goal is to be under 10 percent so we just made it this year,” Blamer said. “We try to create more awareness among retailers that we are holding them accountable.”

In Muskegon County, underage youth operatives with oversight by law enforcement or public health staff tested a clerk's ability to refuse cigarettes store to minors at 109 retailers. Out of those checked this year, 10 sold a discount cigarette online product to an underage buyer.

Those businesses that failed the check were Benson Drug, 961 Spring; J B Packaged Liquor, 3374 Hoyt; Jack's Corner Store, 4190 Grand Haven; Laketon Marathon, 1121 E. Laketon; Marathon, 2806 S. Getty; Plumb's, 120 E. Broadway; Ray's Mini Mart, 2210 Holton; Shell Mart, 1 W. Sherman; Tom's Drink All, 1500 S. Getty; and Westshore Wash, 2204 Glade.

In Ottawa County, underage youth operatives tried to buy tobacco at 84 retailers, finding five that failed the test. The five that sold tobacco to a minor were Oasis Party Store and Seaway Party Store in Grand Haven, Admiral Petroleum in Spring Lake, and GVL Party Store and Walgreens in Allendale.

Blamer said those retailers who fail the compliance check will be tested more often. She said law enforcement can issue a ticket, carrying a fine of $50-$200, to clerks who fail the compliance check.

The Youth Tobacco Act forbids stores from selling tobacco products to customers under age 18. Michigan faces a penalty of losing up to $23 million in federal block grants if 20 percent of retailers fail the compliance checks.

The Muskegon County and Ottawa County compliance checks are part of the No Cigs for Our Kids campaign, a partnership of Allegan, Berrien, Muskegon and Ottawa counties to eliminate sales of tobacco to youth.

Since 2004, the No Cigs for Our Kids campaign has demonstrated a statistically significant change in the following areas: fewer youth inspectors are able to purchase tobacco, clerks are more likely to ask for identification, and stores are more likely to place tobacco products behind the counter and to post the Youth Tobacco Act signage.

Muskegon County's health department initiated the program in 2005. In that first year, about 19 percent of retailers failed the compliance check.

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Old Orchard Beach Is Now Tobacco-free

Smokers at Old Orchard Beach will now be asked to put out their online cigarettes before stepping foot on the sand.

After a two-year struggle, a group of four teenage girls, who formed the OOB Youth Tobacco Action Group, convinced the city council to vote unanimously in favor of a tobacco-free resolution. Unlike an ordinance, a resolution does not enforce the cigarettes ban. Even so, 'no smoking cigarettes' signs will be placed throughout town to help people become aware of the policy.

"Well enforcement would be great, but the resolution...it's a good option and we're going to be pushing in the future for an ordinance like our surrounding towns have done," Hattie Simon, Youth Tobacco Action Group, said.

The Youth Action Group will also help educate people in Old Orchard Beach on the health problems cheap cigarettes products and smoke cigarettes exposure can cause.

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Local Governments To Protect Citizens Health

Despite huge strides over the past few decades, use of online cigarettes continues to be the nation's leading preventable cause of disease, disability and death — and not just for smokers. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, some 450,000 Americans die from cigarettes store use each year, with about 50,000 of those deaths attributable to secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure.

The fight to protect all Floridians from asthma, lung cancer, heart disease and other health effects of discount cigarette online is gaining momentum. Orange County is at the epicenter of that movement, with the "all in" project leading the way. The strong support from business, health, education and community groups is helping the project in championing efforts to expand tobacco-free places in our community.

Efforts of this magnitude are not enough. Unfair language inserted into state statutes stands in the way. Florida law pre-empts the regulation of smoking cigarettes to the state government, tying the hands of cities and counties that wish to enact stricter smoking cigarettes policies. Shouldn't our locally elected officials be able to respond to their constituents' desires for more pro-health policies?

Many communities in Orange County think so. Apopka, Belle Isle, Eatonville, Ocoee, Oakland and Orlando recently passed resolutions calling for the restoration of home rule, and the Orange County Commission approved the resolution on Tuesday. Our local state legislators should take heed of this movement and lead the charge to repeal the unfair pre-emption law during the 2012 legislative session.

The time has come to deal with the facts on how tobacco-free places impact our local economy. A recent study by University of Illinois economists found Florida's 2003 ban on workplace smoking cigarettes actually boosted restaurant sales and did not affect other businesses. Smoke-free policies also produce dramatic increases in workplace productivity and decreases in employer health-care costs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that each worker who smokes costs an employer an additional $3,391 per year in lost productivity and excess medical expenditures. Tobacco-free policies do not hinder businesses but in fact provide substantial benefits.

