Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, the sale of all tobacco products in pharmacies, stores that contain pharmacies, health-care facilities and public post-secondary institutions will be prohibited.

This is the final step in implementing Alberta’s Tobacco Reduction Act . On Jan. 1, smoking was banned in all Alberta workplaces and public places. Smoking within five metres of a doorway, window or air intake of a public place or workplace is also prohibited. As of July 1, the retail display and advertising of tobacco products was banned in Alberta.

“The Tobacco Reduction Act is one of the key elements of our strategy to reduce tobacco use and the harmful effects of second-hand smoke,” said Dr. Raj Sherman, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Wellness. “The majority of Albertans support legislation to restrict tobacco sales and reduce tobacco consumption, especially among young people.” (more…)

JACKSON, Miss. — Democrat Billy McCoy survived the biggest political challenge of his career last year when Republicans and some conservative members of his own party tried to oust him as speaker of the Mississippi House.

The blunt-spoken farmer from Rienzi said partisanship still creates rifts at the Capitol but he plans to work with all 121 House colleagues as the 2009 session begins on Jan. 6.

During a pre-session interview with The Associated Press, McCoy said legislators will work within a tight budget because of the lagging economy.

AP: The rainy day fund provides a financial cushion for the state budget when tax collections are lagging. Gov. (Haley) Barbour says he doesn’t want to use more than one-fourth of the rainy day fund balance in the coming year. What do you think? (more…)

Wednesday night will be your last chance to light up in an Oregon bar.

At midnight the state joins Washington, California and more than 20 other states that ban smoking in bars. Health organizations say about 20 percent of Oregon smokes, one of the lowest rates in the country. The ban comes just as many people will try to quit smoking for the new year.

A recent study says 77 percent of current smokers are stressed about the national economy. This is delaying some smokers attempt to quit as well as making some smoke even more. But health officials in Washington state say the cost of cigarettes is a good reason to quit during these tough economic times. 

Washington has a tobacco quit line offering free coaching as well as a supply of nicotine patches or gum. The number is… 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Health officials say pack-a-day smokers could save almost $2,000 a year by quitting.

Facing massive budget deficits, Rhode Island’s political leaders are considering raising the state’s cigarette tax to a level comparable with neighboring states, according to incoming Sen. President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed.

Officials from the General Assembly and Gov. Don Carcieri’s office have discussed increasing Rhode Island’s cigarette tax of $2.46 per package to a level comparable with Massachusetts, which began charging $2.51 this year.

Rhode Island’s western neighbor, Connecticut, charges a $2 tax on packages of 20 cigarettes and a $2.50 tax on packages of 25 cigarettes. (more…)

Madison - Gov. Jim Doyle is signaling a willingness to raise the cigarette tax, a year after he and legislators raised the tax by $1 a pack.

The Democratic governor did not explicitly endorse raising the tax in a recent interview, but he noted he originally fought for raising the tax by $1.25.

“I would simply point out that I’ve supported going to a higher level in the past,” he said.

The cigarette tax rose to $1.77 a year ago today.

Doyle - who spent Tuesday doing one-on-one interviews with reporters at the governor’s mansion in Maple Bluff - told the Wisconsin State Journal he wants to resume having the gas tax automatically increase every year. (more…)

The Dec. 29 editorial “Mr. Kaine’s Budget” highlighted the burden that Virginia’s governor bears in addressing Virginia’s budget shortfall, but it grossly underestimated the revenue burden the state’s smokers already bear.

This past fiscal year, Virginia received more than $170 million in cigarette excise tax revenue, $92 million from cigarette sales taxes and an additional $133 million in payments from the Master Settlement Agreement — nearly equaling the $400 million in annual Medicaid expenses the editorial attributed to Virginia smokers. Cigarette smokers also paid $64 million in excise taxes to local governments.

About half of the price of a pack of cigarettes sold in the state goes to the government. Increasing this burden with a higher cigarette excise tax would be unfair to adult smokers and would harm Virginia’s manufacturers, tobacco growers, wholesalers, retailers and the jobs they provide.

SALT LAKE CITY — Smoking in Utah’s bars has been outlawed as of midnight last night, as thousands of revelers celebrated the new year with their last drags on a cigarette or their first breaths of smoke-free air in a private club.

The measure is intended to protect bar employees and customers from second-hand smoke, which can cause cancer.

Lawmakers passed a law banning smoking in private clubs and taverns in 2006, but it only applied to newly licensed clubs.

As of today, all bars must be smoke-free. Similar bans have been in effect in New York, California and in other states and countries for years.

Under the new law, anyone caught smoking in a bar could face a $100 fine for the first offense and up to a $500 fine for a second offense. The state health department says bars can also be fined up to $5,000 for allowing smoking. (more…)

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A cigarette tax bill aimed at forcing reservation smoke shops to collect taxes for the state has been blown away – at least temporarily – with a state Supreme Court ruling blocking the plan.

State Supreme Court Justice Rose Sconiers issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) Dec. 24, that bars the state of New York, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and the Department of Taxation and Finance from enforcing state tax law “in a manner that would restrict the sale of unstamped cigarettes from being sold at wholesale to reservation cigarette sellers.”

The ruling resulted from a lawsuit filed by attorney Margaret Murphy on behalf of her clients, Day Wholesale Inc., a wholesaler and stamping agent, and Scott B. Maybee, an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation of Indians who owns and operates wholesale and retail tobacco businesses licensed by the nation, but the TRO applies universally across the state to all distributors and reservation smoke shops. (more…)

SOUTH BEND — Five states are starting the new year by offering a cigarette that is designed to extinguish itself when left unattended. Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas and Pennsylvania are starting 2009 by joining 17 other states in mandating the less flammable cigarettes.

Indiana gets its turn on July 1.

The new cigarette is designed to help prevent house fires by ceasing to burn when left unsmoked for a certain amount of time. It is made with two rings — called speed bumps — consisting of extra paper that is tightly wound around the cigarette.

The paper within the bumps is wound tighter, allowed for less air flow and making the bump less likely to sustain heat and more likely to be extinguished. (more…)

LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) - 2008 saw cities like Nacogdoches put public smoking bans into place, and there’s talk that 2009 could see a statewide ban. But in the meantime a different cigarette law has gone into effect that may reduce the amount of fires that happen throughout East Texas.

A proposed statewide smoking ban has been the focus of a lot of attention in Texas, but another smoking law has gone into effect. As of yesterday, all cigarettes being shipped into Texas, must be in compliance with the new fire safe manufacturing process.

According to Jerry Haggins, the spokesperson for the Texas Department of Insurance,which oversees the State Fire Marshall’s Office, says, “Retailers have one year to sell their old stack and starting this time next year the state fire marshall’s office will begin enforcing the law by inspecting retail establishments to make sure they’re selling the right cigarettes.” (more…)