Cigarette sales in the United States have declined in recent years, but sales of non-cigarette tobacco products have risen and offset the decline in cigarette sales by 30 percent, a Harvard School of Public Health study finds.

Researchers analyzed federal government data and found that between 2000 and 2007, cigarette sales declined 18 percent, from 21.1 billion packs to 17.4 billion packs. Over that same period, sales of other tobacco products increased by the equivalent of 1.10 billion packs of cigarettes — 714 million moist snuff, 256 million roll-your-own tobacco, and 130 million small cigars.

The findings, published in the June 11 issue of theJournal of the American Medical Association, suggest the apparent magnitude of overall decline in tobacco use in the United States may be illusory, the researchers said.
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Richard Piatt reporting

Want a pack of cigarettes? A cigar? Chewing tobacco? Go to another store.

It’s a self-imposed ban on all tobacco products in grocery stores owned by Dan’s Foods. Starting June 1, the stores will stop selling everything tobacco-related, and the company says the decision is based solely on health.

Like it or not, this is a pretty bold move for the locally-owned grocery store chain. Some people we talked to came right out and said they thought it was dumb. But Dan’s is doing it because it thinks it’s a smart idea.

Smoker Rick Bills has been puffing away for years, and even he supports Dan’s ban on smokes. “Yes, I do regret my decision to smoke,” he said.

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TOPEKA | Kansas is improving its rate of federal compliance with rules regarding the sale of tobacco products to minors.

The federal Synar Amendment requires states to maintain a compliance rate of 80 percent or higher. In 2004 the state fell below that target rate.

Each year the Kansas Division of Alcohol Beverage Control and the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services conducts random checks of tobacco retailers to make sure they are not selling these products to underage youths.

Of those inspected last year, 87.1 percent did not sell tobacco products to minors.

That was a 7 percent improvement over similar inspections the previous year, according to department officials.

First New York, now the green mountain state will be charging smokers more to light up.

Starting on July 1st, Vermont will be raising its cigarette tax from a $1.75 a pack to a $1.99.

When the new tax is in place, Vermont will have the 11th highest tobacco tax in the country.

Over the past 20 years, the cigarette tax has risen slightly in the green mountain state.

The gradual increase has lead to a 25% drop in smokers.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Supreme Court said Monday it would examine for the third time an appeal by tobacco giant Philip Morris against a huge 79.5 million dollar award to the widow of a long-time Marlboro smoker.

An Oregon court in 1999 found that advertising campaigns by Philip Morris denying that smoking posed a health risk were partly to blame for the death of heavy smoker Jesse Williams from lung cancer two years earlier.

The Oregon jury awarded two types of damages to his widow: 520,000 dollars in compensation for the loss of her husband and 79.5 million dollars in punitive damages against Philip Morris.

With interest, the sum has ballooned today to close to 145 million dollars.

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even former federal health secretaries joined on Wednesday to protest menthol’s special treatment in a tobacco bill pending in Congress.

The seven, from Democratic and Republican administrations, faxed a letter to members of the Senate and House of Representatives demanding that menthol-flavored cigarettes be banned just like various other cigarette flavorings the legislation would outlaw.

One of the former secretaries, Joseph A. Califano Jr., said the legislation was “clearly putting black children in the back of the bus.” He was referring to menthol cigarettes as being the choice of three out of four black smokers and being frequently preferred by young smokers.

An estimated 80 percent of African-American teenage smokers pick menthol brands, the letter said.

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Facing reduced productivity and higher insurance costs from people who smoke, many employers are deciding not to hire tobacco users. Sarasota County, which also must contain these costs, has adopted a tobacco-free hiring policy that will promote a healthier work force and maintain our responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

This is a proactive effort to manage the impact of the county’s rising health-care costs, which are paid by taxpayers and range from $2 million to $3 million a year. The policy wasn’t adopted hastily. We’ve considered it for five or six years while we gathered data and considered the legal ramifications. A 1995 Florida Supreme Court decision, that has remained unchallenged, established the precedent that employers can ban smokers from employment.

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Menthol cigarettes should be banned, like other flavored tobacco, in legislation now before Congress, seven former U.S. health secretaries said.

A provision allowing menthol, the most popular flavor for cigarettes, is “a loophole big enough for a herd of wild animals to romp through and trample the health of African-Americans,” according to a letter sent today to lawmakers.

Almost 75 percent of African-American smokers use menthol cigarettes, according to the letter, organized by former health secretaries Joseph A. Califano Jr. and Louis Sullivan. The exemption for menthol flavoring was one of the compromises that produced the legislation, which is backed by Altria Group Inc.’s Philip Morris USA, the nation’s biggest tobacco maker, as well as health groups critical of the industry.

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Smokers on Long Island smoldered at the cash register Tuesday as they paid about $7 for a pack of premium cigarettes in the state that now has the country’s highest cigarette taxes.

The average price of each pack statewide, which had been $5.82, rose 21 percent with the $1.25 tax hike. In New York City, which adds its own tax, a pack of Marlboros or Camels costs more than $10 in some stores.

Smokers said they felt singed by the increase, which brings the state tax to $2.75 per pack. That compares to $2.58 in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest tax. At $2, Connecticut ranks fifth, and Pennsylvania’s $1.35 ranks 20th. (South Carolina, the lowest, charges 7 cents.)

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PENNSYLVANIA — New York smokers are buying lots of cigarettes in Pennsylvania.

“I actually make trips down here once a week or so,” said Savona resident Tim Soporowski.

“I always buy my cigarettes in Pennsylvania. Simply because it is a little cheaper,” said Big Flats resident Dave Kenyon.

Now it’s a lot cheaper, since a new tax raised the price of a pack in New York by $1.25 to some $5, $6 and even $7 a pack.

“It’s crazy,” Soporowski said.

“We don’t like it,” said Phyllis Gurnsey, a Campbell resident.

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