Let's not forget there are lives at stake. In Orange County, more than half our children are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. Recognizing the importance of ensuring a healthy environment for their students, Orange County Public Schools will make all campus properties tobacco-free this January. Valencia College and the University of Central Florida will become smoke-free next fall.

Those three community efforts alone will protect nearly 300,000 students from secondhand smoke cigarettes while they are at school. But many Orange County residents still face daily risks. Take, for example, bar employees. As in so many other states, shouldn't they have the right to work in a smoke-free environment? And shouldn't parks and other public outdoor venues, especially those likely to have children present, be smoke-free as well?

Local governments should be afforded the opportunity to protect community health as their citizens have requested. An independent survey conducted for the "all in" project in May found that a majority of Orange County's registered voters support making our bars, parks, schools and colleges tobacco-free.

As a former U.S. surgeon general, I am honored to chair the "all in" project's volunteer board. The broad support for this initiative is evidenced by the range of community leaders who serve with me, including representatives of the American Cancer Society, Orange County Healthy Start Coalition, University of Central Florida, Orlando Magic, Community Foundation of Central Florida, Walt Disney World, Orlando City Council, American Heart Association, Orlando Health, Winter Park Health Foundation, and Rosen Hotels and Resorts.

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Delaware Says Tobacco Firms Drop Case

Tobacco companies that reached a health-care settlement with Delaware in 1998 dropped a lawsuit over the state’s enforcement of the agreement, state Attorney General Beau Biden said.

The companies had claimed Delaware didn’t meet its obligation to regulate smaller online cigarettes firms that aren’t part of the settlement, according to Biden.

“I’m pleased that we have succeeded in protecting Delaware’s payments, which are used to improve public health and fund anti-tobacco education,” Biden said in a statement today. Biden didn’t identify the companies that brought the dispute.

Under the 1998 agreement, major cigarettes for sale companies make annual payments to the states. If the cigarettes store companies had been successful in their claims, Biden said, the state might have lost as much as $24 million.

Steve Callahan, a spokesman for cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, said his company and 20 other tobacco makers agreed to end the dispute over Delaware’s enforcement of the settlement’s provisions.

“It was resolved as part of an arbitration process,” Callahan said in a telephone interview. Philip Morris, the world’s largest publicly traded tobacco company, is a unit of Richmond, Virginia-based Altria Group Inc.

The Delaware attorney general said the tobacco industry’s challenges to enforcement of the accord are continuing in 35 states. Tobacco companies agreed to pay the $246 billion over 25 years to settle lawsuits by state attorneys general seeking to recoup the costs of treating sick smokers.

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Strong Tobacco Control Legislation

The DC Tobacco Free Coalition (DCTFC) and partners are marking the 36th Great American Smokeout today by calling on Mayor Vincent Gray and the City Council to protect the health of District residents by restoring local funding for cheap cigarettes prevention and cessation programs.

"Despite major advances in the past few years in the effort to ensure smoke-free workplaces and to discourage smoking cigarettes through higher cigarettes taxes, we've seen funding for proven programs dwindle even though they help smokers quit," said Peter Fisher, Chair of the DCTFC Policy Committee and Vice President, State Issues at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "Now is not the time to back down on buy cigarettes control. Since the Coalition's inception in 2005 we have successfully reduced local smoking cigarettes rates and the District must continue this positive trend. Failing to fund critical life-saving tobacco prevention and cessation programs is not an option."

The Coalition is working closely with members of the DC City Council to ensure that tobacco use is addressed through a comprehensive approach which will build upon the 2007 comprehensive smoke-free legislation and the current $2.50 per pack cigarette excise tax by increasing local funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs. "A comprehensive approach to tobacco control -- including funding for these critical programs -- is proven effective in decreasing smoking cigarettes rates and the incidence of tobacco-related deaths," said Kimberly Williams, Manager, Advocacy and Communications at the American Lung Association in the District of Columbia.

In Fiscal Year 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that the District of Columbia spend $10.5 million on tobacco control including District-wide programs and media campaigns to prevent kids from starting to smoke cigarettes and help smokers quit. The District, however, only spent $3.2 million (36.4 percent of the recommended level) with $569,000 allocated from local DC funding and the remainder from Federal funding. The percentage for Fiscal Year 2012 is not expected to increase and local funding may be completely eliminated. This poses a serious threat to residents of the District of Columbia and puts at risk the strides the city has made in decreasing the overall smoking cigarettes rate and protecting children from exposure to tobacco products and smoking cigarettes initiation.

