The vast majority of Utah legislators are devout members of the LDS Church, which counsels against the use of tobacco, and the bills they pass often reflect their religious affiliation. But many of these same lawmakers have no compunction about taking money from tobacco companies.
The Altria Group, parent company of the Phillip Morris tobacco conglomerate, just reported to the lieutenant governor’s office that it dumped $42,000 into campaign funds this election cycle, covering both 2007 and 2008.
Besides the 31 representatives and eight senators - Republicans and Democrats - who directly benefited, the House Republican Caucus received $2,500, the House Conservative Caucus got $2,500, the House speaker’s political action committee got $5,000, the Senate Republican Caucus $5,000, the Salt Lake County Republican Party $3,000, the Utah County Republican Party $2,500, the Utah Republican Party $2,000, the Senate Democratic Caucus $3,000, the House Democratic Caucus $1,500 and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff $3,000. (more…)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration, bedeviled by a salmonella outbreak and tainted medicine from China, is likely to monitor imports and fresh produce more closely under an Obama administration.

With President Bush no longer a roadblock, health officials also can expect new powers to control tobacco, from cigarettes to the recently introduced smokeless products called snus.

President-elect Obama, a former smoker struggling to avoid relapse, is a sponsor of legislation giving the FDA authority to control, but not ban, tobacco and nicotine.

Long seen as the government’s premier consumer protection agency, the FDA stumbled under Bush. Recurring drug and food safety lapses came against a backdrop of shrinking budgets and long periods without a permanent leader. In Congress, a senior Republican complained the FDA had gotten too cozy with industry.
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A federal judge spurned tobacco giant Philip Morris’ plea Thursday to halt San Francisco’s enforcement of its first-in-the-nation ban on selling tobacco products in drugstores.
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The company argued that the ordinance, which took effect Oct. 1, violates freedom of speech by interfering with its communications with its customers. Company lawyers contended the ban effectively forces Philip Morris to pull its advertising from drugstores and was motivated by the city’s hostility to the ads’ message that smoking is acceptable.

The city countered that the ordinance doesn’t limit advertising and applies only to tobacco sales, which aren’t protected by the right of free speech.
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BUFFALO, N.Y. - A western New York Indian nation continues to make clear its opposition to a proposal to tax cigarettes now sold tax-free by tribes.

The Seneca Nation has begun a two-week print and broadcast advertising campaign meant to convince Gov. David Paterson to veto a bill passed by the Legislature in August.

The Senecas say their $1 billion economy is one of the few bright spots upstate and should be left alone.

The bill would prohibit manufacturers from selling tobacco products without a state tax stamp to any wholesaler that doesn’t certify the cigarettes won’t be resold tax-free.

Paterson spokesmen have said the governor will review the bill and solicit input before making any decisions.

TAHLEQUAH — The Cherokee Nation has agreed to sign a new tobacco compact with the state, essentially eliminating low tax zones for several of the tribe’s stores, but restoring the price advantage traditionally held by tribal retailers over non-tribal retailers.

The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve the new tobacco compact with the state. The new compact puts forth a flat rate of 67 cents total tax per pack of cigarettes.

The tribe’s previous compact put non-border area smoke shops’ tax rate at 86 cents per-pack, but in border areas taxes ranged between 31 and 6 cents per pack.
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You may soon see advertisements pressuring Governor David Paterson (D) to veto a bill that would tax cigarettes that are currently sold tax-free by Native American tribes.

The Seneca Nation is starting a two-week advertising campaign saying their $1 billion economy is one of the few bright spots in upstate New York and should be left alone.

Paterson’s spokesmen have said the Governor will review the bill and look for input before making any decisions.

The pact reduces the price advantage at tribal shops at the border and drops prices in Tulsa shops.

After years of heated dispute between the state and the Cherokee Nation over a tobacco compact, the two sides have reached an agreement.

The two sides agreed on a 67-cents-per-pack rate for all tribal Cherokee Nation smoke shops.

The state gave up its goal of lowering the tax advantage that tribal smoke shops have held over nontribal retailers, and the tribe agreed to give up low tobacco taxes in border areas.
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Burley tobacco farmers have grown accustomed to seeing production decline in recent years, as high costs and few profits pushed many growers away.

But recent federal yield numbers predict a good year for burley, which once ranked among the Volunteer State’s most profitable crops.

The burley tobacco produced by Tennessee farmers this year is expected to outperform last year’s crop by 22 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If that prediction holds true, it will mark the first time the production of burley — most commonly used in cigarettes — has shown a year-over-year increase since 1999.
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Ten years ago this week, states’ attorneys general and Big Tobacco settled the largest civil case in American history, giving the states $246 billion to prevent smoking in exchange for dropping their individual lawsuits against the tobacco companies.

But a decade later, many states have not used the money as they were supposed to. And while the number of people who smoke is down from 1998, smoking remains the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the United States.
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Ten years after the tobacco settlement, South Carolina has slid back to its worst-in-the-nation status in what it spends to keep people from smoking, according a report released Tuesday by a coalition of public health groups.

South Carolina will collect $114 million this year from the tobacco settlement and taxes, but it is the only state that doesn’t plan to spend any state money to help people quit smoking and prevent others from taking up the habit.

It had shared that distinction with Connecticut, but legislators there were considering a plan Tuesday to add nearly $7 million to its federal spending, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids used the proposed figures in the report.
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