The use of tobacco products remains the nation's number one preventable cause of death, killing more than 443,000 Americans, of which more than 700 are DC residents and costing $96 billion in direct health care costs each year. According to the CDC's most recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on smoking cigarettes cessation, nearly 70 percent of current smokers say they want to completely stop smoking cigarettes and more than 52 percent say they have made a quit attempt in the past year. Unfortunately, only 6.2 percent say they were successful in quitting in the past year. Furthermore, Black, non-Hispanic smokers were only 3.3 percent successful in their quit attempts despite having the highest desire to quit among racial/ethnic groups.

States with comprehensive tobacco control programs experience faster declines in cigarette sales, smoking cigarettes prevalence, and lung cancer incidence and mortality than states that do not invest in these programs. The DC Tobacco Free Coalition is committed to continuing to address the District's level of funding for tobacco prevention and control programs and ensuring measures are in place to protect residents from the detrimental effects of tobacco use and exposure.

The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout began more than 30 years ago as a platform to encourage smokers to quit. Since then, the platform has expanded to not only encourage smokers to make a plan to quit, but also to encourage all Americans to advocate for comprehensive smoke-free laws, increased tobacco excise taxes and increased funding for tobacco cessation programs.

The DC Tobacco Free Coalition (DCTFC) is an alliance of community-based and national public health organizations working together to educate the District of Columbia about the harmful effects of tobacco and secondhand smoke. The Coalition's mission is to improve health and protect lives in the nation's capital, by decreasing tobacco use and exposure through education, advocacy and public policy.

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Dissolvable Tobacco Products Appealing To Women

Adult female buy cigarette online users have proven an elusive consumer group for manufacturers' smokeless/smokefree products, particularly — and especially — if they involve spitting.

However, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. reported recently its Camel dissolvable cheap cigarette online products, which do not require spitting, are gaining traction with females in its test markets of Charlotte and Denver.

Reynolds said the flavored, finely milled discount cigarettes products serve as an alternative to cigarettes, giving adults a discreet option in venues where smoking cigarettes is banned out of concern for secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure.

Reynolds' dissolvable products include:

* Camel Sticks, a stick of pulverized tobacco, with flavoring, similar in shape to a toothpick.

* Camel Strips, tobacco film strips that dissolve in the mouth.

* Camel Orbs, similar in shape to Tic Tacs.

Of the adult smokers who bought Camel Sticks, Camel Strips and Camel Orbs in the test markets during September and October, adult females represented 45 percent of the consumers, according to Reynolds. Of all tobacco consumers, 31 percent of the buyers were adult females.

By comparison, adult males constitute 85 percent of the users of moist snuff and Camel Snus.

"We have seen a noticeable appeal and interest of the dissolvable products with adult female tobacco consumers," Reynolds spokesman David Howard said.

Stephen Pope, an industry analyst and managing partner of Spotlight Ideas in England, said Reynolds may have discovered a niche with adult female tobacco users.

"Clearly the figures for the dissolvable products make for fascinating reading and actually show that here could be a product that, if handled correctly, could well offer an opportunity for a special female-targeted product that could be as significant as Virginia Slims was for Philip Morris," Pope said.

The dissolvable products "could prove to be the first viable smokeless tobacco products for females," wrote Bonnie Herzog, an analyst with Wells Fargo Securities LLC. During the early to mid-20th century, female consumption of dip snuff was fairly common in a more rural Triad.

The closest the dissolvable products are available to the Triad is Lake Norman and Mooresville. The products are sold in three mint styles, as well as a variety pack.

Reynolds has not said when the national roll-out of the products will happen.

The dissolvables could play a pivotal role for Reynolds' transformation into a "total tobacco company" that emphasizes smokeless tobacco sales as cigarette volumes continue to decline amid regulatory and societal pressures.

The transformation is daunting for Reynolds considering there are 42 million adult smokers in the United States compared with 8 million adults who consume moist snuff and 3 million adults who consume snus. Camel Snus, a spitless, smokeless tobacco, holds about 70 percent of the U.S. snus market share.

However, about 50 percent of the 1 million U.S. adults who successfully quit smoking cigarettes turn to smokeless products, Herzog wrote.

"The relative risk of these products vary greatly, with smoking cigarettes likely causing the most risk to consumers and dissolvables likely causing significantly less risk," she said.

"Over time, we expect the FDA will play a pivotal role for consumers as the relative risk of these products becomes public."

Howard said Reynolds has no plans to expand testing of the dissolvable products beyond Charlotte and Denver. Reynolds exited test markets in Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis; and Portland, Ore., after two years in December 2010.

Herzog's comments were part of an overall favorable review of Reynolds that also noted its productivity gains, the increasing popularity of its Camel Crush cigarette style and the growing niche for its Natural American Tobacco products, particularly internationally. Camel Crush has a capsule that can be squeezed to release more menthol flavoring.

"Bottom line, we believe Reynolds American has transformed itself into a much leaner, more focused, total tobacco company," Herzog said.

"Given the halo effect of Camel and Pall Mall's momentum, the company should be able to generate greater returns for shareholders."

Jeff Middleswart, portfolio manager for the Vice Fund of USA Mutuals, said having the Camel and Marlboro brands in dissolvable products is likely to intensify the debate among advocacy groups.

One set says that smokeless tobacco products serve as gateways for teenagers to cigarettes. The other set sees the products as a way to reduce the risk of tobacco use compared with cigarettes.

"Anything tobacco will create criticism — it's just the way of the world," Middleswart said. "A new product that has the potential to gain market share is going to be a target."

John Spangler, a professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, said he found it "disturbing that any smokeless tobacco product is now becoming popular among women."

His concern is that the dissolvable products may encourage women to use smokeless tobacco for the first time.

"It is unclear if dissolvables will truly be harm-reducing on a population basis," Spangler said.

"For example, as many as half of smokeless tobacco users also smoke, providing evidence that, instead of aiding smokers to quit, smokeless tobacco actually helps users maintain their nicotine addiction in situations where smoking cigarettes is banned, such as work places, airplanes, etc."

"Then, when they are in situations where they can smoke cigarettes again, they will smoke cigarettes the same amount as previously."

Reynolds has marketed the appeal of smokeless products in those scenarios, to the point of conducting national and regional ad campaigns for Camel Snus timed for whenever a new smoking cigarettes ban goes into effect or with the recent Great American Smokeout.

The convenience factor of the dissolvable products, as well as potentially being less stigmatized in society, are likely to appeal to women, Pope said.

"The ability to light up or even dispose of a smokeless pouch is not so easy," Pope said. "The dissolvable product, perhaps with menthol or other flavored twists, has the potential to be a home-run product for the female segment."

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, has called on Reynolds to permanently pull the dissolvable products and to stop pushing tobacco products that he said enticed children and discouraged smokers from quitting.

Myers has said the dissolvable products appeal to children because they are easily concealed and colorfully packaged, shaped and flavored to resemble mints or gum.

Even though the Food and Drug Administration acknowledges Reynolds is targeting the dissolvable products at adults, legislators in some states are trying to ban them even though they are not sold there.

In October 2010, GlaxoSmithKline, which sells the nicotine-replacement therapy products Nicorette and NicoDerm, requested that the FDA take Reynolds' dissolvable products out of test markets.

"Smokeless tobacco products are currently being marketed without clear evidence of their safety," Glaxo said in a statement. The Reynolds products are being reviewed by the FDA's Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.

Howard said Reynolds has made adjustments to the packaging, marketing and product mix of its dissolvable products.

"The packaging is now larger and looks more like packaging of other types of traditional tobacco products, and is a different color," Howard said. "The packaging still carries language 'keep this product out of the reach of children.' "

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City Council Considering Snuffing Out Smoke Shops

With a fourth smoke cigarettes shop in Tooele City opening last month, the Tooele City Council is now considering an ordinance restricting the location of new shops that specialize in cheap cigarettes and tobacco-related products.

Tooele City Council Chairman Scott Wardle requested that Roger Baker, city attorney, research and prepare a draft ordinance after Wardle noticed a smoke cigarettes shop opening at 80 W. Vine Street. The shop is less than one block from the city library and three blocks from Tooele High School, and that’s a problem, Wardle said.

“As its stands now, with no restrictions another smoke cigarettes shop could open up across from the USU campus or down at the Overlake roundabout next to an elementary and junior high school,” said Wardle. “That is just not acceptable.” The proposed ordinance is designed not to ban smoke cigarettes shops, but protect the community, according to Wardle.

“These places sell products that are detrimental to youth,” said Wardle. “Research indicates a link between these type of shops and an increase in use of discount cigarettes by youth. Locating smoke cigarettes shops near schools and public places is a way of marketing to our youth.”

The new ordinance would require that cheap cigarette online shops — defined as a shop that sells exclusively or primarily tobacco and tobacco products — be 1,500 hundred feet from schools, residences and public places such as parks and libraries. Existing smoke cigarettes shops would not be affected by the new ordinance.

Councilman Steve Pruden, who works as the director of the LDS Tooele Institute of Religion near Tooele High School, agrees with Wardle’s concern.

“We have an underage smoking cigarettes problem in Tooele. I see students trying to hide behind the Institute building and smoke cigarettes everyday,” said Pruden. “Kids have to walk by these places and they will see every day a message promoting tobacco use.”

And it’s not just tobacco that Wardle is concerned about.

“These places sell other products that are not good,” said Wardle. “The Legislature outlawed Spice, synthetic marijuana, but manufacturers of Spice have found a way around the law by changing the formula. Spice is now being sold again in smoke cigarettes shops.”

Councilman Mike Johnson was skeptical about the effectiveness of an ordinance restricting the location of smoke cigarettes shops.

“If kids want to get tobacco, they are going to find a way to get it,” said Johnson. “Shouldn’t our efforts be focused on education in the community, schools, and in the home?”

Johnson asked Baker to look into the legality of requiring people to be at least 18 years old to go into a smoke cigarettes shop.

Dave McCall, while not opposing the ordinance, urged caution regarding its wording.

“I think we have to be careful about directing what kind of business people can and can’t open up,” McCall said. “It is not that I disagree with the ordinance but we have to be careful about the wording, if we do this what is next?”

The city of Sandy has an ordinance restricting smoke cigarettes shops to areas zoned for industry, Baker said. Sandy is the only other city whose ordinance on smoke cigarettes shops Baker has examined.

State and city codes require establishments that serve or sell alcohol to be 200 feet in a straight line and 600 feet as a pedestrian would walk from a school, church or public place including parks, playgrounds, and libraries.Wardle said he plans to put the smoke cigarettes shop ordinance on the agenda for the Nov. 16 city council meeting.

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No Noticeable Decrease In American Indian Smoking

Smokers across the country are kicking the habit.

But in Indian country in New Mexico, health officials are not finding any evidence of a decrease in adult smoking cigarettes rates. And with one in four adults estimated to be current smokers, American Indians have one of the highest smoking cigarettes rates in the state for the first time in the state's history.

"There is some reason for concern," said Wayne Honey, an epidemiologist for the New Mexico Health Department. "Nationally there is a decline in smoking cigarettes rates among American Indians as there is in all the other groups. But we are clearly not seeing that decline here."

Honey authored a report on adult behavioral risk soon to be published on the health department's website. The report will state that American Indian smoking cigarettes rates should be monitored.

Statewide, about 15.8 percent of Anglo adults smoke cigarettes and 24.1 percent American Indians smoke, according to the report.

What is alarming about the difference in smoking cigarettes rates between American Indians and Anglos is that current statistics were not always the case.

Anglo people in New Mexico have higher rates of lung cancer than American Indians, according to health department reports. Lung cancer rates are good ways to determine who was a current smoker 25 to 30 years ago because the cancer takes years to develop, said Dr. Susan Baum, the medical director for the state's Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Bureau.

"Up until very recently the American Indian adult smoking cigarettes rate was essentially the same, and historically it was even considerably lower, than some of the other races and ethnicities," Baum said. "Just for the past couple years the American Indian smoking cigarettes rates have been significantly higher than the (Anglo adult smoking cigarettes rates.) I'm assuming that may be because the (Anglo) rates are decreasing."

Among all New Mexico adults, the smoking cigarettes rate went from 24 percent in 2001 to 18.5 percent in 2010, according to health department statistics.

The discrepancy in smoking cigarettes rates among the two races could be partially explained by age differences. But there are also differences in cigarettes control policies between state and tribal governments.

"Smoking is associated with age, we know that younger populations are more likely to smoke cigarettes than older populations," Honey said. "The American Indian population, on average, is younger than the Anglo population is."

There are three significant differences between cheap cigarettes polices on the Navajo Nation, the largest American Indian tribe, and in the state: Government cigarettes store taxes, tobacco education programs funded with settlements with big tobacco companies and workplace smoking cigarettes laws.



Cigarette Tax

At $1.66 per pack, New Mexico taxes discount cigarette online about 30 cents more per pack than the nationwide average, according to Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a national anti-tobacco organization.

Some of the revenue from that tax funds cancer treatment centers and other health facilities around the state, according to the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue's website.

The state has a program where tribal and pueblo governments can impose a $1.66 tax and receive state cigarette stamps. Enacting a qualifying tribal cigarette tax allows tribes and licensed tribal retailers to purchase cigarettes online from New Mexico distributors without paying the state cigarette excise tax, S.U. Mahesh, a spokesman for the department, said in an email.

There are 21 pueblos and tribes that have enacted a qualifying cigarette tax and are part of the program and the Navajo Nation is not one of them, he said.

The Navajo Nation imposes a cigarette tax of five cents per pack, said Deswood Tome, a spokesperson for the nation.

The revenue from that tax — which in 2011 fiscal year was $158,045, according to Navajo tax records — goes to the tribes general fund and is not specifically earmarked for tobacco education or treatment, he said.

In additional to funding cancer treatment, increasing the cost of buy cigarettes has been proven to deter smokers, Baum said.



Big tobacco bills

Most states in the country, including New Mexico, receive big payouts annually from big tobacco companies because of lawsuits filed by state attorneys.

Since 2000 New Mexico received tens of million of dollars each year because of the state's settlement with big tobacco companies. New Mexico received $38.6 million in 2011, according to Tobacco Settlement Revenue Oversight Committee documents.

The money helps cover the health care costs for smoke-related diseases and funds tobacco education prevention programs.

New Mexico Tobacco Use Prevention and Control is an entire state agency funded with money from the big tobacco settlement. The organization provides tobacco education and cessation services, according to its website.

"None of the tribes or pueblos receive this money," Mahesh said of the settlement funds. "They were not party to the lawsuit settlement."

The Navajo Nation has not made any settlement with any big tobacco company to cover the cost of smoke-related illnesses and there is no pending litigation, Tome said.



Workplace smoking cigarettes laws

The New Mexico Legislature passed a clean air act, which bans indoor smoking cigarettes in most buildings in the state, in 2007.

The result of the law is that 92 percent of New Mexico residents are protected from second hand smoke cigarettes in the workplace, according to health department statistics.

Exempt from the clean air law are tribal buildings. And most Indian casinos in the state have held on to at least designated smoking cigarettes sections.

The first attempt at passing a clean air act on the Navajo Nation ended when Nation President Ben Shelly vetoed the bill because tribal casinos were exempt from the law.

"The president has taken a very aggressive position on smoking cigarettes," Tome said. "We're battling with diseases like diabetes and obesity and ... smoking cigarettes is a habit that the president wants to catch at the youth level and stop it there. The president wants to see a healthy Navajo Nation in every respect."

The new Navajo Casino near Farmington, expected to be completed in January, will allow smoking cigarettes when it is first opens. But it might not be smoky for long.

In August 2012, Tome said Shelly will introduce an initiative to ban indoor smoking cigarettes in all buildings on the Navajo Nation.

"It's an initiative to say we're going to go smoke cigarettes free in all public places and that includes casinos in resorts," Tome said. "Voters will decide their future in that respect."

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North Haven Inheriting Smoke Free Policy

Quinnipiac's North Haven Campus will be completely tobacco-free starting August 13, 2012. The policy will extend to all employees, students, temporary workers and visitors.

"We would do this policy across all the campuses if we could," said Vice President of Human Resources Ronald Mason. " However, we can't at the Mount Carmel and York Hill campuses because they are residential and people live here 24/7."

Only 252 colleges and universities prohibit smoking cigarettes and all forms of cigarettes use everywhere on campus, according to the American Lung Association. The only college that is 100% tobacco-free in Connecticut is the Hartford Community College.

Smoke-free campuses have become increasingly popular with schools such as the University of Memphis and University of Illinois.

There will be multiple levels of infractions for students and employees caught smoking cigarettes on the campus. Violations will be judged on a case-by-case basis for the time being.

"I think that making the North Haven Campus cheap cigarettes free is a very positive initiative," Emily Zwart, Junior said.

Zwart is a MAT student who travels to North Haven weekly for educational classes.

"Considering how it is widely accepted that cigarettes online is an extremely harmful substance to a person's overall health, it makes sense that a campus committed to health and medical education should be tobacco free," Zwart said.

She also said smoking cigarettes barriers provide an incentive to quit smoking cigarettes.

"It is, and should be, a person's right to decide to smoke cigarettes or not, but the more barriers that stand in the way and the more inconvenient the usage of tobacco becomes, the more people may be encourage to quit, and that means that more lives can be saved."

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